I want to win the FA Cup. I've decided. Hull City should now have the ambition to claim one of the domestic competitions, now that we are a Premier League club and have made, so far, a good job of establishing ourselves.
I hope Paul Duffen, our chairman, realises this too. Achieving a settlement in the top tier is a wonderful ambition in itself but merely maintaining a standard should not be enough. As the draw for the third round of the FA Cup looms after the weekend, we can start to believe that we are capable of reaching Wembley and grabbing that trophy.
We need a good draw, of course. That now, thanks to progress, means a lower division side at home, or even away - it'd be nice to return to some classic old lower level grounds after finding ourselves gawping at heated padded seats and electronic turnstiles this year. Prior to progress, in the last decade a good draw has involved getting a top flight club, a few quid and some headlines. We had that with Aston Villa and Middlesbrough in two of our three Championship seasons, and Chelsea paid a visit to Boothferry Park a few years earlier. In the Great Escape season, we went to Villa for a 1st v 92nd clash. Needless to say, we lost all these ties, though Boro are still having nightmares about our comeback at the Riverside. But we've next to no history in the competition - one pre-war semi final is our best bit of progress. We made the quarter finals in 1949 and 1971 and last reached the final 16 - indeed, make that the final 32 too - in 1989.
Phil Brown's attitude to the domestic cups seems seems to be a case of "what will be, will be". It was hard to blame him for picking a team of stiffs - including a last-ever appearance for declining Tigers icon Stuart Elliott - when we were handed a rotten draw at Plymouth Argyle in last year's third round. A 700+ mile round trip and we lost 3-2, despite the best efforts of Dean Windass and Richard Garcia, on as half-time subs, to earn us a replay. One would hope that he daren't risk that this time when the draw is made, irrespective of who we get and where, as there are still more headlines to be had from a third round FA Cup shock than a second round Carling Cup defeat. Everton's manager David Moyes picked a half-arsed side when Oldham came to Goodison last season and the League One side won it, leaving Everton fans deeply embarrassed and very angry.
Surely, beyond the alleged Big Four, there is still a desire for silverware among the other clubs? It astonishes me that some players and even fans can express relief at departing the Cups because they need to concentrate on finishing 16th (or 7th, with a UEFA Cup spot, if they're feeling really positive). Portsmouth fans were blessed by their team last season, giving them a day out and a moment of success which they can never have removed, even though at times I was convinced that Harry Redknapp only became interested in winning the thing once the semi-finalists were decided and the rest were from the Championship.
I certainly want silverware. We sing "no silverware, but we don't care; we'll follow Hull City everywhere" at matches (winning the play-offs was about the long-term prize, and anyway, the trophy is largely incidental, shouldn't exist in the first place and appears to be not silver). It'd be nice if we had reason, like the "up the Football League we go" song, to cease singing it. I hope, as the bag of balls is emptied for the third round draw, that Messrs Duffen and Brown feel likewise.
I have hopes for the chairman on this, as in his post-match interview on Sky Sports after winning the play-off final, he said "...maybe [Hull City] can make Wembley its home." Assuming he's not planning to franchise us, that says he now fancies some Cup finals. I hope he's bending his manager's ear about this as the draw approaches.
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