FA Cup / Ralph Ellis / 04 January 2010 / 1

Ralph Ellis discusses why empty seats and second string elevens suggest that the world's oldest football competition really seems to have lost its appeal, never mind its magic.

It would be nice to think that the photos of Jermaine Beckford celebrating the goal that knocked out Manchester United provided the image of the FA Cup's third round. The reality, however, was different. The picture that painted a thousand words from this weekend was the one from Wigan where two mascots sat alone in an empty stand.

In the stands only ten of 28 home clubs recorded crowds higher than their average. All but two of those were lower League sides playing either Premier or more glamorous than usual opposition. On the pitch only eight of 20 Premier League teams can claim to have picked anything close to their strongest possible side.

Back during the European ban of the late 1980s there was something called the Simod Cup, an extra competition invented to fill some vacant dates. We used to call it the "Who Cares Cup". I never dreamed the same title would ever apply to the game's oldest knockout competition.

So who did care? Well certainly not Blackburn who made nine changes and gave a powder puff display in a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa. Even the plan to put a half of running into El Hadji Diouf's legs to sharpen him up for when the teams meet again tomorrow in the Carling Cup semi-final went wrong when he got himself red carded. Even so Sam Allardyce's first choice team, who have already beaten Villa at Ewood this season, are decent value at [3.0] to get a first leg lead.

Liverpool were one of the teams who did field their first choice, which means a 1-1 draw at Reading only underlines how poor some of Rafa Benitez's players are. Once again it took Steven Gerrard to carry them, scoring the equaliser and producing all the midfield industry. The England midfielder is the one man who never gets rotated by Rafa and you worry he'll be knackered come the World Cup and will need the team to carry him instead of the other way round.

The same could be true of Wayne Rooney. He's become United's talisman and was the one player who might have saved them from defeat by Leeds. His last major tournament was spoiled by an injury in the build up and Fabio Capello will worry for the rest of the season about keeping him fit.

Portsmouth cared. Avram Grant put out his strongest side at home to Coventry. Hanging on for a 1-1 draw only underlined how weak they are! With more player sales to come in January, and an embargo on new signings, they are [1.4] for relegation but still odds against at [2.74] to be rock bottom. No apologies for repeating that's the best value bet in the whole top flight.

Carlo Ancelotti came up with an interesting view that some of the foreign managers now care more about the FA Cup than their English counterparts. He argued that the years of seeing Wembley finals beamed from across the world gave it a glamour that, at least for him, lived on. And he proved that by picking virtually a first choice side to brush Watford away 5-0. Chelsea are [4.6] favourites to win the Cup as a result.

The Premier League's other two Italian managers shared his commitment. Gianfranco Zola went as strong as possible and almost pulled off a shock only for two late goals to give Arsenal a 2-1 win at Upton Park. And while Roberto Mancini made changes, he still came up with a side strong enough to win 1-0 at Middlesbrough.

City, shipping goals left, right and centre in Mark Hughes's last days, have now gone 270 minutes under their new boss without conceding and Shay Given only had to make one late save. The last five teams to knock out Boro, incidentally, have reached the FA Cup final so [8.2] for Mancini to collect the old trophy in his first season is tempting, especially with a simple fourth round trip to Scunthorpe beckoning.

Burnley picked their strongest side to win at MK Dons. Owen Coyle has a core of seven or eight who never miss a game. How will that change if Bolton succeed in luring him to The Reebok, which looks more and more likely (he's [1.29] to succeed Gary Megson)? Burnley are [2.32] to go down and just two points above the relegation zone and little resources for either Coyle or a new manager, it could be time to back them.

The last word is for Birmingham who did make changes, but still extended their unbeaten run to 12 games with a 0-0 at in-form Nottingham Forest. That means Manchester United are far too short at [1.64] to make it unlucky 13 at St Andrew's on Saturday.

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1. portuguesepirate | 04 January 2010

   I'm really not surprised no-one cares. Any team in the Premier League's top six or seven is fighting for the Champions League, those in the bottom 10 are fighting to avoid relegation. Top 10 in the Championship, League One and Two are pushing for automatic promotion or play-off spots whilst those at the bottom are also fighting to avoid the drop. So who's left? A non-league side praying to draw a big side away from home to try and get a big payday. Add in a congested fixture list, time spent on the road and the prospect of replays and I'm surprised pretty much everyone doesn't put out a team of reserves. It's a competition that's good for betting on if you know team news early and for tired cliches if that's your thing, but that's about it...

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