The FA Cup & Replays

[WoodsyGreen]

Just get rid of replays but ensure that clubs in leagues 1 and 2 get an additional £500,000 a season from the premier league. 48 teams getting 500k is £24m, so each premier league club would contribute just over £1m extra each. A drop in the ocean for them.

Fans like us could potentially miss out on visiting a top Premier League ground to watch our team, but its ok because the club has another 500k in the kitty. Bol**cks to that, On the rare occasion that Argyle get drawn against one of England's power houses,I want to watch my team in the best possible grounds in the country with the possibility of bringing them back to Home Park under lights.

Exactly. Ask most Argyle fans for a list of highlights from the past decade or so and most would have the Emirates and Anfield on there.

Unfortunately the gun is loaded in favour of the big boys and eventually they'll get their way. The FA Cup is already unofficially an U23 comp for Premier League clubs, and it's only a matter of time until that is made official.

The Champions League rules the roost. In fact, it's funny that as English football moves towards globalisation and closer European ties, the country itself retreats away.

Did you also know that the Champions league, control our fixture schedule as well.

If there is a Champions League WEEK, then no other Premier league game can be played on that same night.

For example if Man City were at home in the Champions league, then a fixture , or even a rearranged fixture, like say Everton V Aston Villa, could not go ahead, as their fixtures take preference over everything.

That makes sense, though. If you were a broadcaster who had paid X millions for Champions League rights, you'd be pretty miffed if the Premier League started scheduling games on another broadcaster on the same night.

That said, I do take your point that it emphasises how in thrall to money and TV companies our domestic game has become.

 

[djg145]

I hate the idea of doing away with replays - it is having the chance of a replay that is part of the magic of the Cup!

As for a 'winters break' it is a joke - so you have a pre-arranged 'winters break' return to the fixture list and then it SNOWS like hell and fixtures have to be postponed - it is a joke.

 

[phil thefluter24]

Agree entirely the weather could arguably be worse mid March than it is now, just get on with it like we always have done.
As regards tv & football IMO for what its worth, its long been a fact it is strangling the life out of our once great game, its purely about money now. As for the cup leave it like it is just make sure ALL clubs have to play at least six first team regulars, by regular means players who have played in the last half dozen games.
Also agree with another poster on the subject the top teams in the prem are going to sooner or later drift off into a European super lge.
Sadly money rules

 

[Bermudian Green]

This is what I fear. I have a cousin who is a season ticket holder at Barcelona, which you would imagine to be an absolute hot-bed for every game. In fact, he tells me that at most games, with the exception of visits by Real, atmosphere is nil, and the crowd spend most of their time on I phones, occasionally looking up if a ball is around the goal mouth. Crowds for their cup games are very low, and average attendances for their second tier are 3-400. Spanish TV coverage on big games however is immense so, in his opinion, Spanish football is turning into an armchair sport. Hope we don’t follow suit.

Further to that, every single game in Segunda (Spanish 2nd div) is live on you tube.

 

[Devongreenowl]

I like Klopp, but I don’t like his position on the FA cup. He is totally disrespectful of the competition by announcing in advance that he will put his U23 side out and not only that, he won’t bother to turn up himself to see how his kids do.

I don’t feel sorry for him at all. If he didn’t want a replay, he should have sent his team out strong enough to give Shrewsbury a good sorting out in the first leg. Even the hapless Ole at Man Utd managed to do that on one of the worst pitches in the EFL. Liverpool only have themselves to blame. I didn’t hear Bob Paisley manking about it when Liverpool were on for the treble in the late 70's with a much smaller squad of players, most of whom played upwards of 50 games a season. Best 11 picked for every game regardless of opposition.

 

[mervyn]

This was on the Debate on Sky last night - some interesting points raised:

1. If clubs drawn together are in the same league then they should have the option to decide if they want replays or reach a conclusion on the night.

2. If they aren't in the same league then replays mandatory

3. In 3rd/4th round the lowest ranked teams should automatically draw the highest ranked teams to generate revenue rather than the traditional luck of the draw. Not sure where i stand on this, agree with the pundits that it would distribute revenue to the smaller teams but also removes the likelihood of a cup run. Guess it depends what everyone sees the FA Cup for, magic or money.

Some cracking ideas there. It’s always the giants v minnows games which attracts the most interest, so at a stroke there would be many of these, with money travelling in the right direction from the start.

 

[Willis88]

How do the prem get rid of replays? Simple, play the strongest team in the first leg, win and not have a replay.

Anything else is just self induced and they've only got themselves to blame.

Either give the winner of the FA cup a Champions League spot or push the top 6 to make their Euro super league and we can be rid of their pathetic whining.

What's worse than the PL whining, it's seeing comments from "supporters" backing up the PL whines, supporters based all around the country (never local to the PL team though), who would rather pay Sky Sports hundreds a month than attend a game of the team local to them.

The sooner these supporters learn to appreciate the pyramid and their local clubs the better it'll be for everyone.

 

[Martyn]

Just get rid of replays but ensure that clubs in leagues 1 and 2 get an additional £500,000 a season from the premier league. 48 teams getting 500k is £24m, so each premier league club would contribute just over £1m extra each. A drop in the ocean for them.

Fans like us could potentially miss out on visiting a top Premier League ground to watch our team, but its ok because the club has another 500k in the kitty. Bol**cks to that, On the rare occasion that Argyle get drawn against one of England's power houses,I want to watch my team in the best possible grounds in the country with the possibility of bringing them back to Home Park under lights.

Exactly. Ask most Argyle fans for a list of highlights from the past decade or so and most would have the Emirates and Anfield on there.

Unfortunately the gun is loaded in favour of the big boys and eventually they'll get their way. The FA Cup is already unofficially an U23 comp for Premier League clubs, and it's only a matter of time until that is made official.

The Champions League rules the roost. In fact, it's funny that as English football moves towards globalisation and closer European ties, the country itself retreats away.

Did you also know that the Champions league, control our fixture schedule as well.

If there is a Champions League WEEK, then no other Premier league game can be played on that same night.

For example if Man City were at home in the Champions league, then a fixture , or even a rearranged fixture, like say Everton V Aston Villa, could not go ahead, as their fixtures take preference over everything.

That makes sense, though. If you were a broadcaster who had paid X millions for Champions League rights, you'd be pretty miffed if the Premier League started scheduling games on another broadcaster on the same night.

That said, I do take your point that it emphasises how in thrall to money and TV companies our domestic game has become.

The point is that the Champions league state, that you can’t even schedule a premier game on the same date, whether or not it is being shown live or not.

 

[Argyle Casual]

Whilst we are about the FA Cup. Stop playing the Semi Finals at Wembley for goodness sakes. Wembley should be the pinnacle of the competition only.

 

[Guiri Green]

Enter the Prem Teams at Round 1 Stage, that way they can get themselves knocked out early doors and not have to worry about replays late into the Season.

They'd also be on an equal footing with regards to the number of Games all the Clubs outside of Non League (who have to play more to get as far as the 1st Round) have to play in the Competition so they'd really have something to moan about. The majority of the Prem Clubs play 6 less Games a Season than everyone else as it is.

 

[Emu]

This is what I fear. I have a cousin who is a season ticket holder at Barcelona, which you would imagine to be an absolute hot-bed for every game. In fact, he tells me that at most games, with the exception of visits by Real, atmosphere is nil, and the crowd spend most of their time on I phones, occasionally looking up if a ball is around the goal mouth. Crowds for their cup games are very low, and average attendances for their second tier are 3-400. Spanish TV coverage on big games however is immense so, in his opinion, Spanish football is turning into an armchair sport. Hope we don’t follow suit.

Further to that, every single game in Segunda (Spanish 2nd div) is live on you tube.

BG, you referring to La Liga 2 or Segunda B?