Bristol City 1-2 Wolves (FA Cup 3rd Round): Verdict Thread

[Deutsch Wolf]

I think it was 2012 where the two matches against Birmingham really forced me to grapple with what was about to happen to the club I'd chosen to support. And yet it still got worse than I feared!

The first game was appalling and so the replay was very much "this can't be any worse" territory. What do you know, yes it can.

Seem to remember that being two Stephen Hunt specials where he looked like a bad parks footballer. Although the Egg played quite well in at least one of them.

The original team:

-----------------De Vries--------------------

Stearman-------Johnson-----Berra------Ward

Kightly----------Henry------Jonsson------Hunt

---------------Ebanks-Blake----Doyle------------

The replay team:

---------------------De Vries--------------------

Doherty---------Stearman-----Berra------Elokobi

Hammill--------Jonsson------Milijas------Hunt

--------------Ebanks-Blake----Doyle--------------

 

[Tony Towner]

I'll put in on here, as it's about the FA Cup, but unless you are a lower league side against a decent sized PL one or at the ¼ final stage it's dead. Crowds at Sheff U and Sunderland, decent sized clubs playing others in the same league are pitiful. That's not a dig at those clubs, just what the competition has become.

 

[GLASGOWOLF]

I'll put in on here, as it's about the FA Cup, but unless you are a lower league side against a decent sized PL one or at the ¼ final stage it's dead. Crowds at Sheff U and Sunderland, decent sized clubs playing others in the same league are pitiful. That's not a dig at those clubs, just what the competition has become.

For someone raised on stopping Lessons on Monday at 13:00 to listen to the draw.
1st Sat after Xmas always being FA Cup, today always dissapoints

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Some of it is pointless nostalgia, like having the draw on the radio only in the middle of the working day clearly isn't good, is it. It's the peak of "remember when", it adds nothing.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Also not even remotely a new thing, while I'm at it.

We got 12,500 through the gate vs Millwall in R3 20 years ago.

 

[Mel Evo]

I'll put in on here, as it's about the FA Cup, but unless you are a lower league side against a decent sized PL one or at the ¼ final stage it's dead. Crowds at Sheff U and Sunderland, decent sized clubs playing others in the same league are pitiful. That's not a dig at those clubs, just what the competition has become.

I don’t really disagree with the general point, but there are some oddities that suggest it could be ‘fixed’. Looked like a decent crowd for our match today (?), and a sell out at Leeds right now. Far more examples of the sort you point out though. On the whole they’ve done everything they can to destroy it, even if some of those things seem fairly marginal. Can’t escape the bigger picture issues like the lack of real competitiveness and the volume of alternative football to watch.

Still too big not to be worth trying to salvage / improve though. I genuinely do follow it much more closely than other tournaments. But I’m an old romantic…

 

[AndyWolves]

I guess the money the fa cup used to bring was a thing, now irrelevant after the PL riches came along. Which led to the PL bring valued more than the fa cup

 

[Jack Regan]

I guess the money the fa cup used to bring was a thing, now irrelevant after the PL riches came along. Which led to the PL bring valued more than the fa cup

I'm sure Accrington and Salford will be appreciating the cash they get for being on TV and a share of the gate receipts from Anfield and the Etihad respectively. Those games being completely one sided and dead once the first goal went in whilst selected for TV seems completely redundant however.

 

[sycophantia]

I guess the money the fa cup used to bring was a thing, now irrelevant after the PL riches came along. Which led to the PL bring valued more than the fa cup

It's still relevant to the smaller clubs.
There's always been a gulf and cup upsets rare, it's just that finances of Premier league have exacerbated it.

 

[AndyWolves]

It's still relevant to the smaller clubs.
There's always been a gulf and cup upsets rare, it's just that finances of Premier league have exacerbated it.

It's more about PL clubs de-prioritising it when they have even the smallest choice of make between PL and fa cup, that and PL teams starting to put out weakened teams. Takes some of the glamour out of it

It'll always be important to smaller clubs because of the revenue attached, but that wasn't the point I was making.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

For the record, our home FA Cup gates:

Jan 1994, Crystal Palace: 25,047
Feb 1994, Ipswich: 28,234
Feb 1995, Sheff Wed: 28,136
Feb 1995, Leicester: 28,554
Mar 1995, Crystal Palace: 27,548
Jan 1996, Birmingham: 28,088
Feb 1996, Tottenham: 27,846
Jan 1997, Portsmouth: 23,626
Feb 1998, Charlton: 20,429
Feb 1998, Wimbledon: 25,112
Jan 1999, Arsenal: 27,511
Jan 2000, Sheff Wed: 25,201
Jan 2002, Gillingham: 15,271
Jan 2003, Newcastle: 27,316
Jan 2003, Leicester: 28,164
Feb 2003, Rochdale: 23,921
Jan 2004, Kidderminster: 25,808
Jan 2004, West Ham: 24,413
Jan 2005, Millwall: 12,566
Jan 2006, Plymouth: 11,041
Jan 2006, Man Utd: 28,333
Jan 2007, Oldham: 14,524
Jan 2007, West Brom: 28,107
Jan 2008, Cambridge: 15,340
Jan 2009, Middlesbrough: 18,013
Jan 2010, Crystal Palace: 14,449
Jan 2011, Doncaster: 10,031
Jan 2011, Stoke: 11,967
Jan 2012, Birmingham: 10,153
Nov 2013, Oldham: 4,226
Jan 2015, Fulham: 8,148
Feb 2017, Chelsea: 30,193
Jan 2018, Swansea: 22,976
Jan 2019, Liverpool: 25,849
Feb 2019, Shrewsbury: 28,844
Mar 2019, Man Utd: 31,004
Jan 2020, Man Utd: 31,381
Jan 2021, Crystal Palace: N/A
Feb 2021, Southampton: N/A
Jan 2022, Sheff Utd: 27,004
Feb 2022, Norwich: 30,736
Jan 2023, Liverpool: 30,948
Jan 2024, Brentford: 24,692
Feb 2024, Brighton: 23,822
Mar 2024, Coventry: 31,262

 

[AndyWolves]

The difference before and after Fosun is stark!

 

[Wolftone]

For the teams in the championship it's a no brainer really. Impossible to win the thing these days. For the top probably 14 its about getting in the play-offs and potential 'promised land'. Your not going to risk things in the cup to sacrifice that.
It's a shame as when I was a kid it was nearly as important as winning the league.
Plus the 'romance' of things like Colchester v Leeds, Ronnie Radford, jumpers for goalposts, sheepskin coats, marvellous isnt it...

 

[Derby Wolf]

You might see our cup attendances dwindle more now too.

There was an incentive of loyalty points for league games when every league game was a sell out, now those games are going to GS quite often you don't need to buy those tickets anymore.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

For the teams in the championship it's a no brainer really. Impossible to win the thing these days.

It's always been pretty much impossible if you're not a top flight side bar a random 70s/80s run. Sunderland, Southampton and West Ham all between 1973 and 1980, but before that the last one was 1931, before that 1912, and no-one since.

So five in 112 years, and 1980 is a long time ago.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

We had all gold kits from 1965-69.

Wolverhampton Wanderers - Historical Football Kits

Love it.

It's a shame we haven't experimented with that again since.

We've done the hooped socks, the black socks and black sleeves (). But 56 years since gold shorts!!

 

[Mild 'n' Scratchins]

Job done! Hwang poor throughout. Bellegarde did nothing when he came on. Johnstone not central for their goal, gave him no chance for their goal. Epitomises just how much we lack strength in depth. Apart from those, everyone else did their jobs. Agabadou did alright but Wednesday will be a completely different ball game, so hopefully he would have learnt something today. Refreshing to have a manager who wants to win every fucking game! Vitor deserves plaudits for picking a strong starting XI. Vindicated by that first half. We should have been 4 up by the time they got their goal. Guedes was dangerous all game, but God knows what he was doing when he fluffed that chance. Gomes (both) were brilliant! RAN, my man of the match, should have had a brace and was a menace for us in attack. However, he also defended so well today, especially with that header second half, ironically being so close to an og! If he hadn't intercepted, then the Bristol player behind him would have equalised. Great to be in the hat for the 4th round. Get ready for more FA Cup heartache lads and lasses. You know you love it! UTW!

 

[Wolftone]

It's always been pretty much impossible if you're not a top flight side bar a random 70s/80s run. Sunderland, Southampton and West Ham all between 1973 and 1980, but before that the last one was 1931, before that 1912, and no-one since.

So five in 112 years, and 1980 is a long time ago.

You and your goddam facts!
Maybe it's my age and the three you mention do stick in my mind as they were when I was a kid/youth, but it did seem to feel that the cup was more of a 'leveller' back then and anyone could win it.
Whereas today it feels like one of 'the big six' always win it.
It's lost it's romance mainly for money reasons though I think.
For what seemed years to me as a kid, Newcastle had won it 7 times, Villa 5 and it felt like it would be ever thus.
Times change I suppose.

 

[jd1981]

FA Cup winners since 2000:
Chelsea 6
Man City 3
Man Utd 3
Arsenal 6
Liverpool 3
Portsmouth 1
Wigan 1
Leicester 1

12.5% of time it’s a club outside the super 6.
Divide that again by the 86 other clubs and you’re dealing in a percentage of an around 3%.
Out of the 68 finalist since 1990 only 3 have come from outside the top flight. Sunderland 92, Millwall 2004 and Cardiff 2008.
I’ll put it this way the FA cup is for the big 6 to hoover up and clubs who exist mainly below the championship for their big pay day or moment in history. If like us you’re caught in between that it’s a bit of a false dawn it’s why what happened in 2019 was so haunting and to a lesser extent back in March.
Wasn’t always this way but it’s just how it is now.

 

[Alan]

What frustrates me about that list is that the 3 winners which aren’t in the Big Boys club were complete flashes in the pan. None of them were able to parlay the success into anything they could sustain.