The Emirates FA Cup 2023/24

[Hobo]

18 minutes ago, Colly said:

While we're on kits (from yesterday), while I like the Arsenal thing I do wish they'd make the numbers black.

I've a feeling I said the same thing last time though...

Either black number or a heavier outline. They're very hard to see.

I'm not a huge fan of the cup shirt numbers Liverpool have used over the years but at least i can see them.

[Colly]

11 minutes ago, Adam said:

And replays are old fashioned, they're not needed anymore. Do away with them and seed the draw so the lower league teams get home games against top sides as a guarantee.

Doncaster had to replay Accrington last month, it was crap. Everton v Palace twice in 10 days is also unnecessary.

I've a feeling we had this discussion recently, while I get the fixture congestion argument I still don't understand how it's "old fashioned". There's far more sporting merit in taking the tie back to your home ground than the League Cup "go straight to penalties" routine. If you're desperate to avoid a replay just go gung ho and play to win, Newcastle showed how to do that when we frantically ran away from the Europa League last month...

Ooh it's on page 1 of this thread, I'll fall back on that.

[Gazz]

If you want to do away with replays, then they need to make a rule that regardless of draw order, if the teams are in different divisions, the lower ranked team automatically plays at home.

[Colly]

I think you'd have to do it that way, but then you're depriving lower league fans of the chance to ever have an away trip to Old Trafford etc. Or a stadium that isn't falling to bits where you won't be fleeced on ticket prices...

[Colly]

Aargh, which wrestling theme was that, it's driving me mad.

[Hobo]

Just now, Colly said:

Aargh, which wrestling theme was that, it's driving me mad.

Ken Shamrock

I only know because @King Ellis tweeted it

[King Ellis]

Important facts, figures, birthdays of loved ones...none of these exist in my brain space because it's all taken up by 90's wrestling songs that I can recognise when the one guy at the Emirates who's keen in the graphs plays them at half time.

[DavidMarrio]

Funny that. Considering Shearer kept making out we should have conceded about 10 goals even though Alisson hardly broke a sweat. Only real ones was Odegaard smacking the bar and the Reiss Nelson one in 2 minutes. 

This isn't me thinking Arsenal on paper shouldn't have won that btw. They did everything but score. Just Shearer on commentary was very tedious

[The Radical Moongoose]

2 hours ago, DavidMarrio said:

Funny that. Considering Shearer kept making out we should have conceded about 10 goals even though Alisson hardly broke a sweat. Only real ones was Odegaard smacking the bar and the Reiss Nelson one in 2 minutes. 

This isn't me thinking Arsenal on paper shouldn't have won that btw. They did everything but score. Just Shearer on commentary was very tedious

Couldn’t agree more, about 15 mins in he was saying Arsenal SHOULD be 4-0 up. I think the penalty against Newcastle last week was on his mind. 

[METALMAN]

If the big teams hate replays they must be a good thing

[Lineker]

Is it in the FA Trophy where the two teams drawn in any given tie can decide between themselves whether they will play a replay if needed or have a penalty shootout after 90 minutes? I like that system. 

[Adam]

4 hours ago, Colly said:

I've a feeling we had this discussion recently, while I get the fixture congestion argument I still don't understand how it's "old fashioned". There's far more sporting merit in taking the tie back to your home ground than the League Cup "go straight to penalties" routine. If you're desperate to avoid a replay just go gung ho and play to win, Newcastle showed how to do that when we frantically ran away from the Europa League last month...

Ooh it's on page 1 of this thread, I'll fall back on that.

Extra time would be fine to be fair, rather than straight to penalties. I just think it's a lot to do a whole other game, and it's not just fixture congestion but fans have to arrange to go to the replayed games at short notice. I'm not saying it's a perfect solution but seeding it works better for me.

[Benjamin]

I believe the Copa del Rey necessitates that the lower division team play at home, which leads to pretty cool stuff like 4th Division Barbastro almost upsetting Barcelona in front of their home fans yesterday. 

That system makes sense to me. 

[Nelson]

10 hours ago, Lineker said:

Is it in the FA Trophy where the two teams drawn in any given tie can decide between themselves whether they will play a replay if needed or have a penalty shootout after 90 minutes? I like that system. 

Yes, I believe so. I think that would work in the FA Cup where by default there would be a replay but the clubs can unanimously decide to just to extra time and penalties beforehand. This way, the lower league clubs still get the chance of a replay.

[The Lusophone]

Any change to the schedule - not just for the FA Cup but in general - that potentially deprives smaller clubs from big match day revenues like a replay at a 'big' club should only come if accompanied by a binding agreement to significantly increase funding down the pyramid prior to being agreed.

More money for the pyramid should be the price to even start the conversation, whether it's on scheduling or the 3pm blackout and everything in-between. 

[Colly]

I'm curious as to whether any clubs/coaches are actually complaining about them significantly? At PL level they've got the squad size to cope (I looked at Man City's team that played Huddersfield and thought it looked strong, then you realise it was essentially a reserve side. As ridiculous as that sounds considering the cost of said reserves), so there's almost two bisecting lines on a chart between teams who can cope anyway and teams where the welcome extra revenue more than outweighs the issue. Presumably the middle of that chart is somewhere in the Championship/League One where the extra revenue isn't enough to make up for the extra game?

[Adam]

Nuno Santo says he wants the replays scrapped and multiple coaches have said similar, with 7 of the 20 PL clubs forced by having replays to cut short their winter break scheduling.

The overworking of players and additional fixtures is a huge talking point in football at the moment, and whilst this element of it is nothing compared to what they're doing with international and continental competitions, it is absolutely part of the issue.

Look, I support a team currently at the bottom end of the EFL pyramid. I do get why the lucrative cup games can help a club massively but it's total pot luck whether or not a team draws one (such illustrious ties as Maidstone v Stevenage, Shrewsbury v Wrexham and Newport v Eastleigh took place this weekend) so unless you guarantee these sorts of games with seeding, the potential benefits to lower clubs are more like breadcrumbs compared to what the additional fixtures are contributing to in terms of fatigue and extra cost.

[Nelson]

17 hours ago, Adam said:

Nuno Santo says he wants the replays scrapped and multiple coaches have said similar, with 7 of the 20 PL clubs forced by having replays to cut short their winter break scheduling.

The overworking of players and additional fixtures is a huge talking point in football at the moment, and whilst this element of it is nothing compared to what they're doing with international and continental competitions, it is absolutely part of the issue.

Look, I support a team currently at the bottom end of the EFL pyramid. I do get why the lucrative cup games can help a club massively but it's total pot luck whether or not a team draws one (such illustrious ties as Maidstone v Stevenage, Shrewsbury v Wrexham and Newport v Eastleigh took place this weekend) so unless you guarantee these sorts of games with seeding, the potential benefits to lower clubs are more like breadcrumbs compared to what the additional fixtures are contributing to in terms of fatigue and extra cost.

 

I disagree with this part because once you reach the 3rd round onwards, the prize money starts going up sharply in terms of what it means for lower league sides, so if a lower league side draws another lower league side then both teams feel they've got a very good chance of progressing and earning even more prize money. Then the odds of drawing a bigger club goes down as you go through the rounds.

For context, Maidstone started in the 2nd qualifying round, they got £3,375 for winning that game. For beating Stevenage, they received £105,000 in prize money.

My club is desperate for a new clubhouse, even though we're a lot further down the pyramid than Maidstone, it makes me fully understand what a good cup run can do for a club.

[Adam]

Replays going won't affect that though, the prize money is for winning the tie regardless.

[Nelson]

3 hours ago, Adam said:

Replays going won't affect that though, the prize money is for winning the tie regardless.

I know. I meant that there's still a pretty big positive if a lower league club draws another lower league club.