Francis Benali said on Radio Solent that this could yet be the best ever season, he is right can something special happen at Wembley tomorrow !
Sorry to be repetitive but for someone like me who has supported the club since the early 1970's I have hung on the result of somewhere around 2,300 games in the League, the FA Cup, The League Cup, UEFA/Europa League and this is not counting the tournaments that don't really matter like the ZDS Cup, Texaco Cup, JPT and a couple more I can't remember.
In that time I have seen maybe 20 games that have actually mattered on the day when we have played for something important, do or die when this was the only chance and if we lost then that was it, essentially that is 4 cup finals, 7 semi finals and a number of games where either promotion, relegation or European qualification hung on a last game result.
That is actually less than 1% of the games I have supported this football club for, Sunday sees one of those games when we take on Chelsea at Wembley, it is a game when for a rare occasion we are playing for something, it is why we spent our time watching dross, it is for these moments when we can feel the edge, feel the tension and hopefully at the end of it experience that sheer joy of emotion and the memories that come with it.
If you don't want to go to Wembley because of the way this season has panned out and the lack of entertainment, then more fool you, you might not get another moment like this for years, I for one am going to go to Wembley and enjoy it, if we lose then we lose, but I would rather we be there and compete than not be there.
This does not make me a superfan, it merely makes me a football fan, someone who follows their team and wants it to do well, but more importantly wants to experience that rare moment of joy when it happens, anyone who was at Anfield in the semi final 2nd leg last season will know what I mean.
So tomorrow is all about winning and the FA Cup brings out shocks, we need to ply with the passion that we showed in the first 70 minutes last week against Chelsea, with the energy and commitment we showed against Leicester, even though that did not bring goals and three points, if we do then anything can happen.
For me Mark Hughes has got the formation right, the need to keep things tight and attack, he just needs to get the confidence running high and get us on a roll.
I would stay pretty much with the team that started the last two games, the key though will be the substitutions and not losing concentration, Chelsea proved they can destroy you if you lose it just for a second.
So those going up to Wembley need to get behind their team, stay with them and make it a loud colourful day that will stick in our memories forever.