CUP HALF FULL
This FA Cup weekend showcased what makes English football truly great.. to quote Plymouth hero Katic: I f***ing love it
Even ticket prices provided a reason to be cheerful for a change
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE’S Bosnian centre-half Nikola Katic had never previously played in the FA Cup.
But in the aftermath of his team’s shock fourth-round victory over Liverpool, Katic summed up our feelings towards the competition pretty succinctly.
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“I f***ing love it,” said the Roger Mellie of the Balkans.
And then, without allowing time for his interviewer to apologise for such industrial language, Katic added the rejoinder: “I f***ing love it.”
Well said, sunshine, and well played.
What a glorious long weekend it’s been for a competition which has struggled for elbow-room in a congested calendar and struggled to retain this nation’s love.
After Katic’s outburst, I was sent a photo of two match tickets from a friend of a friend who supports Argyle.
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His seat cost £29, his teenage son’s just nine quid. Not a bad price to witness the bottom club in the Championship defeating the Premier League leaders, ending Liverpool’s hunt for a Quadruple.
Plymouth’s pricing policy shames many top-flight clubs who charge significantly more for Cup games, even to those already paying through the nose for season tickets.
And the match was one of nine fixtures screened on ITV or BBC over a five-day festival of football which concludes back in Devon, with Exeter versus Nottingham Forest tonight.
This has been a welcome development for the Cup.
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While traditionalists bemoan the absence of a job-lot of fixtures at 3pm on Saturday, here is an opportunity for the tens of millions who can’t afford Sky and TNT subscriptions to feast their eyes.
Sure, Arne Slot fielded Liverpool’s reserves but that’s part of the competition’s evolution — making upsets more likely.
Likewise, the scrapping of replays increases the chances of giant-killings.
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The Cup cannot survive on nostalgia alone.
It’s not about Ron Manager from The Fast Show getting misty-eyed about supporters with tinfoil trophies.
And while such sharp-toothed underdoggery remains the Cup’s raison d’etre, there has been plenty more to savour.
The absence of VAR brought a welcome spontaneity.
Yes, Harry Maguire’s injury-time winner for Manchester United against Leicester was a travesty — with replays leaving us wondering only whether four or five United players had been offside.
Yet rather that than the cruelty of last year’s semi-final at Wembley, when Coventry were denied the greatest FA Cup comeback due to a toenail offside ruling out Victor Torp’s winner in the final seconds of extra-time, after the Championship side had trailed United 3-0.
Sadly, VAR returns for the fifth round but it should be absent from the entire competition, marking it out as a home for old-school authenticity.
On Saturday, Leyton Orient’s Jamie Donley scored probably the greatest FA Cup goal by an underdog since Ronnie Radford’s rocket for Hereford against Newcastle in 1972.
It scarcely mattered that Manchester City came back to win because the technique and audacity required for Donley’s perfectly flighted 45-yarder will see it replayed for decades.
Oh, and we’re obviously ignoring the killjoy nonsense of Donley’s effort being awarded as a Stefan Ortega own goal.
But then again was Donley’s even the greatest goal scored by an FA Cup underdog on Saturday?
The sheer almighty wallop of Tomoki Iwata’s effort for Birmingham against Newcastle was certainly more Radford-esque. St Andrew’s was rocking for that classic Cup tie which dripped with drama and controversy before Eddie Howe’s side edged it 3-2.
At Birmingham’s ground, I once witnessed a squirrel falling from the rusty rafters of the Main Stand on to the laptop of the bloke sitting next to me.
At Plymouth’s Home Park, I was struck on the head by a flying pasty after an Argyle goal.
And Brisbane Road is a ground I visited frequently with my late Uncle Henry, an Orient season ticket-holder for decades.
I enjoyed the excellent selection of real ale in the supporters’ club bar, the gallows humour of the fans and the magnificent absurdity of the club’s Tijuana Taxi walk-on music, as much as the football.
But for an hour on Saturday, Orient — revived after a spell under ruinous ownership had plunged them into non-league football — were leading Pep Guardiola’s filthy-rich City.
These places represent the soul of the English game — where supporters attend in hope rather than expectation, by virtue of generations-old tradition rather than glory-hunting opportunism.
This Cup weekend showcased what makes English football truly great — not the global phenomenon of the Premier League but the depth of the passionate support for clubs further down the pyramid.
Now Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal have all been banished before the last 16.
And while the possibility of a third straight Manchester derby final remains, the form of both City and United suggests a genuine chance of a winner from outside of the Big Six.
If that happens, then we can all echo the words of Plymouth’s Bosnian centre-half.
BECK IN TIME
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REAL MADRID arrive at Manchester City tonight with a wealth of attacking talent — Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo and Endrick — but with hardly any fit, senior defenders.
This is reminiscent of the peak years of Real’s Galactico era when a team which included Zinedine Zidane, the original Ronaldo, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo and David Beckham won precisely nothing for three seasons.
KANE'S A GUN FOR HIRE
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INTRIGUING that details of Harry Kane’s release clause have been revealed midway through his second season at Bayern Munich.
These things rarely happen by accident and it suggests the England captain might be open to a move home this summer.
Of course, the major Premier League club most in need of a centre-forward like Kane is Arsenal.
Now, I’ve got no dog in the North London derby fight but go on, Harry, do it. Just for the LOLs and bantz.
MISSION IMPOSSIRBLE
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SIR JIM RATCLIFFE’S mate Sir Dave Brailsford has launched Mission 21 — a cunning plan to win Manchester United’s 21st league title.
This after United’s chief executive Omar Berrada launched Project 150 — a cunning plan to win the title on the club’s 150th anniversary in 2028.
With so many flip charts, flow charts, buzzwords and power-point presentations, how can United possibly continue to fail?
LOST POST
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ANGE POSTECOGLOU talks a brilliant game.
The Aussie’s impassioned defence of his injury-ravaged squad after Tottenham were knocked out of both domestic cup competitions inside 72 hours was a compelling watch.
Yet many of his arguments fall down on closer inspection.
Yes, Spurs were tired but that doesn’t excuse conceding so passively inside 58 seconds at Aston Villa.
Yes, the side Postecoglou picked had an inexperienced keeper and a makeshift defence, so why play out from the back against such an aggressive high-pressing team as Villa?
WORN BEEF
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FORMER Aston Villa defender James Collins revealed he once wore a steak inside his boot to protect a broken foot.
And during Felix Magath’s slapstick reign as Fulham boss, Brede Hangeland applied cheese to his injured thigh.
Perhaps Premier League clubs are missing a trick.
There must be demand for an artisan deli selling match-worn foodstuffs.
GREAT SCOTT
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BURNLEY haven’t let in a goal in the Championship since Christmas, they have conceded just nine in 31 games all season and have contested TEN goalless draws.
Clarets boss Scott Parker didn’t play very much during the season he spent under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea — just seven starts in 2004-05 — but he sure as hell listened and learned.
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CHEERS
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A TRIP to Twickenham always leaves me asking the same question: How come posh people get to watch sport with a beer in hand and not us plebs at the football?
Believe me, it’s not as though the toffs can handle their ale any better.
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