This is what dreams are all about, supporting through the thin times, hoping against all hope, the depths of despair, the FA cup final makes all those miserable times bearable, to turn the dream into a reality is such a magical moment that it is difficult to put into words how I actually feel
Supporting the Latics for the last forty odd years, I thought I’d seen it all when we reached the Premier League, that euphoria of competing at the top table was simply brilliant, but that has been drowned by the absolute pure rapture of getting to Wembley for the FA cup final
If there is one single moment that I am looking forward to it is singing ‘Abide With Me’ the traditional cup final hymn, there at the stadium, with my beloved team about to run out and compete in this beautiful showcase game, whether I will be able to contain myself I don’t know, but what I do know is that I intend to savour every last second of the day, this is what life is about
What The Bosses Say:
Latics boss Roberto Martinez:
‘You have to dream and the bigger the dream, the bigger the achievement’
‘Winning the FA Cup would be there forever. Just arriving in the final is a photographic moment in the history of our football club.
‘Winning a major trophy would take our club to a different level. We are all well aware what this could mean. There are a billion people watching this game.
‘It is one of those key moments that help develop awareness.’
Man City boss Roberto Mancini:
‘We won’t take Wigan lightly, because always we have a problem against them. We never win easily. They play football all the time and attack you in numbers, and that makes them very dangerous opponents.
‘I like Roberto Martinez because he plays good football. With every respect to Wigan, whose chairman (Dave Whelan) is a fantastic man, I think after this season he deserves to manage a really big club.
‘We want this trophy. It was always important to Sir Alex Ferguson, or Manchester United wouldn’t have won it so many times, and it is important to us.’
Manchester City Team News:
David Silva should be back after recovering from a hamstring strain
Man City from – Pantilimon, Hart, Zabaleta, Richards, Maicon, Kompany, Nastasic, Lescott, K Toure, Clichy, Kolarov, Milner, Silva, Nasri, Barry, Y Toure, Garcia, Rodwell, Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Razak.
Player to watch: Yaya Toure
Big, strong and top class
Wigan Athletic Team News:
The defensive crisis gets worse each week, Ronnie Stam lasted all of 20 seconds against Swansea on Tuesday before going off with a serious injury, Figueroa, Beausejour, Ramis and Crusat are all definitely out, Alcaraz is rated 50/50
Latics from – Robles, Al Habsi, Boyce, Caldwell, Scharner, Alcaraz, Golobart, Campabadal, Espinoza, Jones, Watson, McArthur, Gomez, McCarthy, McManaman, Maloney, Kone, Di Santo, Henriquez, Redmond, Fyvie, Dicko.
Player to watch: Shaun Maloney
Fantastic end to teh season from Maloney, a bright spark that gives us hope
By permission of Bernard Platt/Wigan Athletic
Any Previous?
Latics and City have met 25 times
Latics 6 wins, City 14, draws 5
Last Six Meetings
17 Apr 2013 – Premier League – Manchester City 1 Wigan Athletic 0
28 Nov 2012 – Premier League – Wigan Athletic 0 Manchester City 2
16 Jan 2012 – Premier League – Wigan Athletic 0 Manchester City 1
10 Sep 2011 – Premier League – Manchester City 3 Wigan Athletic 0
05 Mar 2011 – Premier League – Manchester City 1 Wigan Athletic 0
19 Sep 2010 – Premier League – Wigan Athletic 0 Manchester City 2
Ref Watch:
Andre Marriner (West Mids)
Take a look at our ‘Meet The Ref’ article
Andre Marriner Card Watch 2012/13
Games – 36, yellows – 114, reds – 6
Match Prediction:
Who cares what the head say’s, this is the FA cup final and I am going with a 2-0 Latics win, straight from the heart
Up Next:
Premier League
Arsenal v Latics
The Emirates Stadium
Tuesday
14/05/13
7:45pm
Latics v Aston Villa
DW Stadium
Sunday
19/05/13
4pm
Why not have a listen to our latest podcast, there is a preview of teh cup final on it
We start off by taking a look back at the Swansea game, comical defending, chances of survival, dilapidated squad and a the possibility of us getting out of the mess
Next up is the cup final (14:28)
Can the crew get up for the final?
The closing track this week is a classic FA cup song written and performed by Latics fan Maggy, and it’s a cracker
If you would like to get involved in the podcast or have any topics that you’d like to be discussed please get in touch at wigan@vitalfootball.co.uk marking your email PWU Podcast
The podcast can be downloaded from itunes or via our hosting site www.buzzsprout.com or by simply hitting the play button on the embedded player below
Thank you very much for listening, your support is very much appreciated
Previous podcast episodes can be accessed at progresswithunity.blogspot.co.uk
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