Not Press-ed up

[dave.woodhall]

http://thebirminghampress.com/2017/01/the-magic-of-the-cup-3/

[castlefields_villan]

Spot on again Dave.

[robbo1874]

We sold less than 3k because that's all that was available. I didn't see the match, but presume your usual balanced view prevailed.

[pbavfckuwait]

Spot on about the magic of the cup Dave, I can honestly say, I have never felt so flat for a 3rd round weekend than this year, the only game I enjoyed all weekend was the Sutton game, purely and simply to see some new faces.

To bring this competition back to life the FA have some work to do, that is if they can be bothered.

[Nev]

Spot on about the magic of the cup Dave, I can honestly say, I have never felt so flat for a 3rd round weekend than this year, the only game I enjoyed all weekend was the Sutton game, purely and simply to see some new faces.

To bring this competition back to life the FA have some work to do, that is if they can be bothered.

I would've felt the same had I not been at Wycombe V Stourbridge which was every bit a classic 3rd round tie.

It doesn't help that the draw didn't throw up too many appetising games but thats what happens when you leave things to chance and I fear that this will not be the case for much longer, the introduction of seeding can't be too far away.

As for the TV picks, by their very nature, commercial stations chase advertising which depends on ratings so it is difficult to argue against the selections on BT. The BBC however are not under this pressure. An argument put forward by member of the press on Saturday was that the FA Cup presents the only opportunity for the BBC to show Premier League teams live, but so what? They are covering a sport, it's not an exhibition. As Danny Baker put it on Twitter, it's as if they are anxious just for a glimpse of the top teams, like standing in the rain in a provincial town waiting for member of the Royal Family to briefly appear.

But they have presented themselves with another problem, and this also happened on BT. Both Plymouth and Villa were never going to "open up" against their respective opponents so they were never going to be particularly attractive games. But no-one told McMannaman and Murphy who then sounded like spoiled kids, bemoaning the lack of contribution by both underdogs, again expecting an exhibition of football. Lineker looked downcast, the panel struggled to come up with anything interesting to say and, tonights game withstanding, almost all the TV coverage has been as flat as a witch's tit.

Add to this the sneering attitude regarding the attendance at Cardiff, without reference to the extenuating circumstances, the under strength teams and reduced crowds eleswhere, I think that in terms of how the FA Cup is organised, this has been a very damaging weekend for the competition.

[chrisw1]

Spot on about the magic of the cup Dave, I can honestly say, I have never felt so flat for a 3rd round weekend than this year, the only game I enjoyed all weekend was the Sutton game, purely and simply to see some new faces.

To bring this competition back to life the FA have some work to do, that is if they can be bothered.

I would've felt the same had I not been at Wycombe V Stourbridge which was every bit a classic 3rd round tie.

It doesn't help that the draw didn't throw up too many appetising games but thats what happens when you leave things to chance and I fear that this will not be the case for much longer, the introduction of seeding can't be too far away.

As for the TV picks, by their very nature, commercial stations chase advertising which depends on ratings so it is difficult to argue against the selections on BT. The BBC however are not under this pressure. An argument put forward by member of the press on Saturday was that the FA Cup presents the only opportunity for the BBC to show Premier League teams live, but so what? They are covering a sport, it's not an exhibition. As Danny Baker put it on Twitter, it's as if they are anxious just for a glimpse of the top teams, like standing in the rain in a provincial town waiting for member of the Royal Family to briefly appear.

But they have presented themselves with another problem, and this also happened on BT. Both Plymouth and Villa were never going to "open up" against their respective opponents so they were never going to be particularly attractive games. But no-one told McMannaman and Murphy who then sounded like spoiled kids, bemoaning the lack of contribution by both underdogs, again expecting an exhibition of football. Lineker looked downcast, the panel struggled to come up with anything interesting to say and, tonights game withstanding, almost all the TV coverage has been as flat as a witch's tit.

Add to this the sneering attitude regarding the attendance at Cardiff, without reference to the extenuating circumstances, the under strength teams and reduced crowds eleswhere, I think that in terms of how the FA Cup is organised, this has been a very damaging weekend for the competition.

Good post Nev

[darren woolley]

Another good read Dave.

[Exeter 77]

Slightly related  - Spurs and Wycombe have been drawn together so it could have been Villa v Stourbridge.

[Steve67]

Really fair point about the games shown. Clearly a ratings issue for the greedy bastards. I'd much rather watch a more romantic, yet lesser, affair between two clubs that could really do with the money.

[kippaxvilla2]

I bet Manure will be on live again for the fourth round.  A 'mouth watering' local derby at home to Wigan.

[Nev]

Really fair point about the games shown. Clearly a ratings issue for the greedy bastards. I'd much rather watch a more romantic, yet lesser, affair between two clubs that could really do with the money.

So would I and I imagine millions of others but these days the game is being marketed to a different audience.

There are football fans who want to watch a decent game, wherever it may be played from parks football to the top of the league.
Then there are those that only want to watch football at the very top level, and it is this market that the TV companies want to exploit because it is the most lucrative. The so called "fans of the PL" who have no real ties to any particular club but just want to watch games in that division exclusively. It is very much a trend from overseas for obvious reasons but effects the game deeply so much so that a publicly funded broadcaster has now fallen under this spell as we witnessed over the weekend.

I've no doubt that Newton Heath, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will have their games selected for next round and the opposition is almost irrellevant.

Those half and half scarves tell us a lot about which way the games is going.

[Somniloquism]

I bet Manure will be on live again for the fourth round.  A 'mouth watering' local derby at home to Wigan.

With ITV, BT and Sky, you can see why they decide Manure need to be on TV so they can sell the advertising spaces better. But there is no excuse for the BBC deciding that match should be the one they show when the do have the rights. And they are the ones who started this continuous live run of FA cup games and have continued it whenever possible.