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[Unemployed Coalminer]

I still don't know where people get this idea that going out of cups somehow guarantees survival in the league. Players don't play well by resting, they play well by playing. When you only train two evenings a week a match is going to be a better workout than a training session.  Maybe I should apologise for wanting to see Altrincham win the Trophy and reach the 3rd round of the FA Cup each season. Avoiding relegation, although laudable, is not actually winning anything.

By the way, as long as Altrincham are part-time and the Conference is mainly full-time, the Cups are going to be Altrincham's only chance of success, so some of the regulars on here might want to reappraise their ambitions or be destined to a lifetime of losing.

[gazwarrington]

My point was that we can't live off If's and But's. We are out of the trophy and I was trying to take some positives out of it rather than dwelling.

I think the debate all came to a satisfactory ending though.  . .. Then again .... 

By the way, as long as Altrincham are part-time and the Conference is mainly full-time, the Cups are going to be Altrincham's only chance of success,
So how does that work ? We would be playing against sides who would train more than us so SHOULD be able to cope with extra fixtures. Saying that our fitness levels have been amazing this season.

I don't see why you would support a football team if you were not ambitious , I want altrincham to win everything but I just know its not goign to happen. What would the point be of travelling up and down the country if you were happy with winning nothing. For me personally its just about being realistic, at the moment our current financial restraints dictates what I am expecting.

As I said as of next season and DEBT FREE (thats doing it THE HARD WAY, which everyone at the club should be patted on the back for) then I would hope for more or SOME success in cup competitions. As it is now I am happy that we A) Have a football Club to support, B) Have a Conference National Football Club to Support, C) That we are being run correctly and within our means.

Anything else is a total bonus to me ,and that includes cup runs.

Everyone has different expectations, if we didn't the world, and this board would be a very boring place indeed.

[Unemployed Coalminer]

That's fair enough Gary but ambition doesn't have to be an either/or thing. How about winning at Tamworth AND Northwich. How about clearing the debt AND making the 3rd round of the FA Cup (which in itself would clear a large part of the debt).

The cups are not a bonus. They are a vital and integral part of the season's campaign.

[gazwarrington]

The cups are a bonus to me as they are not budgeted for. Anything from a cup run is a bonus in my eyes.

Yes I want Altrincham to win every game home and away but I am not going to get upset if they don't. Of course I want Altrincham to be in the footballl league, beating Northwich, Macclesfield and Manchester United on the way to an FA Cup final. I want these things but it does not mean expect it.

[Jimmy Hill]

I still don't know where people get this idea that going out of cups somehow guarantees survival in the league.

I can't actually find where anyone has actually said that. What has been said is that the more games you play the more tired you become. Therefore there is a likelihood that the further you progress in the Trophy the more your league form will suffer, due to having a tired squad.

Players don't play well by resting, they play well by playing. When you only train two evenings a week a match is going to be a better workout than a training session.

That's not really supported by our experience at the end of last season. We were obviously knackered and only won five points from the last available thirty nine.

In my mind there is no doubt that 'burn out' was a prominent factor in the poor run of results.

[Unemployed Coalminer]

Do you know that cup runs are not budgeted for?

[gazwarrington]

I know they used to be and I'm pretty sure they are not now.

i would hope we are not budgeting for something that MIGHT happen (like Weymouth). This is how we have got into trouble in the past so I doubt that we would put ourselves in that position again.

[Bob]

I still don't know where people get this idea that going out of cups somehow guarantees survival in the league. Players don't play well by resting, they play well by playing. When you only train two evenings a week a match is going to be a better workout than a training session.  Maybe I should apologise for wanting to see Altrincham win the Trophy and reach the 3rd round of the FA Cup each season. Avoiding relegation, although laudable, is not actually winning anything.

By the way, as long as Altrincham are part-time and the Conference is mainly full-time, the Cups are going to be Altrincham's only chance of success, so some of the regulars on here might want to reappraise their ambitions or be destined to a lifetime of losing.

Do you honestly think people are happy that we're out of the trophy?  Do you honestly think we don't want a money spinning cup run?  Of course we do, but what's happened has happened and we have to move on.  Cups are wonderful things to win and do well in, but the league is the bread and butter of any club.

Put it another way, for a club struggling in the Conference we are enjoying our highest average crowds for a decade, and a much higher public profile than for many years.  Would you swap with some clubs which have done well in the cups and the trophy recently but are plodding along at a lower level? 

If you reach even the second round of the cup you are pretty much forgotten about as soon as you're out, and the FA Trophy is without question a competition in decline (ask yourself why it is declining in the first place).  That doesn't mean I don't care about those cups, or that I don't want us to win things.  But all clubs need to prioritise, and the league is our priority this season.

And I would be very surprised if the board has budgeted for cup runs.  Incidentally, we have made a profit in the last few seasons but the last season we had a good cup run (01/02) we might even have made a loss.

[Red N White Dynamite]

The board catagorically does NOT budget for cup runs.

[Unemployed Coalminer]

Bob, Altrincham football club achieved a higher profile through it's cup runs than it ever did for winning the Alliance Premier League twice. Again let me re-emphasise - a cup run and league survival are not mutually exclusive.

[Red N White Dynamite]

But the league is definitely more important


The 100th reply to this post is sponsored by Ginsters.

[Unemployed Coalminer]

Yes I can see that finishing 17th after losing most of your games is infinitely more thrilling than an FA Cup run which ends up playing a top club in the 3rd round. I guess it's all about what you go to football for.

[Jacko]

I'm certainly gutted as we had an excellant chance of progressing to the semi finals perticularly looking at the following home draws we were dealt,welling followed by worcester,what a supurb oppurtunity, dont want to dwell but we wont get a chance like that again especially as there were other conferance clubs dropping out of the FA.Trophy like flies, anyway onwards and upwards

[Bob]

Yes I can see that finishing 17th after losing most of your games is infinitely more thrilling than an FA Cup run which ends up playing a top club in the 3rd round. I guess it's all about what you go to football for.

I thoroughly agree your point about the cup runs being better PR than winning the league back then, but that was a different era in the game (Forest for the Champions League anyone?) and we have to base our expectations on where we are now, not where we were in 1980.  If we were one of the wealthiest clubs in non league football with one of the strongest squads then having the same attitude would be fair enough.

I know that having a bad year in the cups is no guarantee that we'll stay up, and in an ideal world my expectations are higher.  But this club is not in an ideal world and so I place my expectations accordingly. 

Of course the third round of the cup is better than Conference survival, but what is more likely in our circumstances?  Just being realistic!

[Unemployed Coalminer]

So the only ambition we should have is not get relegated each season. Marvellous.