Talking by phone to my brother last night. He said, "mixed bag for you this weekend then, what with Rangers losing and County winning. Great result for County, the Racing Post tipped County to win, and I laid Leeds on Betfair" (Laying, for those who don't know, is betting a team NOT to win, which is not the same thing as betting them to lose - so you collect money without actually picking a winner).

I was quite surprised, cos I'd assumed most sporting press would've had us as firm underdogs.
I reckon if a team fields a drastically weakened squad, they deserve all they get.

Makes you wonder if 3 bonus LEAGUE points were on offer for each round of a cup a team progressed through, whether teams mightn't take it more seriously. Something wants doing I reckon.

The wife backed Leeds half time County full time at 40/1. She did the same for the Saints/Palace (50/1) and West Ham/West Brom matches (33/1) on Tuesday. Shame it wasn't more than £3 for any of them...

newgroundrodney wrote:Talking by phone to my brother last night. He said, "mixed bag for you this weekend then, what with Rangers losing and County winning. Great result for County, the Racing Post tipped County to win, and I laid Leeds on Betfair" (Laying, for those who don't know, is betting a team NOT to win, which is not the same thing as betting them to lose - so you collect money without actually picking a winner).

I was quite surprised, cos I'd assumed most sporting press would've had us as firm underdogs.
I reckon if a team fields a drastically weakened squad, they deserve all they get.

Makes you wonder if 3 bonus LEAGUE points were on offer for each round of a cup a team progressed through, whether teams mightn't take it more seriously. Something wants doing I reckon.

For me the only way to address this issue is to have a Champions League place for the winners. The sad truth is that football is run by and for monied people and football fans are merely cash cows. Fans love the Cup as do players. However the owners of Leeds probably made it perfectly clear that the Premier League was their priority. Losing their best player for six weeks will have pissed them off big time, moreso than the result.

Little victories.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

newgroundrodney wrote:Talking by phone to my brother last night. He said, "mixed bag for you this weekend then, what with Rangers losing and County winning. Great result for County, the Racing Post tipped County to win, and I laid Leeds on Betfair" (Laying, for those who don't know, is betting a team NOT to win, which is not the same thing as betting them to lose - so you collect money without actually picking a winner).

I was quite surprised, cos I'd assumed most sporting press would've had us as firm underdogs.
I reckon if a team fields a drastically weakened squad, they deserve all they get.

Makes you wonder if 3 bonus LEAGUE points were on offer for each round of a cup a team progressed through, whether teams mightn't take it more seriously. Something wants doing I reckon.

For me the only way to address this issue is to have a Champions League place for the winners. The sad truth is that football is run by and for monied people and football fans are merely cash cows. Fans love the Cup as do players. However the owners of Leeds probably made it perfectly clear that the Premier League was their priority. Losing their best player for six weeks will have pissed them off big time, moreso than the result.

Little victories.

The Leeds chairman was fuming. Called it the lowest moment in his time at the club.... This is what he tweeted:-

@NewportCounty congratulations for passing the @TheFACup round today. Great spirit and passion what we @LUFC lacked completely. Feel sorry for the fans, the lowest moment for me since I joined

newgroundrodney wrote:Talking by phone to my brother last night. He said, "mixed bag for you this weekend then, what with Rangers losing and County winning. Great result for County, the Racing Post tipped County to win, and I laid Leeds on Betfair" (Laying, for those who don't know, is betting a team NOT to win, which is not the same thing as betting them to lose - so you collect money without actually picking a winner).

I was quite surprised, cos I'd assumed most sporting press would've had us as firm underdogs.
I reckon if a team fields a drastically weakened squad, they deserve all they get.

Makes you wonder if 3 bonus LEAGUE points were on offer for each round of a cup a team progressed through, whether teams mightn't take it more seriously. Something wants doing I reckon.

I totally agree with with 'they deserve what they get' comment. The only time I would have an impassioned opinion is if Newport County tried similar in the first round, against, say a non-league side from the Conference South, and then got outplayed AND lost (as in the case of LEEDS).

[
The Leeds chairman was fuming. Called it the lowest moment in his time at the club.... This is what he tweeted:-

@NewportCounty congratulations for passing the @TheFACup round today. Great spirit and passion what we @LUFC lacked completely. Feel sorry for the fans, the lowest moment for me since I joined[/quote]

If they get into the play-offs they will soon forget about this loss, its not as if they were favourites to win the FAC, bigger fish to fry.

If that was his lowest moment he should be chairman of County and have a real job!

Leeds have been punching above their weight in the championship so far and now having seen their reserves I don't think they have a chance of promotion without serious investment.

Chairman seems a good guy - that makes a change for Leeds!