We hope that you heeded our advice and kept away from Saturday's FA Cup matches unless you were privy to inside info or proprietary analysis.
The FA Cup is an entirely manipulated tournament this year. The absence of Asian layers offering real liquidity until the latter stages of the competition allows the FA and the British bookies a free ride.
As a cup competition, the FA Cup is nowadays merely the equivalent of the Coppa Italia or the Copa Del Rey. Most top flight teams put out severely weakened sides including reserve goalkeepers and the trophy is not regarded in anything like the same strategic class as the Champions League and the Premiership. If it didn't suit the FA and the bookies to such an extent, the FA Cup should be merely a midweek reserves tournament as is the case in Spain and Italy.
Due to monopolistic control, the FA Cup is a big big earner for the major British bookies. We warned yesterday that the refereeing big boys were out en masse to achieve the Quarter Finals required once betting patterns had been taken into account.
Apart from the Chelsea victory that was a certainty, ALL of the other games were decided by key and incorrect refereeing decisions.
* Arsenal and Aliadiere were denied a late penalty by the perfectly placed Atkinson. Obviously the major gamble on Arsenal had absolutely nothing to do with his selective blindness. Why aren't officials asked to explain their decisions post-match - I would have liked to have heard Atkinson's reasoning. We made a pile on the game but only because we determined the fix.
* Man Utd were robbed of a perfectly good goal by Poll's assistant although by far the most entertaining bit of the match came when Plastic Paddy threw a wobbler in the staged conversation with Motson concerning referees only being allowed to officiate at one cup final. The cup is corrupt enough without allowing the key corrupters more than one opportunity to cheapen what is left of the heritage of the FA Cup.
* 'Boro were given a harsh penalty, the advantage of a sending off plus two Albion disallowed goals by an overly generous Webb and his team.
* Plymouth qualified thanks to Mike Dean's 2 hilarious penalties and a sending off (he still needed to deny Derby a penalty) to ensure the required geographical coverage for the Quarter Finals. It has been a feature of this year's competition that regional concerns have been taken on board. For example, there is a major effort to ensure a London presence in the first final at the new Wembley.
* Watford needed a Bennett overreaction to send off O'Callaghan in the first half plus the benefit of a disallowed Ipswich effort in the 2nd.
We would advise caution today too (particularly on the live Sky game between Fulham and Tottenham). We have major position on this match and, as usual in manipulated games, if you are not either in on the fix or a pro analyst, we suggest that you keep your cash in your pocket.
