The draw for the next round of the Carabao Cup was made earlier in the week, and it’s safe to say that Stan Collymore isn’t a fan.
Part of the excitement of any cup draw for a football fan is the knowledge that just about any club can be paired with any other when they’re drawn out of the hat.
Supposed minnows can be paired with hot favourites for the trophy, or local rivals may need to battle it out… but not this season.
It quickly became clear how it was slanted towards the big teams.
Is the new Carabao Cup third round draw unfair on the rest of the English Football League? ? pic.twitter.com/NAmdpLEdYD
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) August 29, 2024
TV pictures would show that all of the ties had a Champions League or Europa League team playing against a team that had come through the second round, rather than it being an open draw.
“The Carabao Cup draw was an absolute shambles. It was a loaded, managed, overseeded draw, and we are now getting to the point whereby clubs with clout are having too much say in tournaments,” Collymore ranted to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.
“It’s massively subservient to the Premier League and the Champions League and the FA Cup will end up doing it too.
“[…] It’s a really bad look for the Carabao Cup, but it’s a really bad look for football in England too.
“Let’s get back to at least having one or two tournaments where you have an open draw, and every smaller club up and down the country is going ‘happy days, we might actually get an opportunity to win this.’”
Collymore does have a point of course.
The game has been moving away from its traditional base for a while now, but to start manipulating cup draws in favour of the bigger clubs is taking things a step too far for many.
If the game’s governing bodies aren’t careful, fans will start voting with their feet.
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