It's different today - here's what the Guardian says:
Stoke City did so much more than reach the FA Cup final for the first time in their history with this remarkable result. The manner of their victory also laid down a marker for their meeting with Manchester City at Wembley in a little under four weeks' time. Stoke, on this evidence, will present a major obstacle to Roberto Mancini's hopes of winning his first piece of silverware at Eastlands.I actually don't think Stoke will win, but it will be close.
5 comments:
I shan't be watching. Would you not agree that the FA Cup Final has been devalued down the years? Particularly this year, with two small, irrelevant teams contesting it.
You're absolutely right there Ewar.
I sense a little irony, but...
The FA Cup has been devalued, but only because the winners don't get a Champions League place. (I'm not saying they should, just that that is the only prize that now matters)
It could be interesting to see how the second strand of European sides cope with the might of the long throw next year though.
But then I don't get Channel 5, so I probably won't find out.
It's been devalued in the eyes of the 4 teams who challenge for Champions' League places - it means a lot to everyone else, especially those of us whose team has never won it.
I thought the Delap Special would be found out within weeks of our promotion to the premiership, but teams are still falling for it. If it wasn't for the perfidious French, we'd have seen how Brazil et al. coped with it at the World Cup.
The tradition remains strong as many lower league sides take great pride in competing in the FA Cup but none succeed beyond the realms of the Quarter Finals. The top sides do not care anymore and see it little as testament to their reserve strength- Stoke however have been a blessing, they have the passion for the Cup derided from Pullis but the foreign management, coaches and players in most cases do not.
There really should be more equilibrium (not suggesting a separation of lower/higher teams but an acknowledgment of the achievements made by those on a budget that wouldn’t equate to a top player’s weekly salary & a fine for those who field understrength teams). Yes, the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea are a wonderful draw for Conference teams but I recall watching Scarborough vs. Chelsea in a tremendous atmosphere then consequently, the ‘Boro lost and the Cup run died and so did the club.
More gravitas by top level management in regards to team selection, TV coverage of the lesser known teams as ITV have begun to do recently whilst showing the FA Cup still has the glory as the World's foremost domestic competition.
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