HAVING been to something like 3,500 football matches in my short time on earth, I probably qualify as a very sad person, or a very lucky one whichever way you want to look at it.

Next Wednesday’s FA Cup replay between Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers is one I will be happy not to add to the list.

There are several reasons. I had the misfortune to be at last Saturday’s fourth round tie at the Stadium of Light, and as one scribe put it the match made him want to throw himself off the top board at the new Aquatic Centre next door – with or without water to hit.

Secondly, it will be the fifth time these two clubs have met in two months – they know each other better than Torvill and Dean.

Thirdly, I just happen to be in Nigeria which is a long way from Ewood Park.

Over the years I’ve subscribed to the view that the FA Cup is full to the brim of that overworked word ‘magic’.

Long in the tooth enough to remember Stanley Matthews, Bert Trautmann, Roger Osborne, Ian Porterfield and all the hundreds of names that have created the aura that surrounds the competition, I’ve defended it to the hilt against accusations of lost glitter.

Sunderland last Saturday persuaded me otherwise. A crowd half the size of the one assembled at the same venue for the identical match on Boxing Day would have made more noise at a funeral.

Neither Sam Allardyce nor Ricky Sbragia was willing to pick a full-strength side, so we had the spectacle of reserve players, either not fully fit or not good enough to be regular choices, going through the motions.

It was a recipe for a good sleep. There was more emotion in Kate Winslet’s acceptance speech, and equal annoyance and squirming from those witnessing the charade.

Maybe the problem is in the draw. I would have loved Kettering v Fulham or even Doncaster v Aston Villa (still a scoreless draw but by no means a bore).

Sunderland-Blackburn or Sheffield United-Charlton don’t set the pulses racing and don’t sound like FA Cup humdingers.

Down the years the Beeb have insisted on showing the likes of Man United v Spurs as the lead match due to one thing – audience figures – but they miss the point.

The FA Cup is about a little ’un trying to topple a big ’un and certainly not low-key matches between clubs who play one another at least twice every year – or in the case of the Ewood Park replay five times in two months.

Having had that little rant, it’ll probably be 6-5 after extra-time!

IF you want to pinpoint a troublemaker in a dressing room, look at the players who have had a lot of clubs.

Can you believe anyone, including Manchester City, would pay £14m for Craig Bellamy?

The man’s history says it all. Seven previous employers have taken him on and been unable to tame him.

The script says he’ll score half-a-dozen goals between now and the summer – and then he’ll be off again.

Mark Hughes knows the Welshman is a gamble and must believe leopards really can change their spots.

Some players move on with great regularity for other reasons (like Dean Windass, Marcus Bent, Robbie Keane) but in Bellamy’s case I’ll be amazed if he’s still part of the Abu Dhabi revolution this time next year.

SEVERAL months ago I had a strange sort of phone call about the making of the film Damned United.

In case you haven’t heard of it this is the story of Brian Clough’s turbulent 44 days at Leeds United.

The book of that name has been hugely successful, although it’s fair to say the Clough family do not approve of David Peace’s work.

That brilliant actor Michael Sheen portrays Cloughie superbly but it’s the supporting cast that concerns me.

As sports producer for Radio Leeds at the time of Clough’s short tenure at Elland Road, I was in almost daily contact with him, and actually got locked in the stands with him a few hours after his sacking.

The phone call had asked about the actor who should play my part in the film, if that segment was included.

My suggestion of either Daniel Craig or George Clooney seems to have gone unheeded and I can’t think why.