sid you say you have an easy cup game... however you still tanked vs me.
i fail to understand the reasoning...
He had a tough away game first up which is a perfect chance to boost enthusiasm and train players. No sense in killing yourself in the first game of the season when the odds favour against you. The risk isn't worth the reward, as HA knows all to well that there are certain games which he can let go and still be in a position to play for the title.
Really if you think you are a chance, you can pick the winnable games and those that you can afford to lose, right at the beginning of the season. Home games are generally the most important, win all your home games and that goes a fair way towards making the 4. Of course when you have two different levels of competition between your conference, you might need a couple of away wins to ensure your place.
So basically, HA had you down as game that he could drop and pick up on the run home. You'd probably be one of the teams tipped to make the 4 at this early point of the season, so going 1 all is really good enough. To ensure a win, he'd probably need to CT and it's just not worth the enthusiasm damage so early in the season. TIE was a safer move and will help ensure wins in the Cup and home game this week.