I'm writing this the day before we face QPR in the Carling Cup, so if we can cause an upset and get through to the next round then I reserve the right to change my mind on the competition. But honestly, have you ever seen a less exciting way to do a cup draw in your life as we witnessed on SKY two weeks ago. There are so many holes to pick in the way it was done, and the current format of the competition as a whole, that it's tough to know where to start, but I'll kick off with the pre-draw for home and away purposes. Now I'm not the infamous rocket scientist but couldn't we have just started off picking a seed, then a non-seed, then a non-seed, then a seed, and so on and so forth. That way we would have still had the home and away format for seeds and non-seeds but we wouldn't have been "treated" to the ridiculous scenario of teams appearing in the away box before you even knew who the home side was. That of course made even more annoying when QPR come out of the bag/hat/box/tray for yet another 600 mile round trip. It's not just us either with Yeovil and Darlington facing mammoth midweek journeys to less than half full stadiums at Middlesbrough and Darlington respectively. For me, the whole thing needs to go down the route of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with a North and South format eventually leading to a North against South final. Certainly something needs to be changed, and the authorities obviously agree with that themselves after the changes they have made in recent years. It's a competition that has been dying for a good few years now, a lot of the reason for that down to the money on offer to the top sides in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. For the top sides in the Championship and the also-rans in the Premier League though, the financial stakes are so high for getting into, and staying in, the old Division One, that the Carling Cup has disappeared away into even a nuisance for some clubs. You only have to see the sides that some of these clubs field for a competition they can win to find out what their opinion of it is. Look at the FA Cup as a prime example, a lot of the teams in the Premier League have been putting out weakened sides in this for years now as well. Remember the comments of Reading's Dave Kitson last season : "We are not going to win the FA Cup and I do not care less about it, to be honest. I care about staying in the Premier League, as does everybody at this club. Our league status is not protected by winning the FA Cup - simple as that." As it turns out he can now see that Reading's Premier League status isn't protected by losing 1-0 at home to Tottenham in an FA Cup third round replay either, but never mind eh. Plus when you take into account Barnsley, Cardiff, Portsmouth and West Bromwich Albion being the four FA Cup semi-finalists last season, then Reading would certainly have been wiser to take it more seriously. On the subject of Portsmouth I see that the August transfer window has been extended by a day this year because the 31st of August falls on a Sunday. No doubt that will please Harry Redknapp as he continues his tradition of moaning that he doesn't have enough players in his 30-man squad to choose from, while then sending half of them on loan to lower division clubs. The closing of the transfer window always reminds me of kids at school having all their summer holidays to do their homework, and then furiously trying to fit it all in on the last day, often with answers that smack of desperation. No doubt it will be the same again on Monday as managers who have had three weeks since the start of the season to sign players end up faxing off signatures and paperwork to the Football League at two minutes to midnight. It remains to be seen what will happen on the transfer front at Brunton Park up until the close of play, although the main moves in and out certainly seem to have been done already. One thing is for sure though, whatever happens at Carlisle this week at least after Monday night we won't have to hear any more about Gareth Barry's mind-numbing transfer saga until January. |