Pause your busy life, reader, and take a second. Listen carefully. That sound you can’t hear? That blessed silence that lies just behind the endless katzenjammer of modern living? That not-sound is not the sound of people lamenting the departure of the magic from the FA Cup. For right now, in this blessed moment that we are sharing, the FA Cup is once again, to the delight of everybody who ever cared about anything honest and true and good, magical.
Sheffield United bring the magic back to the FA Cup
The League One side have reached the semi-final at Wembley, in the process restoring some of the shine to the tarnished trophy.
Tony Marshall
Nothing to do with Arsenal, obviously, for all that the Eight Years of Hurt may soon be over. Probably nothing to do with Hull, either; though Steve Bruce's team have done exceptionally well to reach the semi-finals, the worry remains that the entire adventure will be exploited by Assam Allam to justify grinding up David Meyler for use as an aphrodisiac. But Wigan's ongoing defence of their title is plenty magical, and their defeat on Sunday of Manchester City one of the performances of the season in terms of both excellence and hilarity. (Complete list of other teams that have visited the Etihad stadium this season and won: Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich.)
But even more magical still is the progress to Wembley of Hull’s semi-final opponents, Sheffield United, who defeated Championship side Charlton 2-0 on Sunday. A magical cup run needs a few ingredients: a relatively lowly position in the pyramid is a must, as is an upset or two. If this lowly position can be ascribed to larger tribulations over several seasons, so much the better. And if at least one of the major protagonists can come with a healthy dollop of wider footballing interest, then that helps too. United, delightfully, hit every requirement.
Relegated from the Premier League in 2007 in controversial, Carlos Tevez-related circumstances, they missed out on the opportunity to return in 2009, losing the playoff final to Burnley by a single goal. Since then, a further relegation has taken them down to the third tier, and a succession of managerial hirings and firings — after Neil Warnock was let go in 2007, Bryan Robson, Kevin Blackwell, Micky Adams, and Danny Wilson have all been appointed and de-appointed in fairly short order, while Gary Speed left to take the Wales job — led to the appointment of former Scottish international and managerial novice David Weir at the beginning of this season. He won his first game in charge; he won precisely none of the next 12, and was sacked following an Johnstone's Paint Trophy defeat to League Two Hartlepool.
Enter Nigel Clough; enter sharply improved form. In a recent vox pop with United fans, the Sheffield Star asked fans how Clough was turning things around. Most spoke with approval of a fundamental change in attitude: from defensive to attacking; from fearful to confident; from inhibited to expressive. A couple of canny signings — in came bearded right-back John Brayford and Scotland U21 international Stefan Scougall; out went underperforming and divisive striker Marlon King — have doubtless helped, and the victory over Charlton was the ninth straight in all competitions, a run that goes beyond the traditional New Manager Bounce and into something that looks like the beginnings of a genuine resurgence.
Proper, old-fashioned, knockout excitement
This reawakening hasn't just seen United rise from bottom of the league to comfortable mid-table (with just a whisper-thin chance of the playoffs). It's also seen them through an FA Cup in which all bar one opponent — Conference side Cambridge United, in the second round — have been above them in the pyramid. Fittingly, pleasingly, most of their victories have involved some proper, old-fashioned knockout excitement: a late and disputed penalty to overcome fellow League One side Colchester United in the first round, then a spectacular late winner away at Premier League Aston Villa in the third.
More top-flight opposition followed in the fourth round: after being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Fulham, United went to Craven Cottage and, presented with a home team playing as though heavily medicated, nicked a 1-0 in the last minute of extra time. Pitch invasions greeted a fifth-round 3-1 over Nottingham Forest; a result that Clough later stated was motivated in part by knowledge of the draw, which held the promise of a Sheffield derby against Wednesday in the quarter-finals. Though that was not to be, two quick goals saw them past Charlton and into the semi-finals.
All this would, under normal circumstances, be more than enough. But the presence of Clough in the United dugout only intensifies the magic. As you may hear once or twice in the build-up to the semi-final, Nigel’s noted father Brian never won the FA Cup; the closest he came was the 1991 FA Cup final, when Forest lost to Spurs. Nigel was wearing the No. 9 shirt that day, and still — like plenty of Forest fans — holds something of a grudge against the referee for failing to dismiss Paul Gascoigne before he was stretchered off.
There is something deeply fascinating about the promise of Nigel Clough’s managerial career, which is still in its relative infancy and so far has encompassed the remarkable rise of Burton Albion, from the seventh tier to the brink of the Football League, followed by four alternately promising and frustrating years at Derby County. Anything Clough-related comes with its own mystique, of course; anybody literally Clough-related, more so. And since Nigel spent a fair chunk of his childhood following his father around from press conference to training ground, into dugout and dressing room, before playing under him as an adult at Forest, it surely stands to reason that plenty was passed down.
We're still waiting for Paolo, Jordi and Jamie
Father-son footballers of a similar standard are relatively common — and Nigel and Brian arguably fall into that category already — but the nature-nurture transmission of managerial talent is a less notable phenomenon. Darren never quite reached the heights of his father Alex Ferguson, and we’re still waiting for Paolo, Jordi and Jamie to follow Cesare Maldini, Johan Cruyff and Harry Redknapp into the dugout. If it happened here, though; if Nigel turned out to be Clough II: Clough Harder. Or even something vaguely close. How great a story would it be?
All of which puts the magic-seeking neutral in something of a bind. On the one hand, if third-tier Sheffield United could reach the final, having overcome their own poor early season form, the general downward trend of the club, and a third Premier League side in Hull, while simultaneously moving the Clough family one step closer to completing the silverware collection and the entire footballing nation closer to one of the more satisfying sequels available; well, that’s what the FA Cup is for. That’s why it exists.
On the other, what with modern football being modern football, clubs outside the top-flight don't tend to do well in finals, and the finals don't tend to be great games. Cardiff City never really got close to Portsmouth in 2008, while in 2004 Millwall were defeated by a Manchester United side that barely needed to break into a sprint. (That latter game is perhaps most memorable for Dennis Wise being Dennis Wise, repeatedly.) Long odds are long for a reason, after all.
So if Arsenal manage not to kick themselves in the face against Wigan, should the neutral hope for a United win, and the outside chance of one of the greatest FA Cup stories of all time? Or should they hope for Hull, in the logical, sensible, boring knowledge that teams closer in ability produce better games. The heart screams for the former; the head knows about the problem with magic. The more complex and demanding the trick, the greater the chance of the whole thing bursting into flames.
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