Make a Donation to GreenAid!

As you may know, your Hammer of the Year and mine, Rob Green is climbing Kilimajaro this summer in aid of charity. If you’d like to make a donation and help him achieve his £10k fundraising target you can do so HERE, as well as reading more about his adventure.

The Day I Met … David Cross & Johnny Ayris

By Steve Anderton

Back in about 1980 – 1981 I played cricket for a local team in Essex. On this particular day we were due to play Hutton CC at King George Playing Fields in Brentwood. I kept wicket at the time and was surprised to see Psycho (David Cross) walk out to bat. As he scored 100 plus runs against us I had plenty of time to chat to him during his innings. When it was my turn to bat I had another opportunity to talk with him as he also was the wicket keeper.

At the end of the game he asked me if my wife and I would like to join him and his wife for a drink back at Hutton’s Club House. I thought this was just him being polite as it is courtesy after games to have a drink with the opposition, but in fact when we arrived at the club he immediately came over to me and insisted we join him and his wife as he had suggested earlier.

We stayed for at least 2 hours in his company and found him to be very different to his on pitch persona. He was as interested in my meagre footballing achievements (Essex Senior and Isthmian League) as I was in his. I will always remember him as a really nice guy.

Also my wife worked with the wife of Johnny Ayris and as such we became friendly for a while as we lived close by them in South Woodham Ferrers. Over dinner one night in our house John explained to me how his career got cut short by Ron “Chopper” Harris of Chelsea.

One last one is that after I stopped playing Saturday football I played for a Sunday morning team in Southend – on - Sea called Trinity. For a season where we got a good way in the National Sunday Cup we were managed by Anton Otulakowski. He was very unassuming and did not open up with many stories from his playing days.

Deano Oh No!

Sky Sports News is reporting that Manchester United have tabled a £10 million bid for Dean Ashton. I think most of us would put money on the fact that they will, in the end, succeed in prizing him away from Upton Park. However, surely £10 million is a joke for a player who has scored 10 goals in 13 outings this season? We’ll be a laughing stock if he leaves for anything less than £15 million. Why on earth would Man U want a player who was valued at less than that anyway? Have we learned nothing from the past? What a joke it was to let Joe Cole go for £6 million … and any number of other players for less than their true worth.

I want Deano to stay. He and Bellamy would be a fearsome duo next season. But I fear it’s a partnership we will never see…

Dean Ashton Superstar

I’ll do a full match report tomorrow but here are some interesting facts about Deano…

He’s scored 10 goals in 13 starts this season, plus another one from 11 appearances off the bench.

And people moan about him. Dear oh dear.

If he can score at this rate when he’s not at full fitness, just imagine what he’ll achieve next season.

Don’t Boo Reo Coker!

And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain… words appropriate for Alan Curbishley’s final game in charge this season, or words appropriate for his final game in charge, full stop? I’ll write my thoughts on the season and Curbishley’s future another time, but there’s no doubt that today’s game will be the final game for one or two players.

I expect Curbs to start with his strongest possible lineup. There’s no word as to whether Faubert is fit again, but I reckon the team will look like this…

Green, McCartney, Pantsil, Neill, Tomkins, Noble, Boa Morte, Parker, Solano, Zamora, Ashton.

Villa will be up for this, as they seek to secure a UEFA Cup position. Let’s give Marlon Harewood a warm welcome, and as for Nigel Reo Coker, wy don’t we just ignore him? Booing him will just get him pumped up.

And Now for the Good News…

The News of the World reports that Luis Boa Morte wants to quit West Ham… He says: “I’ve got two more years on my contract. I can’t say I am completely happy at West Ham. In the end we will see.”

Hammer of the Year Poll Result

I started a poll a few weeks ago so you could vote for your Hammer of the Year. More than 1,000 of you voted and here is the result…

1. Robert Green 44.6%
2. George McCartney 33.8%
3. Matthew Upson 12.2%
4. Mark Noble 6.7%
5. Carlton Cole 2.7%

No great surprise there! I expect him to win Hammer of the Year at the ground tomorrow too.

Freddie: What a Waste of Money?

Steven Howard writes in this morning’s Sun that we are trying to buy Freddie out of his contract for … wait for it … £3 million. If he is to be believed we signed him on a four year contract at £85k a week! His 26 appearances this season (some of them as sub) have cost £160,000 a time, and his two goals £360,000 each. Nice.

The thing is, I never wanted us to sign Ljungberg. To me he was neither one thing nor the other. Neither an out and out winger, nor an out and out goalscorer. However, in the last few months he has surprised me and been far more effective than I ever thought he could be.

It is outrageous, though, that West Ham ever offered a contract like this to a player who is obviously past his prime.

UPDATE: The whole thing has been denied by Scott Duxbury HERE.

Respect to Craig Bellamy

According to THIS story, Craig Bellamy has invested £650,000 in a soccer academy in Sierra Leone. Well done him.

Should we Cash in on Anton?

I there’s one position we have an embarrassment of riches in, it’s central defence. Sorry, perhaps I used the wrong tense there. We HAD an embarrassment of riches until they all got injured. It may be a little odd, therefore, to speculate about the future of one of our best defenders, Anton Ferdinand. But that’s what the papers are doing, so why shouldn’t we? The Sun speculates that Spurs have put in a £6 million bid for him. So what do we think? Cash in now?

Bearing in mind we have Upson, Gabbidon, Collins, Ferdinand, Davenport and now also James Tomkins we can certainly afford to sell one of them. However, it should be at the right price. Six million undervalues Anton by at least £2 million in my view.

What do you all think?

Who’s Your Hammer of the Year?

The official Hammer of the Year will be announced at the Villa game. But I thought we’d do our own poll on this blog. I’ve shortlisted five players for you to choose between.

Vote HERE.

The Day I Met … Paolo di Canio

By Andrew Morrin

I heard Paolo di Canio was going to be at bluewater signing is autobiography. So took my family (missus and three kids). Got there, massive queue and I mean massive. Out of the shop and longer than I could be bothered to measure. So, made decision to go and do some shopping and come back later. Hoping queue would be shorter by then.

Got there one/half hour before close, and still a well long queue. Decided to bite the bullet and join it. It became clear that there would not be enough time to see everyone, before the shop (and shopping centre) was to close. Someone mentioned to Paolo about the closing time. He refused to leave until he had seen and signed everyone in the queue.

Well, we were basically close to the end of the queue. So by the time we got to the front, it’s was after the time it was supposed to close I was aware of this. We had brought along a camera to take pictures. Well we got to the front. And, some person(presume security) motioned me to step forward and get my book signed. This person was trying to get through the queue as fast as possible (understandable). This made me decide not to ask for a photo and just get the book signed. Well, Paolo saw me with my boys and wife. I steped forward and gave him the book. He signed it. Than I went to walk away, and he called me back. And, insisted he shock my hand and personally greeted all my family (shaing hands and hugging). He also noticed the camera, and relalised our intentions and decision not to ask.. And insisted we take multiple pictures. One of him and myself. One of him with his arms around whole family amd a few others.

This made me feel so special and warm inside it was untrue. Some would say could PR, I would say he was a diamond geezer. Will allways respect and admire him for that.

Man U Reflections

Apologies again for the gap in posts. As some of you may have noticed I have been somewhat tied up with election punditry.

I was really angry after the Man U game. That performance wasn”t worthy of West Ham. Admittedly Curbishley was down to the bare bones, but even so. To be 3-0 down after 26 minutes was embarrassing. After that, it was hardly worth paying attention. Lucas Neill was found wanting yet again, and quite what Pantsil thought he was doing for Ronaldo’s second, Christ alone knows. I find it difficult to find a psoitive thing to say about any of them, apart, perhaps from James Tomkins, who again had a solid game, I thought. McCartney had his worst game of the season by far.

Anyway, with one game to go, we still haven’t reached 50 points, which bearing in mind our points total at the end of February is astonishing. Quite how we have held on to 10th place is equally surprising.

I think the team owe us a performance against Villa, don’t you?