West Ham United Blog

Welcome to West Ham Blog

A warm welcome to West Ham Blog - have a look around, feel free to comment on any of the articles and join in!  I've been a Hammers fan for over 25 years and run this blog as a labour of love to discuss all things about West Ham - and as I'm sure you know, there is usually plenty to discuss...

My thanks to supporters of the blog including JD Sports footwear who offer a great range of football boots and equipment.

Millwall Match to be broadcast live

Millwall are claiming that this Saturday's derby at Upton Park will be broadcast live on Sky.  Awaiting official confirmation from Sky or the Hammers, but it does seem to be pretty official.  Let's keep off the pitch this time, yeah peeps?

Transfer Deadline Day Gossip

Well, it's that time of year where Sky Sports reporters freeze their backsides off standing outside a training ground with a load of truants.  Thought I'd pop by with a quick round up of what I understand is happening and a few thoughts...

Ravel Morrison - I thought this was agent talk hankeing for a better deal, but by all accounts this may actually happen.  Apparently a very talented but troubled young man, if Big Sam can guide him in the right direction, could be a great signing

Nicky Maynard - talks occuring, not that bothered by him to be honest, didn't impress me much when City played at ours, but if we get a cheap deal, could be okay

Vaz Te - was having a medical according to some, has scored quite a few for Barnsley this season and would be good for our promotion push, but good enough to step up a grade?  Not sure.

And finally a quick note on Herita Illunga who has left the club - what a real shame, I don't know it was mental or physical with him, but I've not seen such a decline on form since Sebastian Schemmel.  Shame.

Anyway, will try and pop on with any confirmed news, and if you have any goss, feel free to post in the comments...

Hammers Sign George John (Ringo Paul set for talks?)

The club have confirmed the signing of George John, the FC Dallas Centre Half.  He will be here on an initial 2 months with a view to making things permanent.  It's an important signing for us, as the plugs at the heart of defence have been clear for all to see, but it remains to be seen whether the American can cope with the demands of English football.  At 24 years old and 6 foot 2, he sounds the part, let's hope he looks it too.

Welcome to Upton Park George, we look forward to seeing you soon...

Hammers Half Term Report

Sitting here watching Blackburn v Bolton, I’m certainly happy that we have the man in the studio at the helm rather than the Scottish Avram Grant currently guiding the sinking ship Rovers.  I wanted Allardyce to save us from relegation last season, as I have no doubt he would have done.  Instead, our owners chose to wait it out and then bring in Big Sam for the promotion fight.  The expectation was simple –promotion and it can’t be denied we are where we need to be in terms of position, but is that enough?

Sam had a massive re-building exercise to do, having lost the likes of Parker amongst others, he also inherited a team devoid of belief, cohesion and spirit.  I think this an area where Sam has excelled.  Julien Faubert, Winsto Reid and James Tomkins were players with shattered confidence last season,  This season, they look completely different – now, you could argue they have found their level in the Championship, I would suggest these players will be playing just as well in the Premier League next season, given the chance.  And it’s not limited to those players, Noble and Cole are also clearly enjoying their football and with a player like Cole it is crucial as he is very much an arm round the shoulder type and Sam and his team are ensuring that is happening.

The style of play is clearly dividing some fans.  There is talk of the ‘West Ham Way’ – well I’ve been watching the Hammers for more than three decades and the West Ham way in the past 10 years has been to get turned over by any club north of Watford, never score from set pieces and sign sicknotes who barely kick a ball.  I’m very happy that the West Ham way has not reared its head yet this season and Sam is bringing in a new mentality to the club.

This may seem like a sycophantic piece to Sam, and I’m openly admitting I’m a big fan.  There certainly have been forgettable moments, such as the home performances against Bristol City, Burnley and Ipswich and away to Reading, but I also believe you can cannot cure as a big a wound as our club had without some occasional lapses.  What’s important is that we show signs of getting out of the old, bad habits we had, and sitting in second place with a team smiling, we are heading in the right direction...

West Ham 3 Derby County 1

The Hammers took advantage of a slip by title rivals Southampton tonight, with a performance that ran from treacle like to sweet as candy floss.  Derby were the visitors and after a bright start by the home team, it was the Rams making the Hammers look like they had been counting sheep.  An early goal following a lapse by the hitherto dependable James Tomkins gave them the lead and it wasn’t until Carlton Cole’s goal just before half time that the Hammers started to assert themselves again.

Fortunately, the second half was significantly better, with possession football resulting in a cracking volley by Kevin Nolan to put us in the lead and a Mark Noble penalty finished off any resurgence by derby.  By the end, the Hammers were strolling and it felt like we would finish them off by four or five, but 3-1 it ended, putting us just 2 points behind the Saints.

Okay, on to the player check, and Julien Faubert was deservedly Sponsor Man of the Match with the likewise excellent Carlton Cole getting the champers from Sky Sports.  James Tomkins had a day to forget, while Jack Collison looked like he was coming back to form.  Here are the numbers....

Green – 6 – not very busy apart from picking the ball out of the net, but was in control when needed
Mccartney – 6 – pushed forward quite a bit, but something missing defensively tonight
Tomkins – 5  - a poor performance by the high standards he has set himself this season, error of judgement for their goal and almost repeated the trick in the 2nd half
Faye – 6.5 – a beast at the back
O’Brien – 7 – a good solid game with some great crossing including an assist for our equaliser
Collison – 7 – his engine appears to be coming back, a good performance
Noble – 6.5 – poor first half but much improved in the second and was pulling the strings
Nolan – cracking goal and lead with passion as always
Faubert – 8 – a Hammer of the Year?  Another excellent performance from the TGV
Cole – 8 – causes defences at this level absolute havocBaldock – can’t really score as went off early for Piquoinne – 6 – who had one of his better games.

Next up for the lads in Middlesbrough, if we can get something out of it, the pressure will really be on the Saints for top spot.  Good work Hammers...

Hammers tame the Tigers

Another stubborn performance from the lads today saw us pick up 3 points at Hull City for the first time in over 50 years.  This achievement still won't stop the part time percy's and the 'West Ham way' rubbish they come out with, but for real fans it's a revelation to watch the club continue to be hard to beat.

It was no classic by any means, but strong performances by Faye and Green at the back, a revelatory Mark Noble and a back to form Jack Collison, combined with cracking performances by Cole and Baldock ensured we just had too much for a Hull team looking for their 5th home win on the trot.  Everyone contributed, though captain Kevin Nolan had a game he probably want to forget.  Our class is starting to show in this league, even if it's not reflected in a posession game, it is reflected in the few goals conceded and the clinical finishing, and that is what we will get us promoted.

Delighted for the lads, as for the keyboard warriors who are still having a go at our manager, feel free to start your campaign to bring Zola back, you'll end up getting the losing football you want to bring back to Upton Park....

 

West Ham Win, fans not happy....

There really is no pleasing some people.  I’ve been going to West Ham for years, I’ve seen great football, I’ve seen turgid football, but I don’t think I’ve ever described us as ‘hard to beat’.  But last night, that’s exactly what we were and I’m very pleased with it.  It was almost two years ago I saw Everton do to us what we did to Brighton last night.  We played nice football, but Everton were clinical in the two chances they created and we came away 2-1 losers.  It was a horrible feeling and at the time I wished we could do the same to teams, rather than have it done to us.  And now we are, but that hasn’t stopped ‘fans’ moaning about it.

Some are even talking about Poyet and how they wished he was our manager.  Sorry, but right now, the man is a Zola clone.  Lovely fella, great footballing philosophy but too easily out thought.  Allardyce played a blinder against him last night, and Poyet’s outburst against our football was a simple cover-up to the inadequacy of his lack of counter against it.  In fact, look back at the comments of Moyes and Zola after that match, could just have easily been Sam and Gus…

Everton manager David Moyes:
"We could have done better but the one thing we do at Everton is know how to win. It might not be the best way but we know how to do it.”

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola:
"It's tough for me and for the players. The guys gave everything until the end but we need to sort out the little problems because they're costing us a lot.”

Sound familiar?

Playing football the right way is lovely when you have the luxury of doing it, but last night it simply was not an option, for two good reasons.  One, the squad had six first teamers out and so we had to make the best of what we had.  Two, a second defeat in a week would have been demoralising and possibly started to cut us adrift from teams starting to find form.  A win keep us up there, where we need to be.
Performance wise, I was impressed by Reid, Noble, Nolan and Faubert.  My main worry is Jack Collison.  I was a big fan of Jack’s and I’m aware he has been through a terrible couple of years.  However, he seems to have put on some weight and not quite regained his touch and confidence.  I hope he can come back and be the highly promising player he was, but I think he needs to do some more work.  A shout out to Manuel Almunia as well, who though not overly tested by shots, was calm in goal and handled the eleven corners flung at him well.

So, onwards and upwards to Leicester, it will be a tough one against a currently managerless team, and it won’t be easy.  We might have been better off with Sven still in charge quite frankly.  I don’t imagine we will play quite as we did against Brighton, but Leicester don’t exactly play total football, so it may well be a bit industrial.  But let’s continue to get behind a team and manager who are winning, remember that people, we are Winning!!!!!

No To Diouf!!!

There are a number of rumours circulating about the hammers signing gob chucking midfielder El Hadj Diouf. Simply put, I and many other Hammers fans do not want him anywhere near Upton Park. Big Sam should heed this warning - I'm prepared for some industrial football to get us up to the premier league, and I will back the pragmatism of doing so. What I won't do is cheer for a player who allegedly spat at West Ham fans on a previous occasion and generally has the character references of a benevolent dictator. This is not a signing that will work, and besides, he just ain't that good anyway. Leave a message in the comments for the board to see how much we do not want him wearing our colours...

Southampton v West Ham Preview

Just a quick one before tonight's top of the table clash.  Gutted to not be at this one, would do anything for a ticket right now.  Anyway, after the cracking result against Blackpool, we can go into this game with huge confidence.  However, I imagine Sam will change things around a bit to stifle their game and win the midfield battle.  I imagine a 451 with Carew on his own on top with a shift to 442 towards the end if we need to chase.  Probably Noble in for Baldock, and a big night for the likes of Diop and Nolan, whose experience could really count for this one.

Got a good feeling about this one for some reason, come on you Irons!

West Ham v Blackpool Match Preview

A Premier League fixture last season now sums up the downturn for both clubs, as they meet in the Championship this Saturday.  It's an interesting test for the lads, having reached some rocky form prior to the international break.

Our last home performance against Ipswich was terrible, I couldn't really bear to write about it afterwards, it was one of the worst performances I've seen at Upton Park.  But the lads showed some fight with a hard earned draw at Crystal Palace, with Carew and Baldock making a major impact.

From the injury point of view, I understand that Noble, Reid and Taylor are back in contention, so Sam has a strong squad to choose from.  The only change is David Bentley returning to Spurs with a long term injury.  It's a shame for him as I think he could have offered something to us, but he seemed to get in at the expense of Faubert who for me has not done much wrong this season and I think he should brought back into the fold.

Bench: Boffin, Cole, Baldock, Faye and Diop.

Blackpool are no pushover for sure and Holloway is a wiley character who will know how to stifle our somewhat transparent game plan, but I'd hope there is enough quality on the pitch to be too much for the Seasiders.  I'm going for 2-1 to the hammers with Nolan and Carew troubling the scorers.  Come on you Irons!

Update: As one of the commenters pointed out, O'Brien is likely to be out, so it's possible Demel could be brought in at right back, or Faubert could be pushed back.  Interesting that I can't find room for Collison in this team, he just hasn't done enough early doors for me and needs to get fitter...