Geoff Hopkins

The Beginning of the End for Bilic?

Whatever happens in the coming weeks is must be a question of when rather than if Slaven Bilic leaves West Ham this year?

Slaven Bilic

Unless our run of 5 defeats on the run is matched by an equal and equivalent run of victories leading to a top half finish it is very difficult to imagine a scenario where Slaven Bilic is still the manager of West Ham at the start of next season. The immediate question is whether results will be good enough for him to make it to the end of the season.

I believe that a manager’s credentials are often found out in a second season where initial success built on previous foundations becomes several steps backwards once a team reflects entirely the manager’s image. We don’t need to look much further afield than Roeder and Zola for examples of this; now Slaven Bilic is failing this test. Extra time to get it right could be justified if there was a sense of a work in progress creating something for the future but I fear the opposite is true and currently all we have is a short term vision only (though this is not solely the fault of the manager). On the evidence of this season Bilic falls short in many areas including player recruitment, team selection decisions, tactics and fitness levels.

It is interesting that despite the abysmal form and performances for the best part of the season that Bilic continues to ‘enjoy’ a significant level of support from sections of the West Ham fan base, predicated largely on his passion and the fact that he, at least for a while, pulled on the famous claret and blue jersey. Bilic supporters will point an accusing figure at the Owners and/ or the Stadium as the major factors influencing the season’s failures. I have tried to understand these arguments (not that both might not have their faults) but it is difficult to link them directly with poor on-field performances.

Bilic often cites the struggles that other clubs have when moving to a new stadium and frequently mentions Arsenal’s move from Highbury as an example. Yet if you look at Arsenal’s first season at The Emirates (where we became the first away side to win in April of that season) you will see that their record was only marginally impaired picking up 6 points fewer (and one less defeat) than the final year at Highbury (45 points down to 39). I am willing to accept that getting familiar with a new stadium can affect the dynamic of home advantage but it is a stretch to suggest that it is responsible for everything we have seen home and away from West Ham in 2016/17.

Owners are always an easy target when things are not going well and everyone has their own opinion on maintaining tradition versus the commercial reality of the modern game. Part of that reality is that these people own the club and are not simply an easy to replace board of directors. Their responsibility aside from commercial operations is to appoint the right manager and provide him (or her?) with adequate financial backing for transfers and salaries.

Like most I do not know how transfers and player recruitment work at West Ham, although that does not stop plenty of people from making stuff up in order to suit their argument. In an ideal world there would be a scouting network that identifies candidates with particular attributes that can fill a specific role within the style of football played by the club. The manager would select his preferences (or maybe add his own names to the list) and the owners would try to put together a viable deal acceptable to all parties. There is little evidence that it is as structured as this at West Ham with transfers carried out in a chaotic, inconsistent, scatter-gun manner. Such disorderly dealings are more likely to be the recruitment problem than the popular ‘two-bob’, ‘penny-pinching’ jibes thrown around by fans.

For a club of our size we have invested heavily in players but predominantly with a short-term view that has resulted in few sale-able assets; so we rank high in net spend but relatively low in gross spend. I am not aware of many proposed transfers that have fallen down because the manager was not backed by the owners. On the other hand I feel we waste a lot of time publicly chasing unrealistic big-money targets who are never likely to sign for a middle ranking Premier League club.

A bolder and more sophisticated player recruitment policy is needed that focuses on younger talent who will fit into a particular style of playing. If an occasional experienced player is required then that is fine but regularly bringing in players touching 30 and above should not be the norm for a forward thinking club.

Failing that late season miracle it must be a case of when rather than if Bilic leaves the club. Deep down Bilic must know that and has only his pride to motivate him. In my opinion we need to hit the 40 point mark before the end of April and a large part of that is winning on Saturday. What happens if we don’t is problematical. There is no credible number two waiting in the wings and time is too short for a permanent new appointment. Is there a short-term troubleshooter out there anywhere?

5 Cruel Lessons From Defeat @ Arsenal

The customary defeat to Arsenal as a slow and static West Ham show few ideas in the quest for Premier League survival.

No Surprise: Defeat by Arsenal

Considering the game in isolation, a defeat away at Arsenal (any defeat by Arsenal) is nothing unusual. It is what happens most of the time when we play them. In the context of the season, however, five Premier League reverses on the bounce and a growing realisation that we are feasible relegation candidates, another three points surrendered is a major concern. At one point it looked like the night could turn out a whole lot worse as Hull, Palace, Bournemouth and Swansea all took the lead. In fact we should give thanks to our friends from White Hart Lane for their late, late come-back in South Wales (hopefully denting Swansea’s confidence for the weekend) that our plight is not even more desperate.

Banking on a Clean Sheet?

Plan A at the Emirates, as far as it went, was to choke all life out of the game by defending in numbers and having Antonio and Ayew protecting the full-backs. There seemed little pretence that we would do anything with the ball when we got it; those very moments that Slaven had described as being when Arsenal were at their most vulnerable. In terms of its limited aspirations the first half worked reasonably well but it was all change after the interval when Antonio was withdrawn due to injury and replaced with Snodgrass. Arsenal raised the tempo after the break but still did not look convincing until the gift of a goal relieved the pressure, from whence onwards it was men against boys. The opening goal was a sloppy all-round effort by West Ham; Fonte failing to clear and Randolph allowing the feeblest of attempts by Ozil to elude him and nestle in the back of the net. Complaints about offside merely intended to hide the embarrassment of another Randolph blooper.

Anyone Got a Plan B?

The tactical switch after the goal was to replace Carroll with Sakho, exchanging one man receiving no service with another, but with no discernible variation to shape or formation. It was pretty much ‘shit or bust’ after the Arsenal goal went in and so was probably worth 30 minutes or so of Carroll and Sakho together to see how it worked. From the opening of the second half had begun it seemed that the wide players had given up on tracking back and, for the most part, the ball was given away quickly and cheaply those few times we won possession. The goal galvanised the Gunners and it became a case of how many they would score; and with a different referee they could have added a few penalties to the haul of three scored from open play. We did manage two shots on target in the closing stages; decent strikes from Lanzini and Fernandes but both comfortably saved by an otherwise redundant Martinez.

Slow and Static Doesn’t Win The Race

When you look through a team-sheet that includes players such as Fonte, Collins, Noble, Snodgrass and (probably) Ayew you will find some of the slowest players currently operating in the Premier League. I’ve not yet decided whether Ayew is simply slow or merely lazy! Who thought it a good idea to fill a side with players so lacking in pace (and movement it has to be said)? Occasionally a player of sublime skill can overcome a lack of pace but, in the modern athleticism of Premier League, pace has become a prerequisite for almost any player. How can you play a game relying on breakaways when the team is so collectively slow? Why are other teams always on the move, creating space and anticipating the pass while our players remain static until they receive the ball? Despite significant expenditure on the squad we are largely back to a position where a major overhaul is required, not just the odd tweak. We are nowhere near one or two players away from a great team and the notion of signing players close to or over 30 is horrendously short-sighted.

What Next?

We now have two defining fixtures, home to Swansea and away at Sunderland, where a minimum of four points are required, preferably six. We are on our worst run since Avram Grant took us to the next level in 2011. Can we do it? Difficult to say based on the evidence of the manager’s poor decision making and selections of the past and the questionable pace and fitness of the players. We do have enough potential to see off both Swansea and Sunderland, subject to Antonio’s fitness. Antonio and Lanzini are our best hopes for survival and more game time for Fernandes would make sense. I am hoping that Swansea’s failure to beat Middlesbrough and their late capitulation to Tottenham will work to our advantage. I will spend the next few days looking for other straws worth clutching at.

Matchday: West Ham in the Arsenal Firing Line

Uncomfortably close to the relegation scrap West Ham face a difficult trip to The Emirates.

Arsenal West Ham After last night’s results, West Ham travel to The Emirates having dropped to 15^th place in the Premier League table. By the end of the day it is not unthinkable that we will have fallen further in the standings as we have become one of a handful of clubs competing to avoid the third relegation place. A few weeks back the spectre of relegation was viewed as a mathematical rather than a realistic possibility. With key players unavailable and with a dispirited and largely disorganised side on the slide after a run of four consecutive defeats it is surprising that there the alarm bells are not ringing even more loudly. As relegation rivals knuckle down to scramble clear through hard work we appear to be meandering dangerously and obliviously towards the drop. Whether Slaven Bilic can conjure up a cunning escape plan that does not rely on other club’s performing even worse remains to be seen.

Fellow under-fire manager Arsene Wenger must have uttered a silent “magnifique” when he spotted that his next opponents were the obliging eastenders. Although Arsenal’s record this season is identical to the same stage last time around they are further off the pace for their customary Champion’s League qualification. Having seen off the Hammers with aplomb at the London Stadium in December today’s encounter will be seen as a perfect opportunity to set off on a strong finish to the season.

Arsenal have their problems, but they are still a team with a lot of pace, a team you can’t afford to lose the ball against in your own half because the transition and pace they have up front is unbelievable. When they lose the ball they are very vulnerable because they leave a big space behind which you can use.

– Slaven Bilic

I was equally pessimistic going in to the corresponding fixture last year as West Ham, fresh from their tame Europa Cup exit, kicked off their Premier League campaign at The Emirates. As we know it turned out to be the first in a number of surprise results as a relatively unknown Dimitri Payet and a young Reece Oxford helped plot a shock 2-0 win for the Hammers. The future looked bright as the dark days of Fat Sam were replaced with the fresh air of an apparently bright and tactically astute new manager. How quickly football can change!

Head to Head

Last year’s victory was the solitary Hammer’s win in the last fifteen meetings against the Gunners, which otherwise have seen eleven defeats and just three draws. Both teams are on a sorry run of form with West Ham having taken just two points from the last six games and Arsenal slightly better with four.

There have, however, been a few memorable and unlikely successes away to Arsenal over the years including that permanent record of being the last away team to win at Highbury and the first to win at The Emirates. Getting a result tonight would rank alongside both events and could even go down in history as a minor great-escape for both the club and Slaven Bilic.

Team News

West Ham welcome back Michail Antonio for tonight’s game with his place in the treatment room being taken by Aaron Cresswell. There is much speculation about the return of Diafra Sakho with the player claiming he is raring to go while board and manager are voicing a more cautious stance with talk of a place on the bench. I wonder what Sakho is like at left back?

The major problem for West Ham is how their ageing central defenders and largely plodding midfield will contain an Arsenal side that attack with pace and movement. In terms of style Arsenal and Manchester City have much in common and both have a tendency to open up our defence with ease. To have any hope West Ham have to deny space in the central areas and to break quickly when in possession. I doubt we have the players or level of fitness to do either over the course of 90 minutes.

If we show the same spirit we showed against City, we will win football games. We have played 20 games unbeaten this season, and I think it’s a good opportunity to remind people we are not fighting to not go down – we are fighting to have a positive end to the season.

– Arsene Wenger

Arthur Masuaku coming in for Cresswell does not weaken the team but how the remaining spare part players (Ayew, Snodgrass, Feghouli) are scattered into the line-up will be revealing.

Arsenal are without Laurent Koscielny and have a problem in the keeper position with Cech out and Ospina doubtful; perhaps a recall for Pat Jennings or David Seaman would be enough on the night. Otherwise the Gunners are at full strength.

Man in the Middle

The referee is Martin Atkinson form West Yorkshire. Atkinson has refereed three previous West Ham games this season, a home defeat to Watford and away wins at Palace (where he sent off Cresswell) and Middlesbrough. In 33 games this season his record is 114 Yellow cards but just the two reds.

This Week in Hammer’s History

Semi-final action in successive Cup Winner’s Cup campaigns and a twice played affair with Ipswich in the week 3 – 9 April in Hammer’s History.

This Week Hammers History It was semi-final time in the European Cup Winner’s Cup campaign of 1965 and having had a relatively easy draw beforehand West Ham now faced formidable opposition in the shape of Spanish side Real Zaragoza. In the first leg at Upton Park West Ham raced into a 2-0 interval lead. Brian Dear scored the first heading home from a John Sissons cross and Johnny Byrne added the second when Sissons touched on a cross from centre-half Ken Brown. The Hammers were unable to keep up the momentum in the second period and came under increasing pressure from the Spaniards who got their reward with an away goal ten minutes after the break. That was the end of the scoring allowing West Ham to take a slender lead into the return leg.

Standen, Kirkup, Burkett, Peters, Brown, Moore, Boyce, Dear, Byrne, Hurst, Sissons

A year later it was again the same stage of the same competition with West Ham avoiding Liverpool and Celtic in the semi-final draw to earn a tie against West Germany’s Borussia Dortmund. Ron Greenwood stripped transfer seeking Bobby Moore of the captaincy prior to the first leg match at Upton Park which nonetheless was a thrilling affair. Martin Peters put the Hammers ahead early in the second half and looked like holding on to their lead until conceding twice in the last five minutes to end the night with a 2-1 deficit. It would now be an uphill task for West Ham to keep their hands on the trophy that they had won the previous year.

Standen, Brown, Charles, Peters, Boyce, Moore, Brabrook, Bloomfield, Byrne, Hurst, Dear

In 1975 West Ham had reached the FA Cup semi-final for the first time since 1964 and faced a strong Ipswich Town side at Villa Park. In a largely uneventful game Ipswich dominated play but were unable to breakthrough the Hammers defence with the game ending goal-less. The replay took place four days later at an icy Stamford Bridge. Continuing his fine FA Cup form Alan Taylor put the Hammers a goal up before Billy Jennings sliced a spectacular own goal to level the score. Ipswich had two goals disallowed for offside by referee Clive Thomas but it was that man Taylor once more who struck from the edge of the area to put West Ham through to Wembley.

Day, McDowell, Lampard, Bonds, Taylor, Lock, Jennings, Paddon, Taylor, Brooking, Gould (Holland)

Day, McDowell, Lampard, Bonds, Taylor, Lock, Jennings (Holland), Paddon, Taylor, Brooking, Gould

In league action this week has witnessed two 4-1 away victories at White Hart Lane; in 1966 (Redknapp, Boyce, Byrne and Hurst) and then again in 1994 (Morley 2, Marsh and Jones). Finally a potential omen was the 2007 victory over Arsenal at The Emirates; Bobby Zamora scoring the only goal of the game.

5 Observations as West Ham go down to Hull

A fourth successive defeat leaves the Premier League trapdoor too close for comfort.

The Next Level

There has been a lot of talk about the club moving to the next level but not many have until now considered that the new level could be downwards into the Championship. Yet another abject performance and the surrender of a further three points from a winning position leaves West Ham just six points away from the last relegation place. By Wednesday the gap may well have narrowed to three. With Leicester and Palace on an upward trajectory the number of teams that we now need to outperform are becoming fewer. Although another three or four points may be enough for survival, current form makes it difficult to see where these might be coming from.

Another Fine Mess

Once again there was scant evidence of shape, tactics, organisation effort and fitness from the boys in claret and blue. Hull were not much better but they had spirit, work-rate and determination, particularly in the second half. Even with the injury situation the team selection was difficult to understand. A lack of pace throughout the team and little protection in midfield for the ageing centre back pairing was an open invitation to the opposition. One assumes that Bilic has had a falling out with Nordtveit who despite failing to impress seemed to be the obvious choice for a defensive midfield role, particularly if Noble was deemed not ready to return. Missing three weeks with a dead leg appears curious and suggests our treatment room is on a par with the training ground for effectiveness. Expect Manuel Lanzini to be ruled out for the season with a paper cut next.

Bits and Pieces Players

While other teams in the lower reaches of the Premier League rely on cohesion and hard work it feels like we expect to coast through games in the mistaken belief that we have better players who don’t really need to try too hard. The squad is being filled with an assortment of players of ordinary ability who fail to complement each other in any way. Feghouli is definitely not a Premier League footballer; he has no powers of anticipation and simply reacts should the ball come in his direction. Snodgrass is a luxury free-kick specialist who has now lost that spark of enthusiasm that he first arrived with. Ayew has managed to get in good scoring positions but makes little contribution in all-round play; whatever his best position is we have yet to find it. Randolph is not a Premier League Number 1. Even now we are being linked with even more players aged 30 and over which, if true, suggests a very worrying limited and short term view.

Can We Fix It?

There are different schools of thought as to where the blame lies for what has turned out to be a dreadful season. It is either the fault of the Board, the Stadium, the Manager, the Players or it is merely the West Ham way to be average, disappointing and under-performing. Of the above there is limited short term room for manoeuvre. The Boleyn has gone and, like it or not, the London Stadium is home for the foreseeable future. I can accept that moving to a new ground can dissipate home advantage but it doesn’t explain poor performance. The Board are the owners of the club and are going nowhere soon. The Daves have their faults but it is wrong to suggest that they have not backed their managers in the transfer market. At this stage of the season there is no quick fix to the playing staff and may, in fact, require several windows to shift out the latest collection of recently acquired dead wood. That leaves the choice of doing nothing (because it is fate) or replacing the manager.

Goodbye Slav (and thanks for some great results last season)

I think we can all agree that Slaven Bilic is a great bloke and has oodles of passion. He may even ‘get us’ whatever that means. I cannot, however, think of any footballing reasons why he should be kept on as manager. We have become a team that lacks a clear style of play or formation; that is short on tactics, fitness, pace and mobility; and that is stumbling from one disaster to another. There is no vision, plan or strategy to build for the future. A good manager makes the best of the resources that he has and Bilic has been unable to create a team unit that is greater than the sum of its parts. Past results unfortunately mean nothing as has been demonstrated by the situation at the resurgent Leicester. Even assuming we do manage to stay up with Bilic in charge then I can only see a repeat next season. The club needs a manager with ideas and with tactical and organisational excellence. This is not unfortunately Slaven Bilic. As much as I would have loved to see him succeed the wise decision now is to dispense with his services now rather than having a dead man walking until the end of the season.

Matchday: West Ham on the road to Hull

It’s no early April joke as an injury hit and out of form West Ham take the road to Hull.

Hull West Ham So where were we before that unwelcome international break came along? Oh yes, that’s right, a club in turmoil; just one win in six, three defeats on the bounce, one clean sheet in the last fourteen, Bilic in, Bilic out, sack the Board and supporters wishing for the season to end. Not only that but now we are a club in turmoil going into a game without our three best players, all injured last time out.

Any team desperate for relegation saving points would be eagerly scanning the fixture list for an encounter with a lacklustre, formless, shapeless and complacent mid-table West Ham. Hull will be no exception and will be confidently targeting a full complement of points from the game. They are a hard-working side who enjoyed an upturn in fortunes following the appointment of Marco Silva but come into this game off the back of 4-0 hammering by Everton and still sitting in the last of relegation places. It is three years since a Marco Silva side lost a home game.

I just concentrate on my job. I am totally focused on the next game. The speculation does not worry me. I am not reading it or making phone calls or whatever. We are in a position where we can have a good finish to the season. We have a lot of games to play and there is a lot to play for.

– Slaven Bilic

The home match against Hull was one of several lucky wins that played its part in putting the thinnest veneer of gloss on the season allowing the Hammers to scramble briefly into the top of half of the table. The man-of-the-match performance of the post has now joined Fat Sam’s ear-cupping into the annals of West Ham – Hull folklore. Slaven Bilic might want to consider putting a few extra posts on the bench today given that it wouldn’t noticeably weaken the squad.

Head to Head

A West Ham win today would be a first ever Premier League victory away to Hull and would also be the first time that this fixture has been won by the away side in the Premier League. I don’t imagine too much work for the record book writers this afternoon, however. West Ham have recorded a total of four away victories outside of the Premier League at Hull; the last of these a 2-0 success in 2011 with goals from Jack Collison and Sam Baldock.

Team News

With Winston Reid, Pedro Obiang and Michail Antonio absent through injury the greatest conundrum for Slaven Bilic would seem to be where to play Cheikhou Kouyate. Does he play in central midfield and allow the Dad’s Army pairing of Fonte and Collins to play at the back or does he play him as a central defender and combine Mark Noble (back from his holidays) with either Edmilson Fernandes or Havard Nordtviet in the centre of midfield. Although I would like to see Fernandes given more opportunity he is not really a defensive minded player and so maybe we will see a return for Nordtviet (who apparently did well for Norway during the break). Fonte and Collins can only work if Hull guarantee only to play high balls into the box. I’m not sure they will oblige and the idea of them facing pacey players without the covering of Obiang would be of great concern to an already leaky defence.

We have done well at home of late and we want to win again. The secret to our home form is work – hard work.

– Marco Silva

Further up-field we have Andy Carroll, still on his 49 Premier League goals mark, and Andre Ayew who is on a light mauve (if not full blown purple) patch of goal-scoring of late. Robert Snodgrass remains Hull’s leading scorer this season but has yet to pull the trigger (!) for his new club. We will remain lop-sided in attack without an effective left sided player given that both Ayew and Snodgrass prefer to play on the right or simply go walk-about.

Hull have a number of injuries including Mbokani and Mason but Michael Dawson may be fit enough to feature. Tom Huddleston begins a three match suspension following his dismissal at Everton.

The Man in the Middle

Today’s referee is Mike Jones from Chester (are there any southern based referees?). He is another of the occasional visitors to Premier League officialdom and the only previous encounter this season was in the EFL Cup defeat at Old Trafford. Jones was in charge of two West Ham league games last season; away trips to Norwich and Stoke.

In his 25 games this term he has awarded 97 Yellow and 4 Red cards.

This Week in Hammer’s History

League and Cup Winners Cup action, a tiring week for the Boys of 86 and some heavy reverses in the week 27 March to 2 April in Hammer’s History.

This Week Hammers History There are some results that we can only look back at while hiding behind the sofa and two games played in the week 27 March to 2 April fall firmly into that category.

On April Fool’s Day in the 1999/ 2000, Harry Redknapp’s Hammers visited Old Trafford and after 11 minutes had taken an unlikely lead through Paulo Wanchope. It didn’t remain unlikely for long, however, as goals from Scholes and Irwin quickly put the hosts into a lead that they would not lose. Two more goals from Scholes and one each from Cole, Beckham and Solksjaer rattled past Craig Forrest to send the Hammers away with a humiliating 7-1 defeat.

The same week in 1985 West Ham were at Vicarage Road on the wrong end of a 5-0 thrashing by Graham Taylor’s Watford – Luther Blissett and John Barnes among the scorers. Little evidence at the time that the following season would become the best ever in Hammer’s history.

The fixture backlog in 1985/86 required West Ham to play 16 league games between 15 March and 5 May, three of which took place this week. It started with the highest high of a 4-0 away win at Stamford Bridge against a Chelsea side also very much in the title race at the time. Goals from Cottee (2), McAvennie and Devonshire doing the damage.

Two days later the momentum continued with a 2-1 home win against Tottenham; a goal apiece again for deadly duo Cottee and McAvennie lifting West Ham to 5^th in the table, 10 points behind the leaders, Everton, having played 5 games fewer.

The week was to end in something of a low, however, as the Hammers went down 2-1 away to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. Cottee scored the West Ham goal but the game is best remembered for a goal scored from a free-kick by Dutchman Johnny Metgod. Taking a fast bowler’s run up Metgod struck the ball with such venom that it went straight through the despairing hands of Phil Parkes.

In 1976 the first leg of the European Cup Winners Cup semi-final had West Ham travelling to play Eintracht Frankfurt at the Waldstadion. A spirited performance resulted in a 2-1 defeat to set up the second leg for one of the all-time great floodlit nights at Upton Park. In the game a fine Graham Paddon strike had put the Hammers into the lead before the Germans hit back twice either side of half-time.

Day, Coleman, Lampard, Bonds, Taylor, McDowell, Holland, Paddon, Jennings, Brooking, K Robson

The 1981 League Cup Final Replay against Liverpool also took place during this week at neutral Villa Park. Liverpool had drafted in a young Ian Rush for the game but it was West Ham who took the lead after 10 minutes with a diving Paul Goddard header from a Jimmy Neighbour cross. Liverpool stepped up the pressure in response and goals by Dalglish and Hansen were enough to secure a first League Cup success for the Merseysiders.

Parkes, Stewart, Lampard, Bonds, Martin, Devonshire, Neighbour, Goddard, Cross, Brooking, Pike (Pearson)

Notable Birthdays:

27 March             Hayden Mullins                 38
27 March             Pedro Obiang 25
27 March             Stuart Slater                       48
28 March             Michail Antonio 27
29 March             James Tomkins 28
2 April                   Eyal Berkovic 45
2 April                   Teddy Sheringham 51

The Stuttering Academy of Football

International break doldrums, Hammer-free England squads and an Academy firing blanks.

Academy of Football Another international break to endure this weekend as national teams around the world compete for a place in the World Cup finals in Russia in the summer of 2018 even though the format of qualification is designed to ensure that the same teams (plus a few wild cards) qualify every time. Even if something goes wrong it would be no surprise to hear of Russian hackers interfering with results to ensure the correct outcome.

The script for England will be the same; runaway winners of a very weak group, heightened media expectation and ultimate quarter final elimination amid scenes of running street battles in the ‘prospekts’ of St Petersberg.

Personal interest in the national team tends to be proportional to the number of West Ham players in the team and thus the reading is currently close to tepid. At present Antonio, Carroll and Cresswell are at the periphery of selection but the odds are not be high on any of these being in the squad and/ or still at West Ham come the 2018 Finals. It seems to be all Tottenham and Southampton players at the moment.

We like to imagine a happier time where there was a production line from the famous Academy of Football into the national team. Even if that were occasionally true the machinery requires urgent repair as the Academy goes through one of its cyclical periods of defective goods.

Since the beginning of the 2006/07 season the following academy graduates have made a first team appearance (excluding Europa League) for the Hammers:

Jack Collison, Freddie Sears, James Tomkins, Zavon Hines, Junior Stanislas, Josh Payne, Anthony Edgar, Jordan Spence, Callum McNaughton, Dan Potts, Robert Hall. Matthias Fanimo, Dylan Tombides, Elliot Lee, Leo Chambers, Pelly Rudock, Sebastian Lletget, George Moncur, Callum Driver, Blair Turgott, Reece Burke, Reece Oxford

Only James Tomkins from that list went on to become an established Hammer, although Jack Collison’s career was unfortunately cut short by injury and the tragic Dylan Tombides was never allowed to fulfil his potential. Of the others, Junior Stanislas built a useful career at Bournemouth but the remainder had to settle for playing in and around the lower leagues. None of them were ‘ones that got away’. Who can forget that 5 of the last 6 academy graduates made their debut in the disastrous FA Cup defeat at Nottingham Forest?

One of the criticisms levelled at Slaven Bilic (and Fat Sam before him) is the reluctance to blood youth players. The evidence suggests that, despite any other shortcomings, this particular point might be unfair criticism.

There was a feeling of optimism back in August, not only that we would enjoy a good campaign on the back of a seventh place finish but that there were, at last, a crop of new youngsters coming through the system. A number of these are now (or have been) out on loan to various lower league teams but how have they fared:

Reece Burke (Wigan), Reece Oxford (Reading), Marcus Browne (Wigan), Martin Samuelsen (Peterboro), George Dobson (Walsall), Stephen Hendrie (Blackburn), Tony Martinez (Oxford), Alex Pike (Cheltenham), Josh Pask (Gillingham), Doniel Henry (FC Horsens), Kyle Knoyle (Wigan), Jaanai Gordon (Newport)

Looking at their records, only Josh Cullen has been a regular starter (in what is his second season at League One Bradford City) although Reece Burke had been earning good reviews at Wigan before picking up an injury that saw him return to West Ham for treatment. Josh Pask and Doneil Henry also suffered injuries while on loan.

Highly rated Reece Oxford has yet to make a start at Reading and despite a strong goal-scoring introduction Tony Martinez is no longer a certain starter at Oxford United. The rest have been peripheral figures at their adopted clubs which reflects either on their own abilities or the wisdom of the loan system.

A highly rated player who has not been packed off on loan is Domingos Quina and he has occasionally found himself on the first team bench without ever being called upon to get warmed up. Maybe we will get a look at him before the season is out.

Putting on my Utopian claret and blue spectacles I have high hopes that Quina and both the Reeces can make the step up to the first team at some stage; I also liked the look of Marcus Browne on his brief Europa League appearance. Apart from those though I am unconvinced although will admit that the instinct is coloured by the impact players are having on loan rather than from the position of watching them play regularly. When the likes of Ferdinand, Lampard, Carrick and Defoe went out on loan as young players they all made their mark.

Everyone loves an academy graduate and we are long overdue the pleasure of seeing home-grown talent rise up to the challenge of first team football. The Academy needs to reclaim its reputation.

This Week in Hammer’s History

Quarter final cup success and League Cup disappointment in the week 20 – 26 March in Hammer’s History.

This Week Hammers History It is straight into pulsating cup action for the week 20 to 26 March in Hammer’s History.

Looking for a third cup victory in as many years West Ham had reached the final of the Football League Cup in 1966. The competition was still in its infancy with participation optional and at the time there was no Wembley final and no European prize for the victors – both were implemented for the following season.

The 1966 final was a two legged affair between West Ham and West Bromwich Albion and going into the second leg at The Hawthorns the Hammers held a slender 2-1 advantage. To prove that slow starts and sloppy defending are not a recent phenomenon West Brom were 4-0 up within 34 minutes with goals from Astle, Brown, Clark and Williams. Martin Peters, playing out of position at right back, managed to pull a goal back in the second half but it was not enough and the Hammers lost out 5-3 on aggregate.

Standen, Peters, Burnett, Bovington, Brown, Moore, Brabrook, Boyce, Byrne, Hurst, Sissons

Exactly one year earlier there was another second leg tie but this time in the European Cup Winner’s Cup 3^rd round against Lausanne of Switzerland. Leading 2-1 from the away leg the expectation was that progress to the semi-finals would be a formality against the un-fancied Swiss side. However, any notion of a stroll in the Upton Park was kicked swiftly into touch when Lausanne opened the scoring after 37 minutes. The setback sparked an immediate West Ham reaction and by the break an own goal and a Brian Dear effort had put the Hammers into the lead. Lausanne scored again early in the second period, Martin Peters restored the advantage on the hour, but only for the Swiss to draw level once more with 10 minutes remaining. With the aggregate score standing at 5-4 in the Hammer’s favour it was a tense finale but just before the final whistle Dear scored again to settle events at 4-3 on the night, 6-4 on aggregate.

Standen, Kirkup, Peters, Boyce, Brown, Moore, Sealey, Hurst, Byrne, Dear, Sissons

In 2006, it was 6^th round FA Cup action away to Manchester City at Eastlands. Having only won their 5^th round replay a week earlier Alan Pardew had fielded a weakened team in the intervening Premier League clash with Portsmouth (which West Ham lost 4-2). Back to the cup and City exerted early pressure but the West Ham defence managed to stand firm and after 41 minutes Dean Ashton scored an excellent goal when evading the challenge of Dunne and Distin to fire past David James in the City goal. To further the Hammer’s cause referee Howard Webb sent off Chinaman Sun Jihai for swinging an arm at Matthew Etherington. Ashton then scored his second as both teams played on, despite Christian Dailly going down injured, with Deano converting a Yossi Benayoun cross to double the lead. City pulled a goal back with 5 minutes to play but it was the Hammers who progressed to the semi-finals.

Hislop, Dailly (Scaloni), Gabbidon, Collins, Konchesky, Benayoun, Mullins, Reo-Coker (Fletcher), Etherington, Ashton (Zamora), Harewood

Another memorable game was played between West Ham and Manchester City in 1970 this time at Maine Road. The game, played on a pitch that was devoid of almost any grass, saw the West Ham debut of Jimmy Greaves following the exchange deal that took Peters in the other direction to north London. It took Greaves just 10 minutes to maintain his record of scoring on his debut for every club that he played for; he later went on to add a second. The match was also notable for a 40 yarder from Ronnie Boyce when he volleyed Joe Corrigan’s attempted clearance straight back into the net. Geoff Hurst also scored twice in a 5-1 victory.

Grotier, Bonds, Lampard, Boyce, Stephenson, Moore, Holland, Eustace (Llewellyn), Hurst, Greaves, Howe

Finally, a day that most will not want to remember was a 4-1 defeat in a 2004 Division 1 defeat to Millwall at the New Den. It was a feeble Hammers performance against their fierce rivals that saw a Dailly own goal, Stephen Bywater sent off, two missed Millwall penalties and the appearance of riot police. Ouch!

Bywater, Dailly, Harley, Melville, Reo-Coker, Repka, Carrick, Etherington, Horlock (Deane), Harewood (McAnuff), Zamora

Notable Birthdays

20 March Trevor Morley 56

5 Observations as Hammers are OutFoxed!

A horror opening sequence, a spirited response and glaring misses as West Ham lose 3 on the bounce.

Hammer House of Horror

Once again West Ham were accommodating hosts to a team looking to end of dismal sequence of results. Leicester got their first away league win of the season and maintained their record of not losing points from a winning position; West Ham maintained their average 2 goals per home game against the Foxes. The second half performance was possibly one of the best 45 minutes of the campaign. Such a shame, then, that the first half was down there with one of the worst. Has there been a consistent positive showing over a full 90 minutes this season; home or away? The opening 10 minute period was abysmal. Cresswell’s reluctance to stay close to Mahrez was negligent but Randolph’s attempt to save was awful. Time to rotate the gloves again, I think, and give Adrian another run. The defending for the second goal was collectively appalling; a total lack of organisation allowing Huth and a couple of his colleagues all the space they could ever want at the far post.

Is There Even a Plan A?

Many fans got the starting eleven that they wanted with Byram in at right back, Ayew in for Feghouli and Kouyate partnering Obiang in central midfield. Unfortunately while introductions were still being made we were two goals down and Reid was lost to injury. The relative roles of Lanzini, Antonio, Ayew (and later Snodgrass) was never really obvious to me. Maybe Bilic has a vision somewhere in his head of a fluid retro ‘totaalvoetbal’ approach but the players either don’t understand it or are unable to execute it. Antonio occasionally gave the impression of being the left sided midfield player but only for brief spells, otherwise it was a no-wide-man-zone. Leicester had a shape and game plan which they stuck to throughout whereas West Ham’s organisation was close to anarchy, particularly in the first half. Sometimes I wonder whether the team talk goes beyond fist bumping. The thinness of our squad was also apparent by a comparison of the two benches. Leicester had Slimani, Musa and Gray to call on as attacking options, West Ham had Snodgrass.

More Injuries

West Ham ended the day with injuries to Reid and Obiang both of which looked bad by anyone’s standards but judging by West Ham experience look like at least 6 weeks out . Antonio also picked up an injury that will keep him out of the England squad and the opportunity of a first cap. Reid and Obiang have been two of our best performers this season but neither had great games yesterday before going off. Like most I expected Ginge to be the like-for-like replacement for Reid but moving Kouyate back was probably the right decision in the circumstances with Vardy’s pace to cope with. No arguments either with Fernandes on for Obiang. Although he is not a holding midfielder Fernandes give the impression of an accomplished and intelligent player always looking to do something meaningful with the ball rather than simply playing it to the nearest teammate. His introduction did coincide with Leicester tiring but nonetheless was still an encouraging performance.

Holding on to The Jewel

Having gone two goals down we didn’t really threaten until Lanzini conjured up a little free-kick magic in the 20^th minute. For a while it looked like a lifeline that we could turn to our advantage but hope was dashed by the third Leicester goal. Carroll, normally one of our most reliable defenders at corners, completely missing the ball with is head and Vardy scoring a poachers goal in the ensuing scramble; something our own strikers were unable to emulate later in the game. Lanzini has emerged from the shadows to become a quality creative force in midfield; always positive, looking to go in the right direction and posing problems for opposition defences. Very quickly he has risen to the status of far too good for a team in lower-mid table and it would be no surprise if someone came in to steal The Jewel in the summer.

How did they do?

Ayew scored his 4^th goal in seven games when he nodded home West Ham’s second yesterday but his performance will be best remembered for the shocking miss late on from Antonio’s pass. With the whole goal at his mercy and the keeper stranded he inexplicably went for power and blasted over the top. I would have to think very hard to remember an easier chance being squandered; Carroll came close in added time but you have to give Schmeichel much of the credit to for that one. Despite the goals I am still to be convinced as to what Ayew brings to the team with his all round game. He is another with the inclination to play one touch lay-offs/ passes much of the time rather than getting involved in build up play. While Ayew, glaring miss apart, did OK, Snodgrass was a big disappointment. Played on the right because he doesn’t have the pace to go round the full-back, he continually abdicated responsibility to Byram to get a cross in. Byram himself had a decent game and must surely have warranted a run at right back to prove himself. Fernandes should also be given more opportunity than the usual 5 minutes at the end to show what he can do. There was also an encouraging cameo from Masuaku which could allow the under-performing Cresswell to pack his suitcase and join Noble at the seaside for a few weeks.

Ratings: Randolph (4), Byram (7), Reid (5), Fonte (5), Cresswell (5), Kouyate (5), Obiang (5), Ayew (6), Lanzini (8), Antonio (7), Carroll(6) Subs: Snodgrass (4), Fernandes (6), Masuaku (6)