Ladyman Ian

I WAS dismissive of the FA Cup fifth round being played in midweek, as it has been since the 2019-20 season, but I was quite wrong. These last few days have felt like an event, helped by compelling matches at Ewood Park, Stamford Bridge and the City Ground. A shame, then, that someone proposed the basket-case idea of holding the draw for the quarter-finals an hour before Wednesday’s four fifth-round ties had taken place. Football doesn’t always help itself, does it?

A TEN-point penalty for Everton’s breach of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules was too high. It’s only right that it was reduced on Monday. But to paint this as vindication of the Merseyside club’s approach to financing is quite wrong. Everton played it fast and loose at the margins and messed it up. That part remains unchanged.

SIR JIM RATCLIFFE has been doing some rowing back regarding his suggestion that a new Manchester United stadium could be funded in part by the taxpayer. Ratcliffe can dress it up how he likes. He can call it the regeneration of Trafford Park. He can talk about building a ‘Wembley of the North’. But the bottom line here is that the majority owners of United remain the Glazer family.

Since their leveraged purchase of the club in 2005, the Floridians have taken more than £1.5billion out of United. So even the faintest whisper that a single penny towards a new stadium should come from the public purse is therefore as insulting as it is preposterous. If United want to build a new ground, they should pay for it themselves. Just like everybody else.