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The Carling Cup : Half full, or half empty?

Published by Ian John on September 22, 2010

On Tuesday and Wednesday night here in England, the next round of Carling Cup matches took place, though if you are a fan of one of the top sides in England, you are likely to have hardly noticed, or been particularly bothered.

England’s third cup competition has, for a long time now, occupied an uncomfortable place in the English calendar. Lacking the history and prestige of the FA Cup, the competition has devolved over the past few years from being a genuinely hard fought cup competition, to something of a distraction for the top teams.

Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool are now joined by the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham and even the likes of Newcastle United, Wolves, Everton and Blackpool in treating the competition with a degree of disdain. For sure, the managers may say the right things, that it is an important cup competition for the development of players subtext : I am going to play my reserve players and save the first teamers for matches that matter and certainly those clubs in the lower leagues cannot afford to treat the game as anything less than a first team match. But for the rich, the competition is simply an unwanted distraction. A step up from the FA Youth Cup and reserve league competitions, but certainly not something to commit key players to winning.

Take the last round of games. Blackpool boss Ian Holloway, a manager who I usually admire greatly, didn’t even turn up to Blackpool’s game, leaving the teamtalk and pre-match work to his backroom staff. Blackpool paid the penalty and lost. Manchester United are playing at the very moment I am writing this and Sir Alex Ferguson is nowhere to be seen. Arsene Wenger took his 1 match ban from the FA without so much of a squeak when he realised it would mean he would be sat in the stand for the Carling Cup tie with Tottenham. Liverpool are playing at the moment and I am half expecting Roy Hodgson to be sat at home making tea for his missus.

What is the answer? There isn’t one. Unless the Carling Cup can generate Champions League levels of investment and TV revenue, then it is always going to be the fourth or fifth choice competition for top teams. The real magic of the cup comes for the lower leagues side, like Scunthorpe who are hosting United tonight, Northampton who have travelled to Anfield and Brentford who managed to defeat Everton last night on penalties.

However for the fans of the lower league sides, it must be a tad disheartening to draw Manchester United, Liverpool or Everton and be faced with a team that is really and truthfully, the reserve team. It is Manchester United or Liverpool in name alone. The team is actually the reserve team.

You can view this one of two ways. You can bemoan the rich clubs flexing their muscles and treating the competition with a degree of contempt. Exploiting their fans who often pay big money to watch reserve teams in action. Alternatively, you can say the competition is an ideal breeding ground for younger players to learn about the game and the fact that the bigger clubs play weakened teams gives the lesser sides a bigger chance of an upset and progressing further in the competition and earning even more money.

Nowadays football at the top level is very much a squad game, however on Carling Cup nights, it just feels a little too cynical at times.

And the worst part of it? The FA Cup is now following in the same vein too.

History, tradition and cup glory, it seems, comes a distant second to finishing fourth and winning the Champions League lottery.

That may be the case, but it isn’t glory and never will be.

Picture courtesy of ***Jennifer M Rukyo*** on Flickr.com

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