Comments on: Third Round and Fourth Round FA Cup Ties on UK TV

By: APOWELL

APOWELL — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:36:13 +0000

4TH ROUND CUP DRAW,,, MUST BE ON TV CARDIFF V ARSENAL………….WATCH CITY DO ARSENAL AL NINIAN PARK

By: Passing by

Passing by — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:37:43 +0000

In all honesty, there would have been a greater chance for the game that had ‘most appeal’ as you put it had Liverpool won on Sunday. Instead a game with too many unknowns isn’t going to get billing because there is still a chance of an unappealing tie.

As for why the decision had to be made before replay results were in, I believe that has to do with policing issues.

But why no love for Mansfield Town v Middlesbrough? Fourth Tier of English Football getting a home draw against a Premier League side (ok it’s Boro, but still). At least we know Field Mill should have one cracking atmosphere.

By: Jeff Hash

Jeff Hash — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:19:04 +0000

But this decision had to be made before the replay results are in. I dont’ know why, but they are.

So, whoever picked it would be left with the possiblity of getting Luton hosting Swansea, which is not all that compeling. Liverpool hosting Swansea is not much better. Luton hosting Havant… well, we saw that Swansea hosting Havant wasn’t enough for a selection in the third round (understandable given who’s the home side). So the only way it really pays off is having it be Liverpool v Havant.

TV execs prefer certainty. At least when the Liverpool match was chosen in the third round, we knew they’d be on the road to a clearly lower opponent. You don’t get anything like that here.

As for the matches that make the FA Cup special, look through the draw again. Are there really any matches that jump to you as special FA Cup affairs? I said it before, I’ll say it again: this draw is a bore. So the default will naturally go to big clubs.