West Ham United Blog

West Ham 2 Manchester United 1

Well, I didn't pick the score but I did say grab us for a win at 5/1, hope some of you did and earned yourselves some nice New Year cheer.  Whilst United represented a side in great form, such odds when they were the away side against a side who whilst not having the best home form was still in the top ten was generous as I said.

Onto the performance, quite frankly, I thought we were superb.  I'm not going to do individual player ratings as everyone deserves acclaim, but I am going to pick out my choice performances;

Upson - becoming an automatic on the teamsheet and well worth 6million of anyone's money

Solano - great to see such a flair player in the vein of Joe Cole and Paolo Di Canio at Upton Park, just has a great touch

Mullins - my man of the match, is it me or has he bulked out a bit with some extra muscle lately?  Is looking stronger and more athletic, had a great game and supported superbly by Noble and Parker

But like I say, everyone, including the crowd played their part in a victory against one of my least favourite clubs in the league.  The passion, the passing and the creativity were all there and the defence were strong against the rampaging Ronaldo and Tevez.  A word on Carlos, it was great to see him and I'm very pleased we gave him the welcome we did.  Certain players do not deserve such a warm welcome on their return but Carlos is definitely an exception and heart brreaking though it was to see him in a Man Utd shirt, it was just great to see the lad.

Anyway, top result Hammers, bring on the Gunners!

Bet on West Ham v Manchester United

One of the biggest games of our season will be witnessed tomorrow as Man Utd pay a visit to Upton Park.  The rivalry between these 2 clubs goes as far back as I can recall, though certainly the signing of Paul Ince as the biggest catalyst I can recall.  Since then I've seen some classic matches involving these including winning £1000 after Di Canio scored and we won the FA Cup Round at Old Trafford, all on a £10 bet.  At Upton Park, the two games where we helped deny them the title certainly stick in the memory.  As fierece as the rivalry is, I still feel they let us off fairly easily on the last game of last season, as well as we did play they certainly had their foot off the pedal.

Enough nostalgia, onto tomorrow's game.  United are on fire and frankly I believe they will win the league this season.  They are a force going forward and so strong at the back.  Any points from this game must be considered a bonus.  A must is for the crowd to get behind the lads and not show the nervousness we demonstrated against Reading.  I'd start with pretty much the same team, though would replace Freddie with LBM or Etherington if either of them are fit.

As for the score, very tricky to call, if we set out the traps well then we could have them, if we show the rabbit caught in the headlights approach like we did against Reading, then they will tear us apart.  If you do fancy us, Coral have a pretty reasonable 5-1 on a West Ham win, take a free £10 bet with the link below and cross your fingers like you've never crossed them before!

West Ham 1 Reading 1 - player ratings

Another nervous and un-inspiring performance at home from the Hammers resulted in a 1-1 against 10 man Reading who were stubborn and spiky throughout.  I imagine Stephen Hunt is trying on his Robbie Savage wig on this very morning as the player appears to be doing everything he can to replace Robbie as the most hated player in the Premiership.  But I'm not going to spend too much time on this team that continues to punch above its weight.  Upton Park resembled a library and you could feel the tension and the nervousness around the stadium.

What is it that has caused this to be?  Some will point to extortionate Premiership prices, pricing out traditional fans and moving towards those who see football as entertainment rather than a passion, a life long love affiar if you will.  Others might just say our performances at home are just not good enough to get a good crowd response, leading to a whole chicken and egg scenario.  Either way, I pray this will change for the vist of Man Utd on Saturday, a game which previously shattered decibel levels around Upton Park.  If we can get a good atmosphere and a decent result, then Upton Park could become the fortress it once was again.

So, over to the players and the game, we had chances to nick it but the Stripes did their best to frustrate us, in fact they played in a similar way to how we do as an away team.  I don't think we can complain too much about the result, it's definitely the kind of game we would have lost last season, even against 10 men.  Here's how I rated the performances...

Green - 6 - did what he had to do, undone by a great finish

McCartney - 6 - tried to get going and got forward well and did his covering at the back

Upson - 7 - another solid game, becoming very reliable

Spector - 7- yet again a comfortable game as centre back, going to be hard to drop when Gabbidon and Ferdinand are back

Neil - 7 - final ball when going forward a bit lacking but good Captain's performance otherwise

Ljungberg - 6 - a slightly better game from Freddie but still expecting more from him, got himself in some good positions

Parker - 6 - never quite got going but looked like he could be dangerous

Mullins - 7 - very good performance from H, really got involved in the game

Solano  - 8 - excellent game from the Peruvian legend lovely goal and always looks dangerous

Cole - 6 - seemed a little out of sorts and unsure of his role but as usual was making lots of effort

Ashton - 5 - very stationary performance from Deano, clearly needs a few more games to get back into things

Great to see Noble on as sub as well looking his lively old self.  Bring on the Mancs!

Happy Christmas from West Ham Blog

Hey, just wanted to say Happy Christmas to all readers, both old and new, thank you for your support in 2007 and look forward to keeping you up to date with all the West Ham in 2008.  i'm off for some turkey so just a quick prediction for tomorrow's game against Reading, reckon we're gonna give them a festive trounciong, 4-0 to the Hammers, cheers!

Middlesbrough 1 West Ham 2

A very welcome 3 points from the Riverside yesterday and you could have also improved your Christmas had you taken up my prediction as well.  Bit spooky but the last correct reuslt I predicted was....3-0 at home to Middlesbrough earlier this season.

As for the game it was a very scrappy affair in the first half, brightened up by a moment of genius of Dean Ashton, a really terrific goal.  The second half saw us in control and I felt it was fairly simialr to the display we showed against Derby earlier in the season although obviously with fewer goals.  Overall, a good performance that sets us up nicely for reading on Boxing Day.  Here are my player rankings for the game;

Green - 6 - not much to do and not much done wrong, quiet day at the office for the hero

McCartney - 6.5 - part of a solid line at the back, still seems to miss Matty going forward though, having built up a great understanding with him earlier in the season

Spector - 7 - emergency centre half and has possibly his best game in a Hammers shirt, kept Boro quiet and played very well

Upson - 7 - another solid game from the rock

Neil - 6 - definitely getting back to his best

Ljungberg - 5 - our poorest player on the park,wondering if his heart is really in it

Parker - 8 - starting to be our most influential player on the pitch, great range of passing and socred a peach of a second goal

Mullins - 6 - an okay game from Hayden hard to find fault but nothing especially inspiring

Solano - 7 - a better game from Nobby, looked more dangerous

Ashton - 7 - starting to get back to his best, looked a little leaner and stronger than recently, hope he keeps his fitness

Camara - 5 - helped set up our first goal but spent long periods out of the game

Go back in time with a classic West Ham video...

If you're seeing out your last few hours at work, you could do worse than spend a couple of minutes watching this classic 5-0 drubbing of Sunderland.  The highlight for me is Kevin Keen's classic goal, I recall he scored a similar one gainst Barnsley on a New Year's Day plus Eammon Dolan's own version of Riverdance.  Sigh, is it just me or was it all more real, more raw back then?  Anyway, enjoy, might do another one this afternoon...

West Ham Christmas Party photos

If you want to see Robert Green dressed as a skier, Dean Ashton as a rugger b*gger and most worryingly, James Collins as a female tennis player then click here and prepare to be very, very afraid....

Bet on Middlesbrough v West Ham

It’s been an unsettling week with our two defeats against Everton resulting in this match having even more importance attached to it.  I’m old enough to remember the old adage that West Ham used to go down with the Christmas Decorations, let’s hope we are not falling into a premature decline.

Middlesbrough are a team that appear to be hitting their purple patch, a home victory over Arsenal was an excellent result.  However, having been in that situation ourselves, we know that the confidence is always fragile and an early lead and bit of frustration for the home side can lead to a collapse.

As for the team, at the moment it’s about who is fit to turn up.  An ideal back four of McCartney, Upson, Gabbidon and Neil will need to keep Tuncay Sanli in check.  If Gabbidon is not fit then Collins will need to replace him.  In the middle, I’d like to try Ljungberg/Etherington, Parker, Noble and Solano.  With Cole out suspended, I’d go LBM and Deano up front, can be switched with Ljungberg if necessary.  Camara on the bench as a replacement if this doesn’t work.  England’s number one in goal of course.

As for the result, let’s have some Christmas optimism and go for 2-1 away win to the Hammers.  Coral will give you 10-1 for such rose tinted belief and as ever will kindly give you you a free £10 bet to set you on your way by clicking the image below.  Come on you irons!

Was Eggert Magnusson pushed?

According to the Sunday Mirror today, Eggert Magnusson was ousted from the club following the poor management of some of our summer transfers.  The article includes speculation that Freddie Ljungberg is on wages of £110,000 a week which I pray he is not considering his perfomances for us this season.  I also recall that Eggy said the wage cap at the club was £55,000 a week, however, there is always the chance that bonuses and image rights could make up part of a bigger package.  There has not been any comment form the club on this as yet and nor can we necessarily expect one.  I think it would be a real shame if it were true and I still believe the man was very dignified in the way he handled McCabe and all palaver.  However, things may be slightly different now with our new chairman on board....

Bet on West Ham v Everton

In the same way I had a bad feeling about Wednesday night, I've actually got a good feeling about Saturday's match which sees Everton return to Upton Park and us to have a game on a Saturday for what feels like the first time in ages.

As for our team, the only changes I'd be looking for are Solano in for Ljungberg, would still go for LBM on the left (assuming Matty is still out) with Ashton and Cole/Camara up front - Cole may have an injury that keeps him out.  The more games Deano gets, the better and it's not as if we have a wealth of other options.  The back must stay the same and I'd like to see Mullins and Parker start in the middle, with Noble an option on the bench.  Some are calling for Noble's re-instatement but I want to see Parker get a few games under his belt as I think he is starting to get some real form going.

I'm feeling good for a 2-0 Hammers win and you can get a not unreasonable 10-1 on that at Coral.  As ever they are offering readers of the blog a free £10 bet, just click the link below to take advantage.