Source: Liverpool_Echo
HOWARD KENDALL: FA Cup needs more cash to increase prestige
IT may not have been the best performance of the season but it was good to see Everton beat Carlisle and progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.[LNB]Recent memory points to a few slip-ups against lower league opposition, namely Oldham and Tranmere.[LNB]You desperately don't want that to happen again, especially at home, as was the case on both of these occasions.[LNB]Everton left it late but a win is a win in the cup and we can now look forward to welcoming either Birmingham or Nottingham Forest to Goodison in the next round.[LNB]One thing that strikes me about the FA Cup nowadays is how opinions have changed towards it with many managers opting not to play their strongest sides.[LNB]A way around that could be for the Football Association to increase the payments to participating clubs.[LNB]I'm sure that if the financial incentives were greater, club chairmen would try and influence their managers to play the strongest team to get as far as possible.[LNB]Getting to Wembley is absolutely brilliant but there doesn't seem to be the right level of importance placed on the earlier rounds. Priorities now often lie elsewhere.[LNB]As it is, the gloss has been taken off the FA Cup. It's a sad reflection of where the game is going but perhaps if the bonuses for clubs were greater, they may start to take the competition seriously again.[LNB]Of course, Everton went all the way to Wembley last year and did so the hard way beating the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United.[LNB]There's nothing like sampling Wembley on cup final day.[LNB]Anyone who hasn't done so yet doesn't know what they're missing.
