“Really Motivated” – Michael Skubala Reflects on FA Cup Draw In Stacey West Exclusive

Today has been a good day. Some of the Stacey West team attended training this morning before sharing lunch with Michael Skubala.

Afterwards, we got exclusive access to our head coach which will form part of this week’s podcast. That’s due to drop tomorrow evening, but first, why not a little taster?

The Imps drew Chesham United in the FA Cup first round last night, which was the sort of draw we wanted. It encapsulates the magic of the cup, and as the fourth best-placed team in the competition, we’re the big boys making The Generals’ run worthwhile. That’s not arrogant, but as the draw came through, those words ‘the magic of the cup‘ came to mind.

They were also the first words Michael uttered when we asked him his opinions on the draw.

“I think it’s the magic of the FA Cup,” said Michael. “I love the FA Cup. I love the different cups, but particularly the FA Cup because of its magic. It’s the beauty of it. I recently saw the news about a team local to me that’s reached the FA Cup for the first time.

“The euphoria for a grassroots or lower-league team—any team really—is incredible. For a team like Chesham, they’re going to be really motivated to push through.

“I enjoy the FA Cup, and we have to take it seriously. We want to win and progress to the latter stages. It’s not a league game, but we still aim to win and advance as far as possible.”

Of all the competitions City are in, this is the one offering the real rewards. Our FA Cup run in 2016/17 paid, in the main, for the training ground we’re lucky to have attended, but it is a facility that has seen such growth that expansion is surely on the cards. That would, of course, be much easier with another huge cup run behind us.

However, just because we’ve drawn a team that many had to Google after they came out of the hat doesn’t mean automatic progression. In fact, the opposite is probably true – going to their ground and trying to get a result could be a massive challenge, as we saw against Chippenham a couple of years ago. That is also something Michael agrees with.

Chippenham – Credit Graham Burrell

“It could be a challenge for us. These games can be tricky, real banana skins,” added Michael. “We’ll prepare as we always do. We want to go as far as possible, and yes, prepping for this type of game can be a bit harder.

“The video data might not be as available, but we can still find enough information. We can send scouts, or I can even go watch them myself if we have a free evening. We’ll prepare the same way, whether it’s for a league game, the FA Cup, or even a friendly.”

There’s more – Michael explained a little more about prep for the game and its importance. That, as well as thoughts on Jovon, discussion around training, and some insight into what he feels has gone well over the last few matches, and where he’d like to improve. However, for that, you’re going to have to wait until the podcast, which comes out (latest) Thursday morning.

Or, if you’re a Patreon, you might get it a little earlier….