An intriguing FA Cup final in prospect as Manchester City will face Stoke City with it being 30 years since the former were last there and, surprisingly for a club with Stoke's history, this will be there first FA Cup final. Man City will undoubtedly start as favourites but playing against a well organised team is never straight forward and the pressure of the millions pumped into the club demanding silverware may prove not to follow the script as Arsenal found to their cost in the League Cup final against Birmingham.
   It is interesting to note that Manchester City's first silverware for over 30 years may not be enough to keep Roberto Mancini in a job should they fail to finish fourth in the league and miss out on the Champions League whereas Tony Pulis has further cemented his position by taking Stoke this far. Immediate success is a very hard thing to perform no matter the size of the budget and everyone needs time to build something and for Man City winning the FA Cup could be the kickstart that is required to show the team that they can win things but if the manager constantly has the threat of the sack hanging over him then this will not make the task any easier.
   I, personally am a little disappointed that the other semi-finalists did not win out. As a Man United fan to lose to City was initially a let down although the limpness of the defeat was worse. However, talk of the treble will at least be stopped and whilst it is nice to see your team win trophies for this current United team to be talked of as treble winners seems a little ridiculous when they would not have won the league in other years. Nothing against Stoke in today's match but in the year that Nat Lofthouse passed away it would have made a fitting tribute to see Bolton make the final.
   So the nouveau riche multi millionaires with the superstar players will play what is perceived to be an old fashioned family club with its promising youngsters and honest(ish) journeymen(ish).