Olas V Swansea, Whats Entertainment

We want entertaining football, was the cry by many of the disillusioned last season, fed up with the its all about the point football served up by BFS and his players, but what is Entertaining football, who deems a game entertaining and surely it is an individual taste, some may have thought that winning is entertainment enough. George Best believed that football should be entertaining and he did his best to do just that, none so than his cameo at Fulham where he teamed up Rodney Marsh, the two of them were like the Morecambe and Wise of football in one game tackling each other as Fulham put on a show V Hereford, luckily the Big Match Cameras were there to witness so im sure youll find it on You tube, but what about at West Ham, we have been lucky to have been blessed with some of the best, Brooking, Devonshire, Ward, Mcavennie, Di Canio just off the top of my head but as I said, Entertainment is subjective, I’m sure many will say Bonds thundering around was just as entertaining as Brooking gliding across the park, though Billy was my hero as a kid, I never thought of him as Entertaining. What of our Modern day squad, do we have an individual entertainer, because I couldn’t pick 1 individual out, Valencia may be at a push, Downing is having the season of his Career if you ask me, but as a team together, I cant believe anyone could say we haven’t been entertained this season so far, either at the Boleyn or on the road. I Cant believe im actually saying that a Sam Allardyce team has entertained me, and I can’t lie, I’m loving coming to games, looking forward to the next game as soon as the current one has finished. I would like to say long may it continue but people may see that as a stamp of approval of Sam to continue in the job past May, while at the moment I’m still in the “Shake his hand and say thanks but no thanks” camp, if Sam Delivers the the FA Cup final, or European football, then hell may possibly have frozen and he would of deserved another contract, just 1 year though, I wouldn’t go over board.
The Jam sang about That’s Entertainment, but that was perhaps a look at working class life in a sarcastic way, but what if Paul Weller was a West Ham fan and has been inspired to write the song about what he had witnessed over the years at the Boleyn or on our travels around the country. For years we have been entertained watching West Ham and long may it continue, and so I give you the West Ham version,(by me), of The Jams That’s Entertainment, it may work better if you check the song out first on you tube or were ever you get your music from. I hope it works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-H0uIH5HHQ



The Boleyn Ground packed with singing supporters
Bubbles sung on terraces of concrete
Night time games under the lights
Brooking plays a pass without even thinking
That's entertainment, that's entertainment
The sound of grass being trampled by boots
an Inter-city train and a smashed up phone box
Thick woolly scarves and a 2 team bobble hat
lights going out as Lampard scores
I said
that’s entertainment that’s entertainment

draws for the cup made on a Mondays
pissing down with rain in Oldham on Valentines
watching the goals from behind a pillar
a Pop Robson hat trick while doing the Millwall
i say
that’s entertainment that’s entertainment

waking up at 6am on a Saturday morning
Queing at the turnstyles while trying to bunk in
A Julien Dicks tackle as he goes in hard
walking out the ground and thinking about the next game

that’s entertainment that’s entertainment

walking up Green street while smoking cigarettes
Nathans pie n mash and bags of stale Peanuts
a hot Pukka pie and Bovril like tarmac
Boxing Day at Upton park and wishing we’re not away
that’s entertainment that’s entertainment

Frankie and Cottee combining at Chelsea
Billy and Johnny embracing at Wembley
bringing the cups back on roofs of buses
saying goodbye to Bobby while standing at the gates

that’s entertainment that’s entertainment

Olas v Newcastle

A recent study claimed the Boleyn was the one of if not the quietest ground in the Premier league, now I do find that hard to believe, I realise it's not the wall of noise that we had back in the old days when terracing wrapped around the stadium but I can't believe we are quieter than Arsenal, and considering the study was done this season I still struggle to see how that outcome was reached. This season has been refreshing in the difference in the performances compared to last season, the crowd has been a buzz from before kick offs let alone during the games, and it has been a joy coming to games. Even in defeat this season 3 out of the 4 defeats have been by the odd goal in games where justifiably you could argue West Ham didn't deserve to lose. I'm often asked what I know think of BFS and the change he has brought about,infact it's such a change it's as if he's going through a male menopause. I normally just say I think Big Sam has been kidnapped by aliens and replaced with a carbon copy who looks the same, speaks the same, but Footballing wise is the complete opposite to what he used to be.
Back to us fans and what the future make up of us will be. It's no big surprise that the local supporter is a dying breed if not virtually extinct, I'm not sure how many in the ground today were born in West Ham or the surrounding environs but it will be a significant minority, with the move as well, opening up the ability of getting in to games much easier with the 20,000 extra seats available, the rise of football tourism will only continue. West Ham already has a healthy amount of foreign support attending here, but majority of them are supporters of the club, the reason I mention this is on Monday I met with a company that are looking to set up a business to enable fans from abroad, predominately Chinese at first, to experience football in the company of other fans, so they get the authentic football experience, basically the host fan will act as a tour guide for the day. I went mainly out of curiosity, I'm not a great lover of football tourists, especially after the Argentina v Croatia game held at this very ground recently were the majority around me seemed more interested in getting selfies with Messi in the background than they did watching the game, but perhaps I could be of use as a so called host. After the meeting I must admit I'm not convinced, my initial scepticism was not eased. West Ham are not a club the Chinese take great interest in and I got the feeling that the ones using this service wouldn't actually enjoy a pint in the Boleyn, pie mash in Nathan's before legging it into the ground just as the teams walk out. They'd want something different, which considering they would be paying for this service is no surprise, but as I pointed out, it wouldn't be the authentic experience if it was fine dinning and a chance to meet Tony Cottee. Perhaps I am a dinosaur clinging to a bygone day, being by passed by modern football, but nearly everyone my age I speak to agrees that football was better in the eighties than it ever has been since the premier league was Born, but yet we still come. The move will see the end of football as we all know it, but the thought of having thousands of Chinese with no affection for the club, grabbing selfies in front of the Statue of Bobby in its new position in champions place outside the OS, fills me with dread. A bit of me realises that's not the modern PC outlook to have these days, but that's just the way I feel, genuinely worried about what will become of us once the end has come.
Still I could bring my fears up at the next SAB meeting as despite the wholesale sacking of all previous 120 members, and with only 65 spaces up for grabs, the club still saw fit to allow 1 half of the 2 SAB members that voted no to the OS back in, so I suppose I must be doing something right.

The Demise and Fall of WHU (2010)

This is my 1st ever article that appeared on the PFA website back in the summer of 2010, I recently discovered it while clearing out my old laptop.
perhaps it encapsulates the real west ham way in that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. iI hope you enjoy reading it.

THE DEMISE AND FALL OF WEST HAM UTD (2010)


In the past few seasons the trials and tribulations of west ham seem to have been planned out by script writers for East enders ,with a cliff hanger at the end of most seasons .
Ever since we dispensed with Harry Redknapp’s services we have lurched from one near disaster to another, I remember when Redknapp was sacked thinking a bit harsh but he had seemingly taken the club as far as he could (3 top 10 finishes in a row before avoiding relegation with 42 points the season he was sacked), where the board went wrong was not in his dismissal but not having his replacement lined up ,in the end glen Roeder was promoted to manager by default and so triggering the start of the demise, within 2 years west ham are (bravely ) relegated as if written by the scriptwriters with the record amount of points any team went down with ,not only that but at this years world cup 5 possible England players ( James, Johnson, Carrick, J Cole and Defoe) all appeared for the hammers that season, the board then lied to the fans in saying that we shouldn’t panic and we would only need to sell 3 players to balance the books ,half the squad was gone by Christmas, and with Paul Inces star falling the scriptwriters deliver us Jermain Defoe our new pantomime villain.
The first season in the championship gives us more ups and downs than the big dipper at Blackpool ,
Roeder dispatched after 3 games ,Brooking back temporarily (only losing once) while we wait for Alan Pardew to be released by Reading after a trip to the high court. We make the playoffs where we lose in the final to a crystal palace team who were bottom at Christmas were managed by an ex hammer ,and fan, in Ian Dowie but also only made the playoffs on the last day of the season when (scriptwriters at work again) Brian Deane equalised with the last touch of the game for west ham away at Wigan , knocking Wigan out of the playoffs letting in crystal palace, who dispatch us in a very dull game, still always next season.
Pardew first full season is dull, dull, dull , but we scrape into the playoffs ,there the gods ,or the scriptwriters, are smiling on us ,back to the premiership at last.
In the Premiership the sun is always smiling, the football seems to be more entertaining ,and the best players in the world turn up on your doorstep every two weeks, life is good ,and as if to prove this after signing Dean Ashton in January we end up with an end of season knees up back in Cardiff for the 3rd year running only this time it’s the fa cup final v Liverpool ,a game we could enjoy more than the previous two trips to Cardiff as the existance of the club was not riding on it. Unbelievably with only just injury time left (cue the typewriter) Steven Gerrard scores probably one of the greatest cup goals and the FA cup is cruelly ripped from our grasp ,still we still have Europe to look forward too next season..
As season 06/07 approaches all seems good in the east end garden , yet the dark clouds are beginning to gather ,little did we know this was not a storm ,it was more like hurricane Katrina , yet it began with what we hammers fans thought was the coup of the season . On transfer deadline day west ham parade Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano at Upton park . Two world class players what could go wrong. Well how about illegal contracts , the club being sold , not to Tevezs agent who couldn’t raise the funds we were told , but to two Icelandics , lies told to tribunals to avoid points deduction settling on a 5 million pound fine. On top of this Pardew is sacked to be replaced by our long lost son Alan Curbishly. We are now in the eye of the hurricane yet in the pouring rain of Manchester west ham manage to avoid relegation with a win at already champions united, who else but Tevez scores the goal ,west ham stay up ,Sheffield united are relegated in their own topsey turvey game where an ex player scores a last minute penalty to condemn them ,and as if the scriptwriters were working a double shift ,keeping his new team ,Wigan ,in the prem, and just to top it all off he (David Unsworth) is a former hammer as well ,but in staying up west ham have sold their sole to the devil and undone the previous 110 years of history ,west ham are know probably the most hated team in the premiership, we used to be one of the so called second favourite teams of fans ,liked for our loyalty to managers and for (trying) to play football the correct way yet not succeeding ,oh and for producing the core of the world cup 66 team.
Some would say the Icelandic's got what they deserved (bankruptcy ) they had to hand the club over to a bank (which itself is bankrupt)and leave with nothing ,yet they have been replaced by two men who may be west ham fans but they have continued to make us even more of a laughing stock with their constant public spouting's and the way they dismissed Franco Zola ,the Chelsea legend who despite having the worst managerial record in my time following the hammers (middle 1970s) still managed to keep the fans on his side .
Hopefully the hurricane has blown away ,the scriptwriters have been sacked, and we can get off the ride as im starting to feel sick . As a new season approaches I feel optimistic about the future ,then again I have felt that way before and with the two David's running the show i think it will still be a bumpy ride.

Sullivan declares the West Ham way is Back

In the London standard Friday Dave Sullivan declared that the West Ham way is back but if you you've ever wondered what that is, here is an old Olas article from around 2011

Since the arrival of Sam Allardyce much has been made of his so called style of football and whether it fits in with the fans demands over the clubs need to return to the premier league. Sam himself acknowledged this when hired back in the summer, alluding to the so called West Ham way, he said "That history that West Ham have I am very well aware of and we will play the West Ham way with the players we have got to achieve the ultimate, and that's winning football matches,he then followed that up with " “What is the West Ham way? Being relegated? No fan wants that.”
But what is the West Ham way, and what are its origins,
Its birth can be traced back to a quote by former manager Ron Greenwood "The crowds at West Ham have never been rewarded by results but they keep turning up because of the good football they see. Other clubs will suffer from the old bugbear that results count more than anything. This has been the ruination of English soccer."
Greenwood took over at West Ham in 1961 and during his time came perhaps West Hams golden period, Bobby Moore,backed up by fellow youth products Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters lifted 3 trophies in succession culminating with the world cup win in 1966. Yet during Greenwood and Moore's time together and with three world cup winners in the team the highest league finish achieved was 6th, scant reward for the tens of thousands of East Londoners that game after game turned up at the Boleyn Ground. What made those fans keep coming back, well the answer is in Greenwoods quote, The good football they saw, which was born out of England's 6-3 defeat to the Puskas inspired Hungarians at Wembley. That single game influenced so many of this countries top coaches, exposing England's staid outdated tactics. One watching was Malcolm Allison, West Ham's captain at the time. He was allowed to organise coaching sessions at the time and set about changing the tactics at the club, he and other players at the time used to sit in a local cafe using salt and pepper pots to plan their new way of playing. Ron Greenwood was able to build on this when he took over and he was fortunate that West Ham youth set up was churning out the stars of the future, educated on the plans first laid out by Allison.
Style over substance, football to be played in a positive attacking way, and here lies part of reason of west Ham's failure to get any where near the top prize of a league title. So busy in playing positive attacking football that it seems the defensive side of the game was neglected, even with the great Bobby Moore at its heart. The season after West Ham's, sorry, England's world cup win, the hammers finished in a lowly 16th spot out of 22, boasting amazingly the 2nd best ranked attack that season averaging 1.9 goals per game, but they were let down by the 20th best ranked defence conceding 2 goals on average per game. If ever a season best exampled "The West Ham way" it could be that one.
All of the above occurred before i was born in West Ham in 1969, being born and brought up in the area there was only one club i could support, i cant even remember my 1st time at the Boleyn as i was a babe in my mothers arms as she stood on the terraces.My Football education increased in 1977 when my uncle secured 2 season tickets for us, and there in that 1st season of regular attendance that i began to discover my own take on the West Ham way, for that year for only the 2nd time in our history we were relegated from the top flight,just 2 years after appearing in an European final.
West Ham stuck by the then manager John Lyall, allowed him to rebuild the team and just 2 years later West Ham were celebrating winning the F.A cup. Celebrating for the 2nd time in 5 years a cup victory the 10 year old me could be forgiven for thinking that this was how it would always be, and in a way it has been, the highs of relative success quickly followed by a low. Lyall built a team that in 1986 came the closest any had done in winning the title, finishing 3rd behind the merseyside duo, Liverpool and Everton. Fast forward 3 years and relegation back to the 2nd tier of English football, paying the price of failing to build on that 86 team and selling off star home grown player Tony Cottee.
This pattern is repeated time and time again, 5th under Redknapp in the Premier league in 2000, 7th under Roeder in 2002, Relegated in 2003. If Carlsburg did relegations that that would be the one. No team has ever gone down from the Premiership with that amount of points,42. Not only that but it is possible thee team that should have been too good to go down. David James, Glen Johnson, Joe Cole, Jermaine Defoe, Trevor Sinclair, Michael Carrick, all current or future England stars, Throw in Di Canio and Freddie Kanoute and i still cant believe that team went down, but then that could be part of the West Ham way as well. Through all this though the fans have never left, still coming back game after game.
Fast forward to 2011 and after another relegation the clubs owners, in chasing a swift return to the top flight, appoint Sam Allardyce. A man whose football style is perhaps alien to what West Hams is supposed to be, he preferring the more direct brand of statistical football reliant on pro zone and not the type pioneered at our club by Allison and Greenwood and carried on by the legend that is Johnny Lyall, of football played for the entertainment of the paying crowd, on the floor passing laced with individual skill. Maybe not delivering the results they should, but give me the unpredictable quality of Paolo Di Canio every day over the goal scoring but often anonymous during the game Kevin Nolan.
I for one cant wait for a return of the West Ham Way.

OLAS V QPR

This time last season we had accumulated 5 points, the football was dire and Andy Carroll was injured, fast forward 12 months and we only have 2 more points, AC is still injured, but there is a feel good factor emanating around the club. I doubt a defeat under Sam has ever been as well received as last weeks V Man United, the performance was all we could ask for and the defeat seemed harsh. By the letter of the law Nolan was offside, but quite how the lino Saw that beats me, but still the team got glory after the defeat down to the performance, oh how we have waited for this to happen and in a way to me it proves mine and others stand against BFS as it is the performances that are the most important part of the game and as a rule if you perform in the manner we have this season then the results will follow. Sam has wasted his tenure playing his shite brand of steady football that has made him 1 of the most hated managers outside of whatever club he is managing at the time, and for many even while his managing their club. What happened in that meeting at the end of the season, more to the point, what happened after that meeting for Sam to spend the summer preparing for this season? Its as if he went on a journey of Discovery akin to the Blues Brothers walking into James Brown Church where at some point “SAM SAW THE LIGHT’,
Quite where this epiphany took place I doubt we will ever know, but he is on a mission from Gold (and Sullivan) and he is fulfilling that mission to play with style over substance. Don’t think for a minute though I am of the turning and accepting him as a manager, he is only doing this as it was forced on him, by the owners desperate to save the 3 million pound to get rid of him, but as long as we carry on the road we are currently taking then ill enjoy it, though to some I cant seem to do that. Walking down the Barking Road buzzing after the Liverpool game, probably only 15 minutes after the game had finished, an esteemed writer in this very publication texted me (you know who you are DY) to say that result cocked up my agenda, that of ousting BFS. I didn’t even get ½ an hour to savor the best game ive witnessed under Sam’s management, to be fair, he weren’t the only 1 but then ive never been 1 to hide my feelings for Sam.
Last week the club announced their Club London plan for the Olympic stadium but not to their chosen ones, the SAB, for it seems they have been forsaken and by some of the emails ive seen flying around between members many are not too happy, for it seems the actions of a very small minority in the SAB in revealing the clubs plan to the wider fan base to change the badge after signing a non disclosure agreement has meant the club are now thinking its time to end the SAB. Oh dear, what amuses me is that they cant see still they were there as a tick box enterprise, as a way to give the club an out if ever questioned on why there doing what they do. The funny thing about this is during the OS bid when info was given to the SAB it was Karen Brady in her rag column that exposed that vote had taken place and only 2 of the SAB voted against, yet a concerned fan disgusted at the march of the marketers that really run this club day to day breaks cover and then its curtains for the SAB. I myself is a member of the SAB but ive always believed the club were never going to listen and would do as it wanted to anyway and it looks as if I was right and im not the only 1 to believe that. The problem is many don’t realize that the day to day running of the club is not carried out by Gold or Sully and as if too prove it, it was revealed on a well known WHU fans forum that an EX Hammer, not the most well known but a member of cup winning teams no less was sent a bill for his tea & Sandwiches after attending a game in the lounge, now, this is not the 1st time ive heard this happen to an Ex Hammer, working as a meeter and greeter in the lounge getting a bill for his food while he worked, is that what we are reduced to as a club, I thought we were supposed to revere our old pros, the club are quick enough to wheel them out when their required but to charge them 30 quid for sarnies and tea is taking the piss really. But then when we’re in the day to day control of Arsenal Coventry and Newcastle fans theat never had the club in the DNA as youths can we expect them to understand why us fans react the way we do when our old pros are treated behind closed doors in a way that flies in the face of the family friendly club the marketers would love us to believe, I don’t blame DG & DS for this, they have entrusted the running of the day to day monotonous stuff to KB and her cronies and its they that are ruining the club off the park.

Olas v Liverpool 2014

I must admit the 1st couple of times I saw Valencia, he was the 1 new signing that I thought would struggle to make a mark in the Premier league, id not heard of him till the world cup, and only saw 1 of the games he played in, he looked good, but that was in South America and coming to play in Europe in a physical and fast paced league he just look too slight for me. Now while 1 swallow don’t make a summer, that goal against Hull was as good as a 1st goal I’ve seen since Tevez opened his Account for us with the free kick V Spuds 7 years ago, in fact, that is quite possibly the best individual goal since Danny Williamson ran the length of Burndon Park to slide in our third and considering Danny didn’t have the defenders in front of him Valencia’s thunderbolt even eclipses that. I mean how many of us sitting at home or those at the ground thought he had a chance to do what he did. Thing is, he has now with that strike upped the expectation on him, how successful he turns out to be depends on what he can do to match that, I mean, talk about setting the Bar high on your first go, I expect to hear the crown bellowing Shoot every time he gets the ball 30 yards from goal. The goal was fitting of the whole performance, I don’t get hung up on stats but im sure I saw we had 60% of the ball, which is something im sure we struggled all last season to achieve, if this is BFS way then long may it continue this season. The funny thing is after that draw i felt better than nearly after all the wins last season, and the reason for that was the performance, ive argued time and time again that when you watch football it is the performance that makes you leave the ground wanting to come back not the result, and to see the evidence of that you only have to compare it to the last season Hull home game.
If ever 2 games were so polarised in the outcome, performance and reaction from the fans after it would be those 2 games, against Hull back in March, WHU had just 44% possession, only 3 shots on target and had won the game from an own goal that came from a cross into the box which was not populated by a west ham player, and remember that was against 10 men for over an hour. It an un-heard of act by any set of fans at any club West Ham were booed from the park, yet that game yielded 3 points set that against the reaction after only gaining 1 point where the fans after across the net were crowing in delight. But ever the pragmatist BFS urges caution the next day in the London Standard
Actually Sam I beg to differ, attractive football without winning is good for supporters its also good for you in that the supporters will forgive a poor result if the performance is there, but like Hull at home last season, even if you win in the manner we did then, then you can expect to cop a van load of shit your way. And here is the dilemma for Sam, what will he do if he keeps putting out the performances we have been currently, I mean only v the Saints this season can you say we played bad, but continues to not pick up the victory’s, today against Liverpool and then next week V Man united, could easily return no points, after that is the return of Harry with QPR, will sam still be brave enough not return to type, only time will tell, and I didnt think I would ever say this under BFS but im really looking forward to todays game, the green shoots were there in the 1st game, and finally they flowered on Monday night.
“Attractive football and not winning is no good to me, no good to the owners and no good to the supporters.”
Actually Sam I beg to differ, attractive football without winning is good for supporters its also good for you in that the supporters will forgive a poor result if the performance is there, but like Hull at home last season, even if you win in the manner we did then, then you can expect to cop a van load of shit your way. And here is the dilemma for Sam, what will he do if he keeps putting out the performances we have been currently, I mean only v the Saints this season can you say we played bad, but continues to not pick up the victory’s, today against Liverpool and then next week V Man united, could easily return no points, after that is the return of Harry with QPR, will sam still be brave enough not return to type, only time will tell, and I didnt think I would ever say this under BFS but im really looking forward to todays game, the green shoots were there in the 1st game, and finally they flowered on Monday night.

Off the field finally it seems the club revealing details of how the fans will be seated in the Olympic stadium, they held a meeting where they outlined the plans to the remaining Bondholders and Corporate members. The club will have various lounges with a much larger capacity than at the Boleyn though only around 16 boxes, where currently its over 70. 1 lounge it seems may be modelled on the Club Wembley concept which will be called Club London, all part of the London rebranding of the club, these will be housed in the best seats on the half way line in the West Stand either side of the dugouts, those Season ticket holders at the Boleyn that currently occupy those seats im afraid will be shunted either sideways or over to the East. A move to me that is akin to a form of Social Cleansing, get the hoi polloi out the way, the high rollers are coming through. Some say that they pay the most money so they should get the best seats, but this move by the club shows how far detached it is becoming from its history and its roots. The fact that Gold is allowing this to happen in my eyes makes him a Traitor to his working Class roots. It’s one thing to better yourself and work your way out of abject poverty as Gold has done, but it’s another to spit on those fans for the chance to grab Money. I’ve said since virtually day one, this move is nothing to do with improving the match day life of the rank and file fan, the move is purely to improve the match activity of the Corporates and their guests who probably are there for the jolly up more than the football. Football sold its soul when it did the exclusive Sky deal, and in turn the clubs are following.

OLAS V Spurs 16/8/14 Rotten to the core

ROTTEN AT THE CORE
One thing that supporting West ham can never be said is that it is boring, even when the season is over there is still plenty going on but this off season has surpassed many in the past from not sacking Sam to the badge change through to DS drunk on talksport and the most pointless tour West Ham have undertaken down under. Never have I so looked forward to the start of a season, not because I feel it will be an improvement on last season as I think were in for more of the same, but at least it will be football we will be talking about and not our owners or Sam or the badge.
Looking back at my article for olas in the Spurs game at the end of the season I alluded to the fact that I believed that Sam was going to be sacked. Sullivan had enough of him and he was a gonna. My information was coming from people with direct access to Sullivan, and in fact I was also told that Sullivan knew that a section of the fans were openly engaging in putting pressure on the club to sack him and he in turn encouraged this as well. What happened to change his mind is one thing I don’t know, he has the power to act alone without Gold or anyone else stopping him as he has majority control of the shares as he owns himself over 50%, so at the end of season meeting the Monday after the spurs game I waited for the phone call to tell me he was gone. Alas, that call never came but I didn’t panic as the meeting ended with no outcome being announced and it was possible that severance was being agreed.
On the Thursday of that week no outcome had been announced I emailed David Sullivan myself directly, sending him comments from online forums of the many Season ticket holders threatening to not renew if Sam stayed, this was not the first time I have emailed him and to give him credit, he always responds openly and honesty, his reply was short this time “ we go on with changes” I responded with “ I hope it’s the right change, for the record I cant think of any reason to make me boycott and nothing would make me do so, but I just wanted to point out to you the risk you run in keeping him. Good luck”.
His reply left me stunned at 1st, it was the official West Ham United statement outlining that Sam was being kept, but he must change. The reason for being stunned was that the club had made no official statement yet it wasn’t on the website, yet here it is, in full emailed to me, an unknown fan, I could of leaked this myself and spoiled the clubs release of it, but no, I didn’t and the reason for that is that is no way for the clubs business to be conducted, I don’t agree with the tittle tattle of the ITKs rushing round trying to be the 1st to bring the breaking news, or Sully Jnr releasing it on twitter or DS or DG themselves briefing their mate so his website can have the exclusive on the latest list of players were bidding for. If football is to be a business as I am always told it is, then it should act like one off the field where it matters, do the things the right way, not the way the club is doing things at the moment that is for sure.
It turned out I wasn’t the only person to receive this Press release early either but luckily that person contacted the club and allowed them the time to put the statement up on the website before they put it out to the sites they write for.
Sam survived but with caveats, more attacking football, attacking coach, but this has not stopped the public embarrassment of the club. Big Sam alluding too it was the new attacking directive that accounted for our atrocious pre season tour of New Zealand, Sullivan then going on Talksport, while on holiday in Spain and attacking Sam which was topped off with DG favouriting a sack Sam tweet but then coming out and blaming jet lag.
A fcking script writer for a soap couldn’t do a better job.
These may be a little things in the scheme of things but if they cant get the little things right what chance the big things.
Talking of big things that leads nicely into the Badge change debacle that for me showed that the people running the club while they say they will listen to the fans, one of their original 10 points when they took over the club, if the fans views get in the way of what they want they will do as they please.
The background to our badge change starts for me years ago across London when Arsenal was looking to remodel their badge. The Arse looked at adding the word London onto their new stripped back and modern badge but decided against it, it didn’t sit right apparently on their new crest with just the Gun sitting in a 2 tone coloured shield. Fast forward to the end of may this year and I watched a video at an SAB meeting where the thinking behind a new badge was being shown, the club had hired a design company who via the video outlined their thinking behind what they had come up with,,, Crossed hammers on a 2 tone shield with London on it, oh and they year we were formed 1895.
This was all hush hush as the club didn’t want this to get out, the castle was to be retired apparently as with the move it no longer represented the club. Funny that, as the hammers are the riveting hammers used to build ships at the ironworks in canning town and they haven’t built a ship on the Thames since 1912 but I haven’t seen anyone want to retire them and nor should they.
Of course none of that explains why the Arsenal connection, well, Karren Brady has already revealed in the Sun she’s from a gooner supporting family, since she has been running the club the behind the scenes staff has seen many goings and comings, the new Chief Exec came from Arsenal, a new marketing Chief, came from Arsenal, a new person to oversee the move to the OS, came from Arsenal, Various junior level marketers have arrived, some from Arsenal, so its no wonder that London has been added to the badge because its probably the same people that stripped back and modernised the Arsenal badge into a 2 tone shield with a gun on it that stripped back and modernised our badge onto a 2tone shield with just hammers on it. They then took this badge with the date and London on it and released it, but even that was a joke. The club rushed through with this quicker than they wanted too as 1 outraged member of the SAB broke ranks and stared to reveal what was being done, the club had no choice but to reveal it as across social media it was already being discussed. As for the Yougov poll, independent they claim, my arse I say. We will listen to the fans claimed DG on twitter, 10,000 took part, out of half a million possible if the club can be believed, of that just over 50% voted said they liked the new badge, no ringing endorsement, but enough for the club to claim victory and the castle is history.
Funny how the club didn’t listen though when 78% of over 16,000 voted to sack Allardyce.
When the club move I will still go, but I have said in the past that I justify that to myself by the fact that when West Ham leave the Boleyn they will cease to exist, and like when West ham were formed in 1900 replacing the Thames ironworks team, a new club will be in Stratford ill go support them, I just never expected the club the actually make that thought easier but in 2017, a nice new shiny modern west ham will be in situ, with a new badge. Where will it end where will it stop.
The march to be seen as The London club continues, Karren Brady when revealing this week the update on how the hospitality at the new stadium is going, something that will concern only 3,500 of the 54,000 fans, she writes in the London evening standard, she addresses the article not just to west ham fans but to Londoners as a whole, if she wanted to update fans properly, why not do it by email, the club inundate us with crap emails anyway why choose to do it in the standard, because the club want to be seen as a team for the whole of London not just East London. To me West Ham is an EAST London club and this is another attempt by the club to move away from its past, to re-invent itself as something it is not. There is no one club of London and nor should there be.
We were one of the 1st to get a .London domain and for years now our new signings have been paraded in front of London images not West ham images, these include the London eye, St Paul’s and Houses of parliament and my favourite, Canary Wharf, built on the site of the Millwall Docks
The addition of London on the badge is for marketing purposes only to help us be identified to the legions of foreigners who have no club to support as yet but like London so may be they will follow us. But, what if that don’t work, in the clubs rush to be associated with London what will they do next if that fails?
London Hammers anyone, why not, after all its only a name, don’t mean anything, Does it?
The core of any club is the owners and ours is Rotten to the core. From sullivans leaks and public outbursts, from DGs on twitter whether down to jet lag or not through to Brady and her pursuit of turning this club into Arsenal lite. Sick of the lot of the I am.

Olas v Spuds big Sam sings My Way

BIG SAM SINGS
MY WAY

And now, the end is here
And so I face the final Home game
My Foes, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've played the game, which you lot havent
I travelled each and every highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I've got none
But if I did I wouldn’t mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without consideration
I planned each game we played, each long ball kicked, along the touchline
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I heard you boo
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, I was in no doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I cupped my ear and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way,
"Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way"

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

Yes, it was my way

If my friend who is supposedly ITK is to be believed today is the last time Big Sam will be in the home dugout at the Boleyn. His time is up, and I for 1 it cant come soon enough. It has taken 3 years and a lot of damage has been done to this club in that time, but if it is true then the fans will have succeeded in getting him out. The fans poll conducted on-line this week was damming, 78% of the 12,000 that voted said its time for him to go, coupled with the many comments posted on social media that are attributed to season ticket holders, many of whom were threating not to renew, culminating in the banner displayed at the West Brom game it appears our owners will shake him by the hand and say thanks, but no thanks.
For the 2nd time in his career the pressure brought by fans will end in his downfall and he can only blame himself for that.
I wouldn’t like to speculate on his replacement until its official, but if it was me I would be looking for a young manager, give him a 5 year contact, and even accept relegation in the 1st season without sacking if you can see that he is building something. Fans are often accused of being too demanding wanting success today, Now, yet im sure nearly every Hammers fan against sam, that is not the case. 1stly we want to see a team that plays a certain way, im not talking Barcelona or Arsenal type football, but a team that are not 1 dimensional, that can hit a ball up to the tall striker, but also play around him through midfield and play off him, that is where Sam just doesn’t get it, I can accept the Chelsea away performance or the Hull at home, if they were infrequent, but they are not and coupled with his arrogant manor when discussing in the media why the fans are up in arms he can not be surprised that is has turned out this way.
The problem is the move to the OS is linked to this, linked to his appointment, linked to the possibility the club may keep him, we have been through 3 years of him because of the move to the OS, that 1 thing has this club in Limbo and in reality is the one that is destroying the club.
I wish this was the last game ever here and the move was happening next season as it will only continue to hang round us until then. The club needs stripping back, playing staff coaching staff, the lot, we need to see a purpose to what this club is trying to achieve otherwise when we go to the OS it will be as I predict, same old west ham, just in new surroundings. And that will result in even more anguish for fans as it may mean we have sold our heritage and soul down the river for nothing.
Brady said world class players will play for west ham at the OS, if that don’t happen, all this mess were in now, 3 years of Sam Allardyce and his soul destroying brand of football, fans arguing, even fighting, with each other, will be for nothing. As much as I hate the thought of the move and nothing will ever persuade me it was right or just, the quicker we get there, the quicker the wounds may heal.
Don’t hold your breath though.
Enjoy your summer, thanks for buying and supporting OLAS
See you all next season.
mywhufc@yahoo.com

Booing football

Well, its been brewing for ages and to be honest i always knew that day would come, but i doubt that anyone thought it would come after a win. The fall out though is what has bothered me, the shocking performance really is nothing new as we have witnessed many a game like that over his nearly 3 year Tenure, yet when i got home after the game i went online to read what had been said across the West Ham sites and what i saw left a bad taste in my mouth, basically west ham supporters upset over the booing after the game calling those that booed, MUGs. MUGS? i couldn't quite believe it. we all watch the same game but we all view it through different eyes and yes there will always be different opinions in what went on, but the fact that some decided to Abuse those that frankly used the only way they have inside the ground to voice their displeasure at what they believe is the shocking tactics that are choking this club is disgraceful. Add to the fact that it turned out that some of the most opinionated fans against the booers didnt even go to the game but sat at home and watched did incense me. How can a fan that attends the game be a mug against those that are not at the game is quite beyond me. The papers were naturally full of it the next morning, pictures of BFS cupping his ears to the crowd splashed across the page mocking the fans that were booing him. In his interview after the game, did he try diffuse that situation by saying he understood fans frustration. No, he did his arrogant best, acting mystified over why the fans would boo a victory. He knows why those that booed did, its because they have had enough of his "only the result matters" brand of football that he specialises in. He is not bothered about flair or shock horror, entertaining fans. There a many fans that buy into Sam, they are fed a diet of the club being laden with debt so we have to cut our cloth accordingly, that it will be better once we move but for the next few years we have to basically take this medicine. Funny how the debt didn't stop us from paying him the 5th highest wage in the league, nor did the debt stop us giving Brady a pay rise or her million pound bonus for delivery the OS. The debt is only used as weapon against the fans that have the cheek to voice their opinion about the rubbish served up by the squad that he has assembled. naturally Sams friends in the press then jumped to his defence, Ian Ladyman in the Daily Mail "Back across town at West Ham, though, something felt odd about the events of Wednesday night. The club’s owners may well decide to move forward with a new manager this summer.If that happens, Allardyce will not complain. He will take his skills and his methods elsewhere. But to boo a man who is essentially fulfilling the brief he was delivered when he was appointed in June 2011 sets a very high bar for whoever follows him.Then finished with "Wanted: One football manager to keep West Ham in the Premier League. Must play like Brazil" Totally missing the point of what drove supporters to boo a victory, booing a defeat is easy, and can be swatted away as fickleness, and fans that want instant success, but to boo a victory shows that those fans care so much that will not accept the style of football BFS serves up. If football is too you just about the result and the points gained after it then why would you pay to go watch the game, especially when the result can be found as soon as the whistle has finished in hundreds of different ways. If it just about the result then fans might as well just stay at home and stick up the results service on Sky or the BBC. To Boo a victory says,in my opinion, that its not just about results, its not just about 3 points, they are wanted yes, but not a demand or requirement, the fans that booed that victory are saying that this club has had enough of watching the most lifeless brand of football to ever darken our door and it tells the owners that they know what they need to do. The owners are fans of this club, i cant for a minute with them knowing the history of the club and the type of fans we get at the Boleyn, that they themselves are happy with the way we are playing, they have to be seen to back the manager but privately i am sure they feel the pain of the performances and come then end of the season will shake Sams hand, thank him very much, and kick his fat arse out the door. Lastly in Reply to Ian ladyman's comment about football like Brazil, i just want football like West Ham, unpredictable but exciting, the type where you walk out after a defeat and say, didn't we play well. i remember a 5-1 defeat by Leeds in april 1999, we had 3 sent off yet that team showed more attacking intent that day then Sams team has all season, i walked out of that game feeling proud of the way we played, when was the last time you did that this season

only porn and horses

So Liverpool in an attempt to crack the American market for their owners have allowed Fox TV to make a documentary series called “Being Liverpool”, a programme that follows the day to day goings on behind the scenes , which has got me thinking what would “Being West Ham” be like, imagine if a camera crew could follow our owners into the boardroom and eves drop into their conversations . I imagine it would be something like this, Set the scene, West Ham owners have just trudged back into the boardroom after the end of their 1st full season in charge, which ended in relegation. GOLDIE “what we gonna do Sully we need to get back up at the 1st time of asking or our dream will be gone” SULLY “ don’t worry yourself old man I know what I am doing its all part of my master plan” GOLDIE “ what’s that sully boy “ SULLY “drive the share price down so I can snap up the rest of the shares off the Icelandic’s at a lower price, get back up 1st time of asking and I’ll be quid’s in” GOLDIE “ what do you mean I” SULLY “sorry Goldie I mean we. Slip of the old tongue. Where that KAREN” In walks Karen Brady, West Ham’s Vice Chairman. SULLY “ah about time to Brazza where you been “ KB “ I’ve just told Kevin Keen to forget about wanting the managers job” GOLDIE “ why did you do that” KB “ Because I sacked him” GOLDIE “ but he’s West Ham through and through” SULLY “Don’t worry about that, I’ve got some one lined up, a sure fire winner some one guaranteed to get this club where I want it. Brazza Stick the kettle on love and don’t forget the Hobnobs “ GOLDIE “ I remember once we were gonna make a Dildo called a Hob Knob, thought it might appeal to women who like to do it in the Kitchen” Sully and Karen just look and shake their heads. In the background the sound of music can be heard getting louder, it’s the imperial March from Star Wars Du du d du duu d duu d du duuu. The door to the board room opens and in walks a giant of a man, dressed in black he breathes heavy, in and out, in and out, Goldie struggles to get his words out as he looks on in fear GOLDIE “It’s It’s” SULLY “ Say hello to our new manager Goldie Big Fat Sam. Whats with the Heavy breathing Sam. BFS “ bye eck Sully those stairs are a killer” GOLDIE “ Whats he doing here sully, you promised me the next manager would be a football man, some one with a bit of class, a West Ham man” SULLY “ oh shut up you tart. We were lucky to get him; Real Madrid And Barcelona was after him you know. Aint that right Sam.” BFS “ Oh YEAH,,,,,, Well Real macribs and Barca lone star, they both play at power league in Accrington on a Thursday. Macribs were the favourite to get me, sponsored by the local McDonalds’, offered me all I could eat mcflurries. But when I got your call Sully I flew down here as quick as the old Quattro could carry me.” GOLDIE “ I told you in January when screwed O’Neil about, I don’t think the fans SULLY “ They will Goldie, that’s the beauty of relegation, these muppetts, sorry fans, will swallow it, just like the punters that buy those dodgy blue pills we knock out in the back the Sport, desperate to see it rise they will swallow anything.” BFS “ Is that tea coming and have you got any Eccles cake, I like Eccles cake I do” KB “ Ive got crackers Sam “ BFS “ Aye love you have, a right pair of crackers they are, but I really fancy cake with me tea, just like me Ma gave me when I was but a nipper “ SULLY “ Don’t worry goldie, ive got a plan, . BFS will get us up in the 1st year wont you Sam” BFS “ Aye, will do. Ill make this team the biggest in the land within 2 years” SULLY “ See Goldie, we can do it. With my leadership, Sams managemnt, Braaza’s ability to bullshit with best and you as the Figure head, the matriarch, the man whose come back home like Moses to lead us to our MECCA” BFS “ MECCA, did you say Mecca. I like a game of Bingo, used to play it with my Mam down t club, just before the Strippers came on” SULLY “ No Sam, not Bingo, STRATFORD, THE OLYMPIC STADIUM. If we can get into there, what with flogging this place and knock out a couple of the other sites well be quids in. THIS TIME NEXT YEAR WELL BE BILLIONAIRES” Cue the closing theme tune. We've got some half price Adult tickets and miles and miles of dodgy scarfs, T.V.s, garden gnomes and cockney reject L.P.s, Ball games, gold chains, whatsnames, and leather goods, And Trevor Brooking track suits from a geezer in the Spotted Dog, DOG, DOG DOG DOG DOG ... No income tax, no V.A.T., No money back, no guarantee, long or short, pass or hoof We'll play the game very longgggggg God bless Green Street, Viva Green Street, Long live Green Street, C'est magnifique, Green Street, Magnifique, Green Street, Green Street (to fade) Apparently the working title was “Only Porn and Whoreses” and you’ll have to wait to later in the season to see what happened next.

A Line in the Sand

This week i sat down with other west ham fans to start, with the club, planning the final season at the Boleyn. One item is that every ExHammer be them player coach or owner, that would like to, be asked to return for at least 1 more game and be presented on the field and even have as many as possible attend the last game. There are some Ex's though that may not be as welcome as others, Harry Redknapp for one, Defoe, Paul Ince, are another 2 that may not get the welcome back they deserve, Frank Lampard Jnr is another who may find a chilly reception, and that is putting it mildly. Yet they have pulled on the shirt at the Boleyn and as such should be welcomed back just 1 last time. So i ask that perhaps it is time with the End of the ground in sight that we draw a line in the sand, put all our grievances against these people to one side and allow them to spend 1 last time at the Boleyn, a place where they have entertained us whether we like it or not and they may, just like us, hold fond memories of the place. So is that a viable thing or should we let our dislike of those that we have perceived to wrong us stay with us to the end. I for one am a forgiving person so I would like to see them at least be applauded on the pitch one last time, but it should be a debate between fans with all fans left to decide if they would like to see them back.

still waiting to know the price of our soul

When Judas Iscariot sold out Jesus he received 30 pieces of silver, I don’t know how much that would be worth this day and age but probably less than what our owners are getting for the sale of the Boleyn Ground. That analogy may be extreme but to many that have been against the move to the Stratford athletic stadium the owners have finally sold the soul of the club, we are yet to know what they get but 30 pieces of silver or 30 million pound it makes no matter, the ground will be no more as of the end of 2016. Many may think this is sentimental clap trap but to me, and others that I know, it will be the end of the west ham united that was formed in 1900 down the Barking Road in Canning Town. When it was revealed that Gold &Sullivan were looking to buy the club back in late 2009 I must admit that I thought with David Gold in charge you couldn’t have had a better owner for West Ham, the man reeks of old style West Ham he would save the club, stabilise the ship, then build it slowly, having a club that still believed in style of substance. How wrong could I have been from day one they chased the OS yet they made all the right noises in that it wouldn’t be with the running track, as to quote David Sullivan just 1 day after buying the club Asked whether they would be happy to live with the track around the pitch, he said: "Ideally no, but there may be a way we could lay the running track for three months or something. On the BBC one month later Sullivan is reported as saying that football and running pitches don’t work yet when they realised that they wouldn’t get there way, they sold out their principles because money was needed. I was asked recently why I dislike our owners so much when others really like them, I replied that it was perhaps because I saw them, especially Gold, as one of us, but to me, they have shit on the club and the fans with the move, they way they have gone about it, the tactics they used against those against it, and the lies they have told. Basically, I was always told as a kid to never shit on your own doorstep, well Gold in my opinion has done just that. The Stadium will never be what a football stadium should be like, the distances and the overall size are just to large. There is nothing that can stop the move from happening but it don’t mean I have to like it or will ever believe it was the right thing to do.

Desperate or right

when I saw Andy Carrol's red card against Swansea I don't think and I doubt any one in football could for see the reverberations it would cause this week. Witnessing it at the time I must admit that I saw the initial tussle but looked away following the ball only to see Flores rolling around, my initial thought was that Carroll had done him off the ball, a friend text me at the time who was at home watching it on TV saying that contact was minimal but the intent was there. Once i had seen it for myself on TV that night I could in a way see how he got the red. obviously Flores reaction is tantamount to cheating yet that was a reaction to Carroll's action, like it or not AC swung his arm and did make contact with Flores, and for that he got sent off, debatable it may be but 1 of the 1st rules of football is the referees decision is final and that rule should be upheld more than any. Referees do make mistakes but so does every player on the pitch because believe or not they are only human. Naturally West Ham appealed against the decision,urging fans, via various online outlets,on the Monday to contact the FA,many were fuelled by the fact is was so obvious that Flores play acting contributed to the red card, yet Howard Webb stood by his decision that the red card was issued not as much for the connection but that AC intended to connect, the panel had no choice to uphold the decision. West Ham's owners though still felt hard done by, and sought unprecedented legal advice, for as the Swansea game proved WHU are far better with AC than without. If West Ham wanted to show everyone that they themselves see us as a one trick pony team then they couldn't have made it clearer, David gold came out fighting, not ruling out legal action calling on the FA to look again at the decision but telling was his admission that if we were mid table we wouldn't be considering the legal challenge also adding that if AC was banned that decision could relegate us, ignoring the fact that Carroll missed the opening 20 games of the season would be nearer the truth, ignoring the fact that the owners signed him knowing he was injured but also failed to properly cover his position. If we are relegated it will not be because AC missed 3 games it will be because of everything that went before his ban. So to then contemplate legal action just proves that it was an act of a desperate regime and one that if had taken place and been successful could of brought anarchy to the game, every red card would be open to the clubs not accepting it and following our lead in a legal challenge. The FA headed off our threat anyway with the promise of arbitration which today agreed with the previous Panel that Howard Webbs reason for sending off AC was a valid one, his 3 match ban stands, but yet the real crime is the actions of Chico Flores go unpunished, ignored by the FA and also the PFA after all his actions were designed to cheat another fellow professional. I dont know the rules on discipline but if ever a player brought the game into disrepute and deserved to be charged with that crime then that was Chico Flores. The clubs owners were desperate, and it showed, it also laid bare the fact that they realise without Ac we are a poor team and for that they only have themselves to blame

Conspiracy theory over the AC sending off

Ok I give in; Boycott is over, what do you mean you didn’t notice my boycott, bit futile then, bit like the fans being rallied on the internet yesterday to beg to the FA not to ban Andy Carroll over his Red Card against poor old Chico. I must admit that I saw the tussle between the 2 but then looked away to follow the ball, looked back again to see Chico rolling around holding his face. My 1st reaction was that AC must of kicked him or done him off the ball so didn’t complain much when the Red Card was shown, my friend who missed the game through illness was texting me and they thought it may looked harsh but to them intent was there and that was why he was off. Watching it back when I got home I must admit to being mystified as the Ref was not that far away from the incident so it was his decision alone to make and he obviously felt he saw something that warranted the sending off. The fact that we can appeal is at least 1 good thing and to be honest while making a frivolous appeal can add an extra game to the ban, even if we should lose the appeal it’s such a debateable incident that there’s no way we should cop the extra 1. Unless of course after yesterday’s encouragement to bombard the FA with begging text’s tweets and emails by some of the internet hammer sites it wouldn’t surprise me if the FA saw that for what it was, a shameful attempt to manipulate the due process or put unnecessary influence on the FA, funnily enough it would not surprise me in the slightest if the club were really behind yesterday’s shenanigans as it did seem strange that it wasn’t restricted to just the 1 site but was spread across the board with1 site having 2 threads at one point banging the drum, then again I am just a conspiracy theorist but you never know, law of averages dictates I have to get some of them right. If the decision goes against Carroll surely all is not lost as we have Carlton to come in, and considering the ties are probably 3 easier games then we should be ok, shouldn’t we? Unless of course the fact that the club used everything in their power either surreptitiously or not to get AC off shows that in fact they even realise that without him we are doomed, after all, it is in the next 3 games it is imperative that we gain at least 7 points and without AC perhaps they think/realise we won’t achieve that target. If we fail and then fail to collect 7 points in the next 3 and then if we are relegated by, say,,, 1 or 2 points, then the club have a ready excuse, it’s all Howard Webb’s fault and his stooges at the FA for sending our man off and not rescinding, totally ignoring the fact we didn’t have him for the opening 19 games of the season. Me and my conspiracies,,,, dear oh dear.

2 strikers 100 goals

The end result of last nights tie was of course a formality but still Man city played a 1/2 decent team, not only that but as if a 6-0 start wasnt enough they played with 2 strikers something Allardyce still does not seem intent on trying. Yes, he did play it in the 2nd half of the Newcastle game just gone but that was when we were chasing the game, last night he could of if he wanted thought "stuff this, the tie is dead, i'll play 2 up front and see what happens" yet no we still persisted with the 1 upfront. Yes Carroll did get much needed game time but i just wonder if he had someone playing tight next to him, could we be better at getting forward and actually creating chances,we are constantly told that 442 was dead and 1 up front being supported by on running midfielders was the way to play, that was until some old Chilean manager walked into City and decided that was the way to do it. 6 months later just over halfway through the season they have scored over 100 goals, thats what happens when you play 2 strikers, you score more goals.

I read today that our 6-0 defeat in the 1st leg had equalled the record scoreline for this stage of the competition, and that of record of course was already ours as it was the defeat of 1990 6-0 away to Oldham, at least we had the plastic pitch to blame that season, still looking on the positive side, a record is a record and better to be recognised with a record than not be recognised at all, after all to lose in teh semi-final of a cup competition even with a record defeat score proves we at least won the previous rounds, i mean if we were told before the Spurs game that you can win tonight but the penance is your humiliated over 2 games but quite possibly the best team in the country at the moment then i would of taken that, as for all the complaints of fans of ticket prices, which are extortionate, the teams performance in the 1st leg and just the club in general at the moment we can reflect that we had at least a decent run in the League Cup (old money). BFS has an awful record in the cups since coming to us so lets just take tonight as it is, a semi-final appearance in a major cup, because there is not much cheer around the place at the moment and every little bit helps, who knows, we may even win tonight.

To go or not to go

To go or not to go, that is the question, well for many a season ticket holder or regular home goer for tomorrow's night game in what is possibly the most meaning less game of football since we played Sunderland at home just before leaving the premier league for our season of winning games. I can understand those that would normally be going but chosing to stay away as some protest, as possibly the only way the club will realise that they do take the fans for granted is to hit them in the pocket, the sight of thousands, & there will be, of empty seats in the ground will hopefully show the owners how many fans feel, not just at the pricing of this game, but the cost of football in general and in some ways against the way the team has been performing recently. Me personally, I will be at the game but then that is because I class my self as a mug fan, the type of fan that no matter how bad it is no matter the team that is put out, no matter the opposition, if its classed as a west ham 1st team game then I will be there. It has gone past habit, its just I couldn't imagine not being there. I imagine that we will see a. Mixture of youngsters, reserves and fringe players, AC to get an hour, Nolan to play and Tomkins, I'd also like to see Maiga upfront with AC in a 442 but as well know that would go against BFS tactical nous. All we can hope for is a bit of pride in the performance and hopefully avoid the biggest aggregate scoreline which I'm told is 12-1.

Yesterday I put the case of head v heart, head came out on top today which is why you should neve bet with your heart. The reason for my head going for a defeat today was even though we had a great win away last week at Cardiff I thought we rode our luck, the Geordies were on the back of 4 straight defeats but 2 of them were against top opposition and one was in the cup, allied to that I saw their last game v Man City were there were unlucky to say the least. Looking at Newcastle you can see that they have picked a path to go down with the style of football they want to play and with the players recruited. Compare out player recruitment to theirs, they have an abundance of French players or players that have played in France, so when they come to the club the integration is easier, we on the other hand every January seem to go out for sticking plaster signings, no thought to the future it's all about the now and it is because of that short sightedness that we find ourselves in the mess we are in. As we speak the only signing the club have announced is a man that has been relegated 3 seasons running who wasnt wanted by his 3rd tier team due to indiscipline, our owners have been here 4 years now and it's been the same every January and it was the same when they ran Brum. We had the chance to rebuild the team when we went down but with the OS casting a shadow over the club our owners are only concerned with getting in there in the premier league problem is they seem to have forgotten that for the move to be a success we need a team fit for the stadium.

our record v Newcastle overall is not very good, 49 losses,38 wins,37 draws. yet that is our complete record, recently it is not so good either with only 2 wins out of the last 13 games since relegation in 2003. If West Ham have any hopes of avoiding relegation this is a game they must be thinking of winning. We picked up a draw against them in the opening round of games so if you consider that we need to improve on the 15 points we achieved from the opening 19 games then this is an opportunity to pick up 2 of them bearing in mind we are 3 points down on our 1st 19 by losing to Fulham away after beating them at home. last season saw a 0-0 draw at the beginning of may, we were sitting 10th while Newcastle were sitting lower in 16th. Recent form in the premier league is mixed, 3 straight defeats for the Geordies but 2 of those came against City in a narrow defeat at home last week and at home to Arsenal just after xmas. The mood around WHU appears to have lifted after the away victory v Cardiff and you could see the players were still a a team united and also importantly seemed to be with one with the manager. Love him or hate him no one wants us to be relegated and if BFS had lost the dressing room as rumoured then ours and his demise would probably come about. I not good with predictions but here goes, Head says loss, heart says 1-1, hopefully both are wrong.

It is not often i have a reason to be grateful we have Gold and Sullivan as our owners but with the recent shananigans from Southampton coming out today with the man that has led the club from the dark days in the 3rd tier of football resigning and its still not sure whether the manager will stay or whether players will be off loaded, it high lights how difficult it can be for clubs with Foriegn owners. Nearly every club that has or had foreign ownership has experienced turbulance along the way, Man united americans sadddled the club with debt will taking money out of the club, Liverpools 1st american duo fell out 1st with each other and then nearly run the club into deadlock, Man city under the ex Thailand premier Thaksin Shinawatra didnt tear up any trees, Blackburns indians commited virtual suicide in the way they have done their dealings, even our great club got badley burned under the 2nd richest man in Iceland who it appears over night became one of the poorest so on the face it at least in Gold and Sullivan we have owners that know and appreciate our history. 1 good thing i could say about Sully is that he did give Bobby Moore a job on his paper when the football world it apppears turned its back on him, and in Gold you couldnt find any other owner of any football club that could claim to have been brought up any closer to the club they evetually owned. one thing i would say though before i actually think i might end up liking them, at least when a foreign owner screws up a club and makes decisions based their bank balance not in the clubs best intrests they do it from ignorance of knowing how a fan of that club feels, yet G&S, they claim to be fans, so when they dump on the club they have no excuse.

Jan 15 last night i read an intresting piece from an american fan on west ham till i die website where he out lined what is was that made him a hammers fan. it transpires that he surfed the web looking for reasons to support a team, and what did he find, Green st hooligans, the film about some dopey american coming to london to stay with his sister whose husband happens to have once been top dog in the west ham firm.wanting to learn more he googled us and was directed to Ian Dales website,and from there he was hooked. Baring in mind that dales website a couple of years ago was like the retirement home from west ham fans airing their views that was some doing. As the premier league becomes more global the more foreign fans are allieing themselves to English clubs, quite why I just don’t get. They claim to have the passion and the same love for the club as those attending games or even those local to the ground, but I don’t buy that, how can they, football for me has to be lived in the flesh, not across an internet feed or via satellite TV, getting up at 5 in the morning to catch a game is not passion, singing bubbles in a bar in down-town new York is not living the game. it appears I upset many with my so called un-welcoming tone but I cant relate with overseas fans or what they bring. I dont feel I have to welcome them to the fold or feel I share a bond with them, because I dont. I was born and raised in the shadow of the ground the club was part of nearly my every day life, its impossible with me to feel any connection with them or their all american upbringing. I’m not saying that im a better fan than them or you can only be a fan if your from the area, each to their own I just cant feel any kindred spirit with them just because a Hollywood film gave them an insight to our world.