The big day! Big nerves?

So the big day is upon us. I had intended writing something in the days leading up to the Final but...life sort of got in the way over the last 72 hours or so.

And then there was some other news ‘across the way’ that, for some reason, put me right off thinking about footy for a short while – I think it was something to do with the fact that it was on every TV channel, radio station, WEB site, newspaper (front, middle and back)…

I don’t know if I dreamt it but I swear I turned the TV on at one stage to find the weather presenter saying, “And now for the weather details over Old Trafford…”.

So here I am, 7:16am on the morning of our trip to Wembley; blurry-eyed and slightly hung over from a 40^th birthday / masquerade party. No, you didn’t misread that…

Nervous?

I think whenever you go to Wembley for a semi-Final or Final there are always going to be nerves. Whether you play Manyoo, Stoke, Chelsea or Wigan; there’s so much riding on it that it’s only natural to get the wobblies a little.

 

I sort of hope the players feel the same way; because it might just 'put to bed' any complacency, which might creep in when they look at the name on the opposition dressing room door. Our players are making all the right noises of course [about not taking Wigan for granted] and so we can only hope that is, indeed, their attitude.

If there IS any added nervousness to this game for me personally then it’s because, where we are as a Club these days; there is a HUGE difference between finishing 2^nd with no trophy and finishing 2^nd with the F.A. Cup in our ever-growing trophy cabinet.

Not having yet found the kind of complacancy often witness by fans of postcode M16; 2nd place and silverware is still, for me, dreamland!

 

So imagine how nervous Roberto might feel. I’m sure he’d love to stay here for a long while to come; growing with and helping to build 'the project'. And with (strong?) talk of this Pellegrini fella replacing him in the summer; he must wonder whether it all hinges on this one game.

Words of comfort Roberto

 

In the almost-impossible likelihood that Roberto will pop onto this blog on the morning of another one of his ‘finest hours’, I hope he would be heartened by my words of comfort:

I truly believe that Sheikh Mansour and Khaldoon Al Mubarak etc. are not Chelsea hatchet merchants and, instead, take a calm, considered & balanced look at situations before making big decisions. And IF they were to take the sensible approach, surely they would see that despite a terrible summer of transfers - both in & out - prior to this season; Roberto & Co. have done a MORE than reasonable job this season.

Those pesky kids!

And to end, I’m sure all of this 'Mancini out' / 'Pellegrini in' thing is all mischievous ‘goings on’ by a group of sad people with nothing better to do (similar to the alleged Manyoo and Everton fans’ death threats to David Moyes).

 

Is it Pellegrini’s agent / people? The ‘betting’ fraternity? Manyoo fans?

 

All I can offer as "proof" is that there were two, separate and very excitable Manyoo fans at last nights party who were 'banging on' about Mancini leaving us after the F.A. Cup Final game and, as I type this, these words are on Pellegrini’s Wikipedia page:

“In May 2013 he was confirmed as the new Manager of Manchester City”

Sad or what?

So, slightly more awake now at 7:41am; I’m about to head downstairs to make some breakfast and a strong brew before heading off to the coach that's to take me and my wife, AGAIN, down the M1 / M40.

 

And I go with some butterflies but also with huge optimism that not only will we be celebrating come 7pm’ish but that it’ll be Roberto sitting at the various Manchester City press conferences in the coming months; introducing the likes of Edison Cavani & Alexis Sanchez…