Why do sports presenters announce "an all Premier League tie" during the FA Cup draw in such an excitable tone, as if it was a game anyone would have wanted? We play these teams all the time. The FA Cup is supposed to provide a change of scenery, a break from the norm. But, like last season, we begin our FA Cup campaign against a side playing at our level.
Wigan Athletic away in the third round is as bland a draw as we could have feared. Those seeking a return to old lower league haunts, or a convenient home tie to accommodate the lingering New Year hangover were disappointed. Those desperate to get to Nottingham Forest (not played at the City Ground competitively since 1977) or one of the clubs recently elevated from the non-league pyramid were gutted. Ground ticks, you see. Important stuff.
But it's not a banana skin tie, nor is it a waste of City's time. When we get to the DW Stadium on January 2nd (the chances of this being switched to January 3rd for telly is very remote) the game will look very winnable. In terms of strength and ambition the two clubs are very similar and Phil Brown, in his black shirt reserved for all cup matches, will send out a team capable of winning.
It remains to be seen whether he will make the second string do the work again this season. If so, it would mean Tony Warner in goal, Peter Halmosi at left back (even though he isn't a left back any more than Brian Horton is a nuclear physicist), Steven Mouyokolo in defence and the thrilling Tom Cairney reminding his manager that he's really damned good in midfield. Assuming he isn't sold the moment the transfer window opens the day before, there may well be a disinterested jog offered to Daniel Cousin.
Last season marked the Tigers' first FA Cup run for 20 years. It had everything; winning a replay in a previous season's kit, a stand-up row between two managers on the touchline, a set of visiting supporters trying to wreck the KC Stadium, a goal that never crossed the line and even the only strike in a City shirt of Halmosi's career. We reached the semi final draw without actually reaching the semi finals, courtesy of Arsenal's wretched brand of gamesmanship and Mike Riley's myopia. Then the fun and games really started and, sadly, nothing quite became the FA Cup run as much as the club's reaction upon exiting.
Hell, even Jimmy Bullard appeared on the KC pitch during the run. He may have been in civvies, holding up a scarf and suffering from a sniffle, but we saw proof of his purchase nonetheless. We didn't see him on the KC pitch again until this month, but all good things come to those who wait. With the FA Cup, City do very little but wait.
We've beaten Wigan once already this season and our trip in the Premier League over there isn't until the penultimate weekend. They did the double over us last season but an available omen remains that City beat Wigan in the last cup trip we made there, when Stuart Elliott's last of many awesome goals for the Tigers earned us a Carling Cup win two seasons ago. In the FA Cup, the longer-toothed supporter will cringe at the thought of the capitulation at Springfield Park in 1987, when Horton's City lost out on a quarter final game against the much despised Leeds United. The fixture may not be glamorous in football's corporate existence today, but to the Tigers fan it has history.
So, let us decamp in our Christmas sweaters to the half-empty DW Stadium two days into a new decade. The reward for winning may just be a trip to Forest in the fourth round...
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