All hail Slaven Bilic, the West Ham United manager who would rather his team won the FA Cup than qualified for the European Champions League via a place in the Premiership’s top four. How refreshing to hear a manager putting glory before greed and silverware before pounds sterling — even if it’s a long shot that his Hammers side can make the fab foursome bracket this season. Instead Bilic sent out a near full-strength team in the fourth round home replay who overcame Liverpool 2-1 in a stirring last-gasp finish. Yet this week football’s rulers were rumoured to be contemplating shunting the once revered FA Cup tournament further into the shadows by staging its games in midweek minus any replays. This would give the money-grabbing elite of the Premier League more time to concentrate on their European commitments. It all goes around in one horrible cash-driven circle. Once upon a time winning the Cup meant an open-top bus parade through the victors’ main thoroughfare in their town or city applauded by their adoring and appreciative supporters — or in Chelsea’s case a slow crawl along Fulham Broadway. I couldn’t imagine the same fans’ response even if their team had clinched a top four spot. So as FA Cup weekend approaches with only 16 teams left, Bilic deserves applause for trying to re-establish some semblance of how the old order used to work in English football. European football bores me rigid. It’s the same teams every season, with the draw loaded in favour of the bigger clubs making it through from the group stages to satisfy TV demands — the bigger the club, the bigger the audience. Minnows need not apply. But how it can all backfire… The franchise known as Manchester United have had to settle for the second-class competition this season, the Europa League, cos they couldn’t make the elite Champions League. So how amusing this week to see the club with the world’s largest number of hanger-on fans humbled by a Danish team whose name I can’t even pronounce. If they carry on like this, with their befuddled and seemingly deranged Dutch manager in charge, they may soon be only the second best team in Manchester. So in the normal course of events I would wish Bilic and his East End throwbacks all the best in their Wembley quest. Alas they cross paths with Blackburn Rovers, who are taking a brief respite from looking nervously over their shoulders at the bottom of the Championship. The game is at Ewood on Sunday and live on TV in Oz at midnight. The Hammers have sold all 7200 allocated tickets so there will even be a crowd to behold as we tune in. I have always got along on with West Ham fans — ex-workmates Charlie Whebell, Dave Thomas, Chris Lightbown, Jim Munro and more. But sorry lads, the Cup distraction may be the highlight of our limp and lame season. So we may have to spoil your quest. But if it’s a replay our woeful record at Upton Park doesn’t auger well. I’ve seen us win there once in all my many trips — a 2-1 surprise in 1994-95. It’s usually just consolation ales in the Duke of Edinburgh pub on Green Street, the other side of the Tube station after events have unfolded. In 1997-98 we did things the other way round. We grabbed a replay with a 2-2 draw at the Boleyn then blew it in the replay with Colin Hendry missing the mark when it was his turn in the penalty shoot-out. Whatever happens the weekend promises to be a chance to turn the clock back to when the FA Cup really meant something. A good old-fashioned Cup upset would be even better. Sorry, Slaven…
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