The Swansea FA Cup tie is literally the only game I have ever left early, at half-time. As I drove along the main road behind the terrace, a minibus was picking up a group of young men and headed off westwards. Cardiff were at home with a 3 p.m KO.

They didn't seem to have kitbags, suggesting they weren't members of a team off to play a game. I have always wondered if they were City supporters there for mischief.

When is the 1st round draw?

Grimsby...away...

Oh dear!

Poor draw, but still very winnable. We are there in the league two weeks before. Glad the bye went to Chichester (once we were not getting it), however it did make a bit of a farce of the big draw for all non league teams that, probably, every one of them didn't want to play a match.

Great - another trip to The Land That Time Forgot..........

Perfect draw this season. Its certainly loseable but our squad players are more than capable of winning there. Can't see us taking this competition seriously this year, as flynny surely wants promotion above all else this year.

Can't see us ever not taking the FA Cup seriously. What would have been the better outcome last season; losing at Wrexham (because we didn't take it seriously) and getting promotion or what actually happened? For me it's a no brainer. We can't win it but recently, third (and fourth) round matches have been our cup finals. There's always the real possibility of going out cheaply in the Cup and still missing promotion.

excessbee wrote:Poor draw, but still very winnable. We are there in the league two weeks before. Glad the bye went to Chichester (once we were not getting it), however it did make a bit of a farce of the big draw for all non league teams that, probably, every one of them didn't want to play a match.

We are there in the league the week after aren't we on the 16th

ref23 wrote:Perfect draw this season. Its certainly loseable but our squad players are more than capable of winning there. Can't see us taking this competition seriously this year, as flynny surely wants promotion above all else this year.

£££££££££
Forget Micky Mouse squad players also mostly useless anyway.

Frank Nouble 3 wrote:

ref23 wrote:Perfect draw this season. Its certainly loseable but our squad players are more than capable of winning there. Can't see us taking this competition seriously this year, as flynny surely wants promotion above all else this year.

£££££££££
Forget Micky Mouse squad players also mostly useless anyway.

As a fan I'd always prioritise the cup, especially when fan owned. But the bottom line is flynny has worked wonders for us in the cups, and for both the clubs and his own own progression it is going to be promotion next. Take into account Gavins comments in the argus last week too. I reckon the board want promotion now.

I'm not saying we'll send a youth team up there, but expect a similar side to the west ham and Gillingham games in my opinion.

excessbee wrote:Can't see us ever not taking the FA Cup seriously. What would have been the better outcome last season; losing at Wrexham (because we didn't take it seriously) and getting promotion or what actually happened? For me it's a no brainer. We can't win it but recently, third (and fourth) round matches have been our cup finals. There's always the real possibility of going out cheaply in the Cup and still missing promotion.

And fifth round

ref23 wrote:

Frank Nouble 3 wrote:

ref23 wrote:Perfect draw this season. Its certainly loseable but our squad players are more than capable of winning there. Can't see us taking this competition seriously this year, as flynny surely wants promotion above all else this year.

£££££££££
Forget Micky Mouse squad players also mostly useless anyway.

As a fan I'd always prioritise the cup, especially when fan owned. But the bottom line is flynny has worked wonders for us in the cups, and for both the clubs and his own own progression it is going to be promotion next. Take into account Gavins comments in the argus last week too. I reckon the board want promotion now.

I'm not saying we'll send a youth team up there, but expect a similar side to the west ham and Gillingham games in my opinion.

Would agree with that. Balance of probabilities we won’t get another plum cup draw. We are flying in the league and I reckon Flynn will prioritise it. The 7 FA cup games last season must have affected league form - stats and drop in form during the cup run support this view. We finished 8 points behind MK plus we played them home and away either side of the Man C game. Got a stronger squad this season albeit not that deep so fewer cup games the better for me this season. Tough cup draw v Grimsby will be a test, somehow I think Flynn will put out a stronger team for the league game. Anyway we’ll find out soon enough when we see the starting XI for the cup game. Plus we have a meaningless paint pot fixture sandwiched between the 2 Grimsby games.

When we have two consecutive Saturday league matches we'd expect the best team out for both. I don't see these two matches as being any different. As posted above, we have a stronger bench so that could cover casualties for the second game,if needed.

If we are looking to strengthen the Team in the January window, then a good cup run now would certainly assist that objective.