Geoff Hopkins

Matchday: West Ham ‘entertain’ Manchester United

The other United take their bus to the London Stadium for today’s late kickoff.

West Ham Man Utd The visitors to the London Stadium today are Manchester United who, in terms of revenue, continue to be the biggest club in the Premier League. Given the strong correlation between money and success the Manchester club have underperformed since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and this season, under third post-Fergie manager, Jose Mourinho, are once again off the pace from the leading pack. Coming into today’s game on a run of 5 straight wins they remain 13 points behind leaders Chelsea and 7 behind second place Liverpool.

Mourinho has brought his 19^th century tactics and introduced the traditional siege mentality to the Old Trafford club and we will need a strong performance from referee Mike ‘Penalty King’ Dean this afternoon.

“We played a good game. I’m very disappointed, angry, frustrated we lost. They started better, we knew they were going to start aggressively and for the first 20 minutes they deserved the goal. I’m very disappointed but we played a good game and that makes one part of me satisfied. We look good but that final product wasn’t there.”

– Slaven Bilic on defeat at Leicester

West Ham’s mini-revival was brought to an abrupt halt in the East Midlands on New Year’s Eve and it will require one of those ‘obscene’ performances to repeat last year’s rousing victory in the final Boleyn encounter.

Head to Head

West Ham’s home record against Manchester United is a reasonably healthy one although last year’s success was the first in the league since 2007. It was also the only victory against the Red Devils in the last 12 meetings home and away.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Sequence
Home	62	26	21	15	103	90	WLDLDD
Away	65	13	11	41	60	148	LDDDLL
	127	39	32	56	163	238

Team News

There are no new escapees from the treatment room and Mark Noble has become a new inmate after getting a whack on the knee in the Leicester game. It has become very difficult to anticipate Slaven Bilic’s selection decisions and, for all I know, he may be plotting something revolutionary like playing rush-goalie. The logical changes, for me, to the team that lost on Saturday would be to recall Pedro Obiang to centre midfield and start with Manuel Lanzini instead of Andre Ayew. I am much happier with a back 4 and the added protection that Obiang provides provided that Angelo Ogbonna stays awake for the whole game. Also time for Dimitri Payet to step up and put in a performance to impress the visiting manager.

“It’s a challenge for everybody but Chelsea, as they play only on the 4th, Tottenham played Sunday and then on the 4th. For us and West Ham it’s the same – difficult. Middlesbrough play at 12 o’clock, so less than 48 hours. It’s very hard, especially when you see the intensity of this game.”

– Jose Mourinho on everything being so unfair.

Manchester United are without their best defender Eric Bailly who has already left for the Africa Cup of Nations and may be without Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney. Fingers crossed that Rooney is not involved and is thus unable to break Sir Bobby Charlton’s goal-scoring record on our manor. Mourinho’s side are more a bunch of individuals than a cohesive team but they do have some exceptional talent; we will do well to get anything from today’s game.

The Man in the Middle

Welcome for the second time this season Mike Dean from The Wirral (just down the road from Manchester). He previously officiated in our match at White Hart Lane where he sent off Winston Reid. Reid is the season’s top penalty giver with 10 awarded to date. In his 16 games he has flourished 72 Yellow and 4 Red cards.

5 Observations From Defeat at Leicester

Both the year and West Ham’s latest winning streak are brought to a halt in an entertaining defeat at Leicester.

A Good Game for the Neutral

All in all an entertaining game with plenty to satisfy the neutral spectator if any were inclined to watch this game featuring two of the worst defences in the Premier League this season. For those with a more emotional investment in the outcome Leicester supporters will have been satisfied with three points and a clean sheet; West Ham fans will be disappointed at the absence of any return for territorial dominance and seeing our winning streak monitor reset to zero. Despite the entertainment the standard of football could easily have passed for a division or two lower; the game plagued by mistakes, little real quality and littered with examples of agricultural tackling that wouldn’t have been out of place on Hackney Marshes.

Magic Moment

The one real moment of quality was the Leicester goal. The hosts had started with the wind in their sails and there were a number of near misses before Slimani struck with the only goal of the game. The goal was quick, clinical and effective; an excellent cross from the right by Albrighton and great movement by Slimani to lose his markers and head home. The postmortem suggested a lack of tracking back by Dimitri Payet was partly to blame but should we really be expecting our main creative force to be doing that? It is the unfortunate consequence of stationing him wide on the left that it will always leave Cresswell with little cover. The argument is that playing Payet wide allows him to cut in and provide the angles where he can weave his magic; I question whether that trade off is necessarily profitable? After the goal the concern was that many more could follow but taking the lead seemed to panic Leicester and the Hammers were able to get back into the game. Our own best moment was the move where Payet fed Cresswell whose cross was thumped onto the crossbar by Michail Antonio with the ball rebounding to safety.

Never Mind the Quality Where’s the Width?

During the summer transfer window one could be forgiven for assuming that top of Slaven’s shopping list was “Must Buy Some Wingers” as Feghouli, Tore and Ayew all signed on to compete for a vacant wide berth with Antonio. The cunning plan was that send in enough quality crosses and Big Andy would be nodding them in for fun. Strange then that, yet again, we failed to provide any real width yesterday, rarely got behind the Leicester defence and managed to put only one on Andy’s head in a threatening position during the whole game (at least that’s my memory of events). With Payet on one flank and mainly cutting in, Antonio unable to get the better of Chilwell and Feghouli also reluctant to go down the line little service was provided to the big man. According to the stats West Ham had 25 shots (5 on target) but most of these were free kicks and speculative long shots. Bilic said “We were just missing that final touch” but in reality we created next to nothing despite having the lion’s share of possession. I never had the opportunity to watch Andre Ayew at Swansea so was unsure what type of player to expect; having now watched him in several games I am still bemused by his attributes other than getting in the way, falling over and trying to play first time passes of any part of his body as often as possible.

Playing to our Weaknesses

When I saw the lineups I was staggered that Pedro Obiang was on the bench and even more baffled that he didn’t get on at any time during the match. He has been our best player by far this season and I do not go along with the ‘it was good management’ mantra that Bilic was right to start with the same team that played at Swansea simply because we had secured an unconvincing victory against a very poor side in that game. The Noble – Kouyate partnership has rarely impressed and playing Kouyate in the holding role (that Obiang has been performing so brilliantly) inhibits the surging runs that Cheikhou can offer in midfield. For a team that is so poor at passing it is puzzling that our game-plan is predicated on a slow, patient build-up with its ponderous sideways and backwards momentum. The introduction of Lanzini did inject some pace but attacks continued to flounder due to a lack of ideas. The West Ham get out of jail card is often the set piece but although there were plenty of opportunities during the course of the game delivery was poor with Cresswell’s deflected free-kick (yes, he was allowed to take one) the nearest we came to scoring.

The Twelfth Man

It is said that a passionate crowd can be the twelfth man for a team and that this was one of Leicester’s secret weapons in last year’s successful championship winning season. The King Power crowd is a mix of seasoned supporters supplemented with clapper (the modern day football rattle?) wielding newbies. Together they generate a lot of noise and are collectively convinced that every refereeing decision should go in their favour. Now maybe I can be accused of watching games through claret and blue spectacles but I thought Anthony Taylor did a decent job overall even if he was rather little lenient in not showing straight red cards to Amartey of Leicester and Nordtveit for over enthusiastic tackling and later for not issuing a second yellow to Ogbonna. The most laughable moment with the crowd was their booing of Mark Noble for getting injured as a result of Amartey’s reckless studs high assault on his knee. Fingers crossed that Noble’s injury is not too serious at a time that others are away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Ratings: Randolph (7), Nordtveit (5), Reid (6), Ogbonna (5), Cresswell (7), Antonio (5), Kouyate (4), Noble (4), Payet (5), Ayew (3), Carroll (6). Subs: Lanzini (7), Feghouli (5), Fernandes (5)

Matchday: West Ham @ The King Power Stadium

The last day of the year and halfway through the season. Can it be four wins on the bounce, a scramble into the top half of the table and can Michail Antonio claim the ‘golden bonce’?

Leicester West Ham If history has taught us anything it is to select the bits of it that we like the look of and disregard the rest. Today West Ham travel to Leicester to face a side who we have traditionally done well against, with some particular success in games played during the Christmas and New Year period. Victory would make it 4 Premier League wins on the bounce for the Hammers; a feat that, while not unprecedented, is as rare as a proper right back or a 20 goals a season striker. In fact our Premier League record is 5 consecutive wins established during January to February 2006; an achievement that could potentially be matched in the next 3 days – or not!

“He is a big player. He deserves everything and is always there to score goals. Every time I turn to my staff in training and ask who has scored a goal, they say it is always Antonio. I would not say that we taught him to score. It’s his sheer determination, his hunger. You have to keep him close to the box when we have the ball because his stats are unbelievable.”

– Slaven Bilic on Antonio (despite wanting him to play right back)

Our hosts and last year’s Champions have struggled to come even close to last season’s ebullience despite making an admirable and successful fist at Champion’s League qualification. A danger when your team is based on being greater than the sum of the parts is that it can all fall apart when some of those parts stop working. The loss of N’Golo Kante has been Chelsea’s spectacular gain, Riyad Mahrez has failed to inspire, the defensive shenanigans of Huth and Morgan have been under increased refereeing scrutiny and the threat of the ball over the top to Vardy tactic has been neutralised by most opponents. Thankfully the snarling one is suspended for today’s game and will not be able to test the speed or extent of our own learning curve. I did think that once the Champion’s League group stages were over we would see a resurgence from Leicester but as yet, apart from a fine win against Manchester City, it has failed to materialise. Is it possible that the most unexpected Champions since Ipswich Town in 1962 could suffer the same fate and face relegation shortly after?

Head to Head

West Ham’s overall record against Leicester is a moderately good one and the Hammers have avoided defeat on their travels to the east Midlands more often than not. The last 12 meetings have seen honours equitably shared with 4 wins for each team and 4 draws; a sequence that includes our solitary win at the King Power stadium following the Foxes move from Filbert Street in 2002.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Sequence
Home	61	35	16	10	128	74	LWWDWL
Away	61	15	16	30	74	104	DLLWDD
	122	50	32	40	202	178

Team News

Our player of the season so far, Pedro Obiang, is available again after suspension so let’s hope that Slaven Bilic is not so blinkered as to leave him on the bench and stick with the team that won at Swansea. Personally, I would play Obiang and Kouyate as a defensive midfield two and give Mark Noble some bench time. This would retain the back 4 by keeping Nordtveit at right back despite his offering little attacking capability. Slaven is unlikely to heed my advice, however, and will probably return to his (unaccountably) preferred back 3.

“The first six months of this year were a fairytale – now this is reality. I was waiting for this to happen. We are like a little baby compared to a team like Chelsea. They are like a big man and we’re a little child and we need to grow up.”

– Claudio Ranieri

Manuel Lanzini may be available again but I don’t expect him to make the starting XI with Andre Ayew given the nod again following his maiden goal last weekend. Reece Oxford can be added to the long list of players who have found their way into the treatment room only to find that there is no way out.

If Michail Antonio scores with his head today he will create a Premier League record for headed goals in a calendar year – the golden bonce!

Apart from suspended Jamie Vardy, Leicester are at all full strength with Huth and Fuchs returning from one match bans.

Man in the Middle

A third West Ham away game this season for Anthony Taylor from Manchester; the previous two affairs ending in defeats at Chelsea (where he failed to send off match-winner Diego Costa) and at Everton. Taylor has had a busy season officiating at 20 games in which he has waved 69 Yellow and 3 Red cards.

This Week in Hammer’s History

Part 2 of the look back at the week 26 December to 1 January in Hammer’s History.

This Week Hammers History This Week in Hammer’s History has already taken a look at some of the memorable Boxing Day games over the years and now, as promised, we will cast an eye over other matches that have taken place between 26 December and 1 January.

In the days where games really did come thick and fast, rather than being a figment of manager and commentator imagination, high scoring matches were quite common; possibly due to players being more liberal in their festive celebrations at a time away when the possibility of twitter and facebook exposure was not a threat.

Fixtures on New Year’s Day are common nowadays but prior to 1974 it was just an ordinary working day and not a public holiday in England. Still time, however, for the first day of the year to feature a number of high scoring encounters of which, the low point, was a 6-0 away drubbing for Alan Curbishley’s struggling side (Tevez an unused substitute) by the mighty Reading.

In 1974, the new holiday brought the Hammers a 4-2 home win (Paddon 2, Gould, Brooking) at home to Norwich while we returned the favour in 1988 going down 1-4 (Cottee) at Carrow Road.

Other New Year’s Day successes came with: a 4-0 away win at Orient in 1980 (Pearson 2, Devonshire, Pike); a 4-1 home victory over Leicester in 1987 (Cottee 2, McAvennie, Dickens) and a 4-2 win at Upton Park against Barnsley in 1990 (Keen 2, Dicks, M Allen).

West Ham also racked up four goals during the course of the week with 4-0 home wins against Blackpool in 1966 (Peters, Moore, Byrne, Hurst) and Blackburn in 1978 (Taylor, Cross, Robson, Own Goal). Noteworthy successes on the road included a 4-3 win at Nottingham Forest in 1962 (Brabrook 2, Byrne. Own Goal) and another victory in 1967 against Leicester by the same 4-2 score-line as in the home fixture on Boxing Day, four days earlier (Dear 2, Brooking, Sissons).

Trevor Brooking 1983-4 On the last day of 1983 West Ham entertained pantomime villains Tottenham Hotspur at Upton Park. The Hammers were riding high in the top division that season having won their opening 5 games and had already beaten Spurs 2-0 at White Hart Lane in September. Hopes were high that season (at least mine were). We had been in the top 3 or 4 for almost all of the season and the team had a firm foundation built around Parkes, Stewart, Martin, Bonds, Brooking and Devonshire plus a young Tony Cottee knocking them in regularly. This was to be Trevor Brooking’s last season before retirement and there was a feeling that it could end with something special.

On the day Spurs were blown away, 4-1, with goals from Stewart, Martin, Cottee and Brooking. At the end of the year and with exactly half of the games played we stood in 3^rd spot, two points behind Manchester United and five behind leaders Liverpool. Sadly this was to be one of the years where we faltered in the second half and despite keeping in touches with leaders until the middle of March West Ham then faded badly to end the season in 9^th place – one point and one place below Tottenham.

Parkes, Stewart, Brush, Walford, Martin, Devonshire, Whitton, Cottee, Swindlehurst, Brooking, Orr

5 Observations From Victory at Swansea

Sifting through the left-overs to dissect the latest resurgent West Ham success at Swansea.

A Comfortable rather than Convincing afternoon

Three wins on the bounce and we are now safely ensconced in a mid-table cluster of teams beginning with ‘W’. As they say “You can only beat what is in front you” and the Hammers completed a comfortable, rather than convincing, victory against a team who looked resigned to relegation. Having fortunately seen off the other cast-iron relegation candidate, Hull, last week the win over Swansea was a little more straightforward. It may have been (as Slaven said) our best performance of the season but then there is not too much competition for that particular accolade. We still lacked overall cohesion and fluency, passing was below standard expected at this level and we gave the ball away too cheaply. Swansea were able to boss the midfield but it was our good fortune that they were fragile in both defence and attack. What a bizarre decision it was to appoint someone with as little European football experience as Bob Bradley to the job of manager. Go Swans!

A Welcome Change to Formation

With Obiang missing through suspension I expected, when I saw the line-up, that Nordtveit would step into the defensive midfield slot. It was a surprise, therefore, to see Kouyate pushed forward and that we had reverted to a more conventional back four formation. It seemed that Kouyate and Noble were nominally given defensive midfield duties but beyond them it became a little confusing and congested. There was very little width apart from Payet hanging wide left (apart from the brief spell when he hung wide right) but then he prefers to cut inside to create angles. The remaining players – Carroll, Ayew and Antonio – created their own little cluster in the confined central areas of the pitch. Still they each scored so maybe there was a cunning plan in there somewhere. [Note to Slav: Pedro Obiang has still been our best player this season; don’t be tempted to stick with the same team just because we won and bring him back in on Saturday.]

Fair Play to Havard

I have been a harsh critic of Havard Nordtveit’s performances to date in the claret and blue but on this occasion he did an adequate job. Deployed as a right back he maintained discipline and did what he had to do defensively. Although a defenders prime responsibility is to defend at this level there has to be a little more to your game; so far Nordtveit does not give the impression he can offer very much going forward as a right back. A competent stand-in but not the answer to our long running right back dilemma even if, I guess, there was an assist to his name for Antonio’s goal. As for the rest of the defence: Winston Reid again had an excellent game; Ogbonna mixed competence with clumsiness; and Cresswell had another disappointing outing and was at fault for the Swansea goal. A pat on the back too for Darren Randolph who, despite Swansea’s lack of penetration, had to pull of a handful of smart saves.

A Fernandes Cameo

I have to admit to being a big fan of the young Swiss midfielder. He may only have been on the pitch for just over 15 minutes but in that time brought a fresh dimension to the midfield. He shows good movement and uses the ball intelligently and accurately. There is nothing showy about him but he moves the ball quickly, decisively and (critically) in the right direction. Fernandes played an integral part in both the last two goals even if he was not credited with the assist for either. Collectively the midfield are still guilty of being largely static, not creating enough passing options and playing too many backwards and sideways passes. The general lack of width was perturbing with the usual threats of Antonio and Cresswell showing little inclination to stretch the opposition defence. In fact, I thought both had relatively poor games. Difficult to know whether Antonio was under orders to adopt a more central position or not? Still with 8 Premier League goals from 17 appearances to his name who is to complain – can he make the elusive 20 goals in a season target?

Ayew’s Coming Home

It is part of football folklore that a player struggling with form will finally make his mark when he returns to play against his old club. So it was with Andre Ayew who only had to wait 13 minutes before he was able to roll home the fumble from Fabianski after good work from Noble, Carroll and Kouyate. That the returning player scenario is not a myth is supported by the apparent, unusual stat/ fact that, in the history of the Premier League, 41 players have now scored both for and against West Ham. This is apparently more than any other club but I am not sure what conclusion, if any, we can draw from it. There was another decent performance from Andy Carroll even if there were few occasions where he was given service in those dangerous, unplayable situations that we hear about; he is still in one piece and doubled his season’s goals tally while at it. Encouraging to see that Sofiane Feghouli’s first successful cross of the season provided the assist to Big Andy’s strike.

Ratings: Randolph (7), Nordtveit (6), Reid (8), Ogbonna (5), Antonio (5), Noble (6), Kouyate (6), Creswell (5), Ayew (6), Payet (6), Carroll (7). Subs: Fernandes (7), Feghouli (6)

Matchday: West Ham @ The Liberty Stadium

Will there be a welcome in the hillsides for Slav’s men to demonstrate their alleged new found confidence.

Swansea West Ham If the boot were on the other foot and we were facing a team whose record signing was our former player who had struggled since his big money transfer you would be straight down to the bookies with the nailed on certainty that he would break his goal-scoring duck today. When Andre Ayew chose to sign for Swansea despite the apparent advances of West Ham in the summer of 2015 the noisy naysayers saw this as evidence of a lack of ambition by the Hammer’s board. Following his successful season at the Liberty Stadium and subsequent £20 million transfer to West Ham the same critics dismiss him as a flop and claim that we massively overpaid. With the Hammers looking for an unlikely three wins on the trot (and the sixth 1-0 success of the season) what scriptwriter could refuse the Ghanaian a winning goal return as a late Christmas present this afternoon?

Head to Head

West Ham against Swansea is a fixture that has largely gone with home advantage over the years. We have yet to win at the Liberty Stadium and you have to go back to 1985 for a last win on the Gower peninsular.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Sequence
Home	26	18	7	1	66	26	LWWWDW
Away	26	4	7	15	32	47	DDDLLW
	52	22	14	16	98	73

Team News

Player of the season-to-date Pedro Obiang misses today’s game through suspension. Apparently James Collins and Sam Byram are both available. We are likely to see the same team that struggled against Hull apart from the enforced change caused by Obiang’s absence. Worryingly it could well be the less than impressive Havard Nordtveit who fills the defensive midfield void.

“We got seven points, we climbed the table, now I expect from us to play with more confidence than before. We are approaching the next couple of games till the end of the year with much more confidence and I expect us to play well and get something out of those games.”

– Slaven Bilic

Andy Carroll will continue up front and with Sakho now ruled out until March (I am undecided whether this is a convenient ACON injury or not) the need for striker reinforcements is as acute as ever.

“We have started games well, but we still concede first. I have looked back over the year and one of the things that sticks out is that in 17 games we have only scored first four times.”

– Bob Bradley

Swansea have no injury worries and it could be an uncomfortable afternoon if they really give it a go against our unconvincing formation. Let’s hope we can hold on long enough for Ayew to come on and nick the winner.

The Man in the Middle

A third encounter of the season (Man City [A]; Stoke [H]) with Andre Marriner from the West Midlands. Mr. Marriner has taken charge of 16 games in all competitions this term amassing 68 Yellow and 5 Red cards.

This Week in Hammer’s History

A Boxing Day only edition takes a look at the post Xmas fare and the record breaking events of 1963.

This Week Hammers History We all know that during the Christmas period that the games ‘come thick and fast’ which means that the week 26 December to 1 January in Hammer’s History has seen more than its fair share of games. As a consequence I have split the week into two parts with today’s article looking just at Boxing Day; with the rest of the week covered in a separate post.

Of the 45 Boxing Day games played since 1958 we have won 13, drawn 12 and lost 20. Although the overall record is not so good in the higher scoring games we have had the edge. Starting in 1958 we completed a Christmas double over Tottenham with a 4-1 victory at White Hart Lane (having beaten them 2-1 at Upton Park the previous day). There have also been high scoring victories on the road at Blackpool (4-1 in 1996), Chelsea (4-2 in 1973 to climb off the bottom of the table), and Portsmouth (4-1 in 2008). On the flip side too much pudding and sherry was the harbinger of defeats at Villa (4-1 in 1975) and Tottenham (4-0 in 1986). We had also played Tottenham on Boxing Day a year earlier and the 1-0 defeat to an 85^th minute Steve Perryman goal will forever be one of those ‘if-only’ matches from the memorable 1985/6 season.

A Boxing Day home fixture at Upton Park was often something special over the years including victories over Leicester (4-1 in 1967), Charlton (5-0 in 2000) and Derby (4-0 in 2001). Possibly the most unusual Boxing Day, however, was in 1963 when 10 Division 1 games returned a record 66 goals. Included in this was total was an 8-2 thrashing of West Ham by league leaders Blackburn Rovers. A contemporary report summed up the game as follows:

“West Ham’s tactics were all wrong and their covering terrible. Blackburn on a rain-lashed, pudding of a pitch, banged the ball about with poise and precision. It was attrition warfare, as Fred Pickering opened the scoring after seven minutes and Bryan Douglas made it two after half an hour. Before the break, it was 4-0 with goals from Andy McEvoy and Mike Ferguson. In the second half, Pickering and McEvoy strolled through the Hammers’ ‘woefully weak defence’ to claim their hat tricks and, despite Johnny Byrne’s double, there was no way back.”

The full list of results for that day:

Boxing Day 63

Interestingly, in the return set of fixtures which took place just two days later: West Ham (with juts one change; Bovington in for Peters) beat Blackburn 3-1 at Ewood Park to begin a run in which Rovers eventually slid down to seventh in the table; Ipswich took their revenge on Fulham winning 4-2 at Portman Road (although they were relegated at the end of the season); Manchester United recovered from their mauling against Burnley to hammer them 5-1 at Old Trafford; and Bolton overcame Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 in their return game.

v Blackburn (H): Standen, Bond, Burkett, Peters, Brown, Moore, Brabrook, Boyce, Byrne, Hurst, Sissons
v Blackburn (A): Standen, Bond, Burkett, Bovington, Brown, Moore, Brabrook, Boyce, Byrne, Hurst, Sissons

Half Year Report Card Part 2

Revealing part two of the report card on player performance.

Yesterday we published Part 1 of our Half Year Report Card exposing who were the workers and who were the shirkers in a somewhat disappointing season to date. Now we put aside the Eat Me Dates and Chocolate Brazil Nuts for just a few minutes to bring you Part 2. We can now finish the wrapping to settle down and enjoy the festivities.

As shown in our recent article the assertion that West Ham come down with the Christmas decorations is something of a myth and we can hope for a much improved second half to the campaign.

Subject	Remarks	Grade
Manuel Lanzini	Manuel always tries to bring energy and incisiveness into the midfield areas. He shows good movement, makes great runs and is often involved for what has passed for quick interplay in our team this year. As an end product he has often flattered to deceive and has a tendency to fade (and be substituted) in the majority of games.	B-
Arthur Masuaku	An emergency signing as cover for the injured Cresswell, Arthur has demonstrated extremes of confident attacking play and comedy defending. The dual handball sequence which led to the floodgates opening away to West Brom was unfathomable. Also a victim of the injury curse he looks to have useful attributes and may still be able to build a future at the club.	C-
Mark Noble	Affectionately known as ‘Mr West Ham’, Mark has had a tough first half to the term. Still cannot be faulted for effort and his grass blade covering exertions but his technical limitations have become very apparent. His lack of pace cause him to by bypassed in midfield when the opposition have the ball (most of the time) and he also slows the game down too much when in possession. On the evidence so far he looks to be well past his best before date.	C
Havard Nordtveit	Havrad has endured a difficult start to his time at the club. Seen as the potential answer to our long time defensive midfielder problem he has failed to impress either in that role or when he has been asked to cover elsewhere. For someone who came with a strong reputation from his time in the Bundesliga he has been a huge disappointment so far culminating in his disastrous cameo in the late capitulation to Spurs.	D
Pedro Obiang	Overlooked and apparently out of favour for most of last year Pedro has been the undoubted success of the season to date. An excellent work rate has added to his ball-winning ability and he has demonstrated an economy and a good eye for direct and telling passes. Showed a lot of patience and has made the most of his chance once it came along; it is just a little worrying why it took so long to arrive now that we have seen how well he has filled on of the side’s problem positions.	A+
Angelo Ogbonna	A strong left sided centre back Angelo earned a place in West Ham folklore with his last minute headed winner against Liverpool in last season’s FA Cup. For the most part a competent defender he is prone to occasional losses of concentration and causal play with costly consequences. His love of a grapple at set pieces is also a concern.	C+
Dimitri Payet	Last season’s magician of the free kick and maestro of the assist, Dimi has been a shadow of his former self (at least in impact if not in stature) this time around. He remains our greatest attacking threat but the enthusiasm and gusto is missing from his game. Is he lacking fitness, would he rather be elsewhere, have other teams learned how to nullify him, has the non-performance of the team as a unit stifled him? Who knows the enigma of this season’s Payet.	B-
Darren Randolph	A long time understudy Darren was called to centre stage following a string of eccentric displays by El Adrian. His presence hasn’t prevented the goals against continuing to click over but that was not all down to him apart from high profile gaffes away at Spurs and Liverpool. An excellent shot stopper but never convincing in the air.	C+
Winston Reid	Winston continues to be a stalwart of the Hammer’s defence even if this is far from impregnable this year. Demonstrates excellent commitment to cause, has solid defensive qualities and never afraid to put himself on the line for the team. Not the greatest in using the ball but not as bad as some suggest and would be perfectly competent if more options were available. Rarely makes critical gaffes a la Collins and Ogbonna.	A-
Diafra Sakho	The most complete striker at the club, Diafra is also a regular in the treatment room having made just 2 appearances this term. An early return from his latest injury will probably see him off on international duty to the African Cup of Nations. Almost sold in the summer after a fallout with the management it would be foolish to let him go in the current predicament.	C
Simone Zaza	Dear oh dear…….	E
Slaven Bilic	In a complete reversal of fortune (as they used to say on TV) Slaven has gone from being the strongest link last season to being the weakest link this time around. Maybe the new stadium and confidence play a part but poor player recruitment, an unbalanced squad, unimaginative tactics, unmotivated and unfit players, a lack of organisation and no clear style of play all rest firmly at the manager’s door. Two lucky wins have fortunately given him a stay of execution.	D+

Half Year Report Part 1

The dreaded half year report is issued before heading off for the Christmas break.

Although it may not be strictly half way through the season yet we are keeping with tradition by issuing the half year report cards before breaking up for the festivities. This will allow the players to go home and think long and hard about their performances while we sit back and crack open a bottle of Emva Cream or Warninks Advocaat.

The first half is published today and part two tomorrow.

Subject	Remarks	Grade
Michail Antonio	Michail has done well to become leading goal-scorer despite being asked to play in almost every outfield position – sometimes in the same match. A playing style based on energy, pace and power, often mistakenly described as raw, he has shown tremendous commitment and adaptability. It is not his fault he is not a specialist right back and that, worryingly, the manager thought that was his best position.	A
Andre Ayew	The club’s injury curse caused Andre to miss a large part of term. Having taken the record transfer mantle from fellow invalid Andy Carroll he has yet to complete a full game for the team. In his brief appearances he has largely been lethargic and laboured with just occasional bright flashes of what he might possess. Looks far from value for money for the time being and will be off to the Africa Cup of Nations next month.	D+
Andy Carroll	Andy’s attendance has again been poor this term only just showing up in time for the Christmas party which has now been postponed. Alleged to be unplayable due to his strength in the air this has yet to be demonstrated over a sustained period of time. Aerial strength is not matched by ability on the ground and his deployment as a lone striker, with poor service, invariable leads to one-dimensional attacking play.	C
Sam Byram	Another with a bad attendance record we have yet to be convinced that Sam is the answer to our long held right back problem. Early promise has been interrupted by a series of injuries including the strange self-inflicted one that he picked up early in the game against Middlesbrough. There are differences of opinion as to whether he is a full-back or a wing-back which can hopefully be confirmed in the new year.	C-
James Collins	James tries his best and is a popular squad member. Always shows lots of effort and determination but lacks some of the basic technical skills and prone to occasional ‘ricket’. Known for his brave last ditch blocks and tackles which, ironically, are often of his own making. There is nothing as final and definitive as a James Collins clearance. Has been a useful emergency squad player but we should now have better, younger alternatives.	C+
Aaron Cresswell	Aaron missed the early part of term due to injury and his welcome return coincided with a brief uptick in form and resulted in an international call-up. Recently his conversion to wing back in the favoured 3-at-the-back formation has seemed to confuse him and his link up play with Payet, which was once a major threat, has now been nullified. Contributed his most error strewn performance for some time in the recent match against Hull/	B-
Adrian	Starting the season as the clear Number 1 and on the fringes of his national side, Adrian has had a fraught first half of the year. A competent keeper both in the air and at shot stopping he has been side-tracked by trying to develop himself as a flamboyant goal-keeping character. Not as good at ball control and dribbling as he thinks some poor goals conceded through lack of concentration and his mad dash out of goal to gift an equaliser to Stoke have led to him losing his place.	C
Sofiane Feghouli	The capture of Sofiane against stiff competition was billed as something of a coup and there was early promise despite the disappointment of the Europa League campaign. Although injuries haven’t helped the over-riding impression is of a winger who is unable to cross the ball or avoid the first defender. Perhaps there is better to come but there are few encouraging signs.	D+
Edmilson Fernandes	The diamond in the rough of the summer transfer dealings Edmilson always gives the impression of a very assured, controlled and intelligent footballer. Has performed well wherever he has been asked to play although an attacking role plays more to his strengths. May need to work on the physical side of his game to continue to develop in the Premier League frenzy.	B
Ashley Fletcher	Ashley has shown some good touches in his handful of start and various substitute appearances. Possibly not yet equipped physically to play a lone striker role his effectiveness has been hampered by the lack of organisation or cohesiveness within the team. Has looked a little scared and bemused at times but looks to have potential if used properly.	C
Cheikhou Kouyate	Cheikhou brings a powerful and athletic presence to the team and will be missed when to sets off for the African Cup of Nations. Started the season in midfield but has recently played as one of 3 centre backs. He offers strength and pace to the back line but his strong runs have been missed in midfield. Overall is more effective in midfield but should bring his defensive discipline with him and look to improve his final ball.	B+

This Week in Hammer’s History

Festive spirit, the season of goodwill and games on Christmas Day in the week 19 – 25 December in Hammer’s History.

This Week Hammers History In the mid 1960’s West Ham had featured in two successive cup finals by winning the FA European Cup Winners Cups. On 21 December 1965 they were set firmly on course for a third consecutive final appearance thanks to a 5-2 League Cup semi-final first leg victory against Cardiff at Upton Park. Goals from Bovington, Brabrook, Byrne, Hurst and Sissons effectively wrapped up the tie which was sealed just over a month later with a 5-1 second leg win at Ninian Park.

In the deep mid-winter of 1979 West Ham had scheduled their pre-Christmas fixture against Cambridge United for a Friday night to avoid clashing with the last Saturday, last minute shopping frenzy (it was not possible to buy West Ham underwear for your wife in the club shop at the time). This is often cited as one of the most memorable Boleyn experiences by many of the 11,000 or so hardy souls (of which I was one) who battled along on that bitterly cold December evening. The match started in light snow and after 45 minutes West Ham were a goal down and it was time for a hot, half-time cup of Bovril. During the interval Bill Remfry played Mike Oldfield’s ‘In Dulchi Jubilo’ and encouraged the crowd to dance just to keep warm; an invitation taken to extreme by one supporter who streaked onto the pitch. In the second half the snow turned into a full-on blizzard but goals from Stewart, Pearson and Neighbour turned the game around to give the Hammers a 3-1 victory.

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

The season of goodwill has frequently paired West Ham with close neighbours Tottenham Hotspur in the run up to Christmas and they were also the opponents on West Ham’s last ever Christmas Day fixture.

Defeat at White Hart Lane on Christmas Eve 1960 was offset by victories both home and away in the following years. In 1967 West Ham won 2-1 at Upton Park on 23 December (Bonds, Dear) and on 20 December 1969 they were also victorious by a 2-0 scoreline at White Hart Lane (Peters, Hurst). The points were shared in a thrilling topsy-turvy 4-4 away draw on 22 December 1962. West Ham were behind 2-0 and 3-2 before leading 4-3 and conceding an injury time leveller. West Ham’s goals were shared between Peters, Kirkup, Boyce and Scott and the match was also notable for an unexpected hat-trick by Dave Mackay for Spurs.

The Christmas Day fixture was in 1958 at the Boleyn Ground in front of 26,178 spectators. After a goalless first half West Ham, inspired by Phil Woosnam, raced into a 2 – 0 lead with goals from John Dick and Vic Keeble; both of whom worked like Trojans according to the news report at the time. Woosnam was then badly crocked by Spurs defender Maurice Norman and with no substitutes at the time spent the remainder of the game limping along the left wing. This allowed Tottenham to pull one back but the Hammers held on to win 2-1. In the return fixture at White Hart Lane on the following day (Boxing Day) West Ham completed the double with a resounding 4-1 victory with goals from Bond, Keeble, Dick and Own Goal.

Gregory, Bond, Cantwell, Malcolm, Brown, Smith, Grice, Woosnam, Keeble, Dick, Musgrove

Andy Smillie replaced the injured Woosnam for the Boxing Day fixture otherwise it was the same team.

Notable Birthdays

21 December          Paul Heffer                         69
21 December          Cheikhou Kouyate           27
22 December          Phil Woosnam                   d. 2013
22 December          Bill Green                            66
24 December          Diafro Sakho                      27