FA Cup Semifinal draw

Blackburn v Chelsea or Tottenham
Watford v Middlesbrough or Manchester United

Yawn.

Chances are, Chelsea and United will win their replays. Boro and Tottenham had their opportunities for upsets, and neither took advantage, with both surrendering leads late. Tottenham will have more of a chance than Boro, as they’ll host Chelsea at the Lane, but usually when a bigger team is forced into a replay, they make it count.

And not to look past Blackburn and Watford (damn you for putting out Plymouth), who’ve done well to get here, but it’s still more than likely both Chelsea and United will advance to the final. And as I’ve complained about more than once, it’s been since 1991 that none of the “big four” made it to the final. I can’t see that changing. And in a year where the League Cup final was Chelsea and Arsenal, no less.

For the good of the tournament, we couldn’t have just fixed the draw a little bit? If you’re a neutral with no dog in this fight, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t rather see Blackburn or Watford make the final against Chelsea or United.

Admittedly, there’s little grousing going on here about the big four when it’s Liverpool going deep into competitions, but this year, it’s like 2005 all over again, when United and Arsenal met in Cardiff. Let’s hope we don’t have a similar game.

Wake me up when we’re there. But until then, we’re becoming big Blackburn fans around these parts.