The Warm-Up: A not very 'FA Cup' FA Cup draw

Well, you’d imagine that the telly people are delighted. The draw for the third round of the FA Cup has thrown up some lovely, jazzy, eye-catching games which they can slap on their schedules and watch the viewers roll in. The Merseyside derby, for example, or Brighton v Crystal Palace, presumably hoping everyone forgets the game those two played against each other which was a complete wet fart the other week. Derby will be the lucky punters who will be on TV when they travel to Manchester United.

Thing is, there aren’t many ‘FA Cup’ games. When a non-league club draws a big boy, and Football Focus can go to town, interview the club secretary who is also the kit man who is also the tea lady who is also the centre-forward, then cut to some fans chipping in to help mow the pitch or something.

Non-league Hereford will play Leicester if they get through Fleetwood Town but, erm, that’s about it. Wimbledon away to Tottenham could be interesting, Newport County against Leeds simply screams muddy 1970s pitch, but beyond that pickings are quite slim. Not that this is anyone’s fault, but it just feels like a collection of games, rather than the ‘different’ stuff the FA Cup is supposed to bring.

There really isn’t a lot of around today, but this is…sort of mildly interesting.

The France national team coach Guy Stephan has suggested that Olivier Giroud needs to hightail it out of Arsenal if he wants to increase his chances of starting up top for France at the World Cup.

Giroud has fallen behind compatriot Alexandre Lacazette in the Arsenal pecking order, which obviously does his hopes of getting picked ahead of him for the national team no favours.

“It’s clear that in terms of playing time, it’s insufficient,” Stephan told TF1. “Didier’s already had the opportunity to talk about it. He has to find a solution in the coming weeks.”

So who fancies Giroud? Everton again? The idea of him and Big Sam working together is quite funny, for some reason…

There isn’t a huge amount of hard news – the sort of serious scoops the Warm-Up is so rightly famous for – around today, so here’s a lovely nice story to keep you warm and fuzzy as it gets colder and colder out.

Bristol City full-back Joe Bryan heard about a player from a local non-league side, Nailsea and Tickenham, called Chris Corner who had broken his tibia and fibia. Corner is also a self-employed builder, so has obviously been unable to work, so Bryan decided he would try to help out.

Bryan told BBC Radio Bristol: “One of our physios plays in the [Nailsea] team so I just said to him, ‘can you get him back fit and invoice everything to me?’ I’m in a position where I can do things like that, and help out where I can. I’ve been brought up like that.

“We all dread any sort of serious injury like this,” Bryan added. “I’ve had a far less serious one and I know the psychological pain that you go through.”

Well isn’t that lovely?

It’s former Gooner Serge Gnabry from way downtown…

If you haven’t been following it too closely, Australian football is in something of a mess. We won’t bore you with the details, but the summary is that Fifa might be called in to sort things out, which isn’t ideal, especially when the most pressing high-profile task at hand is to appoint a new national team head coach, after Ange Postecoglou turned in his own security pass last month.

A new man is apparently expected in February to take Australia to the World Cup, appointed by a selection panel, and the latest name in the frame is…Sven Goran Eriksson. Of course Sven, a man never afraid of a cheque, is keen. “Yes of course I’m interested,” he said. “It’s a big job, a big football country, you’re playing in the World Cup – again. You more or less always play in the World Cup.” There are more appropriate and perhaps more sensible candidates, but selection panel – you know what to do.

The stereotype about certain referees is that they like to be at the centre of attention, that their self-regard is so strong that they believe people have showed up to watch them officiate. Without comment, here’s Mark Clattenburg discussing the game at the end of the 2015/16 season when Tottenham completely lost their thread against Chelsea.

“I allowed them [Tottenham] to self-destruct so all the media, all the people in the world went: ‘Tottenham lost the title,’” Clattenburg told NBC’s Men in Blazers podcast.

“If I sent three players off from Tottenham, what are the headlines? ‘Clattenburg cost Tottenham the title.’ It was pure theatre that Tottenham self-destructed against Chelsea and Leicester won the title.”

For no particular reason, here’s the time Gary Crosby of Nottingham Forest scored a goal by heading the ball off Manchester City goalkeeper Andy Dibble’s outstretched palm.

It’s useful to be reminded every now and then of the cost we’re having to pay to see a World Cup in Qatar. Ken Early in the Irish Times says a new film called The Workers’ Cup does just that.

Plenty has already been decided, but there are a few things still up for grabs in the Champions League tonight. There’s still a (quite slim) chance that Juventus could go out, for example, or an (even slimmer) chance that Manchester United could tumble. Plus it’s Bayern v PSG, which even though it’s basically an exhibition game, could be quite fun.