The slow (and painful) death of the FA Cup:
The FA Cup used to be an exciting event in the calender. The 3rd round was one of the favourite bits of the season, everybody hoping for an upset as the format of the competition in theory could lead to a group of amateurs playing Chelsea or Man-U. However, the FA Cup has gone down in estimation. If you asked Rafael Benitez 'choose, the FA Cup or 4th place in the Prem' he would say 4th place. The supporters have lost intrest. At Wigan vs Hull there were only 5,000 people. The FA Cup has gone from being a fan friendly, exciting competition to being a complete waste of space in most club's eyes. There are also not many more upsets. Only 2 Prem teams have gone out of the competition (Hull and Man-U) and Hull lost to another Prem team.
4th round draw for the FA Cup:
Accrington/Gillingham v Fulham
Aston Villa v Brighton
Bolton v Sheff Utd/QPR
Bristol City/Cardiff v Leicester
Everton v Nottm Forest/Birmingham
Millwall/Derby v Brentford/Doncaster
Notts County/Forest Green v Wigan
Portsmouth/Coventry v Sunderland
Preston v Chelsea
Southampton v Ipswich
Stoke v Arsenal
Tottenham v Leeds
Tranmere/Wolves v Crystal Palace
West Brom v Plymouth/Newcastle
I notice there has been no mention of Man Utd's shock Cup exit at the hands (or feet) of Leeds Utd. You must have a bit of Australian blood in you. Antipodean journalists are very good at completely ignoring national sporting disasters, like they never happened.
ReplyDeletePersonally I reckon Fergie won't mind being out of the FA Cup as there is lots to play for elsewhere. His post-match comments were all for show.