Sweet FA! No sign of a ticket for the semi yet ...

It has been a fairly quiet week on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. In four weeks time Arsenal will play Man City at Wembley in the FA Cup semi final but for now the two protagonists are match-free this weekend while their superstar players are away on international duty. While they are on their travels your blogger has been trying to get a ticket for the semi final and the pressure continues to mount on Arsene Wenger.

Getting a ticket for this match is not going to be easy but I do have a fall back position. Both clubs have been given an allocation of 32,000 briefs for the game. Arsenal have declared that you have to be either a ‘Platinum’ or ‘Gold’ category Arsenal Club member to apply for tickets. Manchester City have published their eligibility rules and you have to be at very least a season ticket holder to be declared a ‘qualifier’ and even then it is only one ticket per qualifying member. So there is more chance of Nicola Sturgeon moving to England than me getting a ticket from either of the clubs.

So, next port of call the FA. I used to be a maths teacher so I consider that my arithmetic skills are serviceable. The capacity of Wembley Stadium is 90,000 and if the FA have allocated 32,000 to each club then that still leaves 26,000 tickets floating around. If you are trying to get a ticket for this match as a neutral then the FA web site is about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. The site states: “The remainder of the tickets are split between Club Wembley and commercial partners”. Hmm! Very unconvincing. I have been unable to find out how many people are members of Club Wembley but I can’t believe it is more than (say) 6,000. How many commercial partners would be eligible for tickets? Maybe 4,000 at most. So unless my assumptions are way wide of the mark then that means something like 16,000 tickets are floating around. One thing for sure the web based glorified touts have had no trouble at all getting their hands on many of these tickets not given to the clubs. Which brings me on to my fall back position …

With a couple of clicks and a very basic google search I have come across www.ticketbisevents.com Specifically the link https://www.ticketbisevents.com/en/fa-cup-2016-17-arsenal-v-manchester-city-tickets/ev260436 takes you straight there. You will find loads of tickets available for the match starting at round about £160. The face value of this ticket is almost certainly £30. I really don’t want to line the pockets of some pretty dodgy operator but I am not going to fail at the penultimate hurdle on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. So, unless some kind reader sorts me out with a ticket over the next few days then I will be pressing submit and parting with the thick end of 200 quid at some stage next week. Ouch!

The international break is a busman’s holiday for the players of Man City and Arsenal. Almost all of their squads are away from their base playing for their countries. Beleaguered Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s future continues to come under scrutiny from the rabid English sports media. Part of the problem for Arsene Wenger has been the spotlight on his relationship with his star striker Alexis Sanchez. Last weekend he substituted Sanchez stating afterwards that his right ankle was in “an absolutely terrible state”.

Sanchez injured for Arsenal and leaves the field on Saturday - out for a few weeks?

It was clear from Wenger’s comments that he would not be happy if an injured Sanchez turned out for Chile in midweek. Not only did Sanchez play he was running around like a 3 year old.

Sanchez on Wednesday - hot stuff for Chile and ankle holding up well !

Questions are now being asked on Arsenal fans social media platforms and in the media more widely as to whether Sanchez will put in a shift for his country but not for Wenger. Footage showing Sanchez getting very worked up after missing a chance for Chile has been doing the rounds with Arsenal fans asking the rhetorical question ‘why does he not show that sort of passion when he plays for us’? After the Germany v England midweek friendly the scorer of the German goal ex Gunner Podolski was asked on his view as to whether Wenger should continue as manager! Even on a week off The Professor can’t seem to get any peace.

My own midweek saw me visiting Easter Road to watch Scotland play Canada and the least said about that the better. I also started my investigations into Man City’s links with Scotland and the Scotland based Man City fan twitter feed @thegingerwigmcfc have pointed me in the direction of City legend Andy Morrison. Highlander Morrison was something of a cult hero with City fans it would seem and anyone who sticks it to Stan Collymore can’t be a bad lad.

Have some of that! Stan Collymore finds that City legend Morrison is in his face.

I am now hooked up to the ‘Ginger Wig MCFC’ twitter feed and they have confirmed that Paul Dickov was the last Scot to play for City. So no jocks donning the famous sky blue jersey for 10 years. In my next post on Tuesday I will be describing Manchester City’s rich Scottish heritage including the contribution of Andy Morrison. Before signing off today I must admit to having withdrawl symptoms after getting off the Lincoln Loco at the Arsenal station two weeks ago. I have noticed that it would seem the wheels have come off the Loco since the Arsenal defeat. In the last fortnight they have lost in the FA Trophy semi final (and hence missed out on a Wembley final) and lost an important league match. Tomorrow they play host to Forest Green Rovers as top plays second in a huge Vanarama National League game. It is live on BT Sport at lunchtime and I will be tuned in. Come on the Imps – get that Loco back on track! The day out at The Emirates Stadium two weeks ago was truly memorable and of all the photos I have seen on Imps social media forums since then the one below is my favourite.

Arsenal v Lincoln City in the FA Cup quarter final: It really did happen!

I have no idea who the lady in the pic is but her scarf marks out the occasion and the photo captures the magic of the day.

Will I bite the bullet and pay over the odds for a semi ticket from a dodgy web site? Is the sky blue in Manchester laced with tartan? Will Arsene Wenger survive another weekend in the hot seat at Arsenal? Come back here on Tuesday for the answers to these questions and much more … and … keep reading.