Reap what you sow

[Royal Rother]

In reply to RR,
My comment was based on 20 Premier League clubs not taking the competition seriously and therefore as shown by Cardiff and Millwall making quarter-finals,semi-finals and even finals in the past few years as Championship clubs the reaching of a quarter-final for a Championship club is no big deal.
I do agree that in the context of our club's history when for most of the time we have entered at round 1 then reaching the quarter-final having entered at round 3 is a fair achievement but no better than reaching round 4 as a lower division club especially as we had 4 home games out of 6 in the past 2 years and one of the away games was at a side just out of non-league football.
Perhaps I am not too easily pleased but I put that down to my ambition.

Hmm, now we know neither of us back down easily but you said it should be round about the norm for mid table Championship clubs to get to the Qtr finals of the FA Cup. Sorry but I'm not having that when (I'd imagine) only about one mid table Championship club achieves that each season.!!

[Victor Meldrew]

I will repeat-Cardiff and Millwall not only made the quarter-finals but also the semi-final and final itself in recent years as run-of-the-mill Championship clubs.
Res ipsa loquitur.
I'm off to the other room to follow Reading's progress in the Carling Cup where we should expect to reach the quarter-finals at the very least with our recent cup history.

[Hoop Blah]

To be fair to VM it's quite common for teams outside of the top flight to get to the quarter finals. I think you have to go back to 2006 to find a all Premier League line up. In that time we've seen Coventry, Watford, Barnsley, Cardiff, Plymouth, Bristol Rovers and of course Reading make it.

It's not something we should expect of a top 8 Championship team but it shouldn't be the massive over achievement we seem to make it out to be.

[floyd__streete]

F*ck me, FA Cup quarter finals now somehow being used as a gauge for success? Wycombe and Chesterfield have got to semi finals in recent memory for f*cks sake

[savage 4 england]

I think there is a big case for quality VS quantity. Clearly we have taken the option of quantity.

In 2005/6 we opted for quality and kept hold of our better players. For example, for most of the season we had 3 centre-backs (including Gunnarsson), Makin covering the full-back positions, Gunnarsson backing up the central midfield and really only three strikers. I fully know we were very lucky in the championship winning season, but I would rather take a risk.

I would rather we got rid of the mediocre players taking up a lot of the wage bill and have a bit more quality. I understand we might have to still sell the likes of Long and Mills, however it would be nice if we could use some money and replace them properly.

[Avon Royal]

F*ck me, FA Cup quarter finals now somehow being used as a gauge for success?

Straw clutching by the "say no to ambition" brigade.

[loyalroyal4life]

Is there really much quality to buy that is within our price bracket though?

I do however think that the club should look at some loan signings, can loans happen post window?

[West Stand Man]

To be fair to VM it's quite common for teams outside of the top flight to get to the quarter finals. I think you have to go back to 2006 to find a all Premier League line up. In that time we've seen Coventry, Watford, Barnsley, Cardiff, Plymouth, Bristol Rovers and of course Reading make it.

It's not something we should expect of a top 8 Championship team but it shouldn't be the massive over achievement we seem to make it out to be.

It may be common for a team to get there - but that is not the same as it being common for a specific team to get there. There are 72 Football League clubs, 24 of them in the Championship. It doesn't take the brains of an Archbishop to work out that the odds of one reaching the last 8 is not high (depending, I suppose, on what you define as high!). I don't think anyone says it is massive overachievement, though it is doing rather well!

[Avon Royal]

Is there really much quality to buy that is within our price bracket though?

Not anymore.

The Club's failure to act at an appropriate time has cost us dear.

[howser]

There is only one place the buck stops for the annual stripping of the clubs playing assets, as has been said we have quantity, much of it untried youngsters. We are getting weaker and weaker each year, even McD's magic managerial skills will struggle to achieve anything other than a struggle this season and with the man at the top staying this struggle is going to become more difficult each of the next few years, after all most of his businesses are going down the tubes and this one can be added to ti.

[Vision]

Moaners gonna moan.

Tbf its not the moaning as such (we all do it) its the extremes of it thats laughable. As I said we've had 1 poor season in the last half a dozen yet seemingly according to some this club is going to the dogs. If you cant find anything positive in consecutive FA Cup quarter final campaigns and 2 play-off campaigns in the last 3 seasons then frankly I fear you'll never be happy with anything. I'm not saying we should all have a oxf*rd street party but FFS get some perspective. We're an average middle of the road 2nd tier set up. Some seasons we'll punch above that level while others we'll fall below. Until someone comes along with a magic wand or a bankful of cash then thats the way it is.

I can understand it with VM as he's obviously still hurting from us beating his beloved Liverpool on the way but the rest of you....

He's got a point I guess. I've always felt promotion to the Premiership was overrated. Lets face it, 3 championship sides do it every season.

[Royal Rother]

He's got a point I guess. I've always felt promotion to the Premiership was overrated. Lets face it, 3 championship sides do it every season.

Very good indeed! In fact absolutely superb.

Wish I'd seen that opportunity!!!

[Ian Royal]

There are 8 quarter final places. There are 20 Premier League clubs, and and about 15 championship clubs you could say were mid-table or better.

How exactly, should it be the norm for mid-table championship clubs to make the QFs.

It should be the norm for A championship club to make the QFs, not any particular club though.

Doing it two years in a row beating quality Premier League opposition along the way, is a good achievement, especially in the context of our abysmal FA Cup history.