I have wondered for quite a while if not just players, from abroad in particular, but also managers, wherever they are from, take the League Cup as seriously as we did at one time.

The only difference between that and the FA Cup really is that there are less teams in – only 92 to start with – which obviously gives you more opportunity to get to the latter stages.

The final is still at Wembley which used to be most people’s dream.

I ask the question because just about every club now that gets involved makes lots of changes from the team which plays Premier League games.

Obviously, it is vital to stay in the league, but I presume the real answer is that there are so many players in the squad this is the only opportunity they get to play competitive football, bearing in mind there is no real reserve league anymore.

It also gives the manager an opportunity to look at some of his younger players.

I mention this in particular as for our game against Leicester last week both managers made quite a few changes.

The main talking point, of course, was that the game went to penalties and unfortunately we lost 6-5.

Again, looking back to how the competition once was, a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes would have given Saints a replay and from what I have heard they fully deserved at least that having dominated the second half and struck the crossbar on more than occasion.

So why did we stop having replays? There are four less teams in the Premier League than there used to be which means less games.

I know there are international breaks, but there always has been.

There wasn’t even extra time as it went straight into penalties.

As we know nerves often take over and a player who might have had an outstanding 90 minutes can often miss a penalty or have it saved.

The other talking point was this new VAR system, which most people agree will be a good thing when it comes into the Premier League next year.

Hearing what Mark Hughes, journalists and players said about the decision which cost Saints the game you cannot blame the machine, it is the person looking at it who makes the decision and he got it wrong on the night.

The person is always watching the replays is always another referee and so he must have seen it in the same way as his colleague on the pitch at the time.

My thoughts on this are that we should give it a try and keep the referee involved, but why not get an ex-football manager or coach to be alongside him?

As Mark Hughes said on the night they have a different view of the matter, and believe me there are plenty of ex-managers around, as unfortunately might happen to Mark Hughes soon if you believe everything you read.

I was amazed to read that an out of work manager had already been spoken to by the club, but apparently this cropped up because he had been seen in the boardroom when we played at Fulham.

It seems that two and two was put together and the paper came up with more than five because he was not apparently a guest of Saints, which might make the Fulham manager worry as well, even when he’s only just taken over.

The point I am making is that Mark Hughes and Southampton Football Club should be able to get some redress if this is incorrect because it unsettles everyone at a time when full concentration is needed to get results.

That said you can click on the text in the morning and see newspaper stories of which club wants which player and in my day this would be called an illegal approach.

While I accept progress and change in many cases I will never agree that this sort of thing is right.