Quote: shadwellrhino "The cup has been losing its magic since the advent of the Grand Final, followed by the closure of Wembley for 7 years. The continually dwindling gates are evidence of this. It’s nobody’s fault, but this re-draw further erodes this credibility. The possibility of winning the Cup having played just 3 matches is a joke.'"
What a pointless post. The only alternative, other than scrapping the cup for this year which would have cost the game money and broken a host of contractual obligations, would be to keep the existing draw and give a series of teams byes to the next round (and one club a bye to the semis). No doubt you'd have called that "a joke" as well.
Life is difficult at the moment; that doesn't make the solutions to the difficulties a joke, it's just people trying to do the best with what they have. This was the least worst option.