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League Cup Third Round Draw - 4.15am on Thursday
WSS
Posts: 25,070
In China.
Seriously.
Seriously.
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If we get through it will be a three way tie playing some team càlled Charlton Athletic both home and away.4
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Seriously?
I'm looking forward to see who we're drawn against. Even if we lose against Norwich, I'm sure we'll still be in the draw, at least once!9 -
Considering the mess they made of the first 2 draws, probably sensible to do it at a time when nobody'll be watching.
Ridiculous though - an exercise in how to devalue a trophy that's value was already severely diminished.5 -
EFL sold their soul.
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WTF!!... Can understand the 1st Round being done in Thailand as its a company out there sponsoring the damned thing but what do China have to do with it?2
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I look forward to Charlton being drawn against Guangzhou Evergrande in the 3rd round...ForeverAddickted said:WTF!!... Can understand the 1st Round being done in Thailand as its a company out there sponsoring the damned thing but what do China have to do with it?
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Anyone know of any pubs in London which will be showing this?23
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The cup is made out of china.killerandflash said:
I look forward to Charlton being drawn against Guangzhou Evergrande in the 3rd round...ForeverAddickted said:WTF!!... Can understand the 1st Round being done in Thailand as its a company out there sponsoring the damned thing but what do China have to do with it?
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What does this have to do with us?7
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it is not even being shown live out there.
The EFL Cup third-round draw will take place in Beijing, China on Thursday - at 04:15 BST.
The seven Premier League sides playing in Europe this season, including EFL Cup holders Manchester United, will be among the 32 clubs in the draw.
Previous draws for the competition have been beset by problems - including teams being drawn out twice and confusion around home and away ties.
The 16 fixtures will be played in the week commencing 18 September.
The English Football League apologised for an issue with the graphics that accompanied their live stream of the first-round draw - which took place in Thailand - when Charlton accidently appeared in two ties and Forest Green Rovers were listed as playing Wolves when they had been drawn against MK Dons.
Following the second-round draw, the EFL was forced to clarify which teams were playing at home in four of the ties, after mistakes during the live announcement.
An EFL spokesman said: "We understand that not everyone will agree on the timing of this week's round three draw, but in staging in this way it will give the competition both the maximum exposure in the UK, Chinese and South East Asian markets.
"This is not only an important factor for the EFL but also our new sponsors Carabao, who, like ourselves, plan to use the growing global appeal of the competition to reach new audiences."
There will be no live coverage anywhere of the draw - on television or online - but details will be released on social media.
"Once the logistics have been completed in Beijing, the UK will be waking up and the breakfast media will be able to report and get reaction on the 16 ties that will take place next month, which we feel is an interesting move away from the usual post-game evening draws," the EFL statement added.
"Our decision to go to China is part of a strategic plan to grow the EFL internationally and specifically boost profile and exposure in ASEAN markets. A number of potentially significant meetings are being held around the draw that we envisage will deliver a benefit to all 72 clubs of the EFL."
This is the first season of a three-year naming rights deal for the EFL Cup - formerly the League Cup - with Carabao, a Thai energy drink7 - Sponsored links:
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This has Katrien Meire all over it. It's like the conferences the club pays £20,000 a time for her to attend, but she has no business being there and they have nothing to do with her role.
She's the sort of person who'd arrange something like this just for a jolly to China. What a waste of time/effort/money!1 -
I've heard the EFL's new slogan is "fuck it, why not?"6
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EFL makes risibly bad decision cos there's a few quid in it shocker!!!
Whatever next?
Rain on a bank holiday?
Train drivers' strike around a bank holiday?
Karl Robinson gabbling pure horseshit at nineteen to the dozen?3 -
StigThundercock said:
EFL makes risibly bad decision cos there's a few quid in it shocker!!!
Whatever next?
Rain on a bank holiday?
Train drivers' strike around a bank holiday?
Karl Robinson gabbling pure horseshit at nineteen to the dozen?
That's getting boring now, can't you just support the guy if he's getting results on the pitch? Not his biggest fan but he can talk as much as he likes if we get results IMO.StigThundercock said:EFL makes risibly bad decision cos there's a few quid in it shocker!!!
Whatever next?
Rain on a bank holiday?
Train drivers' strike around a bank holiday?
Karl Robinson gabbling pure horseshit at nineteen to the dozen?5 -
I wouldn't put it passed them to omit ball number four just to keep things sweet.
Not that I am sour or anything, just wonder if the EFL will bow to superstition.0 -
Just thought I'd do a TL;DR for anyone there.MrOneLung said:An EFL spokesman said: "We understand that not everyone will agree on the timing of this week's round three draw, but in staging in this way it will give the competition both the maximum exposure in the UK, Chinese and South East Asian markets.
There will be no live coverage anywhere of the draw - on television or online - but details will be released on social media0 -
I can see their logic. If they screw up the draw yet again, most people in England will be asleep and won't know. I think it's time that a team that has already been eliminated gets into the draw.2
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Henry Winter's take in The Times today. I've posted in full as you need a subscription to access.
Dancing to money men’s demands, the EFL has moved Thursday’s Carabao Cup third-round draw to Beijing at 11.15am local time (4.15am UK time). He who pays the piper calls the tune, and all that jazz, but it would be quite nice to hear the tune.
Draws have changed from the era when everyone gathered around the radio or by a television. Draws work well in the modern media of Twitter, but not in the middle of the night in the host country. It is an insult to the ebbing lifeblood of the League Cup, those fans still committed enough to attend ties.
In the wake of the EFL’s perfunctory announcement about the dawn draw yesterday, some of the reaction was along the lines of: “Why the fuss? It’s the third-round draw of a competition that keeps changing its name and is third or fourth in most teams’ priorities.”
‘This is further manifestation of the trend distancing the game from the disenfranchised English fan’
The trophy has struggled for relevance in recent years and this endangers it further. The League Cup should be fought for, not trashed. Judging by the splenetic response of many fans, the EFL stands accused of dragging the old lady of the trophy abroad and administering assisted suicide. All for a few dollars more.
The draw has hardly been a roaring success this season, with Charlton Athletic named twice in the first round and home and away sides mixed up in the second. The third round looks the most calamitous so far, although how many will be tuning in in Blighty remains to be seen. The alarms will ring for some, waking them for 4.15am. The alarm bells should really ring for all.
On signing the three-year deal with Carabao, Shaun Harvey, the EFL’s chief executive, voiced his delight that “in a tough sponsorship market place we have managed to agree on a deal that meets with our valuation of the property”. Yet to what devaluing of the property? If the organisers are not taking it seriously, in terms of respecting the fans, then what is its future?
The EFL is doing a great job of wrecking interest in the competition and, potentially, freeing up space for a winter break. The FA and Premier League will surely be watching for that desired opportunity. Kill the League Cup, ease the congestion in the season.
Ominously, Harvey added at the time that “of course, it was imperative that the deal met Carabao’s requirements and the inventory has been designed to ensure it complements their existing and future marketing strategies”. That means a draw at dawn, the company’s colours on the match ball, promotions with prizes of 1,280 pairs of tickets (many more will be available, judging by clubs’ lowering interest levels) and it is not too far a leap from the draw being staged overseas to the final being moved abroad.
The EFL was particularly naive not to note the wounds still sported by Richard Scudamore, after the Premier League’s ill-conceived “39th game” plan to play a match overseas.
As well as the EFL, this is also a PR disaster for the sponsors. At the launch, Pairoj Piempongsant, the chairman of the brand’s owner Intercarabao, gushed that “the EFL Cup embodies the very essence of British football consciousness”. Well, not when they’re snoozing in their beds. They have to move the draw out of the darkness, showing fans respect.
The move will hardly do any favours for a competition struggling to maintain relevance
And why isn’t anyone also thinking of the Chinese? Is 11.15am the best time for them, anyway? Will they all be tuning in eager for a glimpse of Harvey? Why not switch it to 8pm Beijing time, making it 1pm in the UK?
This is more than an own goal by the foolish EFL and arrogant sponsors. This is further manifestation of the trend distancing the game from the increasingly disenfranchised English fan. The crime sheet grows by the year. Moving Premier League and Sky Bet Championship kick-off times to suit broadcasters when fans have booked train tickets. Not lobbying train companies more forcefully to allow flexible tickets. Moving the FA Cup final to 5.30pm, complicating travel for fans of northern clubs. Not using more of the vast broadcast revenue to reduce the cost of tickets.
Rather than angering supporters further by spending time and money heading to Beijing, the EFL could have invested time and resources in the more important task of calling to account the owners of Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers, Charlton and Coventry City, among others.
What is strange is that anyone who spends any time with people at the EFL knows that most are passionate about the game and traditionalists. The dawn draw is a step too far, one that the EFL must reconsider.
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Ridiculous. League Cup draws should take place on a Wednesday.5
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Haha, working 3rd shift this week finally has its advantages. After we're drawn away to Reading my pep shall surly subside0
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Would've been away at Brentford by the looks of it.
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That could genuinely be the dullest cup draw ever and that's without us in it to add our mixture of grey and greyer (or blue and bluer if we we were drawn away) all over it .
There is not one tie there you think "oooh that could be a bit tastey"
Seriously who chooses the live games Cheltenham v West Ham shown when Blackburn v Burnley is taking place , last night .5 -
Do Man U ever get a tough cup draw?1
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FFs - slept through my alarm and missed it6
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Palace v Huddersfield- I wonder if Zaha will be back from injury by then ?0
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Did Zaha get his injury from constantly diving around on a football pitch?0
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Barnsley and Derby scrap it out for a Wembley away day vs Spurs0
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Suppose it was good to have a League Two team on the TV yet why not pick the Blackburn game the day before instead of Sheffield United v Leicester City?oohaahmortimer said:That could genuinely be the dullest cup draw ever and that's without us in it to add our mixture of grey and greyer (or blue and bluer if we we were drawn away) all over it .
There is not one tie there you think "oooh that could be a bit tastey"
Seriously who chooses the live games Cheltenham v West Ham shown when Blackburn v Burnley is taking place , last night .1 -
If it ever happens? - that tweet says;Siv_in_Norfolk said:Barnsley and Derby scrap it out for a Wembley away day vs Spurs
ties are to be played on the week commencing 18th September 2017
Barnsley v Derby to be played on the 19th September 2017
What happened for the Barnsley game to be cancelled?0
