Dave Kitson Swears Off the F.A. Cup
By: Daryl | January 4th, 2008
Every January the Premier League teams half-heartedly enter the FA Cup and we all ask the same old, same old question: Has the FA Cup lost its magic? Well now, thanks to Reading striker Dave Kitson, we finally have an answer: “We are not going to win the FA Cup and I do not give two s**ts about it, to be honest with you,” Kiston said in the build up (or should that be build down?) to Reading’s Third Round tie against Tottenham tomorrow. The most worrying thing about Kitson’s quote isn’t the lack of respect towards the world’s oldest cup competition (since 1871 believe it or not) but the fact that he’s convinced Reading won’t win it.
It used to be that consistent quality teams won the league championship in England while lucky teams won the cup. That’s what made the F.A. Cup so exciting. Maybe your squad wasn’t big enough or good enough to win the league, but if your team could beat anyone on their day then there was a shot at Wembley glory. In 1980’s the likes of Coventry City and Wimbledon lifted the FA Cup. But that seems to have changed recently as the big four of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool have come to dominate the trophy, with no club outside the top four lifting the cup since Everton in 1995.
Teams like Dave Kitson’s Reading openly admit that Premier League survival is more important than a cup run, with next season being worth around £50milliom in TV money to each Premier League club. Reading boss Steve Coppell fielded a virtual reserve team in last season’s F.A. Cup, and will do the same this weekend against Spurs.
One suggested solution would be to give the F.A. Cup winners a Champions League spot. But while this would definitely add an extra layer of drama, seems to me that giving the top four even more incentive to win the trophy would be counter-productive to making guys like Dave Kitson believe their team can go all the way. What the F.A. Cup really needs is for a small team to win it, which isn’t as impossible as you might think.
Though the big four have been passing the trophy around between them for the past eleven seasons, the likes of Southampton, Millwall and West Ham have all made it to the final in that time. What the F.A. Cup needs is for one of these teams to go one better and win the damn thing, to remind everyone what cup glory looks like. Then players like Dave Kitson (who’s highly unlikely to taste either Premier League or Champions League glory in his career) might start believing they can win the F.A. Cup and start giving a shit - or maybe even two shits - about it.
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Tags: Dave Kitson, England, English Premier League, EPL, FA Cup, Premiership, Reading, World Football, World SoccerSubscribe
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Comments
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I wish Kitson had not said what he did. I can completely understand the stronger economic incentive to try to stay up in the league rather than go through to the next round of the F.A. Cup, but it is a shame…
A shame for the history of the F.A. Cup, and a shame considering how big of a factor the economic side of the game is affecting these players’ priorities.
Posted from
United States
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Regardless of the competition, I don’t care if it’s a meaningless tournament - you never come out in the media and say your side can’t win. It’s about the worst thing for morale and I hope his teammates are all over him for it. Aside from that, only a player with no knowledge or respect for the history of the game would say he didn’t care about the FA Cup. Maybe if Reading goes down to the championship, and faces a Prem side in the cup next season, then he’ll care.
Posted from
United States -
Kitson’s just a product of his environment, which rewards clubs 20 times more cash for finishing 15th in the Premier League than for winning the FA Cup. What’s cup glory next to 100M quid over two seasons?
Posted from
United States -
i actually agree with kitson. the fa cup has become a glorified exhibition match that only the big 4 ever win. so honestly, why stop the premiership and treat the fa cup like the end-all-be-all if everyone knows the conclusion.
thats not to say it should be removed or tinkered with, nor that he doesnt care about its history and aura. instead its become quite predictable and raises the purpose behind it.
Posted from
United States -
Granted, Everton in ‘95 was the last non-Big Four winner, but is that really more predictable than the league, where really only three teams seem able to do much?
Posted from
United States -
The one thing I don’t ever want to hear a player on my favorite team say is: “We are not going to win and I don’t give a shit about it.” That’s just piss poor.
Posted from
United States -
Kitson is not being professional in this situation, taking into account that reading look likely to get relegated soon, the pressure is on at the Madjeski stadium.Kitson is probably stressed out and is taking his frustration on the fa cup,Steve Copell should hurry and make a counter statement before its too late..
Posted from
Malaysia -
Nik, I agree that the issue is professionalism. Even if he does hate the FA Cup (which I disagree with, but we’ll leave that for now), the professional thing to say is “We are concentrating our efforts on the league, and that’s our priority”, not “I don’t give two sh*ts”. A statement like this shows no respect for his shirt, his teammates or his manager.
Posted from
United States -
“Then players like Dave Kitson (who’s highly unlikely to taste either Premier League or Champions League glory in his career)” i lol’d now he’s getting called up for the international squad, and many bigger teams are looking at buying him
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Good point Hazza. But I’m not eating those words until he wins a major trophy!
Posted from
United States
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