Geoff Hopkins

Matchday: West Ham take on the Baggies

The battle for eighth as West Ham face an uninspiring yet competent Albion side at the London Stadium

West Ham West Brom Having stealthily clawed their way to 9^th in the Premier League table, with a sequence of effective rather than spectacular performances, West Ham will seek to build on the resurgent air of optimism at the London Stadium by stamping their authority of today’s encounter with West Bromwich Albion.

Albion are now comfortably the biggest team with a Birmingham postcode, and sit one place and five points above the Hammers in the table at start of play. Realistically nabbing 8^th place is about the very best that West Ham can hope for this season and in the circumstances Albion (and their pragmatic manager) may well be inclined to settle for a point this afternoon. The Baggies look to be this year’s over-achievers with a style of play that has seen them record less possession than their opponents in every single game they have played this season in the Premier League. Hate him or merely dislike him, Tony Pulis has a knack of making do with a collection of spare parts that will get the job done even if it’s not particularly easy on the eye.

We are a different team now, we have players fit, that is the key. Now we have to at least maintain it, try to avoid injuries, work hard and try to improve.

– Slaven Bilic

It is not difficult to predict how the game may shape up today. Albion will be happy to concede possession, will be respecting the point they started with, looking to frustrate the crowd and perhaps snatching a goal from a breakaway or set piece, if the opportunity arises. Whether West Ham have the wit and tactical nous to overcome such an approach is the big question to be answered. An early West Ham goal would put a very different complexion on both the game and the atmosphere inside the stadium.

Head to Head

The overall record against West Brom is running neck and neck with both sides having won 40 of the 104 meetings that have taken place over 104 years. West Ham have won two and drawn five of the last seven home fixtures against Albion whose last win on our own turf was the 4-3 victory in November 2003; a game in which they recovered from 3-0 down and Jermaine Defoe was sent off.

Team News

West Ham have reclaimed their rightful position at the top of the Premier League injury table, reporting a total of 10 injured players. Of these Angelo Ogbonna is out for the remainder of the season, Diafra Sakho is allegedly back on 1 April (note the date), Arthur Masuaku is two weeks away from full fitness and Gokhan Tore (who by now must resemble the Michelin Man) has no return date. The remainder (Carroll, Kouyate, Cresswell, Byram, Nordtviet and Arbeloa) are either slight doubts or subject to a late fitness test – whatever the difference between those two statuses is!

The extent of the injuries to Carroll, Kouyate and Cresswell are the most likely to affect the starting lineup and, if all is well, I would expect the same team that started at Southampton with the exception of Lanzini in for Feghouli.

They are a good team, they’ve got some good players. They’ve had a season of being very, very good and pretty bad at times and we just go there and hope we can compete.

– Tony Pulis

West Brom have no injury worries with both Jonny Evans and Claudio Yacob recovered from injury and/ or sickness.

The Albion lineup has a decidedly workmanlike look about it but it was enough to see us off in the fixture at the Hawthorns earlier in the season. The Baggies have secured most of their points from bottom ten sides this season while we have performed poorly against those in the top ten. A neutral might see this as a nailed on draw but I am optimistic for that early goal as a catalyst for a comfortable victory. My fingers will be firmly crossed that our starting eleven, once announced, will endorse confirm my optimism. The thinness of options in attack and full-back will continue to torment for the remainder of the campaign.

Man in the Middle

It is an early return to the London Stadium for Michael Oliver from Northumberland who was in charge of the unhappy FA Cup tie against Manchester City just two months ago. In a total of 26 games this season Oliver has contributed 82 Yellow and 2 Red Cards.

The Boy Never Quite Made It: Danny Williamson

Remembering Danny Williamson, a promising West Ham youngster destined never to hit the highest heights in career cut short by injury.

Boy Never Quite Made It West Ham is a club that likes to promote itself as the academy of football and there is nothing as rewarding for a supporter than seeing a young player break through from the youth system and establish a career in the claret and blue; especially when that youngster is a local lad. In reality the record over the years in producing young talent has been rather patchy albeit there have been some spectacular successes and periods of plenty. In this occasional series we look at those young players for whom there were high hopes but were unable to become local heroes at West Ham.

The academy was experiencing one of its barren spells during the late 80’s and early 90’s with the last notable graduates being Tony Cottee and Alan Dickens, who had both been key members of the boys of 86. At the end of the 1993/ 94 season, 20 year old Danny Williamson was given his debut by manager Billy Bonds as a late substitute (for David Burrows) in a surprising 2-0 victory at Highbury, he then kept his place for the following two drawn games, away at QPR and at home with Southampton. In the Southampton match Williamson got his Upton Park career off to a flying start by putting West Ham ahead after just 11 minutes.

Danny Williamson was the perfect academy star, a keen West Ham supporter who was born in Plaistow and played locally for Newham and Essex boys before committing his future to the Hammers, despite the lure of interest from Arsenal. After signing his first professional contract Danny enjoyed short loan spells at non-league Farnborough Town and third division Doncaster Rovers before getting his first team opportunity at West Ham.

Between his debut and the start of the 1994/95 season there was upheaval at West Ham with Harry Redknapp taking the manager’s seat and the resultant bitter departure of Billy Bonds from the club that he had served so magnificently during a 27 year association. Redknapp’s appointment preceded the arrival of new midfield signings John Moncur and Don Hutchison at West Ham which together with an unfortunate ankle injury limited Williamson to just 4 appearances for the season. In the subsequent 1995/96 season, however, he took his chance to become a regular starter in the first team and made a total of 33 appearances, scoring 4 goals including a 70 yard run and finish away at Bolton.

His strong running, passing and ability to find space looked set to establish Williamson as a popular West Ham hero but his progress was to be interrupted once more by injury during the 1995/96 season. Having recovered from one setback he was injured again in his comeback game at home to Chelsea resulting in the need for surgery on his foot. It was while he was recovering from injury in August 1997 that he was sold to Everton in a deal, valued between £3 -4 million, which saw David Unsworth plus cash head to Upton Park. He had made a total of 58 appearances for his boyhood club.

Williamson enjoyed a good start to his Everton career, commencing with a 2-1 home win over West Ham, but an injury to his foot sustained against the Wimbledon Crazy Gang in December 1997 ended up being his last ever game. He remained at Goodison Park until his contract was cancelled at the end of the 1999/2000 season but he was never able to get far away from the treatment room. A career that had started with such promise was never fulfilled.

Some supporters can get quite irate and critical about players that are continually injured but it is unlikely that many stay in the treatment room through choice. With Danny there some accusations from Everton ‘scallies’ that Redknapp knew that he was crocked before the transfer but this is improbable given that Williamson had passed a medical before signing.

Danny Williamson retired completely from football at the end of his Everton contract, aged just 26, and later became involved in a property company operating in Portugal.

This Week in Hammer’History

League Cup semi-finals and that memorable 9 goal Bradford thriller feature in the week 6 to 12 February in Hammer’s history.

This Week Hammers History During the famous 1985/86 season West Ham only played one league matches between the middle of January and mid-March due to inclement weather and frozen pitches leading to severe fixture congestion during the final weeks of the season. Strangely, FA cup games were not affected and this week saw the culmination of a long running 4^th round battle with Ipswich as the Hammers triumphed in a second replay at Portman Road by a solitary Tony Cottee goal.

If you can cast your mind back to 1989 you will remember it as a disappointing season that ended in relegation and the dismissal of John Lyall after 34 years with club. The season was briefly brightened by an enjoyable League Cup campaign which included stirring home victories against Liverpool and Aston Villa. The semi-final opponents this week for the first leg at Upton Park were fellow first division strugglers Luton Town. The game was to prove just as disappointing as the rest of the season as Luton took a 3-0 lead into the second leg with goals from Mick Harford, Ray Wegerle and Danny Wilson (a penalty conceded by a young Julian Dicks). Luton went on to win the tie 5-0 on aggregate before losing in the final to Nottingham Forest.

There was also League cup semi-final exit in 1967 when once again West Bromwich Albion proved to be our nemesis. Having lost to Albion in the final the previous year a 2-2 draw in the second leg at Upton Park was academic as the Baggies booked their place at Wembley with a 6-2 aggregate win.

It was a much happier Upton Park in 1981, however, when second division West Ham faced first division Coventry City in a second leg semi-final encounter with the task of turning round a 3-2 first leg deficit. In what was one of those special nights under the Boleyn floodlights West Ham played some exceptional football (John Lyall described it as ‘some of the best football I’ve ever seen from a West Ham team’). Second half goals by Paul Goddard and an 87th minute strike from Jimmy Neighbour rounded off a great night on what was Billy Bonds 600th appearance for West Ham; setting up a final against Liverpool.

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

There may have been a 9 goal thriller at Goodison Park on Saturday but in 2000 West Ham featured in an unforgettable clash with Bradford City that not only had 9 goals but all-sorts of added drama. With the score goalless West Ham keeper suffered a broken leg after just 5 minutes played to be replaced by 18 year old Stephen Bywater making his first team debut. Bradford opened the scoring after 30 minutes through Dean Windass but the Hammers were soon level when Trevor Sinclair swept home and then led when John Moncur fired in from long range. However, it was back to all square at the interval as Peter Beagrie converted from the penalty spot following a push in the box by Moncur. After the break Bradford took the advantage with two goals from a red-haired Jamie Lawrence, the first a fumble by Bywater, gave the Bantams a 2-0 lead. As West Ham pushed forward Paolo Di Canio was denied several penalty appeals prompting him to demand that manager Harry Redknapp take him off. Redknapp managed to calm the Italian down and moments later West Ham were finally awarded a penalty, for a foul on Paul Kitson. This led to a penalty area tug-of-war between Di Canio and Frank Lampard Jnr as to who should take the resulting kick; in the end Di Canio prevailed and, fortunately for him, scored from the spot to make it 3-4. A goal from Joe Cole brought the scores level again after 65 minutes before Lampard struck from the edge of the area with seven minutes remaining to complete the scoring at 5-4 to West Ham. Possibly one of the most bizarre matches ever to take place at the Boleyn.

Hislop (Bywater), Charles (Kitson), Minto, Lomas, Stimac, Ferdinand, Sinclair, Cole, Di Canio, Lampard, Moncur

5 Observations from victory @ St. Marys

A first ever win at the St Mary’s Stadium has the Hammers nudging up to ninth place in the Premier League table.

Hitting The Heights

A very satisfying first ever win at the St Mary’s Stadium which elevates West Ham towards the upper end of their probable finishing position for the season, somewhere between 8^th and 14^th. Next week’s match at home to West Bromwich Albion potentially giving a clearer indication as to whether the Hammers have already peaked or not. Some commentators are suggesting that away form is now better than at home, but this is not the case, at least in absolute terms, where we have collected 14 points away compared to 17 at home. In relative terms, however, we are performing better away (as we did last year); league tables based solely on either home or away games would have us 15^th and 6^th respectively compared to 7^th and 4^th respectively over the course of 2015/16. Comparing the overall record at this stage of the season (after 24 games) we have won just one less game but have lost 6 more giving a total of 7 less points. If you constructed league tables, for the whole of last season, based only on games against top half sides you would find West Ham in top spot; this season we are next to bottom just above Crystal Palace. The equivalent table for matches against bottom half sides would have us 11^th in 2015/16 and 6^th in 2016/17 to date. Proving perhaps that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice.

When a Plan Comes Together

Even though the daffodils are not yet out the match had the feel of an end of season game for me, although this was largely down to Southampton’s subdued approach. Maybe with key players missing and an EFL cup final on the horizon their minds were elsewhere. Having now lost 6 of their last 7 league games and with signs of life among the bottom dwellers Southampton might be advised to take a quick look over their shoulder. In the after-match interviews, Slaven Bilic claimed that West Ham a game plan and that the players had stuck to it. I’m sure that plan didn’t include going a goal down early on but the team reacted well where you might have expected heads to have dropped in the aftermath of the midweek experience. As they say in football, ‘you can only beat what is in front of you’ and West Ham were worthy of this competent win despite not dazzling. Although Southampton were credited with 21 goal attempts very few of these created real threat to the West Ham goal. I still think that Gabbiadini was offside for his goal but that when he we was pulled up later in a similar position he was not; the swings and roundabouts of refereeing decisions.

Cotton Wool Striker

It was another well taken goal by Andy Carroll to make it a total of 6 for the season from 12 appearances, including 3 substitute appearances. All being well, Carroll is on target for his best ever haul of Premier League goals in a single season which currently sits at 11 with Newcastle and 9 with West Ham. This week’s goal was a controlled right foot finish following a ‘slide-rule’ pass from Pedro Obiang (I wonder how many supporters know what a slide rule is let alone have ever used one?) It was interesting that he was once again withdrawn as a precaution once Bilic felt that the game was won. In the scheme of things I think that not making rash purchases in the transfer window was a sensible course of action but how a team in the world’s ‘elite’ football league got themselves into a position of being so short in a number of key positions remains staggering. With no natural ‘trusted’ replacement to lead the line West Ham effectively surrendered the initiative in the final half hour and invited Southampton to come at them. Although you could argue that the result vindicated the decision this is an outcome bias and we could easily have been in trouble had the Saints pulled one back (e.g. Gabbiadini’s skyer). Keeping hold of the ball is always the best defensive tactic in my opinion and our ball retention dropped alarmingly after Carroll’s withdrawal.

Snodgrass Puts in a Shift

I didn’t really notice Robert Snodgrass much during the first half and his main contribution appeared to be at free kicks and corners. In fact if his stats are to be believed he didn’t do much at all and only Feghouli had fewer touches (41 versus 40) over 90 minutes. But we all know that the stats do not tell the whole story and, as well as earning the free-kick that led to Mark Noble’s goal, he put in a tremendous amount of effort during the second period and particularly when it became his turn to fulfil the lone striker role. Not only did he cover a huge distance but he did so at pace and did not allow the Southampton defenders any time on the ball. It was one of Michail Antonio’s quieter games but, not for the first time, he ended up playing in three positions in one game. As with the ‘Cheikhou Kouyate at right back situation’ you can understand the emergency use of a player out of position but to have it happen so regularly has an air of disorganisation.

No Way, Pedro!

Without doubt a man-of-the-match performance from Pedro Obiang. Great work to set up West Ham’s opening goal and then a superb moment to open his own goal-scoring account on the stroke of half-time. [Not such good news for our regular betting thread which has backed him to score in almost every other week before this.] If team-sheets really are completed in descending order of your best performers then surely Obiang’s is almost the first on it every week at the moment. Add in Reid and Carroll and these three create an excellent spine to our team in the majority of games. Better performances this week from captain Mark Noble and Sofiane Feghouli although we should still be scouting for better and faster alternatives. Good to see Noble get on the score-sheet although I was convinced it would be given as own goal – shows what I know about dubious goals! Feghouli was more involved than usual although he played very narrow (possibly under instruction) and did not offer temporary full-back, Kouyate, much protection.

Ratings: Randolph (6), Kouyate (6), Reid (7), Fonte (7), Cresswell (6), Feghouli (6), Obiang (9), Noble (7), Snodgrass (7), Antonio (6), Carroll (8) Subs: Lanzini (5), Collins (6)

Matchday: Hammers travel south to St Marys

West Ham travel to St Mary’s in Southampton in search of a maiden victory.

Southampton West Ham One of several players who have featured for both West Ham and Southampton is ‘old fashioned centre forward’ Iain Dowie. In addition to scoring one of the finest own goals ever, in a League Cup tie at Stockport, Dowie’s legacy to football is the concept of ‘bouncebackability’. Today is a chance for the Hammers to demonstrate their aptitude for resurrection as they travel to Southampton on the back of midweek humiliation at the hands of Manchester City.

Ask most West Ham supporters and they will be adamant that the Hammers are a far bigger club than Southampton, yet in reality they are currently part of a small group of teams, along with ourselves and Everton (plus Newcastle when they come back up), who have aspirations of nicking that spare Europa League spot and enjoying the occasional jaunt into Europe. Southampton have the appearance of a very organised and well run club with a modern compact stadium, excellent training facilities (I wonder how Jose Fonte compares them to our own Rush Green base) and a recruitment system that has shown great stability in an environment where talented players and managers have come and gone in search of what they felt were greater things.

“They have some new players and some injuries, and it will be a tough game for us and for them. It is an important game because we are only one point above them and we want to make that gap bigger.”

– Slaven Bilic

Since experiencing severe financial difficulties and entering administration, in the wake of the Redknapp curse, the Saints have demonstrated their own bounceback proficiency and during the past five seasons they have pipped us for automatic promotion from the Championship and finished above us in three of the last four Premier League seasons. The current manager and team have not pulled up any trees in the League this season but have still managed to make it to the League Cup final.

Head to Head

Matches between West Ham and Southampton date back to the Southern League in 1899 with a first Football League Division 2 encounter taking place in 1922. Since then there have been a total of 95 games of which West Ham have won 35, drawn 28 and lost 32. The record away from home in 48 matches is won 10, drawn 16 and lost 22. West Ham have yet to win at the St Mary’s Stadium which has seen 3 defeats and 4 draws in 7 games,

The last win on the road was a 3-2 success in November 2000 with goals from Kanoute, Pearce (S) and Sinclair.

Team News

Very few of the players who turned out against Manchester City have reason to qualify as the first name on the manager’s team-sheet this afternoon. However, with a fairly limited number of viable juggling options available to him it is likely that the manager will plump for the largely similar personnel once again. Cheikhou Kouyate has returned from the ACON and would be straight back in, for his athleticism alone, if I was picking the team . Reports suggest that Sam Byram may be doubtful with a hamstring injury and so it could be a return to a back three with either Kouyate or James Collins linking up with Winston Reid and Jose Fonte. If Kouyate is selected in midfield expect the manager to do this at the expense of Pedro Obiang, who despite being our best player for most of the season will be penalised for his poor show on Wednesday. The more reasonable decision would be to bring in Kouyate for Mark Noble who looks to have even more treacle in his boots as each week goes by. Robert Snodgrass will surely start in place of Sofiane Feghouli.

“We know this team, they have come back well in the table lately. They are a good opponent with confidence and we have to play a strong game.”

– Claude Puel

Interesting to see what type of reception Fonte receives from his former supporters and whether he is able to help the coaching team plot Southampton’s downfall. Fonte was quoted as saying that the players did not follow the manager’s instructions during the midweek game and hopefully he can provide some on-field leadership in that regard.

Southampton are missing leading scorer Charlie Austin and best player Djik Van Dijk and with doubts over Rodriguez and Ward-Prowse they are close to what a fromer manager might have called the ‘bare bones’. Bertrand and Tadic always seem to play well against us and manage to exploit our generosity on the flanks.

It is improbable that we have been able to address the lack of relative fitness in our squad over the past three days but it is fingers crossed that we go into the match with some sort of game-plan that is then executed with hard work, effort and commitment.

Man in the Middle

A rare Premier League appointment today for Graham Scott from Oxfordshire. Scott’s only previous encounter with the Hammers was the League Cup defeat at home to Aldershot in August 2011 when he sent off Callum McNaughton, playing his one and only game for West Ham. In a total 19 games this season Scott has awarded 67 Yellow and 3 Red cards.

5 Observations from City Humiliation

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

Were 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 City Thankfully 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 History A 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 3^rd 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 Stats With 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 5^th 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 16^th place). Defender Jose Fonte (11^th 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.

It 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!