in the best season for the F.A. Cup for a long time.
But don’t expect it to last.
As Barnsley were drawn against Cardiff and West Brom to face Portsmouth, the only top division side left in the cup, for the cup semi-finals, it’s been one of the best weekends in the F.A. Cup for many years.
It’s been a long time since the usual suspects didn’t make up the semi-finalists never mind the finalists, got to go back to West Ham v Fulham in ’75 since ManUre, Woolwhich Wanderers, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton haven’t been in the final and that’s been to the detriment of the cup over recent seasons especially.
It’s been on a downward spiral since the inception of the Premiership, the emphasis on the Champions League at a speed increased when ManUre pulled out of defending the trophy and ITV won the rights to show the games.
ITV helped start a real rot as they insisted on showing some of the worst games in the history of the cup. Always the same big teams, never any real shocks, all fronted by muppets. Like everything else it turned to crap when it was shown live and exclusive on ITV – Des Lynam god on the Beeb a dog on ITV.
This new tradition was carried on by the BBC when they regained the live rights. The games have been awful for the last few years, what ones can anyone think of as half decent. The Liverpool v West Ham final and Spurs blowing a 3-1 lead against Chelsea last year. And what have we done to deserve Mark “yeeeaaaaas” Bright. Listening to him struggle through a game is too much, he hardly ever finishes a word never mind a sentence, it’s almost like Norman Collier is back on prime time TV doing his act.
Even this year they got most of the games wrong, until the quarters when with three of the four games they had to luck out at least once. Well they did, especially with the Barnsley Chelsea game, an excellent cup tie with the right result. What a great night for Barsnley, some lower league teams do it once against a top division side in a cup run, to end up with two entries in the top 10 cup shocks and now to be one game away from the final is excellent.
Then on Sunday the amazing thought of Middlesbrough being second favourite for the cup only for them to be absolutely useless and be played off the park by Cardiff – who aren’t the only non-English side to win the cup the Woolwich Wanderers won it a couple of years back 😉
So Pompey favourites, is it going to be ‘Arry’s year, is it karma for him deciding to talk to the BBC well he does do some funny post match interviews, just a shame we have to get other whining scumbags filling the air. It’s been good since we haven’t had to listen to Fergie’s purple nosed rants blaming everyone else for a loss, just a shame we have to suffer his “Si boss” sidekick unless of course when he said…
This is why the Taylors of the game are allowed to survive Carlos Quieroz
…he was talking about Wayne Rooney who was rightly booked for this vicious two footed studs up lunge. Which is doubtful and makes the statement a particularly scummy thing to say and therefore in character with his surroundings.
Well why won’t it last? Well ITV get the rights back next season, thank you the F.A. your flagship cup was back on track and you’ve gone and buggered it up again, well done.
Oh and in the league yet again people are as befuddled as Alan Curbishley looks by West Ham falling off well Curbs teams, bar last season, always falter at this time of year and another 4-0 drubbing, their third in a week, was a good thing for Spurs to hand them. Man of the match well that has to go to Jermaine Jenas for getting injured against PSV and thus missing the game, one wonders if the pikeys changed their game plan when they found out he wouldn’t be giving them so much possession? 🙄