Sometimes I wonder whether football journalists know the meaning of the word "shock." When I used to have time to do my paper round up every morning I used to, like clockwork, every FA Cup morning, write a defence of the FA Cup. Today, like old times, I'll do it again. Or perhaps defence isn't the word, because, frankly, I'm not that keen on the bloody thing - especially since its move to ITV now means that... well, it's on ITV... I'd much prefer to be watching us in a normal league game today. When the draw was made I was praying for Arsenal, just so we had a decent game to look forward to - Crawley?! Give me a break....
It's more that I don't see what they're moaning about, it's like Canute raging against the tide. Don't football journalists, by the fifth round say to themselves, "hang on, I wrote this 'The FA Cup is being belittled' piece the last two rounds, and at least 5 times last year, and the year before... why don't I shut up..." All they really have to do is look at the Carling Cup which everyone used to moan about but now everyone accepts is a bit of a laugh, a diversion, a chance to blood some youngsters, whatever you want it to be. It's been reinvented as the the little cup that could. The FA Cup is still under delusions of grandeur - once it, or the journalists who constantly mourn it's passing, realises this, maybe it'll be reinvigorated.
So back to where I started - the word shock - the journalist whine on about the fact there's hardly any shocks anymore. What? A shock, by definition, can't happen very often, otherwise it's expected, not a shock. How about this for ridiculousness -
This reflects the change in the priorities of the big clubs which has so sharply diminished the status of the FA Cup that serious consideration is being given to making it a midweek competition without replays, in other words the League Cup revisited. There will always be surprises such as Stevenage knocking out an up‑to‑strength Newcastle this season although in the weight divisions Newcastle are more middle than heavy.
It is doubtful whether the Cup will again experience shocks on the Richter scale to compare with Harry Redknapp's Bournemouth beating Manchester United in 1984
Yes, there's apparently a difference between a surprise and a shock in FA Cup terms - a shock is what used to happen in the "good ol' days;" a surprise is what happens now...
As ever though, you have to go some way before you can beat the stupidity of James Lawton, who traces the demise of The FA Cup (remember that FA bit, it's going to be important - its the FA Cup) to a predictable point -
The landmarks of the Cup's death as a potent national institution are easy enough to chart. Far and away the most symbolic is the one of 2000, when Manchester United shamefully acceded to suggestions from the FA and the then sports minister that they should not defend the trophy that was the third string of their historic treble of 1999.
Yes - it's all our fault. We killed it. Let's forget who gets televised every bloody round even when we're only playing bloody Crawley - let's forget we're the team that everyone else wants to play in the bloody cup, we'll forget that - we killed the bloody thing. It's the FA Cup. The FA wanted us to pull out... sounds like a cut and dried suicide to me....
And James Lawton follows this up with something even more nonsensical - our beating Millwall in the final was the final nail. WTF:
Arsène Wenger was no doubt expressing a blunt truth when he declared that winning the FA Cup was no longer as important as finishing fourth in the league and qualifying for Europe. But the decision of United not to defend made the new status of the FA Cup official. It had changed from a staple of the English game to a take-it-or-leave it luxury and if there was any doubt about this it was confirmed when United won their eleventh final – more than any rivals – by beating Millwall 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium four years after their South American misadventure.
On their way to the final Millwall defeated Tranmere Rovers, who had been unlikely sixth-round opponents only if you hadn't noticed that on their way they had beaten Bolton Wanderers reserves.
Like so much of James Lawton's writing, I've read it and read it and it makes no sense. The most likely reading is that he bemoans the ability of a lesser team like Millwall to reach the final, proving the big teams don't care. But that hardly squares with the desire for a romance of the cup. Does it... Unless his hatred of us knows so few bounds that every time we win it an Angel dies and the FA Cup gets a little bit more painful for Lawton to stomach...
And James, if you will suggest the FA Cup is on its last legs etc., etc., don't then cite the idea of moving of it to a Saturday night for viewing figures as evidence. If they want it moved to prime time Saturday slot doesn't that suggest it's quite popular... I guess that Champions League nonsense is also in terminal decline...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment