[jambutty]

Arsene Wenger is the first one on my list. It's okay for him to sit in his ivory tower suggesting our national game is structured but at the end of the day they make most of their money from the Champions League.

Pardon me but Arsene Wenger is a bona fide manager of an English football club and as such has as much right to criticise the FA as any other manager, player or spectator.

Thats the competition where the non-champions outnumber the champions , strange concept

I have to agree with you that the ‘Champions’ League as it is today is misnamed. However that has nothing to do with this topic.

To a lot of clubs in the football league the revenue from an FA Cup match can provide finance for a full season. It's not just about playing on the piece of grass you normally play all your home matches it's about revenue from off pitch sources as well.

If it’s not about playing on your own piece of grass, then where’s the problem in playing on someone else’s piece of grass especially if the ground has a larger capacity than the home ground? Many of the ‘smaller’ teams, knowing that they have little or no chance of achieving a result, have agreed to switch venues for the extra revenue to be gained at playing at a big ground would bring.

It's also about the supporters. The average man in the street is already being priced out of the game. Extra expense of attending neutral grounds in the early rounds is something lots wouldn't do, and therefore the clubs themselves wouldn't make as much money as they do now.

Another prediction of what will happen. You and your crystal ball could make a fortune. However spectators are also my concern but I did suggest that the FA could help out financially. But then there is the extra expense of attending a replay at the opposing team’s ground.

The police were mentioned earlier as being an objector and I have to agree with that. No way would they sanction 32 matches at neutral grounds in early January.

It’s comforting to know that you are privy to the police’s view on which match to sanction and which not to. The police don’t seem to have a problem with the semi-finals and they are played at neutral grounds. Not forgetting the final itself!