The Emirates FA Cup 2022/23

[Twist]

8 minutes ago, Lineker said:

Cupset!

What did you do?!

[TheGrandAvatar]

28 minutes ago, Lineker said:

Cupset!

Ah. It wouldn't be a Cupset without Lineker posting it. Never fails to amuse me does this. 

[lanky316]

Shame he had to curse it though.

[Bobfoc]

This is a good result. It means that Wrexham have another match to add to their schedule and hopefully compromise their title push. Yes, I'm clutching at straws.

[Chris2K]

As if people didn't want Wrexham to win the replay already...

 

[Adam]

Do people want that? I was very glad Sheffield United got the equaliser.

[Colly]

If Wrexham get through and beat Spurs can @Lineker promise to retire cupset for good?

So we can all enjoy knockout football again?

[9 to 5]

41 minutes ago, Adam said:

Do people want that? I was very glad Sheffield United got the equaliser.

This.

[Colly]

Meh, I quite like Wrexham. Like Salford but without (to my knowledge) either of their owners beating up women. Obviously it's a lot of money behind them at that level, but it's not like they've been bought by billionaires.

[GoGo Yubari]

In the grand pantheon of "most Tottenham Hotspur thing to ever happen," being depicted losing to a lower-division team in the FA Cup in a popular fictional series about soccer only to, a couple years later, lose to a real team from an even lower division on a popular docuseries would have to be way up there.

[Lineker]

Leave the memories of Harchester alone dude.

[Adam]

10 hours ago, Colly said:

Meh, I quite like Wrexham. Like Salford but without (to my knowledge) either of their owners beating up women. Obviously it's a lot of money behind them at that level, but it's not like they've been bought by billionaires.

They are outspending most League One clubs for players, they shouldn't even be having to scrap to get out of the National League.

I personally don't care what the motivation of the people behind it is, all clubs who do this where they obscenely bankroll their way up the leagues are not to be celebrated. It distorts the playing field at a level where finance matters so much more than it does at the top level. Wrexham is a plaything for the Hollywood boys, they had never heard of the place before being directed to buy that club.

They're not underdogs and the fawning by media outlets is cynical in the extreme, since it's all to get eyes on the television screen.

Salford, Fleetwood, Wrexham - they are all the same.

[lanky316]

5 hours ago, Lineker said:

Leave the memories of Harchester alone dude.

In this day and age of remakes, reboots and just generally recycling things across all media I'm shocked they've not tried to bring back Dream Team.

[Colly]

I wouldn't deny any of that, but at the same time it's not as if the lower leagues are a level playing field in the first place, and I'd also (bar the risk of collapse) argue against finance mattering much more than the top leagues where we've seen clubs happily buy their way to success, it's only harder now because there's about 4 or 5 Wrexham's in the Premier League. It's something we'll always see in football (Blackburn, Notts County etc) and it's fairly cyclical, at least with Wrexham there's a bit of a story to latch on to rather than a dodgy faceless investor, regardless of the lack of connection. They certainly seem connected now, albeit through the lens of a documentary. 

I absolutely agree they aren't underdogs in the National League given they've got a smattering of League One players now, but against Sheffield United in the cup they absolutely are.

[Adam]

Ahead of last season they poached League Two's top scorer and Cheltenham's captain, both from clubs promoted into League One. That shouldn't be possible really and I would dispute that it is anything like Blackburn winning the Premier League.

What teams akin to Wrexham are in the top flight? I'd argue maybe only Bournemouth, as Brentford have spent money but not far beyond the level they were/are competing at, and I really can't see another club having done similar that are in the PL.

The story behind the owners is irrelevant. Salford's owners were connected and as strong a bunch of "football people" as you could ever say, but I would say the same as all this about them too. A plaything of Gary Neville to get attention and TV time, bankrolled up from the same level as Bedlington Terriers and Rossington Main into being a viable league club.

[DFF]

Now my blood pressure has recovered - thank fuck for John Egan. 

[Nelson]

50 minutes ago, Adam said:

They are outspending most League One clubs for players, they shouldn't even be having to scrap to get out of the National League.

I personally don't care what the motivation of the people behind it is, all clubs who do this where they obscenely bankroll their way up the leagues are not to be celebrated. It distorts the playing field at a level where finance matters so much more than it does at the top level. Wrexham is a plaything for the Hollywood boys, they had never heard of the place before being directed to buy that club.

They're not underdogs and the fawning by media outlets is cynical in the extreme, since it's all to get eyes on the television screen.

Salford, Fleetwood, Wrexham - they are all the same.

There are different ways though that clubs get their funding. For example, the non-league team I go to watch every week are in the same league as Bury AFC (everyone knows their story) who get 4 figure crowds and West Didsbury and Chorlton who get double, and for most clubs in the league, treble the gate therefore have a much higher income than the rest yet nobody takes issues with them.

[Colly]

19 minutes ago, Adam said:

What teams akin to Wrexham are in the top flight? I'd argue maybe only Bournemouth, as Brentford have spent money but not far beyond the level they were/are competing at, and I really can't see another club having done similar that are in the PL.

Chronologically, in this century, Chelsea, Man City and now potentially Newcastle. Football runs on money bar that odd occasion the stars align and a brilliant bit of scouting results in a perfect storm like Leicester for a year. I'd love it if everything was somehow levelled but that just isn't the case, so I can't hold it massively against Wrexham. I don't think you can compare their history (cup runs etc) with that of Salford either, the cheapest available Manchester adjacent club.

I'm not some huge Wrexham fan, I'd much rather Gateshead make it back into the league (after being glad Hartlepool made it back), but I'm not going to begrudge them a win over a Championship high flyer backed by the Saudis...

[Bobfoc]

I have nothing against Wrexham or their fans historically. Even though they'll probably deny my team promotion, I don't begrudge them for having something to smile about after years of non-league football.

I find the excessive media attention a bit annoying, and perhaps rather disingenuous. Whenever I see McElhenney and Reynolds doing anything Wrexham-related, it always seems to be in the form of comedy skits. It's hard to shake off the feeling that there's still a major "Look how wacky we are" factor in play. Plus, as said, the notion that they're some sort of plucky underdog when they're packing their squad with established Football League players is a huge stretch.

I've come across people who believe that McElhenney and Reynolds created Wrexham FC, and others who think that it's a Youtube club in the nether depths of the football pyramid. They're one of the oldest professional clubs in the world, and so this misconception that their zany Hollywood owners are putting together something never before seen in the community is all too misleading.

There's got to be a point at which they both lose interest and sod off, at which stage you wonder how they'll have impacted the club's long-term future. No doubt, they'll have plenty of material to fill out their documentaries right now, but how about when they hit the inevitable plateau and aren't doing anything particularly noteworthy? It's all well and good that they're apparently aiming for the Premier League, but unless they get some serious outside investment, that really isn't likely to happen.

[lanky316]

Isn't that misconception from people who know fuck all about football anyway? For all the wackiness and cult of celebrity around the club, both have pointed out the long heritage of the club on multiple occasions, including Reynolds at the weekend making a point when talking of the future in highlighting that it's the oldest international football stadium in the world for example and wanting a team to justify that. I think there is a likely plateau point around League One they'll stagnate for a few years, a league that has a good amount of teams who until recently were non-league nonentities and have worked up alongside some big name clubs on a slide. I can see that being somewhere they hang around for a while or maybe yoyo a bit while they build up to compete with the next step of the Championship. I do think that, although obviously spending money, it's not something that if they've got Wrexham as a stable league club and decide "I'm tired of this" that will necessarily ruin their long term stability.