This is what it's all about. The passion of the FA Cup is like no other for me. As kid I remember the cup run that took us to the semi final in 1991 to be robbed by the ludicrous sending off of Tony Gale by the since maligned ref Keith Hackett. And of course nobody can forget the heart ache of 2 years ago as the clock hit 90 minutes the score board said 3-2 to the mighty hammers only for it all to come crushing down. That's as close as it gets but it leaves us all hungry for more and only reiterates the drama and passion of the FA Cup which is rivaled by no other competition in the world.

Today sees us attempt to get past the first stage of the competition as the premier league clubs enter the third round. The draw has not been particularly kind to us early doors with us drawing a home tie against the in form Manchester City, a club rejuvinated under the ex England boss Sven Goran Eriksson. The hammers form has been inconsistent this season although we have a very healthy 29 points on the table. It is pretty clear that we are going to have a mediocre season on the league front and will probably languish somewhere in midtable come the end of the season. So it makes it all the more important to give the fans something to get excited about via the FA Cup.

So I am going to go out on a limb and say we will nick this game 2-1 today but I also have a gut feel that it may go to a replay. I expect Curbs to go with the 4-5-1 system with Carlton COle as the lone striker again. Our midfield will be hard pushed to keep the likes of Elano and Petrov quiet and a five man midfield will seem quite attractive to curbs I'm sure.