Auld Mickey Coote

£41 for south stand is diabolical, to sit in the cold and watch a load of no hopers get rinsed by Preston. I've paid for the privilege of that in the Kop instead. A bargain at £31.

Even when we beat them 2-0 in 2002 (the Owusu and Kuqi game), I remember walking out feeling like we'd mugged them and all the talk after was just how Pressman won the game almost by himself.

When was the last time we actually convincingly won a derby game? I honestly can't remember.

What the guy meant was, that they had a chance to avenge boxing day 1979 and they might never get a better chance to do it to us on our own turf, so in that respect for them it's a missed opportunity.

Is it popular belief? I thought everyone knew they were Wednesday?

I still remember the headline in the paper: 'Wilson ready to unleash the Animal'. Didn't mention that the animal was a kitten not a tiger.

Agreed. He was our best player and our record signing. We should have done whatever it took to make sure he remained a Wednesday player, not cast him out.

Wasn't Harry Redknapp slating Di Canio in the aftermath with thinly xenophobia? Saying he should never play in England again etc... A few months later, he steals him off us for peanuts and acts like his best mate, and the media lap it up like he's some genius who's tapped gold.

The most venomous and hostile atmosphere I've ever been in at Hillsborough was when he came back with West Ham. The was pure hate pouring off the crowd towards Di Canio. I've never experienced anything close to that at a Wednesday game. Which in hindsight was slightly unfair on him for being hung out to dry by the club, although he was probably looking for the exit door anyway from what I've read. He wasn't at all impressed with Danny Wilson.

The gate receipts for this fixture must surely be the most in the Championship this season.

It's the lack of the big game feel of the fixtures that I don't like about L1. I'd rather walk on to the Kop and look out over 3,000 Coventry or Middlesbrough fans in the away end than 85 Fleetwood fans behind the goal. Beating Cambridge and Forest Green 6-0 was fun and all but Hillsborough was built for the big occasion and L1 games mostly feel like pre-season friendlies to me, bar the odd exception like a derby game or crunch 6 pointer.

Wasn't he binned off by St Mirren last year for off field misdemeanours?

I remember thinking the same. He looked like a competition winner. Way out of his depth in the Premier League. Took another year and a relegation til he found some kind of form, but like you say, he wasn't bought for the Championship, he was bought for the Premier League.

True to an extent but we haven't had a 39k crowd since 2000, last time Man United came. Last 38k crowd was vs Wycombe in 2012. Bit by bit since then the capacity has reduced.

I was at this as well and remember the stunned silence when we were 3 up and cruising. It was only quiet because people were in a bit of shock and trying to compute that we were wiping the floor with Arsenal.