{"id":769037,"date":"2026-02-16T21:46:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/769037\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T21:46:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:46:23","slug":"our-writers-react-to-sunderlands-fa-cup-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/769037\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Writers React To Sunderland\u2019s FA Cup Draw!"},"content":{"rendered":"

HAWAY THE PODCAST!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you heard about Haway The Podcast<\/strong>, the official Roker Report Podcast? We\u2019d love you to check it out and give it a listen!<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE!<\/a><\/p>\n

When someone mentioned that we\u2019d beaten Oxford on the way to reaching our last FA Cup final in 1992, I did take a look at who else was in the draw to see if any of the other teams we faced that year were still in, and to my amazement, they all are.<\/p>\n

Liverpool, Norwich, Chelsea, West Ham and Port Vale are all still in the competition, so it felt poetic when we drew one of them out of the hat for the fifth round\u2026sort of.<\/p>\n

Romanticising aside, you have to admit that Sunderland have gotten another favourable draw regardless of who wins between Bristol City and Port Vale. Just ask the Mags \u2014 they\u2019ve got to go to Manchester City again, which is of course hilarious.<\/p>\n

You have to play the big boys at some point if you want to win the FA Cup, so we can\u2019t fear it but I\u2019d still like to avoid one of the top sides for as long as possible.<\/p>\n

If we can get past whomever we\u2019re due to face, the prize for winning in the round after that will be a trip to Wembley in the semis, and considering the ride that Sunderland have taken us on over the last decade or so, it almost seems written that we\u2019ll end up there again.<\/p>\n

But those are just dreams. There\u2019s a lot of hard work to do before then, and we can\u2019t take either of Bristol City or Port Vale for granted, because if we do, we\u2019ll end up losing and being dumped out by a lower league side, and that simply wouldn\u2019t be acceptable.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had an excellent season but now we\u2019re all but safe, I\u2019d like to see us make winning the cup a priority.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got the squad to do it, but even getting to Wembley for a semi-final takes a massive amount of focus, luck and hard work.<\/p>\n

\"OXFORD,<\/a><\/p>\n

OXFORD, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 15: Regis Le Bris the head coach \/ manager of Sunderland during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Oxford United and Sunderland on February 15, 2026 in Oxford, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n

This game won\u2019t be easy, but it\u2019s a good opportunity to progress further in the competition.<\/p>\n

I had a strange feeling we were going to get a tough draw against someone like Manchester City or Arsenal, so I was glad to be wrong. Port Vale are struggling in League One and Bristol City\u2019s patchy form has seen them slip out of the playoff places, so on paper, it seems to be very winnable and a draw to be pleased about.<\/p>\n

However, no game is a given.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure that regardless of form or league position, both possible opponents will be up for it. They\u2019ll have home advantage and a place in the quarter-finals is a big motivator, so it\u2019s not a game to be taken for granted.<\/p>\n

This fixture will be sandwiched between a midweek bout at Leeds and a home game against Brighton, so it comes in a busy schedule that could force R\u00e9gis Le Bris\u2019 hand in terms of squad rotation. Also, due to the rearrangement of Port Vale and Bristol City\u2019s game, the game is now going to be played only three days before FA Cup weekend, and I can imagine that will be annoying for Le Bris and the staff to plan around.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s clearly taking this competition seriously and I hope this continues. I want to see a good side out for this fixture and hopefully a confident, professional performance that results in a win and a place in the last eight.<\/p>\n

We should never take anyone for granted as either of these sides will be very tricky indeed unless we aren\u2019t totally focused and as up for the battle as they will be \u2014 especially Bristol City.<\/p>\n

That said, it\u2019s a fantastic chance to reach the quarter final stage.<\/p>\n

If we play anywhere near our capability, we should be able to reach the last eight and once that stage is reached, anything is possible, and we\u2019d be one game away from a trip to Wembley.<\/p>\n

When do we dare to dream? Exciting times. Haway the lads!<\/p>\n

\"Sunderland\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunderland\u2019s Nordi Mukiele during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at Kassam Stadium, Oxford. Picture date: Sunday February 15, 2026. (Photo by Adam Davy\/PA Images via Getty Images) PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HAWAY THE PODCAST! Have you heard about Haway The Podcast, the official Roker Report Podcast? We\u2019d love you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,391,12457,16,15],"class_list":["post-769037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bristol","tag-bristol","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-opinion","tag-roker-roundtable","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116082506768522071","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}