Our aim this season is to get promotion. Anything else can drop by the wayside as
long as we get out of Div 3. Cup matches are far less important than 3 points in Div 3,
but no matter how you think you cannot get away from the romance of the FA Cup.
1927 has enough pull about it. Only time the cup has left
England. 1988 is now an important year. Sam Hammam proudly took his babies, led by Bobby
Gould and on the pitch represented by Alan Cork, to a 1 - 0 win over Liverpool at Wembley.
Surely the greatest moment in Wimbledons history. Gould though is planning to stay away
from Ninian. He is superstitious as the Bristol Evening Post article below suggests.
Now its the 2000 - 2001 season. The final this time
around is due to be played ironically in Cardiff. The Hammam / Gould / Cork combination
are all together again, at Cardiff.
I'm not superstitious but touch wood there is
something about the FA Cup that will give Cardiff something to cheer about.
Sam Hammam told me the other day he is more worried
about Lincoln than Bristol Rovers, he wants points but as much as he tries to dismiss the
FA Cup there is an affair with it. I agree though, 3 points v Lincoln is vital but against
Rovers, in front of the cameras, come on, its an occasion. We all dream about an FA Cup
final, with Sam in control it may not be that far away.
There will be a further preview late on Saturday inc
up to date team news.
A last word for now. Your club needs you. Sam has
woken up something really big in Cardiff, we need to do our bit and flock to Ninian park
to support the players and be part of the revolution.
Report from Bristol Evening Post.
Cardiff City manager Bobby Gould is deliberately staying away from the FA Cup clash with
Bristol Rovers this weekend - because he doesn't want to put a jinx on the Welsh club.
Gould, a former Rovers player twice the Pirates' manager, hasn't watched Cardiff in the
flesh since they lost 2-1 at Leyton Orient in October - and the Bluebirds have been
unbeaten in their five outings since.
He has therefore made a conscious decision to go nowhere near Ninian Park on Sunday - and
says he might not even risk watching the match live on TV.
Gould has spent most weekends away on scouting missions while head coach Alan Cork has
taken charge of the team, and said: "I've spent so much time on the road this season,
Corky has nicknamed me Penelope Pitstop!
"We were together when we won the FA Cup with Wimbledon in 1988 and when I went in
for training on Monday, we just looked at each other, and I knew what he was thinking.
"Like a lot of people in the game, I'm very superstitious and I don't want to risk
upsetting our run of form by going to the match. I'm a great believer in fate, and I don't
want to upset anything.
"Whether I'll even watch on TV, I'm not sure. It might be that my wife might even get
some gardening out of me on Sunday!"
Gould has kept up with Cardiff's on video and said: "It's been important for me to
get out and about watching games and players because I'd been away from lower division
football for a while and needed to catch up.
"But Sunday's game should be a good one, and it will probably all come down to which
team handles the occasion - and being live on TV - the best.
"People say Cardiff City is a sleeping giant, but the club has not really fulfilled
anything to justify that for several years now. The chance to perform on live TV hasn't
come around too often and Rovers haven't featured that much either, unless it's the
Bristol derby.
"That brings about it's own pressures and it could all come down to who handles that
the best.
"Ian Holloway has had to rebuild his side again, but Rovers have done well away from
home and have the capability to win a game from anywhere."
