I think Gus got it spot on this weekend

[The Large One]

Gus wasn't naive in the slightest.

'Naive' is thinking we could beat Stoke at their own game.
'Naive' is thinking we're as good as Stoke.
'Naive' is thinking we could give Stoke a hard-fought, close-run match then turning up to play Plymouth three days later without compromising our status at the top of the table.

We've now got Ankergren, El-Abd, Sparrow (hopefully), Wood (hopefully) and Noone unsullied by Saturday's extertions and ready for tomorrow, with Murray and Barnes only playing for 60 and 70 minutes respectively. I call it astute or 'playing the long game', personally.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Poyet didn't take it seriously and yet we got further than we have done for 25 years and earned over £250K in doing it. What were previous managers doing then, just having a laugh?

 

[Brovion]

Poyet didn't take it seriously and yet we got further than we have done for 25 years and earned over £250K in doing it. What were previous managers doing then, just having a laugh?

Exactly. Look how far we got and then wonder what we could have achieved. Never mind ...

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

I am reminded what Brady said after we drew 2-2 with Canvey Island in the cup "and if my grandma had balls she would be my grandad".

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Promotion from this division as a consolation prize ?

Ah well.

A "consolation prize" worth, in additional income from the Football League, the equivalent of our current annual losses (around £4.5M), and in the first season the chairman want's the football club to be self-financing.

 

[Icy Gull]

Gus wasn't naive in the slightest.

'Naive' is thinking we could give Stoke a hard-fought, close-run match .

No that is just not taking the Cup seriously ( and I have absolutely no problem with that this season as the league is far more important to me)

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Exactly. Look how far we got and then wonder what we could have achieved. Never mind ...

Who's to say we could have got any further. As good as we seem to be, I never felt we were realistically going to beat Stoke, so serious or not, this is about as far as we could have got - unless the draws were different.

 

[Giraffe]

From reading this and the other threads I think I'm the only person to be REALLY gutted and pissed off today. Most people, as expected, are saying "ah well, mustn't grumble, worse things happen at sea, every cloud has a silver lining, Cup wasn't a priority" etc etc etc. But I think we've blown a real and genuine opportunity to make a bit of history, something this club has never really done before. Bollocks. Bollocks. Bollocks.

Ah well, I'm sure if I try I'll enjoy yet another 'vital' third division game against Plymouth f***ing Argyle where it will be 'really important' that we get three points.

Gus is cutting his managerial teeth with us and will make plenty of mistakes. He will also display ' managerial naivety ' at times....it is all part of his learning curve.
Icy Gull's statement is not ridiculous, just stating a personal opinion, which happens to be similar to mine.
The naivety shown was publicly stating that we were not going to change our style of play and suggesting that we were going to try and pass Stoke off the pitch. Also to play his ' cup side ' when over 3000 travelling fans deserved a full strength team.
No fan will be weeping buckets over going out of the competition. Just the manner......going out with a wimper, not playing your best team and not giving it your best shot. We had battled through four previous rounds...to roll over like this was unfair to those that had gone to the time and expense to travel to Stoke.

No, I also think we should have paid more respect to the competition.




My problem with our approach to the FA cup is that it stinks. For years on this site we have, in the main, berated the likes of the Premier league for their commercial approach to football, ie it's the dollar that counts. Yet here we are doing the same thing. I'm not shedding a tear that we are out of the cup but equally I'm not going to cry if we don't get promoted. It's not the end of the world. The club aren't going to fold or end up out of the Football League as they nearly did 14/15 years ago.

All of the above posts sum up how I feel. I remember as a kid saying to my dad after the '83 cup final that it didn't matter that we lost as we'd be there again soon. That was nearly 28 years ago. Since then we've hardly ever reached the fifth round. Therefore I really think we should have given it our best shot possible which meant fielding our stongest team. And I just don't get why in any way playing our best team on Saturday would mean us struggling to beat Plymouth tomorrow night. We are nowhere near the stage of the cup run effecting us yet, we are just as far clear as when we started in the competition!

So if I gave you two options, an FA Cup semi final and not going up or getting knocked out by Stoke and going up, what would you go for? Yes, the two aren't mutually exclusive and there is no guarantee we will go up now but winning against Stoke would have meant yet another game in our packed schedule. Anyone who thinks we would have won the cup this season with Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton, Villa etc still in it is seriously deluded.

I really can't see that one more game would have been that bad a thing, I just can't. We went out in the first round of the other two cups, so why not take the big one seriously? We're still top with games in hand, it's not as though we are playing catch up is it?

And finally if we really weren't going to try then announce that and don't fleece the fans that made the effort to travel.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Fleeced? Did you read the team news before you went?

 

[sagaman]

We all agree that promotion to the Championship remains top priority.

BUT the day out at the Brittania was a complete let down for 3450 Albion fans. Even allowing for Stoke's physicality and better players we lacked any kind of passion that a lower league side should display in the FA Cup. I am also naive enough to think that momentum is important and good play cannot just be turned on and off.

Fair play to Stoke for fielding a near full strength team, cheap tickets and match programme etc.

We may be lucky to be playing a Plymouth club that is falling apart tomorrow

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

£15 a ticket is hardly "fleeced". Unless you bought one of those half n half scarves for £8. Being sold for £5 then as little as £3 after the game...

 

[The Large One]

We all agree that promotion to the Championship remains top priority.

BUT the day out at the Brittania was a complete let down for 3450 Albion fans. Even allowing for Stoke's physicality and better players we lacked any kind of passion that a lower league side should display in the FA Cup. I am also naive enough to think that momentum is important and good play cannot just be turned on and off.

Fair play to Stoke for fielding a near full strength team, cheap tickets and match programme etc.

We may be lucky to be playing a Plymouth club that is falling apart tomorrow

I didn't consider it a let-down.

I had a great time.

Then I had to clean the f***ing bus out.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

I really can't see that one more game would have been that bad a thing, I just can't. We went out in the first round of the other two cups, so why not take the big one seriously? We're still top with games in hand, it's not as though we are playing catch up is it?

And finally if we really weren't going to try then announce that and don't fleece the fans that made the effort to travel.

I genuinely don't understand what you are talking about. We were beaten by a better side, that is what happened. Stoke were physically stronger than us. The team gave their all and barring a couple of changes (and a lot of people wouldn't regard Brezovan and Elphick as any worst than Ankergren and El Abd) it was full strength. I know you will go on about Battipiedi but like it or not Gus regarded him as next in line for selection (ahead of other back up players so it was not like he was resting the others). To say you feel like you have been fleeced is absurd in my view.

 

[Jimbo26]

Glad we are out. Time to cement the title now !!

 

[Dave the OAP]

I came away very dissapointed as when I go and watch the Albion, I hope they will win every game. we have been fed on a diet of passing football that Stoke took precisely 3 minutes to suss out. in our divion we can play that as the players from our sort of teams can't cope with it, get bored, leave gaps and we punish them. Stoke were a different kettle of fish and to a man were miles better than we were. BUT so they should have been. they have internationals all over the place and in Etherington and Pennant, two wingers who would cut us to shreds any time they wanted...and in teh first half, they did. Yes Stoke scored from whate they are renound for...long balls into teh area which are incredibly accurate.

The most telling thing for me was in the second half when we were taking the piss by giving it the ole everytime we passed to one of our players ( 3-0 down of course) and when we started douing it to Stoke, they showed us that they could pass and move three times as quickly and as accrutely as us. BUT again...so they should have done.

Personally I look back on the threads on here at times suggesting we play like premiership sides etc etc and actually no we dont. we play like a very good 3rd division side who is deservedly at the top of the division and with out too many dramas will be promoted this year.

the trick will be next year replicating this against some extremely good sides in the Championship and filling some gaps with better players. A goalkeeper, a full back( I am not convinced by Calderon), two midfielders and a striker. It will be interesting to see what funds Poyet has next year to strengthen the squad

 

[drew]

£15 a ticket is hardly "fleeced". Unless you bought one of those half n half scarves for £8. Being sold for £5 then as little as £3 after the game...

So the 3450 albion fans all apparently live in Stoke then?

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Compared with winning the FA Cup - yes. It's funny, I remember during the 2006 World Cup you thought England had a real chance of winning and I thought you were a bit deluded. The boot's on the other foot now a bit!

Don't remind me - I still think it was a lost opportunity. I admire your belief - it just that promotion is still a bit of a rare bird for us. And the chance of a Championship to boot. That is more than consolation for me. My concern about Saturday was say Bennett getting crocked and Greer getting a three match ban. Part of me does still wish we had committed to it and had a proper go - but I will be happy to start in the third round next year.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Gus might have only been interested in the FA Cup matches against Portsmouth and Watford as it was an indication of where we are currently at. Stoke was a bridge too far and he knew that. The best thing to come out of the game for me was seeing what potential Forster-Caskey has at such a young age. Gus knows the next 2 games are crucial , a win tomorrow to maintain the gap and a win on Saturday against a team who might end up in the play-offs.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Bizarre how many people appear to be in awe of the apparently mighty Stoke City, dinosaurs of the Premier League. As for them being bigger than us, so were Oldham. Plus Oldham didn't rely on a pathetic long throw game. Truth is we just rolled over with two soft early goals. Damn shame El-Abd never got given the chance to wind them up like he did Portsmouth. Might have been a completely different story. Plus its the one time we could have really done with Ankergren and his love of punching the ball.

Massive chance blown, including a very soft quarter-final draw.

Oh well. Onwards and upwards eh?

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Bizarre how many people appear to be in awe of the apparently mighty Stoke City, dinosaurs of the Premier League. As for them being bigger than us, so were Oldham. Plus Oldham didn't rely on a pathetic long throw game. Truth is we just rolled over with two soft early goals. Damn shame El-Abd never got given the chance to wind them up like he did Portsmouth. Might have been a completely different story. Plus its the one time we could have really done with Ankergren and his love of punching the ball.

Massive chance blown, including a very soft quarter-final draw.

Oh well. Onwards and upwards eh?

Are you taking the piss? Stoke are tenth in the Premier League, Oldham are not. What a stupid comparison. I take it teams like Arsenal who have lost at Stoke rolled over as well.