Reebok atmosphere will be special

This is the first time everyone has been together since qualifying for the FA Cup semi-final and while the players will have their minds focused exclusively on beating West Ham, I’m sure all the talk in the stands will be about Wembley.

These are exciting times and the supporters are loving it. People are stopping me all the time wanting to talk about the cup and you can’t blame them.

The mood has changed dramatically over the last 12 months or so and the feelgood factor is currently higher than ever. Not even a defeat at the weekend could dampen the enthusiasm.

Saying that, I’ve sat through the video twice and I just can’t believe they came away with nothing.

Ben Foster had a game in a million for Birmingham and I’m sure than on any other day we’d have had three points in the bag, despite Owen making a couple of changes in key areas.

I believe Paul Robinson was rested, apparently to avoid risking a booking that would put him out of the semi-final, and if that was the case then you can’t blame the gaffer because Robbo has been such a big player for him this season.

Owen knows what he’s doing.

***** THERE’S been a lot of talk about the team spirit Owen Coyle has generated both on the field and off it over the past 15 months but you really have to see it for yourself to understand just how much the place is buzzing these days.

Up at Euxton last Tuesday for a Barclays Premier League coaching day, I got involved in the table tennis challenge Coyley’s got going up there and in which he and his assistant Sandy Stewart are the undisputed champions – much to my embarrassment.

I don’t think I’ll ever live down the fact that after me and my partner, reserve team manager John Henry, took a three-game beating (21-7, 21-9, 21-9). I’ve lost my Prince of Passing nickname and am now referred to as one of the Chuckle Brothers. It’s destroyed my confidence and killed my street cred.

We took a real battering and in the last game it was pure humiliation with the gaffer and Sandy penning the two of us in a corner and showing no mercy . . . it was like the Wako siege.

We were hopeless and at one point, after losing a point with a relentless pounding, I was about to serve and there was no one at the other end of the table . . . Owen and Sandy were rolling over on the floor laughing.

And there was worse to come when Sandy really took the mickey on the last [point] when he served two balls at me . . . and I missed them both!

***** MORE evidence of the steady progress the Under-18s are making came at the weekend when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0.

The visitors had a player sent off and I suppose that made it a bit easier, but in all honesty, they could have scored eight and the kids from Hillsborough never had a shot on goal.

Our kids are still very much on a learning curve but it says a lot when eight or nine academy players have been involved in the Reserves for much of the season. For the record, Josh Vela, Samni Odelusi and James Caton got the goals.

***** MORE evidence of the steady progress the Under-18s are making came at the weekend when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0.

The visitors had a player sent off and I suppose that made it a bit easier, but in all honesty, they could have scored eight and the kids from Hillsborough never had a shot on goal.

Our kids are still very much on a learning curve but it says a lot when eight or nine academy players have been involved in the Reserves for much of the season. For the record, Josh Vela, Samni Odelusi and James Caton got the goals.