Its Arsenal v Lincoln City next: Will Sky TV ask ex Arsenal Scot Charlie Nicholas to commentate on the match?

On Sunday the draw for the FA Cup quarter finals was made and amazingly Lincoln City were included. When all the balls had been drawn out of the famous plastic drum the Imps were paired with either Sutton United or Arsenal. Last night Arsenal eliminated the plucky non leaguers from south London and hence on Saturday the 11^th March the Imps will visit the Emirates Stadium to take on the mighty Gunners. The FA Cup tie between Arsenal and Lincoln City will be stop number 15 on the Road to Wembley from Scotland.

The Emirates Stadium: Next stop for Lincoln City

I guess all readers will know by now that the unique feature of this ‘Road to Wembley’ journey is that for each match I look for a link between the competing clubs and Bella Caledonia. Arsenal have benefited from the influence of famous Scotsmen in the past and within living memory I can recall Frank McClintock being an iconic club captain for the Gunners in the sixties and seventies and George Graham managing the team with great success in the eighties and nineties. Much more about Frank and George and other Scots who have served the Gunners well in a later post. At present the Arsenal squad does not feature any Scots and indeed it is now a good few years since a Scotsman played for Arsenal. One of the last to do so was ‘Champagne’ Charlie Nicholas. The 55 year old Glaswegian played 151 times for Arsenal between 1983 and 1988 and scored 34 goals.

'Yer talking shite pal': Champagne Charlie in his Arsenal days

Nicholas is now better known as the Sky TV pundit who consistently gets his words wrong. He had a cavalier style as a footballer and he does not take the safe route in the TV studio either. He has an uncanny knack of mixing up well known phrases and sayings and coming out with complete gibberish. Here are 20 of his very best:

20. “What Newcastle lack is a lack of pace.”

19. “It's all very well batting from the same hymn sheet.”

18. “If they can take Chelsea’s scalp, it will give them unbelievable belief.”

17. “They’ll try to get a good feel factor.”

16. “Paul Jewell’s sides are always hard to break down, although Manchester United have a habit of breaking his sides down pretty easily.”

15. “I’ve had a broken leg and it’s painful.”

14. “That’s why the captain is there, to take profile off the manager.”

13. "Mancini's got to nail this in the bud.”

12. “You’d need Medusa to predict that.”

11. “I will say right here and now that his world should be brought to an end today.”

10. “Carlton Cole gives you length.”

9. “They get to about 30 yards out and then everything goes square and a bit pedantic.”

8. "I'm a strong believer that if you score goals, you win matches.”

7. “Zola can relieve himself now he’s 3-0 up.”

6. “It's imperable that they get off to a good start.”

5. "Barcelona is the only club I can see players going from Arsenal to Barcelona to.”

4. “Every time they attacked we were memorised by them.”

3. “Nani knows he can’t be inconsistent one week, good the next.”

2. "Scottish football needs a kick in the arm.”

1. “James McFadden is Scotland’s Taliban.”

Champagne Charlie the pundit: prefers red wine these days

As the big match in March approaches, Sky TV will no doubt ask the ex Arsenal pundit for his view on the contest. I for one will be watching with great interest to find out what his words of wisdom are.

Tonight it is back to reality for the gallant Imps. They make the short journey to the northern side of the Humber Bridge for a Vanarama National League fixture against North Ferriby United. As Charlie Nicholas might have said: “It might be a short journey but the Imps have come a long way”. Will Lincoln City be able to do to North Ferriby what they did to Burnley on Saturday? Will Charlie Nicholas be asked by Sky to describe the Imps FA Cup run? Come back here later in the week to find out … and … keep reading.