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.