Match Thread Gillingham Away (1 Viewer)

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

Macca said:

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

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What'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.

KenilworthSkyBlue said:

What'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.

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Didn’t someone say the prize money for this round was 7.5k? Probably cost us more than that to get to gillingham

I feel a bit conflicted on this one and now after thinking about it overnight am very disappointed that we did not take the opportunity which we should have done let's face it to progress.

We have a much bigger squad in terms of depth and options and it would have given more players valuable match minutes under their belt.

I don't buy the fixtures congestion argument it is one game and is decided on the night each round and also let's not forget we are not in football league trophy now so we lose having to play quite a few games there.

The F.A cup also we don't play rounds 1 & 2 this season and could easily go out round 3 so only one match there too which leaves just league games to play.

Also losing games or letting games slip to draws or defeats late on is not a habit we want to be getting into and we've done that twice already.

It now becomes a big big game on Friday and the players that were rested yesterday need to deliver. I think this is a game we need to target winning at home just to stay in this division as the league is that tough. i think we have the players to beat qpr at home so am staying quietly optimistic for a good result.

I think Coventry should focus a little on cup runs this year just to break up the slog of championship survival personally but hey ho one cup done now anyhoo so roll on Friday....

This performance reminded me of watching England. The better team for the whole game just could not score. Then a couple of stupid mistakes late on and losing on Pens.

AFCCOVENTRY said:

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%

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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.

I think it is a shame we went out of this tournament, it was proving useful to give players coming back from injury, and younger players coming up through the ranks some game time. Plus the money is always welcome of course.

I actually believe our biggest disadvantage is not playing competitively for 6 months. Most Champ clubs were playing into August.

Brighton Sky Blue said:

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.

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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!

Mucca Mad Boys said:

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!

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I think we’ll be safe in the end, it’s just a frustrating start I guess.

Could have been us agaisnt stoke. We could have made quarter finals of league cup

So sad

covcity4life said:

Could have been us agaisnt stoke. We could have made quarter finals of league cup

So sad

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Gills/stoke then play villa/Bristol city... would rather be out to be honest fixture congestion is bad enough without cup games to squeeze in.

SleepyGinger said:

Gills/stoke then play villa/Bristol city... would rather be out to be honest fixture congestion is bad enough without cup games to squeeze in.

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Ans then fans moan cups have lost their allure

Dont blame prem or money. Fans need to take a look at themselves imo

covcity4life said:

Ans then fans moan cups have lost their allure

Dont blame prem or money. Fans need to take a look at themselves imo

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Fans vote with their feet. If the fans packed out stadiums for these cup games, teams would value them more.

Particularly the Checkatrade and Carabao Cup competitions have failed to generate a lot of interest from fans. The FA Cup still generates interest, albeit by running on the fumes of its history.