4th round draw coming up later today. who do folks want? I'd like Wednesday at Wembley, but they'd probably turn around and lose their replay at Luton should I get it. beyond that, I like the big fixtures in Europe; but we see the likes of Citeh, Liverpool, and Arsenal enough as it is - and i'd like to win this … so a minnow for me, then. and since I'd probably like to win it more than Poch, some minnow who even our kids can turn over would be preferred. Barnet, then - another North London Derby. I'd take that. any preferences for the rest of you folks?
I don't really have a preference except to avoid another Premier League team. I do want to say I have a real fondness for the FA Cup - when ESPN was getting started they showed a lot of FA Cup games late at night when I would get home from waiting tables. That was my introduction to the game - I remember saying Replay? what the heck is a replay?
Interesting weekend, all the big boys went through, but some classic shocks, our non-league neighbours from Barnet stunned Sheffield United with our former junior player Shaq Coulthirst scoring the winner, Newport dumped Leicester (obviously they didn't watch the footage of our tie against them last season), Oldham came from a goal down to beat Fulham, Bristol City knocked out Huddersfield and Gillingham beat Cardiff with our loanee Connor Ogilvie playing well on the left side of a back 3.
the Cup is where I learned of English club football, as well. PBS used to show cup matches ("the Road to Wembley") when I was a kid back in the 70s. to be honest, I didn't initially realize that it was a separate competition from the League - I just figured it was English version of what 'the playoffs' are in American professional sports. I also didn't realize that Tottenham was in North London. it could have been a town in Northumberland for all I knew. I figured stuff like that out quickly enough, I guess, but things like the League Cup and European competitions (and who qualified for them) … I have no idea how long it took me come to terms with those things. you'd hear them mentioned during games and simply had no way to know what the hell they were talking about. there was no internet, of course, and every book you'd find in your libraries - school or public - would be about rules/tactics or World Cups. i'd find the odd World Soccer magazine (by no means every month), read stuff, and eventually these things would reveal themselves. it's really difficult to describe just how foreign this stuff was around here back then.
I was born in Edmonton, North London, but grew up in Canada. Back in the day the only live game we got from England was the FA Cup final, so the first Spurs match I saw live on telly was the 1981 FA Cup Final against Man City. Those are the moments that supporters cherish and I think this is why foreign managers and now the many foreigners who own PL clubs don't give any importance to the domestic cups because they never grew up with all the tradition and idiosyncracies that surround the domestic cups. For most of them it is all about the PL TV money and avoiding relegation, the cups are just a distraction. Many of the managers are given bonuses based on where they finish in the PL. How eles do you explain Leicester leaving Vardy, Schmeichel, Maguire and Chilwell out of their team yesterday?
Here are the draw numbers: 1 Bolton Wanderers 2 Millwall 3 Gillingham 4 Brentford 5 Sheffield Wednesday or Luton Town 6 Manchester United 7 Everton 8 Tottenham Hotspur 9 Doncaster Rovers 10 Newcastle United or Blackburn Rovers 11 Chelsea 12 Crystal Palace 13 Derby County or Southampton 14 Accrington Stanley 15 Bristol City 16 Newport County 17 Oldham Athletic 18 Shrewsbury Town or Stoke City 19 Arsenal 20 Manchester City 21 Brighton and Hove Albion 22 West Ham United 23 Watford 24 Burnley 25 QPR 26 Barnet 27 Portsmouth 28 AFC Wimbledon 29 West Bromwich Albion 30 Middlesbrough 31 Wolverhampton Wanderers 32 Swansea City
Seems Klopp is all-in on a title run … and boy Wolves are getting some really good results against top sides.
We were the last ball out - got Crystal Palace away. We were very close to drawing Arsenal or Manchester United. Our old boy Robbie Keane was on the draw and pulled out an Arsenal-Manchester United tie.
Nice one Robbie! Nice one son. Off-topic. It was so wonderful getting to watch Robbie in play in person for LA Galaxy.
Here is the draw in full: Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur Swansea City v Gillingham AFC Wimbledon v West Ham Shrewsbury or Stoke v Wolverhampton Wanderers Millwall v Everton Brighton & Hove Albion v West Bromwich Albion Bristol City v Bolton Wanderers Accrington Stanley v Derby County or Southampton Doncaster Rovers v Oldham Athletic Chelsea v Sheffield Wednesday or Luton Town Newcastle United or Blackburn Rovers v Watford Middlesbrough v Newport County Manchester City v Burnley Barnet v Brentford Portsmouth v QPR Arsenal v Manchester United
It was getting nervous - the last 4 balls were us, Palace, Man U and Arsenal, and when Arsenal came out, I was sure we were going to come out next, but it turned out to be Man U. Still, Palace away will not be a stroll in the park.
Potential banana skin, but another PL team to go. Realistically, IF (and a it's a big if) the "top 6" teams can negotiate the earlier rounds with varying degrees of a weakened team, by the time the final comes around it's one of the 6 to win it - we are all that much better man for man than the rest. Liverpool are already out, and one of Arsenal / Man Utd are going too. Take. Crystal. Palace. Seriously. There's a cup to be won.
Hopefully they will still be hovering around the relegation zone by the time we play them and put out a weaker side.
sir! we are Tottenham Hotspur and they are but Crystal Palace. **shakes head** somehow it seems more spineless and shameful reading it on a public forum than it did when I was just thinking it inside my head.
I think the last 5 times we've played Palace, we've won 1-0, which is why I say it won't be an easy tie, especially as it will come between the 2nd leg of our semi-final at Stamford bridge and our PL fixture vs Watford.
I know, mate. I was joking. my point was that it's not a very bold way of approaching the tie - even though it's exactly what I was thinking.
Hey, you can say what you want about Spurs supporters, but one thing we're not is overconfident going into a match...