Since 2000 Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Leicester, Blackburn and Spurs have all won the FA or League cup and Stoke, Everton, Cardiff, Millwall, Southampton, Villa, Wigan, Bolton and Tranmere have all reached the final of one of the competitions.
Hardly beyond the realms of possibility.
And since 2000 we've apparently always had something more important going on to even bother. No excuses this season in my opinion.