Jos Luhukay's refereshing take on the FA Cup as Sheffield Wednesday boss dreams of Wembley

Modern football managers, particularly those not from these shores, are often criticised for offering little credence to the FA Cup.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Jos Luhukay (right) is dreaming of WembleySheffield Wednesday boss Jos Luhukay (right) is dreaming of Wembley
Sheffield Wednesday boss Jos Luhukay (right) is dreaming of Wembley

Watching an animated and enthusiastic Jos Luhukay address the media ahead of Sheffield Wednesday's fifth round tie with Swansea City at Hillsborough on Saturday belies that sense of indifference shown by others.

It was clear that the Dutchman recognises the history and the traditions of the famous old competition. He's already spoken in the past of how in his homeland, growing up, he watched and looked forward to the showpiece final, taking in the televised build-up which then began in the morning and went right through the afternoon.

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There was a glint in Luhukay's eye and smiles broke out, almost as if he was think out the possibility of one day being involved himself.

He said, the FA Cup and playing at Wembley in particular is something that footballers and indeed coaches dream of.

For some, with a midweek trip to Millwall coming up soon after, there would be a hovering temptation to rest some of his players for what is also an important game with Wednesday not quite having shaken off the threat of relegation just yet.

Taking into account the manager's mood in his press conference, that's not likely to happen.

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"We see the game as important," he said. "We can look at it as we play Millwall on Tuesday, which is more important? But your dream as a football player and also as a coach is to be at Wembley, in front of 90,000 at the final.

"It's a long way to go of course but in the FA Cup when you have the chance to go to the next round, the last eight and maybe the next game is also going to be at home, then it is very close to the final.

"Maybe also a very good Premier League club could come to Wednesday for our fans. I can only speak for us, for me, for our fans that I want to be in the next round.

"We must not forget we must first win this game and that is hard enough. I know that, first we must have our own job and then dream again of another Premier League club or if not, there's maybe a bigger chance to go further. We must make our own step tomorrow and then we can dream about going further."

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Sheffield Wednesday currently stand one game from the quarter finals. That's two games from a semi-final appearance at Wembley. If Luhukay has anything to do with it, the Owls will not be giving up on that dream.