by Nuno Espirito Santo has been forced to cancel a team-bonding trip to St George’s Park after becoming the latest Premier League manager to demand FA Cup replays be abolished.
Nottingham Forest face a replay against League One side Blackpool next week after a 2-2 draw left Nuno no choice but to abandon his winter break plans.
Nuno was due to take his new team to England’s training headquarters at St George’s for three days starting on Monday, and the stay was designed to help him further impose his philosophy after replacing Steve Cooper as coach last month. past.
However, the Portuguese revealed his frustration that the training camp is now canceled and joined other top coaches Jurgen Klopp, Mikel Arteta and Thomas Frank in calling for replays to be scrapped.
“It is a reality, everyone is aware that there is a great congestion of matches, the matches are every day, so it is something that we have to analyze,” he said.
“If you ask me personally, I think it should be done on the day, extra time, penalties and allowing the players a little more time to recover.
“Premier League teams are suffering because of that, you know the problems with injuries and one of the things is the number of games.
Blackpool will now have a second chance to knock Forest out of the competition for the second consecutive season at Bloomfield Road.
Twelve months ago, under former manager Michael Appleton, they defeated Forest 4-1 to reach the fourth round for the first time since 1971.
Blackpool took a two-goal lead in less than three minutes and Neil Critchley, the League One club’s coach, insisted replays are part of the magic.
“It is so important for football in general that the level between the Premier League and the rest is increasingly wider and it is increasingly difficult to cause a surprise in the cup,” he said.
“I think it’s a great achievement to cause an upset, so if you get a second chance to do it, we’ll rip your hand off for that.
“Yes, it’s a busy schedule, but so what? Keep going. This is our 36th game this season, Premier League teams don’t understand that.
“Difficult, this is football, let’s move on. There is something magical about this cup competition, so why can’t we go and create a happy memory for ourselves?
Eighth in League One and four points off the play-off positions, Blackpool left the City Ground silent in a sequence of two minutes and 46 seconds.
With Nuno forced into a defensive reshuffle, with Willy Boly and Moussa Niakhate absent due to the Africa Cup of Nations, it was a poor two goals for Forest to concede.
The first came after Karamoko Dembélé’s cross into the penalty area was headed by Gonzalo Montiel into the path of Jordan Gabriel, who had an easy task heading the ball into the net from eight yards.
Former Forest Academy graduate Gabriel was sold to Blackpool in 2021 after making just seven appearances and refused to celebrate.
Blackpool increased their lead in the 27th minute, exposing even more sloppy defending when CJ Hamilton eluded Forest captain Joe Worrall to cross into the box and Albie Morgan was waiting at the far post to score.
As frustration began to build among the home fans, Forest responded six minutes before the break with Nicolás Domínguez heading Montiel’s cross into the corner.
Nuno sent his players off early in the second half and everything he said in the locker room provoked a reaction.
The woods improved greatly, playing with more urgency and control. The equalizer came after 11 minutes and was an outstanding shot by Morgan Gibbs-White.
Taking the ball just inside the penalty area from Callum Hudson-Odoi, he then crashed a shot into the top corner.
Blackpool goalkeeper Daniel Grimshaw took center stage and produced an excellent save from Ryan Yates as the pressure became relentless in the final 15 minutes.
Substitute Neco Williams was denied by Grimshaw and then, in the final seconds, Chris Wood failed to stretch to convert Hudson-Odoi’s low cross to the far post.
They will meet again in a replay match that one coach could do without, while the other cannot wait.
Luton won in a match that had the championship written all over it
If you want to make a difference between the Premier League and the rest, it is most evident in the response to the need for an FA Cup replay.
After a goalless draw with League One Bolton, a stalemate as stale as the remains of a Christmas mince pie, Luton manager Rob Edwards smiled broadly when asked if he was looking forward to another tough game. your agenda.
“You have to give Bolton credit, they got a result,” he said. “I was disappointed that we didn’t get the job done today. Now we have a different schedule. Thats the reality. We have to deal with it.”
Bolton manager Ian Evatt, for his part, was delighted with another match. Not so much because he had another opportunity to test his team against Premier League rivals, but because of the money.
“This football club has suffered a lot,” he said. “To get it back to where we want it to be, income is needed. “Hopefully a television match will get us back on track to where we want to be.”
The way things are going, with Luton sitting quietly in the Premier League relegation zone and Bolton second in League One, this could well be a Championship game next season. In which case, not many will be licking their lips. Aside from a magnificent shot from Alfie Doughty that crashed into the Bolton post, this was a game of few chances, few chances, few moments to bring the paying customer to the edge of their seats.
The gap between the two teams was perhaps most obvious when Luton’s midfield played a superb sequence of short, precise passes which ended with Albert Sambi Lokonga curling a shot wide. Bolton never came close to matching that level. But then again, they didn’t have Ross Barkley at center for their side.
However, perhaps the biggest difference between the two setups came after Teden Mengi appeared to bring down Dion Charles in the box and Bolton fans chanted for VAR to intervene. Do fans really want VAR? That was new. But neither Andy Madley nor the VAR were interested. And a perhaps more standard reaction to the process was that of Edwards. He was unhappy when Doughty was knocked down while trying to grab the rebound after his shot hit the post.
“I’m not sure what the VAR thought, a big mistake,” he concluded. “We have not lost the game, we cannot think negatively that we are still in the competition, the frustration is that we did not do the business that day. And the VAR didn’t help.”
Some things, then, don’t change, regardless of the competition.
Bamford stunner leads Leeds to victory
Patrick Bamford’s moment of brilliance illuminated Leeds’ smooth pace as they cruised to a 3-0 win at Peterborough.
The forward made just his second start of the campaign when manager Daniel Farke made the changes.
And Bamford responded with a stunning goal shortly after the break to double the lead provided by Ethan Ampadu’s first goal in Leeds colours.
Captain Ampadu sealed the victory later on as his sudden taste for scoring continued.
“It was good,” Farke joked when asked about the quality of Bamford’s goal.
“The entire world will praise this goal as world class. There are no other words for it.
“I am delighted for him and he deserves it, but for me it is more important that he returns to his level of form, in good rhythm and that he works for the team.
“Goals are always invaluable for the confidence of offensive players and I’m sure he would take advantage of a rebound from two meters but of course scoring in this fantastic way is even better and on the right track.
“We rested some players and gave valuable minutes to others, but we were clear that we wanted to win this game and advance to the fourth round.
“It’s never easy when you have six substitutions and two players playing in different positions, but it was a focused performance.
“It was a close game, but we won it comfortably with three goals and a clean sheet.”
West Brom crush the minnows aside
West Brom advanced to the fourth round after a first-half charge against Aldershot.
Opening goals from Nathaniel Chalobah and Jovan Malcolm put the Baggies on course for a 4-1 victory and ended any thoughts the National League visitors had of an upset.
Daryl Dike, making his first appearance since April following a serious Achilles injury, added a third before the break with the gulf between the Championship promotion chasers and the Shots evident.
West Brom manager Carlos Corberan hailed Dike’s return after the striker ended his eight-month injury nightmare.
Corberán said: “The way he celebrated the goal says a lot about how much he has been suffering, how important it was to score, how important he is for us in the locker room.
“Then the players gave him a big round of applause. They were celebrating that he returned to the group and scored the goal because eight months out, managing the injury is difficult, especially for him after suffering injuries.
“Coming back was an important step for us. It’s a huge step. We need to continue working again on his adaptation to football, hopefully we can continue growing in the process.
“To achieve something in the championship it is necessary not to have many injuries. Having Dike as a forward is always positive.”
There was never any hope of a comeback and Tom Fellows’ first goal completed the scoring late on before Ollie Bray’s consolation.
O’Connor wins as Wrexham knock out rivals Shrewsbury
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney appear to have FA Cup fever, as does their Wrexham team.
Hollywood stars watched from their homes in the United States as Wrexham won 1-0 against local rivals Shrewsbury, thanks to a goal from defender Tom O’Connor in the 72nd minute.
The Welsh club will find out on Monday who will be their opponent in the fourth round, and it is very likely that it will be a Premier League team.
“Deadpool” star Reynolds posted a photo of himself in X, sitting next to fellow actor Hugh Jackman while watching the Shrewsbury-Wrexham match.
