This Week in Hammer’s History

More scrapings from the barrel that was Hammer’s History in the week 9 to 15 January.

This Week Hammers HistoryToday we are thumbing through the week 9 – 15 January in Hammer’s History and, to be honest, there is not a great deal to get excited about.  Nevertheless we will start with the undoubted high which was a 6-0 annihilation of Barnsley in a 1998 Premier League fixture at Upton Park.  At that time Harry Redknapp’s side were capable of some barnstorming and free flowing performances and this victory was their 9th at home so far that season.  Goals from Lampard, Abou (2), Hartson, Moncur and Lazaridis made it a day to remember where the’ boos’ ringing out around the ground were in praise of striker Samassi Abou who, in addition to his two goals, also had a hand in several others.

Forrest, Potts, Lazaridis, Unsworth, Ferdinand, Pearce, Impey (Moncur), Lampard, Hartson, Berkovic (Alves), Abou

As FA Cup holders we started its defence in the 1964/65 season with a home 3rd round tie against Birmingham City.  Goals by Hurst (2), Byrne and Sissons in a 4-2 victory were enough to send the Hammers into the 4th round draw.

Some years later in 2011 Birmingham were once again cup opponents but this time in a League Cup semi-final.  The first leg at Upton Park between two of the leagues struggling sides (both of whom would go on to be relegated) ended in a 2-1 win to give West Ham the advantage and dreams of Wembley.  Mark Noble volleyed the Hammers ahead in a one-sided first half but we were unable to convert any of the numerous further chances before the break.  In the second period an improved Birmingham performance saw Ridgewell equalise and when Victor Obinna was sent off it looked like it could be game over.  However, Carlton Cole (on as a replacement for Piquionne) scored with a trademark scuffed shot from a Spector cross to notch an unlikely winner.  There was intense speculation at the time that defeat in this game would cost manager Avram Grant his job but football moves in mysterious ways and he was able to survive to steer us on to relegation (but not to Wembley).

Talking of the League Cup this week also hosted the replayed 5th round encounter against Aston Villa in January 2000.  The match which had to be played again as a result of the Mannygate debacle saw West Ham go a goal up through Lampard Junior, Di Canio have a penalty saved by David James, and Villa score twice in extra time to win the day.

We round of the week with two of those embarrassing banana skin FA Cup defeats.  In 1974 we had drawn our initial home tie with 3rd division Hereford and so made the trip to Edgar Street four days later for the replay.  West Ham took the lead through a Clyde Best header before Keith Coleman gave away a penalty that led to the Hereford leveller.  With about a quarter of an hour to play Hereford scored again to prompt wild scenes by the home crowd; the match ending 2-1.

Day, Coleman, Lampard, Bonds, Taylor, Wooler, McGiven, Paddon, Lutton, Holland, Best

Ironically, the same largely uninspiring West Ham line-up managed to beat Manchester United 2-1 at Upton Park on the following Saturday (Bonds, Holland) in a season where the Red Devils were ultimately relegated to Division 2 with ourselves just above the drop zone.

In the 3rd round of 1979, second division West Ham were away to 4th division Newport County in a game that was postponed on Saturday due to bad weather and re-scheduled for midweek.  With the core of the team that would win the Cup the following year the Hammers suffered a humiliating 2-1 reverse which I believe John Lyall once described as the low point of his managerial career; Pop Robson scoring our goal.

Day, Lampard, Brush, Bonds, Martin, McDowell, Taylor, Devonshire, Cross, Brooking, Robson

West Ham 0 v 5 Manchester City

Calm down, calm down (part one)

EPL MoneyIn the aftermath of the massively disappointing defeat at the hands of Manchester City on Friday night, social media went into overdrive, possibly exceeding what has gone before this season. I guess that the match being shown live on terrestrial television had something to do with it. Virtually no credit was given to our opponents who played some breathtaking stuff at times, just as Arsenal did a few weeks ago. Quite frankly after the first 25 minutes we could not live with them. But then once again, a soft penalty was awarded to a top team. How often does this happen? They are better than us anyway, there is no need to give them an unfair advantage! Yes, to some extent we capitulated in the second half, but I don’t believe it was lack of effort. We just have to accept that we are not good enough to compete with the best.

Once, in a training exercise in the work environment, we were asked to come out with one thing that we really liked about social media, and something that we didn’t like. I liked the fact it enabled individuals to express an opinion which could be seen instantly by many people, sometimes thousands of them. For the dislike I toyed between the anonymity that social media provided, which meant that individuals often make derogatory or rude comments about others that they wouldn’t make to their face, or alternatively, the inability of people as a whole to accept that others have a point of view that may differ from their own. I guess the latter is a fact of modern life that seems to be shared by so many who believe that their opinion must be right, and any other views are not acceptable. I found that much of this was in evidence on social media in the immediate aftermath of the game, and has even continued in the couple of days that have elapsed since then.

In my view (and I accept there may be alternative views!) the top 6 teams are now getting further away from the rest of the Premier League than ever before. The three London clubs, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, in conjunction with the three north-western giants of the two Manchester clubs and Liverpool, have so much more money than the rest, despite the massive injection of TV cash that some thought might equalise the situation. Of course, many who disagree with this will point to last season when the “Big 6” didn’t occupy the top six places, and the title was in fact won by a rank outsider, Leicester. For me this was a complete one-off freak season that I cannot see being repeated.  And when you think about it, despite their indifferent seasons, all of the Big 6 finished in the top 10, despite the interlopers like Leicester, West Ham, Southampton and Stoke.

The Big 6 are showing an even greater domination of the Premier League this season, and I don’t think many would disagree that they will finish way ahead of the chasing pack. These are the same top six clubs that occupied the first six places in 2014-15. The season before, 2013-14, these six finished in the top 7, the other team to join the party were Everton. In 2012-13 we had the same situation, that is 6 out of 7 plus Everton. When we were relegated in 2010-11 it was the same top 6 plus Everton were seventh. In 2009-10 the Big 6 finished in the first seven, this time Villa crept in to the group and Everton were 8th. Can you see the pattern here? The top six are consistently much too good for the others over the course of a season, although there are some short-term minor blips. Everton are the next team down in the pecking order.

After last season, the expectation of fans for this season went through the roof, and partly this may have been fuelled by the board, insisting that to compete with the very top clubs we needed to move into a bigger stadium, enabling us to significantly increase our income. This is probably true to some extent, although many will point to Leicester, whose ground capacity and revenue falls well short of our own when we were still at Upton Park, and despite this they still managed to come out on top.

For more than 20 years the accountancy firm Deloitte has produced revenue statistics of football clubs. It is released in February each year relating to the season most recently finished. Generally you can measure the league success of teams by their income, and in broad terms the income league table is not too dissimilar to the current Premier League table. The top six clubs mentioned previously are the top six in the income league table too, albeit in a slightly different order. In income terms we sit in tenth place which is close to our league position, too. The same is true of most clubs in the Premier League. The problem for lower teams is that the gap is getting wider, hence the reason to move to a larger stadium where possible, just to try to halt the growth in the income gap.

To be continued …..

Sharing The Transfer Window Pain

Much ado about nothing in the first week of the January transfer window.

Transfer WindowIt promises much but the January transfer window is generally an anti-climax, although that does not stop the speculation industry going into overdrive in tempting you to visit their websites with an enticing story about the latest 24 year old goal scoring sensation linked with a move to the London Stadium. Like the Transfer Deadline Day of old the January window is dominated by desperate measures of clubs eager to avoid a relegation battle or to boost their flagging chances of promotion or European qualification.

For me, the winter deadline is characterised by pointless loan deals for the likes of Ilan, Mido, Pogatetz, Chamakh, Diego Tristan, Benni McCarthy and Roger ‘The Relegator’ Johnson. It has rarely led to the recruitment of quality players with the possible exclusion of Dean Ashton in 2006 and Demba Ba in 2011.

West Ham go into the window with a very unbalanced squad that includes some gaping holes of which the most notable are at right back, striker and, probably, central midfield. The failings of the summer transfer deals which focused on quantity rather than quality to support an expected but unrealised Europa League campaign is there for all to see. Summer recruits Zaza, Tore and Calleri are all likely to be out of the door and could soon be followed by Feghouli if in-the-know gossip is to be believed; then there is the question of Dimitri Payet about whom there is a growing consensus that he is unhappy, disinterested and wants away.  If that really is the case is it worth holding on to him?

If West Ham were a few points better off then maybe we could just write the season off as a bad job and address the squad problems in the summer when there is more time and more options. But with the relegation places not too far away then doing nothing in January would be a very foolish strategy despite the fact that getting good value in the window is rare. We were unable to improve the team in the summer so what are the chances of doing so now?

The difficulty arising from our situation is that clubs know we are desperate and so will be inflating prices. We are most likely to overpay for players who are expedient stopgaps and not part of a project to build an ever improving side. The forward players who have been most regularly linked, Defore, Long and Snodgrass, are all in the wrong age profile for the longer term even if they might prove useful for the survival imperative. Scott Hogan is in the right age group but is relatively inexperienced while Moussa Dembélé is likely to be unavailable and destined for greater things than east London.

Something has to be done about the right back position which has been a blind spot at West Ham over many years. The approach reminds me of Sunday morning park football where you put the lads who are no good anywhere else at full back. Maybe Sam Byram will make a injury free return but we need backup and it should be someone other than Carl Jenkinson again.

We are a week into the window and nothing has happened apart from some outgoing loans and the transfer of Lewis Page to Charlton. Usually nothing much happens until the last few days anyway but let’s hope that this time the money is used wisely.

5 Observations from the Latest Capitulation

The Friday Night Hammer House of Horror Show

5 Things WHUThe Result in Context

I have to confess that I did not watch the match live. Sometimes when this happens I try to watch the whole game on a re-run but on this occasion all I could face was the extended highlights; and even then had to watch from behind the sofa as if it was one of the late night horror films that they used to show after News at Ten. In the context of the season it is difficult to know how to gauge this match; there is nothing left in the season apart from avoiding relegation and/ or attempting to maximise the league placing ‘prize’ money. The first week in January is very early to accept that your season is pretty much over. I hate to think what our team performance and effort will be like if/ when Premier League safety is ensured.

Line Up & Penalty

Prior to the match I was hoping that we would go all out for a win. In theory we probably did but unfortunately Manchester City had the same idea and fielded a very strong team that included some of the best attacking players in the league. To face them with a makeshift right back and only one defensive minded midfield player was a courageous folly. Arguably it was a soft penalty that started the rot but after that heads dropped quickly and the towel was firmly thrown in as City ran riot. Referee Oliver is one of the top penalty givers and so it should have come as no surprise when he pointed to the spot. In the spirit of the game Zabaleta should not be looking for that faint touch that players use to send them spinning to the ground but in the circumstances there was no need for Ogbonna to make any contact. It simply gave Oliver the evidence he required to impose the current letter of the law. Ogbonna has ridden his luck with his manhandling attempts this season and this time it caught up with him.

The London Stadium Effect

The way some people talk about our performances at Upton Park it is surprising that we ever lost a game there. It is pointless to get into any further debate about the stadium as there is no going back; although I understand that steps would seem necessary to improve the matchday experience for spectators. It may also be true that the new stadium eliminates the advantage that Upton Park could provide for those occasional special nights under the floodlights. The stadium doesn’t prevent good football as a number of opposition teams have ably demonstrated. Pep Guardiola was reported as saying that the wide open spaces helped his side because it gave the perception of space for his players. It is my opinion that this perception is due more to the fact that we fail to close down and deny space due to inferior organisation and fitness levels.

Performances this Year and Last

I have seen much debate about performance last season and this. Before the start of the season my view was that we would be unlikely to repeat the excellent results against the top teams that we saw last year. I was still expecting, however, an exciting and profitable campaign based on the assumption that we could fix the problem of not beating the lesser bottom half teams. This has proved not to be the case and now with the majority of remaining home games against top half teams and the majority of away trips to lower half teams we look very vulnerable if past performance is at all indicative of future results. We may need to rely on there being three teams performing even worse than we are.

The Slavenometer at All-time Low

I was reading that pundit brotherhood all agree that Slaven Bilic’s position as West Ham manager is secure and I would guess that Slav is a popular guy amongst the mutual backslapping football fraternity. Others say that it is not the manager but the players that need to take responsibility but even if there is an element of truth in that I would ask who is responsible for selecting, organising and motivating the players other than the manager and coaching staff? Has he lacked resources? Possibly if you are comparing West Ham with a top 6 club but not compared with the rump of Premier League teams. We have no Russian gangster or Middle Eastern sovereign fund to throw cash in when needed (and there have been few saleable player assets in the recent past) but transfer funds have been available and spent; just not very wisely. It is the manager’s job to ensure he does the best with what is to hand, build a well balanced squad, ensure fitness levels are acceptable and establish a consistent style of play. Unfortunately as things stand I do not see progress on any of these fronts. The 3 league wins in December probably saved Bilic his job and making a reaction change now would be difficult. If it was my decision I would be making definite plans for a new manager to come in during the summer.

I Wouldn’t Bet On It 26

Taking a punt on the lottery that is FA Cup Round 3.

Fancy A Bet

We lost our stake of 15 points on the Manchester United game. I hold Mike Dean totally responsible! Our balance is now 115 points.

For the Manchester City FA Cup third round game, anybody who read my book, Goodbye Upton Park, Hello Stratford, may recall some bad luck I’ve had in the past when betting on West Ham playing City games in the past, especially placing correct score bets on a 4-1 score.

Of course betting on FA Cup games, especially in the early rounds can be a bit of a lottery, as it is difficult to gauge the strength of the teams that the managers will select, based upon their desire to win the game. But I am feeling confident, based upon our performance on Monday night.

For this game I have found the following odds on Betfair and Paddy Power, and with my optimistic hat on my stakes are as follows:

10 points on a West Ham victory @4.7/1 (Betfair) (57)
4 points on a draw @3.3/1 (Betfair) (17.2)
1 point on a West Ham 4-1 victory (Paddy Power) @125/1 (126)

After placing these bets our balance is down to 100 points, which is exactly where we started! Potential returns if correct in brackets.

What are the chances?

Matchday: Hammers host City in the Cup

Could she be wearing a claret ribbon in the merry month of May?

City in the CupIt is FA Cup time once more and the stage where the big teams finally enter the famous competition which started with the Extra Preliminary Round on 6 August 2016. A total of 672 ties have been played to date with another 63 to play before someone lifts the trophy at Wembley on 27th May. In total 828 teams will have featured in the competition and there can only be one winner; can the ribbons on the cup this year be claret and blue?

There were 64 teams in the hat for 3rd draw and so it was rather unfortunate to get drawn against one of the big 4 or 5 clubs. Still it is a home tie and the Hammers have only lost one of the last 8 home FA Cup encounters and that was last season in the 6th round replay against the other team from Manchester.

This is a big game for us and big game for them, it is the FA Cup and it is big for the fans.

– Slav says the right things

The FA Cup is the only remaining chance of glory for West Ham this season following our exit from both the Europa League and EFL Cup and the continued struggles in the Premier League. It is only 5 games to the Final so anything could happen and a win today can take us a step nearer the prize. Unfortunately there are only 4 all Premier League ties in this year’s 3rd round draw (and one of those is Hull v Swansea) and so there is no opportunity for the bigger teams to knock each other out and create a clear path to the Final.

Head to Head

The overall record against Manchester City of home turf remains a positive one although we only won one of the last 6 meetings at Upton Park. The record against City has been on a downward trend since they were adopted as a Middle Eastern plaything in 2008 and during this era we have only beaten them 3 times out of 16. West Ham have only met City three times in the FA Cup before and hold a 2 to 1 advantage in the series.

 

P

W

D

L

F

A

Sequence

Home

48

24

12

12

81

52

DWLLDL

Away

51

11

8

32

65

105

LWLLLL

 

99

35

20

44

146

157

 

Team News

Ever since Manchester United withdrew from the 1999/2000 completion the FA Cup has lost some of its glamour and sparkle. Managers of top teams began to treat it very much as a secondary priority behind the cash-raking goal of Champion’s League qualification and began to field ‘weakened’ teams made up of squad or younger players. For some unaccountable reason managers of other Premier League teams have adopted the same tactic possibly in the hope that it deposits some big-time manager stardust onto their shoulders as well. The consequences are that it is almost impossible to predict how the teams will line-up especially during the early rounds.

The cup is special because the lower team can beat the big teams, which is why it is fascinating, I’m looking forward to it, but of course it’s a Premier League game so it will be tough. We were unlucky in the draw.

– Guardiola on the FA Cup

I am hoping that Slaven Bilic is confident enough in his ability to stay away from relegation trouble to give this one his best shot. We don’t play again for 8 days and so fatigue should not be an issue and, my perception is, that most injuries occur in training rather than in competitive games anyway. Kouyate and Ayew have now set sail for the Africa Cup of Nations while Mark Noble, Reece Oxford, Sam Byram and James Collins may be available. Someone definitely available is Sofiane Feghouli after his ludicrous Mike Dean red card was rescinded by the FA Incompetent Referee panel. If Manchester City have a weakness it is in central defence particularly if it comprises Otamendi and the massively over-hyped John Stones; for this reason I would like to see birthday boy Andy Carroll let loose on them with maybe Michail Antonio playing just behind.  I assume that Adrian will back, courtesy of the Cup rotation code, helping the Post to keep the score respectable.

Manchester City are missing Gundogan, Kompany, Sane and possibly Fernando (through injury) and Fernandinho )through suspension). It would be nice if Aguero, De Bruyne and Sterling were also given the night off (although Guardiola always took cup games seriously whilst at Bayern); not that I rate Sterling too highly in the normal course of events but he always seems to give our defenders the run around.

The Man in the Middle

A first encounter this season with young Michael Oliver from Northumberland. Oliver was in charge of two West Ham games last season; both at home against Southampton (won 2-1) and Swansea (lost 1-4). In 21 games this season Oliver has shown 70 Yellow cards and a solitary Red. Despite his prudence with red cards Oliver is one of the top penalty givers (just behind Mike Dean) with 8 awarded so far this season.

West Ham v Manchester City preview

Only our third ever meeting with Manchester City in the FA Cup. Can we pull off a famous win?

City Cup Game

In my previous article, 11 v 11, I wrote about red cards. I mentioned that some of our recent red cards have been rescinded after the event. What I didn’t say was that of our last five red cards, 4 have been wiped off by the FA commission that adjudicates on the appeals. That is a ridiculously high percentage of games where the referee has got an important decision totally wrong.

For this BBC televised game we have Michael Oliver, who at 31 is by far the youngest referee at the top level, and in my opinion is one of the best. He doesn’t issue red cards lightly; in fact his sending off of the Bournemouth captain in the 3-3 draw against Arsenal this week was his only dismissal this season, and few argued with it. I hope I haven’t jinxed his performance with this praise, and hope that there are no dismissals in this game.

This is the first time he has officiated in one of our games this season, but Liverpool seem to like him. He has refereed four of their games this season, and they have won all four scoring 16 goals in the process! He hasn’t been our luckiest referee in the past. We’ve only won three of the eleven games when he has been in charge.

For anyone who is superstitious with dates I am happy to relate that in the past twenty years we have played five FA Cup ties on January 6, and haven’t lost any of them. In 1996, Michael Hughes and John Moncur scored in a 2-0 victory over Southend. In 2001, we knocked out Walsall 3-2 with two goals from Kanoute and one from Lampard. Fifteen years ago, in 2002, Macclesfield were safely despatched 3-0 with two goals from Jermaine Defoe (where have I come across that name lately??) and one from Joe Cole. And ten years ago in 2007, another comfortable victory against Brighton (3-0), with goals from Carlton Cole, Mullins and Mark Noble.

Two years ago in 2015, we drew 1-1 at Everton, before drawing 2-2 in the replay at Upton Park which was decided 9-8 on penalties, with the winning kick being scored by Adrian, famously throwing off his gloves before blasting home the decisive penalty. Of course that is not the only goal Adrian scored at Upton Park; many will remember the great fun of the Mark Noble testimonial game last season, when Adrian ran the length of the pitch (ably minded by Pedro Obiang) to score past David James.

I haven’t gone back beyond 20 years when looking at FA Cup ties, because before then we did have some ignominious defeats on January 6, being knocked out by Torquay and Plymouth, and drawing against Wrexham before losing in a second replay (no penalty shoot outs in the distant past). But recent history is good.

We seem to be drawn against some teams frequently in the FA Cup, but Manchester City is not one of them. We have only met them three times in the competition before this season. In the fourth round in 1998 we won 2-1 at Maine Road with goals from Berkovich and (ex-City player) Steve Lomas. In 2006 we were drawn away to them in the sixth round, and two Dean Ashton goals helped to secure a 2-1 victory on our way to the final. In 2008, we met them in the third round at Upton Park, drawing 0-0, before losing the replay eleven days later to the only goal of the game.

The bookmakers are quoting odds of 4/6 for City to win this game, a ridiculously short price considering their recent form, and the lack of knowledge regarding the strength of the team they will put out. It’s hard to predict who Bilic will select as well, but I believe he will ensure we have a strong side out, especially as our next league game (at home to Palace) is more than a week away. Of course we haven’t pulled up many trees either this season, but as always I am confident of a victory, and wearing my optimistic hat once again, predict 4-1.

What are the chances? The bookmakers will give you around 125/1! Enjoy the game.

11 v 11

Should the red card receive its marching orders?

Red Card

So, Sofiane Feghouli’s red card was rescinded and he can now play, if selected, (and I hope he is) against Manchester City in the FA Cup third round game. I was horrified to read some so-called West Ham fans writing on twitter that as it was only Feghouli it wouldn’t have made much difference anyway! So many are quick to judge new signings based upon limited evidence. Unlike some I have high hopes in respect of Feghouli. He had a superb game in one of our early European matches this season, and even in the first 15 minutes of the United game showed some great touches. He has been injured, but now that he has recovered I think that he will prove some doubters wrong in the games to come.

Although it was possibly one of the most ridiculous sending off decisions I have witnessed in over 58 years of watching football, I did wonder about the outcome of the appeal, as we are in the hands of an FA three-person commission, and it is hard to predict what will happen sometimes. However on this occasion, if the appeal had been rejected, then it would have been against the views of around 99% of people who witnessed the incident and those who reported upon it in the media.

But many of you may remember the Swansea Chico Flores incident, when Andy Carroll was dismissed by Howard Webb after Flores gave an amazing display of acting, even worse than that of Jones the other evening. West Ham appealed but the red card stood. The three-man commission had voted 2-1 so it was obviously a close decision, and the fact that it was Howard Webb, reputedly the top referee in the country at the time (debatable in my opinion), may have swung it against Carroll. That same weekend Danny Rose had his red card rescinded.

It’s terrible that a footballer would try to get a fellow professional sent off, and even worse that referees fall for it. But Jones succeeded by the manner of his twisting, arching his back, and rolling over, and Manchester United went on to claim the three points, however unjustly. I’m afraid that I don’t agree with the “these things even themselves out over the season” lobby, as I’m afraid they don’t. It’s quite a co-incidence how the big clubs always seem to be the winners in these situations.

Unlike many people who sit in the stands to watch West Ham, I hate to see it when any player is sent off, whether it is one of ours or one of our opponents. Many fans seem to love it when an opposition player is dismissed, but I don’t. It totally spoils the entertainment and generally makes for a very unbalanced game, usually attack v defence. The team with 11 usually win, though not always, and West Ham have in the past showed that we are not the best team around to exploit a man advantage.

We’ve had a few players sent off in recent seasons and a surprising number have been rescinded, and perhaps even more should have been. A good referee should only dismiss players when he is absolutely certain that it is the correct decision to do so. The entertainment of thousands (and sometimes millions for TV games) can be spoiled by an incorrect action.

But I would like to see a change in the laws, and no players to be sent off. Instead, if a player commits what is considered to be a red card offence, then the referee can hold up a red card but the player stays on the field. The team he plays for will have one point deducted for every red card issued. A player could even receive more than one red card in a match. You could even have a similar deduction if say, three yellow cards are issued against one team in a single match.

If the punishment affects the team’s points then managers will soon instil in their players the need to avoid these situations. I can foresee a big improvement in dissent from players, too. The player can still be punished after the game by fines, and or bans, and appeals can still be heard, although these should be by a bigger committee, and should be openly witnessed, and not held secretly. Anybody who has seen televised stewards’ objections in horse racing disputes will agree that open viewing is an excellent way to show justice being done.

By implementing this change where no player is sent off, but points deducted instead, the teams and players will still be punished where the decision is proved to be a correct one, they will avoid punishment if it is judged to be incorrect on appeal, but the main beneficiaries will be the spectators who will not have their entertainment ruined by inept referees.

West Ham 0 v 2 Mike Dean, part two.

Dear Sir, I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms ………

Embed from Getty Images

The game began and what a bright start we made. As I had thought, the absence of Noble and Carroll meant that we would be moving the ball at pace, without too much reliance on long balls to our big striker, and trying to pick up knock downs. Now I am a fan of Carroll, but sometimes believe that when he is in the team we don’t vary our playing patterns sufficiently to pose a threat to the opposition.

Lanzini, Payet, Feghouli, and others were linking well with some incisive one touch passing at speed, and I really felt that this was going to be some game. And then came the moment after about a quarter of an hour which has been the subject of much debate since. Anyone reading this will know what happened, and probably around 99% of everyone I’ve read or heard agrees that the referee, Mike Dean, blundered badly, and in effect ruined the match from that point on. I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a collective gasp in a stadium when he produced the red card.

The team were galvanised and played with great organisation, but it was always going to be a big ask to hold a team of the quality of Manchester United for 75 minutes. Reid and Ogbonna were splendid at the back, the magnificent Obiang had an imperious game in midfield (why do so many people overlook his great qualities and importance to the team?). Lanzini was having an excellent game too, and the rest of the team were playing their part.

We had one let off in the first half when our old friend Post came to the rescue (as he did three times in the Hull game), after Randolph had made a terrific strong arm save to keep the ball out at point blank range. Goal line technology proved just how close it was to crossing the line when I watched the game back on TV after returning home. It would have been a travesty if a goal had been scored, because from my position directly in line, Lingard (I think) seemed well offside when he hit the post, and I couldn’t understand why the linesman hadn’t raised his flag.

The introduction of Rashford and Mata in the second half gave the men from Manchester greater impetus, and as we tired, it was no great surprise when we eventually conceded a goal. Shortly before we fell behind, Lanzini put a great ball through to Antonio, but one on one with De Gea he managed to hit his legs. Mourinho described it as a great save after the game, but I felt it just hit him. Antonio had failed to connect with a header earlier, so we did have chances to score the first goal of the game. Had one of them gone in then it might have been a different story.

Post came to the rescue a second time when a shot slid under Randolph’s grasp, but their second goal killed the game off. From my position at the other end Ibrahimovic looked as if he might have been offside, and this was later confirmed when I saw the replay.

All in all the players can be proud of their performances, something which cannot be said of the match officials. Dean ruined a game of football for 55,000 people with his blunder, and for any watching on TV. There is no excuse for the linesman who blundered badly, too. Quite frankly they were inept throughout the match, and had no feel for what was happening. We always hope for consistency from referees and no two games can be compared exactly, but anyone who saw Ross Barkley’s horror tackle on Jordan Henderson recently, which Dean only thought worthy of a yellow card, can only shake their head in bewilderment in his treatment of Feghouli. Barkley’s potential leg-breaker provoked an explosive melee in the Liverpool v Everton game, whereas in our game, some United players were consoling Feghouli about the unjustness of his sending off.

Of course Jones played his part in the dismissal, arching his back and rolling over and over, but a minute later he was running around without the slightest limp. Some United players ran to the referee when the two players collided, but they always do that, don’t they?

Quite frankly the whole match was ruined by one person who thinks he is part of the entertainment. He is not. Scathing attacks on his performance have come from all quarters after the game. Garth Crooks on BBC, Alan Smith and Niall Quinn on Sky post-match, and other ex-referees such as Poll, Halsey and Webb all agreed it was a ruinous decision for the game. One that I found especially interesting was from Keith Hackett, who famously sent off Tony Gale in the FA Cup semi-final 25 years or so ago. Hackett, in his piece, admitted his major error in sending off Gale, and remarked that Dean should have thought longer over his decision.

My next letter of complaint is to Mike Riley, the referees supremo. I was disgusted by the ruination of my evening entertainment, and I will demand to know what he is going to do about the poor state of officialdom which falls under his control. Too many games are being spoiled by inept officials.

And it is about time that video replays were introduced to try to eradicate some of these gross errors. But that is for another article …

[Click Here for Part One of this Article]

This Week in Hammer’s History

The hopes and dreams of FA Cup Round 3 dominate the week 2 – 8 January in Hammer’s History.

This Week Hammers HistoryThe first week of January brings with it the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Once one of the most eagerly awaited weekends in the football calendar it doesn’t now have quite the same appeal, at least for the top clubs, but continues to offer romance to those further down the pyramid and remains one of the best opportunities of silverware for mid-table Premier League clubs such as West Ham.

Before we get into some of the more memorable FA Cup encounters there are two League Cup ties to mention. The first was the first semi-final replay in 1972 against Stoke City; a game that was played at Hillsborough on a miserable Wednesday night. This was a match that I remember bunking off school for to take a football special which deposited us at the largely abandoned Wadsley Bridge station in Sheffield a few minutes before kick-off. The game had started by the time that we made it into the ground but it was a very uneventful game despite Clyde Best having an excellent opportunity to send the Hammers through to Wembley thwarted by Gordon Banks.

The second League Cup semi final that took place this week was the first leg tie in 2014 against this weekend’s FA Cup opponents, Mancheter City. Fat Sam had prioritised this game over the preceding weekend’s FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest and the game, played at the City of Manchester Stadium, saw the debut for West Ham or Roger ‘The Relegator’ Johnson. It was an awful night for the Hammers and a Alvaro Negredo hat-trick featured in a 6-0 demolition in a tie that we were to lose 9-0 on aggregate.

On to the FA Cup and we will start with a few of those banana skin defeats. Because we were already in 2014 the first stop is tie that took place a few days prior to the League Cup thrashing by City; Fat Sam fielded a team of kids against League 1 Nottingham Forest that ended in an embarrassing 5-0 defeat. The lineup included a host of players who were never heard from again such as Daniel Potts, Callum Driver, Danny Whitehead, George Moncur, Sebastien Lletget and Ravel Morrison (where is he now?) plus substitute appearances from Matthias Fanimo, Blair Turgott and Reece Burke. What a dark day for the club that was.

January 1971 witnessed the 4-0 hammering by struggling Blackpool. The game is famous for what later emerged concerning an early hours drinking session in boxer Brian London’s Blackpool nightclub involving Bobby Moore, Jimmy Greaves, Brian Dear, Clyde Best and club physio Rob Jenkins. Despite there being no Twitter at the time the players were still dobbed in by a disgruntled fan and were subsequently disciplined by manager Ron Greenwood.

In January 1990 West Ham, then in Division 2, visited 4th Division Torquay for a 3rd round tie at Plainmoor. A team that included Parkes, Potts, Dicks, Martin, Gale and Bishop suffered a humiliating 1-0 defeat to the lowly Devon club.

We published an article previously on West Ham’s cup encounters with non-League sides and this week included the 1992 1-1 draw with Farnborough Town and the narrow 1998 2-1 victory over Emley.

West Ham have won the FA Cup on 3 occasions and each of those occasions the journey to success kicked off with a hopeful 3rd round tie. The 1964 road to Wembley started with comfortable 3-0 home win against 2nd division Charlton Athletic with goals from Brabrook, Hurst and Sissons. In 1975, an away draw resulted in a 2-1 victory at The Dell against 2nd division Southampton; Frank Lampard and Bobby Gould the scorers; and in 1980 it was 2nd division West Ham drawn away to 1st division West Bromwich Albion. The first match at The Hawthorns ended in a 1-1 draw; Stuart Pearson scored the Hammer’s goal but the hero of the hour was Phil Parkes who pulled of a string of outstanding man-of-the-match saves to keep us in the tie. The replay took place just 3 days later where Pearson and Trevor Brooking scored the goals at Upton Park to record an excellent 2-1 victory and progress to Round 4.

1964 v Charlton: Standen, Bond, Burkett, Bovington, Brown, Moore, Brabrook, Boyce, Byrne, Hurst, Sissons
1974 v Southampton: Day, Coleman, Lampard, Bonds, McDowell, Lock, Jennings, Paddon, Gould (Hooland), Brooking, K. Robson
1980 v WBA: Parkes, Stewart, Lampard, Bonds, Martin, Devonshire, Allen, Pearson, Pike, Brooking, Neighbour (Brush replaced Bonds in the replay)

Notable birthdays this week:

2 January Tomas Repka (43)
3 January Adrian (30)
6 January Ron Boyce (74)
6 January Andy Carroll (28)