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Bowyer was right

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! 
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Comments

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

    But every chance to win promotion.




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

    In contrast Sunderland were playing their 61st game at Wembley .
  • edited May 2019
    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.
  • 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.
  • 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 
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • 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...
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  • 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 ?
  • 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.


  • 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.


  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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!  :smile:


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