Author: Geoff Hopkins

5 Observations from City Humiliation

Another night of tame surrender against Manchester City at the London Stadium.

5 Things WHUWere they great or were we terrible?

Whenever I see such an uneven game as happened last night (and indeed the cup tie a few weeks ago) I wonder how much of it was due to the opposition playing really well and how much was down to our own incompetence.  Generally commentators like to take a polarised view but usually it is a combination of the two.  There are many similarities in the style of play of Manchester City and Arsenal and it is telling that both have thumped us on our own turf.  For many years we have been vulnerable against teams that run at our defence at pace.  We seem able to competently nod away crosses until the cows come home but incisive passing and movement rips through the heart of our defences at will and with ease.  My sense is that even our players recognise this collective fragility and once the first goal goes in then, as far as they are concerned, it is just of case of how many will follow – as if it is a fate that no-one has the wit or strength to resist.

Where have all the tactics gone?

Manchester City are a very wealthy club who probably have far better players that don’t even make the bench than West Ham do as regular starters.  This is the way of modern cash rich football and it will be impossible for West Ham to get close to the top teams without major external investment, which will probably happen just before the next financial crisis.  In the meantime it is still 11 versus 11 and last year we enjoyed notable success against several top clubs by tactically stifling their major threats.  Tactics appeared to be patently absent yesterday with no particularly plan to either offset the attacking threat of a quick breaking opposition or in putting their inconsistent back-line under any form of pressure.  It was if all that was written on the dressing room white board was “Hope for the Best”.  With the array of attacking talent at their disposal you need to frustrate and press City and not give them acres of space to play as they please.  Whenever I have seen them as casual observer it is obvious how important de Bruyne is to them offensively and yet we were happy to give him a free access all areas pass.  Not for the first time we were completely over-run in midfield.  We may still have lost regardless but the speed with which heads dropped and spirit evaporated shows a disappointing absence of leadership and character.

All things must pass

In his post-match comments Slaven Bilic bemoaned the fact that we gave the ball away cheaply for two of the first three goals.  It would be difficult to disagree with the manager on that one but the fact is that it has been a problem all season, just that we were punished for that sloppiness by a clinical City side on this occasion.  I believe that we are one of the worst teams for maintaining possession where it matters in the Premier League and it makes me wonder whether anything is done in training in order to improve matters.  As I have written previously good passing teams do not only rely solely on successful execution of the pass but also on having more than one player making themselves available at any one time.  Obiang’s pass that led to the third goal was an example of poor execution but quite what Cresswell was thinking for the all-important opening goal is anyone’s guess, there was no West Ham player anywhere near where he played the ball.  Far too often when our players do not have the ball they stand about static and flat footed.

No place for sentiment

Football is a very different game from when I first started watching, a time when players stayed at clubs for years and many were local lads made good.  It is unfortunate that much of the sense of community and belonging has been lost but most of football has faced reality and moved with the times.  I often feel that West Ham are stuck in a time warp with a sentimentality that is at odds with the multi-million pound industry that football has become.  It is not enough for a player or manager to be West Ham through and through or for someone to keep his place in the team because he did alright last time out.  A team needs to be selected that can get the best from any particular fixture.  There are still many unanswered questions on Slaven Bilic’s managerial credentials at Premier League level.  The recent run of wins bought him some time but he does not convince.  I am sure he is a nice guy but football is full of nice failures.  I would imagine that his performance during the remainder of the season will be under extreme scrutiny and that it will require noticeable improvement if he is to keep his job.  His record on player recruitment, tactics, preparation, fitness and selection leaves much to be desired as far as I am concerned.  It would be great to see him succeed but I am not hopeful.

What about the positives?

The most significant positive is that we do not have to play Manchester City again this season and our only remaining heavy defeat should be away at Arsenal.  Other than that Michail Antonio worked hard and new signing Robert Snodgrass looked sharp when he finally came on.  I was wrong in my pre-match prediction that we would be 2 goals down when Snodgrass came off the bench.  The other debutant Jose Fonte had a bit of a nightmare and worryingly looked very slow, let’s hope he has a couple more gears in the mythical locker.

Ratings: Randolph (6), Byram (4), Reid (6), Fonte (4), Cresswell (4), Obiang (5), Noble (5), Feghouli (3), Lanzini (5), Antonio (7), Carroll (6) Subs: Snodgrass (6), Fernandes (5), Fletcher (5)

Matchday: Hammers host the Citizens at the London Stadium

Can it be a once in a blue moon event at the London Stadium as the have-nots of West Ham seek to wreak their revenge against bountiful Manchester City.

West Ham Man CityThankfully the transfer window has settled safely back in its frame for another few months and attention can return in its entirety to action on the pitch, even though I suspect the ghostly tones of “We’ve got Payet” will reverberate around the cavernous stadium and in the media for several weeks to come.  It turned out to be a pragmatic window for the Hammers, rather than an exciting one, and much still rides on the continued fitness of Andy Carroll, the only remaining credible striker option in the continued and long running absence of Diafra Sakho.    I was encouraged to hear Carroll say that he was now conscious of picking his battles on the pitch and that he no longer felt the need to try to win every ball; hopefully this should serve to minimise the stresses and strains on his body.

Blah, blah, blah, Dimitri Payet, blah blah blah…..

– Slaven Bilic Press Conference

The closing of the window is unlikely to shut out all of the noise about ‘two-bob’ ‘penny-pinching’ owners but in the context of mid-table obscurity (with an outside chance of Europa League in the event of extraordinary planetary alignment) it is better to keep the ‘war chest’ safely buried until the summer, when there is better value and greater options.  The majority of supporters will not remember a making-up-the-numbers January signing when it comes to scrutinising and comparing future summer investment.

Today’s visitors are one of the few clubs where transfer budgets are meaningless and for whom the odd £50 million thrown around is simply loose change burning a hole in the pocket of a dishdasha. They were quiet this window (unless you count £27 m Gabriel Jesus who was signed in the summer but has only recently arrived) but their net spending for this season still exceeds £150 m.

I am always torn on match-days between a natural, but understated, optimism for a West Ham victory and a litany of reasons why just now is a bad time to be playing this week’s particular opposition.  The recent indifferent run by the Blues and the resultant media focus on Pep’s performance are the anxieties that will gnaw away at my confidence and create growing pre-match-tension as kick-off approaches.

Head to Head

It is a mere 3 weeks since our last encounter with City at the London Stadium when once again the head to head advantage clicked a further notch in their affluent direction.  We have won just two of the last 16 meetings between the two clubs.  In the recent FA Cup tie it was difficult to determine to what degree the final outcome was the result of City’s brilliance or the Hammer’s pitifulness.  Either way it will require one of those special ‘obscene’ all-hands-to-the-pump displays if we are to take advantage of an early opportunity for revenge.

Team News

The injured are still injured, Andre Ayew is busy scoring penalties at the African Cup of Nations and Cheikhou Kouyate continues to queue at Heathrow immigration.  According to the Physio room both Andy Carroll and Mark Noble have knocks but are expected to recover.  It is the manager’s style to keep the same team and formation until we lose a game and so, with the exception of Jose Fonte in for the injured Angelo Ogbonna, I expect to see the same line-up that started at Middlesbrough.  Personally, I would put Snodgrass straight in at the expense of Feghouli but he will most likely be introduced from the bench at two-nil down.  If I owned a hat then I would offer to eat it if either Feghouli or Calleri ever make it as regular Premier League players.  There is a story that Brian Clough once went to scout a player but left after the warm-up because he didn’t like the way he ran; well that is how I view these two, neither of whom look like top-flight footballers – not that I would compare my judgement to Cloughies – and clearly Bilic has seen something he likes about them in training.

“He’s so important, we’ve played a lot of games without him, and I’m happy he’s back.  He’s not an aggressive player. He’s tough. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. We accept the ban and don’t complain.”

– Guardiola on Fernandinho

For Manchester City, there is good and bad news.  The bad news is that Kompany is fit again, Aguero has recovered from injury, Fernandinho is available after suspension and everyone else is available.  The good news is that only 11 can be on the pitch at any one time and that one of them is likely to be Claudio Bravo.

The Man in the Middle

For the first time this season we’ve got a Friend in the shape of Kevin from Leicestershire.  A comparative stranger to West Ham games, the single coming together last season was in the historic away win at Liverpool where he erroneously sent off Mark Noble.  In his total of 21 games this term Friend has flaunted  73 Yellows and 1 Red card.

This Week in Hammer’s History

Remembering the week 30 January to 5 February in Hammer’s History including that last ever win at Highbury.

This Week Hammers HistoryA first read through of the results from the week 30 January to 5 February in Hammer’s history was similar to watching a late night horror movie, best viewed through the gaps between your fingers.  There was an embarrassing 3-1 cup exit at the hands of 3rd division Swindon Town (1967), FA cup capitulation at Loftus Road with a 6-1 hammering by QPR (1978) and League cup humiliation of the worst kind in a 5-0 defeat at White Hart Lane (1987).  In the league, 5 goals were shipped without reply to dirty Leeds (1966) and more recently top of the (Championship) table West Ham were brushed aside in a 5-1 demolition by lowly Ipswich Town at Portman Road (2012).

Such misfortunes are wildly out of step with the current sense of togetherness and optimism surrounding the club that has been fostered by a couple of encouraging wins and the atmosphere of unity against the common enemy; the now departed two-faced Frenchman.    So it is in that spirit that I have singled out some of the rarer triumphs as a way to develop that mood. In the middle years of the 1960’s West Ham were on a run of winning trophies and at the end of January 1966 were still competing in that season’s ECWC, FA and League Cups.    A 5-1 second leg League Cup victory away to Cardiff City, courtesy of goals from Hurst (2), Sissons (2) and Burnett, secured an impressive 10-3 aggregate win and set up the Hammers for a final tie against West Bromwich Albion.  We had recently seen off Albion by four goals to nil in a league encounter so surely more silverware was on its way to Upton Park!

In the calendar year of 1968 West Ham scored 7 or more goals on three occasions.  The first of these was in January 1968 when the visitors to Upton Park were west London rivals Fulham.  The Cottagers raced into the lead with a goal from Steve Earle (not the American country rock singer I believe) but that early set-back only served to galvanise the Hammers into action and a goal blitz involving Hurst (2), Brooking (2), Peters, Moore and Dear saw the game finish in a 7-2 romp.

Ferguson, Bonds, Lampard, Peters, Cushley, Moore, Dear, Boyce, Brooking, Hurst, Sissons

The stand-out game of the week, however, has to be the 2006 clash with Arsenal in their final season at Highbury.  It was the Gunners 2,000 match at their old stadium and they started out in dominant form pinning the Hammers back with typical high-tempo football.  However, after 25 minutes Nigel Reo-Coker beat Sol Campbell to a Hayden Mullins pass and ran on to give West Ham the lead very much against the run of play.  It got better still 7 minutes later when Bobby Zamora out-muscled Campbell, checked and placed a delightful shot into the far corner of the net to double the lead.  There was a wobble just before the break when Terry Henry scored to become Arsenal’s all-time leading league scorer and set up a nail biting second period.

Arsenal started the second half without Campbell (who had gone home) but once again dominated the play.  Midway through the half West Ham introduced new signing Dean Ashton for his club debut (probably our best ever January signing and the last great striker we never got the opportunity to properly enjoy).  After 80 minutes the unexpected happened and Matthew Etherington scored another to make it 3-1 to West Ham.  There was still time for Pires to score for Arsenal but despite a frantic finale it turned out to be merely a consolation.  As it turned out West Ham were the last away team to win at Highbury and the game was the Hammers fifth consecutive win in all competitions (a run that ultimately extended to seven).

Hislop, Clarke (Fletcher), A Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Konchesky, Mullins, Benayoun (Newton), Etherington, Reo-Coker, Harewood, Zamora (Ashton)

Notable Birthdays

2 February          Ravel Morrison                 24
5 February          Carlos Tevez                       33
5 February          Richard Bennett               63

Who Ate All The Pi’s

What do the stats reveal about West Ham player performance? Or are they digitally challenged?

Football StatsWith a temporary hiatus in West Ham’s fixture commitment due to an early cup exit, and while other Premier League teams field second rate sides in the 4th round in deference to the imminent Match-week 23,  I have taken the opportunity to dust down my football statistics soapbox and take another look at how our heroes have performed this campaign as far as the soccer statisticians are concerned.

My position on statistics is that they are an interesting diversion and a perfect destination for the procrastinator but are ultimately meaningless as a means of analysing games, providing no further insight over and above what the eyes can tell the average supporter.  The ever expanding mass of football statistics are most frequently used by the desperate in  attempting to prove a point about their favourite player (why Noble is better than Kouyate or vice versa) or to pad out column inches in printed and online media (just like this one!)  In the last week or so my attention has been grabbed by a number of posts that inform readers exactly what the statistics reveal.  For example, they apparently ‘reveal’ that Liverpool are not very good defensively (no shit, Sherlock!) and, closer to home, that Pedro Obiang is the ‘best’ tackler in the Premier League.  Recently the Daily Star had a feature on the worst player at every club according to the statistics; the recipient of this accolade for West Ham being Ashley Fletcher who came out as the 5th worst player overall.

For the purposes of analysis I have once again referenced the excellent whoscored website.  Even though I pay little heed to the how football statistics are used the site provides a comprehensive and well presented resource that includes an intriguing real-time stat update during the course of the game if you are so inclined.  According to Whoscored over 200 raw statistics are fed into complex algorithms in order to derive both the team and player ratings.

Ratings are based on a unique, comprehensive statistical algorithm, calculated live during the game. There are over 200 raw statistics included in the calculation of a player’’s/team’’s rating, weighted according to their influence within the game. Every event of importance is taken into account, with a positive or negative effect on ratings weighted in relation to its area on the pitch and its outcome.

– Whoscored website

Looking at the team ratings the order of clubs is uncannily consistent with the current Premier League placings.  The top 7 clubs are all the same with the minor discrepancy that the order of the two Manchester clubs are reversed.  In Whoscored terms West Ham show up in 8th place overall rather than the actual 10th place of our league position. The lower reaches of the League also demonstrates a strong correlation between actual and statistical placings except that Palace appear several places higher (14th against 18th) from the perspective of statistical performance.  So what does all this prove?  Does it validate the statistics and the algorithms applied or is it simply the case that scoring goals and winning games carries the same weighted influence on position as do in the collection of league points?  My takeaway from West Ham’s higher position in the statistical table is that it must prove that we played well and lost on several occasions this season.  Convincing myself of such a conclusion might be stretch.

The top performing players in the league if the stats are to be believed are Alexis Sanchez, Eden Hazard and Paul Pogba.  The only Hammer to make the top 10 is Dimitri Payet (at number nine).  All of that top 10 are attacking players with the exception of Manchester City defensive stalwart Nicolas Otamendi, proving that City fans wanting him dropped are mistaken.

A point to note about the top 10 is that ratings are adjusted to account for appearances and should you look at the unadjusted ratings for West Ham you would find Andy Carroll performing better than Payet.  It is surprising to learn of the quality of Payet’s performances when the consensus of many observers is that he had been going through the motions and loafing about on the left wing.  Although I am not privy to the Whoscored algorithms I would guess that the factors driving his strong statistical performances (based on displayed data) are the number of assists (6) and man-of-the-match awards (5).

I do find the ‘assist’ a curious statistic in that a large part of earning one is dependent on someone else doing their job competently.  A player can embark on a wonderful run, go past three defenders and play a delightful pass through to a colleague who has an open goal, but if that player fluffs his lines then no assist ensues.  On the other hand make a simple routine pass to someone who rockets the ball into the net from 30 yards and you win yourself an assist.  With up to 30% of goals for some teams coming from set pieces the designated takers (Payet and Snodgrass) are always going to have an advantage with this although I fully appreciate that good delivery should not be an underestimated skill.

Ex-Arsenal boss Don Howe is credited with devising the definition of the assist when it was first created as a way of adding interest to newspaper fantasy league competitions.  From its humble beginnings it is now a mainstay of the commentator’s statistical armoury.

Looking at the individual player statistics, the top 6 high rating Hammers for the season are Carroll, Payet, Michail Antonio, Winston Reid, Arthur Masuako (yes!) and Darren Randolph.  New signing Robert Snodgrass (second in the ratings at Hull) would slot in at number 7 for West Ham just ahead of fellow midfielders Cheikhou Kouyate, Pedro Obiang and Manuel Lanzini (with skipper Mark Noble floundering in a disappointing 16th place).  Defender Jose Fonte (11th in the Southampton ratings) has a performance rating very slightly higher than James Collins and Angelo Ogbonna, some way behind Reid.  Fonte’s former central defensive partner, Dick Van Djik, is comfortably on the topper most rung of Southampton performers.

For the record. my personal statistic free selections for top performing West Ham players for the season to date are Obiang, Reid and Antonio.  The top 3 could well be under threat if there is more of the recent same from Carroll over the remainder of the season.

Scraping the Ice off the Transfer Window

With only a few days to go excitement and speculation mounts on new arrivals to E15.

Transfer WindowIt is Day 26 of the transfer window and we are still very much in the phoney posturing and positioning phase where bids are prepared, resolve is tested and war chests are opened as players come onto the radar, clubs are put on alert while others enter a tug of war to secure the services of that star player.  Now with less than a week remaining before the window slams shut it is time to finally swoop, meet that valuation, sort out the paperwork and ink the deal.

Of course we already have one signing safely on board in the form of Number 23 Jose Fonte.  In the absence of Angelo Ogbonna for the rest of the season, Fonte is likely to feature regularly in the first team for what is left of the season, particular with the talk of Reece Oxford going out on loan to Glasgow Rangers.   Let’s hope that Fonte fares better than the last big money centre back signing from Southampton, Richard Hall,  who picked up the West Ham injury curse and made only 8 appearances over 3 years before being forced to hang up his boots forever.

Expectations continue that West Ham should be looking to sign a right back and some sort of striker before the end of the window.  There has been little tittle-tattle on the right back situation but a steady flow fo names have come and gone as far as forward players are concerned.   Among these are the usual exotic assortment of fanciful foreign players such as M’Baye Niang, Gregoire Defrel, Jonatahn Cafu and Ivan Perisic.  The more everyday home grown alternatives, and those that have been more sticky on the rumour conveyor belt, are Robert Snodgrass from Hull and Scott Hogan of Brentford.

Allegedly Hull have accepted offers for Snodgrass from a number of teams including West Ham.  It is not a signing that gets the juices flowing and for the type of player that he is and at 29 years old he can only have a couple of seasons left in him.  Having said that, I can see him stepping straight into the first team but only while Antonio is played further forward and because Ayew and Feghouli have yet to deliver the goods.

I have never seen Scott Hogan play (even on Youtube) but he is meant to have good pace and movement, both of which are rapidly becoming a must-have for the modern Premier League player (and are attributes missing from Feghouli, Ayew and Snodgrass).  He is also young but with that comes inexperience; his scoring record at Brentford has been impressive but he has a worrying injury record.  Like any player stepping up a division or arriving from an overseas league it is extremely difficult to be confident of success.  Hogan would be a gamble but it might be the type of opportunity that we need to seize.

As for the exit door I believe that there is a high probability that terms will be agreed for Payet and that Calleri will leave with his one Premier League deflected goal.  I have seen speculation that incoming deals are dependent on Payet leaving but I can’t believe that finances at this level really work like that, and that Sullivan needs to cash Marseille’s Postal Order before he can pop the cash in a suitcase and drive it up to Hull.

It could yet be an interesting few days……..or not!

This Week in Hammer’s History

Cup success and disappointment (and who’s the Bastard in the black) during the week 23-29 January in Hammer’s History.

This Week Hammers HistoryThe final week in January is another that is largely dominated by cup action being generally reserved for FA Cup 4th round matches; at least for those occasions where we progress that far. In each of three successful FA Cup campaigns, plus the ultimately unsuccessful 2006 one, West Ham advanced on their journey towards Wembley during the week 23-29 January.

In 1964 we were drawn away against second division Leyton Orient.  A record attendance of over 34,000 packed into Brisbane Road for the game where Orient, with three former Hammers in their team, raced into a 2nd minute lead.  Following the goal the game was one-way traffic in the Hammer’s favour but a Peter Brabrook goal just before the interval was the only reward and the tie went to a replay.  The second game at Upton Park four days later was more of a formality and three goals in the first 15 minutes (Hurst 2, Byrne) wrapped up the tie for West Ham.

The 1975 4th round opponents were 3rd division Swindon Town in the mud at Upton Park.  West Ham got away with a cynical flying rugby tackle by Tommy Taylor (no automatic red card in those days) to prevent Swindon taking the lead before a Billy Jennings strike made it one-nil.  However, the visitors were not to be denied and Peter Eastoe grabbed a deserved equaliser with just over 5 minutes left.  A midweek replay at the County Ground was a tight affair with goals from Trevor Brooking and Pat Holland enough to steer West Ham to a 2-1 victory.

In 1980 West Ham again faced near neighbours Orient in the 4th round, this time at Brisbane Road.  Both teams were competing in the second division at the time but West Ham had recently seen off their opponents 4-0 in a league match at Upton Park.  Orient went a goal up when Billy Bonds gave away a penalty which was then converted by ex-Hammer Tommy Taylor.  However, an own goal and a Ray Stewart penalty put West Ham ahead only for Chiedozie to even things up again.  A second Ray Stewart goal as the match entered the last 10 minutes was enough to put the Hammer’s through.

In the 2006 4th round tie, at home to Blackburn, West Ham were a goal down after 28 seconds.  A Teddy Sheringham penalty, a Matthew Etherington strike and an own goal (from someone called Zurab Khizanishvili) put the Hammers in command before a Lucas Neil curler reduced the deficit.  Any hopes of a Blackburn come-back were ended when Bobby Zamora poked home to secure a 4-2 victory.

A game that we shouldn’t let pass without a mention is the tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2001.  This was the match of the famous Paolo Di Canio/ Fabio Barthez offside appeal incident, of which, one can never get tired of watching.

In League Cup action the epic 1972 semi-final series against Stoke City finally ended with defeat in an Old Trafford mud-bath.  An incident packed match saw Bobby Ferguson get concussion, Bobby Moore save a penalty, West Ham go a goal down and then take a 2-1 lead before conceding another two and losing 3-2 on the night.

Semi-final disappointment also in 2011 where, a goal up from the first leg against Birmingham, West Ham took a first half lead only then to throw away the advantage by conceding three times without further reply.  There was also defeat in the 1981 semi-final first leg away to Coventry City where an early 2 goal lead was surrendered to end the game with a 3-2 defeat.

Notable Birthdays

There is a hypothesis called nominative determinism which suggests a causal relationship based on the idea that people tend to be attracted to areas of work that fit their name.  Born this week in 1854 was former Upton Park FC player and referee Segar Richard Bastard.  Bastard refereed the 1878 FA Cup Final between Wanderers and Royal Engineers although there is no record as to whether he wore black.

5 Observations from victory at the Riverside

West Ham nudge back into the top half of the Premier League table for the first time since August.

5 Things WHUA Fine Well Deserved Victory

West Ham deserved their victory.  Take no notice of ‘Boro dominated possession’, or that ‘West Ham rode their luck’ or even ‘Boro will feel aggrieved not to have taken something from the match’.  I thought everyone understood by now that possession statistics do not define a match; it is what you do with that possession that matters.  The Hammers created more and crafted the better chances; in addition to the three goals scored there were at least three more (Antonio twice and Lanzini) that could easily have been converted on another day.  It was a job well done for Bilic’s team and for the second week running there was far greater cohesion to the team.  Most supporters have already consigned Payet to the historic hall of infamy even if pundits, commentators and journalists are desperate to keep the story alive.  Sure he had some exceptional attributes but no one player should be the focus of every attacking move and there is now (at least on the evidence of the last two games) far more of a collective teamwork ethic on show.  How to integrate that fractious Gallic talent into a team should now be someone else’s problem.  His refusal to play is an insult to the supporters and there can be no way back from that.  The criticism of Middlesbrough’s fans by manager Aitor Karanka after yesterday’s game may well come back to haunt him for similar reasons.

Four Get Tight at the Back

It was a well disciplined defensive effort from the team yesterday that makes it just 5 goals conceded in the last 7 league games (we will conveniently overlook the cup mauling by Manchester City); a vast improvement on the average of two goals per game we were shipping previously.  As with other aspects of football, defending is a team responsibility and not just something that the back 3 or 4 have to be concerned with.  The Boro goal was well-worked but began with carelessness in the midfield where we had committed too many forward and we were hit by a quick counter attack; something that should not have happened at that stage of the game.  A better balanced back four with real full-backs and the continued fine form of Pedro Obiang as the primary defensive midfielder otherwise contributed to keeping Boro chances to a minimum.  The confidence at the back was highlighted in the brief ‘showboating’ moment were Cresswell played a one-two off the bar onto Reid’s chest and back into Randolph’s gloves.  Winston Reid was again outstanding; is there a finer centre back in the league at the moment and his cross-field pass that led to the early Antonio chance wasn’t bad for a player said to have poor distribution.  Fair play also to Angelo Ogbonna for playing on through his injury and I wish him the best of luck with the surgery and subsequent recovery.

Wingers or Wide Midfielders?

Generally, the mention of any player described as a winger generates a negative Pavlovian reaction in me.  In my mind, I visualise a player with lots of speed but with little skill or application. Imagine Aaron Lennon or Andros Townsend and their head down, knock the ball forward, hare after it and cross it into the crowd technique.  One in every ten games they will play a blinder before resuming normal service.  On Wikipedia, Gareth Bale is described as a winger and I would make an exception for him as I would also, on the evidence of one match, for Adama Traore who was electric all afternoon for Boro.  Traore was a real threat who caused West Ham problems all afternoon even when we doubled up on him.  If anything Byram dealt with him better in the second half than Cresswell had in the first.  In our own camp the likes of Feghouli, Ayew and Tore (is he still around?) are usually categorised in the winger basket and over the last few weeks we have now had a better chance to look at Feghouli.  Instinctively, I do not have high hopes for him as he has no real pace, does too little work off the ball and is not brave enough for the English game.  An attacking right sided midfielder needs to be asking more questions and the answer is not Andre Ayew.

Carroll: A Man of Many Parts

I can’t help but be impressed by the new improved Andy Carroll Mk 2.  He is scoring goals but more important is the work that he is putting in elsewhere on the pitch; getting involved in link up play, holding and passing well and heading away almost every opposition corner.  When he left the field yesterday the biggest danger to the team (in the circumstances or protecting the lead) was the loss of his defensive contribution.  I admit that I didn’t think he had these types of performances in him and I don’t recall it being on show for the majority of his time at the club.  Two well taken goals, the trademark bullet header followed by a typical poacher’s goal, have resulted in the annual call for an England re-call; which worryingly usually heralds a new injury set-back.  I haven’t seen any update on the reason why he left the field yesterday but let’s hope he can stay in one piece.  His departure gave us the opportunity to have another look at Jonathan Calleri who, before being spotted on the bench last weekend,  I had assumed had returned to South America.  Coming on for the last 20 minutes one might expect to see someone full of running and energy to prove a point but he seemed quite content to jog around for the most part.  In his time on the pitch he managed to miss one very good chance before scoring an added time goal which I was convinced would be chalked up as an own goal.   Despite the goal I still find it surprising that he was preferred over Ashley Fletcher.

Bilic Back on Song

It was pleasing to see a more upbeat Bilic in the post-match press interviews.  Perversely, the Payet situation has worked to his advantage by creating a spirit in the squad that appeared to be missing previously.  Sitting in a top half position in the table he now has time and a further opportunity to show what he can do without any undue pressure; a target of 8th place should not be an unreasonable or unattainable one looking at the other clubs around us.  I do have my reservations about Slaven and some of his tactical, selection and recruitment decisions take some understanding – but now is the chance for him to prove the doubters wrong.  The final week or so of the transfer window could make interesting viewing (or at least the last day or two of it) as the danger of relegation recedes and with just the two more league fixtures before the ACON is completed.  A couple of inspired signings in addition to Jose Fonte could put a reasonable complexion on the season after all.

Ratings: Randolph (7), Byram (7), Reid (9), Ogbonna (7), Cresswell (6), Obiang (8), Noble (6), Feghouli (5), Lanzini(7), Antonio (7), Carroll (9)  Subs: Fernandes (6), Calleri (5), Collins (6)    

West Ham down @ the Riverside

Can the long trip north to face the ‘smoggies’ end with another breath of fresh air for the Irons?

Boro West HamOwners, managers and players may come and go but there are certain characteristics of following West Ham that appear eternal; excursions ‘oop’ north being rarely fruitful, complacency rather confidence flowing from an encouraging performance and any team or player on a long run of misfortune seeing it come to an end it against the Hammers. So a long trek to the frozen and inhospitable north-east, off the back of a solid win against Palace to play a team that has only scored once in their last four league games ticks all the boxes marked disappointment.

 [Andy Carroll]’s got a whiplash injury. He then trained Tuesday very hard, he was brilliant in training, but then reported some neck pain. But as I say, hopefully he will be okay. We have a few with knocks – Winston Reid has a painful one and Sam Byram has a knock on his knee, it was swollen and he missed training on Wednesday. Also Sofiane Feghouli missed training on Wednesday because of a minor problem with his Achilles. But I’m very optimistic that all of them are going to be fit for the game on Saturday.

– Slaven Bilic on injuries

Middlesbrough have been a member of the football league since 1899 and their haul of one League Cup and one Anglo-Scottish Cup makes our own trophy cabinet look cluttered by comparison. The most notable things that I can recall about Boro are: that they paid the first £1,000 transfer fee, to buy Alf Common, in 1905 (£110,000 in today’s money); that Brian Clough scored an incredible 197 goals in 213 appearances for them; that they were once relegated after having a points deduction for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn Rovers; and that the most interesting game on their home soil was when North Korea beat Italy at Ayresome Park in a 1966 world cup group match. Despite their lack of success I believe most football supporters will acknowledge the excellent job done by Steve Gibson during his time as board member and chairman of the club; an associated that commenced in 1986.

The challenge for West Ham today is to show that the togetherness shown last weekend was not just a one-off reaction to the Payet palaver and can be harnessed once more against the parsimonious Teesiders.

Head to Head

West Ham’s record against Middlesbrough is one of those that reflects a mirror home versus away image. Overall we have had a few more wins while they have scored more goals; but on the whole it is very even. Our last visit to the Riverside Stadium in November 2011 ended in a 2-0 victory with a goal apiece from lethal strikers Piquionne and Cole. Mark Noble is the sole survivor from the 13 players that featured for West Ham that day.

In the last 12 league encounters there have been 5 West Ham wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats.

 

P

W

D

L

F

A

Sequence

Home

30

17

6

7

47

30

DDWDWW

Away

31

8

7

16

30

53

WLDWLL

 

61

25

13

23

77

83

 

Team News

No new long term injuries are reported for the Hammers and the three players with knocks (Reid, Byram and Feghouli) should all be available as should Andy Carroll who had suffered an unusual whiplash injury either in scoring his memorable bicycle kick goal or celebrating it afterwards. We can but hope that common sense prevails today and that we start with Byram at right back and with Antonio just behind Carroll in a sort of 4-4-1-1 formation.  It is possible to get too hung up about formations and a good team needs to be adaptable and retain a degree of fluidity; we were close to showing that in the second half performance against Palace.

“He [Andy Carroll] is a player you always have to be careful of – but if we are just looking at him, [Michail] Antonio can score or [Sofiane] Feghouli can score or [Manuel] Lanzini can score… or anyone,”

– Aitor Karanka talking up our chances

Typically our first transfer signing of the latest window came too late to feature this afternoon. Jose Fonte had not played for Saints since the game against Everton on 2 January (in his last two games they conceded 7 goals).  In West Ham terms this means a minimum of four weeks to get match fit before picking up a serious injury in training. The Fonte signing is rather underwhelming to me for although Fonte is a decent player he is the wrong age profile for a club that is, at the same time, ambitious and prone to counting the pennies.  A possible mitigation to the transfer is the rumour that one of our centre-backs is carrying an injury that requires immediate surgery.  If that is the case then we should hope it is Ogbonna rather than Reid.

For Middlesbrough, Gaston Ramirez and Antonio Barragan are injured and Daniel Ayala is suspended but new signing Patrick Bamford is available to play.

As often happens I will allow hope to triumph over expectation and will go for a narrow West Ham win.

Man in the Middle

Martin Atkinson from West Yorkshire is the referee today. Previously this season he was in charge when we lost at home to Watford and when we won away at Palace, famously sending off Aaron Cresswell for two harsh/ incorrect yellow card offences in one minute. In 20 games this season (all competitions) he has administered 83 Yellow cards plus that single, solitary, spurious Red.

The Football Money League 2016

West Ham are the 18th highest revenue generating club in world football according to 20th edition of the Deloitte Football Money League.

MoneyThe world football money league for 2016 has recently been published by Deloitte.  The table shows that there are 8 Premier League teams in the Top 20 revenue earners with West Ham coming in at Number 18.

West Ham are still some way behind their closest Premier League rival, Tottenham Hotspur, with revenues that continue to rely heavily on TV money.  The move to the London Stadium is likely to increase Matchday income but early exits from cup competitions and a disappointing (so far) league campaign may offset this.  Commercial income still lags some way behind the majority of other clubs making it into the money league.

West Ham United make only their third appearance in the Money League in 18th, their highest ever position. 2015/16 was their last season at the Boleyn Ground stadium and a strong performance in the FA Cup helped their matchday revenue increase. Both broadcast and commercial revenue also grew as the club benefited from increased Premier League payments after finishing seventh (compared with 12th in 2014/15) and as Betway were announced as the club’s new shirt front sponsor.

– Deloitte Money League Report

 

 

 

Revenues

% Revenue From

 

 

(£m)

Matchday

TV

Commercial

1

Manchester United

515.3

20%

27%

53%

2

Barcelona

463.8

19%

33%

48%

3

Real Madrid

463.8

21%

37%

42%

4

Bayern Munich

442.7

17%

25%

58%

5

Manchester City

392.6

13%

41%

46%

6

PSG

389.6

18%

24%

58%

7

Arsenal

350.4

29%

41%

30%

8

Chelsea

334.6

21%

43%

36%

9

Liverpool

302.0

19%

42%

39%

10

Juventus

255.1

13%

57%

30%

11

Borussia Dortmund

212.3

22%

29%

49%

12

Tottenham

209.2

19%

53%

28%

13

Atletico Madrid

171.0

16%

61%

23%

14

Schalke 04

167.9

23%

33%

44%

15

AS Roma

163.2

13%

71%

16%

16

AC Milan

160.5

12%

41%

47%

17

FC Zenith

147.0

5%

21%

74%

18

West Ham United

143.8

19%

60%

21%

19

Internazionale

134.0

14%

55%

31%

20

Leicester City

128.7

9%

74%

17%

Sliding Through the Transfer Window

How much is that Froggie in the Window? Transfer strategies and big mouth Garth Crooks.

Transfer WindowIf you are a 7 out of 10 kind of a guy at a party and you channel all your efforts in an attempt to move in on a 9 or 10 out of 10 girl then chances are you will go home disappointed. This pretty much sums up the pitfalls of the West Ham transfer strategy. By the time you realise that you have wasted your energy in pursuit of the unattainable, all of the 7 or 8 out of 10’s are already spoken for. In the very rare circumstance where you actually strike out with that perfect 10 then more than likely they will come with high maintenance ‘issues’ especially when the good time that you promised turns out to be a night at the bingo; this pretty much sums up the Dimitri Payet situation.

The Transfer Window has now creaked forward to Day 18 and there has been little movement to date either at West Ham or elsewhere. This hasn’t impeded the rumour mill industry, though, which moves on apace with teasing click-bait headlines reaching new levels of imagination to tempt the eager reader to stories about Marcus Browne signing a new contract or where next for itinerant South American, Jonathan Calleri.

The ‘maybe there is no smoke without fire’ links continue to focus on such familiar names as Scott Hogan and Robert Snodgrass but with recently added noise of Chris Woods from Leeds, old man Jose Fonte of Southampton and Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea. Earlier speculation regarding a return to West Ham for Jermaine Defoe has gone seemingly quiet once it was revealed we were offering a subscription to Sunday Sport online and an Ann Summers voucher in return for his signature . Of the names mentioned I would be happy with Hogan (a gamble but this is the pond that we are fishing in) and Sigurdsson but I doubt the Icelander, excellent player that he is, will leave Swansea until the summer.

With the win over Palace at the weekend putting daylight between the Hammers and the relegation favourites (plus the sense that Feghouli may have something to offer after all) I am hoping that there can be an objective, level-headed reappraisal of transfer window requirements.  The panic mode sensor can be set down several notches. An additional striker and right back remain priorities and any available funds should be invested in quality replacements not simple emergency gap fillers. I am convinced the board would like to bring in someone new to boost their own ratings.  Then, unless something special comes up, I would then leave the squad alone with a view to strengthening under our own terms in the summer. It will be no comfort come July to hear that we borrowed out of the war chest to bring in some 30+ year old backup players when there are a number of youngsters who could do just as good a job.

It will be interesting to see how the Payet situation pans out. If he is truly only interested in a return to France (as his PR now claims) then this would appear to put a severe limitation on available options unless he considers Arsenal as an overseas French protectorate. When the story first broke there was fairly widespread condemnation of Payet’s petulance but in recent days there have been a few in the media coming to his defence; accusing football fans of being deluded by expecting loyalty from players. Now I am aware that modern day journalism is more about attention seeking and generating a reaction but these articles tend to adopt a very black and white perspective of what has happened to suit their purpose. Yes, we know very well that players come and go all the time (after all we had wheeler dealer extraordinaire Harry Redknapp as manager at one point) but there is a world of difference between a player who continues to act in a professional manner while negotiating a move away and one who takes his ball home and refuses to play again. Secretly, I would like to see Payet left in limbo for the rest of the season but, in the end, it will be a commercial decision for the owners to take once someone comes along with a sensible offer.

Finally, away from transfers I ventured onto the BBC website the other day to check out third rate pundit Garth Crook’s team of the week which on this occasion included Andy Carroll (but not Michail Antonio as it would have meant one less Spurs player). Crooks is, of course, entitled in his feature to put forward views on player performance but I felt it entirely inappropriate for him to jump on the London Stadium knocking bandwagon (see quote below). How these guys manage to keep their jobs for life in the BBC Sport is beyond me; it has become a nursing home for dreary incompetents.

“Playing at home in London Stadium can’t be much fun when your fans are so far away they feel as though they are watching the game from the car park. Nevertheless, the Hammers did actually manage to muster some atmosphere in this makeshift football graveyard thanks to an outstanding performance from, unlike Payet, the totally committed Carroll.”

– Garth Crooks in his BBC Team of the Week Feature