I was at the Gillingham - Luton game last night where Luton made 11 changes - a lot of 18 and 19 year-olds playing and that 15 year-old coming up as well
The changes made to the tournament were meant to promote youth development yet Luton will get a fine of up to £5K for violating the rules of not playing a full strength side.
The stupidity of the above is compounded by the fact Luton won so they earn £10k in prize money, making the fine null and void.
I was at the Gillingham - Luton game last night where Luton made 11 changes - a lot of 18 and 19 year-olds playing and that 15 year-old coming up as well
The changes made to the tournament were meant to promote youth development yet Luton will get a fine of up to £5K for violating the rules of not playing a full strength side.
The stupidity of the above is compounded by the fact Luton won so they earn £10k in prize money, making the fine null and void.
Utterly laughable.
How enforceable is the fine for not playing a full strength side if you've won the game? Laughable if they get fined.
I was at the Gillingham - Luton game last night where Luton made 11 changes - a lot of 18 and 19 year-olds playing and that 15 year-old coming up as well
The changes made to the tournament were meant to promote youth development yet Luton will get a fine of up to £5K for violating the rules of not playing a full strength side.
The stupidity of the above is compounded by the fact Luton won so they earn £10k in prize money, making the fine null and void.
Utterly laughable.
How enforceable is the fine for not playing a full strength side if you've won the game? Laughable if they get fined.
The fine is ridiculous given the objective of the competition, but unless Luton start 5 of those players on Saturday (which is highly unlikely) then they have to be fined regardless of the result, as it sets a precedent for the rest of this joke of a competition.
At this stage of the season when teams still need to gel and players need to get up to match fitness it's makes no sense whatsoever to play a totally different 11 in a competitive game unless your squad is paper thin and you can't risk injuries to any of the first team.
At this stage of the season when teams still need to gel and players need to get up to match fitness it's makes no sense whatsoever to play a totally different 11 in a competitive game unless your squad is paper thin and you can't risk injuries to any of the first team.
I was at the Gillingham - Luton game last night where Luton made 11 changes - a lot of 18 and 19 year-olds playing and that 15 year-old coming up as well
The changes made to the tournament were meant to promote youth development yet Luton will get a fine of up to £5K for violating the rules of not playing a full strength side.
The stupidity of the above is compounded by the fact Luton won so they earn £10k in prize money, making the fine null and void.
Utterly laughable.
What isn't laughable is Luton being one of the few to use young English players and getting penalised for it.
I was at the Gillingham - Luton game last night where Luton made 11 changes - a lot of 18 and 19 year-olds playing and that 15 year-old coming up as well
The changes made to the tournament were meant to promote youth development yet Luton will get a fine of up to £5K for violating the rules of not playing a full strength side.
The stupidity of the above is compounded by the fact Luton won so they earn £10k in prize money, making the fine null and void.
Utterly laughable.
What isn't laughable is Luton being one of the few to use young English players and getting penalised for it.
Luton should be docked points and demoted from the Football League. Imagine if a Prem team bent the rules or fielded a weakened team.
I was at the Gillingham - Luton game last night where Luton made 11 changes - a lot of 18 and 19 year-olds playing and that 15 year-old coming up as well
The changes made to the tournament were meant to promote youth development yet Luton will get a fine of up to £5K for violating the rules of not playing a full strength side.
The stupidity of the above is compounded by the fact Luton won so they earn £10k in prize money, making the fine null and void.
Utterly laughable.
What isn't laughable is Luton being one of the few to use young English players and getting penalised for it.
Luton should be docked points and demoted from the Football League. Imagine if a Prem team bent the rules or fielded a weakened team.
The checkatrade is an independent cup, where suspensions etc from the league don't count, so I don't get how it would lead to a docking of points
I was at the Gillingham - Luton game last night where Luton made 11 changes - a lot of 18 and 19 year-olds playing and that 15 year-old coming up as well
The changes made to the tournament were meant to promote youth development yet Luton will get a fine of up to £5K for violating the rules of not playing a full strength side.
The stupidity of the above is compounded by the fact Luton won so they earn £10k in prize money, making the fine null and void.
Utterly laughable.
What isn't laughable is Luton being one of the few to use young English players and getting penalised for it.
Luton should be docked points and demoted from the Football League. Imagine if a Prem team bent the rules or fielded a weakened team.
The checkatrade is an independent cup, where suspensions etc from the league don't count, so I don't get how it would lead to a docking of points
I was joking - the whole thing is ridiculous. Prem teams take the piss all the time.
At this stage of the season when teams still need to gel and players need to get up to match fitness it's makes no sense whatsoever to play a totally different 11 in a competitive game unless your squad is paper thin and you can't risk injuries to any of the first team.
I think that stage is called 'pre-season'
Pre-season games are not competitive, players have half a game, they don't run too much because it's too hot and the players themselves have not kicked a ball in 2 months, let alone kicked a ball to or received a pass from their new team mates whose names they probably haven't really learnt yet. Teams only start to get fit and gel in late September
Do the goals and appearances against the u-23 teams count towards your career totals? Otherwise will start adding games against development sides when on way back to fitness
Northampton drew their lowest ever crowd of 762 for their game against West Ham's development squad
Stoke doing their bit for promoting up and coming youth players included Bojan, Imbula and Peter Crouch in their side but still only attracted 689 for their game against Bury.
Elsewhere, 308 saw Middlesbrough's development side lose 3-0 at home to Shrewsbury, while 393 watched Barnet's match against Peterborough.
Portsmouth's lowest post-war crowd of 1,200 saw them beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 and keep alive their chances of making it past the group stages.
And there were just 284 people watching West Brom's academy side play at home to Gillingham - a number, according to the Gills' Twitter account, that included scouts and press, as well as "approximately" nine away fans.
I'm thinking of starting a Cup competition, let's call it the Fictional Cup, where no games actually take place. I would make up the scores, of course, but ensure that the draw is scrupulously fair. Come to think of it, I think I did exactly this when I was about 8. As I recall, Charlton won the final 6-4 against Tottenham Hotspurs after being 3-1 down at one stage. Our 13-1 in the 1st round against Third Lanark (some Scottish teams took part as well) is a game that I will never forget.
Northampton drew their lowest ever crowd of 762 for their game against West Ham's development squad
Stoke doing their bit for promoting up and coming youth players included Bojan, Imbula and Peter Crouch in their side but still only attracted 689 for their game against Bury.
Elsewhere, 308 saw Middlesbrough's development side lose 3-0 at home to Shrewsbury, while 393 watched Barnet's match against Peterborough.
Portsmouth's lowest post-war crowd of 1,200 saw them beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 and keep alive their chances of making it past the group stages.
And there were just 284 people watching West Brom's academy side play at home to Gillingham - a number, according to the Gills' Twitter account, that included scouts and press, as well as "approximately" nine away fans.
The competition that keeps on giving.
Not many people for sure. But even in Portsmouth I'm surprised 1200 couldn't think of something better to do, Don't their libraries have any decent railway books?
I think next year no teams should be eliminated at the group stage, but finishing higher would give you a higher seeding in the knockout competition. Losing teams in the knockout part should then play each other, so at some point, we could find out who finished 64th and it's lets everyone continue with the fun that is the Checkatrade. I'm sad it was so brief this season.
Northampton drew their lowest ever crowd of 762 for their game against West Ham's development squad
Stoke doing their bit for promoting up and coming youth players included Bojan, Imbula and Peter Crouch in their side but still only attracted 689 for their game against Bury.
Elsewhere, 308 saw Middlesbrough's development side lose 3-0 at home to Shrewsbury, while 393 watched Barnet's match against Peterborough.
Portsmouth's lowest post-war crowd of 1,200 saw them beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 and keep alive their chances of making it past the group stages.
And there were just 284 people watching West Brom's academy side play at home to Gillingham - a number, according to the Gills' Twitter account, that included scouts and press, as well as "approximately" nine away fans.
The competition that keeps on giving.
I thought the group stage was supposed to be "regionalised". How did Gillingham and West Brom end up in the same group?
Northampton drew their lowest ever crowd of 762 for their game against West Ham's development squad
Stoke doing their bit for promoting up and coming youth players included Bojan, Imbula and Peter Crouch in their side but still only attracted 689 for their game against Bury.
Elsewhere, 308 saw Middlesbrough's development side lose 3-0 at home to Shrewsbury, while 393 watched Barnet's match against Peterborough.
Portsmouth's lowest post-war crowd of 1,200 saw them beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 and keep alive their chances of making it past the group stages.
And there were just 284 people watching West Brom's academy side play at home to Gillingham - a number, according to the Gills' Twitter account, that included scouts and press, as well as "approximately" nine away fans.
The competition that keeps on giving.
I thought the group stage was supposed to be "regionalised". How did Gillingham and West Brom end up in the same group?
Northampton drew their lowest ever crowd of 762 for their game against West Ham's development squad
Stoke doing their bit for promoting up and coming youth players included Bojan, Imbula and Peter Crouch in their side but still only attracted 689 for their game against Bury.
Elsewhere, 308 saw Middlesbrough's development side lose 3-0 at home to Shrewsbury, while 393 watched Barnet's match against Peterborough.
Portsmouth's lowest post-war crowd of 1,200 saw them beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 and keep alive their chances of making it past the group stages.
And there were just 284 people watching West Brom's academy side play at home to Gillingham - a number, according to the Gills' Twitter account, that included scouts and press, as well as "approximately" nine away fans.
The competition that keeps on giving.
I thought the group stage was supposed to be "regionalised". How did Gillingham and West Brom end up in the same group?
West Brom was one of the most southern teams out of the U23 squads.
Northampton drew their lowest ever crowd of 762 for their game against West Ham's development squad
Stoke doing their bit for promoting up and coming youth players included Bojan, Imbula and Peter Crouch in their side but still only attracted 689 for their game against Bury.
Elsewhere, 308 saw Middlesbrough's development side lose 3-0 at home to Shrewsbury, while 393 watched Barnet's match against Peterborough.
Portsmouth's lowest post-war crowd of 1,200 saw them beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 and keep alive their chances of making it past the group stages.
And there were just 284 people watching West Brom's academy side play at home to Gillingham - a number, according to the Gills' Twitter account, that included scouts and press, as well as "approximately" nine away fans.
The competition that keeps on giving.
I thought the group stage was supposed to be "regionalised". How did Gillingham and West Brom end up in the same group?
Because what they basically did was put all the U23s into a "Group" all of League One into a "Group" and all of League Two into a "Group"
The most southern teams for each League went into the Southern half of the draw whilst the most Northern teams for each League went into the Northern Half. That means if Charlton were the most Northern team in League One (with everyone else geographically further south than us), we'd have been in the Northern half of the Group Stages
Northampton drew their lowest ever crowd of 762 for their game against West Ham's development squad
Stoke doing their bit for promoting up and coming youth players included Bojan, Imbula and Peter Crouch in their side but still only attracted 689 for their game against Bury.
Elsewhere, 308 saw Middlesbrough's development side lose 3-0 at home to Shrewsbury, while 393 watched Barnet's match against Peterborough.
Portsmouth's lowest post-war crowd of 1,200 saw them beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 and keep alive their chances of making it past the group stages.
And there were just 284 people watching West Brom's academy side play at home to Gillingham - a number, according to the Gills' Twitter account, that included scouts and press, as well as "approximately" nine away fans.
The competition that keeps on giving.
I thought the group stage was supposed to be "regionalised". How did Gillingham and West Brom end up in the same group?
AFC Wimbledon got lumbered in a group with Plymouth, Swansea and Newport, that's far worse.
They should've regionalised it further, north west, north east, midlands, london, south coast, south west etc then at least a few derby games might've given the competition a bit of a boost. As it happens it's a shambles.
Comments
The changes made to the tournament were meant to promote youth development yet Luton will get a fine of up to £5K for violating the rules of not playing a full strength side.
The stupidity of the above is compounded by the fact Luton won so they earn £10k in prize money, making the fine null and void.
Utterly laughable.
On the bright side, Ben Hamer actually got a game for Leicester!
Northampton drew their lowest ever crowd of 762 for their game against West Ham's development squad
Stoke doing their bit for promoting up and coming youth players included Bojan, Imbula and Peter Crouch in their side but still only attracted 689 for their game against Bury.
Elsewhere, 308 saw Middlesbrough's development side lose 3-0 at home to Shrewsbury, while 393 watched Barnet's match against Peterborough.
Portsmouth's lowest post-war crowd of 1,200 saw them beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 and keep alive their chances of making it past the group stages.
And there were just 284 people watching West Brom's academy side play at home to Gillingham - a number, according to the Gills' Twitter account, that included scouts and press, as well as "approximately" nine away fans.
The competition that keeps on giving.
Losing teams in the knockout part should then play each other, so at some point, we could find out who finished 64th and it's lets everyone continue with the fun that is the Checkatrade.
I'm sad it was so brief this season.
It's a complete and utter joke of a competition and waste of time and money.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37926623
Good to see the youth given a chance
edit - just seen this posted earlier - sorry
The most southern teams for each League went into the Southern half of the draw whilst the most Northern teams for each League went into the Northern Half. That means if Charlton were the most Northern team in League One (with everyone else geographically further south than us), we'd have been in the Northern half of the Group Stages
They should've regionalised it further, north west, north east, midlands, london, south coast, south west etc then at least a few derby games might've given the competition a bit of a boost. As it happens it's a shambles.