Under The Hammers

This Week in Hammer’s History

Billy Bonds claret and blue army and dreaming of a Frank Lampard goal in the week 10 to 16 April in Hammer’s History.

This Week Hammers History There have been a number of memorable games played during the week 10 to 16 April in Hammer’s History including two that have already featured in Richard Bennett’s Favourite Games articles on this site. These are the 6-1 league win over West Bromwich Albion over Easter in 1965 and the second leg European Cup Winner’s Cup tie against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1976.

The game against Albion is best remembered for the remarkable scoring feat by Brian Dear who notched what would now be a season’s worth of West Ham striker goals in a mere 20 minute spell. Dear’s scoring exploits either side of half time remains the quickest ever five goals in the English game, despite recent claims of having equalled the record by Sergio Aguero.

The game against Eintracht Frankfurt frequently appears on the list of favourite Boleyn nights for many of the longer in the tooth Hammer’s supporters. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg there was an electric atmosphere at the old ground for the return as a masterclass by Trevor Brooking saw West Ham grab a 3-0 lead at a wet and muddy Upton Park. True to form the Hammers conceded a late goal to set up an edgy finale but they held on to book a place in the final. A superb performance from what, at the time, was a very ordinary West Ham side outside of Brooking and Billy Bonds.

Day, Coleman, Lampard, Bonds, Taylor, McDowell, Holland, Paddon, Jennings, Brooking, Robson

Bonzo had been elevated to the position of West Ham manager in 1991 when another semi-final encounter took place that was memorable for very different reasons. This time it was an FA Cup tie that pitched second division West Ham against first division Nottingham Forest. The game was evenly matched until Keith Hacket made the worst refereeing decision of all time by issuing a straight red to Tony Gale for an innocuous challenge on Forest’s Gary Crosby. It was Gale’s solitary sending off in a career spanning some 700 games. Crosby went on to score the first of Forest’s four goals that day but it was the West Ham crowd that lingers longest in the memory for the marathon rendition of ‘Billy Bond’s Claret & Blue Army’ right through to the final whistle at Villa Park.

Miklosko, Potts, Parris, Gale, Foster, Hughton, Bishop, Slater, Allen (Stewart), Keen, Morley (Quinn)

Villa Park had also been the venue just over a decade earlier when West Ham faced Everton in the 1980 FA Cup semi-final; another second versus first division clash. It was the Merseysiders who took the lead with a Brian Kidd penalty awarded for a push by Alan Devonshire. Dev subsequently man-handled referee Colin Seel but escaped with a yellow card. Everton then had Kidd sent off for a spot of ‘handbags’ involving Ray Stewart and the Hammers, with Bonds at his swashbuckling best, used the extra man advantage to good effect as Stuart Pearson converted Brooking’s cross to bring the scores level. There was still time for more drama as a Paul Allen would-be winner was ruled out for a debatable offside.

Parkes, Stewart, Brush, Bonds, Martin, Devonshire, Allen, Pearson (Pike), Cross, Brooking, Holland

It was a long journey up to Elland Road a few days later for the midweek replay. A evenly fought game was goalless after 90 minutes and into extra time it went. West Ham took the lead in the first period of added 15 minutes through an excellent Alan Devonshire goal after a smart one-two with Stuart Pearson. The lead lasted until seven minutes from the end when Bob Latchford looked to have broken Hammer;s hearts as he headed in at the near post to equalise. With the minutes ticking away and a further replay looming a Brooking cross was nodded on by David Cross and there was Frank Lampard to guide a header over the line for the winner; I still get goose-bumps watching videos of this game. The mystery as to why full-back Lampard, recalled to the team due to an Alvin Martin illness, was still lingering in the area plus his celebratory corner flag jig would become part of West Ham folklore and spawned the ‘I’m dreaming of a Frank Lampard goal, just like the one at Elland Road’ chant.

Parkes, Lampard, Brush, Bonds, Stewart, Devonshire, Allen, Pearson, Cross, Brooking, Pike

Notable Birthdays

12 April Bobby Moore d. 1993
13 April Alan Devonshire (61)
15 April Edmilson Fernandes (21)

5 Relieving Lessons from a Welcome Win against Swansea

A win is a win as West Ham insert some daylight between themselves and the Premier League trapdoor.

A Win and Three Points

In context of ending a run of five consecutive defeats and putting a little distance back between ourselves and the Premier League trapdoor it was a ‘fantastic win’! There are never any circumstances where I want to see West Ham lose a game even if the consequences were Tottenham winning the title or Millwall avoiding relegation. Even though I don’t believe the manager has anything to offer in taking the club forward, losing Premier League status would be a stupid price to pay for being proved right. At least Slaven Bilic acknowledged that the current predicament was the fault of the management and players and there was, for once, a general and welcome display of effort, even if it was short on quality. The celebration at the end was over the top in the circumstances but it was an enormous relief.

The Greater of Two Strugglers

As a spectacle in what is meant to be the world’s elite football league it was an extremely poor game. Both teams were disappointing and West Ham got their victory because they were the least worse of the two sides. Captain Mark Noble was quoted as saying that the win was the “biggest in a few years” which seems somewhat of an exaggeration despite the pressure release of this laboured victory. Noble added “it was not pretty but the only thing that matters was the three points. There’s no point in us playing like Real Madrid and losing 2-0.” Mark, there is no chance of us playing like Real Madrid; otherwise his comment bore all the markings of a classic ear-cupping Fat Sam-esque statement, for which he (the Fat One) would have been justifiably slaughtered.

A Goal To Win Any Game (even a poor one)

Paradoxically a disappointing game was won by a super goal from Cheikou Kouyate. Even the build-up had shades of Barcelona (rather than Real Madrid!) but the strike from Kouyate was majestic, sublime and sumptuous (© Sky Sports) all rolled into one. I am a big Kouyate fan due to the power and athleticism that he brings to the team but recognise that he has his shortcomings that prevent him being the target of bigger teams; for example, poor final passes and long range shots. Yesterday we witnessed something that may never be repeated but was, at least, worthy of winning a game. The goal also credited Robert Snodgrass with his first contribution in a West Ham shirt as he enters the record books with an assist. I still regard the ‘assist’ as totally subjective but I would grudgingly award him half an assist for his neat pass. Apart from the goal there were two occasions where Andre Ayew could have done better in front of goal plus a mesmerising Lanzini step-over where Calleri was unable to play for a lucky deflection and the ball crashed into the side netting.

The Benchmen

Jonathan Calleri must be some player in training in order to keep getting a seat on the bench. With Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho sitting alongside him even he must have thought he was only there to make up the numbers. Surprisingly he ended up with a personal best ‘minutes on the pitch for a league game’ when replacing Michail Antonio in the closing stages of the first half. Some say Calleri ‘puts in a shift’ or that he is simply lacking confidence but I have yet to see anything that suggests that this is a top level footballer. In other substitutions replacing Snodgrass with Sofiane Feghouli is not too dissimilar a move from replacing Julien Faubert with Pablo Barrera. Something I had hoped we wouldn’t have to see on the next level was this a pile of workmanlike dead-wood that we have once again assembled.

The Rest of the Season

One win doesn’t mean safety. A repeat of the five match losing sequence would put us right back down there with the strugglers and stragglers. On the other hand just one of those twenty points we have lost from winning positions would have put is in the top half, so compressed has the lower mid-table section become. Things could be a little clearer next Saturday where the fixture computer has come up with a set of matches that only die-hard fans of the clubs involved could be interested in. A win at Sunderland would, I believe, make us effectively safe. Of the at-risk clubs (I have written off Sunderland and Middlesbrough who can wave to neighbours Newcastle on the way down) Hull and Swansea have enough winnable home games to survive and it is Palace who have the toughest run in despite their two games in hand. Personally I have no particular preferences other than we can scramble to 40 points before the end of the month and a tricky last few games.

Matchday: Swanning Around in the London Stadium

We are in this together as Taffy comes to our house in the hope of stealing all three points.

West Ham Swansea When West Ham won 4-1 at the Liberty Stadium on Boxing Day it was the final nail in the coffin for the short-lived managerial career of Bob Bradley. It would be one of those not so rare football ironies if the visitors should return the favour this afternoon.

In the aftermath of Bradley’s sacking Swansea appointed relative unknown Paul (I Hear You’ve Been a Naughty Boy) Clement as manager. Following an encouraging start the Swans form has started to dip again recently whereby their current record is only slightly better than our own. What once looked like it might be uninteresting end of season routine has suddenly become a ‘six-point’ showdown between two of the clubs battling to avoid what looks increasingly like the final relegation position.

We wanted to do it before now. I didn’t smell this, I didn’t think we would lose five games. But it is in our hands and that is the best you can ask for. Your destiny is in your hands. We are playing a team we have beaten, a team that is five points below us. We have big belief.

– Slaven Bilic

The Hammers losing streak has now reached five equalling that achieved by Avram Grant’s side in 2010/11 but still short of the record nine consecutive league defeats set in 1932; a run that included a 2-1 reverse against today’s opponents in a season that ended with West Ham’s lowest ever league position – one point and one place away from demotion to the third tier. One record that the Hammers can realistically break this season is to go top of the all-time Premier League defeats table; only a further three defeats are required to overtake the current total of 333 shared by Aston Villa and Everton.

Head to Head

The Head to Head record for this encounter is very much bossed by the Hammers and in 25 home league games we have only lost on two occasions (1956 and 2016). Last season’s victory being a huge disappointment in the last ever Saturday game at the Boleyn Ground; with any luck it will be another 60 years before the next defeat. A win today would give West Ham their first double over Swansea since the 1982/83 season and only the second double of the season (the other being Crystal Palace).

Team News

There are doubts about the fitness of all the West Ham players but only Andy Carroll and Michail Antonio face late fitness tests. Assuming Carroll and Antonio are available, and with Diafra Sakho getting a run out in midweek, we have the appearance of a team carrying a goal threat against the side with the leakiest defence in the league. Much debate about who will get the gloves this afternoon and it would be no surprise to see Senor Adrian return.

We’re in the bottom three and there are seven games to go, and West Ham are a team who have had their own troubles recently, so we have to go there believing we can get a result.

– Paul Clement

Swansea hope to be able to welcome back Fernando Llorente after an ankle injury but may be with out Kyle Naughton who is suffering with a hamstring problem. If Naughton is unavailable, Leroy Fer may be moved to right back which makes it a shame that we have no left sided attacking player. Despite the negativity I am opting for a rousing 3-1 Hammer’s win.

Man in the Middle

Ain’t it good to know we’ve got Kevin Friend officiating today. A relative stranger to our games Friend was in charge of the league game at home to Manchester City several months ago. In 28 games this season he has waved a friendly 109 yellow cards and a mere two red ones.

Defeat at Arsenal; now Home to Swansea

Five consecutive league defeats; now we face an important six-pointer against Swansea.

Ayew versus Swansea

Geoff Hopkins summed up the Arsenal game perfectly in his article Five Cruel Lessons From Defeat @ Arsenal, and I have little to add to that. I have been following our team for almost sixty years and I had a quick look back over that time to ascertain how many times we have lost five league games in a row.

The first time it happened was in 1960-61. Ted Fenton was the manager, but he was sacked after three of the games, and a selection committee of the board were responsible for the next two losses. Ron Greenwood took over for the final four games of the season (none of which were won) and we finished 16^th (out of 22).

It happened twice when Greenwood was in charge. The first time in 1966-67, the season after England’s World Cup win, we lost seven (the most I think!) on the trot at one stage. Again we finished 16^th (out of 22). It occurred again in 1970-71 when we lost five times in a row. That season we finished 20^th (out of 22). We weren’t relegated, as only two teams went down at that time.

John Lyall also managed it twice; although neither of these happened in the two seasons we were relegated with him in charge. In 1976-77 we escaped with a 4-2 victory over Manchester United in the final game, and in 1986-87 we finished 15^th.

Billy Bonds was manager in the ill-fated Bond Scheme season (1991-92) which culminated in us finishing at the foot of the table. We lost six in a row at one stage that season. With Harry Redknapp, and more surprisingly Glenn Roeder in charge we never did manage to lose five league games in a row in any season.

In 2006-07 it happened twice, and we still avoided the drop in the season of the “Great Escape.” Firstly, it happened when Alan Pardew was manager, and he was sacked just a few weeks afterwards. Secondly, we lost five in a row under Alan Curbishley, the fifth one being the heartbreaking 4-3 loss at home to the North London neighbours who we don’t like. But after that game we won seven out of the final nine fixtures to complete a remarkable escape.

In 2009-10 under Gianfranco Zola we lost six league games in a row at one stage, and our likeable (but ineffective) manager departed soon afterwards. And then in the following season the inspirational appointment of Avram Grant by our new owners proved to be anything but, and a run of five consecutive league defeats was followed by his P45 a couple of weeks later.

Just like under Redknapp and Roeder, it didn’t happen under Big Sam, and we had to wait until this current run for it to happen under Slaven Bilic. I dread to contemplate our fate if the run extends to seven to match 1966-67!

We now need to end this losing streak, and hopefully come up with a win against struggling Swansea. After two dreadful home defeats to ourselves (4-1) and Bournemouth (3-0) to finish 2016, our visitors today went on an excellent run to move out of the relegation zone, winning five of their first eight games of 2017, which included away victories at Palace and Liverpool, and home wins over Southampton, Leicester and Burnley. The tide appeared to have turned under new manager Paul Clement, but the last four games have seen them pick up just a solitary point in a goalless home draw with fellow strugglers (and potentially doomed) Middlesbrough.

The games where they went down were 2-1 at Hull, who are having a bit of a revival themselves under a new manager who hasn’t lost at home (for years!), and 2-0 at Bournemouth. And then finally in midweek they looked to have sewn up three valuable points against our disliked aforementioned friends from North London, only for them to concede three heartbreaking goals in the 89^th, 92^nd and 95^th minutes, and as a consequence slip back into the relegation zone. It is unusual (almost unheard of) for me to cheer Tottenham goals but I have to admit that I did on Wednesday night. The late turnaround meant that we go into the game today five points ahead of them (and so the drop zone too), instead of the three points gap that was prematurely quoted on social media by so many of our Twitter followers prior to the final whistle.

One quote that I read today, was that teams who have conceded at least 66 goals after 31 games in a Premier League season have always been relegated. For anyone who wasn’t aware of this (well known!!) statistic, it has happened six times before to Swindon, Barnsley, Fulham, Ipswich and Wolves (twice).

Their top scorer Llorente is likely to return after injury and there could be an Ayew playing for both sides. It would be good to see Jordan Ayew repeat his performance for Villa against us at Upton Park when he, unprovoked, for no apparent reason elbowed Cresswell in full view of everybody and had an early bath (showers these days!). Sigurdsson is an extremely talented player, and one of the few that I have seen us linked with in the past who I would like to see in our side.

The last two fixtures between us have ended 4-1 to the away side. Few can forget how they gave us a drubbing in the penultimate game held at (fortress!) Upton Park, but we repeated that feat ourselves on Boxing Day just over three months ago with goals from Ayew (his first for us), Reid, Antonio and Carroll.

In view of the importance of this game, described as a massive six-pointer, I expect a nervy game, especially in view of the recent form of both sides. I don’t expect a third 4-1 in a row, but hope that we can halt our recent slide down the table and edge the game by the odd goal in three. I anticipate quite an atmosphere, especially if we can score the first goal, and you never know, a win today and at Sunderland next week, and with other results going our way, we could find ourselves back in the top half of the table by next weekend! I’m not sure that’s where we deserve to be, but, as they say, the league table never lies!

And for all West Ham fans, a topical selection in today’s Grand National, Blaklion, who will carry a few of my hard earned pounds!

The Lawro Challenge – Week 32

Everyone’s going for a West Ham win in this week’s ongoing Lawro prediction challenge.

Lawro Crystal Ball In Week 31, Rich and Lawro both scored a respectable 9 points while Geoff once more trailed badly with 6 points. Lawro maintains his lead at the top but there is no room for complacency.

Just a short break between games this week as the season reaches the business end . Can Lawro be caught by the end of the campaign? The fat lady is going through her scales now in readiness for her performance.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 32.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 30 weeks	233	184	247
Score in week 31	9	6	9
Total after 31 weeks	242	190	256

Predictions – Week 32
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Saturday
Tottenham v Watford	2-0	3-0	2-0
Man City v Hull	2-1	3-0	3-0
Middlesbrough v Burnley	1-1	1-0	0-2
Stoke v Liverpool	1-1	0-2	1-1
West Brom v Southampton	1-1	1-2	2-1
West Ham v Swansea	2-1	3-1	2-1
Bournemouth v Chelsea	1-3	1-2	0-2
Sunday
Sunderland v Man Utd	1-2	1-1	0-2
Everton v Leicester	1-1	2-2	0-2
Monday
Palace v Arsenal	1-2	1-4	1-1

I Wouldn’t Bet On It 37

Last chance saloon? Almost.

Fancy A Bet

When you bet you should be prepared to lose sometimes. When you support West Ham you should be prepared to lose sometimes. Two very similar statements! When you bet on West Ham to win then the same applies.

Despite showing a healthy profit at one stage, our balance is now down to 35 points. Surely we cannot lose six on the trot? Well of course we can, but I’m sticking my neck out and looking for our first win since February 4. This week’s bets are as follows:

20 points on West Ham to beat Swansea at 21/20 (41)
8 points on West Ham to win and both teams to score at 11/4 (30)
2 points on West Ham to win a nervy game 2-1 @17/2 (19)

Potential returns are in brackets. After staking 30 points our balance is now down to our last 5 points. Surely we will end our losing sequence soon, and win a game? Why not today? What are the chances?

The Beginning of the End for Bilic?

Whatever happens in the coming weeks is must be a question of when rather than if Slaven Bilic leaves West Ham this year?

Slaven Bilic

Unless our run of 5 defeats on the run is matched by an equal and equivalent run of victories leading to a top half finish it is very difficult to imagine a scenario where Slaven Bilic is still the manager of West Ham at the start of next season. The immediate question is whether results will be good enough for him to make it to the end of the season.

I believe that a manager’s credentials are often found out in a second season where initial success built on previous foundations becomes several steps backwards once a team reflects entirely the manager’s image. We don’t need to look much further afield than Roeder and Zola for examples of this; now Slaven Bilic is failing this test. Extra time to get it right could be justified if there was a sense of a work in progress creating something for the future but I fear the opposite is true and currently all we have is a short term vision only (though this is not solely the fault of the manager). On the evidence of this season Bilic falls short in many areas including player recruitment, team selection decisions, tactics and fitness levels.

It is interesting that despite the abysmal form and performances for the best part of the season that Bilic continues to ‘enjoy’ a significant level of support from sections of the West Ham fan base, predicated largely on his passion and the fact that he, at least for a while, pulled on the famous claret and blue jersey. Bilic supporters will point an accusing figure at the Owners and/ or the Stadium as the major factors influencing the season’s failures. I have tried to understand these arguments (not that both might not have their faults) but it is difficult to link them directly with poor on-field performances.

Bilic often cites the struggles that other clubs have when moving to a new stadium and frequently mentions Arsenal’s move from Highbury as an example. Yet if you look at Arsenal’s first season at The Emirates (where we became the first away side to win in April of that season) you will see that their record was only marginally impaired picking up 6 points fewer (and one less defeat) than the final year at Highbury (45 points down to 39). I am willing to accept that getting familiar with a new stadium can affect the dynamic of home advantage but it is a stretch to suggest that it is responsible for everything we have seen home and away from West Ham in 2016/17.

Owners are always an easy target when things are not going well and everyone has their own opinion on maintaining tradition versus the commercial reality of the modern game. Part of that reality is that these people own the club and are not simply an easy to replace board of directors. Their responsibility aside from commercial operations is to appoint the right manager and provide him (or her?) with adequate financial backing for transfers and salaries.

Like most I do not know how transfers and player recruitment work at West Ham, although that does not stop plenty of people from making stuff up in order to suit their argument. In an ideal world there would be a scouting network that identifies candidates with particular attributes that can fill a specific role within the style of football played by the club. The manager would select his preferences (or maybe add his own names to the list) and the owners would try to put together a viable deal acceptable to all parties. There is little evidence that it is as structured as this at West Ham with transfers carried out in a chaotic, inconsistent, scatter-gun manner. Such disorderly dealings are more likely to be the recruitment problem than the popular ‘two-bob’, ‘penny-pinching’ jibes thrown around by fans.

For a club of our size we have invested heavily in players but predominantly with a short-term view that has resulted in few sale-able assets; so we rank high in net spend but relatively low in gross spend. I am not aware of many proposed transfers that have fallen down because the manager was not backed by the owners. On the other hand I feel we waste a lot of time publicly chasing unrealistic big-money targets who are never likely to sign for a middle ranking Premier League club.

A bolder and more sophisticated player recruitment policy is needed that focuses on younger talent who will fit into a particular style of playing. If an occasional experienced player is required then that is fine but regularly bringing in players touching 30 and above should not be the norm for a forward thinking club.

Failing that late season miracle it must be a case of when rather than if Bilic leaves the club. Deep down Bilic must know that and has only his pride to motivate him. In my opinion we need to hit the 40 point mark before the end of April and a large part of that is winning on Saturday. What happens if we don’t is problematical. There is no credible number two waiting in the wings and time is too short for a permanent new appointment. Is there a short-term troubleshooter out there anywhere?

5 Cruel Lessons From Defeat @ Arsenal

The customary defeat to Arsenal as a slow and static West Ham show few ideas in the quest for Premier League survival.

No Surprise: Defeat by Arsenal

Considering the game in isolation, a defeat away at Arsenal (any defeat by Arsenal) is nothing unusual. It is what happens most of the time when we play them. In the context of the season, however, five Premier League reverses on the bounce and a growing realisation that we are feasible relegation candidates, another three points surrendered is a major concern. At one point it looked like the night could turn out a whole lot worse as Hull, Palace, Bournemouth and Swansea all took the lead. In fact we should give thanks to our friends from White Hart Lane for their late, late come-back in South Wales (hopefully denting Swansea’s confidence for the weekend) that our plight is not even more desperate.

Banking on a Clean Sheet?

Plan A at the Emirates, as far as it went, was to choke all life out of the game by defending in numbers and having Antonio and Ayew protecting the full-backs. There seemed little pretence that we would do anything with the ball when we got it; those very moments that Slaven had described as being when Arsenal were at their most vulnerable. In terms of its limited aspirations the first half worked reasonably well but it was all change after the interval when Antonio was withdrawn due to injury and replaced with Snodgrass. Arsenal raised the tempo after the break but still did not look convincing until the gift of a goal relieved the pressure, from whence onwards it was men against boys. The opening goal was a sloppy all-round effort by West Ham; Fonte failing to clear and Randolph allowing the feeblest of attempts by Ozil to elude him and nestle in the back of the net. Complaints about offside merely intended to hide the embarrassment of another Randolph blooper.

Anyone Got a Plan B?

The tactical switch after the goal was to replace Carroll with Sakho, exchanging one man receiving no service with another, but with no discernible variation to shape or formation. It was pretty much ‘shit or bust’ after the Arsenal goal went in and so was probably worth 30 minutes or so of Carroll and Sakho together to see how it worked. From the opening of the second half had begun it seemed that the wide players had given up on tracking back and, for the most part, the ball was given away quickly and cheaply those few times we won possession. The goal galvanised the Gunners and it became a case of how many they would score; and with a different referee they could have added a few penalties to the haul of three scored from open play. We did manage two shots on target in the closing stages; decent strikes from Lanzini and Fernandes but both comfortably saved by an otherwise redundant Martinez.

Slow and Static Doesn’t Win The Race

When you look through a team-sheet that includes players such as Fonte, Collins, Noble, Snodgrass and (probably) Ayew you will find some of the slowest players currently operating in the Premier League. I’ve not yet decided whether Ayew is simply slow or merely lazy! Who thought it a good idea to fill a side with players so lacking in pace (and movement it has to be said)? Occasionally a player of sublime skill can overcome a lack of pace but, in the modern athleticism of Premier League, pace has become a prerequisite for almost any player. How can you play a game relying on breakaways when the team is so collectively slow? Why are other teams always on the move, creating space and anticipating the pass while our players remain static until they receive the ball? Despite significant expenditure on the squad we are largely back to a position where a major overhaul is required, not just the odd tweak. We are nowhere near one or two players away from a great team and the notion of signing players close to or over 30 is horrendously short-sighted.

What Next?

We now have two defining fixtures, home to Swansea and away at Sunderland, where a minimum of four points are required, preferably six. We are on our worst run since Avram Grant took us to the next level in 2011. Can we do it? Difficult to say based on the evidence of the manager’s poor decision making and selections of the past and the questionable pace and fitness of the players. We do have enough potential to see off both Swansea and Sunderland, subject to Antonio’s fitness. Antonio and Lanzini are our best hopes for survival and more game time for Fernandes would make sense. I am hoping that Swansea’s failure to beat Middlesbrough and their late capitulation to Tottenham will work to our advantage. I will spend the next few days looking for other straws worth clutching at.

Matchday: West Ham in the Arsenal Firing Line

Uncomfortably close to the relegation scrap West Ham face a difficult trip to The Emirates.

Arsenal West Ham After last night’s results, West Ham travel to The Emirates having dropped to 15^th place in the Premier League table. By the end of the day it is not unthinkable that we will have fallen further in the standings as we have become one of a handful of clubs competing to avoid the third relegation place. A few weeks back the spectre of relegation was viewed as a mathematical rather than a realistic possibility. With key players unavailable and with a dispirited and largely disorganised side on the slide after a run of four consecutive defeats it is surprising that there the alarm bells are not ringing even more loudly. As relegation rivals knuckle down to scramble clear through hard work we appear to be meandering dangerously and obliviously towards the drop. Whether Slaven Bilic can conjure up a cunning escape plan that does not rely on other club’s performing even worse remains to be seen.

Fellow under-fire manager Arsene Wenger must have uttered a silent “magnifique” when he spotted that his next opponents were the obliging eastenders. Although Arsenal’s record this season is identical to the same stage last time around they are further off the pace for their customary Champion’s League qualification. Having seen off the Hammers with aplomb at the London Stadium in December today’s encounter will be seen as a perfect opportunity to set off on a strong finish to the season.

Arsenal have their problems, but they are still a team with a lot of pace, a team you can’t afford to lose the ball against in your own half because the transition and pace they have up front is unbelievable. When they lose the ball they are very vulnerable because they leave a big space behind which you can use.

– Slaven Bilic

I was equally pessimistic going in to the corresponding fixture last year as West Ham, fresh from their tame Europa Cup exit, kicked off their Premier League campaign at The Emirates. As we know it turned out to be the first in a number of surprise results as a relatively unknown Dimitri Payet and a young Reece Oxford helped plot a shock 2-0 win for the Hammers. The future looked bright as the dark days of Fat Sam were replaced with the fresh air of an apparently bright and tactically astute new manager. How quickly football can change!

Head to Head

Last year’s victory was the solitary Hammer’s win in the last fifteen meetings against the Gunners, which otherwise have seen eleven defeats and just three draws. Both teams are on a sorry run of form with West Ham having taken just two points from the last six games and Arsenal slightly better with four.

There have, however, been a few memorable and unlikely successes away to Arsenal over the years including that permanent record of being the last away team to win at Highbury and the first to win at The Emirates. Getting a result tonight would rank alongside both events and could even go down in history as a minor great-escape for both the club and Slaven Bilic.

Team News

West Ham welcome back Michail Antonio for tonight’s game with his place in the treatment room being taken by Aaron Cresswell. There is much speculation about the return of Diafra Sakho with the player claiming he is raring to go while board and manager are voicing a more cautious stance with talk of a place on the bench. I wonder what Sakho is like at left back?

The major problem for West Ham is how their ageing central defenders and largely plodding midfield will contain an Arsenal side that attack with pace and movement. In terms of style Arsenal and Manchester City have much in common and both have a tendency to open up our defence with ease. To have any hope West Ham have to deny space in the central areas and to break quickly when in possession. I doubt we have the players or level of fitness to do either over the course of 90 minutes.

If we show the same spirit we showed against City, we will win football games. We have played 20 games unbeaten this season, and I think it’s a good opportunity to remind people we are not fighting to not go down – we are fighting to have a positive end to the season.

– Arsene Wenger

Arthur Masuaku coming in for Cresswell does not weaken the team but how the remaining spare part players (Ayew, Snodgrass, Feghouli) are scattered into the line-up will be revealing.

Arsenal are without Laurent Koscielny and have a problem in the keeper position with Cech out and Ospina doubtful; perhaps a recall for Pat Jennings or David Seaman would be enough on the night. Otherwise the Gunners are at full strength.

Man in the Middle

The referee is Martin Atkinson form West Yorkshire. Atkinson has refereed three previous West Ham games this season, a home defeat to Watford and away wins at Palace (where he sent off Cresswell) and Middlesbrough. In 33 games this season his record is 114 Yellow cards but just the two reds.

Hull 2 West Ham 1 – now we face a visit to the Emirates!

Another good game from Post, but this time he couldn’t save us. Little over 72 hours after our fourth successive Premier League defeat we now visit Arsenal!

Hull Review

Four consecutive defeats in a row. Two points from the last six league games. Tough statistics to look at, so we now need an easy fixture to turn the tide. And what could be better than a visit to the Emirates where we comfortably won last season, 2-0?

But first, back to the Hull game. Once again my belief in statistics often having little bearing on the outcome of a game was proved to be a sound one in a number of areas. We took the lead, and most teams that do this go on to win the game. A quick look back through the season, and I reckon that we have dropped around 20 points from a winning position. Without checking on all teams in the league, I think it would be safe to assume that no club has a worse record than that.

I haven’t counted up how many goals we have conceded from set pieces, but the Hull winner was headed in direct from a corner. In our recent winless run it happened twice against Leicester, once against both West Brom and Bournemouth, and again in this game. Why can we not defend set pieces? Time and time again this happens. Do we practice defending set pieces, especially corners at training sessions? Who is responsible for our defence coaching? Why can’t we learn from our mistakes? Rumour has it that Rio Ferdinand offered his services to assist with our defence coaching and was turned down. If that is true, then I find it amazing that we could reject such an offer with the state of our defending. Or are our players just not good enough? If we are not top of the league in conceding goals from set pieces then I’ll bet we are at least in a Champions League position.

Once again we conceded a relatively late goal. How many times have we conceded goals in the last few minutes of games? How many teams have let in more goals in the last ten minutes? I don’t have the figures but I reckon we will be close to the top of this league too. We have now conceded 54 league goals. That puts us in the top 3 of that statistic too. Even Sunderland and Middlesbrough, the two favourites for the drop with the bookies, have let in fewer goals than we have.

OK, so we had more possession than Hull, completed more passes, had more shots, and more shots on target. It doesn’t matter. We lost the game. By all accounts it was arguably Hull’s worst performance in recent games. But it didn’t matter did it? They are now just 6 points behind us. And it could conceivably be just 3 after this midweek round of games. We now have just six clubs beneath us in the table, and it could possibly be 4 before we face Swansea next weekend in a game that is now taking on massive importance for us. A few weeks ago we surely couldn’t have envisaged this game as a “six pointer”. And we all remember what happened when they visited “fortress Upton Park” in our penultimate game there last season, don’t we?

But we won’t go down. Just consider the bookies odds. The bottom three are all odds-on to be relegated, and Swansea are just a shade better than evens. We are quoted as seventh favourites to go down at around 20-1. Bookies never get it wrong do they? They knew Trump would win in America, and the result of the referendum on Brexit would be Leave, and that the Tories would win the last election with an overall majority, didn’t they? Mmmmm!

I’m afraid I’ve lost my optimistic hat, and fear for us against Arsenal. Ignoring last season, they often give us a bit of a hammering at their place, and I noticed they withdrew Theo Walcott before the end of their game against Manchester City last weekend to keep him fresh for his usual goal or two against us. Can we match his pace with our defence? I’m surprised they didn’t try to buy back Podolski in the last transfer window to save him for the West Ham fixture where he frequently did well.

All season I’ve been predicting victories for us, often without any real evidence other than my support of the team, and my trusty optimistic hat, to back it up. This time I think we could be on the end of a big defeat. Arsenal haven’t had a good season themselves, but still retain a chance, albeit a receding one, of finishing in the top four for the 21^st season in a row, or whatever the number is. It is looking extremely likely that they will finish fifth or sixth. Their fans are not happy and want the manager out. Or at least quite a number of them do according to various polls. Our manager still retains a good level of support considering the season we’ve had, but increasingly some fans are turning. And this week he received a vote of confidence from the board. And we all know what frequently happens shortly after that, don’t we?

I am hoping for an unlikely win, but fear that we will do well to keep Arsenal down to three. Perhaps my hope can overcome my fear? What are the chances? The bookies give us around an 8-1 chance of winning the game. That’s not very generous based on our recent form. But who knows? Perhaps we will keep a clean sheet and Carroll will add to his 50 Premier League goals tally? Carroll to score the first goal and a repeat of last season’s 2-0 win is 275-1. Worth a few bob?