Bit disappointed to be honest. Don’t mind us writing off cups when we were in lower leagues but as a championship club we should be looking for a run
Didn’t someone say the prize money for this round was 7.5k? Probably cost us more than that to get to gillinghamWhat's the incentive though? Without crowds the financial incentive just isn't there and unfortunately that's a significant motivator for lower league sides looking to go on a cup run - especially when there's a possibility of drawing a 'big side'. The prize money for League Cup progression is peanuts in comparison to the FA Cup, the chance of the fixture being shown on TV is fairly unlikely, and its early stages only really exist as a jaunt for smaller sides to get a big draw or a memorable result. So, really whilst crowds are still prohibited due to the pandemic, the opportunity to draw a 'big side' for the sake of saying we're playing against 'big side' is the only motivator - which of course is nice for the fans and the players, but in the grand scheme of things still qualifies it as an unnecessary fixture in the context of the campaign.
Personally, I often think that the experience-factor is often relatively flat anyway as the 'bigger side' rarely fields many, if any of their household names.
Last season we worried about lack of goals but we were brilliant at game management. My only worry is we don’t have enough experienced championship players to play out games in tricky situations. Kelly is our most experienced player but you see that, so annoying he’s injured. Players will need to learn rapidly but I have faith it will all suddenly click and fitness levels will be 100%
To be fair the 18/19 squad was raw for L1 by and large. I do think we’ll get up to speed but my concern is in doing that we play catch up from the off.
It is a valid concern to have, and matches my own prejudice going into the season. But, it’s a bit too early to to worry about it.
Playing away from home, even without fans, still favours the home team, and all our games so far have been away. Trust me on that, I’ve played many games in front of zero or v small crowds! Bristol are one of the better teams in the league, and our chances were not necessarily clear cut - not like last night, anyway.
If we keep playing how we’re playing, there’s enough about us to stay in this division. I expect us to lose more than win this season anyway, and there will be frustrating dropped points from winning positions!
Could have been us agaisnt stoke. We could have made quarter finals of league cup
So sad
Ans then fans moan cups have lost their allureGills/stoke then play villa/Bristol city... would rather be out to be honest fixture congestion is bad enough without cup games to squeeze in.
Ans then fans moan cups have lost their allure
Dont blame prem or money. Fans need to take a look at themselves imo