Cup lacks clout in the race for Premier cash
ACOUPLE of years back, I saw a famous London club dumped out of the Carling Cup at home to lower league tiddlers. Afterwards, their manager – a household name – trooped up to the media room. He spoke of his disappointment, praised the opposition, explained that his second-string needed minutes. All the while looking incongruously chipper. Only when the dictaphones clicked off and the cameras stopped rolling did his beatific bearing make sense. “Thank f*** for that,” he announced, to general merriment. “The last thing we needed was a bloody cup run.”
Had he set up his team to lose? Of course not, he said. But with 45 Championship games ahead of him and a squad thinner than Kate Moss, he hadn’t picked one to win either.
For him, the trade-off was clear. Fewer miles in his players’ legs. Reduced risk of injury. More time at rest or on the training ground. All incremental advantages in the pursuit of Premier League riches.
Versus what? A remote shot at glory? Not since Sheffield Wednesday in 1991 has a side from the Football League won its own competition. That, in essence, is the problem facing the re-branded Carabao Cup. Once, it was only Premier League sides who treated it with disdain. Now, it’s everyone.
In fact, the trend may even have reversed. Of the 22 Championship sides in cup action this week, five – Ipswich, Hull, Aston Villa, Fulham and Wolves – changed their entire starting XI, compared with one (Brighton) in the Premier League.
What’s more, of the 143 top flight players who started last weekend’s fixtures, 32 per cent reappeared in the EFL Cup. Among Championship clubs, that figure dropped to 21 per cent.
Mid-ranking Premier League sides boast deep squads and play far less regularly than the sides above and below them.
Perhaps they are finally realising that the Carabao Cup offers a relatively easy shot at silverware.
“Why wouldn’t we take the competition seriously?” said Tony Pulis, who rang just four changes as West Brom dispatched Accrington 3-1. “It’s a good chance to get to Wembley, even Europe.”
Championship sides don’t need – or even want – European football. The only trophies they are interested in are the three doled out for promotion. What they truly covet is cash. According to Deloitte, Huddersfield will rake in a minimum of £185m for reaching the Premier League.
The prize for winning the Carabao Cup is £100,000. Even taking into account cumulative prizes and TV revenue, Bradford City barely made £1m during their run to the final in 2013.
Against this backdrop, you can understand the EFL attempting to broaden their horizons and gain exposure in foreign markets.
Yes, the execution was cackhanded. Fans already apathetic about the competition were hardly likely to set their alarms for an invisible draw in China at 4.15am. In seeking a new audience, the EFL must be wary not to antagonise the one it already has.
But at least they are trying. The cup desperately needs a boost – in cash and in status. Sadly, neither are earned overnight; any Far East marketing strategy will take years to bear fruit.
For now, at least, it is hard to see the Carabao Cup becoming anything other than a plaything for second-rate Premier League teams, shunned by almost everyone else.