F.A Cup Draw

[Winrew]

Full draw:

Blackpool v Aldershot/Basingstoke
Barnet v Colchester
Sheff Utd v Swansea
Reading v Burnley
Portsmouth v Wigan
Mansfield/Doncaster v Bolton
West Ham v Brighton
Leicester v Fulham
Derby v Wrexham
Wolves v Oldham
Bury/Chester v Ipswich
Man Utd v Aston Villa
Sheff Wed v Man City
Tamworth v Norwich
Salisbury/Nottm For v Charlton
Cardiff v Tottenham
Preston v Sunderland
Liverpool v Arsenal
Bristol Rovers/Bournemouth v Hereford
Watford v Stockport
Crystal Palace v Swindon
Bristol City v Coventry
Peterborough v Plymouth
QPR v Luton
Southend v Barnsley
West Brom v Leeds
Hull v Middlesbrough
Birmingham v Newcastle
Torquay/Leyton Orient v Southampton
Everton v Blackburn
Chelsea v Macclesfield
Stoke v Bradford/Millwall
Ties will be played on the 6 and 7 of January.

[Winrew]

Some cracking ties , Birmingham v Newcastle , stands out for me , the season could be over for the Geordies in Jan , er ,EDIT still in Europe , Cant see that lasting much longer.

[Winrew]

Surprised AFU hasnt pooped in to tell us how many the Scousers are gonna put past the Arse

[all_funkt_up]

I watched the draw and thought 'oh no'. I had villa and everton for the carling cup and fa cup out right and they both get stinking draws in both competitions. That Amir Khan has a lot to answer for.

Erm as for Liverpool's draw - should be a decent enough game. Shit, dan's taking the laptop to work. C*nt

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Have to say im no longer interested in cup competitions anymore.

To me its similar to when its International football week and i just hate it interupting the leagues.

I used to love the cups though but the magic etc have just gone for me

[Kop66]

Jeez Kiko how can you not like Cup football, i can understand internationals getting on yer tits but FA cup is just great

Here's two special moments in the cup for me and theres plenty of others too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccnDDhEJ2Rw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oibWCiY1bQ8

[slick]

I'm with Kop on this one, you can do away with the league cup but the FA cup is something else and brings a bit of magic to the end of the season.
Man U passed it by a few yrs back but then realised afterwards it was a mistake as the fans made a huge outcry, Fergie even promised it would not happen again.

Theres something about the FA cup that makes it special and if your team gets to the final a great day out.

[mrmuzeman]

Blackburn (or drawing any Prem team in the 3rd round) is not a good draw BUT its at home so im expecting us to come through that one.

Stat for you - Since the Premiership began in 1992 only Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea has won the FA Cup. Apart from Everton of course

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Well i do think my thoughts were justified now with the current round.

The draw in itself was probably the most most uninspiring set of fixtures for the FA Cup i have ever seen.

Seems the magic of the cup went out the window today also with no cup upsets, teams resting players etc.

Infact, sayng all this the Carling cup seems to be the better cup for giant killings and fairytale stories.

Roll on next weekend with the league football

[slick]

Theres hardly any cup upsets anymore Kiko as there is a huge void between the Prem and other leagues as i stated in your 'Premiership in decline thread'.

Fairytales can hardly be classed as such in the carling cup as most prem sides put out weakened sides but i agree with you in that i'd rather watch league football nowadays untill the cup reaches its latter stages with the better teams getting drawn against each other and going all out to get a result.

[crowie]

The money in the EPL and the need to be in that league has far overtaken anything the cup can throw up nowadays, certainly from a clubs commercial point of view.

Birmingham v Reading a great example. What would Brum rather have this season? A quarter or semi final or promotion and £30m next season? Thats an easy one.

And Reading don't care as they would rather get a better league placing and therefore place more emphasis on the league than the cup.

When you have managers from Championship level sides, and probably below, fielding weakened sides to try and further their league positions then you know its no longer the competition it was.

TV and the number of televised games has also had its effect. The bloke on TalkSport on Saturday morning made a good point. Years ago everyone used to watch the FA Cup final. If we were lucky up in Scotland the Scottish Cup final was on a different weekend and then we got both.

The TS bloke was saying people used to be all indoors, it was a big day, up early, read the papers, watch the build up, didn't matter who was involved etc etc as it gripped everyones attention - possibly because it was a live game on the telly. Nowadays there is so much telly that its just another footy game to watch or maybe not as the case may be.

[rcgills]

Draw for the next round:

Chelsea v Blackpool or Norwich
Watford v Ipswich
Preston v Man City
Plymouth v Derby County
Man Utd v Reading
Arsenal or Bolton v Blackburn
Bristol City or Middlesbrough v West Bromwich Albion
Fulham v Tottenham