The Watford Manager, Adrian Boothroyd, likens beating Man Utd in this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final as difficult as “landing on the moon”!! That will be about right. Despite that, Boothroyd is still confident that his Watford team, who have spent the majority of the Premiership season anchored firmly to the bottom, can cause an upset. Well, I suppose he has to think that and be 100% confident that they can. However, to have any chance of pulling off what would be an amazing upset, all his players must equally believe 100% that they can do what Roma couldn’t.

The Watford manager said, “It would be a major shock if we won - up there with a man landing on the moon. But a man has done that, so anything is possible.

“It’s going to be an unbelievably hard task but it’s an FA Cup semi-final and there have been shocks before.

“People might say United’s result against Roma was a one-off, but they have had several one-offs this season,” said Boothroyd. “They are a truly wonderful side.

“We have a game plan for containing them and we have to make sure that when we get chances we take them.

“The gulf is huge, the chances are very slim but there is a chance, there is always a chance.

“I’m going to cherish the day and really am looking forward to it.”

The last time these two sides meet in the FA Cup was in the Third Round way back in 1982 when Watford won 1 - 0.

I’m sure ever neutral will be a Hornets fan today, and I suppose the fact there are often upsets is a major ingredient to making the FA Cup so special. Will Watford write another chapter in the history of FA Cup great upsets? Not long until we find out!

The Soccer Blogger

The ticket sales for the FA Cup semi-finals have been slow and no where near sold out. In view of the poor sales the Football Association has defended its choice of venues. I just wonder if it isn’t a combination of the venue and the ticket prices. Knowing the FA, the prices won’t be cheap!

Apparently Watford have 1,500 tickets left unsold for Saturday’s semi-final against Manchester United at Villa Park.

But that’s nothing compared to the other semi to be held at Old Trafford on Sunday between Blackburn and Chelsea. Both have failed to sell 8,000 seats of their allocations. I know Old Trafford is a big stadium and can probably cope with having 16,000 empty seat, but that’s still a huge number and let’s face it, this is an FA Cup semi-final. Few games are bigger than this. This is one of the show piece games of the season and the FA should be doing everything possible to ensure the stadia are full. These games will be seen around the world by potentially hundreds of millions of fans and I don’t know about you, but seeing empty seats at such a game doesn’t look too good.

An FA spokesman said: “Old Trafford and Villa Park are established venues, used to dealing with the logistics.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly Man United are the only club out of the four left to have sold out their allocation for the semi-final at Villa Park, which has a capacity of 42,000.

A little more surprising is Blackburn’s failure to sell their allocation of 30,900 when you consider that Ewood Park is only a 37-mile trip from Old Trafford.

But as I said above, the price of the tickets may have more to do with it and the Blackburn Independent Supporters’ Association have in deed blamed the cost of tickets.

They said, “Our catchment area is basically just Blackburn, which is a small town.

“It’s also a low-wage area. Even forking out the minimum of £25 per ticket is a lot, never mind the maximum £55.”

Chelsea fans, meanwhile, are upset that they face a long trip to Manchester for a 4pm kick-off on Sunday.

However, the FA argues that even if Old Trafford is not full, it will still mean more fans can attend the game than if it had been held elsewhere.

“The crowd will be bigger than at any other ground we could have staged the game,” said a spokesman.

“We want to make these occasions accessible to the fans. We feel the ticket prices are fair, and are appropriate to staging a big semi-final.”

From next year, the semi-finals will be held at the new Wembley Stadium, which has a capacity of nearly 90,000.

“We are confident we will see big crowds at Wembley for the semi-finals,” the FA spokesman said.

Holding the semis at Wembley. Another mistake and crass decision by the FA. I have never understood the reasoning in holding the semis at Wembley, other of course that it just means more revenue for the FA! Doesn’t it totally devalue actually playing the Final at Wembley? Well, it does to me. Isn’t part of the aura of getting to the FA Cup Final the fact that you are playing at Wembley? When the Final was played at Cardiff, why didn’t the FA play the semi finals there?

Maybe it’s just me, but I believe the Wembley should be the sole preserve of the Final and nothing else, as far as the FA Cup is concerned obviously.

The Soccer Blogger

Well slap my thigh and call me Betty!! Because, can you believe it? But Wembley has been granted its Safety Certificate by the local Borough Council following to two recent “ramp-up” events and the FA have finally confirmed that Wembley Stadium is ready.

So the FA Cup final will be hosted at the home of English football for the first time since 2000. The six finals since have all been played at Cardiff’s excellent Millennium Stadium and I for one am very keen to compare the two stadia. The Millennium is excellent, as everyone who has been will tell you, but it cost a fraction of Wembley’s final and massive bill. However, I’m not expecting to see a £600m difference between the two!

Anyway, FA chief executive Brian Barwick is quoted as saying on the Football Association’s website: “I’m happy to confirm that the 2007 FA Cup final will be played at Wembley Stadium.

“It’s the announcement that a lot of people have been waiting for and is great news for football fans in this country and indeed the world over.

“The cup final and Wembley Stadium go hand in hand and everybody at the FA is looking forward to a great day.”

Wembley can now host events with up to 90,000 spectators. Who are those 90,000 (and the rest of the world for that matter) see lift the famous old trophy for the first time at the new Wembley? Fortunately, we don’t have too long now to wait and find out.

The Soccer Blogger

Blackburn v Chelsea or Tottenham
Watford v Middlesbrough or Manchester United

Ties will be played the weekend of 14 and 15 April 2007

So will it be a Chelsea, Manchester United final at the New Wembley? Well it just could be as the FA managed to “surprisingly” keep the two heavy weights apart when the semi-final draw took place this lunchtime.

Blackburn Rovers were the first team out of the hat and will play the winners of the replay between Chelsea and Tottenham, after that thrilling games at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

The winners of the other replay between Manchester United and Middlesbrough will play Watford, one of this season’s Premiership strugglers, in the other tie.

AS of yet, the two venues for the semi-finals are still to be decided. Hmm, the FA aren’t going to way to see how quickly they can get the Safety Certificate for Wembley and then try and host both semis there, are they? I certainly hope not. I have never liked semi-finals being played at the home of the Final. It takes away from what should be the show piece event and it will just be the FA trying to re-coup some of the huge bill for the construction.

The Soccer Blogger

Middlesbrough 2 - 2 Man Utd

There’s something you don’t see very often at the Riverside. And what was that? A full stadium. All four stands were packed for the Quater Final tie against the leaders of the Premiership and those four stands witnessed a great cup tie and nearly an up-set. Both managers, Boro’s Gareth Southgate and Utd’ Sir Alex Ferguson, picked what were probably their strongest teams available whilst the supporters filling the four stands provided a great atmoshpere and plenty of noise.

Middlesbrough showed great character to not get over run after Wayne Rooney had put Utd in front after about 30 minutes. They showed even more to equalise just before the break and then take the lead shortly after the re-start. It was the Boro captain George Boateng who put the Wearsiders in front early in the second half. It has been a long hard season for Boateng but he seemed to be steering his team into the Semi Finals for the second year running. However, what happened on 68 minutes just summed it all up for Boateng this season. Even though he obviously protested his innocence, he had his hands in front of the face and the ball struck his hands. The referee didn’t really have a lot of choice othe than to award the penalty, which was converted by Ronaldo.

Boateng later said that if the incident had happened the other way round at Old Trafford it would never have been given. Perhaps! Who knows? He claimed it was a natural reaction, the ball was travelling at speed for his face and he put his hands up to protect himself. I have to say I do feel a little sorry for him and that he has a point but unforunately, decisions like these happen all the time and if you put your hands up like that in the area you have to be ready to accept the consequences. It was hard on Boro who played played and were unlucky not to be in the semi-final draw by themselves. They will go to Old Trafford not fearing Utd. They have proved this year there is no need for them to do that but you have to feel they have lost their chance of progressing.

Chelsea 3 - 3 Tottenham Hotspur

Quite a game! And a memorable game, in which there was a great atmosphere from two of the big London clubs. Afterall there is a huge prize in reach. The fact this was such a great game has a lot to do with the respective managers who should be praised for their somewhat “gung-ho” approach. Shame not all games were like this and you can bet that the fans will be hoping for a similar approach from their managers in the reply.

Chelsea looked down and out at 1 - 3 down and if it is true that Abramovich (the Chelsea owner) no longer communicates with his manager, he must still surely have some sort of respect for the sometimes controversial Mourinho when he is able to mastermind such a thrilling fightback. Of course, Jose was also courting that controversy again, after he admitted calling the referee, Mike Riley a “son of a whore” at a time when this derby looked to be boiling over. Mourinho claimed he says such things all day every day, but doesn’t mean anything by it.

Anyway, during the game on the pitch, Spurs were excellent and where the first team to score 3 goals at Stamford Bridge since Mourinho took the reigns of the London club. And they were so close to only becoming the third team during that time (80 matches) to win at the Bridge. However, with Mourihno’s tactical brillaint somehow Chelsea managed to score two goals in the last 20 minutes to secure, what seems like an unlikely reply at White Hart Lane.

FA Cup football at its best! The the reply is half as good as this it will be a great game. Surely we couldn’t be lucky enough a get another one like this!

Blackburn 2 - 0 Man City

You have to feel sorry for City fans! They really are long suffering yet full of optimism and passion for their club. If only their team were as good on the pitch as their fans are in the stands. The 7,500 travelling City fans turned up to Ewood Park repleat with big inflatable bananas and the rest of a packed Ewood responded to create a great atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the pressure is starting to grow on Stuart Pearce’s shoulders with this defeat to a Blackburn side that Mark Hughes has got playing really well and are hard to beat. It can’t have helped Pearce’s situation that his side lost this game against 10 men for the last twenty minutes, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the banana wielding City faithfull.

City didn’t really threaten the Blackburn goal, including those last 20 mins against the 10 men, but did well to subdue in form McCarthy. However they did sucumbed to Mokoena and Derbyshire, two unlikely scorers. It is going to be a hard run-in for City and Pearce who have to turn it around quickly to stop themselves being pulled into the relegation dog-fight.

Plymouth Argyle 0 - 1 Watford

So, no sweet revenge then for Plymouth following their 1984 semi-final defeat to Watford at Villa Park. Plus Ian Holloway, the Plymouth boss, won’t really be looking forward to his birthday today, this was not the present he was hoping for, and no amount of cake is going to make up for this defeat.

Watford scored the all important winner after only 21 minutes and the great ditraction from their Premisership plight means they are now only 90 minutes away from glory and returning to Wembley 23 years after they lost to Everton 2 - 0. Would Boothroyd swap that glory for Premiership survival? I think he would, but this may be all he and the Watford fans have left to cling onto this season. Premiership survival looks slim in comparison.

They is no doubting that Plymouth and their fans were certainly up for this game and there was a distinct feeling on the sout coast that they were destined to reach the Semi Final. Alas it was no to be. A full house at Home Park certainly answered the battle cry issued by Holloway prior to the game and the stadium was a sea of green, except for a small corner of the ground that was red and yellow. For the vast majority of the crowd, it was this small country of a green land that was making all the noise at the end of 90 minutes.

Four quarter finals, four excellent games. Let’s hope the semi finals and final (at Wenbley?) are as good as these!

The Soccer Blogger