The montages were familiar, the starting XIs less so. Ronnie Radford will cash his royalty cheque on Monday morning just as he has done every year since 1972, while Keith Houchen is likely still getting up from a front-room reenactment of his diving header in the 1987 FA Cup final.
Chas and Dave and Ricky Villa are unlikely to be usurped by Brad Smith and the Kindergarten Klopps anytime soon.
The world's oldest cup competition is still capable of conjuring magic, as Exeter City, Oxford United, Eastleigh, Wycombe Wanderers, Portsmouth and Shrewsbury Town, among others to a lesser extent, will all attest. It's just when you can recognize as many names from Exeter's team sheet as Liverpool's, it's a bit like watching a tightrope walker with a visible harness. The spell is broken before it's even cast.
While projecting an illusion of interest, most Premier League clubs are as transparent as a David Blaine DVD replete with a "How to do it Yourself" extra. What Manchester United supporters would give to have Louis van Gaal ensconced in a glass box for 44 days. "Sorry, Louis, can't hear you. What's that? I think he's saying all-out attack..." Paul Scholes sat beneath the plinth in a rocking chair, frying bacon.
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