{"id":179154,"date":"2016-01-05T09:47:02","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T09:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=179154"},"modified":"2016-01-05T09:47:02","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T09:47:02","slug":"epl-fixture-scheduling-is-diabolical-sam-allardyce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/01\/epl-fixture-scheduling-is-diabolical-sam-allardyce\/","title":{"rendered":"EPL fixture scheduling is ‘diabolical’ – Sam Allardyce"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has accused the Premier League of devaluing the FA Cup.<\/p>\n
He said it was “diabolical” that top-flight clubs have league fixtures the Tuesday and Wednesday after this weekend’s third-round ties.<\/p>\n
“Of course I’m going to make changes for our cup tie at Arsenal on Saturday,” Allardyce said.<\/p>\n
“We’re flogging the lads. There are more and more injuries every year, but it’s ignored by the Premier League.”<\/p>\n
Sunderland, second from bottom in the league, are away to Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday (15:00 GMT) before they travel to fellow strugglers Swansea on Wednesday, 12 January.<\/p>\n
“If the Premier League decides to put a stupid fixture midweek when they don’t bloody need to, then I haven’t got much choice than to make changes,” said Allardyce.<\/p>\n
“If you want us to respect the FA Cup, don’t put Premier League fixtures in the midweek just after new year.<\/p>\n
“Don’t give me stick when I change the side at Arsenal. Give the Premier League stick, not the managers.”<\/p>\n
Sunderland’s game with Swansea was due to be played on Tuesday but was moved back a day because the Welsh side have an FA Cup tie at Oxford United on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Allardyce was aggrieved by the switch because his side play at Tottenham in a Saturday lunchtime kick-off on 16 January.<\/p>\n
“Making me play Wednesday and Saturday rather than Tuesday and Saturday is making it harder for me to get Premier League points,” he said.<\/p>\n
“With having three away games in succession, we’ve got around 2,000 miles of travel and the lunchtime kick-off means we’ve less than three days recovery for Tottenham.”<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC Sport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce has accused the Premier League of devaluing the FA Cup. He said it was “diabolical” that top-flight clubs have league fixtures the Tuesday and Wednesday after this weekend’s third-round ties. “Of course I’m going to make changes for our cup tie at Arsenal on Saturday,” Allardyce said. “We’re flogging the lads. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[142],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n