Yes Matt, they want to stay in the Premier League for the money and that same money allows them to have big squads including several players they have no intention of using except to play in cups, in order to rest first choice players for the main task of staying with the money.
The Cup I think is compulsory anyway ....... so teams need to lose out if they are happy to lose in it. So instead of all Premier and Championship clubs getting byes to Round Three ....... it should be the 44 best performing sides in the last five years of the FA Cup which have that honour. So a Premier League team that traditionally loses early in the Cup would risk playing two extra rounds. Similarly as lower league teams also field weakened teams sometimes, they would be considered alongside the National League sides which don't enter the Cup until the final qualifying round and it would be the 24 worst performers of that lot that would start in the qualifying ...........
I realise this would mess up fixtures a bit BUT that in itself would ensure teams at least tried to perform to their own ability level. Much as Lincoln beating Brighton was wonderful it wasn't like the old days of Hereford doing for Newcastle because Brighton didn't field anything like their full team. The new Ronnie Radford thus is cheated of becoming a Ronnie Radford and the fans are cheated of an authentically great memory because their rivals can always chant " Beat Brighton Reserves!" at them.
The Cup I think is compulsory anyway ....... so teams need to lose out if they are happy to lose in it. So instead of all Premier and Championship clubs getting byes to Round Three ....... it should be the 44 best performing sides in the last five years of the FA Cup which have that honour. So a Premier League team that traditionally loses early in the Cup would risk playing two extra rounds. Similarly as lower league teams also field weakened teams sometimes, they would be considered alongside the National League sides which don't enter the Cup until the final qualifying round and it would be the 24 worst performers of that lot that would start in the qualifying ...........
I realise this would mess up fixtures a bit BUT that in itself would ensure teams at least tried to perform to their own ability level. Much as Lincoln beating Brighton was wonderful it wasn't like the old days of Hereford doing for Newcastle because Brighton didn't field anything like their full team. The new Ronnie Radford thus is cheated of becoming a Ronnie Radford and the fans are cheated of an authentically great memory because their rivals can always chant " Beat Brighton Reserves!" at them.