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.