Rotherham United FA Cup 3 Round Match Thread.

[cross it Dave]

I love a cup run, come on you R’s

[Dono77]

Any other year I would love one aswell. Not this year though. Too many games with a small squad. Stick out the kids/squad/out of favour players for the cup. Keep the regulars for the league. That's the priority.

[cross it Dave]

Aren’t all club in the same situation regarding covid.

Liverpool called off tonight's game with Arsenal, covid or the manger wanting a break?

[MINCER]

History shows that teams who are competitive in their league and regularly go deep in cup competitions will eventually gain promotion within a season or so.

[cross it Dave]

History shows that teams who are competitive in their league and regularly go deep in cup competitions will eventually gain promotion within a season or so.

Queens Park Rangers in the early 80’s for instance

[MINCER]

Queens Park Rangers in the early 80’s for instance

And in the late 60s and early 70s. I particularly remember playing Brian Cloughs Derby in the 6th round at the Baseball ground in 72,they were reigning league champions and beat us 4-2 but we earned some great reviews in the media for how good the football we played.The Next season we got promoted.

The best thing about cup completions Is the confidence it can give the players by pitting themselves against better opposition.Same as you I love a cup run.

[cross it Dave]

I totally agree, change isn’t always good, I hate was has happened to our cup competitions.

The romance of the cup was fantastic, we have lost too much.

[LoftusRoadLad]

Don't believe anyone who doesn't like a cup run. They will be there if we reach the later stages for sure !!

[cross it Dave]

Spot on, winning breeds confidence.

[stanistheman]

Agree that we need to maintain a winning mentality at the club and history has shown us that playing weakened teams in order to save players for the next league game rarely ever works and we normally lose it. WBA is up next and they have added Dike to their attack and who knows who else they will sign next week.

[cross it Dave]

Lydon needs match practice, so we need to play him.

Rotherham are flying in league 1, we should play a strong side.

[gator]

And in the late 60s and early 70s. I particularly remember playing Brian Cloughs Derby in the 6th round at the Baseball ground in 72,they were reigning league champions and beat us 4-2 but we earned some great reviews in the media for how good the football we played.The Next season we got promoted.

The best thing about cup completions Is the confidence it can give the players by pitting themselves against better opposition.Same as you I love a cup run.

That's exactly how Rotherham will be looking at this, we don't do cups anymore!

[Sleeping Giants]

Sportsmole.co.uk have our predicted line up v Rotherham containing Dieng and Kakay.....are you going to tell them or should I?...lol

[3London]

as the team with the worst FA record in Living memory i won't get my hopes up

[Abseits]

Under Warburton, our record in cup competitions has improved from diabolical to poor. I feel this improvement derives from fact he seems to get a lot of home ties against "lesser" teams rather than any improved tactical approach of his. That said, for 30+ years we regularly capitulated to "lesser" teams so I must give him some credit for the minor uplift he seem to have achieved in our cup fortunes.

Anyway, I'm not at all confident about Saturday. They're top of League One with only 4 losses all season 2 away and 2 home. Against us in last 6 games they are W3 D1 L2 despite them mostly being relegation fodder.

This season in EFL Cup we have beaten Oxford and drawn with Os and Sunderland so our record against "lesser" teams isn't convincing in my view.

Aside from the above dreary stats there is our attitude to consider..... do the club want to progress in the cup and clog the fixtures up? I think it's unlikely we've seen the end of the covid postponements so progression in the cup could hugely undermine our league campaign.

Of course a trip to Wembley in May would be nice but it needs to be for a play-off final, not an FA Cup Final. Weighing it all up I'd be very happy to field a scratch XI and lose on Saturday.