Monday, October 30, 2006
In Pards We Trust!
Firstly we're fans - we pay good money to be fickle. Secondly I'm so pleased for Alan Pardew right now, the writing would have surely been on the wall for him if we had not secured 3 points this morning.
Pardew proved a few of us wrong who groaned as we saw Sheringham had been drafted in to replace midweek goalscorer Marlon Harewood. Yet the evergreen Sheringham played one of the best performances I've seen from him in a Claret n Blue shirt. He obviously lacks pace but everytime he was about to lose the ball because of it he managed to get some kind of touch to push it to someone in a West Ham shirt - and some of those were sublime balls creating some fantastic link up play which we have been starved of this season. And what a goal! Great chipped ball from the right by Yossi and a towering header into the top corner ending West Ham's Premier League goal drought which goes back to September 9th when Zamora scored against Villa.
Sheringham for me ever so slightly overshaddowed Hayden Mullins for man of the match. Hayden was a rock in midfield and to be fair has been one of the better performers of the season so far. And he deserved his goal for his endeavours. I can't see Mascherano dislodging Hadyen - it sounds silly but I don't think he has anything that our Mullins doesn't! But it's going to be good to have two options for defensive midfield once we find form and players can be rotated into a confident unit - note I said once we find form - I do beleive we can pull this together! This was absolutely vital the 3 points we gained this morning as our next 3 fixtures pit us against Arsenal & Chelsea sandwiching a tricky tie at the Riverside.
Congratulations Alan and the boys - Our season starts here!
Three points at last!
For a start, West Ham played with some conviction, like they really wanted to win it. Both fullbacks, but particularly McCartney, got forward on many occasions - in fact I think each put in more crosses than the winger in front of them (or behind them, I suppose).
As dubious as I was having seen NRC line up as captain, he acquitted himself fairly well with an active display. Both centre halves played well, particularly Ferdinand who I thought had an excellent game. The goalkeeper situation is looking better with Green between the sticks, and Teddy Sheringham did a fine job even without counting the goal.
Most importantly they (and Pardew) seem to have the strength of character to pull themselves out of the slump, and they are sticking together and working well as a unit. There is a lot of work to be done yet but I'm quite encouraged by this game.
Player ratings
Green 7 - looked comfortable. The commentators were critical of him for their goal but I think he was caught out by the swerve and was a bit unlucky for the followup.
McCartney 6 - probably a 5 defensively and a 7 going forward, so average of 6, although he does need to remember his first job is as a defender.
Ferdinand 7 - very good, read the game well.
Gabbidon 6 - had some off moments but otherwise looked better than the last couple of times I'd seen him.
Spector 7 - looks the goods to me, although I'd like to see Paintsil back.
Etherington 6 - fairly good with the ball at his feet, and good links with Spector, but crossing and some passing was poor.
NRC 7 - starting to graft a bit better.
Mullins 6 - seemed caught behind the game sometimes, but got a goal.
Yossi 6 - great dinked pass onto Teddy's head for our first, otherwise was anonymous at times.
Zamora 6 - tried hard and did do some really good work, but should have scored (or got an assist) with a glorious opportunity.
Sheringham 7 - great link play early on capped by a wizard goal. Got tired.
Subs - all get 6.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Interesting Harewood Statistic!
19 Aug 1 CA(H) 3-1 90
22 Aug 2 WA(A) 1-1 65
26 Aug 3 LI(A) 1-2 72
10 Sep 4 AV(H) 1-1 60
17 Sep 5 NU(H) 0-2 45
23 Sep 6 MC(A) 0-2 64
1 Oct 7 RE(H) 0-1 6
14 Oct 8 PO(A) 0-2 21
22 Oct 9 TH(A) 0-1 81
I'm thinking another contributing factor to our decline this season is the fact that we don't have a settled side. How is Harewood meant to find form and hit the back of the net if he's not being given the playing time?? Last season it took him something like 5 games before he hit the back of the net (then he got 5 in 2 games). But the difference was he played 90 minutes in the games that lead up to it and had the time to find his feet so to speak. Also now there is extra pressure on him because nobody else is scoring either.
I really hope he scores tonight!
Friday, October 27, 2006
Match Prediction: Blackburn
I'm going to stick my neck out and say we will win this one. I keep waiting for us to turn a corner but it doesn't happen. It saddens me and I feel for Alan Pardew who must be going through hell right now. A few players have really let him down of late and they need to stand up and be counted. We need to go out all guns blazing, get the first goal, and just keep at them rather than sit back and hope like we did in the cup midweek.
Keep the faith - Come on You IRONS!!!
Carlos Alberto to join the Hammers?
Joorabchian is close to finalising due diligence and may make a bid by the end of next week.
If he takes over the club, he'll bring Carlos Alberto to the club.
Eriksson is not in the frame for manager if Joorabchian takes over, but Curbishley might be.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
A little light relief?
But according to today's Lahn's Lahn Ehn'n Stannah, we weren't the only ones to turn the air blue when West Ham rolled over and lost their eighth match in a row. Chairman Terrence Brown is reported to have chucked the mother of all post-match wobblies, telling his players he'd wasted GBP16,000 on their overnight stay at a hotel and would have been better off bringing a pub team. And so intrigued was the Fiver by this revelation, that today we rang a nice man at the Chesterfield & Bolsover Tourism Information Centre to ask if he knew where the Hammers had stayed. "I'd imagine it must have been the Chesterfield Hotel, I can give you their number if you want," he said.
But with our token nod to actual journalism completed and some Alan Pardew quotes to crowbar into the last remaining paragraph, we declined his kind offer. "I'm getting to the level where I'm looking at individual players and wondering why they're putting in these kind of performances," sighed the Hammers gaffer. "I'm aghast for our fans because they've given us the benefit of the doubt and have been so supportive towards us." Quite how long that support will last, given that the Hammers don't have England's most patient fans, isn't clear. But whether Pardew is sacked or not, chances are he'll be bringing a team to Chesterfield again before too long. And when he does, the Fiver can recommend the Suncroft Farm Camping And Caravan Park, which boasts 16 pitches - one each for 11 underperforming footballers and five subs.
From The Guardian Online
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Blackburn Game on Fox
Foxtel online program guide says its live @ 3am on Monday morning (30th Oct).
Daylight savings starts at 2am this Sun 29th.
So I think that means it will be televised at :-
12.00am in WA
1.30am in NT
2.00am in QLD
2.30am in SA
3.00am in NSW,VIC,ACT,TAS
PS I'm in denial world. Its a happy place where nobody talks about football and the fountains are all full of ice cold beer and there are no ugly chicks (maybe the fountain has something to do with that)
Pardew Out!
I like Pardew and I really wanted it all to work out well for him and with a bit of luck here and there things may have been different. But I think if we are to stand any chance of staying up then we must make changes and we must make them now before it's too late. I think the club are in deep shit and I think we are going down.
Watch the proposed take over fall over this week, then watch the board fuck around whilst Pardew continues to praise his troops effort (which was piss poor today) and making feeble excuses for why we are playing like a pile of w**k!
Let's be under no illusions here - Chesterfield were not good today - West Ham were utter crap!
I think I need some time out.
Duck Broken - Thankyou Marlon!
The half time score is delicately poised at 1-0 but I think the corner count says it all Chesterfield 6 West Ham 0. This could still go tits up for us. We have one thing going our way though - Chesterfield are shit! ;-)
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
It's the Carling Cup!

Well so far Me & Norven have had a shitty run of luck with our West Ham bets and this is last chance saloon - I think we had 30 bucks each on West Ham to win the Carling Cup @ $26 or something to that effect. Our 100 on the Uefa is dead and buried along with other random match bets.
So to the match!
I fully expect on current form for the shit to hit the fan against Chesterfield tomorrow morning. Away from home against lower opposition is not an ideal fixture when you haven't scored a goal for 7 games. I've seen this many a time when things are going bad and then to add insult to injury some two bit piece of crap side comes along and dumps you out of the cup.
So Mr Pardew brace yourself because if this happens you are gone. I can not see any other scenario for AP if the worst were to happen. I think he'll be ousted for Curbishley by the end of the week if we do not get through the game unscathed tomorrow.
I'm gonna close my eyes and hope for the best!
Hammers Deal Close
The next week could be a crucial one in the history of West Ham, with the board eager to make a decision on a proposed takeover in order to bring some stability to a season that is rapidly turning sour.
The chairman, Terry Brown, and chief executive, Paul Aldridge, are keen to tie up a deal in order to end speculation over the fate of the manager, Alan Pardew, but may wait until the summer if nothing is sealed in the next 10 days. Their haste suggests that the consortium led by Kia Joorabchian is favoured within Upton Park. Brown has not yet met Eggert Magnusson, the head of the rival Icelandic-backed bid, and has no plans to do so.
Further meetings with Joorabchian, whose main backer is the Israeli property magnate Eli Papouchado, are imminent.
Do We Really Need Anymore Reason To Hate This ****???

C&P The Guardian
Jermain Defoe will escape further punishment for allegedly biting Javier Mascherano during Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 victory over West Ham United on Sunday but the ensuing altercation between both sets of players will be subject to a fresh disciplinary investigation.
The Football Association last night confirmed that Fifa regulations prohibit it from taking subsequent action over an incident that was dealt with by a referee. Only if the incident constitutes an "exceptional case", such as Ben Thatcher's forearm smash on Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes, will it be reviewed. In that case the FA banned the Manchester City defender for eight games.
The FA broke these regulations in August last year when a disciplinary commission agreed to downgrade Jermaine Jenas' sending off - then as a Newcastle United player - against Arsenal to a yellow card. On that occasion the world governing body warned the FA that any future transgression would be unacceptable and, as Steve Bennett cautioned Defoe at the time of his clash with the Argentinian midfielder, a retrospective red card is beyond its power.
"There won't be any further action taken against Jermain Defoe because we are not able to take any," an FA spokesman said after Soho Square took an entire day to conclude its deliberations. "If a referee deals with an incident, which he did, we are not allowed to retrospectively take disciplinary action in terms of upgrading or downgrading cards.
"The only exception to that is in terms of a very serious case, such as that of Ben Thatcher, where if the offence is deemed to be such that even if he had been sent off it would have warranted a further charge. In such a situation we can then bring that further charge. I don't think anyone is suggesting that that is the case here."
It emerged last night that Bennett reported both Spurs and West Ham for their players' response to the Defoe-Mascherano incident, when all 20 outfield players converged on the referee. The FA will write to both clubs for explanations.
Television footage will be studied to see whether the clubs should face charges of failing to control their players, which carries a fine of up to £250,000.
Defoe was quick to defend himself but admitted his reaction was not out of character. "This has been blown out of all proportion. When the West Ham player fouled me I reacted in a bit of a mischievous way, my character is a little like that at times," he said before retracting the latter part of the statement.
"The referee was standing right over me and if he felt I had done anything bad he would have sent me off. The incident doesn't look great on TV and I accept that as a role model to kids I have a responsibility to conduct myself in the right way."
Despite initially insisting that a sending-off would have changed the game, the West Ham manager Alan Pardew confirmed that the club will not be lodging a complaint with the FA: "We've got nothing to say about it, Javier is fine, he bears no grudges and our focus is on the next match," he said.
Mascherano said receiving a bite was the worse thing that has happened to him since he came to England and he was surprised the referee did not send off Defoe. "Things were not going well for me but this was outrageous and unexpected. The strangest thing was the referee didn't send him off. He was beside me and yet he didn't take out the red card."
Monday, October 23, 2006
Another game, another loss
If we lose against Chesterfield on Tuesday I think that might be all she wrote for Pardew....Konch won't play cause of accumulated cards I think.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Match Prediction: Spurs Away
Anyway with the negatives out of the way I actually think we are going to take this tonight. Don't ask me why, maybe it is becasue we are so deep in it that the players will take a good look at themselves and think 'we have to do something here'. It doesn't read pretty just one point above bottom of the league and Pardew will be letting his players know that it is just not acceptable.
I think Marlon is going to get off the mark today and we will either get a draw or nick a win. We must get some luck and score first though because going behind is not doing us any favours.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Pardew Nominated for Award!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
2 Games in 2 Months Leaves Me Pondering.....
Wake up Rupert!
What fox are doing now is the foxsports news channel is flicking over to Skysports news in the UK from 12am to 6am on a Saturday night/Sunday morning and giving regular updates on the other games. Not quite extra games though is it. It wouldn't hurt to dedicate at least 2 Sports channels to live football - it's not as though anything else is more important at that time of night.
Marlon Hits 2 for Reserves at Upton Park
The Ice Age Cometh?
Magnusson close to Irons takeover
West Ham are expected to make an announcement on Thursday regarding Eggert Magnusson's proposed £75million takeover of the club.
The Icelandic businessman, who is head of the Football Association in his own country, has reportedly met Hammers chairman Terry Brown this week for discussions.
His initial bid was turned down last week but he returned with an improved offer.
It is understood that an announcement on the matter, either through the Stock Exchange or the club, will be made on Thursday.
The funding for the deal is expected to be provided by a respected Icelandic financial institution - although not the investment bank Straumur-Burdaras of which Magnusson is vice-chairman.
The Hammers have also been linked with a takeover by a consortium headed by entrepreneur Kia Joorabchian, who orchestrated the transfer of Argentina internationals Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano to Upton Park.
Alan Pardew's men, however, have not won since the arrival of the pair and have lost their last six matches in all competitions, including a defeat to Italian side Palermo which knocked them out of the UEFA Cup.
Foreign investors have been attracted to English clubs by the lure of the next Premier League broadcasting deal, which will see income from television rise by an average of 67% for clubs in the top flight, as well as the prestige of owning a global brand.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Grant Leaves - Pardew Next??
"I think any manager who has lost six games has to have a certain amount of fear about his job - otherwise he would be silly," said Pardew.
"The media attention will be very strong I'm sure leading up to our next game against Spurs. But you have to be big enough and strong enough to take it.
"I am, and I hope the players are. I try to be consistent whatever the results but six defeats in a row must be the worst run I've ever had and it is not acceptable.
"I've always thought of our players as strong characters and now it is up to them to go out and prove it."
I don't want to see the back of him because I think this is a case of everything going wrong, bad luck and loss of confidence. However there could be a ready made replacement with Curbishley looking for work so maybe now is the right time - before its too late and Curbishley finds other employers.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Goaless Record
Random thoughts...
- AP had two weeks to think things out and came up with Teddy to start up front?
- he must start Green next game
- Yossi contributed less than me and I wasn't on the pitch..he is surely carrying an injury
- amazing how both strikers always hit the wall at exactly the same instant
- why on earth bring on Mascherano with 5 mins to go?
Now 6 losses on the spin. Frustrating doesn't begin to describe this season...
A good job we have put off the next UK trip from April till Dec 07, by that stage we will be banging in the goals again (...in the Championship)
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Peter Grant Takes Norwich Post
I wish Peter well in his new position and it seems he will be sorely missed by Pards and the squad at West Ham. This is a good opportunity for him to prove his managerial talents and one he could not turn down. Good luck Peter!
Friday, October 13, 2006
To quote the munky:
"Anton Ferdinand, John Pantsil, Tyrone Mears and James Collins are all expected to be available for the trip to Fratton Park"
* Hmmm - Anton Ferdinand has been arrested for an altercation outside Faces night club in East London!
** John Paintsil has been refused entry into the UK for visa reasons and will not be able to face Pompey!
*** Danny Gabbidon is doubtful with an injury as is Carlos Tevez!
Things are looking up defensively?? Bugger - this season has not been too lucky for us so far :-(
Short interview with Mascherano
JM: I don't think different managers ask for different things. My style, the way I play, has always been the same and maybe different managers work on that basis. Perhaps here I'm not known very well, but I would define myself as a central midfielder, maybe a little bit more defensive than offensive. There are two types of central midfielders: those who reach the box and maybe manage to score loads of goals every season, and those who maybe are more focused on providing the team with a sense of balance, of working more on the defensive. In every team I've played I've always been more of a defensive player rather than attacking, you know? I create play from further back perhaps.
Q: What have you observed about the English game so far?
JM: Well... I guess it depends on the teams. Most play with two central midfielders maybe a little bit further up front. But it varies. If you look at Chelsea, they have a defensive midfielder in Makelele. Arsenal plays with Gilberto and Fabregas, but Gilberto is the defensive midfielder. Manchester plays Carrick - defensive midfielder ... I think when a team plays with two midfielders one has to defend a bit more than the other. And one has to provide some balance. Logically, if they can take turns, that's the best. Maybe I find Liverpool is the team where they can both do it. Like Xabi Alonso and Gerrard, you know? And now Sissoko, who can reach the goal area - but also, when one is up front, the other can defend. The other thing here is that it's a very fast game, it requires a lot of people attacking, a lot of players up front. And then, when the move is over, get back really quickly to defend ... I think it's a lovely game, really dynamic. End to end. But it's fast!
Q: And how are you finding your role at West Ham?
JM: I'm working on it. I'm working with the manager on this. I think what he's asking of me is a little bit this: that I be the more defensive midfielder. That I go out and play but maybe stay a bit further back. We're working on it.
Deano: It's a temporary blip
Deano also made a mention of his old gaffer. "I wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that my old boss Nigel Worthington got sacked at Norwich. The results were not going their way and a club like Norwich needs to be in the Premiership. If the results aren’t there, unfortunately the manager takes the brunt of the criticism. I was very sad to see him go because he gave me my chance in the Premiership, which I'll never forget. I think the other lads will be sad to see him go too, because not only was he a decent manager but he was a nice guy. But you have to move on, that's what happens in football. Nigel will definitely stay in management, definitely, you have to bounce back from these things."
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Icecapades...
In other news the Club has announced a 6 million pound profit for 2005/6 up sharply on the 5.1 million pound loss of 2004/5. The turnaround can be attributed almost entirely to TV revenue from playing in the Premier League and the FA Cup run.Eggert Magnusson, president of the Iceland FA and a member of the Uefa
executive committee, confirmed last night that he had made a formal approach to
buy the Barclays Premiership club. It is understood that the English-speaking
businessman, 59, is prepared to put in £40 million of his own money in a bid
that values West Ham at about £75 million.
“We are at the very beginning,” Magnusson said of the proposed takeover.
“We have shown an interest but there is some way to go. West Ham are a great
club with a great history and good reputation. They have a very good manager and
great players and are backed by fantastic support.”
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
West Ham 2006 compared to Spurs 1978
5 games in 22 days (19 Aug - 9 Sept 1978)
Drew 1-1 Away to Nottingham Forest
Lost 4-1 Home to Aston Villa
Drew 2-2 Home to Chelsea
Lost 7-0 Away to Liverpool
Won 1-0 Home to Bristol City
5 points (in todays 3pts for a win terms)
Goals For 4 Against 14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
West Ham 2006 after signing Tevez & Mascherano
6 games in 22 days (10 Sep - 1 Oct 2006)
Drew 1-1 Home Aston Villa
Lost 1-0 Home Palermo
Lost 2-0 Home Newcastle
Lost 2-0 Away Man City
Lost 3-0 Away Palermo
Lost 1-0 Home Reading
1 point
Goals For 1 Against 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------
And Spurs didn't have a tricky UEFA away tie in the midst of it.
Spurs summary with OA & RV
78/79 11th in Div 1
79/80 14th in Div 1
80/81 10th in Div 1, FA Cup Winners
81/82 4th in Div 1, FA Cup Winners, League Cup Finalists, UEFA CWC Semis lost to Barca 2-1 on agg
Not sure what it all means but I'm sure you guys will draw some conclusions in the comments ;-)
Sunday, October 08, 2006
News Update!
** Bobby Zamora has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2011. Bobby has come out and said all he has ever wanted to do is wear the claret n blue shirt and he is delighted to be spending the best part of his career with the club. He also is backing the Argentine pair to come good stating that they fit in well during training and are enjoying life at Upton Park despite recent results.
*** A Hammers legend has signed our guestbook! Steve Bacon was the club photographer for many years and I have fond memories of him walking the perimeter of the pitch with his camera snapping away whilst I stood as a kid on the North Bank. Steve if you are reading this - good luck with your return to photography mate - its an honour to have you grace these pages - your warm comments with regards to this site are greatly appreciated.
http://whu-au.blogspot.com/2005/05/guestbook.html#comments
International Wrap
* Some of the Brisbane Hammers were present at the Suncorp Stadium last night for the dissapointing 1-1 draw between Australia and Paraguay. We had to wait until the 88th minute to see a goal and the Aussie fans must've felt victory was on the horizon before a calamitous own goal in the dying seconds snatched a draw from the jaws of victory for the Socceroos. The game gave us a chance to see former Hammer Stan Lazaridis make his final appearance in the Green and Gold.
** On the subject of dissapointing internationals, England could only muster up a 0-0 at home to Macedonia last night. Republic of Ireland proved equally inept with a 5-2 loss to.... wait for it.... Cyprus LOL! Wales got thumped 5-1 at home to Slovakia whilst Scotland bucked the British nations' dissapointing weekend causing the biggest upset of the night with 1-0 victory against Les Bleus! The victory vs France puts them top of the group which also contains Italy and Ukraine on a maximum 9 points from 3 games .
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Sicilian Beat Up
The Guardian Newspaper in particular can fuck right off when it says stuff like this
"The Fiver's always had a soft spot for the way West Ham play, and we admire
what Alan Pardew has done at Upton Park too. But almost everything else about
the club leaves us colder than a brass monkey in the Siberian Streaking
Championships. There's chairman Terence Brown; the blingtastic players, many of
whom strut around giving it the big 'I am' despite having won nothing except a
Division One play-off; the seedy, slightly menacing atmosphere outside the
ground; and - worst of all - the club's fans.
When those supporters
aren't banging on about the Hammers winning the 1966 World Cup single-handedly,
they're usually shrieking away in ridiculous faux-Cockney accents, even though
most of them live in detached Mock Tudor houses in Essex. (In fact the Fiver
half-suspects that Hammers fans are to blame for Dick Van Dyke's disastrous
accent in Mary Poppins.) The club has always had an 'element' too - which
resurfaced again last night when 20 fans were arrested and another six injured
after "a huge battle" with Palermo fans and police last night.
Palermo
police spokesman Virgilio Alberelli said 500 people were involved in the riot,
17 of whom, including five police officers, were taken to hospital. According to
one eyewitness: "West Ham fans behaved like animals, roaming the streets,
bottles in hand searching for anyone to fight." After an hour, police finally
managed to calm the situation and Hammers fans were put on three buses and
driven away from the centre. "
The next day a letter to The Fiver countered "Your report of West Ham's fans in Palermo was a disgrace. I was in that square throughout and we were not at fault in any way. Trapped by those animals, we just defended ourselves and waited for the police to step in. Instead, they just watched while we were bombarded by anything that came to hand, and only attacked us when we were getting the upper hand" - Michael Davies.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Socceroos in Brisbane
The
After capturing the hearts and minds of a nation, the
Joined by local heroes from the
Let's celebrate with the
Monday, October 02, 2006
1-0 Loss to Reading
Rather than get suicidal, I would suggest that we're not a million miles from a result. In both of the last two games we have created a bunch of chances in the 1st half and gotten frustrated, and had to chase the game in the 2nd half and played real shite as a result of the self doubt and mounting pressure. With just an ounce of luck in either opening 45 I would contend that the games might have panned out entirely differently. Big call perhaps but I honestly don't think we would have degenerated into such utter crap if we had received some reward for the 1st half chances.
Tevez just oozes class but the rest of em often aren't on his wavelength.
My campaign for a new formation starts here :-
........Carroll...........
Spector..Collins..Gabbs..Konchy
Yossi....Mullins.....Matti
.........Tevez.........
.....Marlon...Bobby
Obviously Anton/Mears/Paintsil etc can come back into defence when available (though I have been impressed with Spector).
Tevez likes to play quite deep. He creates so much mayhem in that deep position and has an amazing ability to draw in defenders and lay off great balls into the resulting space. So why not go at teams and play 2 strikers in front of him?
If it isn't working and we are getting pasted in midfield, then Plan B is easy enough to revert to by subbing Bowyer (or NRC or even Mashie) into CMF and taking off one of the strikers.