Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Wed Aug 21, 2019 10:12 pm  

morrisseyisawire wrote:

No one is daring to dream, no one wants to let down the defences and suffer the seemingly inevitable pain of defeat.

Everyone is trying to play it cool. "We won't win". "It's the GF that matters". "We've had it without Austin". But come kick off time the little flame of hope and belief that we all have will flicker into life, but for how long?

Wires have let me down on plenty of occasions, but they've also surprised me often too, producing performances and results that defied logic, form and the skills of those in the P&B.

Predictably unpredictable, ragged, down but not out and with nothing to lose on the greatest stage of all. I smell blood.

Love it, great summary.

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Wed Aug 21, 2019 10:12 pm  

The days in which both finalists would take 30,000 plus to the Final are long gone. We at Wigan used to take half the town to Wembley and win and the town would be full of cherry and white! Nobody wants to know now.

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Wed Aug 21, 2019 10:42 pm  

morrisseyisawire wrote:

No one is daring to dream, no one wants to let down the defences and suffer the seemingly inevitable pain of defeat.

Everyone is trying to play it cool. "We won't win". "It's the GF that matters". "We've had it without Austin". But come kick off time the little flame of hope and belief that we all have will flicker into life, but for how long?

Wires have let me down on plenty of occasions, but they've also surprised me often too, producing performances and results that defied logic, form and the skills of those in the P&B.

Predictably unpredictable, ragged, down but not out and with nothing to lose on the greatest stage of all. I smell blood.

Can’t beat a good Hovis loaf

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Wed Aug 21, 2019 10:50 pm  

Thing is with wembley visits - you never know how long you will need to wait for the next one. Imagine going in '74 then '75 then having to wait 15 years then another 19. Make the most of it.

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Thu Aug 22, 2019 12:02 am  

I for one am well up for it.
I'm convinced we will win.

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:15 am  

2016 & 2018 we were favourites to win it. This year given how we’ve been playing, the results, the injury doubts and the fact we are playing the best team in the league...this week has very anticlimactic feel about it compared to previous years..

Which is a shame but I suppose you have to be realistic as to where we are as a team at the minute, which currently is a rather nervy slippery slope.

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:07 am  

morrisseyisawire wrote:

No one is daring to dream, no one wants to let down the defences and suffer the seemingly inevitable pain of defeat.

Everyone is trying to play it cool. "We won't win". "It's the GF that matters". "We've had it without Austin". But come kick off time the little flame of hope and belief that we all have will flicker into life, but for how long?

Wires have let me down on plenty of occasions, but they've also surprised me often too, producing performances and results that defied logic, form and the skills of those in the P&B.

Predictably unpredictable, ragged, down but not out and with nothing to lose on the greatest stage of all. I smell blood.

I don't live in the town so can't judge the local enthusiasm. Let's not forget, though, that in 1974 we were going to Wembley for the first time in 20 years, and in 2009 we were going to Wembley for the first time in 19 years, with a chance to win the cup for the first time in 34 years. Then we were on a roll for 2010 and 2012, arguably the best team in the comp for those three years. Defeats in 16 and 18 still meant we were going back to Wembley. So Saturday means six cup finals in eleven years. When you add our slump in form I can understand why excitement is low.
As someone whose first cup final was 1974, so I feel those 34 years, I will be there on Saturday because ( including the Wigan final in 1990 when we did not expext to win) after such a long spell away you start to think your club will never go to Wembley again. Win or lose on Saturday, I think most fans probably can't conceive of a new 34 year gap between cup wins, so what's wrong with missing one final when there will be many others? I don't take this view, so I will support the Wire in the final and come away win or lose knowing that, at the very least, reaching the final gives the club a financial boost. Most important: after my experience 74-2009 I would rather get to finals and lose them than not get to finals at all.

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:13 am  

As neutrals its probably the final that we all wanted to see. However Warrington's remarkable slump in form has taken the edge off it slightly and I imagine most of us are now anticipating a comfortable Saints victory...…..er just as we anticipated a comfortable Wire victory last year!!
I remember how many people (me included) wrote you off before last years play off semi final!

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Thu Aug 22, 2019 12:18 pm  

Come on you Saints !

Re: Very strange Wembley week. : Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:06 pm  

I'll enjoy the day, enjoy cheering the lads on, hope for a miracle but expect to lose.
I actually won't be that disappointed if we lose because ive seen absolutely nothing to suggest we can win - Austin or no Austin.
Nevertheless I'll really be rooting and cheering for them.