Well, it's here, the biggest test of our season so far. It's not just a test of ability but a test of character and a chance for the players to show they have what it takes when it matters
most.
I'm excited purely at the prospect of the team sheets coming out at 2:15 because Guy Demel, Papa Bouba Diop and Winston Reid have all been back in full training this week and with Faubert and Vaz Te coming back into the side at London Road during the week we are pretty much full strength for the first time in a very long time.
Oddly enough the main issue with today's game is out of the players' hands, it's in ours. Booing affects the players, of course it does and although fans who pay a lot of money to go to games are entitled to vent their frustration it doesn't help anyone. I remember the boo boys making an appearance at half time against Boro when it was 0-0 which was ridiculous. Yeah the players were a bit tense and there wasn't enough urgency in their play but we were by far the better team in the first half and it's times like that where we all need to be right behind them and play our part in picking up the three points.
It's a strange run we're on at the moment because before the win on Tuesday we hadn't won in 5 but at the same time having not lost in 10 and we haven't won at home since the 2-1 victory over our bitter rivals Millwall in February, albeit without losing since then either.
I hope Sam goes with 2 up top. He always claims he plays 3 up top in what most people see as a 4-5-1 formation but let's be honest there is a fine line between the two formations. We need pace up front which can be provided by Maynard and Baldock and we all know Vaz Te has the ability to come in from out wide and act as a third centre forward when we are attacking and he will have even more freedom to do that if he's got Faubert behind him as an attacking full-back.
This would be my formation:
Green
Faubert Faye/Collins Tonks McCartney
Vaz Te Noble Nolan(c) Taylor
Maynard Baldock
Subs: Henderson, Faye/Collins, Collison, Diop, Cole.
Let's get behind the lads and play our part in this promotion challenge!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Saturday 31 March 2012
Thursday 29 March 2012
To move or not to move?
That is the question! I have to admit I'm on the fence in this debate. It was first hinted at a few years ago before the Davids even took over and honestly, my first reaction was positive. When you hear a rumour that we're moving to a 60,000 seater Olympic Stadium only a couple of miles away, it sounds good.
Then when it was finished and Sky Sports News posted pictures of the completed stadium online, you could see how awful the view was. It's an amazing stadium, it really is but I get the feeling that Barry Hearn is right; it just isn't fit for football (even if he's only saying it out of bitterness).
Then, earlier in the season I watched an episode of Late Kick Off on a Monday night and David Gold promised that we would only move there if retractable seating over the running track was an option during the football season. While this doesn't move the furthest seats any closer to the pitch it does ensure that, when sold out, the atmosphere would be electric on matchday. Could you imagine around 56,000 passionate hammers fans singing bubbles before and even throughout the game? That is an atmosphere I would love to be a part of.
Would season ticket sales be a problem? Many current season ticket holders are against the move but would they renew in 2014 if we moved to the Olympic Stadium? Would it attract more season ticket holders? I hope so, because although I would much rather redevelop the chicken run and turn The Boleyn into a 50,000 capacity stadium, I will always support West Ham no matter what as we all will, Olympic Stadium or not.
Let me know where you stand on the proposed OS move!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Then when it was finished and Sky Sports News posted pictures of the completed stadium online, you could see how awful the view was. It's an amazing stadium, it really is but I get the feeling that Barry Hearn is right; it just isn't fit for football (even if he's only saying it out of bitterness).
Then, earlier in the season I watched an episode of Late Kick Off on a Monday night and David Gold promised that we would only move there if retractable seating over the running track was an option during the football season. While this doesn't move the furthest seats any closer to the pitch it does ensure that, when sold out, the atmosphere would be electric on matchday. Could you imagine around 56,000 passionate hammers fans singing bubbles before and even throughout the game? That is an atmosphere I would love to be a part of.
Would season ticket sales be a problem? Many current season ticket holders are against the move but would they renew in 2014 if we moved to the Olympic Stadium? Would it attract more season ticket holders? I hope so, because although I would much rather redevelop the chicken run and turn The Boleyn into a 50,000 capacity stadium, I will always support West Ham no matter what as we all will, Olympic Stadium or not.
Let me know where you stand on the proposed OS move!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Diop set to return
According to David Gold, Papa Bouba Diop is 50/50 to make his comeback for the 'promotion showdown' on Saturday.
This, along with the returns of Ricardo Vaz Te and Julien Faubert on Tuesday are crucial at this stage of the season with every game a must win game if we are to return to the Premier League.
It wasn't all good news, though, as we still don't know the full extent of the head injury sustained by Abdy Faye on Tuesday or the knock Joey O'Brien took so we can only hope both will be fine.
My concern is still our strikers. Einstein defined insanity as trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Doesn't that define Big Sam? And I'm not talking about whether or not the same tactics earn us the win or not, I'm referring to our forwards. All season he has slammed our strikers claiming that they don't score enough. So what has he done? We got little Sammy Baldock late in the summer transfer window, John Carew on a free and we snapped up Ricardo Vaz Te and Nicky Maynard on January transfer deadline day. And since then not one of all those strikers have been given a real chance. He's rotated the squad so many times that we literally don't have one single striker who is guaranteed a place in the team. That is our problem! If he had started every game he's been available for this season, Baldock would be our top scorer and the 20 goals a season striker we need (in my opinion) but it's hard to be prolific if you aren't playing regularly do how does he expect them all to score left right and centre!? On that front, he really is an idiot.
Okay rant over. Moving on to Saturdays game, we need to play with 2 up top, preferably 2 quick forwards like Maynard and Baldock to run at the Reading defence and cause them problems from the off. I know I've been going on about how amazing Baldock is even though he missed vital chances against Burnley and Palace a few weeks ago, we have to be patient as we know what he can do, we saw that against Blackpool and Leicester earlier in the season and let's not forget he's only young.
It's a hard one to predict because I think it'll be one extreme or the other; we'll either play terribly and the fans will get nervous, edgy and frankly pissed off or we'll burst out of the traps, start well and the fans will be fully behind the team for the first time in months.
Let me know your predictions!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
This, along with the returns of Ricardo Vaz Te and Julien Faubert on Tuesday are crucial at this stage of the season with every game a must win game if we are to return to the Premier League.
It wasn't all good news, though, as we still don't know the full extent of the head injury sustained by Abdy Faye on Tuesday or the knock Joey O'Brien took so we can only hope both will be fine.
My concern is still our strikers. Einstein defined insanity as trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Doesn't that define Big Sam? And I'm not talking about whether or not the same tactics earn us the win or not, I'm referring to our forwards. All season he has slammed our strikers claiming that they don't score enough. So what has he done? We got little Sammy Baldock late in the summer transfer window, John Carew on a free and we snapped up Ricardo Vaz Te and Nicky Maynard on January transfer deadline day. And since then not one of all those strikers have been given a real chance. He's rotated the squad so many times that we literally don't have one single striker who is guaranteed a place in the team. That is our problem! If he had started every game he's been available for this season, Baldock would be our top scorer and the 20 goals a season striker we need (in my opinion) but it's hard to be prolific if you aren't playing regularly do how does he expect them all to score left right and centre!? On that front, he really is an idiot.
Okay rant over. Moving on to Saturdays game, we need to play with 2 up top, preferably 2 quick forwards like Maynard and Baldock to run at the Reading defence and cause them problems from the off. I know I've been going on about how amazing Baldock is even though he missed vital chances against Burnley and Palace a few weeks ago, we have to be patient as we know what he can do, we saw that against Blackpool and Leicester earlier in the season and let's not forget he's only young.
It's a hard one to predict because I think it'll be one extreme or the other; we'll either play terribly and the fans will get nervous, edgy and frankly pissed off or we'll burst out of the traps, start well and the fans will be fully behind the team for the first time in months.
Let me know your predictions!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Tuesday 27 March 2012
A change of tactics required?
I would have thought so. Peterborough score goals. They concede a lot, but you can always count on them to score plenty of goals so we can't just turn up and park the bus, we need to attack them early on and take the game to them.
I'd like to see 2 forwards playing from the start but knowing Sam's away tactics I won't hold my breath. Given our recent run and performances we're all hoping that he gives in and changes his tactics but he has a very different view on recent performances. He believes that having won 3 and drawn 7 of our last 10, it should be the other way around. Who has he been watching for the last couple of months? We deserved to beat Boro and if our strikers could score we would've beaten Burnley but there's no way we deserve to be 8 points better off than we are, if anything we've overachieved during this 10 game unbeaten run as some of the performances have been dire.
Like I said I'd like to see a 4-4-2 with 2 up top - Either Cole and Baldock or Maynard and Baldock. It will be interesting to see who plays on the right with Faubert and Vaz Te both set to make a comeback from injury. My first choice would be Vaz Te - providing he's fit enough to start - but maybe Big Sam will play it safe and start them both on the bench and stick Lansbury or Collison out wide.
This would be my team:
Green
J O'B Tomkins Faye Linda
Vaz Te Noble Nolan(c) Taylor
Maynard Baldock
Subs: Henderson, Collins, Lansbury, Collison/Carew, Cole
I'm gonna say 2-1 to the hammers, but it all depends how we start because sitting back against a team like Peterborough is a risk!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
I'd like to see 2 forwards playing from the start but knowing Sam's away tactics I won't hold my breath. Given our recent run and performances we're all hoping that he gives in and changes his tactics but he has a very different view on recent performances. He believes that having won 3 and drawn 7 of our last 10, it should be the other way around. Who has he been watching for the last couple of months? We deserved to beat Boro and if our strikers could score we would've beaten Burnley but there's no way we deserve to be 8 points better off than we are, if anything we've overachieved during this 10 game unbeaten run as some of the performances have been dire.
Like I said I'd like to see a 4-4-2 with 2 up top - Either Cole and Baldock or Maynard and Baldock. It will be interesting to see who plays on the right with Faubert and Vaz Te both set to make a comeback from injury. My first choice would be Vaz Te - providing he's fit enough to start - but maybe Big Sam will play it safe and start them both on the bench and stick Lansbury or Collison out wide.
This would be my team:
Green
J O'B Tomkins Faye Linda
Vaz Te Noble Nolan(c) Taylor
Maynard Baldock
Subs: Henderson, Collins, Lansbury, Collison/Carew, Cole
I'm gonna say 2-1 to the hammers, but it all depends how we start because sitting back against a team like Peterborough is a risk!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Saturday 24 March 2012
Burnley preview
We go into today's game having drawn our last 4 consecutive games, however our away form is somewhat RIDICULOUS. In the last 2 seasons combined we won 3 away games, this season we've won 10 so far (albeit in the championship). Now I know it's a lower league but that's no small feat, away games must have been tough for us psychologically last season but this season it's something the players cope with extremely well.
The reason is quite ironic really; we're drawing at home because teams come to Upton Park and set up to frustrate us (obviously we are under performing too) and that's our game plan in pretty much every away game! So as frustrating as it is, if we hadn't used the same tactic that's frustrating us at home in our away games then we probably wouldn't have won the amount of away games that we have and our home form would really be costing us right about now.
It is strange that our best unbeaten run all season is actually one of our worst runs at the same time. We've won 2 and drawn 6 of our last 8 games but that doesn't tell the whole story, as we all know too well. In some games we have played awful and deserved nothing, in others we've played reasonably well and not taken our chances.
A lot of people will disagree, but I actually echoed a lot of what BFS said after the game on the night; the booing at half time was ridiculous as we were the better team in the first half and deserved to be in front. The second half was no different, with their wonder goal and one or two chances at the end apart we should have won by a distance so I guess it's just unfortunate that the match was during this current streak of draws because had we drawn that game having played that well on the back of a couple wins, the players wouldn't have been booed off.
The problem on Tuesday was playing Tomkins in midfield for me. He is an outstanding young player, of that there's not doubt but he's not a midfielder. Why put our best centre back in the middle of the park where we could have a more creative player like Lansbury? I know his role was to hold but he was forward quite a lot on Tuesday and he's just not an attacking player (minus his aerial ability).
Here's the team I would put out today:
Green
J O'B Tomkins Faye Linda
Lansbury Noble Nolan(c) Taylor
Baldock Maynard
Subs: Henderson, Collins, Morrison, Maynard, Carew
Earlier in the week I predicted a 0-0 draw today having won our last 2 games, so hopefully this one's wrong too! I'm gonna go with an edgy 1-0 win for the hammers.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
The reason is quite ironic really; we're drawing at home because teams come to Upton Park and set up to frustrate us (obviously we are under performing too) and that's our game plan in pretty much every away game! So as frustrating as it is, if we hadn't used the same tactic that's frustrating us at home in our away games then we probably wouldn't have won the amount of away games that we have and our home form would really be costing us right about now.
It is strange that our best unbeaten run all season is actually one of our worst runs at the same time. We've won 2 and drawn 6 of our last 8 games but that doesn't tell the whole story, as we all know too well. In some games we have played awful and deserved nothing, in others we've played reasonably well and not taken our chances.
A lot of people will disagree, but I actually echoed a lot of what BFS said after the game on the night; the booing at half time was ridiculous as we were the better team in the first half and deserved to be in front. The second half was no different, with their wonder goal and one or two chances at the end apart we should have won by a distance so I guess it's just unfortunate that the match was during this current streak of draws because had we drawn that game having played that well on the back of a couple wins, the players wouldn't have been booed off.
The problem on Tuesday was playing Tomkins in midfield for me. He is an outstanding young player, of that there's not doubt but he's not a midfielder. Why put our best centre back in the middle of the park where we could have a more creative player like Lansbury? I know his role was to hold but he was forward quite a lot on Tuesday and he's just not an attacking player (minus his aerial ability).
Here's the team I would put out today:
Green
J O'B Tomkins Faye Linda
Lansbury Noble Nolan(c) Taylor
Baldock Maynard
Subs: Henderson, Collins, Morrison, Maynard, Carew
Earlier in the week I predicted a 0-0 draw today having won our last 2 games, so hopefully this one's wrong too! I'm gonna go with an edgy 1-0 win for the hammers.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Thursday 22 March 2012
Déjà Vu?
You may remember 2 seasons ago when we just about retained our Premier League status finishing on 35 points, a points total that would almost certainly see you relegated any other year.
Our saving grace that season was that there were simply 3 worse teams than us in Hull, Burnley and the unfortunate Pompey. And it has to be said, if we go up automatically this year it will simply be because there hasn't been enough of a challenge at the top of the table. Southampton are doing well, yes, but even they aren't averaging 2 points a game and we're 7 points clear of 4th, 10 if we win at Peterborough next week so if Reading hadn't been on a storming run we'd be 2nd by a distance.
I'll be optimistic and say we'll still go up automatically, because although we are in a bit of a slump in form, we shouldn't overlook the fact that we're unbeaten in 9 which includes 2 last minute equalisers so the fighting spirit is there. Reading slipped up on Tuesday and allowed us to gain a point on them that gives us the ability to leapfrog them if we win our game in hand. Obviously their winning run wasn't going to last forever and if they start to falter now it would be perfectly timed as we play them at the Boleyn at the end of the month.
We can still do it, we just need to get behind the team and be the 12th man!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Our saving grace that season was that there were simply 3 worse teams than us in Hull, Burnley and the unfortunate Pompey. And it has to be said, if we go up automatically this year it will simply be because there hasn't been enough of a challenge at the top of the table. Southampton are doing well, yes, but even they aren't averaging 2 points a game and we're 7 points clear of 4th, 10 if we win at Peterborough next week so if Reading hadn't been on a storming run we'd be 2nd by a distance.
I'll be optimistic and say we'll still go up automatically, because although we are in a bit of a slump in form, we shouldn't overlook the fact that we're unbeaten in 9 which includes 2 last minute equalisers so the fighting spirit is there. Reading slipped up on Tuesday and allowed us to gain a point on them that gives us the ability to leapfrog them if we win our game in hand. Obviously their winning run wasn't going to last forever and if they start to falter now it would be perfectly timed as we play them at the Boleyn at the end of the month.
We can still do it, we just need to get behind the team and be the 12th man!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Tuesday 20 March 2012
One word; typical.
Well, where to begin. I still stand by what I said at half time about the boo boys because we were by far the better team but what I want to know is, with all the strikers we've got, WHY THE FCUK CAN'T WE SCORE!?
Maynard has had a good goalscoring record for pretty much his whole career but as soon as he puts a West Ham shirt on it disappears. Baldock is our best goalscoring forward but hardly gets his chance and I won't even go there with Cole.
To be fair, not only did they have a fair shout for handball against Tomkins, Ogbeche's goal was a cracker. He could have and should have been closed down quicker but it was a beaut. It all could have been so different, though, if the Boro keeper hadn't saved Tomkins' header but that just goes to show, our forwards aren't doing enough and we're relying on our aerial players - mostly defenders - to score goals.
What annoyed me the most tonight was the amount of greedy, ambitious shots from outside the box. Even McCartney had a go with his right foot and Tomkins tried his luck as well! We're struggling at home and can't score more than a solitary goal - which has been scored by a defender in our last 2 games - so why are the players going for goal at any given opportunity when there's usually a better option in front of them?
We were so lucky tonight. How? Because Reading lost and we should have. Even in the last 2/3 minutes when we were going forward there just wasn't enough urgency in our play and they didn't look like they wanted to win!
Fortunately, my prediction (fail to win tonight and we won't finish in the top 2) is far from confirmed as Reading lost and a victory in our game in hand would lift us up to 2nd but for the time being we're seven points away from Southampton and that's a lot of ground to make up. I worked out before tonight's game that we needed to win 5 in a row to match Big Sam's magical 2 points a game benchmark, something he seems to be basing our season on and we're now 6 points behind that target.
And now we'll travel to Burnley on Saturday, which will be a very difficult game, having drawn our last 4 games, all 1-1. And to think it looked like the sky was the limit after the Blackpool result! It's a funny old game!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Maynard has had a good goalscoring record for pretty much his whole career but as soon as he puts a West Ham shirt on it disappears. Baldock is our best goalscoring forward but hardly gets his chance and I won't even go there with Cole.
To be fair, not only did they have a fair shout for handball against Tomkins, Ogbeche's goal was a cracker. He could have and should have been closed down quicker but it was a beaut. It all could have been so different, though, if the Boro keeper hadn't saved Tomkins' header but that just goes to show, our forwards aren't doing enough and we're relying on our aerial players - mostly defenders - to score goals.
What annoyed me the most tonight was the amount of greedy, ambitious shots from outside the box. Even McCartney had a go with his right foot and Tomkins tried his luck as well! We're struggling at home and can't score more than a solitary goal - which has been scored by a defender in our last 2 games - so why are the players going for goal at any given opportunity when there's usually a better option in front of them?
We were so lucky tonight. How? Because Reading lost and we should have. Even in the last 2/3 minutes when we were going forward there just wasn't enough urgency in our play and they didn't look like they wanted to win!
Fortunately, my prediction (fail to win tonight and we won't finish in the top 2) is far from confirmed as Reading lost and a victory in our game in hand would lift us up to 2nd but for the time being we're seven points away from Southampton and that's a lot of ground to make up. I worked out before tonight's game that we needed to win 5 in a row to match Big Sam's magical 2 points a game benchmark, something he seems to be basing our season on and we're now 6 points behind that target.
And now we'll travel to Burnley on Saturday, which will be a very difficult game, having drawn our last 4 games, all 1-1. And to think it looked like the sky was the limit after the Blackpool result! It's a funny old game!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
The boo boys are back!
Well there are positives to take from that first half performance. There was much more passing football than hoofball, Nolan's actually done something and we look fairly solid at the back!
We've been the better team by a distance and have created some good chances but we're just lacking that quality finishing that I think Baldock could provide. I think that booing the players off at half time is ridiculous as like I said we've been the better side and I just hope that doesn't affect the players in the second half.
I'm sticking with my prediction of 2-0, with Cole and Baldock scoring from the bench.
Let's get behind the team!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
We've been the better team by a distance and have created some good chances but we're just lacking that quality finishing that I think Baldock could provide. I think that booing the players off at half time is ridiculous as like I said we've been the better side and I just hope that doesn't affect the players in the second half.
I'm sticking with my prediction of 2-0, with Cole and Baldock scoring from the bench.
Let's get behind the team!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Tomkins in squad
Despite limping off at half time on Saturday at Leeds, James Tomkins makes it into the squad to face Boro tonight.
This is brilliant news as many fans, including myself, feared the worst when he remained on the pitch after the half time whistle to receive treatment.
I think we would have had a much better chance of going on to win the game had he not gone off, or even if Morrison was introduced then as appose to bringing on Gary O'Neill.
This is very encouraging and relieving news though as Tonks has been a consistently high performer this season and quite frankly we might not be where we are today without him!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
This is brilliant news as many fans, including myself, feared the worst when he remained on the pitch after the half time whistle to receive treatment.
I think we would have had a much better chance of going on to win the game had he not gone off, or even if Morrison was introduced then as appose to bringing on Gary O'Neill.
This is very encouraging and relieving news though as Tonks has been a consistently high performer this season and quite frankly we might not be where we are today without him!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Middlesbrough preview
Lose and we could be as many as six points off second place and NINE points off Southampton at the summit. So it goes without saying, we simply must win. Should Reading lose on the other hand, a win would lift us back up into the top 2 with that game in hand at Peterborough next Tuesday yet to play.
We aren't without our injury problems, though, with Diop, Demel, Vaz Te and Faubert unavailable and Tomkins a major doubt after limping off at half time at Elland Road on Saturday. We have really struggled without Diop holding and even though he plays the role well, Tomkins just isn't as solid and much more suited to his natural centre back role and although he has his critics, we've missed a natural winger on the right since Faubert has been unavailable.
Boro's form has been indifferent lately with 3 wins and 3 defeats in their last 6, 2 of those defeats being at home to Leeds and Reading.
Our current form somewhat flatters us as we are currently unbeaten in 8 but we've drawn our last 3 games in a row and our last 4 home games. I think in the end a point at Elland Road wasn't a bad result as it's arguably the hardest place to go in the league but the draws at home to Watford, Doncaster and Palace were disappointing to say the least. And I hate to sound like a broken record but if we don't win tonight and both Saints and Reading do, I think we're all but out of the race for automatic promotion unless either one of them start to stumble majorly, as we have.
Possible starting 11? Well we can expect a cautious 4-5-1 line up which would surely have a negative affect as we all want to see free flowing attacking football but 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 would obviously please the fans. With Maynard failing to get his name on the score sheet recently I'd love to see Baldock start alongside Cole, but I've been saying that all season and it rarely happens. My first choice formation would be:
Green
J O'B Faye Collins Linda
Collison Noble Nolan(c) Taylor
Cole Baldock
Subs: Henderson, Potts, Lansbury Morrison, Maynard.
Let's get behind the team and do our part in taking the three points!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
We aren't without our injury problems, though, with Diop, Demel, Vaz Te and Faubert unavailable and Tomkins a major doubt after limping off at half time at Elland Road on Saturday. We have really struggled without Diop holding and even though he plays the role well, Tomkins just isn't as solid and much more suited to his natural centre back role and although he has his critics, we've missed a natural winger on the right since Faubert has been unavailable.
Boro's form has been indifferent lately with 3 wins and 3 defeats in their last 6, 2 of those defeats being at home to Leeds and Reading.
Our current form somewhat flatters us as we are currently unbeaten in 8 but we've drawn our last 3 games in a row and our last 4 home games. I think in the end a point at Elland Road wasn't a bad result as it's arguably the hardest place to go in the league but the draws at home to Watford, Doncaster and Palace were disappointing to say the least. And I hate to sound like a broken record but if we don't win tonight and both Saints and Reading do, I think we're all but out of the race for automatic promotion unless either one of them start to stumble majorly, as we have.
Possible starting 11? Well we can expect a cautious 4-5-1 line up which would surely have a negative affect as we all want to see free flowing attacking football but 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 would obviously please the fans. With Maynard failing to get his name on the score sheet recently I'd love to see Baldock start alongside Cole, but I've been saying that all season and it rarely happens. My first choice formation would be:
Green
J O'B Faye Collins Linda
Collison Noble Nolan(c) Taylor
Cole Baldock
Subs: Henderson, Potts, Lansbury Morrison, Maynard.
Let's get behind the team and do our part in taking the three points!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Sunday 18 March 2012
Lucky escape!
I realise that it's a bit late but I didn't get back from Leeds until very late last night so better late than never!
Firstly, it has to be said that the game as a whole was awful. The first half an hour was as scrappy ad you'll see in this division and there were very few chances with the most notable being Adam Clayton's snapshot and Nicky Maynard's run through on goal, but his first touch let him down.
The way the game was starting to look around the hour mark there only seemed to be two possible outcomes; a late winner from one side or a boring 0-0 draw, how wrong was I!
When Leeds took the lead on 83 minutes, a lead which they just about deserved on the run on play, it looked to have woken our players up as they started playing with a bit more urgency, mostly to no effect, though.
Then, in the last minute of normal time George McCartney's mis kick somehow went out for a corner and there was Danny Collins, completely unmarked standing between two defenders to head superbly into the far post.
In my opinion, if Gary O'Neill hadn't come on at half time for the injured James Tomkins then we would have been much more likely to take the three points. He had an awful game and in the last minute we might have even won it when he was running down the right flank with Nolan and Cole rushing in alongside him only to fire his cross behind and over the goal. A move that pretty much summed up his, and our performance.
Player ratings: Green (7) O'Brien (5), Collins (7) Faye (7) McCartney (6) Tomkins (6) Nolan (3) Noble (6) Collison (5) Taylor (5) Maynard (4)
Subs: O'Neill (1) Morrison (4) Cole (7)
We'll take the point as any point on the board has to be taken positively in a fixture as tough as that and now look forward to the crucial game at Middlesbrough which could see us slip 6 points behind the automatic promotion places and end up finishing in the play off places as per my prediction.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Firstly, it has to be said that the game as a whole was awful. The first half an hour was as scrappy ad you'll see in this division and there were very few chances with the most notable being Adam Clayton's snapshot and Nicky Maynard's run through on goal, but his first touch let him down.
The way the game was starting to look around the hour mark there only seemed to be two possible outcomes; a late winner from one side or a boring 0-0 draw, how wrong was I!
When Leeds took the lead on 83 minutes, a lead which they just about deserved on the run on play, it looked to have woken our players up as they started playing with a bit more urgency, mostly to no effect, though.
Then, in the last minute of normal time George McCartney's mis kick somehow went out for a corner and there was Danny Collins, completely unmarked standing between two defenders to head superbly into the far post.
In my opinion, if Gary O'Neill hadn't come on at half time for the injured James Tomkins then we would have been much more likely to take the three points. He had an awful game and in the last minute we might have even won it when he was running down the right flank with Nolan and Cole rushing in alongside him only to fire his cross behind and over the goal. A move that pretty much summed up his, and our performance.
Player ratings: Green (7) O'Brien (5), Collins (7) Faye (7) McCartney (6) Tomkins (6) Nolan (3) Noble (6) Collison (5) Taylor (5) Maynard (4)
Subs: O'Neill (1) Morrison (4) Cole (7)
We'll take the point as any point on the board has to be taken positively in a fixture as tough as that and now look forward to the crucial game at Middlesbrough which could see us slip 6 points behind the automatic promotion places and end up finishing in the play off places as per my prediction.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Friday 16 March 2012
Season defining week?
Quite possibly! We have 2 extremely difficult away games at Leeds and Burnley either side of a vital home game against 4th place Middlesbrough.
I think the best we can hope for is 7 points from 9 which would be a very good return and given our recent form would probably consist of 2 away wins and a home draw!
Tomorrow's game at Leeds will be a huge test after 2 poor home results and the absence of Ricardo Vaz Te will definitely be a major blow. However, every cloud has a silver lining and as a result of Vaz Te's injury we could see Ravel Morrison in claret and blue for the first time - possibly from the start - which, if he lives up to his hype, is very exciting.
Then we face Middlesbrough under the lights on Tuesday which is to be broadcast on Sky TV in what I think is our most important home game of the season purely because we haven't won at home in the last 4 attempts. It is vital that we start well on Tuesday to ensure that the fans get behind the team and create an intimidating atmosphere for our opponents because when the Boleyn is full and buzzing, the atmosphere is second to none.
If we then go into next Saturday's fixture at Burnley with 6 points from the previous 2 fixtures then we may just be able to pick up the three points but like I said, 7/9 points from these fixtures would be a very satisfying return, providing one of the wins is against Boro at home.
On the other hand, as little as 3 points from these fixtures and we may be all but out of the race for automatic promotion, unless both Southampton and Reading also slip up.
I'm predicting a 2-1 win tomorrow, a 2-0 win against Boro and a 0-0 draw at Burnley, which I think we'd all be happy with. Let me know your predictions! Follow me on twitter @WHUThruAndThru
COME ON YOU IRONS!
I think the best we can hope for is 7 points from 9 which would be a very good return and given our recent form would probably consist of 2 away wins and a home draw!
Tomorrow's game at Leeds will be a huge test after 2 poor home results and the absence of Ricardo Vaz Te will definitely be a major blow. However, every cloud has a silver lining and as a result of Vaz Te's injury we could see Ravel Morrison in claret and blue for the first time - possibly from the start - which, if he lives up to his hype, is very exciting.
Then we face Middlesbrough under the lights on Tuesday which is to be broadcast on Sky TV in what I think is our most important home game of the season purely because we haven't won at home in the last 4 attempts. It is vital that we start well on Tuesday to ensure that the fans get behind the team and create an intimidating atmosphere for our opponents because when the Boleyn is full and buzzing, the atmosphere is second to none.
If we then go into next Saturday's fixture at Burnley with 6 points from the previous 2 fixtures then we may just be able to pick up the three points but like I said, 7/9 points from these fixtures would be a very satisfying return, providing one of the wins is against Boro at home.
On the other hand, as little as 3 points from these fixtures and we may be all but out of the race for automatic promotion, unless both Southampton and Reading also slip up.
I'm predicting a 2-1 win tomorrow, a 2-0 win against Boro and a 0-0 draw at Burnley, which I think we'd all be happy with. Let me know your predictions! Follow me on twitter @WHUThruAndThru
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Everything must go!
I remember reading something in the West Ham United annual 2012 at the start of the season where Sam Allardyce was stressing how important youth players are to any football club, even more so at The Academy of Football, West Ham United. So why is it that we're shipping all of our promising youngsters out on loan?
Rob Hall has joined League One promotion hopefuls MK Dons while Christian Montano has dropped down a league to League Two by joining Oxford. It has to be said these are two of our most promising young players at the moment with Hall really impressing me when he's made very brief sub appearances and everyone at the club is going on about how good Tano is yet he hasn't even been given a chance! They aren't the only 'promising' young players to be ignored this season, though, as Brian Montenegro has spent all season with the reserves bar one short period in which he sat on the bench. I can only assume we signed him on loan with a view of a permanent deal should he impress with the U18's/reserves because otherwise his loan spell has been borderline pointless!
Also, I really hope that we see Jordan Spence next season whether we go up or not because he was being labelled as the next Bobby Moore last season which isn't something you hear too often about a young player! We recalled him slightly early from his season long loan for the Wigan game which saw us relegated and despite most fans thinking he'd get his chance in the Championship - the league in which he was playing first team football for most of last season - we sent him back to Bristol City on loan which really disappointed me.
There may be one exception, though. Reports are suggesting that Ravel Morrison will start against Leeds tomorrow in the absence of Ricardo Vaz Te which could be interesting after he impressed for the Development Squad scoring a brace in a 2-0 win. I suppose we will have to wait until tomorrow!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Rob Hall has joined League One promotion hopefuls MK Dons while Christian Montano has dropped down a league to League Two by joining Oxford. It has to be said these are two of our most promising young players at the moment with Hall really impressing me when he's made very brief sub appearances and everyone at the club is going on about how good Tano is yet he hasn't even been given a chance! They aren't the only 'promising' young players to be ignored this season, though, as Brian Montenegro has spent all season with the reserves bar one short period in which he sat on the bench. I can only assume we signed him on loan with a view of a permanent deal should he impress with the U18's/reserves because otherwise his loan spell has been borderline pointless!
Also, I really hope that we see Jordan Spence next season whether we go up or not because he was being labelled as the next Bobby Moore last season which isn't something you hear too often about a young player! We recalled him slightly early from his season long loan for the Wigan game which saw us relegated and despite most fans thinking he'd get his chance in the Championship - the league in which he was playing first team football for most of last season - we sent him back to Bristol City on loan which really disappointed me.
There may be one exception, though. Reports are suggesting that Ravel Morrison will start against Leeds tomorrow in the absence of Ricardo Vaz Te which could be interesting after he impressed for the Development Squad scoring a brace in a 2-0 win. I suppose we will have to wait until tomorrow!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Thursday 15 March 2012
Most improved player 2012
In my opinion it has to be between 2 players; Julien Faubert and Winston Reid. It's fair to say that both of them had terrible seasons last term.
Winston Reid, despite being billed as representing his country to distinction at the world cup, barely played under Avram Grant. The £4m man from Midjylland hardly got a looking and despite his goal against Burnely in the FA Cup, he had a very disappointing season.
Julien Faubert on the other hand was a promising player when we first signed him but seemed to lose his way when Zola converted him to a full back and that may just have been the main factor in him falling further and further down the pecking order under Avram Grant.
This season both players have had a massive part to play in our current position with Julien Faubert among the regulars - largely thanks to his versatility - and Winston Reid finally starting to show his potential under Allardyce and establishing himself in the first team.
Are there more candidates, though? James Tomkins has really established himself in the first team as a key player and he's arguable been our best player this season. Mark Noble is continuing to improve season after season and Rob Green has been absolutely outstanding this season and although we know he's capable of the sort of performances he's put in this campaign, it's nice to see his confidence growing after the horrific mistake at the 2010 World Cup.
Who do you think is our most improved player this season?
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Winston Reid, despite being billed as representing his country to distinction at the world cup, barely played under Avram Grant. The £4m man from Midjylland hardly got a looking and despite his goal against Burnely in the FA Cup, he had a very disappointing season.
Julien Faubert on the other hand was a promising player when we first signed him but seemed to lose his way when Zola converted him to a full back and that may just have been the main factor in him falling further and further down the pecking order under Avram Grant.
This season both players have had a massive part to play in our current position with Julien Faubert among the regulars - largely thanks to his versatility - and Winston Reid finally starting to show his potential under Allardyce and establishing himself in the first team.
Are there more candidates, though? James Tomkins has really established himself in the first team as a key player and he's arguable been our best player this season. Mark Noble is continuing to improve season after season and Rob Green has been absolutely outstanding this season and although we know he's capable of the sort of performances he's put in this campaign, it's nice to see his confidence growing after the horrific mistake at the 2010 World Cup.
Who do you think is our most improved player this season?
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Knocked off our perch!
Well it had been coming, we've been dropping points at home for weeks now and it's finally caught up with us as Reading drew 1-1 at Doncaster to leapfrog ourselves and climb into second.
No one can say it's undeserved, we haven't been showing the fighting spirit that promotion chasers should and Reading have been on an incredible run which has seen them fly up through the play-off places and now into the top 2. We do still have a game in hand on Reading, however and a point would lift us back into the top 2 on goal difference. We should probably count ourselves lucky that Doncaster have been on a good run our their own lately because had Reading battered them they could have made up some goal difference on us and made it very difficult for us even if we did win that game in hand.
There have been some positives lately though with David Gold confirming on twitter that Papa Bouba Diop is back in training with the first team, Ravel Morrison scoring a brace for the development squad earlier today and Carlton Cole expressing his love for the club, despite criticism from a small minority of fans. There have been reports floating about that Morrison will start on Saturday at Leeds after an impressive display for the development squad but with Nolan coming back and scoring 2 in 3 after his suspension and Noble, Lansbury and Collison all fit and vying for the central midfield positions I'm not convinced he'll be shoved into the starting XI just yet, though it is very promising to see him playing and scoring for the reserves.
We've hit a bit of a slump in form lately with 3 disappointing home draws and we will need a result against Leeds to maintain out promotion push and then, more importantly we have arguably our most important home game of the season and a massive test for the players at home to Boro next Tuesday which will be on Sky - although that shouldn't affect the attendance as the last time we were on Sky in a home fixture the Boleyn sold out for the visit of Crystal Palace - and my prediction is that if we fail to win, we won't finish in the top 2 and will have to settle for he lottery that is the play-offs. I know a lot of people will say that it's too early to make that prediction but going 5 games without a win at home including 2 draws against relegation candidates will surely affect the players' confidence and be very hard to recover from, not to mention the fact that Reading could be 7 points ahead of us by then. obviously I hope I'm wrong and I think we'll bounce back and be sitting on 72 points this time next week after a much needed home win.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
No one can say it's undeserved, we haven't been showing the fighting spirit that promotion chasers should and Reading have been on an incredible run which has seen them fly up through the play-off places and now into the top 2. We do still have a game in hand on Reading, however and a point would lift us back into the top 2 on goal difference. We should probably count ourselves lucky that Doncaster have been on a good run our their own lately because had Reading battered them they could have made up some goal difference on us and made it very difficult for us even if we did win that game in hand.
There have been some positives lately though with David Gold confirming on twitter that Papa Bouba Diop is back in training with the first team, Ravel Morrison scoring a brace for the development squad earlier today and Carlton Cole expressing his love for the club, despite criticism from a small minority of fans. There have been reports floating about that Morrison will start on Saturday at Leeds after an impressive display for the development squad but with Nolan coming back and scoring 2 in 3 after his suspension and Noble, Lansbury and Collison all fit and vying for the central midfield positions I'm not convinced he'll be shoved into the starting XI just yet, though it is very promising to see him playing and scoring for the reserves.
We've hit a bit of a slump in form lately with 3 disappointing home draws and we will need a result against Leeds to maintain out promotion push and then, more importantly we have arguably our most important home game of the season and a massive test for the players at home to Boro next Tuesday which will be on Sky - although that shouldn't affect the attendance as the last time we were on Sky in a home fixture the Boleyn sold out for the visit of Crystal Palace - and my prediction is that if we fail to win, we won't finish in the top 2 and will have to settle for he lottery that is the play-offs. I know a lot of people will say that it's too early to make that prediction but going 5 games without a win at home including 2 draws against relegation candidates will surely affect the players' confidence and be very hard to recover from, not to mention the fact that Reading could be 7 points ahead of us by then. obviously I hope I'm wrong and I think we'll bounce back and be sitting on 72 points this time next week after a much needed home win.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Sunday 11 March 2012
Moving on...
Moving on from a very disappointing week, we have a very important game coming up next week and a chance to bounce back. It's an away game so there shouldn't be any 'tension' and as Reading are showing no signs of slowing down it's an absolute must win because our lead over the play-off places is now down to goal difference due to incompetency at home. If we can emulate the Cardiff performance or the Blackpool performance (but keep 11 players on the pitch), we should come home from Leeds with the 3 points but football just isn't that simple, is it.
Leeds earned their first victory under Neill Warnock today at Middlesbrough which is a tough place to go so their confidence will be high, however, their supporters probably have less faith in their team than us at the moment as most of them want Ken Bates out! Against Saints their attendance was dreadful and as far as I'm aware it was a protest against Ken Bates. So if this continues next week there may be just as many of us there as there are home fans! And we all know that we're the best travelling fans in the country!
In all seriousness though I think we will bounce back and gain another predictable away win but the question when, and how will we take this away form into our home games? We're set to break a club record this season as the most away games we've ever won in a season was 11 in the 50's yet we've won 10 away games this season and with Barnsley, Peterborough and Bristol City yet to come away from home it's looking like a possibility. We still have some very difficult home games to come with Birmingham, Hull, Reading, Middlesbrough and Brighton still to visit the Boleyn so unless we can sort out our home form and start turning these draws into wins - even if it is in the ugly way we're used to this season - we stand no chance of finishing in the top 2. I'm trying to stay optimistic but dropping home points Doncaster, Watford, Bristol City and Ipswich is not promotion form. Our only saving grace seems to be our uncharacteristically good away form which has come as a surprise to all West Ham fans given that we only won 3 away games in the last 2 seasons combined at Wolves, Blackpool and Fulham.
My prediction for the match is a 2-1 victory for the hammers, let me know your predictions on Twitter @WHUThruAndThru.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
March madness!
As for Mervin Celik, I think we were linked with him in January before he moved to Glasgow and he could provide a bit more creativity out wide and with Vaz Te set to be out for up to 3 weeks this could be very good news. I'm worried that we're overloading our squad though. I think our problems up front are because we don't have a single striker that plays every game without question so how do you expect any of your strikers to be prolific if none of them are playing every game? I know competition for places is good but I think we've gone too far and the players are unsettled by it.
Cole has started most games on the bench since Maynard arrived which would suggest that Big Sam has faith in him to be the prolific striker we so desperately need but what about Baldock? He got off to such a good start in a West Ham shirt. That first goal he scored against Blackpool was immense, the composure he showed in front of goal was a sign of a real goal scorer and the second showed that he has the ability to poach too. Then he scored a very important first goal away to Hull and managed to out jump someone about 6 inches taller than him for his first against Leicester at the Boleyn. Then he got that injury just before Christmas and since then he's had the odd 30 minutes from the bench. It's really frustrating to see someone get off to such a good start and show incredible promise yet be left out for most of the season. I really rate Sam Baldock and if we are to be promoted I think he will play a big part in that, given the chance.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Saturday 10 March 2012
Where do we go from here...
So we go to Leeds next Saturday aiming to bounce back, a game I will be going to, and as we're away many fans may expect a win against a team who have had a poor run of results under new boss Neil Warnock. It's a game we must win if we are to stay in the automatic promotion hunt because Reading really do look like a force to be reckoned with at the moment and Saints are finding their form again.
Is it our fault? Is it because we cause tension as Abdoulaye Faye suggests? No. If players on 20, 30, 40, even 50k a week can't cope with the pressure of playing in front of 35,000 supporters then how will they do away to Manchester United next year!? We'll be taken apart. Even if there is some serious surgery on the team in the summer, I fear that Big Sam's tactics will be our Achilles heal if we are promoted because this squad should not be struggling against Doncaster and Watford at home, big Sam has to be to blame. We've signed 2 strikers in January as well as Baldock in the summer and he still moans about not having a prolific striker! You won't have a prolific striker if you have 5 strikers that you rotate, they need time and patience. He's almost as impatient as Roman Sacks-who-he-wants.
Onwards and upwards as they say, let's look to our next few crucial games which are mostly away so they should be winnable games!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Half-time score: 1-0. So far so... average?
They've hardly threatened us and if we were to get an early second half goal that will give the players the freedom to go and play their football and also ease the pressure from the fans. Dare I say it, I think we will go on to win comfortably and the last thing we want is to be put under pressure in the latter stages of the game whilst holding onto a 1-0 lead because we know far too well that we have a tendency to crumble in late stages of games at home this season!
Let's get behind the team and see out this win which could take us top should Southampton fail to win against Bansley.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
4-5-1? 4-4-2? 4-3-3?
Here's the team: Green, McCartney, Faye, Tomkins, Taylor, Noble, Lansbury, Nolan(c), Vaz Te, Cole.
Subs: Collins, O'Neill, Morrison, Maynard, Baldock.
It's interesting! Who's playing at right back? Will we see Morrison for the first time? What the hell formation is it? I hope it's a 4-3-3 because if it is, it's more or less the team I would've put out apart from Lansbury in for Collison.
Let me know your views!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
3 points a must!
I hope Sam goes for a much more attacking line up today, I'd like to see a 4-3-3 with Taylor and Vaz Te on the wings and Cole in the middle and a midfield 3 of Noble, Nolan and Collison. I think it will be interesting to see if Danny Collins is involved because he's match fit and if he comes in at centre back then we might see Tomkins in his new found holding midfield role again. It seems to suit him because he's good and confident on the ball and he looked pretty good going forward against Palace in the second half. As I said I fear that anything other than a win and we might start to fall behind Southampton and Reading and have no choice but to settle for the play-offs. We know we're good enough to go up automatically and even go up as champions but we need to improve our home form, starting today. If, on the other hand we can win - and win well - I think this could kick start our home form and more importantly give the fans some faith and a reason the get behind the team fully.
This would be my time (revised from last time!).
Green
O'Brien Faye Tomkins McCartney
Collison Nolan(c) Noble
Vaz Te Cole Taylor
Subs: Boffin, Collins, Faubert, Maynard, Baldock.
Follow me on Twitter @WHUThruAndThru and let me know what your starting 11 would be!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Friday 9 March 2012
Donny snap up Ilunga!
Doncaster Rovers have confirmed the signing of Herita Ilunga on an initial month long deal as expected. The Congolese full back spent three months on loan at the Keepmoat earlier in the season and has rejoined the Championship outfit following an injury to Tommy Spurr.
Herita left West Ham in January after his contract was terminated by mutual consent and he has been training with League One side Leyton Orient since leaving the hammers after falling down the pecking order under new boss Sam Allardyce.
Once again I would like to wish Herita Ilunga success in the rest of his career (except this Saturday!) wherever that may be.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Hammers snap up Collins
However, no matter how 'fit and ready' he is, I don't like his chances of being included at all at the weekend. We signed George John as cover on a 2 month loan and because Big Sam usually picks 1 defender and 4 strikers on the bench, unless he starts I can't see him being included. But with that being said Winston Reid has had his fair share of injuries this season and we've already come to know that Abdoulaye Faye is yet another injury prone player on our books - don't get me wrong he's solid when he's fit - so I think this will prove to be a good signing as my main concern at the start of the season was the lack of back up options for our defence. Spence just about got into the side at the end of last season I felt he had a good game against Wigan considering he was shoved in with no time to prepare and as he can play anywhere in defence I think he would've been an ideal fringe player for us this season then we shoved him back out to Bristol City on loan! Surely because he had been on loan at a Championship club for the whole of last season, this season would've been an ideal time for him to start getting into the side and getting used to first team football for West Ham. But now I'm getting off topic, another thing that stands out about this signing is that he's already won the Championship twice in his career so he's got a proven record at this level.
We are at what they call the business end of the season now and with the games coming thick and fast, I hope that Danny Collins will be used as part of a rotation system to prevent fatigue or injury to our first choice centre backs.
Follow me on Twitter @WHUThruAndThru for all the latest updates and news and let me know your opinion on this signing!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Goalkeeper complex
If we are to be promoted this season the general feeling is that Green would sign a new deal with us but, if he doesn't, who could we get in the replace him? Manuel Almunia made for very good cover when we brought him in on an emergency loan and reports suggested that he would love a move to the East End which is a very promising development. Since Szczesny has cemented his position as Arsenal's number 1, Manuel Almunia has fallen down the pecking order and one would imagine he'd love the chance at first team football, especially if we are promoted.
If we're not promoted, however, would he still want to join us? I like to think he would, as we would be in a strong position to go up next season and he didn't mind dropping down to the Championship for first team football earlier in the season, albeit for a month on loan. We have also been linked with a move for Leicester stopper Kasper Schmeichel who I believe would be a very good addition to any squad in the country. If he goes on to be half as good as his old man was he'll have a great career ahead of him and the fact that he's already established himself as two different Championship teams' number 1 at a young age is a good sign that he has what it takes to play at the highest level.
The worrying thing for me is the lack of faith from Big Sam in our younger 'keepers Boffin and Stech. The infamous 'insider' Clunge claims that Big Sam doesn't rate any of our other goalies but young Jake Larkins, the U18's stopper looks very promising. Of the goalkeepers we've been linked with, in my opinion Almunia is by far the best option as he seemed to slip seamlessly into the side when called upon and put in some impressive displays, however the main priority has to be nailing Green down on a new contract if/when we go up as he is having the season of his life and has been a key player this term.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Faye blames tension
Abdoulaye Faye has come out and said that tension at Upton Park is to blame for our shaky home form. The Senegalese centre half said that the ground was very quiet for large portions of the Watford game causing tension among the players. It seems to me like a bit of a paradox; when the players are under performing the crowd get frustrated leading to tension and, ultimately, poor results therefore frustrating the fans further.
So the lesson here is that we need to get behind the players 110% through thick and thin which is what we're usually known for down in the East End, so why is it so different this season? We're 2nd in the league - top if we win our game in hand which thankfully is away! - and we've been more consistent this season than any other season in my lifetime. It must be something to do with the fact that even though our home form isn't catastrophic, even when we win it's rarely pretty. We've had ONE memorable home performance this season which came against Blackpool who, for some reason, just can't play against us.
Other than the Blackpool game and maybe the Derby game, our home performances have been awful as we needed a 5th minute header from the prolific Papa Bouba Diop to see off Barnsley, an early penalty to beat Peterborough and TWO borderline hand ball penalty decisions to overcome Nottingham Forest. These results, along with the late goals conceded against Leeds, Cardiff, Ipswich, Aldershot in the cup and the let off against Pompey in the 4-3 victory, all lead to one thing; consistent bad performances at home. This isn't something we're used to at West Ham, we're used to a buzzing atmosphere, full commitment from the fans and Upton Park traditionally being a fortress. As I said before, our home form will be a major factor on whether or not we stay up next season - providing we GO up - because we will need to win our home games if we are to stay in the premier league so something must be done about this before the end of the season. So I say even if we don't get off to a great start on Saturday against Donny, get behind the team 100% as booing, grunting and negative feedback will cost us results, Abdoulaye Faye said so himself!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Thursday 8 March 2012
Ilunga to rejoin Donny
This could prove to be a beneficial move for all parties as Ilunga is yet to find himself a new club since his contract with the hammers was terminated in January. He has his critics among the West Ham faithful but it would be fair to say that he is more than capable of doing a job for lowly Championship club, no disrespect to Doncaster.
If he shows the sort of form that he did in his early days a hammers player this may even materialise into a permanent deal for the Congo born full back who confirmed that he has been training with League One side Leyton Orient since leaving the hammers to retain his fitness levels. I wish Herita all the best for the future and wish him luck in his hunt for a new club.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Poor old Freddie
In an attempt to rejuvenate his career he has recently been sent out to Colchester United on loan which I thought was going to be an excellent move for him but that hasn't been the case. In his first game for the Us he started up front playing just off a lone striker and according to reports, had a very good game. Since then, however, he has barely played as he was an unused sub in their last 2 games, begging the question; what next for Freddie? If he's struggling to get into the team at Colchester, that doesn't bode well for him when he returns from his loan spell. I for one wish him all the best in his career even if it's away from Upton Park, and if you look back to the reception that Junior Stanislas got when Burnley came to Upton Park, I don't think the fans would hold it against him if he left.
COME ON YOU IRONS!
Disappointing... again.
It's been a familiar story at Upton Park this season, a disappointing result at home. This isn't the first time we've gone into a home game we're expected to win on the back of a morale boosting away win this season and choked, and that's 3 draws on the trot at The Boleyn now.
My biggest fear is next season. If we do go up - and I believe we will - our home form will be a problem because even the most optimistic of West Ham fans couldn't dream of 10 away wins in the Premiership. Watford, a team who are quite frankly a level below us, made us look average at best on our own turf and they're not the first team to do so this season. Captain Kev returned to his usual role of being absolutely useless and non-existent in the midfield after his uncharacteristic cameo appearance as a decent team player on Sunday, Vaz Te (apart from his scrappy goal) and Maynard are proving to be the club's latest misfiring signings who are 'proven goalscorers' and the defence were all over the place with every player, even James Tomkins who has arguably been one of our most consistent players, having a shocker. If Watford had grabbed another goal in their spell of dominance shortly after their goal, who knows what would have happened.
Anyway, what's done is done, we have to accept the point and look forward to another vital game at home to Doncaster at the weekend and thankfully their star signing Freddy Piquionne is ineligible! If we don't win this game I fear that this could dent the players' confidence greatly leading to a major dip in form and morale. I think we need to really turn a team over at home to install some confidence in the players and more importantly, the fans. When the fans are fully behind the team at Upton Park the atmosphere is second to none but when things aren't going our way and the fans start to turn, it really does have a negative affect on the players (the 3-1 defeat to Wolves a couple years back springs to mind!). If we beat Doncaster by 4 or 5 on Saturday I think this will be just the pick-me-up we need after a disappointing result tonight and reinvigorate our home form as we've only won by more than one goal at home twice this season, 3-1 against Derby and 4-0 against Blackpool.
Any early predictions on the team BFS will put out or the result on Saturday? This would be my team:
Green
O'Brien Tomkins Faye McCartney
Vaz Te Noble Nolan Taylor
Cole Baldock
Subs: Boffin, Faubert, Lansbury, O'Neill, Maynard
I'd start Baldock as I think he's got a lot more to offer than what we've seen, and at the start of the season he got off to a flyer but hasn't had a looking since his injury before Christmas. Faubert was awful once again today so I'd bring in Vaz Te for him on the right with our usual central midfield partnership of Noble and Nolan (who is only in 'my' team because I know BFS won't not pick him), Taylor on the left for a bit of creativity and most importantly his dead ball ability and with the big man Cole up top playing the target man role with little Sammy Baldock making runs, drawing defenders out of place and creating space, I think that if we play to our full potential, this team will destroy Doncaster. Well, lets hope so anyway!
COME ON YOU IRONS!
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