Anyone Remember Bobby Moore’s Debut?

REQUEST FOR HELP

My name is Ryan Forrester and I am a first year student currently studying Sports Journalism at the University of Brighton. For one of my modules we have been asked to write a piece on a sporting event from 1958, due to it being its 50th anniversary this year.

I have decided to write a piece on Booby Moore’s debut for West Ham against Manchester United in September 1958. I want to try and focus upon the match itself rather than producing a profile of Bobby Moore, and wondered if you may have any ideas or information that may be able to assist me in my research.

I have a number of different sources, however am finding it difficult to find much information on the game and Bobby Moore’s performance.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ryan Forrester ryan_1018@hotmail.co.uk

The Day I Met … Ernie Gregory

I am now 71 and my dad started taking me to watch the Hammers in about 1947/48. I lived in Forest Gate and from 48 onwards was a pupil at Plaistow Grammar School.

It was at about that time, during the summer holidays, that I looked out of my bedroom window and saw a group of 5 or 6 men in the garden next door. They were digging out a second world war air raid shelter, dug deep below the surface. When I took a closer look I suddenly began to recognise some of the men as regular first team players from WHU. I rushed down into the garden, jumped up on a box and had a close up view. The group included Dickie Walker, the then captain, Ernie Gregory, our long serving goalie and Ernie Devlin, who played as a full back. I can no longer remember who the others were, but they were all very friendly and enjoyed chatting with this very young supporter. This was an era when players wages were very low and almost non existent during the summer months, so they had to take on labouring work to keep the wolf from the door. How times have changed!

Whilst at Plaistow Grammar School, we often used to walk down to the chippie at the end of Prince Regent Lane and would bump into Terry Woodgate and Ken Tucker, both of whom were wingers playing in the first team at that time and who lived nearby. These men were all my heroes and any time they nodded a glance of recognition in our direction it was considered a red letter day.

I was a season ticket holder for many years. I saw the 66 World Cup trio grow through the youth team and reserves into the very fine players they ultimately became. Sadly I no longer visit regularly, but follow them with great passion via the internet and web sites such as your own. Keep up the good work.

Michael Morton

Newcastle Match Report

This was the most entertaining match since our victory over Liverpool in late January. In fact, perhaps the first half was our best half of the entire season. We were literally on fire from the outset. Perhaps the visiting Paolo di Canio had gone into the dressing room and given a pre match motivational team talk? Newcastle were not at the races and until they scored they had not had a shot. Indeed, they only had one shot in the second half.

Let’s start with the midfield. Faubert and Ljungberg ran Newcastle ragged down the wings for the first twenty minutes. What a shame Freddie was stretchered off with a cracked rib (and may miss the Euros) mid way through the first half to be replaced the Boa Morte. Scott Parker was absolutely immense, especially in the first half, while Mark Noble took his goal brilliantly and combined superbly with Parker both defensively and in attack. But special pride of place goes to Julien Faubert, who showed some amazing bursts of pace and put in some excellent crosses. He really showed that he will be immense for us next season, and if Parker hadn’t been so brilliant, he would have been my man of the match. Parker is now on England form.

Defensively, James Tomkins looked superb, apart from being to blame for the first goal. His heading was spot on and he was tough in his tackled. He’s also a danger at corners in the opponents’ box. He did make a mistake for the goal, but he’ll learn from it. Lucas Neill had a few hairy moments in the second half. George McCartney was brilliant (again) bombing down the left and put in a real attacking performance. And John Pantsil had his best game for us so far. He really can be a joy to watch with his hugely enthusiastic attitude.

Up front Dean Ashton was busy all over the place and a constant threat. His goal was a classic striker’s goal, where he made something out of very little. Bobby Zamora was at his most frustrating. He tried and tried but absolutely nothing he tried came off. Carlton Cole looked far better when he came on and should retain his place for the Man U game, although I suspect we will play 4-5-1 at Old Trafford.

Uriah Rennie certainly had a game of two halves. He had a good first half but his decisions in the second half defied logic. It shows how times change when instead of “The referee’s a bastard” we heard constant chants of “You’re not fit to be a referee”. How quaint.

And finally, why oh why was their no pre match announcement that Paolo di Canio was “in da Stafium”? The crowd sooned spotted him and we all went wild, revisiting old memories with sporadic and very loud chants of the Paolo di Canio Rigoletto chant. He’s still a hero to many of us and the best player I have ever seen in a West Ham shirt. And the scores on the doors…

Green 8
McCartney 8
Neill 6
Tomkins 7
Pantsil 8
Noble 8
Parker 9
Ljungberg 8 (Boa Morte 5)
Faubert 9
Ashton 8
Zamora 6 (Cole 7)

PS And for once I predicted the score correctly!

Your Pre Match Rituals…

I had to get here early today to persuade the ticket office they should give me a replacement season ticket as the one they promised to post me never showed. So it’s 2pm and I am already sat in the Dr Martens lower row X, seat 203.
I love to get into the ground early, just to soak up the atmosphere as the seats start to fill up. The transformation to quiet anticipation to raucous expectation is a joy to experience. I sat here wondering about other people’s pre match rituals, hence this post. Let me kick off with mine.

I normally leave home in Tunbridge Wells around mid day to ensure that I have time to get through any queues for the Blackwall Tunnel. Today we were stationary for 15 minutes. I park on a garage forecourt in Barking Road and leave it with a group of fanastic guys who have been washing and taking care of my cars for about 15 years.If I arrive really early I might listen to a bit of Any Questions or a 5 Live commentary before heading up the Barking Road. I always pop into the bookshop at the corner of Green Street and have a gossip with the manager, Viv Archer. She loves a good political chinwag and she normally has some West Ham luminary or other signing books. I usually meet my friend Jo Phillips there.

I then always buy my programme from the seller on the corner of Green Street and OLAS from the the boy by the church.

Jo and I have now got into the very unhealthy habit of heading off to Ken’s Cafe on Green Street for a fry up too. A lot of people we know from media circles are often in there too – Pete May, The Observer’s Denis Campbell, Matt George from the Western Mail and Nigel Morris from The Indy and also his wife Carolyn Quinn from Radio 4’s Today Programme.

And then at about 2.30 it’s off to the ground. I didn’t go to Ken’s today as Jo can’t be here. It isn’t the same without her!

Before each game I usually look up at the Director’s box and give a two fingered wave to my friend, Labour MP and Home Office Minister Tony McNulty. He’s too polite to respond with fewer than five fingers in his wave.

And that’s about it! I’ve told you mine, now you tell me your pre match routine.

Newcastle Preview

Will Nobby Solano face his old side? I think most of us would like to think so as he’s performed really well in the few matches he has started this season. He gives us something extra at set pieces and corners. If it were down to me I would start him on the right of midfield with Julien Faubert replacing Pantsil at right back. It’s important that Faubert gets match practice.

I expect James Tomkins and Lucas Neill to remain in central defence and Bobby Zamora starting alongside the fit again Dean Ashton. Carlton Cole also has a strong shout for a starting place but I think he will be disappointed.

I hope it’s not me that’s disappointed when I get to the ground. The promised replacement season ticket never turned up (so much for my praise for the ticket office!) so I will have to queue up for one when I get there. Which reminds me, I’d better leave now!

Prediction: 2-2 draw! I’d settle for that as long as we get some excitement!

Very Sad News

I’m really sad to have to tell you that Frank Lampard’s mother Pat has died this afternoon. I sent Frank a copy of all the comments you left on a previous thread and I am sure I can speak for you all when I send him and his father our sincere sympathies.

Kudos to the WHU Ticket Office

Last night my car was broken into while parked in a busy street in Bloomsbury. The thieving bastards nicked two laptops and my wallat … and my season ticket. Just called West Ham’s ticket office expecting them to fleece me for £40 to replace it (for two games) only to receive buckets of tea and sympathy and to be told that they’d send out a free replacement today so I could use it on Saturday. Credit where credit’s due. The ticket office come in for a lot of stick, but the girl I talked to today could not have been more helpful.

Now, if anyone is offered two dodgy Sony Vaio laptops, feel free to take them on my behalf and to punch the little gobshites where it hurts.

The Day I Met … Frank Lampard

After a crack of the dawn start we made our way from Upton Park on what can only be described as heap of junk towards the M4 and wait for it “Hereford in the cup” 73/74 season. First the driver got lost getting out of London and by the time the Heston services were looming every one was calling for a “comfort break”, not this driver (with his 10 year old daughter sat on the engine cover alongside him) we sailed straight past so that in his words “we could make up time” by the time we hit the Maidenhead turn off the troops were about to burst in a collective “weeathon” he finally stopped just off the motorway and we all ran into a field.

The rest of the journey was spent cruising at about 40 miles an hour, and kick off was looming, still miles away and only 40 mins to kick off, boy ‘o boy was this driver taking some serious stick (good job he had his daughter with him).

And then it happened we got lost on the outskirts of Hereford the game had kicked off the lads were going mad! finally got into the ground 20mins late. We lost 2-1 “how did that happen” and back to the coach for the long haul home. It turns out the coach has no heating, it’s raining and blow me the bloody windscreen wipers don’t work and the engine chugged as if it wanted to just die! it was a complete fiasco.

We finally made it to some services on the M4 and the we were all sitting down cupping a cup of tea trying to get warm, talking about another cup dream shattered by some wannabes from the depths of the football league when into the services walk the team and Frank Lampard came over to our table and in a very matter of fact way said “SORRY ABOUT THAT LADS”. To be honest I’ll never know who took more abuse that day the coach driver or poor old Frank, what I do know is, it was the last time I ever went on a supporters coach to an away game!

Roshi

The Day I Met … The 1993 Team

By James Metcalf
The Year was 1993 September 1st. Myself (aged 19 at the time) and 2 girls or a similar age, that I was friends with at the time decided to go to Old Trafford on a Wednesday night. We took the Official supporters coaches, which happens to be the only time I’ve done that. The traffic around Manchester was terrible and by the time we got into the ground the game was 5 minutes old and we were already 1-0 down. Ludo had been beaten by Lee Sharpe I think. The game was fairly predictable and we lost 3-0. Cantona and Bruce bagged the other goals.

Anyway, we walked out of the ground after and followed a large group of West Ham fans to where we thought the coaches were parked. We walked for ages before realizing that the fans we were following were heading to their cars. So, we turned around and walked back only to be told that the coaches were moved on by the police and couldn’t wait any longer for us. Short of cash and any other ideas, we headed to where the Team coach was parked.

By this time the players were just about all on and Billy Bonds was standing by the doors of the coach.
I believe my exact words were ‘Billy, Mate, we’ve been left behind by the coaches and have no way to get home’. Billy told the 3 of us to hold on and went on to the coach to speak to someone else.
A few minutes later, Harry Redknapp comes down and says ‘You sure there’s no other way home for you?’ After a short discussion he tells us to get on the coach!! I couldn’t believe this was happening!
As we got on, the board members were at the front, the senior players like Alvin Martin and Tony Gale were to the other side.

Just past the kitchen (and the waiters) were a set of seats with small screens built in above. We were lucky enough to sit around a table with Mark Robson who was a total star, a West Ham man through and through. I remeber him tucking into a bowl of Chilli Con Carne and telling us he lived in Beckton!
Ludo was playing cards with Keith Rowland and Matty Holmes. Down the back was the roudy lot, Martin Allen, Colin Foster, Ian Bishop, Morley and so on. One of them chucked their dirty pants at the girls, who barely spoke the whole way home. I think they were just so shocked by what was happening.
The only player not on the coach was Julian Dicks. Robson told us he was driving back to Bristol that night. Certainly one of the greatest nights of my life…..

Have you got a tale of meeting a West Ham player? If so, email it to me and I’ll publish it on the site at some point.

Derby Match Report: A Curate’s Egg

This was a perversely enjoyable game, which kind of summed up our entire season. Good in parts, awful in others. Derby were better than expected – very committed but lacking any real invention. When Robbie Savage is relied upon for set pieces, you know you are in trouble. In truth, West Ham could have won this 4-1 or 5-1 with several clear chances going begging. On the other hand, Derby nearly snatched an equaliser at the end. So, let’s look at the plus points.

The biggest revelation for me was the performance of James Tomkins. Indeed, I would rate him as man of the match. He was assured, confident and looked completely at home. He must have touched the ball at least twice as often as his partner in central defence, Lucas Neill. He has a great balance about him. At first, his loping style reminded me a bit of Elliott Ward, but there’s also a touch of the Rio Ferdinands about him. Make no mistake, we have discovered a diamond here. It wouldn’t surprise me if he became a regular next season.

Elsewhere in defence Lucas Neill had a quiet game, but was reasonably solid. I still think this is his best position. His replacement at right back John Pantsil had an average game. It has to be said that he is better in attack. He made a superb daisy cutter through ball towards the end which nearly resulted in a goal. George McCartney had a quieter game. He’s certainly a contender for Hammer of the Year, but I wish he’d get more confidence in the final third.

In midfield, both Parker and Noble put in strong performances. These two are clearly our first choice central midfield, but they have played very few games together so far -this was only the third. My only worry is that they are very similar players – both tenacious, hard tacklers. Noble is slightly more creative, but perhaps they are too samey to be a successful midfield duo? We’ll find out next season.

For the first time for a long time we played with two out and out wingers. At times we were playing 4-2-4. Ljungberg got better as the game went on. Unfortunately he was at fault for being offside when Zamora scored a goal that had to be disallowed. He had some brilliant interplay with Noble before haring off down the left to cross for Carlton Cole to score the winning goal. Freddie is not my favourite player and I have to say I won’t be heartbroken if he goes during the summer, but credit to him for some of his work today. Julien Faubert was a little diappointing. He played in several good crosses in the first quarter of an hour and his a rasping twenty five yeard shot and I saw enough to believe he’s the real deal, but I wasn’t surprised when he was subbed. He’s coming back after a bad injury and needs games.

I presume Dean Ashton was ill or injured, but Bobby Zamora had a good game. Yes, the frustrations we all know about were still self evident, but nevertheless he did well in winning headers and holding the ball up and took his goal well. Freddie Sears, however, was a different story. I’m afraid he was not at the races today. He barely touched the ball in the first half and when he did have it he looked strangely hesitant. I thought he was subbed at exactly the right time. Parts of the crowd actually booed Carlton Cole onto the pitch which I found reprehensible. “You don’t know what you’re doing” rang out around the ground, suggesting the Curbishley should have kept Sears on the pitch. I was incredulous. And then a few minutes later Carlton Cole rammed their words right down their idiotic throats.

Robert Green was in superb form, making two world class saves. The one he made at the feet of Tyrone Mears was incredible. Certainly England class.

I want to sing the praises of the Derby fans. They have had to put up with a lot this season but they were loud and proud today. Whenever they got a corner it was as if they had scored. They sang throughout the game and were undoubtedly the best away fans we have had at Upton Park this season.

A final word about the referee, Steve Tanner, who I thought had a fantastic game. And it’s not often I say that. He was in complete command throughout. And so to the points…

Green 8
McCartney 7
Neill 6
Tomkins 9
Pantsil 6
Noble 8
Parker 7
Ljungberg 7
Faubert 6
Sears 5
Zamora 7

How Can I Get West Ham on Andrew Marr?

I’m reviewing the papers on BBC1 tomorrow morning (Sunday) from 9am on Sunday AM with Andrew Marr. Let’s hope we can win 9-0 so I can work a mention of West Ham into it!

My West Ham: Matthew George

Matthew George is Political Editor of the Western Daily Press.

How did you become a Hammer?
I was brought up in a London overspill town where tens thousands of people were relocated, including many Hammers fans from the East End, and I supported them as most of the people around me did. The other main team was Millwall, so I had a lucky escape there.

How many games do you get to?
Season ticket holder in East Upper, so almost all home games and then I usually go to the London away games, and a few longer trips as well, such as Everton and Bolton this season.

Most memorable moment?
So many to choose from. Just from the last 5 years, I’ll never forget being at Birmingham when we got relegated for the wrong reasons, along with losing the play-off final to Palace. The win over Preston was probably the best moment, and then the Cup semi-final win over Middlesbrough and most of the final, and also being at Old Trafford for the last part of the Great Escape last season.

Have you met any Hammers players?
I did spend a day at training at Chadwell Heath when Alan Pardew was the manager, and met some of the players, but I spent most of the time with the staff, including Roger Cross, Kevin Keen and the legendary Ludo, who claims not to be from that near Moscow after all. Christian Dailly was the friendliest of the players, and Repka had the most impressive car, a gullwing DeLorean-style monster. No wonder he got upset when people scratched it.

Favourite current player?
Mark Noble, as he is a fan who really wants to the play for the team, and has that mix of skill and commitment that Hammers fans always want.

Describe last season. How did it affect you?
I went to the Bolton 4-0 defeat that cost Pardew his job, and thought we were certain to go down because we seemed completely demoralised. But after playing better against Spurs, despite losing, then the lucky win at Blackburn, and the 1-0 win at the New Library when Arsenal had about 30 chances, I started to think we might escape, and we did have a world-class striker in Tevez. I am still annoyed that the most extraordinary escape for relegation in decades was overshadowed by the nonsense Wigan and Sheffield were talking over the Tevez situation. It’s all gone quiet over there now.

What are your hopes for this season?
In the last few games I would like to see Curbs give starts to Sears, and more chances for Collison and Tomkins; as long as we stay in 10th, and above Spurs, we might as well plan for the future.

Choose your all time Hammers Eleven
In an attacking 3-5-2 formation and not including the World Cup winners as I did not see them play live

Miklosko
Dicks, Martin, Rio,
Bonds, Brooking, Devonshire, Cole (Joe, not Carlton or Mitchell), Noble
Di Canio, Cottee

Subs: Green, Potts, Carrick, Cross, Tevez.

What do your colleagues make of your support for West Ham>
The ones who don’t support West Ham are all glory-hunters and part-timers – who cares what they think?

When you’re reporting on West Ham games how difficult is it to be objective?
I’ve never had to, fortunately – I don’t think I could.

Complete this sentence: The thing I hate about West Ham is…
That racist song about Spurs

Complete this sentence: The thing I love about West Ham is…
Everything else

Hammertime Podcast

Last night I recorded a podcast with comedian Phil Whelans and Don Perretta in their Stop! Hammertime series. It’s a weekly podcast on all things West Ham. In essence it’s a pub conversation between three West Ham fanatics. We covered a huge amount of ground in the thirty minutes and had a lot of laughs. Listen out for our exclusive on Alan Curbishley’s Derby post match press conference! What do you mean the match hasn’t taken place yet?!

iTunes: http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=269841981
Wippit: http://wippit.com/Phil_Whelans

Hope you enjoy it.

Report from the Fans’ Forum

This report from the recent Fans’ Forum was posted on the West Ham Mailing List yesterday. Thanks to them for permission to reproduce it here.

Around 25 people attended the forum it was headed by Nick Igoe and Scott Duxbury. Duxbury was not what I’d expected, I always had the impression that coming from a legal background, (under Maurice Watkins, Manchester United’s legal guy), that he would be something of a slimy git, but he did come across well, and it’s easy to see why he’s reached such a lofty position before he’s reached 40. Igoe is a typical financial man, deals strictly in numbers and doesn’t have anywhere near Duxbury’s charm. I was surprised at how candid they were, in particular with regard to the performances of certain players, the dialogue seemed genuine, though I’ve been around long enough to take things with a heavy dose of sort.

Season Tickets
The cost of a season ticket is expected to rise in line with the ‘cost of living’, by West Ham’s calculation this is between 4-5%. This was met with dismay, especially given the quality of the football we’ve seen this year. It was suggested that a freeze on season ticket prices would be a great PR exercise, though Igoe stressed that it would cost the club somewhere in the region of £600k to do so. He couldn’t see the argument that it wouldn’t actually ‘cost’ the club anything, seeing as it never had the money to lose, all he said was that if a freeze was applied it would have to be made up from somewhere. Duxbury said that the decision had not been formally announced and that given the strength of feeling our concerns would be raised with other board members.

New Stadium
The proposed site at West Ham is now in doubt, due to the close proximity of the gasometers. The situation arose when Surrey CCC wanted to build a new stand at the Oval and the H&S Executive refused permission on the grounds that development would create a risk. Surrey CCC have appealed to the Secretary of State, but if the appeal is rejected then the Parcelforce site is unlikely to happen in the short term. They did say that there were other options for the location of a new stadium, but did confirm that any new development will not be like Wigan and Bolton, in the middle of nowhere. There as also a mention of the Olympic Stadium and my personal impression was that this is not totally dead in the water. There is a feeling that the stadium will become something of a white elephant, in the same way the dome did, the costs of staging the games will soar and the pressure will be on to recoup some of that money. Should that happen, West Ham will be in a very strong negotiating position and we would be calling the shots as to what we want from the legacy.

New Training Ground
Land will be purchased within the next 2 weeks, (Rush Green, though they would not confirm this), and a new ‘State of the Art’ training complex, costing ‘several millions’ will be built.

Merchandising
The mess that is our merchandising department was mentioned and the failure of this was laid at the door of Eggy’s son-in-law, who was appointed to run the operation. It was mention about the lack of high street presence the club has, in that merchandise is only available through the club shop. Duxbury said that he understands how inconvenient this is for some, but said it is the downside of the deal
that has been struck with Umbro, a deal which still has 2 years to run. Shirt sales have been ‘phenomenal’, in excess of 50,000 have been sold, a new home shirt will be produced in June, with the away shirt in July, a new kit every year is again of the Umbro deal.

Squad Rationalisation
The only pressure on is to reduce the quantity of the squad without compromising the quality, I took this to mean that all the dead wood will be removed in the summer. I asked Duxbury about his ‘no big name signings’ quote, saying that it sounded just like the old West Ham rather than a ‘New Beginning’. He confirmed that what he said was taken out of context and that we want to be in a position where we had 2 quality players for each position. He did say if a big name player did become available who the manger would like to sign then there would be nothing to stop us from doing so.

Director of Football
Nani’s brief is to head a co-ordinated scouting network throughout Europe. Amazingly this is something the club have never had and it will be down to Nani to unearth young talent and bring them to the
club.

Manager’s Position
There was support for Curbishley in the Boardroom, but the reservations among the fans present was obvious. The lack of entertainment, the failure to play youngsters, the tactics of the side were all questioned. Duxbury confirmed that both he and the board were ‘very unhappy’ with the manner in which we’ve fallen away and performances this season generally. Curbishley is under no illusions
as to what is expected of him, though it appears that the board are prepared to allow him to get all his players fit and playing before considering his future, though if things don’t go well on Saturday I
expect this to change. Next seasons expectations are a top 6 finish and a European place, if it’s not achieved it will be seen as failure. The lack of leadership on the field was mentioned, as was the failure of Curbishley to form any real rapport with the fans, Duxbury agreed with both points and said they were concerns that needed to be addressed.

Injuries
Reports that our training methods, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation are being investigated by SPARC were correct, it was something Duxbury instigated and supported by BG. The current medical
team were appointed by Curbishley, people who he had worked with previously and trusted, this will no longer be the case. The medical team will come under the wing of Nani, a separate entity, or ‘resource’, they will be appointed on the basis of their ability before anything else.

Sheffield United
This will be finally settled in June, there are no further avenues they can take. West Ham are confident the panel will rule against Sheffield United, their claim is misplaced and we have done nothing wrong. Duxbury feels that the motivation is simply money, that if they shout loudly enough we will come to an out of court agreement and pay them off just to be rid of the entire business. This is not going to happen West Ham will not back down in any way. The action being brought about by Joorachiban is a private action, Duxbury stated that there is ‘no substance’ to his claims that Eggy agreed to pay costs to secure the services of Tevez, as he was present at all meetings. He reiterated that the claims were ‘false’ and he was confident that West Ham would successfully defend any action.

Other Snippets
BG has no intention of selling up, the position of the Icelandic Banking Industry has no impact on his plans or personal wealth. Curbishley took the decision not to enter the Inter-Toto as he felt it would interfere with pre-season preparations. The game in Toronto was purely a commercial one, a way of expanding the ‘West Ham brand’. There are no real bonuses for finishing 10th, a position the boardØ
are not happy with. There will be no ground share with Tottenham! Another forum may be arranged in the close season with the manager and some players in attendance, though Curbishley is reluctant! Defoe was advised by Brooking to sign a new contract with the club, saying that West Ham would not stand in the way of any player who wanted to leave. He ignored Sir Trev’s advice, sided with his agent
and the rest is history. As an aside Igoe said that after negotiations Defoe’s mum was seen outside the ground in the car hitting his agent! Duxbury confirmed that Benayoun was tapped up by Liverpool and refused to play for West Ham again until he got his move. Liverpool tried to tie in the deal with our signing of Bellamy which we were unhappy about.

The meeting wound up about 9:20 where we adjourned to the bar and Igoe got in the first round! He stayed to chat generally with supporters, without going into specifics. I didn’t think this exercise was a waste of time, discussions were open and frank and I’d like to think that the concerns that were raised will be acted on.

New Series: The Day I Met a West Ham Player

I’ve been thinking of a new series for the blog and have come up with an idea which we’ll call THE DAY I MET… Essentially, I want to hear from you with anecdotes of occasions when you have met West Ham players. The anecdotes can be just factual, amusing, emotional. All I ask if that they are interesting. Please don’t leave them in the comments – email them to me directly and I will post the best ones regularly. My email address is listed at the top of the right hand column.

Time For the Kids

The Derby game on Saturday represents a unique opportunity for Alan Curbishley to do a bit of experimentation. Derby are dead and buried and have absolutely nothing to play for and frankly, nor do we.I’d play James Tomkins, Jack Collison and Freddie Sears from the start. I’m not sure if Mark Noble is fit but assuming he is, this would be my team for Saturday…

Green, Upson, Tomkins, Spector, McCartney, Solano, Noble, Parker, Collison, Sears, Ashton

Subs: Walker, Pantsil, Spence, Zamora, Mullins, Cole

What do you reckon?

Proud of You

When I wrote the Lampard post below I must admit I wondered if it was wise. Part of me expected to have to delete half the comments made. I should have known better. It turned out that I only had to moderate one comment, and even that was marginal.

So thank you all for showing the best side of our club.It’s been much commented on on other football sites.

I am now going to print off the comments and send them to Frank Lampard via Chelsea.

A Message for Frank Lampard & Family

There are times when old enmities go out the window, and this morning is one of them. Nothing matters more in life than the health of your family, so Frank Lampard’s race to be at his mother’s hospital bedside last night – thereby missing the Wigan game for Chelsea – was not only totally understandable, but laudable. The Lampards are a very close knit family and if you’ve read his autobiography, you will know how close to his mother Frank is . Mrs Lampard, according to the papers this morning, has conracted pneumonia and is in a very serious condition.

I hope all readers of this blog will join me in wishing her well and sending the whole Lampard family our best wishes.

Could West Ham Soon Be Up For Sale?

I picked this little snippet up from the West Ham Mailing List…

Yesterday on the BBC World Service they dedicated some time about the plight of the Icelandic banks – and (as) it was the ‘sports segment, they commented on how ‘West Ham United’ could be in serious trouble next season . Gudmunnsson (whatever his name is) may be for force to sell off his ‘luxury’ item – such as West Ham United – for a cut down price, if things get much worse. They implied that, such was the dire situation for the said Mr G – that many of the high priced players such “Freedy Ljundberg’ etc- would need to be sold off and not replaced. So …..I doubt we’ll be getting any ‘Ambitious Manger’ – in the
foreseeable future!! Let alone any ‘inspiring players’. Another season of dire relegation battles beckons !!

I have no idea how bad the credit crunch has affected Gudmunnssonm’s Landsbanki bank, but if things get worse it is eminently possible that he would be forced to sell off non-essential businesses like West Ham. I suspect we’re a long way from that, but it certainly means that we’re not going to be signing any £15 million players in the foreseeable future, and that the wage bill will need to be reduced.

Lucas Neill: Stay or Go?

I know I am not alone in being underwhelmed by the performances of Lucas Neill this season. He has been inconsistent and at times downright foolhardy. I reckon he has cost us a shed load of goals by going absent without leave. He talks a good game but hasn’t lived up to his reputation. If we are to shed some high wage earners in the Summer there’s a good argument for letting him go. In my opinion Jonathan Spector and John Pantsil are more than up to filling that position. Spector, while not the finished article, is a really promising young player who rarely puts a foot wrong. He may not be the marauding, attacking right back we have been used to over the years, but there’s a real element of Steve Potts like consistency in his game.There, you wanted a bit of controversy! What do you think?