Fan blogger Geo Mackie looks ahead to Saturday's FA Cup tie against Wolves...
On Saturday West Ham United could play their last ever cup game at the Boleyn. What a sad occasion it could be, but one that reminds us just how to close the move is and what a wonderful journey, we as fans, are about to embark on with plenty of hope for what lies ahead.
As well as the last cup game, it has the potential to be the first of four games on the road to Wembley with the fifth and sixth being the cup semi-final and final themselves.
With the Club sitting in sixth place in the league you could argue it allows Bilic to concentrate on the FA Cup a la Pardew in 2006 but on the other side of the coin, we sit just four points off the top four and while no West Ham fan expects that, looking around us in the table, combined with players returning, the fixture list and generally, the way the Premier League has panned out so far this season, you could see why some fans are daring to dream.
And that is a huge compliment to Slaven Bilic, his players and all at West Ham United, there is belief this season could be a special one. And could Saturday be the start of the reason?
Whenever the cup comes round, fans immediately wonder if the first XI will be rotated? In previous seasons you prepared for the worst but this season it’s different. Slaven Bilic could change the complete starting XI that won 2-0 in lovely fashion against Liverpool, our first double over the red half of Merseyside in 52 years, and still field a very strong team that would have Winston Reid, Alex Song and Dimitri Payet lining up against Wolves.
Wolves will not be easy opponents, coming as the underdog (something that we have enjoyed this season) with nothing to lose, three wins with three clean sheets on the bounce and one of the best strikers in the Championship.
However, with West Ham brimming with confidence, currently boasting the longest unbeaten run in the Premier League, we can be confident of seeing a FA Cup game later this month with West Ham United involved.
Changes or no changes? That isn’t the real question this season. Can we? Can we do it? That is the real question.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United