The Cup that cheers

THE FA Cup may come down the list of priorities if you listen to the accountants who run some of England’s biggest football clubs, obsessed as they are with the Champions League and the Barclays Premiership.

But listen to the fans this weekend and you might hear a different story.

Listen to the supporters of League One Oldham, conquerors of Manchester City in the last round and hoping to notch another shock in the 133-year history of football’s oldest cup competition when Bolton visit tomorrow. Listen to the fans of little Yeovil who travel to Premiership Charlton in hope - and those of in-form Sunderland who journey to Everton with anticipation.

But mostly listen to those who will be packed into St Mary’s for a derby between Southampton and Portsmouth which has everything demanded of a cup tie.

Financially, the FA Cup is nowhere near as important as survival in the Premiership to either side, yet emotionally no match this weekend will provoke more depth of feeling.

It is Southampton manager Harry Redknapp’s first encounter with his former club since he departed Fratton Park insisting there was no way he would go “down the road” to St Mary’s.

The ensuing row with Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric and the subsequent protracted squabble between Mandaric and Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe has left a bitter taste. Redknapp will face taunts of “Judas” from Portsmouth supporters. It is bound to be spicy. On the pitch, however, there were signs in last week’s 2-0 victory against Liverpool, Redknapp’s first in charge with Saints, that the traditional Redknapp rescue potion is beginning to take effect.

The arrival of son Jamie to bolster the Southampton midfield, alongside David Prutton, is a typical Redknapp masterstroke and in Anders Svensson, Rory Delap and beanpole striker Peter Crouch Saints look to possess enough quality to survive in the Premiership.

Don’t be surprised if they also take the south coast bragging rights tomorrow, even if the potential for trouble and controversy also makes it the match the FA Cup could have done without.

The truth is, however, that after the excitement earlier this month of Exeter drawing at Old Trafford and little Yeading putting up a brave fight against Newcastle, the fourth round needed Southampton versus Portsmouth. There are lots of local skirmishes but it is a round not entirely blessed with matches of global intrigue.

Spare a thought for Bournemouth, who travel to Burnley when by rights they would have expected to have been enjoying a money-spinning interlude at Anfield if Rafael Benitez had not viewed the FA Cup as expendable. And don’t expect the big three to turn out their strongest teams.

It is typical of the fixture naivety which transcends English football that a Premiership match of the importance of Arsenal v Manchester United should be scheduled on the Tuesday after the fourth round. It is an encounter crucial to the league and Champions League ambitions of Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson. Victory against Wolves and Middlesbrough, respectively, in the FA Cup comes a distant third. Both, however, have strong enough squads to progress, even if Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren will use all his inside knowledge as Ferguson’s former number two. And so to Chelsea who take on Birmingham at Stamford Bridge in the clash of the Blues.

Among the many qualities Jose Mourinho has brought to English football by far the most pleasing has been his respect for all the major footballing trophies.

It’s what you would expect in the Premiership, which Chelsea lead by 10 points, and in the Champions League where they face Barcelona in the knockout phase. But Mourinho’s affection for the domestic cups has also been apparent. His reward for playing a strong side throughout the Carling Cup is a place in the final against Liverpool next month.

And while Scunthorpe managed to score first against an understrength Chelsea in the FA Cup third round the job was eventually completed with some aplomb. There is good reason why the bookies are slashing the odds - currently 16-1 - on Mourinho completing a unique quadruple this season.

Nothing fuels success more than success and following their dispatching of Manchester United in the Carling Cup at Old Trafford in midweek the feelgood momentum at Chelsea can never have been greater.

They have the depth of quality, whatever team they play. But, most of all, they have respect. Mourinho sees the FA Cup not as an imposition, but as another stepping stone as Chelsea hurtle towards immortality. It’s difficult to see them tripping up.