Liverpool and Man City to blame for terrible new move – Kieran Maguire
Liverpool and Man City are among the clubs to blame for the terrible decision to scrap FA Cup replays.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Football Association has the “backbone of a jellyfish” after making the decision.
The FA announced earlier this month that replays in the competition will be scrapped from the first round onwards from 2024/25.
The body added that the tournament will only be played on weekends, with the EFL then stating that the new format was solely agreed between the FA and the Premier League.
Liverpool and Man City slammed after replay decision
The FA insisted that after discussions that had been going on for over a year, all parties accepted the current format could not continue.
But Maguire has raged at the decision to scrap replays, explaining that it is unfair for clubs in the EFL and National League.
“The FA is coming out of this with the backbone of a jellyfish,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“The fact that they didn’t even involve the EFL in the discussion in respect of a decision, which in the first and second rounds only impacts upon EFL and National League clubs…
“Let’s be honest, they don’t tend to be huge money spinners, but if I’m going to be impacted by a decision, surely the least you can do is common courtesy and involve me in that decision-making process. It could be that the EFL would have said yes, we think that is in the best interests.
“I’ve seen the Twitter accounts of the likes of Grimsby Town, Peterborough United and Accrington Stanley and so on… it’s all being driven in terms of the interests of the Super League six.
“Because they want more time for pre-season tours, they want to be able to squeeze in more fixtures in terms of the FIFA Club World Cup, the expanded Champions League, which you can only see expanding further in due course.
“The disconnect between the hedge-fund managers, the billionaires that own certain clubs, and grassroots football is just going to expand.”
In other FA Cup news, Liverpool fans ’embarrassed’ by move fuelled by Jurgen Klopp – Maguire.
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