Am I right in thinking that the Southampton replay on Tuesday won't be allowed to be shown on Hive Live, nor will it be televised anywhere else in the world (meaning no streams)?
BBC showing Plymouth / Leeds. Surprised we're not on - would give them a chance to talk about Klopp, Klopp leaving, Klopp's greatest moments etc.
No point starting a proper preview thread as we have this one. This is a nothing game for both sides, with the prize of getting smashed 5/6 by Liverpool in the fifth round. However I thought both times we have played Southampton at the Vic there hasn't been much between us and I think we can give them a decent game tomorrow night. Of course, I expect Southampton to again make changes as will we. If we win then fantastic, but I fear the prize is not worth anymore than the praise for ending Southampton's incredible run of form. 2-0
Gino will want to get through as the prize money for a 4th round win + a big share of gate receipts from Anfield will probably be worth £500k minimum. Expect there's some pressure on Val to pick a strongish team on that basis.
Just back from my trip to the Cardiff game, tired and emotional! I have no strong feelings on this game. A satisfactory outcome would be a narrow defeat with a young team playing and more time for Dennis and Sema to get up to speed. Livermore, Hoedt and Kone should be rested. Andrews should also be given the night off, with Porteous slotting into right back. Wait a minute! I thought I didn’t care about this fixture.
According to AF’s pre-match chat with Val, Dennis will not be travelling with the squad. He’s staying at London Colney to do extra training. He should be “Val ready” by May.
Us fans, as a whole, are not that interested in this because we have seen enough spankings at Anfield in recent years to make us want to lose! However, looking at it from the players point of view, for many of them, it's a real incentive because they haven't played at Anfield before. Pollock , Andrews, Kone, Martins, Asprilla, etc, are probable really up for winning this game.
Well if you ask the BBC or ITV, they'll tie you to a chair, gag you and lecture you about the magic of the cup and how every living soul in the world knows and loves the competition.
It's an honour to play one of the big clubs and we should all remember that and know our place. I remember the commentator during one of our many shellackings from Man City saying "even the Watford fans must just appreciate the quality of the football that's being played". How about no - I was pretty much hoping that we'd injure a couple of their best players in revenge for yet another humiliation...
A competition devalued and disrespected for the past 25 years and yet because the matches are on BBC and ITV the games are watched by far, far more people than any other domestic football. Sky's live Premier League games get around 1.6m viewers on average. TNT Sport's average is a bit lower, at 1.15m. 8m watched the recent Arsenal v Liverpool third round tie. 6m to 9m usually watch the final. Our tie at Liverpool, should we get through, will be on ITV1. Crackers, really.
Good to know that millions are tuning in to watch a slaughter. That’s why it felt so good when Man City publicly humiliated us. Quite appropriate really - do the hangings attract a big crowd in Abu Dhabi?
Up against Nottingham Forest or Bristol City v Manchester United on the BBC. https://www.live-footballontv.com/live-fa-cup-football-on-tv.html
I would watch it more in hope than expectation that someone would take out Van Dijk after his foul on Deulofeu that pretty much got us relegated. Now I know he didn't mean to injure him so badly but he clearly couldn't handle the way they were getting ripped apart by young Gerard in the first twenty minutes so gave him a cowardly shove whilst he was off balance.
I agree. Bloke is a total bean pole but had to resort to cheap tactics to get rid of our most dangerous player we've ever had. Yes Sarr was MotM that day but Gerrard was immense and I think we all let out a cry of pain when he went down in a heap. How I would love Pollock to get revenge, he would cement his status as legendary right there.
Bachmann Porteous Pollock Sierralta Morris Grieves TDB Asprilla Ince Rajovic Sema We'll be out of the cup by half time and can set our sights on getting mullered by Leicester. Bosh.
Shame. I thought one of our fans was going to scribble the words "sort us out or get out" over Gino's forehead in blue and red biro.
It's amazing how quickly one's enthusiasm can dwindle when it comes to football. I was quite excited (if no more given our priority was at least one defender) on hearing about Dennis's return, thinking it would propel us to the play-offs, but with 0 goals and 1 point in two winnable games and Dennis still not match fit, it looks like the season is pretty much over already. Really hard to care about this one unless we are guaranteed to have a full strength team for both this and the match at Liverpool if we get through.
Playoffs is a possibility at least. Winning the cup is pure fantasy and getting through tonight will only mean a) another embarrassing result at Anfield and b) more fatigue for our already exhausted threadbare squad.
Playoffs is just as much a possibility as relegation. Both are unlikely to happen, but there is an outside chance. I'd say the possibility of a playoff place is just as great as going down. Looking at our next few fixtures after the loss to Cardiff. Home to Leicester, Norwich away, Rotherham away, Huddersfield home, Millwall away, Swansea home, Coventry home, Birmingham away, Leeds home, West Brom away, Preston home, Ipswich away, Southampton away, Hull home, Sunderland home, Boro away. I honestly can't see us winning too many of those remaining games. Maybe 4? So we'll end up closer to the bottom 3 than the top 6....IMHO of course.
It's going to be televised, so another humiliating result to boot. But hopefully a lot of flag waving.
Bookies says 25/1 we get promoted, 500/1 we get relegated. In reality I'd agree neither's happening but one is clearly far more possible/likely than the other.
