posted Feb 20, 2007

Don't scrap replays - not ever. I think having extra time after the first 90mins would be a fair compromise but no-one wants a tie decided on penalties unless it's absolutely necessary, it's unfair on lower league sides to have scrapped out a draw against premiership opposition for 120mins and then have the pressure put on one player to score a penalty to win. Could the people who prepare the fixture lists not get more fixtures in in August, September, October and November before the Prem sides join the FA cup to allow gaps in the fixtures in Feb, Mar and April to play replays??

Arsene Wenger should take a moment to look at Matlock Town in the Unibond Challenge Cup they've just finally played their round 2 match after 6 attempts put off due to the weather and the rest of the teams in the competition are in the 1/4 finals (and they play 42 league games each season compared to Arsenal's 38)- they've got real fixture pile up issues!! Maybe if Arsenal played better and scored a goal they may have beaten Blackburn and Bolton first time without having to go to a replay!!

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posted Feb 20, 2007

TSO_17. So the Fa Cup is all about getting a draw and not getting a win is it?

Maybe it is but then that's everything that's wrong with football now & why the magic has gone. Everything is money.

Why do you feel a need to belittle conference teams by talking about them "holding out" for a draw.

I must be missing something here but why not talk about them maybe winning? The chances of which are increased massively if it was settled on the day.

Burton were brilliant against Man Utd a few seasons back. Why deny them any chance they had of causing the greatest upset ever (which I think they would have) by stopping the match at 90 minutes & sending them up to Old Trafford without a cat in hell's chance of winning?

Typical pro big club nonsense again.

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posted Feb 20, 2007

Mazymeach. Rich successful clubs DO NOT benefit in the slightest from scrapping FA Cup replays.

You get one chance to beat Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea etc in the FA Cup. If you don't take it you invariably get slaughtered in the replay.

If a lower or non league side is able to hold a top Premiership side for 120 minutes of football, is it not fair to give them a crack at penalties on the day - with a rough 50/50 chance of winning?

But no. You & most people on here think they should be forced to endure ANOTHER 90 or 120 minutes, usually at the away ground, and usually to be humiliated.

It's absurd to make part time players have to hold out for OVER 3 HOURS against Premiership sides just to earn penalties, as it is now.

And the worse thing is you all think you're "looking out for the small clubs."

You're not - you're denying them any chance they have of a cup run & giving the same old sides in the final year, after year, after 32 years.

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posted Feb 22, 2007

Glenn Roeder,who is he,or what is he. I would have thought that the bar codes would welcome the income of a replay what with there silly wage bills and not having a cats chance in hell of ever winning anything.Ask freddie Shepard if he wants the income a replay would generate?

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posted Feb 24, 2007

Peter - You have your opinion as you obviously follow a small club but Roeder has his as he is in charge of a big club. Don't moan just because his view differs from yours. Grow up.

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posted Feb 27, 2007

Reading V Man Utd

Another great advert for replays...

Settle it on the day Reading could've won.

Can't have that though can we?

Tension and the chance of a big club getting knocked out. No - must give the big clubs every chance of getting through.

When will people wake up. If you're going to moan how boring it is that the same six clubs having appeared in every final since 1975, then don't moan about settling ties on the day too. That's the result.

99.9% of the time you get one chance to knock out Man Utd or Chelsea.

(Reading will probably come back & win 4-3 now).

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posted Feb 28, 2007

This will probably not get any replies at this stage, but I seem to remember a situation in 2003 when Conference side Farnborough were drawn to host Arsenal in the FA Cup. There was also the issue of whether the side's home tie could be played at their home stadium, the 4,100-capacity Aimita. Now Sky Sports were only willing to show coverage of the match if it was played at the Aimita, but the club also had to consider other issues such as player and fan security and the prospect of even bigger ticket revenues at Highbury, so they therefore got special dispensation from the FA and had their 'home' tie at Highbury, which they lost 5-1 but still provided a lifetime experience for the fans as well as the cash and other perks.

Why I say this is because at issue here is the prospect of smaller clubs missing out on 'pay-days' by visiting bigger clubs if replays were to be scrapped. Maybe we could have a situation where when draws are announced, the smaller team automatically gets to play its 'home' game at the bigger club's ground, thus providing them with a desired 'pay-day' while also potentially scrapping the replays! But NOOOO-that would undermine the draw as well!! And how would it work in the case of all-division clashes?!

Personally, I am in favour of actually abolishing replays. Why? Because as has been mentioned, replays do not actually provide as many chances for upsets as people may think. If, say, a smaller team was to hold a bigger team to a draw with great effort, then I would imagine the players would themselves show some consternation at having to replicate the effort in a return clash. In many cases, such teams might end up playing for a draw anyway, thus taking the wuality out of football. Also, there is every possibility that the larger team will just tweak itself up a bit and improve its game in the replay. But if a clash was to be decided on the day itself, both teams would certainly give it their all to win, and we would end up with more exciting, more quality matches, and better value for the supporters' and TV viewers' money. And being a gloriously uncertain knockout competition, it only takes one moment of brilliance or one mistake to decide the destiny of a side. THAT is the real 'romance' of the competiton as it were!

And as has been mentioned, the smaller clubs should be able to manage themselves well enough financially in order not to depend on a 'bonus' which may or may not materialise. And if I was a fan of a smaller side, I would more fondly remember a great performance against a bigger side that could result in a win than merely a visit to a big club from which you probably won't get a good result.

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posted Feb 28, 2007

The 'pay day' thing is a bit odd for me - don't FA Cup rules give each club 45% of takings, irrespective of where its played? If that's the case, surely its better to play at Arsenal (65,000 bums on seats) compared to at home (possible a max of 5000 bums standing up).

Isn't it horrible that we think of money now? Wasn't the glorious thing the sight of armani-clad players getting changed in a converted Portakabin?!

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posted Feb 28, 2007

toonjdr - sorry you thought my comment was "childish" - its merely taking the logic of what is being to its extreme. Newcastle's use of young talent has been superb this season (must be something in the water up in the North East as 'boro seem doing well with young 'uns too).
Anyway, I'm sure that Newcastle in the past have benefitted from replays - back in the days when their marketing wasn't so slick and they couldn't rely on replica shirt sales to keep the club running. Not every club has the benefit of 70,000 fanatical fans - but football isn't about the size of the fanbase, is it? (If it is, my club - Colchester - should give up the 10th spot in the Championship and volunteer for the Conference South immediatley)

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posted Mar 17, 2007

I think Replay be 4 Non League football teams

Extra time4 prem and championship teams?

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