What an unbelievable couple of days in the FA Cup. The following odds on shots went the way of the layers:
Birmingham 4/5 - Lost to Huddersfield 4/1
Blackburn 4/11 - Lost to Coventry 8/1
Bolton 8/13 - Lost to Sheffield Utd 11/2
Brighton 4/9 - Lost to Mansfield 8/1
Colchester 10/11 - Lost to Peterborough 7/2
Derby 4/5 - Drew with Sheffield Wednesday 5/2
Everton 1/5 - Lost to Oldham 14/1
Fulham 2/5 - Drew with Bristol Rovers 7/2
Liverpool 3/10 - Drew with Luton 9/2
Noriwch 4/9 - Drew with Bury 10/3
Swansea 1/5 - Drew with Havant & Waterlooville 9/1 (matched on Betfair - there really are some muppets out their who are completely price insensitive)
Swindon 8/13 - Drew with Barnet 11/4
Tottenham 1/2 - Drew with Reading 7/2
Tranmere 4/5 - Drew with Hereford 13/5
Walsall 10/11 - Drew with Millwall 12/5
Quite unbelievable weekend and one which must have seen nearly every 5 match plus accumulator go by the wayside. I mean, the bookies clean up on a normal weekend, what the hell did they clear this one? Anyone who bought the Shock Index on the spreads must have made a killing.
What I found quite unbelievable was the Premier League teams outside the "Big 4" playing weakened teams. I know Reading and Bolton were quite open in their contempt of the FA Cup and the fact that they were resting players (although Reading seem to have done quite well in the last few seasons with this policy, aside from the draw with Spurs I remember getting a credible draw with Man Utd with their reserve team) but why Everton and Blackburn shuffled things round when they have a good shot at actually winning it is questionable.
I don't but into this "Big 4" monopoly of the competition bullshit. Firstly, when Chelsea won the Cup in 1997 and 2000, they weren't a "Big 4" team. They elevation to that status only occurred when the Roman brought in his cash and got the Special One in to help him spend it. Secondly, the draw in the last few years has been very kind to those "Big 4" teams. Hardly at all does it seem that they draw either one another or do they get away with drawing easy opposition. No offence to Newcastle (twice), West Ham, Millwall and Southamption, but their have been some very predictable and poor finals in recent years. Spurs, Everton, Blackburn, Manchester City, Portsmouth, and even some of the smaller teams in the Premier League could win it with a favourable draw and a bit of luck. I fancy Manchester City, I've got a lot of respect of Ericsson and hope he continues to do well there.
Luton must have felt they hit the jackpot by getting a draw today. Although, apparently they are losing £400,000 a month!! How the hell do you get into a mess like that? I found it very sad that they then had the nerve to ask for Liverpool's share of the gate receipts, and when turned down, the media castigated the Merseyside team for failing to agree. Mike Newell, as a Sky Sports analyst, quite rightly questioned how Luton could have got themselves into the position they are in when they brought in over £12m in transfer fees in recent years.
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