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And here we are in the semis for the first time since 1983!

Nice.

We need a bit of luck in the next game, though - Man City! But if we beat them, and stranger things have happened, then it's Wolves or Watford in the final.

Oh dear. Back down to earth this season with a bump.

That was terrible.

I wonder how Spurs fans are feeling...

A bit rubbish.

Either that or a bunch of words I'm not allowed to use on this forum.

Was it you that Eric Dier went up in the stands to confront?

Best cup run since I can remember, last 8 and yet I feel the same way before our match is even played :/

Seriously. In some ways, I wish the Cup run wasn't happening so that the terrible decision of hiring Bruce was more clear. Still, a quarter-final is a rarity so we might as well enjoy it.

I don't get this 'Steve Bruce is a rubbish manager' stuff.

He was good for us.

I don't think he is rubbish. My concern is this job is his get out of jail card and he is willing to put up with our idiotic policies that chased away the best manager we've had since sir Bobby and splashed 40 million on a striker who can't score while dismantling a perfectly functional forward line because Rondon is too old to pay money for.

Bruce has been stranded in a corner but I ignore the fact he's been unable to advance this team, leaning on Rafa's legacy to achieve results against the odds - but stats tell the whole story. We can't score, we concede too many, our xG strongly suggests we have been riding our luck for a while. Injuries are also a concern that's returned to plague our squad. I won't hold his lack of energy and charisma that prevents him from becoming a uniting figure against him but his reign is pretty much signature for the regime - huge potential with little hope of seeing it come to fruition.

That first sentence seems pretty out-of-sync with the rest of the post.

Everyone has their own, opinion, though, and I don't mind seeing things differently.

I'm a bit more diplomatic here, he's just not the kind of manager I want for us - not to mention he's more of a coach - and I'd rather leave it at that I have nothing against the guy, even though I do believe he is out of his league in this division. But then again we as a club have been the same under this wise and pragmatic ownership...

Still Bruce is a notch better than Joe Kinnear or Carver, as dreadful as it may sound!

I honestly don't understand our desire to splash the cash under the least capable managers we hire. If only Rafa had the money to spend!

Rafa spent 63 million 2016/17 season
44 million 2017/18 season
60 million 2018/19 season

Not sure how much more you wanted him to have

A lot more than that obviously!

Yeah spending 44 million for the entire season is on par with spending it on a single player The only significant investment he was allowed was Almiron and it galvanized the entire front line. You should agree signing a player for a massive fee shouldn't really be driven by a "he's young and will have resale value" rationale. You'd probably agree as well that finding PL players for low fees isn't exactly the way to assemble a team in this competition - it's one thing to spend 60 million on two players, another to sign half a team!

But most of all it's about how the spending goes, who picks the targets and how much of a say the manager has in it. Restrictions like no experienced players, no big-money transfers, no matter what you see in the player will always limit your options. The same applies for all managers under Ashley of course, the reason I point to Rafa is he is the first in a while we actually felt like the team was progressing in some direction. I'm not a huge fan of his football by the way.

Rumours around that the Joelinton transfer isn't as straight forward as it appears. Don't be surprised if he's off at the end of the season for a significant loss.

Hmm, wonder why that may happen, HMRC perhaps

I have no idea about that, mate, I've been limited to watching a few of the matches and casually checking on news every now and then. Nothing would surprise me under Ashley though.

Cup final day is here. Through these crazy days and the money filled game does this still hold the same magic?

What are your earliest memories of a day full of crazy football coverage? Cameras at team hotels? Players being interviewed from their bedroom windows? Local shops having window displays, rossets and good luck signs up? The whole town talking about nothing else for weeks? Journeys to Wembley on train, coach and even helicopter being filmed and broadcast? The colour, sound and twin towers?

For me the day is still important as it brings my youth back to recall the nostalgia, innocence and magic of a game for everyone who can dream of a day out at the cup final. The only day of the year I was allowed to watch the football on TV when I came home from my Saturday morning game until the trophy was lifted. I would pick a side as my team never quite made it until 1984, when the toffees got us all stuck up. But the whole day is still crystal clear and I still have the flag.

For me the day is the celebration of the game and the eternal optimism of the fans. I hope we have a goal filled game, I always hope for that, and that the wonderful game can be the winner again.

Cheers,

Harry