My West Ham: Simon Walters

I’m starting a new series on the blog asking figures from politics and the media about their support for the Hammers. We start off today with the Political Editor of the Mail on Sunday, Simon Walters.

How did you become a Hammer?
I became a Hammer because my mum grew up in the East End and as children, we used to visit my grandparents’ home there often.

Your first game?
Not sure about first game but the first one I remember is Chelsea v W Ham at Stamford Bridge which was a 5 – 5 draw. Must have been the Sixties.

How many games do you get to?
How many games do I get to? One or two a year mainly because I work on Saturdays. Managed to get to W Ham v Spurs on Sunday. What a save! Gave up going as a teenager partly because I got scragged on the Tube by QPR fans on the Tube. They stole my scarf and bobble hat.

Most memorable moment?
Most memorable moment at a live match was the 5 – 5 draw, though 1 – 0 over Man U at home last yr in Curbs’ first match came close.

Have you met any Hammers players?
Only Hammers player I recall meeting was Trevor Brooking who I persuaded to attend a childrens Xmas party at the Commons Press gallery.

Favourite current player?
Dean Ashton

What’s the football banter like in the bars of the House of Commons?
The only soccer banter I take part in at the Commons is with a Tory MP who once offered out of the blue – so to speak – to take me to a W Ham match. That was 15 years ago. I am still waiting and I remind him every time I see him.

Describe last season. How did it affect you?
My memory of last season is the Tevez goal at Old Trafford. I ran round my brother in law’s house screaming like a whirling dervish. I went there because he has Sky TV. He is a Man U fan and was Old Trafford – poor bloke.

What are your hopes for this season?
Two more wins and we could be eighth. As a Fulham fan pal of mine said the other day, we spend our whole lives saying that.

Choose your all time Hammers Eleven
Tevez x 5, Moore x 5, Robert Green.

Redknapp & Storrie: What Are We To Make Of It?

Readers of the Harry Monk column in Over Land And Sea will recall a regular feature where Harry Monk would ring Peter Storrie about, say, the fact that interest rates had gone up to 10% and Peter Storrie would reply: “This has absolutely nothing to do with me”.

So we have to ask, what have Redknapp’s and Storrie’s arrests got to do with West Ham. Seeing as the ex Portsmouth chairman and one of their ex players has been arrested too it is clear that it is player transactions at Portsmouth which are under investigation. However, it cannot be too long before player deals during their tenure at West Ham will come under the spotlight. I think in particular of Titi Camara’s transfer from Liverpool for £2.5 million. But there were plenty of others which some of us questioned at the time.

I always really liked Harry Redknapp and wish he had been able to stay longer in many ways, but we all have to admit that there were plenty of rumours going round at the time about some of his wheeling and dealing.

I’d love to think that there was nothing to yesterday’s events and that no charges will be laid. But in general the Police do not make such arrests without being fairly sure of their ground. The Hamilton rape case was an exception and I hope this one is too.

NOTE: Please be aware of the laws of libel when leaving comments. If I feel that a comment is risky I will not allow it through moderation. Be warned.

Green Streets Ahead in HOTY Poll (So Far)

The results of the Hammer of the Year Poll I posted on Sunday are unsurprising.

1. Rob Green 68%
2. George McCartney 22%
3. Carlton Cole 6%

Most of the other players on the list barely scored a single vote.

ESPN to Showcase Greatest West Ham Victories

I have just spent a very enjoyable half an hour being interviewed by ESPN for a programme they are making about West Ham’s greatest victories of the last three decades or so. I got to share my memories of the two Cup finals, the 5-4 victory over Bradford, 3-2 against Arsenal, 4-0 against Villa and last year’s 1-0 victory at Old Trafford. The programme will go out sometime during December. Not sure who else has taken part.

Who’s Your Hammer of the Season So Far?

Today’s game set me thinking about who my Hammer of the Season so far is. I reckon there are several possibles to choose from, but rather than influence your vote, I’ll stop there.

Click HERE to vote for your Hammer of the Season So Far!!!

Spurs: Afterthoughts

Well that was a bit of a corker, wasn’t it? Our matches with them usually are. In the end, I have to admit that a draw was a fair result. While we played well for some periods of the match, so did they, and if anything they had more of those periods than we did. But the result really hung on some controversial decisions by referee Mike Riley, in what was a fairly shambolic refereeing performance.

Their non penalty was a bang-on penalty, although the linesman had already missed the offside, so justice was done in a perverse sort of way. He also missed a blatant handball by Carlton Cole in the penalty area in the second half. Their actual penalty was about the only thing he got right all game. Apparently we committed 33 fouls and they only committed nine, yet we got three yellow cards and they got four. Work that one out.

My man of the match was Carlton Cole. He ran his socks off and was unlucky not to have had more than one goal. Lucas Neill actually got the MoM award from Sky I think, but did he really deserve it when he gave away a penalty? Admittedly, he was due a good performance and today we got one from him. Upson was also very strong and came to the rescue on a couple of occasions.

Now I hope you are sitting down, but I am also going to say a good word about Boa Morte, who I thought gave his best performance in a Hammers shirt today. He was instrumental in our goal, charging down a terrible clearance from Haboul and then running with the ball, before passing it to Solano, who instead of having a go himself, crossed it for Cole to sidefoot in.

And so to the marks

Green 7 Flapping all over the place for their goal but otherwise imperious
McCartney 6 Quiet game
Upson 8 Best performance yet
Gabbidon 7 Played through an injury. Looked solid
Neill 8 Best performance for many games
Solano 7 Getting better with every game
Noble 6 Anonymous for large periods
Mullins 6 Solid
Etherington 7 A few good runs down the left
Boa Morte 8 Battled hard and instrumental in the goal
Cole 8 Ran himself into the ground

Spurs Preview

Gutted that I can’t go to the Spurs game tomorrow. Thank God it’s on Sky. It seems ages since the last game and it’s difficult to keep track of who’s back, who’s still injured and who’s suspended. As far as I can make out, Lee Bowyer is suspended but Ashton, Collins, Parker and Ljungberg are all available again. Craig Bellamy is still injured. Mark Noble and Hayden Mullins are both in full training again, but may not feature.George McCartney is also back in training.

If we win tomorrow we will be unbeaten in six. We do need the three points with the two clubs immediately above us winning well today. Pity that Everton are coming into form with us playing them twice in a few days soon.

I’m loath to guess the lineup against Spurs, but I suppose I’ll have to get some egg on my face…

Green
Neill
Upson
Spector
Gabbidon
Etherington
Solano
Ljungberg
Cole
Ashton
Parker

Bet I’m wrong.

Graham Paddon Has Died

Seventies Hammers midfielder Graham Paddon has died suddenly at the age of 57. The former Norwich midfield ace joined West Ham in 1973 and played in the 1975 cup final winning team. He rejoined Norwich a year later, having been part of the Cup Winners Cup final team. He played 147 games for the Hammers, scoring 15 goals. Many of them were memorable long distance efforts. What a shame for him to die at such a young age. More HERE.

And in News from Wales…

West Ham reserve team captain Jack Collison has been selected for Wales Under 21s.He qualifies because his grandfather was born in Bedwelty! Everything I hear about Jack indicates he could well be our next homegrown star.

Also, Craig Bellamy has been named Welsh Footballer of the Year.It says something that we have more Welshmen in our squad than Wenger has got from the four home countries put together.

Oh What Fun it is to See West Ham Win Away

5-0! Can you believe that!!!??? With THAT team???!!! Just imagine if we had Bellamy and Ashton back? Let’s give credit to Lee Bowyer. He took his chances and was on a hattrick. You can’t ask for more than that. I listened to the radio commentary but it was difficult to work out who the real stars were. Gutted for George McCartney. Hope it isn’t too serious.

So, if you were there, tell us more!!

Derby Preview

This is exactly the sort of match we need to take three points from, and I believe we will. Lungberg and Dean Ashton are back in the squad but it would be surprising if either of them were in the starting eleven. I suspect Carlton Cole will play up front on his own from the start. Mark Noble is out for three weeks and I doubt if Hayden Mullins will feature, so there is a very makeshift look to central midfield.

Green
Upson
Gabbidon
McCartney
Neill
Solano
Etherington
Bowyer
Boa Morte
Cole
Spector

Green’s Omission is Staggering

Can anyone please explain to me Robert Green of this parish has again not been included in the England squad? Even the stats show he should be in. Goals conceded in the Premier League:

Robert Green 10
Scott Carson 13
David James 13
Paul Robinson (ahem) 24

Disgrace.

Hammers to get a Brazilian?

The Sun reports that West Ham are to make a £5 million move for Brazilian star Marcelo, currently with Panathinaikos. They reckon we’ll sell Hayden Mullins to fund the deal. Call me old fashioned, but I doubt whether old Hayden is in the £5 million bracket. He won’t need a work permit as he holds an Italian passport. The fly in the ointment? His adviser is our old friend Kia Joorabchian. Oh well, nice thought while it lasted.

Lampard Comes out of the Closet…

As a Tory. Today Chelsea’s Frank Lampard declared that he’s a Tory supporter and would like David Cameron to win the election. He told the Daily Mail: “I had a really good chat with David. As a footballer I don’t want to get involved with the campaigning thing but I am a Tory and I really like David Cameron.” Good for him. [grudging respect] As you might imagine, I am not Frank Lampard’s greatest fan after his derogatory comments about West Ham, but he can’t be all bad, I suppose [/grudging respect]. Sorry, I take that back. He’s still a tosser.

Another Glimpse of Roeder’s Motivational Skills

After Norwich’s 3-1 defeat to Watford yesterday, Glenn Roeder put on display his infamous man-management skills at the post-match presser…

“Players are given instructions on who to pick up at set pieces and when they don’t do that it is very disappointing. One particular player had let us down badly and that is just not acceptable. He knows who he is.”

What a guy.

Bolton: Afterthoughts

There’s nothing more gutting to a supporter than seeing your team throw away points in the last minute. As usual, we paid the price for not scoring a second goal from a shoal of opportunities. I didn’t get to the game because of a family bereavement, but I did, of course, watch it on SKY. At times, especially in the first half, we looked awesom, especially down the left hand side, where Matty Etherington ruled the roost. Defensively we also looked comfortable for long periods, but it was in midfield that I thought we were poor. This is hardly surprising when you look at our injury list, but Bowyer and Solano were never going to form the kind of midfield bulwark which is needed against teams like Bolton. Carlton Cole showed more positive signs but Luis Boa Morte was appalling. How on earth did Curbishley ever feel that it was worth paying £5 million for his services. We needed two out and out strikers against Bolton and Camara should have been on the pitch from the start. Sky showed a list of our injured players, who could make a team on their own – and they even missed out Julien Faubert on the graphic.

It was good to see John Pantsil get a brief runout towards the end. I still feel he might have something to offer us. If we still have Noble and Mullins out for the Derby game I’d stick Lucas Neill on the right side of midfield and put in Pantsil at right back.

And so to the scores on the doors…

Green 7 – not his strongest game, with a couple of James-esque flaps
Neill 7 – getting better after a bad run
Upson 7 – unspectacular but solid
McCartney 9 – our best player at the moment
Gabbidon – 6 somewhat anonymous
Mullins – 6 gave the ball away too much
Bowyer- 6 a couple of neat runs
Solano – apart from one effort, didn’t really threaten
Etherington 8 – superb first half
Cole 7 – great improvement – held the ball up well
Boa Morte – 4 awful, simply awful

Bolton Preview

A win this afternoon will put us back up to 9th position. It seems to me, looking at the league table that there are three leagues at the moment – the Top four, the next seven and the bottom nine. We need to cement our position in that middle group. In theory, this afternoon ought to provide us with that opportunity, but with a new manager, Bolton players will be looking to prove themselves. An early goal for us is a must, so we need to put them under pressure right from the start.

Our injury situation doesn’t seem to be getting any better and Carlton Cole may well start up front on his own again, unless Curbishley wants to give Camara another try. I suspect the team will look something likes this…

Green, Upson, Gabbidon, McCartney, Neill, Solano, Etherington, Noble, Mullins, Camara, Cole.

Lampard: “You’re JUST fans”

Thanks to Jon Colney for pointing out this quote from Big Fat Frankie in the Daily Star. Pay particular note to the last sentence…

“The England thing is not important to me at the moment. What is important is playing well for Chelsea. “When you’re playing well and on top of your game, you’ve got a feeling of confidence. Then there are times during the season when you feel like you can’t put a pass straight. I’ve dropped below the standards I want to set in the past. What player doesn’t. I have nothing to prove. The more experience you get in football, the more you realise that you don’t take notice of what someone wants to say about you isn’t involved in football or is just a fan.”

I’m just about holding myself back from commenting. Oh, sod it. I have always been one of the few to applaud Lampard when he comes back to Upton Park. But he’s shown himself to be a bigger whinger than Roeder. He’s a hugely talented player, and on his day he is a world beater. What a shame he fails to recognise West Ham’s part in his development.

Feeding Frank

I was on the Richard Bacon Show on 5 Live last night for 90 minutes. Most of the time was spent on a phone in about whether players’ salaries should be capped. Richard Bacon said he was in an Italian restaurant in Soho the othernight and Big fat Frankie Lampard was at the next table. “Eating a lot, was he?” I asked.