The Football League Paper says...
Let’s treasure replays while we still can
IT’S just as well that Swansea City boss Carlos Carvalhal wasn’t a football manager a few decades ago. After yesterday’s 0-0 stalemate at his former club Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup fifth round, the affable Portuguese boss suggested it would have been better if the tie had gone to penalties rather than having a replay.
“Maybe in the future, if the managers and referee agree after the first game we can go to penalties, we can finish the game today,” he told BT Sport.
“I believe if you had asked us and the Sheffield Wednesday manager, we’d have gone to penalties.”
Back in 1979, Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday famously played out FOUR replays before the Gunners saw off the Owls 2-0. They went on to win the trophy.
Imagine how Carlos would have reacted to that.
Replays have been cut back over the years, but are we really saying that today’s professional clubs can’t fit one extra game into their schedule?
They have bigger squads than in yesteryear, they can rotate players. Surely it’s not too much to ask that they can play one replay?
Replays can be the chance of a lifetime for a player. Just ask those Newport County players who got the chance to have a crack at Tottenham at Wembley. They will never forget it.
Neither will the club who reckon their FA Cup run earned them a cool £900,000 this season – money vital to help their development.
In any case, why should the managers get to make the decision about whether there will be penalties or a replay, as Carlos suggests?
It can’t be just decided on a whim. ‘We’ve had a few injuries today, we’d rather have penalties.’
In the long-term, replays will no doubt be done away with completely as ‘fixture congestion’ takes over. But while we’ve still got them, let’s treasure them.
We’ll see you for the replay, Carlos.