It’s all relative. Not for the Prem or Championship. For Leagues One and Two, when the big boys come to their cabbage patch? And the TV revenue?The League Cup is a financial windfall? Really?
It’s all relative. Not for the Prem or Championship. For Leagues One and Two, when the big boys come to their cabbage patch? And the TV revenue?The League Cup is a financial windfall? Really?
I remember that argument, and I thought he was full of crap then ... and his arguments have only gotten less plausible with time. We're talking about a competition that only dates to the early 60s, not to ancient of days so the tradition angle doesn't cut it. It only involves the top 4 flights, which means this supposed financial windfall is bestowed on the handful of League One and Two clubs "lucky" enough to be ceremonially beheaded by a Premiership club in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds, when most of the carnage ensues. Because, let's face it ... the Championship sides don't have anything to gain in this competition and they certainly don't need to be trying to sell tickets to a Cup match against freaking Gillingham (no offense) in the middle of the serious business of trying to get promoted to Golden Goose Land. And is selling out your home ground that big a windfall when you seat 11,000 (sticking with Gillingham for no apparent reason)? The TV money for this thing is spectacularly paltry, so the real windfall for a lower division side is the rare occasion of a visit to a Premiership stadium ... a thing that happened FOUR TIMES in the current competition. FOUR. It's like some sort of very, very specific and weird lottery ... congrats to Crewe, Wycomb, Oldham and AFC Wimbledon. This whole Carabao Cup boiled down to your "windfall" ... by which I mean your opportunity to go on the road to get beaten by a team several light years better than you. Generally by their Under 23s and Over 35s, mind you.I don’t know about other leagues, but France had 2 domestic Cups. The League Cup was played for 26 years until the pandemic ended it.
There was a guy from Scotland on One of the old boards who took umbrage to any suggestion that the League Cup be discontinued. IIRC, his point was that it was a financial windfall for the lower level teams when the big boys came calling. But if the Prem is splashing more of their TV money to the EFL, maybe the time has come to end it. Leagues One and Two play for the EFL Trophy, so they have 3 cup competitions and a 46 match league schedule to contend with.
Thank you for this Jeff. I was too lazy to look up the "advantages" of playing this Cup, and your last point is what I was thinking. 100% with this.I remember that argument, and I thought he was full of crap then ... and his arguments have only gotten less plausible with time. We're talking about a competition that only dates to the early 60s, not to ancient of days so the tradition angle doesn't cut it. It only involves the top 4 flights, which means this supposed financial windfall is bestowed on the handful of League One and Two clubs "lucky" enough to be ceremonially beheaded by a Premiership club in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds, when most of the carnage ensues. Because, let's face it ... the Championship sides don't have anything to gain in this competition and they certainly don't need to be trying to sell tickets to a Cup match against freaking Gillingham (no offense) in the middle of the serious business of trying to get promoted to Golden Goose Land. And is selling out your home ground that big a windfall when you seat 11,000 (sticking with Gillingham for no apparent reason)? The TV money for this thing is spectacularly paltry, so the real windfall for a lower division side is the rare occasion of a visit to a Premiership stadium ... a thing that happened FOUR TIMES in the current competition. FOUR. It's like some sort of very, very specific and weird lottery ... congrats to Crewe, Wycomb, Oldham and AFC Wimbledon. This whole Carabao Cup boiled down to your "windfall" ... by which I mean your opportunity to go on the road to get beaten by a team several light years better than you. Generally by their Under 23s and Over 35s, mind you.
The French took the opportunity of the pandemic break to kill their unpopular league cup and the Brits should do the same. There's no meaningful tradition, there's no predictable financial advantage for the small clubs and nobody watches the thing. There's a reason you can't keep a TV sponsor ... it's basically a charitable contribution. I'm absolutely shocked that it's not brought to you by a Crypto outfit at this point. It would be fitting because the whole thing is ridiculous.
Speaking to the media ahead of the Chelsea match, Conte said: “We are checking a couple of situations about COVID concerning players and we’ll see.
“We are not sure 100 per cent whether they are going to miss the game.
“We have to check and also during the day if there are new positives or not. We are checking a couple of situations and then tomorrow will see the players that are available to play the game against Chelsea.”
Ah, Cherundelo is a personal favorite. I hope he has a great career as a manager.Steve Cherundolo was named head coach of LAFC, replacing Bob Bradley. He coached the Las Vegas Lights in USL Championship last year, his first senior level head coaching position. He had been an assistant at Hannover and Stuttgart and was head coach of Hannover’s U15 and U17 teams.
Ismaila Sarr: Watford release Senegal winger for Africa Cup of Nations - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/59874808
Afcon 2021: Sierra Leone coach reveals squad selection death threats
Sierra Leone coach John Keister says he received two death threats prior to naming his squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.www.bbc.com
Watford seem to be actively trying to alienate African players at this point, after sparring with both Sarr and Dennis over their AFCON releases. I know the timing is annoying and all, but it's not like everybody didn't know that ahead of time. Claudio Ranieri is too old to get away with throwing tantrumsDespite not having featured in a match for two months, Watford agreed (was strongly pressured into) to release Ismaila Sarr for AFCON.
I mean ... sadly, that's not all that unusual in African football. Uganda's manager basically had to abandon his apartment after he resigned following the 2019 AFCON, and he had actually done quite well. They ended up framing it as a "mutual consent" thing just to turn down the heat on the poor guy.But that's not as bad as the Sierra Leone manager getting death threats over his squad selection.
Grant Wahl tweeted that Carlos Cordeiro is running for USSF President again. That should go over well.
Dier self-isolated and was replaced by Japhet Tanganga, who was directly responsible for two own goals. Final: 2-0.Spurs could face another Covid outbreak ahead of their League Cup semifinal against Chelsea. After the problems they had in Decembed, with 3 matches postponed, it seems to me like they might want to do a deep clean at their training site. This is from an article at The Athletic (behind a paywall).
Tottenham sweating over COVID-19 absences ahead of Chelsea clash
Tottenham Hotspur are facing an anxious wait over potential positive COVID-19 cases ahead of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie against London rivals Chelsea. Antonio Conte’s side travel to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, having already had three matches postponed in December, when a COVID-19...theathletic.com
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Burnley boss Sean Dyche test positive for Covid
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Burnley boss Sean Dyche will miss their clubs' FA Cup third-round ties after testing positive for Covid-19.www.bbc.com
Liverpool Women sign American forward Katie Stengel
Stengel played under Reds head coach Matt Beard at Boston Breakers; 29-year-old could make her debut in Sundays FA Womens Championship trip to Blackburn Rovers Ladieswww.skysports.com
Katie was a legend in college at Wake Forest and her kid sister plays for my NC State Wolfpack. She never really did much in NWSL, but has played for some pretty sketchy organizations. I hope she finds her form for your Reds.The Liverpool Women's side in the FA Women's Championship have signed American Katie Stengel, who most recently played for Valerenga in Norway. The move reunites her with Reds Coach Matt Beard, who coached her with the Boston Breakers.
Hoping she can help our women's push to regain the top flight.