West Ham United Blog

West Ham v Chelsea Preview

This Saturday sees West Ham take on Carling Cup losers Chelsea at Upton Park.  Very tough one to call after Chelsea's dismal performance against Sp*rs.  On the one hand, you kight see them pumped to prove it was one off, on the other some confidence might still be low and they could be there for the taking.  What we certainly need is a strong start, keeping the ball and ebb some more of their confidence away.

Tactically, here's how I'd go...

Green

Macca - Upson - Ferdy  - Skippy

LBM - Noble - Mullins - Solano

Freddie

CC

Bench: Wright, Ashton, Faubert, Spector, Bobby Z

With Freddie and LBM interchangeable as left winger and in the hole, leaving their defence in slight disarray as to who to pick up.  I've not been LBM's biggest fan this season but I just think he can annoy them slightly and cause their defence trouble.  At the back, I'd have every confidence that Upson and Ferdy can keep Drogba and Anelka in check but they are going to have focus for 90 minutes as those boys are quality if they are up for it.

Score?  V hard to predict, it really depends who is must up for it, but I see this one evening itself out to a 1-1 draw which would be a perfectly acceptable result, especially if you recall what they did to us last season.  Coral will give you 11-2 for that scoreline and as usual, a free £5 bet from coral.co.uk is yours if you just click below...

A quick tale....

A guy is at a bar and decides to chat up a girl standing on her own.  They are talking for a few minutes and getting on alright, when he tells her he is an accountant.  She says 'oh, that can't be very exciting' to which he repsonds 'What are you talking about?  My **** is really big'  She says 'What?!' He says' My ****, it's really big, so big you haven't seen anything like it, honestly, it's the biggest you've ever seen.'  She says 'But I wasn't talking about that' and he says 'well, just in case that's what you meant'. 

From that tale, wouldn't you be pretty sure his was actullay pretty small and he was quite defensive about it?  Yes, me too, which is why I'm (not) surprised at some of the comments from Spurs fans, telling me hpw 'big' their club is.  I didn't say it wasn't, so why are you so insistent on telling me that it is?  Would it be because you have a slight inferiority complex, are below us in the league and have won your first trophy in a decade which must prove your manhood?

Hmmmm, I'll let you decide.....

Want to see Mickey Mouse Cup winners Spurs being thrown out of a nightclub?

Thought you might.  Click here

Fulham 0 West Ham 1

Not going to do player rankings for yesterday's game, hardly seems worthwhile for such a dull, almost Championship level game.  Once again, winning games when you are not playing can be more important than playing well and not winning, which is for example what Newcastle United fans were hoping for with the advent of King Kev.

What I will say is that there appear to be some short memories amongst our supporters, with a distinct lack of patience being shown by some.  Not only were we a club in tumoil last season, we still have injuries to players such as Parker, Dyer and Bellamy with others just getting to fitness.  Getting away with a 1-0 result against a side battling against relegation is more than acceptable for this season.  we are building and building for a 5 year plan, please can we not turn into Newcastle fans with their impatient demands for total football week after week.  Let's instead look forward to next season with the potentail we have, a couple of players out (I'd suggest Boa-Morte and Bowyer look for pastures new) and some new players in ('d still love Bullard to come back home to roost).

Anyway, we have done the double over the Cottagers this season.  And after watching a tired Chelsea this afternoon, there is no reason why we can't rule over even more of South West London this Saturday.

Fulham v West Ham preview

Oh jesus, do we have to play this bunch again?   Zzzzzzzzz.  Anyway, guess the interesting thing will be team selection, Curbs has a decision to make as to whether he tries to fit the square pegs of Cole and Ashton together or goes 4-5-1, definitely my preferred route and a must away from home for us at the moment.  So I'd line up;

Green

Neil - Ferdinand - Upson - Macca

Freddie - Bowyer - Mullins - Noble - Solano

Cole

Have Faubert, LBM and Deano on the bench if we need to mix it up a bit.

This really is a game we should be winning but coming off two very average performances, it's not a result we can take for granted.  Fulham are if nothing else a fairly attacking side at home, which should play into our game plan of a swift counter attack with midfield support.  Spurs will also catch up on us in terms of the game in hand this week, with their Rumbelows Cup defeat to attend, so we really want to ensure some more daylight between them and us.

I'm feeling good for this one and fancy 2-0 to the Hammers.  Coral will give you 10-1 for this which seems like a reasonable bet and you can get yourself a free £10 bet by cliking the link below.  Enjoy and up the Hammers.

Discount code for Hammers fans

As every stereotype knows, West Ham fans just love their mums.  Probably because of all that pie and mash they made us when we were little'uns scrumping apples up west.  Anyway, having probably messed up Valentine's Day, keep the other woman in your life happy this Mother's Day by getting her something a little special.   The kind people at Buyagift.co.uk have given me a special discount to pass on to my loyal readers. 

So, to get mum something nice, or to make it up to the missus, click here, shop around and when you've decided, add the code tenoff at the checkout and you will get 10% off, provided your purchase is over £100.

Enjoy...

PS hope you don't mind these being thrown in every now and then, feedback from the others has been good, but feel free to let me know your feedback in the comments section.

Do West Ham need another midfielder?

Well there have been a few reports in the papers in the past day or two linking us with Steve Sidwell in the Summer for £5million.  It's been hard to judge the lad this season as his appearances for Chelsea have been occasional at best.  But at Reading he was certainly a decent player and he has not disgraced himself for the Blues when he has turned out.

As a player I guess he is closest to Scott Parker in terms of an attacking midfielder who can adjust to defensive when required and I certainly don't think we can count on Parker's fitness all the time.  However, I do think there is room to get rid of someone else in the Summer as well, as things are getting a bit congested in there.

So, of Dyer, Ljungberg, Etherington, Parker, Noble, Bowyer, Mullins, Boa-Morte, Solano and Faubert, who would be most willing to give a one way ticket to this Summer.  Actually, let's take Boa-Morte as read, who would be your second choice?!

Update: Thanks for your comments so far, i'd have to agree that Bowyer is likely to be suprlus to requirements next season, I do think the Championship beckons.  Would have to disagree with those who think Matt Etherington should go, at the very leaast he is a vey good squad player.  Keep your comments coming...

Tell the Premier League what you think of the 39th game...

As a follow on to the post on the 39th game, the good people at football365.com seem to be in agreement and have made up a tshirt which I encourage you to get hold of.  For just £9.99 you can let your club and the Premier League know what we think of this ridiculous idea they have to bring the domestic game to a halt.

Click here to go to the football365 shop

Zamora on comeback trail with a hat-trick

Bobby Zamora has given us a glimmer of hope with an excellent performance against Birmingham City reserves last night.  The lads won 4-1 but the performance was most notable with 3 goals from Bobby Z who we have not seen since September time when he got a knee injury.  Julien Faubert also got 90 minutes under his belt and Bobby seems impressed by the team-mate, saying "He put in a few brilliant balls and made my job a lot easier".

With the news that Craig Bellamy is likely to be out for the rest of the season and Dean Ashton finding the build up to his previous form a little slow, the return of Bobby Zamora can provide a real boost for us.  He was in great form for us towards the end of last season and let's hope he can find his scoring boots as quickly as possible.

Bowyer's red card appeal decision

West Ham have successfully appealed against the draconian red card shown to Lee Bowyer in last Saturday's game against Birmingham City.  This means there will be no suspension and Bowyer is free to play in our next game away to Fulham.

Although it was a 'no brainer' decision, it's good to see common sense prevailing at the FA.