Everton to play Southampton in Carabao Cup third round

They will be as sick of the place as we are of welcoming them here!

Looks like the devil has called in his debt to our neighbours: Chelsea in the cup and PSG and Napoli in the other cup.

I honestly believe this Cup is there to be had this season, we say it every year but it really does represent our most realistic chance of a trophy.

Let’s do it!

I have no confidence in Stekelenburg whatsoever, I would have rather seen Virginia in there as he looks to be a good keeper for one so young.

Hopefully we have a full and fit squad to pick from by then.

I’d hope to see Bernard and Mina up and running by then so they ought to play in this game.

We'll have all our new signings fit by then too.

We'll thump them!

NSNO.

Hughes hides behind his incompetence to produce a team capable of playing the game without resorting to knocking everybody in the air.

Marco, put out a first 11 and knock them out of the cup, and with a bit of luck they will be relegated all the time Hughes is their manager.

I haven't ever had a downer on a team but, after watching them 2 weeks ago, IMO they don't belong in the Premier League!!!

I have always cringed when kopites have gone on about winning it, given that no decent club ever puts out a good team and starts a season with the aim of winning it. Beating the likes of Birmingham or Cardiff in a final doesn't excite me at al.

We go on about needing a 'big club' mentality, and then, on the other hand, we get a hard-on over winning a cup nobody in the world of football gives a fuck about?

Rant over.

I know what you mean but maybe thousands of fans fancy a day out?

Brum won in 2011, Swans in 2013, and both were Premier League teams.

I for one would love us to go to Wembley and win it. I saw us draw with the RS in '84, listened to us lose to Villa in '77.

I would like us to put our name on it.

Now we need to take this cup seriously and put out a proper team. A few changes maybe, but not wholesale. We have to set out to get to Wembley, to win and to head into Europe next season.

I guess you think it is beneath us. Why?

Are you saying that this is not part of progressing by not wanting silver in the cabinet!!!

We are woefully short of success over the last 20 yrs, and when we show some resolve you knock it.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but even they had to lay the foundations.

There is something brewing at Goodison and I want to be part of it. If you don’t fair enough, but don’t knock those that do!!!

Get it won, fuck the doom mongers who don't value it, we can rock Wembley to the foundations come the final.

The best 3 days of my life was Rotterdam in '85. That miserable bleeder probably wanted us to lose that as well because it wasn't the European Cup!!

If we get to a semi-final of this in January then the 1st or 2nd leg at Goodison under the lights I can assure you it will be proper rocking so don't tell me no (proper) Evertonians will give a shit about this Cup then because they WILL.

There isn't a Cup out there that I don't want to see this club win and this is a chance of silverware.

Everton finishing 7th or 8th (or 5th or 6th) does NOT represent success regardless of how brainwashed modern day Blues have been turned by the Moyes years and the media telling us “little old Everton punch above their weight”.

Success is hands-on Cups and medals around necks — not finishing a few points above 8th place.

Get into the round of 16 and it is absolutely imperative that we have a right go at this competition.

I cannot understand those saying we shouldn't bother with this competition. News flash people: this is not the 1980's anymore! We have won precisely nothing since 1995. Many posters here have seen us lift 4 League Titles – but in my entire lifetime, Everton have won nothing. Absolutely zero. I don't care if it's only the League Cup.

Everton Football Club need a trophy. There is an entire young generation of fans like me who have never seen Everton win anything. That isn't good enough. Prioritise. The. Cups.

If we do what we should, and dispatch of Southampton at home, we're in the final 16.

At that point, we need to go for it. It's silverware, and Europe all rolled into one.

This isn't Mickey Mouse, and it seriously gets on my nerves that anyone would arrogantly dismiss this opportunity for success.

What in the hell is the point of playing any game or competition if you don't want to WIN? If you want anything less, grab your sticks, hit the links, and twaddle around the golf course shooting a 90 and having an nice, relaxing morning / afternoon.

Carabao Cup games aren't even televised, that shows how recognised it is. Beyond the first eleven we still have a very thin squad in terms of quality players, which is obviously the reason we saw a lot of players rested last night.

Of course, I recognise the 'day out for the fans' part, I'd love to see Everton at Wembley. But I feel challenging for top six and competing with the top sides would bring us more overall in terms of progression and image, than ending mid-table with a Carabao Cup win. In a perfect world, we could do both, but I don't think the depth is there for that. And I don't really give a fuck about being goaded by kopites over the bare cabinet thing, I have no jealousy at all about their 'success'.

By having this opinion doesn't mean I want to take away anything from other fans that have a different view, I fully respect everyone has their own feelings on the cup drought. Thankfully the team selection has nothing to do with me!

Yes, Stekelenburg wants game time, but let's be honest, we can't win the league so I will never understand why we would take our best keeper out of the goal in the games which give us the best chance to win a competition.

Step 1: We've got rid of nearly all the dead wood.

Step 2: Start improving on the pitch... WiP.

Step 2a: Keep improving.

Step 3: Finesse this improvement into something more tangible than stats and an early feel-good vibe.

Step 4: Win League Cup.

Manchester City
Manchester United
Manchester City
Chelsea
Manchester City
Swansea (a year they finished 9th in the Premier League btw, not battling relegation)
Liverpool
Birmingham City
Manchester United
Manchester United

Only one "bad" team in there, Birmingham, as noted the year Swansea won they had their highest Premier League finish ever and were lauded that whole season for playing stylish football, if you recall.

I don't understand why extra time has been axed and then play a two legged semi final, surely if its about playing less minutes then a semi at a nuetral ground should be played.

Great names eh? But they each in their own way diminished or tarnished the image of the second most important cup competition in the land.

Regardless of the name, it is still in essence the same competition, though further devalued by rule changes to suit the big boys in doing away with replays, then extra time and it has deteriorated into something of a joke to many people.

BUT for the winners there is a nice big shiny trophy and a route into European football, so to anyone who says we shouldn't prioritise the Efl, Carabao Cup or whatever they want to call it, OF COURSE WE SHOULD.

So, come on Silva, make it important by playing a strong team in every match, play to win, and who knows, we might actually see the Unpronounceable Cup being paraded at Goodison Park for the first time, long overdue, but welcome all the same.

It's a route to Europe early in the season too. And I believe we don't have to play in the stupidly early qualifying rounds?

Looks like Silva has got the players enthusiasm going as well as the majority of Blues:

However, if he's secured an acceptable Premier League position, and he's knocked out of the Champions League, but he's in the semi-final of the League Cup, he'll prioritise the League Cup, and pick his strongest side.

So the priority depends on timing and circumstance.

One or two of the top 6 will be gone after this round, so if we beat Southampton we will be 4th favourite to win the thing.

It may not be the most prestigious cup but it can be great for supporters and players. It can act as a catalyst, bringing confidence and optimism to push on and do well in the league.

The importance of it is not to be lightly dismissed.

I was only a kid during our '80s glory years but remember them so I really feel for our younger fans who've never had the thrill of seeing an Everton captain lifting a piece of silverware. It's ridiculous you've got to be at least late 20s to recall this club achieve anything.

We've not won anything for decades so anyone who thinks we can turn our nose up at winning this is clearly beyond all help.

My biggest wish is to see my kids see us win a cup, and for people like Mark @35.

Let's say we have 50 'competetive' games this season (League and 2 cups), our current first 11 should easily be able to handle that over the next 9 months. That's about 5 and a half games a month on average. With all our new fitness experts and technology we now employ, if our £100k-plus per week brigade can't handle that, how the fuck are we going to handle the Champions League?

Prioritise everything and let's dust off the trophy cabinet and put something, anything, inside it.

I know everything is about opinions (nowhere more so than ToffeeWeb), but if you disagree with me then you're very, very wrong. 😉

Winning the League up with a lesser status, like Swansea or Birmingham, is nice in itself, but in itself is NOT a priority. The priority is elite status, where we improve enough to win trophies, and in other years come close to winning trophies, on a consistent basis.

I've seen the club lift 8 trophies. It would give pleasure to add the league cup to the list, but not as much pleasure as winning the Premier League, and the Champions League. That's simple prioritisation, which you can't get away from.

That shower have the arrogance to dismiss every competition they enter other than the Premier League and the Champions League as 'Mickey Mouse' — even more recently the FA Cup FFS! God forbid we ever end up sounding like any of those sanctimonious twats!

Success is built. It is earned and should be celebrated. Winning a match is success. Winning a string of matches is greater success. Winning a trophy is even greater success!

We haven't failed to win this competition before because it's not important. We should try to win EVERY game we play. End of!

The lift it would give everyone connected to Everton would be massive

Look at 1984. The belief we got from winning the FA Cup that year transformed us with basically the same squad the following season

I'm not saying the same thing would happen now but the feelgood factor and confidence for everyone would be fantastic

Our history ensures that we will fortunately never be held in the same regard as the likes of Birmingham or Swansea. Winning this trophy would be the first step towards 'elite' status and also instill a winning mentality at the club.

To not prioritise this cup, ridiculous name or not, would be a monumental mistake. We could win it if we have a good draw; what's not to like?

Take it seriously, there is early Europa League entry available. A team from outside the Sky Six winning this puts a light under what could well be some shakey squads from those clubs in the Premier League. That helps our cause.

I agree that we should aim to win this cup. But the first priority is to win games consistently, to progress to dominating the opposition, whilst playing entertaining football (because it is supposed to be entertaining, and the greatest Everton teams were).

If we do all that, we could win the Premier League, then the Champions League. If we also win the FA Cup and the League Cup, all the better. But the Premier League and Champions League would give me most pleasure.

We have won nowt for a quarter of a decade and it depresses me beyond belief. If we were in a European competition, then I would definitely be inclined to treat the League Cup as a non-priority, but let's be really realistic (not pessimistic) — this Carabao Cup represents our best chance of silverware right now.

Look at Spurs, loads has changed there and they look awesome at times... but no trophies in their cabinet.

Anyway, I share your hope and optimism for the future. I would just like to win this cup before it ceases to exist (like the European Cup-Winners Cup we won in '85)... our red cousins can never say they won that!

Silva clearly believed that the team he put out on Wednesday was well able to win that game, although a lot of supporters on TW seem to disagree with the idea of putting out a team that's not the 'No 1' team selection.

As time goes by and the team blends, could be the year we eventually win it.

If we do get through, we'll meet one of Spurs, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal or Man City in the semi-final and we all know the script, don't we? That's why I fail to get lifted by the draws in the early rounds — it builds me up to let me down...

Probably true, but regarding the teams you mention, Spurs have a thin squad, will prioritise the Premier League and Champions League and could easily be snookered by a couple of injuries to key players. United are anything but and may well be playing for a different manager soon. Either Chelski or the shite definitely won't be in the next round and, depending on how things go, the CC won't be a priority.

Even knocked out of Champions League, the Europa League gives a Champions League place if you win it.

Think my mate's right.