Richard Bennett

From Cardiff Chaos to Parker Promise: Now West Ham Must Build on the Fightback

If ever a football match deserved to be described as the archetypal game of two halves, West Ham’s extraordinary 3-3 draw at Cardiff on Wednesday night was surely it. Forty-five minutes of despair were followed by forty-five minutes which might, just might, prove to be the beginning of something rather more encouraging.

Scott Parker could hardly have experienced a more dramatic return to the club. Appointed only in the morning of the game, barely 24 hours after Nuno Espírito Santo’s departure, Parker watched his new team disappear down the tunnel at half-time three goals behind. Jack Moylan had completed a hat-trick inside 39 minutes and a sizeable travelling support had made its feelings painfully clear. For supporters who had watched home defeats against Southampton and West Brom bring an end to Nuno’s reign, it must have felt like more of the same. Indeed, angry travelling supporters were chanting that the players were “not fit to wear the shirt”. I’m not sure if that was intended to mean all of them or some in particular. At that stage you wondered what exactly Parker had let himself in for. But by the end of the game, you wondered whether we had witnessed the first small spark of a revival.

There was precious little in West Ham’s opening 45 minutes to suggest what was coming later. Moylan opened the scoring after 11 minutes, given the space to advance before producing an unstoppable 20-yard finish. Things unravelled spectacularly late in the half. Morato was caught on the wrong side, not for the first time, and conceded a penalty which Moylan converted in the 37th minute. Does Hermansen ever look like he is going to save a penalty? He always looks resigned to conceding a goal even before the kick is taken. Only two minutes later the Cardiff midfielder / striker completed his hat-trick with a header from Joel Bagan’s corner.

Parker had begun his new job at nine o’clock that morning and admitted afterwards that he had met the players for the first time then. He therefore had virtually no opportunity to influence the preparation. But at half-time he finally had their undivided attention. Apparently, according to Arne Engels, he was, not surprisingly, a very angry manager.

And suddenly everything changed. Perhaps we shouldn’t romanticise half-time team talks too much, because Parker himself stressed there were tactical instructions involved. He said West Ham needed to be more aggressive without the ball, become more front-footed and take greater risks, and he backed that with immediate action.

Joël Piroe, Mohamadou Kanté and Ezra Mayers were introduced at the interval, replacing the ineffectual Taty, clearly not match-fit Magassa, and never a left-back in a million years Morato, and the difference in attitude was immediately apparent. West Ham began playing with urgency. Cardiff, so comfortable before the break, were suddenly being pushed backwards.

There is, however, a delicious historical comparison here. In February 2011, Parker famously helped inspire a West Ham side trailing 3-0 at half-time at West Bromwich Albion to recover and draw 3-3. Nearly 16 years later, in his first match as West Ham’s head coach, he somehow found himself in almost exactly the same situation. You really couldn’t make it up as whatever Parker said at half-time it worked.

Jarrod Bowen created the opening for Divine Mukasa, who delicately lifted the ball over ex- West Ham keeper Nathan Trott in the 58th minute. Suddenly 3-0 became 3-1 and Cardiff had something to think about. Seven minutes later Arne Engels scored his first West Ham goal to make it 3-2, and they really had something to think about as West Ham turned up the pressure. Now there was only one team with the momentum. With eight minutes of normal time remaining, Maximilian Kilman completed an astonishing comeback. Three-nil down at half-time. Three-three with eight minutes remaining. By then, wonderfully, we were probably disappointed not to win it.

We shouldn’t get carried away. Parker will know better than anyone that a team with genuine promotion ambitions cannot keep giving opponents three-goal starts. There are still obvious defensive problems to address and the alarming passive nature of that opening period cannot simply be forgotten because of what followed. But football is about confidence as much as formations and tactics. A 3-3 draw after leading 3-0 feels like a defeat. A 3-3 draw after trailing 3-0 feels suspiciously like a victory.

West Ham finished Wednesday night eighth, occupying the final play-off position, so despite the recent turbulence the season remains very much alive. Only six points separate the top 10 clubs in what is a very competitive division. More importantly, Parker has already learned something about his squad and that is they haven’t given up. And they discovered something about him too. When things went horribly wrong, their new manager didn’t hide. He changed personnel, altered the approach and demanded greater aggression. It was quite an introduction. The substitutions were timely and appropriate, unlike those made by his predecessor. Personally I would have liked to see Austbo also introduced at half time to replace Solomon but that was another beneficial change that he made in the second half.

There isn’t much time for Parker to enjoy it. West Ham are back on the road on Saturday, travelling to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers in a 3pm Championship kick-off. Blackburn provide a fascinating test because their home form deserves respect. West Ham, though, have reasons for travelling north with confidence of our own. Our away record has been one of the more encouraging aspects of the season, and the fighting spirit shown at Cardiff should send the players into the Blackburn match feeling very different from the way they entered the Cardiff dressing room at half-time. Incredibly we are still undefeated away from home this season despite two particularly woeful first half performances at Millwall and Cardiff.

There are dangers. Andri Gudjohnsen has been Blackburn’s principal goalscorer, and one of the leading goalscorers in the Championship, while Todd Cantwell is another player West Ham cannot afford to allow too much freedom. But this match is really about us. Parker has had virtually no time to coach this squad. His first match arrived on the same day he took the job. Now he has another game barely three days later. We therefore shouldn’t expect a tactical revolution overnight, but what we can expect is a reaction.

Parker talked upon his appointment about the need for consistency. That is surely the key word now. The spirit and aggression of Cardiff’s second half cannot be something we produce only when three goals down and humiliation is staring us in the face. It needs to be there from the first whistle at Blackburn.

Turn up at Ewood Park playing like the West Ham of Cardiff’s first half and we could be in trouble. Turn up playing like the West Ham of Cardiff’s second half and there is no reason why we shouldn’t come home with all three points. And wouldn’t it be nice, just for once, if we could achieve it without having to come back from three goals down first? Wouldn’t it be nice to take an early lead for once?

Scott Parker’s West Ham are underway. He was a superb player for us and I hope he can be equally as good at the helm. He comes with the reputation of playing dour defensive football, but with a successful three promotions from the Championship behind him, but also with little success in the top flight. Was that totally down to him or the resources at his disposal? After 45 minutes in Cardiff the new era appeared to have begun with disaster. After 90, it felt rather more like hope. Now comes the important part which is proving that the remarkable second half wasn’t simply a comeback, but the first glimpse of what the new manager intends West Ham to become. A much better appointment than Lopetegui, Potter or Nuno I reckon. Give the man I chance.

We all see games differently but for what it’s worth my ratings below are based on how I saw the performances of our players in the game.

Hermansen 5, Veltman 5.5, Mavropanos 6.5, Kilman 6.5, Morato 2, Magassa 5, Engels 7.5, Mukasa 7.5, Bowen 8.5, Taty 1, Solomon 3. Subs. Mayers 7, Kante 7, Piroe 6.5, Austbo 7, Soucek (not long enough)

Hammers Need a Response as Baggies Come Calling

West Ham return to the London Stadium on Saturday looking to get back on track after last weekend’s hugely frustrating 3-2 home defeat by Southampton brought our nine-match unbeaten Championship run to an abrupt end. The visit of West Bromwich Albion gives us the opportunity to respond immediately, but this is certainly no routine home fixture. West Ham go into the weekend third in the Championship with 22 points from 12 matches, while West Brom are fifth with 21, so a single point separates the sides.

In fact, that makes Saturday one of those early-season games which may eventually prove rather more significant than it appears at the time. Win it and we put the Southampton disappointment behind us, maintain our position amongst the promotion challengers and create a little breathing space between ourselves and West Brom. Lose, and the Baggies go above us. Breathing space! See what I did there? Yes, I’ve taken note of the big phrase in this week’s budget speech.

First, though, it’s difficult to look ahead without looking back at what was an extraordinary afternoon at the London Stadium last Saturday. Let’s get one thing straight before we start looking for scapegoats. West Ham didn’t lose to Southampton because of the referee. We lost because our opening to the game was dreadful.

Southampton were ahead after only two minutes through Kuryu Matsuki and doubled their advantage through James Bree in the 11th minute. West Ham were shell-shocked, but to our credit we responded strongly and Kyle Walker-Peters, playing against his former club, produced an excellent finish to make it 2-1 after 24 minutes. At that point, we really were back in the game. West Ham were firmly on the front foot and an equaliser seemed distinctly possible, in fact I thought it was inevitable. But instead Southampton struck again.

Lewis Dobbin restored their two-goal advantage on 34 minutes after a succession of blocked efforts, leaving us 3-1 down and wondering how, having played some decent attacking football, we’d conceded three goals in little more than half an hour. It was sloppy defending and Southampton punished it ruthlessly. Sky Sports described our defending for the third goal as “lacklustre” and reasonably called the result a wake-up call for anyone who thought West Ham were going to stroll to promotion. I can’t really argue with that.

Yet the afternoon also left me increasingly irritated by something else. The referee was Michael Salisbury, an official with plenty of Premier League experience. Frankly, at times his performance was baffling. Southampton were winning and naturally wanted to slow the game down. I don’t particularly blame them for that. Most teams would do exactly the same thing in their position. What was infuriating from a West Ham perspective was how little appeared to be done about it.

Restarts seemed to take an eternity. Goal kicks, throw-ins and free-kicks became exercises in running down the clock. Players went down, the rhythm of the game disappeared and Southampton were able to take the sting out of West Ham’s attempts to build momentum. But anyone watching from a West Ham perspective could be forgiven for wondering exactly when Michael Salisbury was going to take control. And then came the first-half stoppage time. Two minutes. Seriously? The first half had contained four goals, scored in the second, 11th, 24th and 34th minutes. Four separate goals. Four celebrations. Four restarts. Add the usual stoppages and Southampton’s determination to take as much heat out of proceedings as possible, and somehow the conclusion was that only two additional minutes were required. It was astonishing.

There isn’t a rule which says a particular number of seconds must automatically be added every time a goal is scored, so we can’t simply multiply four goals by a fixed figure. But equally, you don’t need a stopwatch and a degree in mathematics to wonder how a half containing four goals and all the other interruptions that go with 45 minutes of Championship football could possibly result in just two minutes being added. It looked completely inadequate.

And that is where I think referees have to accept responsibility. If a team believes it can waste time without consequence, it will. Why wouldn’t it? It isn’t Southampton’s responsibility to make sure West Ham have enough time to score. It is the referee’s responsibility to manage the game and ensure that deliberate delays don’t simply reduce the amount of football being played. What made it particularly exasperating was that West Ham were chasing the game and beginning to apply pressure. Every little delay suited Southampton perfectly.

The frustration continued into the second half as West Ham tried to find a way back. Eventually Tomáš Souček scored his 50th goal for the club in stoppage time to give us the faintest hope, but it was too late and Southampton held on for a 3-2 win.

So let’s be absolutely clear. The referee didn’t cost us the match. We did a pretty good job of that ourselves in the opening 34 minutes. But that shouldn’t become a convenient reason for absolving Michael Salisbury of criticism either. From a West Ham supporter’s perspective, his failure to get to grips with Southampton’s game management, allied to the frankly ridiculous two minutes added at the end of a four-goal first half, made an already irritating afternoon considerably worse.

I’ll refrain from mentioning Nuno. Geoff did an excellent job with his views on our manager in his review of the Southampton game this week. I agree with most of what Geoff wrote. I found some of his substitution decisions baffling I’m afraid. Kante and Walker-Peters were two of our most impressive players in an attacking sense and both were withdrawn as we were chasing the game. I love Tomas Soucek in so many ways but his lack of pace and graduation from the Carlton Cole school of ball control are not positive attributes. But just as I was thinking that he did score a splendid goal!

In some ways, Southampton might prove to be a useful reality check. There had been plenty to be encouraged about during our nine-match unbeaten league run, but Saturday demonstrated that nothing in the Championship can be taken for granted. Southampton arrived at the London Stadium, attacked us from the start and made us pay heavily for our mistakes. Now we shall discover something else about this West Ham side: how will we react to a setback?

Our recent form remains pretty impressive. Before Southampton, we’d won 1-0 at Swansea and 6-0 at Lincoln, while previous league games against QPR and Millwall had finished level. West Ham’s overall record after 12 Championship matches is six wins, four draws and two defeats, with 32 goals scored and 15 conceded. Thirty-two goals in 12 games confirms that scoring isn’t exactly our biggest problem.

Keeping them out at the other end occasionally is. And after conceding three against Southampton, another lapse-filled start against West Brom would be asking for trouble. The Baggies arrive in decent form themselves. Their most recent match was a 1-1 draw at Preston, which followed victories over Blackburn and Wrexham. They have six wins, three draws and three defeats from 12 Championship matches and have conceded only 13 goals. That last figure catches my attention. West Ham have scored twice as many league goals as West Brom, 32 compared with 16, but the Baggies’ defensive record suggests we shouldn’t expect them to be obliging visitors. There’s an interesting contrast there.

West Ham matches have often provided goals. Eight of our last ten have contained three or more goals, whereas only three of West Brom’s last ten have done so. That suggests Saturday should become something of a battle of styles, with West Ham wanting to get on the front foot and impose our attacking game while West Brom may be perfectly content if things remain tight and uncomfortable. If so, patience will be important, but hopefully please, not too much patience. After what happened last Saturday, I’d rather we didn’t wait until we’re 2-0 down before we decide to start playing.

Remarkably, this will be the first league meeting between the clubs since May 2021. We won both Premier League encounters that season, beating West Brom 2-1 at the London Stadium in January before winning 3-1 at The Hawthorns in May. Our previous meeting, however, wasn’t quite so enjoyable: West Brom came to the London Stadium in January 2020 and knocked us out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory. Those meetings belong to a different era, of course. The rather uncomfortable reality in 2026 is that we’re renewing acquaintances not in the Premier League but in the Championship. Hopefully that’s only a temporary arrangement.

One defeat doesn’t suddenly turn a good start into a bad one. We’re third. We’ve lost only twice in 12 league matches. We’ve scored 32 goals. Before last weekend we’d gone nine league games without defeat. There is still a great deal to be positive about. What this Saturday should tell us, however, is whether we’ve learned anything from Southampton.

We cannot spend the first ten minutes defending as though the match doesn’t start until quarter past three. We can’t give decent Championship sides two-goal leads and expect to keep getting away with it. And we need to rediscover the defensive concentration that had brought consecutive clean sheets before Southampton arrived.

I’d like us to start aggressively against West Brom, but intelligently. Get Jarrod Bowen involved early. Encourage Kyle Walker-Peters to get forward again. Let the crowd sense from the opening few minutes that last weekend hurt and that there is a determination to put it right. Above all, let’s score the first goal. After last weekend, I’m not sure my nerves fancy another afternoon spent chasing the game.

Saturday isn’t quite a must-win match. Not in October. But it is the sort of home game a side with serious automatic promotion aspirations needs to win. Southampton gave us a bloody nose and provided a timely reminder that getting back to the Premier League isn’t going to be the formality some people thought it might be. Now it’s our turn to respond.

My ratings from the Southampton game: Hermansen 5, Walker-Peters 7.5, Kilman 5, Mavropanos 5, Morato 5, Engels 7, Mukasa 7, Kante 8, Solomon 5, Taty 5, Bowen 7. Pablo the best of the substitutes.

West Ham v Southampton: Another Big Test of Our Promotion Credentials

If last weekend’s trip to Swansea was a test of just how serious our promotion ambitions are, then Saturday’s visit of Southampton to the London Stadium provides another one. And after what we achieved in Wales, we should go into it with plenty of confidence.

Winning 1-0 away to the Championship leaders was arguably our most impressive result of the season so far. It might not have had the fireworks of our 6-0 victory at Lincoln a few days earlier, but sometimes those gritty away wins tell you rather more about a side. It was, as Geoff described, a competent performance rather than an outstanding one that reduced their lead at the top to one point. If we had lost the gap would have been seven points. Divine Mukasa got the decisive goal as we made it consecutive away victories and extended our unbeaten league run to nine matches.

Now we need to bring that momentum back to the London Stadium. Saturday’s 3pm kick-off sees second-placed West Ham take on a Southampton side who are just creeping into a play-off place in eighth, but that league position is slightly misleading. The Saints started the campaign with a four-point deduction and have lost just twice in the Championship to Wrexham and Watford. Without that deduction they would be right amongst the leading pack, so this looks like another genuine test between two sides with designs on promotion. In fact, just one point separates us on the field. We have collected 22 points from our eleven matches, while Southampton have earned 21 before their deduction is applied.

They arrive in London after a goalless draw at home to Bolton last weekend, having previously recorded successive 1-0 victories over Norwich and Portsmouth. That suggests we shouldn’t expect another Lincoln-style goal-fest.

There have certainly been some memorable meetings between the two clubs over the years and, overall, and especially in recent times, we’ve generally had the better of them. Before this season, our last meeting at the London Stadium finished 1-1 in April 2025, while on Boxing Day 2024 we came away from St Mary’s with a 1-0 victory.

Go back a little further and Southampton became rather welcome visitors to our part of East London. We beat them 1-0 in April 2023 and 3-1 in February 2020, while one of my favourite recent meetings came on the final day of the 2020/21 season. Our 3-0 victory secured sixth place and European football, although sadly there weren’t the usual thousands of us inside the ground to enjoy it.

Fortunately, I was successful in the ballot and one of the lucky ones to be among the 10,000 allowed into the ground as Covid restrictions were gradually being eased. Two first half goals from Pablo Fornals gave us a comfortable half-time lead before Declan Rice sealed the victory five minutes from the end with a run from inside our half through the Southampton defence almost unchallenged to slot home. It was strange to be at the ground after so long away and even weirder with just 10,000 allowed in to keep us ‘relatively’ separated from each other.

But perhaps the most relevant previous meeting is the one that happened only a couple of months ago. We travelled to St Mary’s in the League Cup on 25 August and returned with a resounding 4-1 victory. That ought to give us confidence, although it probably gives Southampton a little extra motivation as well.

For us, perhaps the biggest challenge is maintaining the standards we’ve set over the last couple of matches. Thirty league goals already demonstrates the attacking talent we possess, but the 1-0 at Swansea showed another side to us. If we are going to get out of this wonderfully unpredictable division at the first attempt, we’ll need both qualities. There is an added incentive as well. Depending on results elsewhere, victory could see us finish the weekend at the top of the Championship. After relegation and all the disappointment that came with it, that wouldn’t be a bad position to be in as we head towards November.

I’m beginning to feel quietly optimistic. Perhaps that’s dangerous territory for any West Ham supporter, because experience tells me what normally happens as soon as we start getting carried away! But six goals at Lincoln followed by a hard-earned victory at Swansea is difficult to ignore.

Southampton will probably provide another uncomfortable afternoon, and maybe that’s exactly what we need. Beat another promotion contender and we really can start believing that this might be more than simply a decent start.

I’ll be watching this game from the hospitality area. I did experience hospitality once before at Upton Park but this is the first time I will have experienced it at the London Stadium. I’ve always sat on the opposite side of the London Stadium so this will be my first experience of sitting on this side of the ground. I must remember my binoculars!

Swansea City v West Ham United: A Real Test of West Ham’s Promotion Credentials

If we wanted to know just how serious West Ham are about bouncing straight back to the Premier League, Saturday afternoon at Swansea should provide us with a pretty good answer. We travel to Wales sitting third in the Championship, four points behind leaders Swansea after ten games. The Swans have 23 points, we have 19, so while nobody wins promotion in October, this certainly feels like one of those games that could tell us quite a lot about both sides.

What a strange week it has already been for us. Last Friday night’s 1-1 draw at home to QPR felt like a missed opportunity, particularly when we were looking to make the London Stadium the sort of place visiting Championship sides wouldn’t particularly enjoy coming to. Then, five days later, we went to Lincoln and won 6-0. That’s West Ham for you. Just when you think you have us figured out, we go and do something completely different.

That Lincoln result was certainly some response, helped of course by Lincoln’s reckless opening to the game, but Swansea represents a very different examination. They come into the match after four successive victories, the latest being a 1-0 win at Millwall, and their record of seven wins from ten league games explains why they are sitting on top of the Championship. They’ve conceded just seven goals compared with our 12, although our 29 goals means we’ve been comfortably the more prolific of the two sides at the other end. So perhaps the big question is whether our attacking threat can break down the best defence we’ve encountered so far.

One encouraging factor is that we haven’t lost away from home in the Championship this season. Our four trips have produced one win and three draws, including that 2-2 draw at Millwall. But there is also the other side of that statistic; if we’re going to turn a promising start into a genuine promotion challenge, at some stage some of those away draws have to become wins.

Trips to Swansea haven’t always provided happy memories. Our last visit, admittedly all the way back in March 2018, ended in a miserable 4-1 defeat. Before that, however, there was a very enjoyable Boxing Day afternoon in 2016 when we went there and won 4-1 ourselves. That win avenged a 4-1 defeat in May 2016 in what was scheduled to be the final game at the Boleyn Ground (but wasn’t of course because the Manchester United game was rearranged).

That’s right you keep reading the scoreline 4-1. Three of our last games against Swansea have finished with that score and in between them we’ve managed two 1-0 victories. Here’s a quiz for you – answers at the foot of the article.

Name the three goalkeepers who played in goal for West Ham in those last 5 games against Swansea.
Name the goalkeeper who played in goal for Swansea in all 5 games.
Name the player who played twice for Swansea and three times for West Ham in those 5 games and scored a goal for both teams (not own goals).
(an easy one to finish) 21 penalties have been awarded in the Championship this season and 19 of them have been scored. Name the two players who missed with their spot kicks.

For me, Saturday isn’t quite a must-win game, it’s far from it. There is an awfully long Championship season ahead of us, and a point away to the league leaders would hardly represent a disaster, in fact I would be happy with that. But there is an opportunity here too. Win and suddenly we’re just one point behind Swansea, whereas lose and the gap becomes seven. That’s what gives this game a little extra edge.

After six goals at Lincoln confidence ought to be high but now comes the harder part. Can we produce that sort of performance against the team currently setting the pace? It will be a totally different game and it won’t be easy but if we can win we will have 22 points from 11 games which brings our average up to two points a game. Over a whole season that would give us 92 points from the 46 games which would be the total needed to be in strong contention for automatic promotion.

And the answers to the questions:

Darren Randolph was the West Ham goalkeeper in three of the last five games against Swansea, Adrian played in one, and Joe Hart in the other.
Lucas Fabianski was the Swansea keeper in all five of the games.
Andre Ayew played twice for Swansea and three times for West Ham in those five games. He scored for Swansea in their 4-1 win at Upton Park in May 2016 and then scored for West Ham in our 4-1 win in Swansea on Boxing Day 2016. Both he and his brother Jordan played for Swansea and Jordan scored one of the goals in Swansea’s 4-1 win in March 2018
Taty and Jarrod Bowen of course!

West Ham v QPR Preview: Finally, Football’s Back

Is it just me, or has this international break felt about three months long? After what seems like an eternity, the Hammers are finally back in action, with QPR making the short trip across London for an 8pm Championship clash. Frankly, I can’t wait. As much as I enjoy following local senior and junior non-league football, I still miss my West Ham fix.

Friday night football under the lights always feels a bit special, and there’s an added edge whenever another London club rolls into town. QPR might not be our fiercest rivals, but there is still plenty of local pride at stake, and with points on the line in the Championship, this is far more important than your average derby day bragging rights.

The biggest question for me heading into the game is what effect the international break will have had on West Ham. Ask ten football fans about international breaks and you’ll probably get ten different answers. Some see them as a welcome pause, others see them as a cruel interruption designed solely to ruin their weekend plans. Personally, I’d like to be somewhere in the middle, but in reality I’m not. While it’s nice to see players representing their countries, two weekends without West Ham is not good.

From a West Ham perspective, there are positives to the break. It has given Nuno and the coaching staff extra time on the training pitch, allowed tired legs to recover (yes after just eight games players are tired already!), allowed Jarrod to watch his wife in Strictly, and hopefully helped a few knocks and niggles heal. The Championship is a relentless division and opportunities to take a breath don’t come around very often. There’s also the chance to reset.

Whether results before the break were good, bad or somewhere in between, three weeks away can help players clear their heads and come back refreshed for the next block of fixtures before we get hit with the next international break (thankfully just a shorter one) in mid-November. We have seven fixtures before then including this one. All games are important but this next run of games includes QPR (6^th), Swansea (top), West Brom (5^th) and also Southampton.

With the season beginning to gather momentum, the timing might or might not work in West Ham’s favour. We were in good form approaching the break before a dreadful first half against Millwall had me despairing. But the second half comeback would have left the players on a high and it would have been good to move onto the next game straight away.

Footballers are creatures of habit and rhythm. When a team starts building momentum, the last thing as supporters we want is for everything to stop. Sometimes teams return looking sharp and energised. Other times they resemble a group of strangers who have met for the first time in the tunnel five minutes before kick-off. Let’s hope this game falls into the first category.

QPR will certainly arrive looking to make life difficult. They have made an excellent start to the season and currently sit in sixth on 13 points, just two below us. And like us they have only been beaten once in the league so far this season. Championship matches rarely come easy regardless of league position, reputation or budget. Every side is capable of beating anyone on their day, which is exactly what makes this division both brilliant and entertaining (As well as the lack of VAR of course!)

For West Ham, the key will be setting the tempo early. A fast start would settle any concerns about rustiness and get the crowd involved from the opening whistle. The London Stadium has a habit of generating a cracking atmosphere for an evening game when the team gives supporters something to get behind. Wrexham is the prime example. And let’s be honest, after three weeks without club football, it probably won’t take much.

As we enter another crucial stretch of the season, this feels like an important opportunity. Three points would not only strengthen our position in the table, putting us back on top for a day at least, but also provide the perfect platform heading into the next run of fixtures. The international break is over and it’s time for proper football to return. From a personal viewpoint I’m happy.

COYI!

Dockers Derby: Still Fighting Over the Docks

Still Fighting Over the Docks

Down where the Thames rolls brown and slow,
Where the cranes once swung round and the whistles would blow,
Two clubs were born from the sweat and the grime,
Both forged in the furnaces of dockland time.

One in Canning Town, proud and tough,
The Ironworks men, made of sturdy stuff.
One further south, by the river’s flow,
Millwall’s dockers, with nowhere to go.

They shared the smoke, in sunshine and rain,
They shared aching backs and industrial pain.
Just neighbours, really, when all has been said,
Just working men earning their daily bread.

But history seldom plays things fair,
And grudges grow where there’s little to spare.
A whisper becomes a story retold,
That hardens slowly like iron grown cold.

The General Strike came roaring through,
Nineteen twenty-six, and the country knew
The mines stood still, the railways too,
And working folk faced what they had to do.

In East London streets the stories spread,
Of who stood firm and who moved ahead.
Of jobs accepted and lines that were crossed,
Of “them” and “us” and friends that were lost.

The facts now mingle with myth and folklore,
Polished and sharpened through decades more.
Yet somewhere there in the dockside din
Another layer of resentment crept in.

The docks are gone now, the cranes have died,
Glass towers stand where the stevedores plied.
The river remains, but the world has moved on,
But the memories linger long after they’re gone.

World Wars have ended across the seas,
Old enemies now friends have made their peace.
Nations once locked in mortal hate
Now share alliances and cooperate.

The French and English, after so many goes,
Have managed somehow to bury the blows.
Germany and Britain, after the war,
Built something stronger than existed before.

Yet mention Millwall in certain bars,
Or West Ham under south London stars,
And someone still may start a fight
Defending an argument with all their might.

Grandads will argue, and the fathers too,
The sons will inherit the chosen view.
They all believe that their views are right,
Grievances continue through day and through night.

And what is it now that keeps it alive?
A need to belong, perhaps to survive?
For football is never just goals, it’s old scores,
It’s memories that linger, unforgotten wars.

Some laugh about it, as rivals they booed,
Trading their insults in good humoured mood.
But still, regrettably, some cannot see
How pointless all the violence can be.

For bricks never settled a league table place,
Nor fists ever earned a cup winning race.
No punch has altered the game’s final score,
Though thousands have foolishly tried it before.

So here’s to the rivalry, it’s fierce and it’s old,
To stories exaggerated, and endlessly told.
Dockers, ironworkers, legends and folklore,
And songs that echo from the conflict and more.

But maybe one day the joke will land,
And both sides will finally understand
The docks that they fought for have long since departed,
Yet both were built by the same folks that started.

Workers in heaven now up above the sky,
Do they look down and still wonder why
Their descendants still rage with such deep devotion
Over ghosts still drifting like tides on the ocean?

Until then, the conflict will rise once again,
Across East London and down at the Den.
And somewhere a docker from years now long gone
With a shake of his head he’ll mutter, “Carry on.”

Dockers Derby: On Opposite Banks

On Opposite Banks

Beneath the smoke of a London sky,
Where river tides would ebb and sigh,
Two clubs were forged from iron and flames,
And East End streets would learn their names.

One rose where shipwrights toiled way up high,
Where hammers rang out and sparks would fly.
Thames Ironworks formed 1895,
That’s where West Ham’s colours came alive.

The other grew by Millwall Dock,
Among the labour, rope and lock,
Where workers toiled through rain and cold,
With hearts as fierce as forged on gold.

They lived not worlds but miles apart,
Yet carried rival East End hearts.
The same hard roads, the same rough trade,
The same long shadows labour made.

Then years would pass and fortunes bend,
But neither side would ever mend.
For pride remembers what time forgets,
And old wounds leave their silhouettes.

Some speak of strikes and dockyard lore,
Of jobs and loyalties before,
Of neighbours split by work and creed,
And grudges planted like a seed.

The river watched as decades rolled,
As tales grew larger, stories told.
Each meeting fed the legend’s fire,
Each chant became a funeral pyre.

For peace that might have one day grown
Had history left the past alone.
Instead the echoes still remain
Along the tracks and down the lane.

Yet beyond the anger, beyond the noise,
Beyond the boasts of men and boys,
There stands a truth both clubs still share:
The East End spirit lingers there.

For both were born beside the tide,
With working people as their guide.
Two branches from a common tree,
Divided by their history.

And when the crowds begin to roar,
Recalling every score and war,
The Thames still flows as it has done,
Beneath the moon, beneath the sun.

It knows the tale, both harsh and grand,
Of rival hearts in London’s land.
Two clubs, one river running through,
Forever old, forever new.

For Luděk Mikloško

Through the nineties at Upton Park,
A giant keeper between the sticks,
With fearless hands and steady heart,
A goalie saving kicks and flicks.

From distant shores he came to us,
A stranger only for a while,
Yet soon the fans sang out his name,
For courage, grit, and humble smile.

When strikers thought the net was theirs,
And thundered shots with all their might,
He sprang through air with outstretched hands,
And turned despair to pure delight.

Through rain-soaked pitches, winter winds,
And battles fought on Saturday,
He wore the jersey with pride and honour, (373 times)
And gave his all in every way.

But more than saves and matchday cheers,
More than records, Man U denied,
He earned a place in Hammers’ hearts,
Where memories they still reside.

Now one last whistle marks the end,
As silence falls across the ground,
Yet in the future generations,
His name will always still be found.

So rest in peace, dear Luděk now,
Your watch is done, your duty through,
But in the stands and in your song,
The West Ham faithful remember you.

My name is Ludo Mikloško
I come from near Moscow,
I play in goal for West Ham,
West Ham!
When I walk down the street,
Everybody I meet says,
Oi big boy,
What’s your name,
My name is Ludo Mikloško
I come from near Moscow,
I play in goal for West Ham,
West Ham!

The Championship Waltz

We waved goodbye to Premier League lights,
To VAR rows and Monday nights,
And found ourselves on windswept grounds,
Where seagulls outnumber homeward-bound crowds.

The season began with a confident roar,
“We’ll romp this league!” cried fans by the score.
Yet three games in the mood had changed,
As dropped points left hopes somewhat deranged.

At Burnley, Preston, and Stoke away,
We’ll learn new ways to spoil their day.
Two up at Burnley this league can be fun
But two late goals, the game wasn’t won!

The manager talked of process and plans,
That tested the faith of travelling fans.
“Trust the project,” he’d calmly start on
And then we’d lose at home to Charlton!

One minute we’re brilliant, slick and fast,
Playing football built to last.
The next we’re launching hopeful punts,
The crowd would scream ‘you useless xxxxx’
(I couldn’t think of a suitable rhyme here)

Yet still we’d gather, clad in claret and blue,
Following dreams that we hoped would come true
For being a Hammer is strange but unique
West Ham are massive the words that we speak.

The summer was ending, a change in the weather.
For West Ham United results came together,
Four wins on the bounce, who thought we’d be able
To rise up so fast to the top of the table?

Next up it’s Millwall from south of the city,
They almost went up but missed out what a pity!
They’re not our best friends it goes back a long way
I do hope we’ll come out on top on the day.

And when promotion comes our way,
We’ll laugh at all this one fine day.
Though knowing West Ham, if truth be told,
We’ll leave it late, as is the mould.

So here ends my ode to the Championship trail,
The highs and the lows, the occasional derail.
Whatever the table reveals come next May
West Ham will do it in the West Ham way.

Bubbles Rising: Hammers Reach the Summit Before Hollywood Comes to Town

For at least one glorious evening, West Ham United found themselves looking down on the rest of the Championship. It may only be September and the league table currently has all the permanence of a sandcastle at high tide, but after Tuesday’s victory at Bolton Wanderers, the Hammers climbed to the summit. Temporary of course but enjoyable nonetheless. We all want to play in the Premier League but playing in the Championship can be fun. Every time we are there (and this is the sixth time in my lifetime) I have mostly enjoyed our time. It makes a change to win more than we lose.

As supporters, we’re under no illusions about the marathon ahead. Forty-six league games leave plenty of time for twists, turns and the occasional bout of self-inflicted heartache. After last season’s relegation, as fans we approached this campaign the same way you’d approach a suspicious kebab at two in the morning, cautiously optimistic but fully aware it could all go horribly wrong. But there is something undeniably comforting about seeing claret and blue occupying top spot, even if only for a fleeting moment. Let’s hope we can continue to occupy the top positions in the table. For the time being at least, although not totally convincing and with more integration work to be done, West Ham are giving us reasons to believe.

Bolton was exactly the sort of fixture that Championship football throws at you. A traditional club, a lively atmosphere and a ground where promotion ambitions can quickly disappear faster than a free pie in the away end. Tough away grounds in the Championship have a habit of chewing up lofty expectations and spitting them out somewhere around the centre circle. But West Ham approached the game with a maturity and confidence that is beginning to suggest this squad is beginning to understand exactly what the assignment is.

There was a controlled aggression to the performance. Not reckless, not frantic, but purposeful. Like a heavyweight boxer who knows he doesn’t need a first-round knockout, West Ham patiently went about their work, confident the opportunities would come. When they did, the Hammers were clinical. I still worry about Nuno’s favoured formation, his team selections, his substitution decisions, the timing and players used and withdrawn, the fact that at times we could make the opposition look good by the space we gave them in midfield. But perhaps that’s churlish? Three wins on the bounce and a rapid rise to the top after an indifferent start should satisfy us, at least for now.

What has perhaps pleased us (supporters) most in recent weeks is that this team no longer feels like a collection of Premier League refugees wondering how they ended up in the second tier. Instead, they are beginning to resemble a side embracing the challenge. There is grit where grit is required and quality when the game opens up. The travelling support, meanwhile, were magnificent as always. 4500 West Ham fans made enough noise to convince half of Lancashire that East London had declared independence.

Championship away days may lack the glamour of Premier League trips to Old Trafford or Anfield, but there is a rawness and authenticity to them that fans secretly enjoy. Real football, real grounds and real atmospheres. No VAR too. When the ball hits the net, the referee signals a goal and the linesman (assistant referee if you prefer) runs back towards the middle with his flag by his side you know the goal will stand. Instant celebration is hard to beat.

The Championship is littered with clubs who assumed their superior pedigree would carry them straight back up. More often than not, the division responds with a swift kick to the backside and a reminder that reputation earns precisely zero points. I think that we are learning that lesson. The victory at Bolton was another step in that education. It wasn’t just about the three points. It was about demonstrating an ability to handle pressure, navigate a difficult away fixture and come away with maximum reward. But the three points were important.

The reward for Tuesday’s efforts is a Friday night date under the lights at the London Stadium against Wrexham, and few could have predicted that fixture carrying quite so much intrigue. If Bolton represented traditional Championship grit, Wrexham arrive with an entirely different flavour. The Welsh club have become football’s version of a Hollywood blockbuster. Everywhere they go there are cameras, headlines and enough publicity to launch a small moon mission. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney deserve enormous credit for what they’ve achieved, but you still occasionally expect Deadpool to appear at left-back.

Wrexham’s rise has been one of football’s most remarkable modern stories. Backed by Hollywood ownership and accompanied by a global spotlight, they’ve surged through the divisions at breathtaking speed. They are football’s equivalent of a blockbuster film franchise, hugely popular, impossible to ignore and seemingly collecting new followers by the day. Beneath the celebrity sparkle, however, sits a very good football team.

West Ham supporters expecting a comfortable evening should think again. Wrexham have built their ascent on organisation, resilience and an admirable refusal to be overawed by bigger names. They won’t arrive in East London simply grateful to be here. Anyone expecting Wrexham to arrive star-struck by the London Stadium may be in for disappointment. They’ve climbed the divisions by being organised, committed and seemingly immune to pressure.

If there was ever a game made for a Friday night under the lights, this is it. The cameras will be there. The atmosphere should be cracking. Social media will spend all week pretending the fixture is the football equivalent of Avengers Endgame. For West Ham, though, the task remains beautifully simple, we just need to win the game. Lose and the Championship will gleefully remind us that it specialises in bringing ambitious clubs back down to earth.

The Hammers have momentum and must protect it. Momentum in the Championship is like finding a shopping trolley with four working wheels, rare, precious and not something you want to let go of. The encouraging thing is that this squad appears increasingly comfortable with the pressure. Players are beginning to look less like Premier League survivors and more like a team determined to escape this division at the first attempt.

Of course, seasoned West Ham supporters know better than to get carried away. But a look through social media suggests that some are getting carried away. September league tables have fooled many before. Championship campaigns are long, unforgiving and occasionally downright ridiculous. But if Tuesday’s win at Bolton felt like another encouraging chapter, Friday offers the chance to build on it. For one night at least, we sat proudly at the head of the queue. Now comes the harder part and that is staying at the top.

We’ve all been here before. Supporting West Ham is a bit like riding a rollercoaster designed by someone who actively dislikes rollercoasters. Just when you’re enjoying the view, an unexpected twist arrives from nowhere. So strap yourselves in. If we can send Wrexham back up the M40 empty-handed, the bubbles might just keep rising a little while longer. And after the frustrations of recent times, that is a tune every West Ham fan will be happy to keep singing.

The circus is rolling into East London, Hollywood is coming to Stratford, and West Ham have the chance to ensure that when the credits roll on Friday night, the leading role belongs to the Hammers.