Everton boss David Moyes blasts Football League's 'lack of respect' for Carling Cup
Published 23:00 20/10/09 By By David Maddock
David Moyes has launched a withering attack on the Football League, for what he sees as their total lack of respect for the Carling Cup.
And the Everton boss has suggested that the competition's sponsor must ask serious questions about the way he believes clubs are being forced to play weakened teams in the early rounds.
The Blues travel to Portugal to meet Benfica on Thursday, swiftly followed by Sunday's visit to Bolton in the Premier League, before an exhausting fourth round tie at Tottenham just 48 hours later.
And that has left the Scottish boss raging at what he believes is a ridiculous scheduling from the cup's organisers, who will basically leave him no option but to play a reserve side at White Hart Lane.
Moyes is furious because he has a genuine desire to win the Carling Cup and field as strong a team as possible, and he argued that beer producers Carling are being horribly short-changed.
"I find the lack of respect we have been shown by the Carling Cup organisers really disappointing," he said.
"My philosophy has always been to try to put our best teams in whatever competition we enter but we've been asked to play Tottenham at White Hart Lane on a Tuesday night after playing the previous Thursday and Sunday.
"I am aware that other clubs will have a similar scenario, but they haven't got games on Thursday and again on the Sunday.
"It could have been quite easily been moved, but for the decision to screen Arsenal against Liverpool on the Wednesday.
"That's the support you get for trying to put out your strongest teams in as many competitions as possible. If I was Carling, I would question the people running it."
Everton have been given the impossible task of trying to play at Spurs at the end of such an exhausting week because of the decision of the Football League to televise the Arsenal-Liverpool game.
Spurs can not play on the same night as their north London neighbours, and so have been told to play on the Wednesday night.
But the Everton manager believes that it would have been possible to find a solution to the problem without making his side play three games in 72 hours, all of them away from home, after an arduous European trip.
The Goodison club twice tried to get the game switched, but the competition organisers are adamant, and now the Blues boss is left to argue that the cup has been devalued, leaving his club - and Carling - short-changed.
