Unquestionably this. Stephens is basically unreplaceable in our side without a lot of investment. A trophy is great, however, staying up next year is even greater. We'll build our team around Stephens - and be much more likely to stay up because of it.
Trophy.
Sticking my neck on the line - I don't think Stephens is premier league. Too slow across the ground & ponderous in possession..
I hope this gets reposted in a years time & I am proven wrong..
Trophies are pretty ineffective when you're up against the likes of Chelsea and Spurs. Best bet would be to play the trophy in a fullback position.
So you'd take finishing 17th in the PL over an FA Cup then. Lofty ambitions.
Winning it then qualifies you for a European reserve competition.
So it offers more than finishing among the relegation fodder of the PL then.
Championship football or Premiership football?
This shouldn't even be a debate.
Taking finishing as a cellar dweller over an FA Cup shouldn't be a debate. Yet here we are. Being content with being bang on mediocre vs winning a historic trophy.
Championship football or Premiership football?
This shouldn't even be a debate.
Wigan have now dropped to the 3rd flight for the 2nd time since winning the FA cup only 4 years ago.
But nonetheless, they did win the FA cup!
And they still have the memory and trophy of that day. What happens after that has no relevance to winning it.
Winning any trophy will stick in my mind forever, finishing bottom half of any league will fade away pretty quickly.
Considering we have played only 3 seasons of top tier football in the clubs 115 year existence.These seasons to come will stick in your memory for lives to come and yet, we will probably be fighting relegation.