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BBC News
03-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Are the stars perfectly aligned for FA Cup glory?
In football, we talk a lot about narrative and the drama that drives this wonderful that is why I am convinced we can make it to Wembley this year in the FA who watched our penalty shootout win at Old Trafford on Sunday will know it is exactly 50 years since our first and only FA Cup final appearance – our central narrative Manchester United on their patch was sweet revenge for our quarter-final tie in 2023, when we were 20 minutes away from a Wembley semi-final before three minutes of madness that started with Willian handling on the line and ended with Alexander Mitrovic seeing red for laying his hands on referee Chris Kavanagh and Marco Silva banished to the sidelines in United goals in two minutes later and we were left to dream for another year. It is a tragedy worthy of its own chapter or Bernd Leno saved Joshua Zirkzee's penalty to see us through to the next round, it felt like a huge obstacle was removed in our quest for cup glory. I spoke a lot last week about similarities with Crystal Palace and our ambitions. We will find out who really wants the glory more in this last-eight tie at Craven there is the Eagles' less-than-concrete claim to being the oldest club in London - another juicy plot strands that leave me convinced we can make it include the fact it has been 15 years since our magnificent run to the Europa League final, during which we won the hearts of the nation, and finally that it is our captain Tom Cairney's 10-year anniversary at the club. He has been at the heart of every high and low we have experienced during the past football truly is about stories and moments, then we could be writing one of the greatest tales of all time - well, for Fulham fans at more from Drew Heatley at Fulhamish, externalNot a Fulham fan? Find and follow your team here
BBC News
12-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Second string 'not as good as we hoped'
Some Nottingham Forest fans will have the seen the stat circulating at the weekend, highlighting that the Reds were the highest-placed club left in the FA who knows Forest knows that these kind of details are almost meaningless: firstly, because the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa are still in the fifth round; and secondly, we still had to play Exeter fourth round proved how effective clubs such as the Grecians, Plymouth Argyle, Leyton Orient and Birmingham City can be against Premier League opposition. And the fact that it took penalties, and a few scary moments for the Reds to progress, prove how well Exeter first XI will be more familiar against Fulham on Saturday but, if nothing else, last night's game proved that Nuno Espírito Santo's second-string side is not as effective as we hoped. Some performed admirably — seeing Ibrahim Sangare pulling the strings in midfield and displaying his wide passing range was a positive. However, some clearly need match time and will remain squad players for the time Taiwo Awoniyi and Carlos Miguel will recover quickly, as Forest's record of having the fewest injuries in the Premier League (and days lost to them) are a clear factor in their current position in the table. Keeping the players fresh is undoubtedly at the forefront of Nuno's mind — although a long night in Devon might quickly erase the memory of a week in opponents in upcoming weeks are facing their own injury issues and, with two games against Ipswich Town in quick succession — an FA Cup fifth-round tie at home followed by a Premier League game away — the Reds will be depending on their stars of the season so far to keep things more from Pat Riddell at The Famous Club, external
