The ‘magic’ of the FA Cup disappeared a long time ago, patronising pundits and is Bielsa horribly overrated?

Most of the magic disappeared when matches were scheduled over four days instead of one, when a title sponsor was introduced and when managers started fielding reserve sides as finishing 17th in the Premier League, rather than reaching a Wembley Final, was the height of ambition.

The paying fan soon worked it out. Attendances plummet when points aren’t at stake. Old-style FA Cup atmospheres were gone long ago, well before people started panicking about a virus.

The FA Cup now appears to be a positive only to non-league players and clubs, and good luck to them. The riches available for winning a round or two and sneaking on the television can be life-changing at that level. It must be great for part-time players to rub shoulders with the game’s greats, if any of them bother to play that is.

No-one should begrudge such an outcome even if it means being forcefed lazy statistics from patronising pundits (‘they have two car mechanics and a male stripper in their side’ and boring guff from the likes of dreadful Dion Dublin speculating on which Marine player would get Gareth Bale’s shirt after the game.

It would be free of sweat so wouldn’t need washing which would be a bonus.

The FA Cup means so little now we saw Aston Villa and Derby County virtually concede their ties by playing under 18 sides. This, of all seasons, is not one for cup runs. They are just a distraction from what really matters, although losing rather embarrassingly at home to Chorley as Posh did was probably going too far.

Other embarrassments over the weekend included football’s most hypocritical manager Jurgen Klopp fielding a strong side against Villa’s babies after spending most of the season moaning about having no opportunity to rest players and Crawley Town sending on a reality TV personality in the final stages of their win over Leeds United.

Unless of course Wright was sent on just to rub Leeds’ noses in it. Any opportunity to embarrass Leeds United should always be taken. Questions might even soon be asked about manager Marcelo Bielsa’s standing as one of the ‘world’s best coaches’, a statement than can only be true if defensive work and actual results are ignored.

There were of course heart-warming moments among the dross with the sale of 30,000 virtual tickets for Marine v Spurs an absolute triumph of a marketing strategy.

The goal scored by 17 year-old Louie Barry for Villa against Liverpool was also a great moment. It also explained why Klopp prefers to play midfielders at centre-half rather than his young defenders. They’re clearly hopeless.