In 2005 West Ham won promotion from the Coco Cola Championship back into the Premier League. There is a common misconception in football that spending big guarantees success and in the 05/06 season neither Terrence Brown nor Alan Pardew were going to be lured into that falseness. The biggest signing that summer was £2.5m for Yossi Benayoun.  Pardew brought in experience, such as Konchesky, to go along with the youth the team already had. Every player was hungry and wanted to play for the club. With West Ham playing so well, Pardew was given sufficient funds in January and spent £7.25m on Dean Ashton. Ashton was a talent so at the price the hammers paid it seemed a coup. Ashton scored some goals and West Ham had the best season they had for some time, claiming a 9^th place finish and reaching the FA Cup final.

The downward spiral of West Ham started in 2006 when the transfer window opened. The transfer policy seemed the same as the previous season. Pardew was given £5m to spend and he made that money stretch. He brought in Green, Cole, McCartney, Bowyer and Spector. None of the mentioned players would have been on high wages. We seemed to be heading the right direction in terms of money, without selling the prized assets. With the club in Europe and a young hungry British team plus an excellent young manager in Alan Pardew this should have been the start of West Ham’s most successful period as a club since the 1980’s.  However, on the 31^st August, West Ham signed Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Corinthians. The deal was reported as £25m for the pair, although officially classed as ‘undisclosed’. The two players’ wages were suggested to be phenomenal to a club of our  economic stature, plus it was reported the Hammers had to pay money to MSI, the owners of the Tevez and Mascherano.  In what should have been West Ham’s best season in years, ended up being one of the worst. The economic effects of that deal are still being felt. We had to pay £5.5m, in a record fine due to breaching premier rules, and then the club had to pay £20m to Sheffield United in Compensation.

After that the transfer policy at Upton Park just got poorer. Eggert Magnusson took over at the Boleyn and his transfer policy was quite astonishing. After sacking Pardew in December, he appointed Curbishley and then gave the new manager huge funds in the January window, spending £17m on Upson, Neil, Quashie, Boa Morte and Davenport.  After staying up the West Ham fans was promised champions league football within 7 years and in the summer the Icelandic’s spent huge. Roughly £24m was splashed out on Bellamy, Parker, Dyer, Ljungberg, Solano and Faubert, and off course they would be on huge wages. It was later suggested that Dyer, who would go on to play only 30 times in four years for West Ham and on wages of around £70k a week, was signed just to bring a new face to the fans. This was hardly the transfer policy that makes a football club successful and sustainable.

During the 2007/2008 season the Icelandic economy went bust and that off course had an effect on West Ham. There were no summer signings in January and in the summer window only one signing, Behrami. The rest were loan signings from Italy. The thoughtless spending of Magnusson had caught up with them and we was in huge debt. The selling of players led to Curbishley leaving and ultimately sealed West Ham United’s long term fate. West Ham couldn’t afford an experienced high quality manager, so turned to Zola. The club were forced to sell £20m of talent in January 2009. But on the pitch Zola was doing a decent job and West Ham were pushing for a 7^th place spot which would have given them European Football. West Ham failed to clinch a European spot and the financial woes would continue.

The following season West Ham was in a disastrous state, in around £100m of debt. Scott Duxbury had to bring payments from sponsorships and TV forward so that West Ham could survive in the present. This meant that in the future, the only money would come from ticket sales, player sales and reward money for where West Ham finished. This was a recipe for disaster and with the January window coming up fast and West Ham struggling in the league it was thought by many that the best players would leave in which would be one of the biggest fire sales witnessed in the English game.

In January 2010 Gold and Sullivan brought West Ham. They had ‘come home’ and you could hear the sigh of relief from East London. There was no fire sale, and West Ham stayed up. Yes, there was the signing of Benni McCarthy, who cost West Ham lots of money. Many fans give the David’s stick about ‘Benni big mac’ but the price they paid for him is nothing compared to the price of relegation that season. At the end of the season, the new chairman done what I know they think was a mistake. They sacked Zola, a young manager who had a great connection with the players and after keeping West Ham up, maybe deserved another chance. But with him sacked they brought in Grant. The less said the better.

The financial grief was still evident at Upton Park. The biggest signings were Winston Reid and Pablo Barrera. The rest were loan signings. The owners didn’t take a wage and they were both ploughing cash into Upton Park. The cutbacks were huge. Even George Osborne would have admired the cut backs. The work the David’s put into the club was excellent but it could not prevent West Ham going down. They brought some big names on big wages in January to try and keep West Ham up, but sadly couldn’t and after reducing of a fair bit of debt, it was back to square one as West Ham went into the Championship.

The summer of 2011 was supposed to be Armageddon for the Hammers. But in actual fact it has been the best summer I can remember for the club. Only one household name (Scott Parker) left and lots of deadwood released and replaced with exciting players who want to play for the club. Look at Kevin Nolan, the new skipper stepped down a division to play for the club. The amount of exciting young English talent at the Boleyn as well as experienced players is brilliant. Add this to a fantastic manager and there could be a recipe for success.

It is common knowledge that the wages are still high at West Ham but the transfer policy has gone from spending big money and big wages on people that don’t want to be at the club, to fairly big wages on players that want to be at Upton Park. Fans have to accept that big wages are part of football now, but you can still go about it in the right way and David Gold is certain the club is.

There are still things many people aren’t happy about such as ticket prices, just ask Durham at talksport on his view! But overall the David’s have done a remarkable job, not only have they saved West Ham United they have injected life into it. With the best squad for years and the best manager West Ham have had for about 13 years, as well as going into the Olympic Stadium the future will bright. Yes the club took a step back in order to take one mighty step forward but thanks to Gold and Sullivan and their good work this summer, West Ham fans once again have faith. And for that you must say well done and thank Gold and Sullivan.

It seems then that we need to turn this around come Saturday, when we host Portsmouth. We must not take three points for granted – oh no, it’s a hard game all right. Portsmouth have experience in abundance, and their hoof-ball tactics under their manager, Steve Cotterill, will pose a different challenge to that of Nottingham Forest.

Who do we need to prepare for then? Well, firstly, we need to get past their rock at the back, Tal Ben-Haim. If you remember back to last season, he provided something for us that we sorely missed for the second half of the season – a tough-tackling centre-half who can stop the likes of Torres, Rooney and van Persie. Come Saturday, the Hammers will be dealing with a different type of player – Eric Huseklepp. Huseklepp, a striker who can also play on the wing, will intimidate our back four and hopefully set up Kanu, the natural poacher. However, it’s more likely that we’ll have to nullify Benjani. The 33-year old Zimbabwean needs to be stopped by our centre-backs, and whilst James Tomkins has been exceptional so far, the jury is still out on Winston Reid. With no Abdoulaye Faye due to a groin injury, it would be a surprise to see a different centre-back pairing. At the other end of the pitch, Jamie Ashdown is proven between the sticks, and could be the difference between a win, a draw and a loss.

For West Ham, we have seen what Carlton Cole can do, but who (if anyone) plays alongside him will be key to deciding the outcome of the game. Providing that Sam Allardyce goes for a 4-4-2, with Sam Baldock the second attacker, and additional debuts to David Bentley and Henri Lansbury, we should be able to break the ‘home game curse’. Guy Demel isn’t needed yet, as our usual right-back in Joey O’Brien is doing a sound job right now.

It will be tough though. Mark my words.

Prediction – West Ham 2-1 Portsmouth

What you have to remember is that Parker was on ridiculous wages for a team destined for a relegation fight last season, and with 4 years remaining on that contract, would almost certainly not have accepted a pay cut.  Considering that he was on £70,000 a week, we a knocking a huge £3.64 million a year off our wage bill – a much-needed gesture for a side with over £100 million in debts and drastically trying to improve their financial situation.

In terms of replacements, you would have to congratulate Sam Allardyce on signing his own ‘Captain Fantastic’ in Kevin Nolan.  What a lot of fans need reminding is that Nolan captained Newcastle to the Championship title two seasons ago, where he played alongside another target of ours (albeit not signed up) in Joey Barton.  We have our box-to-box alternative in Henri Lansbury and, although I can honestly say I don’t know an awful lot about him, the Arsenal fans I know say that he is one for the future.  However, Wenger apparently doesn’t rate him highly, which suggests that he may leave for nothing by the end of the year.

Of course, both Mark Noble and Jack Collison are academy graduates who should be pushing Lansbury for a start, and Papa Bouba Diop can come on with fifteen minutes remaining to play out the games, but it seems as if the Arsenal loanee will be a regular in Allardyce’s lineup.  It seems that Scott Parker will be forgotten, especially with a successful Championship campaign in front of us.  A push for the title should hopefully not elude us, and the valuable rebuilding time we have will give us solid foundations with which to build a decent mid-table Premiership squad.

At the end of the day, I have only one question – who would rather have the starting XIs of QPR, Norwich, Swansea, Wigan, Blackburn, Wolves or Stoke than the side that we have at the moment?  I know which I’d rather have, and it comes from the league of the fizzy pop.

Neither team had time to settle in to the game and I doubt everyone was sitting down when West Ham scored two well crafted goals. The first came from a beautiful corner from Junior Stanislas which was turned in by Guillermo Franco and minutes later, Franco turned provvider with a beatiful chip which gave Collison an opportunity. Matt Duke was out of position but that doesn’t mean the header was easy. Collison expertly floated the ball over Matt Duke to give the Hammers a two goal cushion. What could go wrong from there? Unfortunately, everything. Hull, with Bullard pulling the strings began to create some chances however neither team managed to control the game meaning it was some great end to end football. Hull finally got their chance with the half hour mark approaching. Not the greatest goal but it was that man Jimmy Bullard that struck the free kick. Green looked to have it covered but it hit Parker and Cole in quick succesion before floating over Green into the net. Hull deserved the goal but Zola’s team nearly gifted them a second when a majestic ball from Bullard found Hunt and the Hammers fans were just praying that they could hold onto a lead untill the break. Unfortunately, Hull grabbed a second through Kamil Zayatte from a Hunt free kick. The scoreline was probably fair but when Mark Clattenburg gave the Tigers an outrageous penalty, the West Ham players were shell shocked. Bullard scored from the spot and somehow the Irons went into the dressing room a goal behind.

Faubert leads the protests after Clattenburg's penalty decision

Despite the set back, Bernard Mendy soon lifted Hammers spirits after his challenge on Scott Parker meant he had to go. Despite facing 10 men, for the fourth time this season, the Hammers could not find a goal but then with 15 minutes to go they found it. Manuel Da Costa headed in a great Stanislas corner to set up a frantic finale. However, yet again, West Ham failed to take advantage of the 1o men in front of them and failed to get a winner with the otherwise poor Duke making a good save from Collison’s close range header. Overall it was a dissapointment for the Hammers as he knows that this was a game where his team should have comfortably had all 3 points but came away with only 1. He will be hoping that 3 points come easier to his side over the busy christmas period but after failing to beat an opposition with 10 men on four occasions this season, does anyone have any faith anymore? Well, I do but I am extremely optimistic so pessimistic Hammers fans will soon be losing faith all together.

The opening part of the match has been an area where Zola’s side have struggled this season but the confidence from the Wednesday night win against Aston Villa carried straight through to this game against Everton. Scott Parker showed again why he is still a possibilty for an England spot, although an unlikely possibility, as he controlled the midfield with amazing maturity and vision. Julien Faubert looked threatening down the right and Zavon Hines was making some lovely runs to provide Collison on the left some help, which he and Parker utilised. Zavon Hines was sent clear after some great interplay between Parker and Collison but Hines’s lack of experience showed as he was stopped on the edge of the box twice after being sent clear. However West Ham continued to attack and Parker was looking increasingly threatening and his weaving run through the defense ended with a chance that he could only hit straight at the goalkeeper with no angle to work with. This seemed to wake up the boys from Merseyside and despite a few needless fouls from Fellaini they started to play with a bit more confidence but even so the Hammers carried on dominating. After Zavon Hines’s runs caused problems early on the defence covered the left channel more and more. Parker was superior to this and was able to send Julien Faubert through only for his cross to be tapped just wide by Guille Franco. Saha’s 26th minute strike was completely against the run of play after Fellaini should have got a yellow card for yet another stupid challenge but the referee gave him yet another chance and Saha’s driven effort left Green standing. The goal just re-ignited the Hammers’s fire and they began to attack with more vigour but chances were limited. Fellaini then broke the rules 3 times in quick succession. First he handled, then in anger fouled Scott Parker quite badly and then fouled Franco very badly on the edge of the box. Both of the bad challenges were out of anger and there is no debating the fact that he should have been booked and Tim Howard comfortbaly saved from Jiminez’s effort on goal. The half ended with West Ham behind but the performance merited at least 2 goals from the Hammers.

   Scott Parker was instrumental in midfield.

The second half started badly with most of the football being played in the midfield of the park and the fans became increasingly frustrated. It seemed that the Hammer’s had given up, apart from half-time substitute Junior Stanislas who was providing some decent runs and doing well in place of the injured Collison. Despite West Ham fielding two prolific youngsters themselves it was Dan Gosling of Everton who scored the second goal. Despite the lack of chances at both ends, the goal still seemed against the run of play after his first shot was well parried by Green but England’s No1 could do nothing when Gosling smashed in the follow up. This set the game alight and Diamanti started to use his left foot with confidence. Some great balls were sent through and it wasn’t too long untill one ended up in a goal. Diamanti’s pin-point ball over the top sent Junior Stanislas clear and a great first touch and then the masterful finish gave West Ham some hope. (It was Stanislas’s goal not an own goal in my view). Ex Hammer Lucas Neill was being rightfully booed by the fans at every touch of the ball and the heightened atmosphere fuelled the teams desire and when Scott Parker sent Zavon Hines through, the finale was to be set up but the yougnster missed from close range, shooting to the wrong side of Howard, the youngster had more time than he seemed to think but he had the chance to redeem himself minutes later. Diamanti, who was having a blinder, again was the provider and Everton’s defence was all at sea as Zavon Hines created space for himself, only to shoot wide. For the remainder of the match there were wild shots from Diamanti untill Franco had a great opportunity, only to slip and fall much to the fans annoyance. It ended 2-1 to Everton and Zola will hope that Carlton Cole never gets injured again but  then again on a different day Hines would have bagged those opportunities. Luck just isn’t on our side!

Ratings

Robert Green: 7

Jonathon Spector: 6

Matthew Upson: 7

Manuel Da Costa: 8

Julien Faubert: 7

Jack Collison: 6

Scott Parker: 8

Luis Jiminez: 6

Valon Behrami: 7

Zavon Hines: 6.5

Guillermo Franco: 6

Subs:

Junior Stanislas: 9

Allesandro Diamanti: 9

West Ham’s terrible start to the season had Zola making excuses for his players after every game but last night he had a lot to be happy about as he saw his team move up the table to 16th. Martin O’neill, however saw little damage done as far as the table is concerned but failure to kill the game off after a strong first half spell left him dissapointed. Zola will be pleased with how the defence played especially when the important Herita Ilunga had to be subbed off early on. Since current Aston Villa defender James Collins left the Hammers in the summer, defensive frailties have been a major problem for Zola’s West Ham. None of those problems could be seen last night with Zola dropping Spector and Tomkins to the bench giving Julien Faubert and Manuel Da Costa a chance to prove their worth. However, Jonathon Spector’s demotion to the bench lasted just a few minutes when Herita Ilunga went down, clutching his hamstring. It seems that both Carlton Cole’s and Herita Ilunga’s injuries are not as bad as first feared and both could feature against Everton at Upton Park on Saturday. After this early setback, Aston Villa began to take control with the pace of Agbonlahor and Ashley Young troubling the defence. It seemed that losing Ilunga had unsettled the Hammers with Aston Villa gaining momentum. However, Aston Villa’s best chance was a long range volleyed effort from Stiliyan Petrov. His strike gave Green little time to react but the England No1 managed to tip the ball over for a corner. With half-time approaching, Aston Villa’s failure to capitilize on their dominance came back to bite them. The authorative Scott Parker on his return from suspension gave mexican international Guille Franco the ball, and the otherwise useless forward put the young replacement through only to be fouled by Habib Beye. Some referee critics have suggested that this decision was dubious but it is fairly obvious that Beye fouled the youngster and Mark Noble happily smashed the penalty into the roof of the net.

Mark Noble rifled his spot kick into the roof of the net to give West Ham the lead.

Team News:

Aston Villa:

Cuellar is suspended and Petrov and Milner are doubtful which means youngster Fabian Deplh could start. Zola will be hoping he does because maybe the West Ham players will be embarrassed if a teenager leads a comeback in the second half so the team might turn up after half time to play. Davies, Downing and Gardner are all still injured.

West Ham: Kovac is suspended which is a good thing, Dyer remains sidelined with a hamstring injury and Ashton, Boa Morte and Davenport are all out injured. Hopefully Zola won’t start Guillermo Franco and use Zavon Hines because with Franco there is no pace or movement up front apart from Carlton Cole and Zavon Hines creates space by making runs but I can only hope.

            Former Hammer James Collins seems to be the missing link in the new look West Ham defence, he should start.

West Ham probable line-up:

GK: Robert Green

RB: Jonathon Spector

CB: James Tomkins

CB: Matthew Upson

LB: Herita Ilunga

RM: Valon Behrami

CM: Jack Collison

CM: Mark Noble

LM: Allesandro Diamanti

ST: Guillermo Franco

ST: Carlton Cole

My West Ham line-up:

GK: Robert Green

RB: Valon Behrami

CB: James Tomkins

CB: Matthew Upson

LB: Herita Ilunga

RM: Junior Stanislas

CM: Jack Collison

CM: Mark Noble

LM: Allesandro Diamanti

ST: Zavon Hines

ST: Carlton Cole

 Verdict: West Ham 3 – 1 Aston Villa (may as well be optimistic)

Scorers: Carlton Cole (2)Zavon Hines – Gabriel Agbonlahor

COME ON YOU IRONS!

So far this season, the team have played great football but our defence has fallen apart. Lucas Neill leaving was not a huge problem to begin with but Zola decided not to buy a quality right back. Instead, he bought Diamanti. Did we need Diamanti? No, because we have Jack Collison, Junior Stanislas, Kieron Dyer, Valon Behrami, Luis Jiminez, Mark Noble, Radoslav Kovac, Julien Faubert and Luis Boa Morte in the midfield and he sold Savio. I completely disagree with signing Diamanti instead of a quality defender because now we are paying the price. Even if you consider Diamanti to be a striker we have Zavon Hines, Carlton Cole, Luis Jiminez, Dean Ashton, Guillermo Franco and Frank Nouble. Instead, Zola signed Manuel Da Costa, when we could have signed someone much better whilst keeping a quality youngster in Savio. He could have re-signed Anton Ferdinand, kept James Collins, admittedly it seemed that the board intervened with the sale of Collins but even so Zola needed to get a quality defender. Having James Tomkins playing week in week out in the best league in the world is tough on the youngster, especially when he has Jonathon Spector outside him to provide even more defensive mistakes. After saying that, Diamanti has actually been sensational so  I will admit that I was wrong to think that when Zola signed him it was a mistake but Guillermo Franco, I am not wrong about. He is useless! He should not start! That’s final! His running off the ball was terrible against Arsenal, in fact he may as well have not been on the pitch if you ask me. When we have someone like Zavon Hines who has been inspirational everytime he plays, just look at the mayhem he caused against Liverpool, I agree that he should not start every match as he is only young but his performances have merited that he should start yet Zola won’t start him.

Here is the team that I would put out to start on Wednesday night at home to Aston Villa:

                                                                                         Robert Green

Valon Behrami                        Jonathon Spector                        Matthew Upson                   Herita Ilunga

Jack Collison                     Allesandro Diamanti                        Mark Noble                           Junior Stanislas

                                                                Carlton Cole                          Zavon Hines

This team may have its defensive frailties but the attacking intent will get the crowd going, as I do not work with the team closely I am not sure if Jack Collison and Junior Stanislas would be better if the swapped wings but that is an easy change to be made. Valon Behrami is an excellent player and he doesnt stop running around, he will rush the attacking players and cause all sorts of problems and that is exactly what our defence has been lacking, a bit of bite! Junior Stanislas is a great player, young and with flair so under the lights at Upton Park he should provide some great supporting runs for the strikers whilst his ability to cut in and score from the edge of the box is incredible and on the other side Jack Collisons vision will provide Carlton Cole and the speedy Hines with some good opportunities. Mark Noble is now a distinguished midfield player and Diamanti came on against Arsenal to be that missing link and he is a machine in defence as well as not being frightened to have a shot from long range. His free kick taking abilities are also very important in a game against a team that we will need to take all our chances. Zavon Hines up front makes separate runs to Carlton Cole unlike Franco who just mills about the place, he makes gaps in the defence for through balls or even a midfielder to make a run, his partnership with Cole will continue to grow as they suit each other very well. We need to win on Wednesday because if we don’t our position in the table will look worse and worse as the weeks wind on, whilst confidence is still high, they need to grab a result against a good side!

Dyer named a relatively strong line-up with both Savio and Nigel Quashie in the starting line-up. Bondz N’Gala was also included and the accomplished defender played the full 90 minutes. Dyer also handed Andrea Zola another chance on the bench.

Bishops Stortford were not short of talent either, they handed a start to Charlie Sheringham, the son of former Hammer Teddy. They also gave ex youth FA cup winning Hammer Stevland Angus a place on the bench.

Savio was given a chance to shine for the reserves

Within the first 20 minutes the inexperienced West Ham side began to settle into the game with some neat passing play and interchanges. However the majority of these exchanges were inside their own half. Then, half way through the first half, Savio made a slinky and mischievous run from inside the West Ham half and managed to win a corner but nothing came from it. It was then a chance for the Bishops Stortford “rookies” to settle and with 10 minutes to go they came close from a Danny Harris headed effort just wide of the post.

Five changes were made at the break with Zola being one of the bench warmers to be added into the mix. With ten minutes of the half gone it was Savio again who provided a chance. Hines flicked the ball to Savio who repeated the action only for Hines’ effort to sail over the bar. It was a sign of intent though from the Hammers. The pace of the game then changed, which seemed to suit the Bishops Stortford side better and in the 87 th minute the goal came.

Just 3 minutes after Goodacre had been forced off with an injury to leave the side playing with ten men, they got the winner. A simple header from a corner scored by substitute Jackman.

Team Line-up

West Ham United: Peter Loveday, Tony Brookes, Calum Davenport, Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson, Matthew Fry, Cristian Montano, Nick Barrett, Nigel Quashie, Andrea Zola, Sebastian Huke, Frank Nouble
Subs: Deniz Mehmet, Callum McNaughton, Simone Bezzicheri, Eoin Wearen, Ahmed Abdulla

Yes, Andrea Zola is Gianfranco Zola’s 17 year old son!

The Match

Phil Anderson of Thurrock gave the non-league side the lead and it was Sebasgtian Huke of the Hammers 3-man attack who equalized for Alex Dyers side. However his game was to be cut short due to an injury caused by a stray elbow and it was left for Ahmed Abdulla to carry on in his pace. It turned out the Abdulla was more than capable of this and his creative play was to be pivotal in giving Ale Dyer’s side the win. Although Eion Wearen headed the Hammers into the lead with only 11 minutes to play it was left to new signing Franck Nouble to add the third goal in the 89th minute to win it for the youthful side. His goal was fully deserved as throughout the game he produced probing runs and creative play along with Cristian Montano who provided the cross for Nouble to score.

What’s next?

With that being the last match before the squad went off to China, those who failed to impress will be able to do so in some upcoming reserve team fixtures with Alex Dyer. The squad that have arrived in China are as follows:

Goalkeepers: Green, Kurucz and Stech
Defenders: Spector, Faubert, Ilunga, Spence, Spence, N’gala, Upson, Gabbidon, Collins and Tomkins
Midfielders: Stanislas, Noble, Parker, Jiminez, Dyer, Collison, Payne and Boa Morte
Forwards: Cole, Hines and Savio