Great job by Watford for making it into the Carling Cup Semi Finals vs Liverpool. The 3-0 win over Portmouth added another premiership scalp to the Hornets list after beating Sothampton 5-2 in the previous round. Watford can take Liverpool over the two legs,and it's doesn't matter if Liverpool field a full squad or reserves again. Good Luck to Ray Lewington and the Hornets.
Lets hope Liverpool field their best lineup possible for the two leg semi final vs Watford. they owe both sets of supporters who will be paying good money a chance to see the full squads. Playing reserves IMHO weakens the League Cup.
yep, if Watford made the final because Liverpool put their reserves out they'd be sooooooo gutted. My bet is that when the new Wembley is finished we'll see a sudden upturn for this cup as everyone will want to go/play there. As nice as many say the stadium in Cardiff is (I can't stand it personally), the fact that it's played there cheapens the competition somewhat. The old Wembley may have be a decaying ruin, but it had a certain grandness to it that made the place special.
I doubt Liverpool will until the final (unless they get knocked out of the Champions League). I think too it is upto them who they field, if they want to play reserves, so be it. I understand what you say about the fans paying good money to watch the game, and if we played a big side I'd want to see their best players out there. The thing is though Manchester Utd and Liverpool are both in the semis by playing weakened sides (not sure what to say about Chelsea with the squad they have) and I wouldn't bet against either making the final. The glory (and money) are in the Premiership and the Champions League and thats unfortunately just the way it is.
Sometime early in 2006 I believe and there was talk that the first game would be the 2006 FA Cup final. I disagree with RichardL personally that playing in Cardiff devalues or cheapens the competition as we have actually seen some top clubs in the finals. What has happened is that the CL has beome even more significant and financially vital and so the top clubs have had to field weaker sides. I'm biased though, I love the Millenium stadium and think its the best that I've ever been to. That includes the old Wembley, Nou Camp, San Siro, Luz, Old Trafford, Murrayfield etc.
it's a decent stadium, if a bit dark and gloomy, and if you never make the serious mistake of sitting in the lower tier behind the goal, and you ignore the dreadful accoustics, but there's no charisma to the place. For all of it's numerous faults players did dream of playing at wembley, and fans did dream of seeing their team there. Cardiff just doesn't have that appeal in any way.
Go to most new stadiums and sit behind the goal in a low tier and you can't see anything either. What about when you went to Wmbley and were stuck behind a pillar? Fans dream of a victory, not of Wembley. Go and ask fans of Blackburn if they would rather have had a day out at Wembley or victory in the Worthington Cup and we all know what they would say. At the end of the day Wembley was the most historic venue in the world, but it was in a poor state, it had to be rebuilt and the millenium and has done an excellent job. If you ask most fans if they prefer going to Cardiff or the old Wembley many (if not most) will say Cardiff.
I don't think the stadium in Cardiff is amazing, but it isn't as bad as you say. I had a nice experience there as a neutral for the FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Southampton. I sat in the 4'th row behind the goal in the half filled with Arsenal fans. The Southampton fans turned out really well, which made it a memorable experience. I might not have thought anything of the gloomy feel as it was a gloomy day anyway because of bad weather. The roof was closed for the match, which was pretty interesting.
the problem with the lower tier is that it's far too shallow. It'd be shallow even if it was terracing. I ended up having to watch the scoreboard for action at the far end, rather than the pitch. Wembley was crap once they made it all-seater, but unless they seriously screw-up somehow, once the new wembley is built, not a single person will miss cardiff. And yes, crap as it was, I do think wembley just had a certain something about it that cardiff lacks. True, given the choice of a win in cardiff or a defeat at wembley, nobody would choose the defeat, but I'm sure not only would the same be true if you reversed the scenario, but far more would choose a wembley win to a cardiff one.
Going to Cardiff give you that special feeling though... you know the one i mean.... It is the "I'm glad i don't live in Wales" feeling.
I thought you meant the "Why in god's name to we have to pay to get in to this country??!" feeling as you crossed the Severn Bridge.
Wales beats London. But supporting Halifax cup finals have always been an entirely hypothetical situation.
Come on. Cardiff is a brilliant city. The fact that the ground is right in the city centre helps alot as well. If you get the train to Cardiff you only have to walk 50 yards to the ground, and there are 100 pubs surrounding you.