If we'd won the Carling Cup...

[frankbutcher]

I don't like hypothetical questions, but seeing that this current debate comes down to Trophies (IMO), would the Carling Cup have placated any or all of the fans? Would we have been able to point to the George Graham era that this was a sign that the team could go on to win bigger and better things? Would it in fact have galvanised the team? Or would we be in the same position regardless? How we lost that Final, I will never know (apart from bad defending, lack of tactics and bottling on a grand scale). My personal view is that the Carling Cup win would have made things worse. Wenger could have pointed to this silverware as proof that he's right and Gazidis et al would have seen it as the success the Club craves.

Over to you...

[flash gunner]

My personal view is that the Carling Cup win would have made things worse. Wenger could have pointed to this silverware as proof that he's right and Gazidis et al would have seen it as the success the Club craves.

Could it get worse with regards to their view of things? Wenger and his cronies above and below him at the club regard 3rd place as a great season so would the CC made any difference? To them no - to me yes

[officepest]

Who knows? Hypothetical questions are difficult for obvious reasons.

I can only say that I was fucking livid with the pathetic bottle-job display in that final. Even though it was only the Worthlesstinpot I was desperate for a trophy - ANY TROPHY to put a semblance of normal service back.

Alas, no. We were done over by one of the worst teams to grace the top-flight and any lingering hope I had that Wenger had a clue evaporated. To be honest I reckon that win, lose or draw that final we would still be in the same situation we are now.

Do you rememeber the 2007 final? We played a weakened team (which, to be fair, got us to Cardiff) against Chelsea and lost, this was a grave mistake in retrospect as we basically gave them a trophy.

At the minute I don't think we could pick up a trophy if we found one in the street.

[Gunnersaurus]

The end of that season would have been very different which might have led to a smoother Summer and better start to the next season.

Other then that I do think much would have changed.

[rigsby]

Confidence wise it certainly would have helped. I doubt we would have collapsed as spectacularly. I get the feeling that was the final a lot of the players had been building for, and when we lost it they just couldn't quite fathom it. The bottle went.

[Red Member]

we didnt lose the Carling Cup final on the day, we lost it when Fabregas and Walcott went off injured in the league match a few days before.

[Gunnersaurus]

we didnt lose the Carling Cup final on the day, we lost it when Fabregas and Walcott went off injured in the league match a few days before.

Wrong and poor excuse, we still had enough out there to beat that shit side.

[flash gunner]

we didnt lose the Carling Cup final on the day, we lost it when Fabregas and Walcott went off injured in the league match a few days before.

Wrong and poor excuse, we still had enough out there to beat that shit side.

Too right

[QuartzGooner]

Winning the Carling Cup would not have placated me.

I want us to win the league.
If we do not win it after a decent fight then I can accept that we will not win the league every year, but we have to be in with a real shout.
For example the 2007-2008 season where even though we finished third, we put in a real challenge.

I also think the Carling Cup is good for the younger and fringe squad players to get experience and actually prefer them to play in it for that reason than the first eleven players.

[mikeyb772001]

Without a doubt things would have been different if we would of won the CC

For starters we wouldn’t of collapsed during March. I think we would of finished much stronger and gone further in other tournaments

The players would of got a taste of what it means to win and they would of wanted more.

Cesc would of gone still but not so sure about Nasri and Clichy , not that it would of mattered.

Without a doubt the CC was the reason we crashed so bad and it effected the whole team in a terrible way. It lasted from then all the way into this season when we were 17th!!!!!

[MadRich]

Would have stopped that annoying chant from Chelsea "7 years and you won fuck all"

[Supagoon]

we should have beaten them, but we froze with fear.

Truth is with Cesc there I think we'd have won, the likes of Nasri and Co did not perform that day.

I don't think much would have changed, Cesc and Nasri still would have left, but maybe just maybe signings would not have been scared off with the tag ' Arsenal don't win trophies'. Although whether Mata would still have chosen us over Chelsea just because we won the carling is probably still far fetched.

[Dan_85]

I don't think it would have made any difference at all. Trophies or no trophies, the Wenger philosophy would have trundled on, more of the same.

Only dropping out of the CL or huge reductions in attendances will make any kind of difference to the way this club is run.

[StuartL]

I don't think it would have made any difference at all. Trophies or no trophies, the Wenger philosophy would have trundled on, more of the same.

Only dropping out of the CL or huge reductions in attendances will make any kind of difference to the way this club is run.

I agree Dan.

It wouldln't have stopped Cesc wanting to return home.

It wouldn't have stopped City throwing money at Nasri and turning his head.

It wouldn't have earned us any more points this season.

It may have given the players more confidence in themselves and their teammates which would have been a positive.

It might have given Wenger the mistaken belief that all is rosey in his garden and that our squad was good enough to compete at the top level and a further period of grace granted to him by supporters hoping and praying that groundhog day would be different this season (or next)

[DB10GOONER]

we didnt lose the Carling Cup final on the day, we lost it when Fabregas and Walcott went off injured in the league match a few days before.

Jaysus, you get dumber with each post...



Someone referred above to how the club think a 3rd place finish is a great result. To be honest, if it were a one-off and if we weren't so obviously money-motivated and lacking in true footballing ambition, then after the start we had last season, it would have been a great result! The problem of course is it is not a one-off or a blip, it's every fucking season now we are scrapping for 3rd or 4th and for a club of our size, tradition and history (especially when you add the ticket prices and price rises) that is not fucking good enough!

As for the CC? I don't think it would have made a difference to me. It's a minor competition now and is not taken seriously by any of the big clubs (us included) so it would have been a nice day out and a minor trophy at best. It wouldn’t have begun to address the massive mismanagement at our club by both the Board and Sith Lord Vader.