16-08-2024, 16:31
The idea behind splitting the Carabao in its first two rounds holds obvious appeal, unfortunately it doesn't go far enough to grab the attention of the crowds or the clubs. Far too many clubs discard it completely from their thinking and field an almost complete reserve side, because their season has hardly started and they decide their is little chance of achieving anything worthwhile.
My solution is go the whole hog with the idea and split the whole competition in two. Give the two sections names - maybe Helvellyn and Jurassic or something and make the draw simpler to understand.
46 clubs geographically divided in each section. The lowest ranked 28 from the previous season's league positions go into the first round draw. 18 "top" clubs get byes.
2nd Round, now 32 clubs. The 14 first round winners to be guaranteed HOME ties in Round Two. So lower clubs get 14 chances of playing a much bigger club at home. Only two games feature big clubs only. That way ALL the smaller clubs will give Round One a real go.
Then carry on with normal draws for a Round 3 of 16 clubs and so on regionally UNTIL you have a Northern and a Southern Final with a trophy for each.
Then towards the season's close, North vs South in a big Kings of Carabou Final. The sponsors would love it I'm sure. Fans would like guaranteeing playing their own area only until the big play off. No small club like Chesterfield would fight its way through to Round 3 only to find that of all the glamour clubs left they'd got Ipswich miles away on a Tuesday night. A draw home or away against Liverpool or even Newcastle would bring a song to the heart even with a hiding in prospect.
And maybe start the competition when all 92 clubs have actually got going
My solution is go the whole hog with the idea and split the whole competition in two. Give the two sections names - maybe Helvellyn and Jurassic or something and make the draw simpler to understand.
46 clubs geographically divided in each section. The lowest ranked 28 from the previous season's league positions go into the first round draw. 18 "top" clubs get byes.
2nd Round, now 32 clubs. The 14 first round winners to be guaranteed HOME ties in Round Two. So lower clubs get 14 chances of playing a much bigger club at home. Only two games feature big clubs only. That way ALL the smaller clubs will give Round One a real go.
Then carry on with normal draws for a Round 3 of 16 clubs and so on regionally UNTIL you have a Northern and a Southern Final with a trophy for each.
Then towards the season's close, North vs South in a big Kings of Carabou Final. The sponsors would love it I'm sure. Fans would like guaranteeing playing their own area only until the big play off. No small club like Chesterfield would fight its way through to Round 3 only to find that of all the glamour clubs left they'd got Ipswich miles away on a Tuesday night. A draw home or away against Liverpool or even Newcastle would bring a song to the heart even with a hiding in prospect.
And maybe start the competition when all 92 clubs have actually got going