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It’s the first weekend of January, and in the footballing world it can only mean one thing. The FA Cup third round begins and brings giants of English football up against some of the minnows. People often refer to it as the romance of the FA Cup.
As for Newcastle, it has been anything but romantic, and in the last 4 years it has been nothing short of a horror story. In 2008-09, Newcastle lost to Hull city at home in the 3rd round replay. It got subsequently worse with Newcastle United losing to West Bromwich Albion and then to Stevenage Borough in the 3rd round again in 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. Last year, the hopes were high, with the Magpies having a good season and with a reasonable draw. However, hopes were quickly dashed with a 4th round exit away to Brighton and Hove Albion. To say that we should be doing better would be an understatement.
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This year, there are a lot of variables in the mix, with the Magpies currently enduring one of their worst runs in the league, with only two wins in last 10 and no wins in any of their last 3 Europa league games to boot. Injuries too have been piling on and the treatment table has been full.
Newcastle have a really rich history in the FA Cup, having won the cup 6 times, though the last was over half a century ago in 1955. The last decent cup run that the Magpies enjoyed was in the 2004-05 season, when we reached the semifinal before losing 4-1 to Manchester United.
I am of the opinion that the Europa League is one of our priorities this season, given how we have been playing. Just where that leaves the FA Cup in the pecking order, I am not too sure. What I would want is for Pardew to take this competition seriously. It can really help our players get some confidence back, and that can filter into other competitions, and as they say winning is a habit and the cup could revitalize our season.
Who knows, with a bit of luck we can avoid some of the big boys and make it to Wembley, that might whet Mike Ashley’s appetite for the game some more and get him to dip a bit deeper into his pocket in coming transfer windows.
One could however also argue that with the Magpies in such poor form, all focus should be on resurrecting the league position. The cup is just a distraction and not too many resources should be deployed there.
As mentioned earlier, I am of a different opinion and really think that a good run can really kickstart Newcastle’s 2013, and who’s to say, come May we can’t win it. I certainly hope that we are in it to win it, and we show that from the outset against Brighton on the 5th of January.
