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Cup of little cheer

FA Cup
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Derek 'Robbo' Robson

Has there ever been a more perfect Cup final?

A brand spanking new stadium with every seat taken. Prawn sandwiches clogging up the corporate boxes. Happy fans striding down a very shiny Wembley Way - or is it something crap like White Horse Way now?

The old bill even saddled up a few grey mares of their own as a nod to the first Wembley final...ee, it was all looking cracking.

Prince William got his lines right, the Wembley heroes waved, then the mightiest troubadours of Premiership football strode out into the magnificent latter-day Coliseum... and they BORED THE BLOODY PANTS OFF US!

You could say the occasion got to them, but there were some pretty hardy old pros out there. You could say they were too afraid to lose. But these lads already had one gong each this season. So what did they have to lose exactly?

You could say they were a bit tired. Ah diddums. Poor lambs. In in any case, they've all been putting their feet up for two weeks since the Big One was done and dusted.

You could say it was a game too far. You'd be right. A game too far for me. That was the least interesting FA Cup final I have ever seen. I mean it.

OK, the defences were good. But it's a showpiece occasion, right? A big day! You don't expect to spend your wedding night marvelling at the workmanship of your wife's chastity belt, do you?

Rooney showed a bit of fight, Drogba's finish was spot on. That's it. The stadium looked great but I still think for that money it should be able to take off and fly round the earth a couple of times during the game. (Then again by that token, Ballack and Sheva should be able to do the same).

Plus I think the staircase is a tad punitive. A hundred plus steps just to hear some blueblood toff say 'bad luck, chappie'. That's hard.

I do blame Chelsea. There was a time when you'd watch the Blues trot out and you'd think, well, they may be a pack of West London chancers but, win or lose, at least they're going to put on a show. Dourinho's put a stop to all that.

Nowadays, it's effective, yes, and they work bloody hard, yes, and they're rich, yes, but the trouble is that the further the Abramovich gravy train rumbles on the duller the countryside gets. And I KNEW they'd win it.

P.S. If you promise not to get involved in the Cups next season, Jose, I'll give you the dog back. Joke.




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comment by U8443589

posted May 23, 2007

this conversation is lame, football is lame

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comment by rainFekadu (U8443520)

posted May 23, 2007

Today liverpool wiil win Ac milan if they play a closed game & if Gerrared stop kaka.The game will be more powerfull & concentrated at the midfield.

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comment by mohmeda (U8437970)

posted May 24, 2007

just because you lose that does not mean the final was a dull final, take haert cuz next final is just around the corner, that is if you are strong enough to be there.

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comment by reddevil19 (U2947958)

posted May 24, 2007

I have to say as a united fan it was a very boring game but thats all we expect from Chelsea nowadays, 300 million pounds and they play like Wimbledon! Having said that we played straight into Chelseas trap in this game allowing them to slow the game down therefore negating our counter attacking threat, so fair play to Chelsea they got their tactics spot on to win this game.

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comment by roverpackerquin (U7767715)

posted May 24, 2007

As a neutral (yes...neutrals watched this match), it was the dullest fina lI can remember in a LOOONG time. 120 minutes of play that would have been better suited to a muddy pitch on a Sunday with a pub team rather than the new Wembley. I was fortunate enough to attend the conference play-off final the next day, again as a neutral. That was an exciting game of football, 2 teams going all-out to win. Chelski's dire tactics of midfeidl frustration and Man Utd's inability to string more than 3 forward passes together made for terrible watching for all concerned - I know both Man U and Chelski fans who agree t othat.

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comment by sl8r (U1805433)

posted May 24, 2007

how come robbo's allowed to say crap but ive had posts removed for it?

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comment by ccottis (U6464199)

posted May 24, 2007

The final was very dull as a neutral I felt cheated that I didn't get to see penalties at least then the keepers might have had to make a save

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comment by mide (U8414980)

posted May 25, 2007

oh sod it,westham vs liverpool was so exciting and dont 4get the manutd vs arsenal final too where arsenal got lucky thru penalties...even manutd vs millwall made some sense

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comment by chabs1 (U8330474)

posted May 25, 2007

it was obvoious from the out set that they were gonna blame it on fatigue they run around for 90 mins sumtimes more depending on alex fergusons mood.

and get paid thousands a week to do so.

so dont give me they were tired lark tennis players can play for hours on end and still get up the next day and play another game.

end of the day the final was rubbish the blackpool match earlier that day was more exciting than the final.

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comment by BoroTaz (U3797611)

posted May 27, 2007

"The old bill even saddled up a few grey mares of their own as a nod to the first Wembley final"

This is true. I saw them when Stevenage beat Kidderminster in the FIRST WEMBLEY FINAL!

I am sure they were probably there the next day when Truro beat Totton in the SECOND WEMBLEY FINAL.

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