[SmethDan]

My only criticism over Don Carlos in his time here is his disdain for both cup competitions. Getting through the rounds earns us money which we sorely need.........

If you're going to criticise Carlos for his apparent disdain for cup competitions it's probably best to focus on a journey for supporters than financial gains in the League Cup. As cash cows go it's more of a pig with a very faint hint of lipstick  .

Fleetwood secured £5,000 in prize money for beating a scratch team under the guise of West Bromwich Albion. Should they win the next round that's another £7,000. Should they win the third round they'll get another £10,000 (I think).

Victory over three rounds would have secured us £22,000 plus whatever extra sponsorship packages we could have put together and a share of gate receipts before taxes, wages for match day staff, player win bonuses and appearance fees are taken into account.

If Carlos had taken the cup more seriously and selected him I very much doubt £22,000 would cover Alex Mowatt's contracted weekly wages plus appearance fee and win bonus over Fleetwood Town and whomever our next two opponents would have been should we have beaten them.

There's a balance to be struck between the romance of a midweek away tie with Fleetwood Town and financial realities. The competition is where it is, in the doldrums with scant rewards for West Bromwich Albion beyond playing time for fringe players. The prize money really is a drop in the ocean even in our current financial state.

Anyway, roll on January when I hope to be in attendance for an Albion victory home or away in the FA Cup. I'd be delighted if we were to lift the trophy in May. Preferably on the back of a promotion so we could repeat the double of 1931. COYB  .

[baggiebof]

If you mean at the end of this season (relegation battle) then how would we know?
If you mean as in the end of last season, it doesn’t matter, check the pre match thread against qpr..almost everyone thought we Would get beat

You can’t pick a squad on hypethetics or emotion, factually Leeds in the league is far more important , the kids had an opportunity and we now have a smaller schedule, it’s really not a bad thing.

I mean that when we were an established team in the PL, this was when we should have really thrown everything at both cups. It was also a good opportunity as we were a top division side and therefore were relatively strong in the context of the whole football pyramid.

[tommcneill]

I think it was a great experience for the kids, a lot of whom made their first team debuts.

Not the result we wanted obviously as a cup run would have given them further opportunity to get more mens football in them.

Remember when we played Arsenal team with a lot of their seniors and got smashed, the kids all loved it, what a great experience etc they said.

It's also shown CC where they are in terms of development, a lot not far along as we would have liked but it is what it is.  Loan time for most of them.

Just because we didn't get the result we wanted doesn't necessarily mean it was a complete waste of time.

Cracking post this is mate.

There is always a clamour to play the kids, this is a competition to play them in at first team level during the season. I'd like to think we would take the FA Cup more seriously though.

Some young players have shown that they are on the right track for more first team involvement, others showed they need a loan.

As much as we wanted to win, it was a good exercise to see where these lads are.

[CL3MO]

Cracking post this is mate.

There is always a clamour to play the kids, this is a competition to play them in at first team level during the season. I'd like to think we would take the FA Cup more seriously though.

Some young players have shown that they are on the right track for more first team involvement, others showed they need a loan.

As much as we wanted to win, it was a good exercise to see where these lads are.

I agree with what you're saying to an extent but just to look at it from another angle: play a slightly stronger team, with a better blend of first team and youth and give yourself a better chance of winning. Some of these players can come off from the bench and with a win, we would have had Rotherham at home in the next round. The result? We now have another game against lower league opposition (who, with Steve Evans as manager, would have certainly played a weaker side themselves) for the younger players to gain further experience.

For me, even with the subs, it felt a complete sacrifice.

[NJS]

OK we could have brought on a couple of the first team squad, but whom?

We were down 1-2 so presumably we would have brought on attackers.  Would that have been Maja and Fellows?  What if either of them would have got injured playing against the type of agricultural defenders you get in the lower leagues?

We might have needed a midfield general to get the ball forward.  The only person I can think of that could have made a difference in midfield is Mowatt, but would you risk him when the first team squad is short of his like?
From all accounts Whitwell was playing OK and this was the chance for Diakite to get acquainted with EFL levels of energy.

We have a thin first team squad and with the usual run of injuries and suspensions we are going to call upon soemm of those playing on Tuesday night - opportunities will exist.

[Atomic]

As much as I love the cups the chances of us winning one must be 1000/1.

Carlos did absolutely the right thing on Tuesday.

The fact that he was anonymous on the touchline shows just how much interest he had in winning that game, much like the pre season friendlies.

It's all about the league. No other fixture matters and players aren't stupid, it filters down.

[alex1]

Much as I agree with Carlos' team selection for the Fleetwood game, for reasons set out in my previous posts, I rate the FA Cup as having greater glamour factor than the Carabao Cup. It is the world's oldest cup competition for a start. The Carabao Cup has had any number of name changes which tells you something. It also contributes to the overload of competitive fixtures in this country. Most of our European counterparts have just the one domestic cup. A bit like the European Conference League it smacks of let's keep organising more cups so that everyone can win something.

[overseas baggie]

Much as I agree with Carlos' team selection for the Fleetwood game, for reasons set out in my previous posts, I rate the FA Cup as having greater glamour factor than the Carabao Cup. It is the world's oldest cup competition for a start. The Carabao Cup has had any number of name changes which tells you something. It also contributes to the overload of competitive fixtures in this country. Most of our European counterparts have just the one domestic cup. A bit like the European Conference League it smacks of let's keep organising more cups so that everyone can win something.

I agree with you, but the change of name is merely a change of sponsor.  It’s still the League Cup.

[Albion79]

I was annoyed with CC tuesday but i think the clubs approach to cups has been poor for ages.

I know people say its a long shot winning the cup, its an even longer shot trying to win the premier league should we get there, at least with cups you have six games, you may get a big boy and get lucky, its still a lot better chance of winning six games than there is of winning the premier league.

Surely football is about creating memories and moments of glory, it may not happen but at least give yourself a chance rather than just making a token efforr, i have been going the Albion near 40 years, people in the same era as me, we have never seen us win a cup, get to a cup final and only make a semi final once in that time, for a club our size its really poor.

Blues fans still talk about the Carling Cup win, the day itself, the european trips, all the memories that go with it, that to me is a big part of football rather than sacking off the cups and competing to stay 17th in a league you will never win.

As said have no issue with CC's team on tuesday but we could of had some help on the bench, Fellows, Swift, Maja, etc may of got injured, they may of also got injured in training this morning, they may get injured after 5 mins against Leeds, some players may need a bit of extra protection but most would of been fine and rather played than have another training session.

A lot of the above isnt to do with CC but his approach and ambition towards cups is one of the very few  negatives against him for me.

[Hull Baggie]

I was annoyed with CC tuesday but i think the clubs approach to cups has been poor for ages.

I know people say its a long shot winning the cup, its an even longer shot trying to win the premier league should we get there, at least with cups you have six games, you may get a big boy and get lucky, its still a lot better chance of winning six games than there is of winning the premier league.

Surely football is about creating memories and moments of glory, it may not happen but at least give yourself a chance rather than just making a token efforr, i have been going the Albion near 40 years, people in the same era as me, we have never seen us win a cup, get to a cup final and only make a semi final once in that time, for a club our size its really poor.

Blues fans still talk about the Carling Cup win, the day itself, the european trips, all the memories that go with it, that to me is a big part of football rather than sacking off the cups and competing to stay 17th in a league you will never win.

As said have no issue with CC's team on tuesday but we could of had some help on the bench, Fellows, Swift, Maja, etc may of got injured, they may of also got injured in training this morning, they may get injured after 5 mins against Leeds, some players may need a bit of extra protection but most would of been fine and rather played than have another training session.

A lot of the above isnt to do with CC but his approach and ambition towards cups is one of the very few  negatives against him for me.

This is the first time I can remember when he's put out a very weak side in a cup competition. In all the other Cup ties he's been involved in he's played decent sides.

[baggie82]

Yet we are the only championship club to go out to a lower league team. Why is our attitude to cups different, or are you saying the league isn't a priority to those championship clubs that are into the next round.

I couldn’t care less about other championship clubs. Irrelevant. We need to focus exclusively on the league this season.

[zippyandbungle]

I was annoyed with CC tuesday but i think the clubs approach to cups has been poor for ages.

I know people say its a long shot winning the cup, its an even longer shot trying to win the premier league should we get there, at least with cups you have six games, you may get a big boy and get lucky, its still a lot better chance of winning six games than there is of winning the premier league.

Surely football is about creating memories and moments of glory, it may not happen but at least give yourself a chance rather than just making a token efforr, i have been going the Albion near 40 years, people in the same era as me, we have never seen us win a cup, get to a cup final and only make a semi final once in that time, for a club our size its really poor.

Blues fans still talk about the Carling Cup win, the day itself, the european trips, all the memories that go with it, that to me is a big part of football rather than sacking off the cups and competing to stay 17th in a league you will never win.

As said have no issue with CC's team on tuesday but we could of had some help on the bench, Fellows, Swift, Maja, etc may of got injured, they may of also got injured in training this morning, they may get injured after 5 mins against Leeds, some players may need a bit of extra protection but most would of been fine and rather played than have another training session.

A lot of the above isnt to do with CC but his approach and ambition towards cups is one of the very few  negatives against him for me.

I’d refer you back to our last F.A Cup match at home
Did you honestly get the feeling that no one was up for that ??

[overseas baggie]

This is the first time I can remember when he's put out a very weak side in a cup competition. In all the other Cup ties he's been involved in he's played decent sides.

Er… Aldershot last season!

[Dexy]

Er… Aldershot last season!

Far stronger , Bartley/ Pipa/ Mowatt/Chalobah/Dike/Pieters started that game .

[paulosull]

Wish Carlos would take his foot of the brake and pull up handbrake because that was one tedious affair today. Talk about being overly cautious was an understatement has he got no faith in Grant putting in a defensive shift on left wing it buggers up our most effective attacker in Fellow’s  on right. I don’t know if Dobbins can do job out there or we need to get someone who can.

[Albionic]

Too cautious today, subs should have come sooner, take the point and move on. Hope SP has come to sanction spending the repaid loan money and put an arm around CC

[Hull Baggie]

Wish Carlos would take his foot of the brake and pull up handbrake because that was one tedious affair today. Talk about being overly cautious was an understatement has he got no faith in Grant putting in a defensive shift on left wing it buggers up our most effective attacker in Fellow’s  on right. I don’t know if Dobbins can do job out there or we need to get someone who can.

If you take your foot off the brake and pull up the handbrake it has the same effect...you won,'t move.
I agree swapping Grant and Fellows didn't work though.

[gazberg]

The swopping of Fellows and Grant literally made no sense at all but the game is done and most of us would have took a point before kick off i imagine.

[hardtobeat]

I think the swapping was more to do with stoping Leeds . It looks like CC trusted Fellows to do a better job than Grant v Dan James or trusted Grant to do a better job against Gnonto . I didn’t understand it either and if it was for another reason I’m bu&&ered if I can see what it was !

[miggybaggy]

Right now, Fellows is one of the best right wingers in the game....an absolute natural who we will be lucky to hang on to for much longer. For pity's sake Carlos, play him were he's best!!

[BalisPen]

Doing great work.

I think Grant was played more as a central striker in the second half rather than switched, with DF expected to go forward more.

Well done CC on well earned draw and clean sheet, I didn't think we'd get one with semi at the back, like the start of last season.

[robnewbold]

Two in, lost none. Could be Norwich. But they haven't got Carlos.

[timdon]

We look so well drilled under CC. It's early days and there will be at least a couple more signings. Once we have these and he's had more time to work with the other new guys, we will improve more. Four points from first 2 games is brilliant imo, and we are very lucky to have such an excellent coach at the club.

[Webby]

My new ST is literally on the subs bench pitch level. Insane to see how involved he constantly is. Strepsils must love him

[beechyboy90]

Too cautious today, subs should have come sooner, take the point and move on. Hope SP has come to sanction spending the repaid loan money and put an arm around CC

Bingo. Summed up. Grant off earlier. Swift had faded could have been switched. Fellows playing left side is also a waste of our most potent attacking threat.carlos has credit in bank and 4 points from first 2 games isn't to be sniffed at.

But today was boring