Of course, the real competition has been going on for months now, and some teams that have made the 3rd round will have played as many as 15 matches to get their chance to play the big boys of English football.
There is a certain magic to an FA Cup weekend, particularly the 3rd round. The attention almost instantly turns to any sort of David v Goliath battle as the media, pundits and fans alike look out for what could be a potential shock. Videos of Ronnie Radford get brought out from the archives and get dusted off ready for their annual airing, much to the annoyance of myself and many Newcastle fans I’m sure.
For those who don’t know, Ronnie Radford scored the equalising goal for Hereford in an FA Cup tie against Newcastle back in 1972. Hereford were a non-league team at the time, and they went on to win the game and knock Newcastle out of the competition.
Here is a link to the goal if you have never seen it.
It’s that kind of shock that Newcastle need to avoid this weekend when they make the trip to Broadhall Way to play Stevenage Borough. Granted, Stevenage are not a non-league side like Hereford were, but an early exit for a Premier League side against a League Two outfit would keep the press dining out for a good few weeks.
The words ‘banana skin’ have never been more appropriate, and the TV cameras will be there willing for a big shock to take place. Dodge the banana skin and get into the next round has to be the aim, and from there, who knows?
The FA Cup is a competition that I rate very highly. It’s a cup that has been prominent throughout our history and it would be foolish to not enter the competition with the aim of winning it. Am I being deluded? No, not really, as any team has a chance of getting to the final, and from there anything can happen.
Newcastle have a lot of injured players as they prepare for Stevenage, but I’ll highlight that in the match preview when I can get that prepared. It’s likely to be a much changed outfit, but they should still be capable of winning the match. Alan Pardew has said the he will be playing the strongest team available to him, which I agree with.
The merits of a cup run are debatable when you are trying to establish yourself back in the Premier League, but The FA Cup has to be a competition where we play our strongest team, and it looks as though we’ll be doing that just that.
I’m up for the cup. Are you?
Big Dave
Posted January 7, 2011 at 7:59 PM
They say fish is good brain food and I have heard that jellyfish are the best
Opposed to ‘jelly heads’ on this blog!
Stuart79(Quote)
just hope the lads that do play will put a show of sorts on,they need to not going to many chances unless we stay in cup.
dont care we are not going to get bentley seems the lads heeds not right and the big-market would do us no favours imo
icedog(Quote)
Stuart hows the training going and is it true your out doing 5 mile runs or was Batty telling porkies, not sure about jelly heads but there is a few jelly bellies 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Ice dont know what a CL final would be like but for me nowt beats the FA cup final, maybe its just the romance and tradition that I attach to it. As I know a lot of people dont think the same of it now
Big Dave(Quote)
Big Dave
Posted January 7, 2011 at 8:25 PM
Training? Why would I need to train? I’m in peak physical condition with an extremely intellectual brain!
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart you sound pretty confident mate 😉 wonder where batty is to see what odd’s he has on you 🙂
Big Dave(Quote)
DAVE love the f.a.cup me,clubs look more to the money side of game now maybe ie staying in p.l.or champ/lge,shame like but thats the price of moving on money wise,cham/lge and sky have a lot to answer for imo
icedog(Quote)
where is batty the slag still busking at the metro i bet
icedog(Quote)
Ice I guess thats the way things are now, I know as you get older it gets harder to move with the times 😆 so if its hard for me it must be impossible for you 😆
Dont know where the slag is tonight I thought he would have been on as I know he has shifted all the tickets for the fight tomorrow night
Big Dave(Quote)
aye and nicked off with the money,they will be snide tickets,he will gone to see carroll and get some sun 🙂
icedog(Quote)
DAVE how many great great grand-kide you got now mate
icedog(Quote)
theres a new thread up ol un 🙂
batty(Quote)
old
batty(Quote)