Anyone would think Notts County were trying to loose deliberately with this sort of defending! https://twitter.com/LowerTiers/status/1730709327009181787?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1730709327009181787|twgr^|twcon^s1_&ref_url=
I'm sorry that first goal was hilarious! Gets the ball, runs half a yard, falls on his face. Had to double take that it wasn't our own Bayo. I think the third goal was pretty good, but the other two? Suspect at the very least. Their GK didn't even attempt to save the first one.
3rd round draw is apparently during the build up to the ITV lunchtime kick off tomorrow. I had to look it up so thought I’d share on here.
So this weekend the BBC and ITV showed us these delights: Palace v Everton Spurs v Burnley Sunderland v Newcastle Man city v Huddersfield Arsenal v Liverpool Wigan v Man United You can pretty much guarantee in the 4th round they'll pick: Chelsea v Villa Spurs v City Fulham v Newcastle Sheffield United v Brighton And obviously Liverpool and Manchester United again. No real giant killing opportunities, maybe Wigan v United aside. No real underdog stories or chances for minnows to bare their teeth or generate some much needed TV revenue. Nope. Same old teams we get every week on sky already. I get it. I get these teams are the ratings drivers and these channels don't get to show premier league games so gush over getting the chance to show as many premier league teams as possible when they can, but when herr lineker & co discuss the magic of the cup being lost, these people must look at themselves at some point and think "maybe we are the reason it's being lost". Alas they won't. TV ratings rule and I guess understandably so and BBC and ITV probably pander to the armchair supporter of the big teams more than most. But it would be good for these channels to just take a bit of a stand and show some of the games featuring some of the better chances at an upset. This rant was brought to you by the letters F and A and the number 24.
Least you can understand why the Man U games have been on but no doubt the Tv guys are delighted they will probably in round 5 particularly after a few other PL sides are out - Arsenal and one of Spur/City and Chelsea/Villa. Hopefully WBA play Wolves as that would be a good game . So long as the former don’t do a Sunderland v Newcastle.
I agree with you completely, but I suppose the BBC would argue they do their bit for the ‘romance of the Cup’ with their coverage in the even earlier rounds. To be fair, they have a pretty good record of covering non-league giantkillings in rounds 1 & 2 over recent seasons.
The 3rd round is for the little club to have its day in the sun . One weekend a year is not much to ask . But oh no they had to pick a match between the 2 biggest pragmatic managers going toe to toe and serving up a 0-0 bore fest.
As we’ve already discussed elsewhere, the decision to show Everton v Palace was a shocker, and ITV got the match that awful decision deserved. I’d truthfully avoid watching that match were it a PL TV game, so who on earth decided to show it as one of their three live cup ties? Shocking! The ideal cup ties to show are PL clubs away to lower opponents. So I’ve no issues with Sunderland v Newcastle, and although it’s absurd how they get shown in every single round whoever their opponents, it made sense too showing United as well. And I’ve no problem either with them showing one big heavyweight clash, and actually Arsenal v Liverpool was a decent watch. Sours v Burnley though was another poor choice. Spurs were overwhelming favourites and had home advantage too. I’ve not seen who will be televised for the replays, but the obvious one would be Bristol City v West Ham as that ticks all the boxes for a good cup clash. The BBC tend to get these things right more often, whereas ITV have made some shocking choices lately. I feel they need to ask themselves why they are televising the competition. Is it so they can have a go at rivalling Sky (thus showing lots of all PL clashes that those with the subscription channels can watch most weeks) OR are they genuinely interested in the magic of the cup? I fear their choices for last weekend showed it’s more a case of the former.
My contribution to this debate is that I don't care about any matches other than ours. I haven't watched any of the other games and don't care about the other results. I honestly couldn't tell you who have played in the last 3 finals and who the current holders are (presume one of the top 4?). The cup has been dead to me since 2019. I know Arsenal were in the final in 2020 as I recall we played that "win or bust" match a week before their final but I don't know who they played or if they won it.
Unfortunately, the public makes the decision for the broadcasters. 7.6m people watched the Arsenal-Liverpool match on BBC and for a non-Sky/BT household the FA Cup is pretty much the only opportunity for the majority of people to watch a big match between two high-profile sides. The broadcasters know that more people will watch Man United v Literally Anyone than a more romantic-looking tie. Even for the BBC, the name of the game is delivering eyeballs.
I bet Everton are one of those sides like Leeds or Newcastle that has a big enough fanbase to push to TV figures higher than they'd be for a bog standard match.
Indeed. A huge success for the BBC and I’m sure all the other games did big numbers too. People can bang on about Palace/Everton being a poor spectacle but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is people watching. Which ironically all the people moaning about the fixture selection did anyway. Good job.
Even the only bit of controversy in that game was manufactured for TV and has now been undone: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67922687
FA cup TV games . FRIDAY 26 JANUARY 2024 Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City at 8pm on ITV1, UTV, STV and ITVX SATURDAY 27 JANUARY 2024 Ipswich Town v Maidstone United at 12.30pm on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport Fulham v Newcastle United at 7pm on ITV4 and ITVX SUNDAY 28 JANUARY 2024 West Bromwich Albion v Brentford or Wolverhampton Wanderers at 11.45am on ITV1, UTV, STV and ITVX Liverpool v Norwich City or Bristol Rovers at 2.30pm on ITV1, UTV, STV and ITVX Newport County or Eastleigh v Manchester United at 4.30pm on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport
Predictable. OK (shame it’s not the other way round). Meh. Good (especially if Wolves get through). Pointless. Fine.
Got quite physical too which West Ham didn't like - no VAR to save them. Mind you they'll be confident enough after the Boxing day clash.
It's been awful. Frenetic headless football, with a lot of passing around the back loads of diving, tactical fouls, VAR delays and play acting with very few shots. Hype about De Bruyne and Maddison coming in, yet both have been anonymous since coming on (de Bruyne just misses a sitter too). Pep booked for being the **** that he is.
Personally think it was a foul, but not surprised to see Finance FC get the decision. The FA are bankrolled by them.
Great half by Maidstone. Absolutely battered and Ipswich should have/of had a hat full of goals. However Maidstone’s keeper made some great saves, Ipswich have hit the woodwork 3/4 times and find themselves 1-0 down at HT. Was a great counter by Maidstone, fantastic pass and the finish was quality.
