Bowyer was right

MuttleyCAFC

One thing that was a tad controversial this season was Bowyer's approach to cups. I think he has shown he was right beyond any doubt with the fragility of the squad depth. The only reason he played a half decent team against Mansfield at home was due to the international break and some players needed game time! Otherwise - was getting knocked out of the FA cup a missed opportunity? As Bowyer said, an opportunity to do what, win it? This was a decision that was always going to annoy a few and it shows how he is a manager with balls. He does the right thing even if it isn't always the popular thing! 

smudge7946

Bowyer is always right. 

Briston_Addick

smudge7946 said:

Bowyer is always right. 

And even if he's wrong no bugger is going to argue with him.

killerandflash

MuttleyCAFC said:

One thing that was a tad controversial this season was Bowyer's approach to cups. I think he has shown he was right beyond any doubt with the fragility of the squad depth. The only reason he played a half decent team against Mansfield at home was due to the international break and some players needed game time! Otherwise - was getting knocked out of the FA cup a missed opportunity? As Bowyer said, an opportunity to do what, win it? This was a decision that was always going to annoy a few and it shows how he is a manager with balls. He does the right thing even if it isn't always the popular thing! 

He took a decision, which many didn't like at the time (including myself) but was proven right

What's more interesting is how Pompey and Sunderland feel about the Checkatrade. An amazing crowd for the final, and Pompey have a trophy (and any trophy is worthwhile) BUT when they see us Luton and Barnsley going up, do they now regret all the extra games they played there, as both of them faded at the end of the season

MuttleyCAFC

Do any of us really want that trophy on our CV? Maybe we should try to get the League two title FFS! Sunderland had a result losing that game. They are a far bigger club to have that stain on their honours list. 

cafckev

At least we won’t have to worry about the first couple of rounds of the FA Cup next season!!

paulie8290

Yes he was right, my issue at the time and still baffles me is why did he put a strong team out for the replay of round 1 and win it only to put 2nd team out in 2nd round

killerandflash

MuttleyCAFC said:

Do any of us really want that trophy on our CV? Maybe we should try to get the League two title FFS! Sunderland had a result losing that game. They are a far bigger club to have that stain on their honours list. 

The previous version has some pretty decent clubs who've won it

Bristol City, Wolves, Birmingham, Bolton, Stoke, Southampton etc

The_Organiser

I love the man but still disagree with the decision. I don’t think the subsequent promotion proves him right or wrong. We might have got through in the Cup and gone on to get top 2, or still won via the play-offs. Additionally how close were we to losing to Donny. Would it have then been the wrong decision?

paulsturgess

Literally who the **** cares!!! We're up!! 

Oggy Red

paulie8290 said:

Yes he was right, my issue at the time and still baffles me is why did he put a strong team out for the replay of round 1 and win it only to put 2nd team out in 2nd round

Mansfield game: international break approaching, players need to play if possible to keep match sharpness.

Doncaster game: long injury list and 8 matches in December to be played with a small squad.
Priority is the League, opportunity "to get minutes" into squad players and youngsters to  get valuable experience in Cup.

cafcfan1990

A good run in the cup is normally a good financial boost for lower league cups. For us that was irrelevant so Bowyer made the correct call! 

Oggy Red

Bowyer said back then, that we had no chance to win the Cup.

But every chance to win promotion.

Richard J

said this at the time of the Donny game . Well planned Lee.

In contrast Sunderland were playing their 61st game at Wembley .

Covered End

Bowyer was right and I said so at the time.
We had a number of injuries and to play more games could possibly have led to more injuries.
We generally played a game a week during the run in and Sunderland and Portsmouth often had to play 2 games a week.
They both fell away whilst we got stronger, playing less games & getting injured players back fit.

Ok so we missed out on was it Preston away ?
But we can now play Fulham, Leeds, WBA, Derby, Forest, Brentford, Sheff W, QPR & Millwall amongst others.
Thank God Lee knows what he's doing. 

NapaAddick

Covered End said:

Bowyer was right and I said so at the time.

So did I. We soooo badly needed out of League One that I openly said he should play the U18's (if allowed) for all cup matches if we were top 6. We needed every calorie from every player to win promotion with 6 seconds left. If he did it any different, it would be a different world for us. A much darker one.

AddicksAddict

Richard J said:

said this at the time of the Donny game . Well planned Lee.

In contrast Sunderland were playing their 61st game at Wembley .

I didn't know Spurs AND Sunderland played their games their this year.

WhenIwasLittleBoy

You get a bigger allocation in the play offs than cup finals at Wembley. Lord Lee done all three, won a cup at Wembley and got promotion. Man is a genius 

Greenie

Said it at the time, great management by Bowyer.
All the cups are of little consequence these days.
I remember a few outraged voices on here saying we could get Man U at home , we’ll i wouldn’t swap Sundays match and memories for any prem team at home in the sponsored cup.

masicat

I think most of us thought playing Pratley at Wembley was a mistake. I think we now know Lee knows best. I certainly wouldn’t question anything he does in the future. The man is a legend.

Simonsen

It doesn't matter now but at the time I thought LB could've played just one or two more experienced players v Donny. I don't think many people were asking for a full 1st XI.

But it has worked out well in the end and perhaps LB thought it was likely we were going to get 3 extra games later on in the play-offs anyway.

I do still think it's possible to have a little cup run and get a promotion. We managed it under Curbishleyi when we beat Coventry away and got to the quarters v Bolton. Those cup games just seemed to add fire and form to the squad which flowed into the league.

Themightyath2

I agree, however I do think back to our Premier League days and do regret never having any decent cup runs during that period. 

We’ve been starved of moments like Sunday - here’s hoping to a few more...

soapboxsam

I got on my soapbox and said it was 100% the correct decision by Bowyer at the time.
We had too many injuries and too many games in that month.

From memory I thought it was 60/40 in Bowyer's favour ?

Oggy Red

Covered End said:

Bowyer was right and I said so at the time.

Ok so we missed out on was it Preston away ?

And anyway next season, we get to play Preston away.

Covered End

masicat said:

I think most of us thought playing Pratley at Wembley was a mistake. I think we now know Lee knows best. I certainly wouldn’t question anything he does in the future. The man is a legend.

I don't think most of us did.
If Bowyer thought Pratley was the man, then that's fine by me.

RedChaser

As soon as the team was announced I said to my son that Bowyer's gone for experience with Pratley over Morgan to counter their experienced, clogging, midfield and have a battle. And Pratters was right up for it, put himself about and got us through that tricky opening half hour by leading by example. Great decision by Bows and Darren never let him down one iota after also, don't forget, coming on and squaring the tie with Donny. They all played a massive part in our success but Darren Pratley take a bow son you stepped right up to the plate when it really mattered, a true warrior for the cause. You can't teach experience .

Edit: and yes of course Bowyer was absolutely right in the circumstances to bin off the cup even though I parted with my hard earned when our second string was dumped out by Donny.The end justified the means with the promotion Bowyer had set as his top priority. 

soapboxsam

masicat said:

I think most of us thought playing Pratley at Wembley was a mistake. I think we now know Lee knows best. I certainly wouldn’t question anything he does in the future. The man is a legend.

Most of us thought that after 46 matches, but after the Semi final matches it was obvious that Pratley had a good chance to start and play at least 60 minutes to do the hard work to allow the flair players to express their selves as the game opened up.
And that all came to fruition.
Lee Bowyer is an astute young manager who we trust to make the right calls.

MuttleyCAFC

Simonsen said:

It doesn't matter now but at the time I thought LB could've played just one or two more experienced players v Donny. I don't think many people were asking for a full 1st XI.

But it has worked out well in the end and perhaps LB thought it was likely we were going to get 3 extra games later on in the play-offs anyway.

I do still think it's possible to have a little cup run and get a promotion. We managed it under Curbishleyi when we beat Coventry away and got to the quarters v Bolton. Those cup games just seemed to add fire and form to the squad which flowed into the league.

What if he did it and we beat Donny. And then Maybe got a Premiership side like Fulham in the next round who we beat and....... Bowyer wanted to lose because he knew the squad depth was fragile and what the target was.

Cardinal Sin

If he was right, does that mean we don't compete actively in the F A Cup in future because we have "no chance of winning it?" It will be interesting to see how seriously our fans tale the F A Cup next season when it's known that the manager doesn't care about it. I wouldn't pay knowing we were fielding a B team and our heart wasn't in it.

Covered End

Cardinal Sin said:

If he was right, does that mean we don't compete actively in the F A Cup in future because we have "no chance of winning it?" It will be interesting to see how seriously our fans tale the F A Cup next season when it's known that the manager doesn't care about it. I wouldn't pay knowing we were fielding a B team and our heart wasn't in it.

I think it depends where you are in the league and your squad strength. In other words common sense. 

Oggy Red

MuttleyCAFC said:

Simonsen said:

It doesn't matter now but at the time I thought LB could've played just one or two more experienced players v Donny. I don't think many people were asking for a full 1st XI.

But it has worked out well in the end and perhaps LB thought it was likely we were going to get 3 extra games later on in the play-offs anyway.

I do still think it's possible to have a little cup run and get a promotion. We managed it under Curbishleyi when we beat Coventry away and got to the quarters v Bolton. Those cup games just seemed to add fire and form to the squad which flowed into the league.

What if he did it and we beat Donny. And then Maybe got a Premiership side like Fulham in the next round who we beat and....... Bowyer wanted to lose because he knew the squad depth was fragile and what the target was.

We wouldn't have got a Prem side in the next round, we would have drawn Preston away.

And we get to play Preston away next season anyway!


Bowyer knew this at the time, of course!