Our live FA Cup ties
We've reached that stage of the three-weekly cycle which accompanies the FA Cup here in Match of the Day blogland: I appear online to explain the rationale behind our choice of live FA Cup ties, and then receive brickbats for our having picked all the wrong games!
We've already received one rant by post about our opting for Manchester United v Arsenal as our Saturday teatime live game. A tie between the two leading teams in this season's Premier League, the most successful duo in Premier League and FA Cup history, with the country's two top goalscorers, longest serving managers and leading contenders for player of the season did rather jump out of the draw at us, it's true.
I'm reminded of famous line picturing a 'Mastermind' appearance by his wife - "Sybil Fawlty: specialist subject, the bleeding obvious".
Not that being predictable necessarily means you're wrong. In due course, the audience figures should show that this was the tie which the greatest number of people in the country wanted to watch. In fact, it may well be the biggest TV audience for club football this season.
I know from past experience that some of the people who respond to this blog will beg to differ, but the ratings for this kind of blockbuster tie consistently prove that they have a huge appeal for the wider audience. And, in our defence, our other live ties (Sheffield United v Middlesbrough and Bristol Rovers v Southampton) are anything but big club - or ratings-obsessed choices.
Two things made this draw far more straightforward than that for the Fourth Round. Firstly, the lack of any replays meant there was no repeat of the Liverpool or Luton v or Swansea situation which led to a big story not being shown live in the last round.
We and Sky were obliged to pick our live games before the replays, and we both felt (wrongly as it turns out) that Havant were unlikely to beat in the replay, given the league side's dominance of the first game.
This time, remarkably, not one of 16 ties went to a replay and we all knew what was on offer as soon as the draw was made.
The second factor, which I've also mentioned before, is Greater Manchester Police's willingness to stage all but high-security risk games at 5.15pm. With its responsibility for the and for policing several games on any given Saturday, the Met would almost certainly not have sanctioned a late kick-off for the same tie at the Emirates. Along with United's wide appeal and recent Cup pedigree, this is a major factor in their staging a number of these Saturday teatime games in recent years.
So, we picked the Old Trafford game, Sky picked Preston v Portsmouth, and it all quickly fell into place from there.
We went for Sheffield United on the same grounds that Sky picked Preston: they were the only two ties which sent Premier League sides away to lower division opposition. Add in Blades' wins over Bolton and Man City, the factor (assuming he's still there by the weekend) and 5,000 plus away fans looking for Boro to continue an excellent recent Cup record, and it should be a good Cup tie.
And on Saturday lunchtime, Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Sport will make a first ever (football as opposed to rugby) visit to the Memorial Ground to see League One Bristol Rovers host 2003 finalists Southampton.
It's a sell-out, Rovers are bang in-form and if you've ever been there when "" rings round a proper old-fashioned ground, you'll know that Saints won't have an easy time of it.
And, by the way, the who refereed their 1-0 win over Oldham this week wasn't me...
We've opted here, as we usually do, for ties where the lower division club is at home.
We appreciate that Huddersfield and Barnsley fans may think we could have followed their clubs to Stamford Bridge or Anfield respectively. And we would probably have drawn bigger audiences for those games as we generally do when the "big four" feature. It's just that those games can often be a bit of an anticlimax if the home side scores early, witness last season. It may be worth backing one of the aforementioned Yorkshire clubs to pull off an incredible away win now I've said that! Or if they can earn a replay, then either we or Sky may well show that live.
That leaves the two all Championship games - managerless v West Brom and Cardiff v Wolves - both of which should be good games and will provide at least two strong non-Premier League quarter-finalists to join Rovers or Saints. Both will be given full Outside Broadcast coverage in Match of the Day on Saturday night. All in all, it promises to be an exciting weekend with all the colours of the FA Cup spectrum on display across our output.
