The vast majority of professional traders in Asia treat the FA Cup with disdain. Since the FA became politicised and commercial, there is a new template each season as the powers-that-be target the outcomes that best inflate their bottom line.
The magic of the competition used to be that journeymen lower league players were able to play on a level playing field against the Mcmansion owning celebrities. No longer is this the case and the magic has been removed accordingly.
Let's check out a few of the manipulative mechanisms.
Firstly, every Premiership club has the advantage of a Premiership official when playing against lower league opposition. These match officials interact on both a professional and private level with the top tier clubs on a weekly basis and such friendly familiarity spills into their on field decision making in the FA Cup.
Secondly, the FA develops agendas as the competition progresses. For example, one concern in the 4th Round was the chance of there being no club from the north east or Yorkshire in the later stages. Better get Poll on the Boro game then (he denied Bristol City a penalty at 2-2). A further concern was the likelihood of too many lower league clubs progressing to Round 5. Such an outcome would lead to imbalanced events and colossal betting liabilities as the likes of Man Utd potentially faced Bristol Rovers. The solution was simple. Stop the magic happening. 70 minutes into their game at Derby, Bristol Rovers had a man sent off at 0-0 having earlier been denied a valid goal; Swansea lost via a penalty at Ipswich; Plymouth took the lead through a late penalty at Barnet; Blackpool were denied two penalties against Norwich. The job's a good'un.
Thirdly, because many lower Premiership clubs (eg Charlton and Sheff Utd) deliberately exit the cup to concentrate on league survival and because the bookies insist on high profile matches in the early rounds to engender betting turnover (Liverpool v Arsenal; Man Utd v Villa; Arsenal v Bolton; Man Utd v Pompey; Everton v Blackburn etc), there exists an imperative around this stage of the competition to ensure that the remaining Premiership teams qualify. Otherwise, magic would rear it's ugly head again.
Fourthly, the draw for the competition is fixed. We have been told by an insider how the FA go about achieving the draw required (and this situation is replicated in UEFA and FIFA competitions). Careful choice of the individuals to make the draw accompanied by "variations" in the vessels indicating the choice of club ensure the necessary outcome. Indeed, it is an interesting fact that only one of the people making the draw needs to be "owned". Think about it!
The public ain't stupid. Yesterday's attendances were atrocious. Nobody wants to pay for overpriced and branded crap.
In a recent vote, the public voted Hereford against Newcastle as the best tie ever. Magic! Many of the best finals always involved a lower team fighting against top teams (Liverpool v Wimbledon and Man Utd v Southampton for instance). This will not happen in future as the FA and their sponsors won't allow it. It costs them cash.
It doesn't seem that long ago that the Luddites were concerned about selling the name of the FA Cup to sponsors - how the structure has since changed!
