West Ham thread *FA Cup Finalists. Come on you Irons!!*

[Magpie]

To be honest, I read that myself as I scrolled down the page and cringed. I genuinely thought he would be able to do it but it's starting to look dodgy to say the least and it's very tight at the bottom, with Wigan, Watford, West Ham and Charlton all within seven points of each other. There's only a five point gap to Manchester City and Sheffield United in 16th and 15th spot but City, Wigan and Watford have played a game less.

That said, the thing with this game is that a team can suddenly put a couple of good results together and things can look a lot rosier. Look and Curbs' first game in charge and tell me it's not possible to pull out an unexpected result! It's not over by a long chalk and, although the result against Watford will hurt, the fat lady isn't singing yet. Keep the faith!!
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[West_ham_hammer]

I read somewhere the other day that the season we went down on 42 points our last eleven games read.

W 6 D 4 L 1 If I remember rightly the one we lost was against Bolton. They were the team that finished just above us. Many believe that is were the season was lost. This season I believe it was lost against Watford Saturday. Although to be honest we have looked a relegated side all season.

If we can recreate the above stats for the remainder of the season that should see us (if my maths are correct) on 42 points. Which should see us stay up this season.

So although I know we are going down, history is on our side.

[Magpie]

I just want to say how gutted I was yesterday for the West Ham fans after what was the most unbelievable end to a football match I've ever seen. It all started so well and with barely five minutes left and the Hammers 3-2 up I thought this would be the turning point and the start of a run of luck. I couldn't believe it. I like West Ham and I really felt for the fans yesterday. Stunned.
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[West_ham_hammer]

If only you knew the trouble I had in getting home to watch the match Sunday afternoon. But I made it with about 20 minutes to spare before kick off. Only too have to leave too go out again the instant the 96th minute equaliser went in, leaving a upturned coffee table and a smashed cup to remind me when I got home just now

The game started off usual West Ham style, us under the cosh! If it wasn't for Robert Green we could quite easily have witnessed a rerun of the reading game. I actually thought after the initial shock of almost conceding on a few occasions early on that we played well with some brilliant passing moves.

I'm sure I must have nodded off on a couple of occasions first half. Because all of a sudden West Ham were 1-0 up and the scorer was young Mark Noble.
A few of you may not have heard of him, he's 19 and a West Ham fan. Not a pretend West Ham fan, a real bona fide one. He's the player that fans in all the West Ham fanzines have been calling for to get a chance in the premiership. He played the back end of our last campaign in the Championship with some displays that were influential in seeing us gain promotion back to our rented home the premiership (shame the landlord is kicking us out again!) I think after his two starts this season, one in the FA cup and yesterdays game Noble should almost certainly be an inclusion week in week out.
As for Carlos Tevez (think I nodded off again here) I think the neighbours knew I had arrived back home from my little break away Laughing What a goal to eventually make his mark in the Premiership and at West Ham. Any West Ham fan knows we don't score from free kicks let alone direct from a free kicks. That celebration, Superb! I think after the season he has had he deserved to celebrate the way he did. I did think he was going to see a red for it, but luckily it was yellow, which to be fair the ref had to give by the letter of the footballing laws.
I just knew a different West Ham would turn up second half. They don't play two half's the same, never have and never will in my lifetime. Spurs came at us like lasagna out of there players arses last season. They played some nice football and our defence couldn't cope with it. Although I will say Lucas Neill impressed greatly. It was nice to see he got the captaincy in place of the suspended Reo-coker. I liked the way every time the cameras were on him the microphones picked up his orders he was continually giving his teammates. Before we knew it Spurs were back in it with Judas defoe scoring a penalty and some player I have never heard off getting an equalizer.

It wasn't until the 86th minute that West Ham managed to win 3-2 with a brilliant header from Bobby Zamora who had only just came on as a substitute.

What?

Ok, we didn't win! those jammy, lucky so and so's pulled one back a few minutes later to equalise at 3-3 from a Berbatov goal. This was the same Berbatov who apart from a ok first 15 minutes had been pretty much anonymous all afternoon.
A draw wouldn't have been any good for us only a win would have done. So the last minute of injury time we threw everyone forward apart from Green. Only to see Spurs get a break and counter attack us leaving us well outnumbered and score a goal with virtually the last kick of the game in the 95th minute!

I honestly haven't felt this gutted about losing a football match since the infamous Gerrard goal in the dying seconds of last seasons Fa cup final.


On the plus side, I went to a brilliant party tonight. Not a spurs fan in sight, bliss Smile I think the cabbie that drove us back tonight must have been, he looked like he had just been circumcised.

[SE13]

Got to feel for those supporters, who were confident of all three points when Bobby Zamora popped that header in. Only six minutes left at that point. And the irony of the fourth goal, over a minute past the injury time.

I think someone touched on this earlier, Tattenham Hotspuds have all but sent them down, when West Ham United cost Tattenham Hotspuds a Champions League berth at the end of last season.

What will come of West Ham United now... Ten adrift at the base of the table, and more injuries piling up after today.

Also the look on manager Alan Curbishley's face when the third went in spoke volumes, but as the fourth was scored, just utter bewilderment.

Just a shame that one of those clubs you would think are too big to go down are on the brink.
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It feels so empty without a signature, so here is some mindless gabble to occupy the space

[West_ham_hammer]

I love Carlos Tevez. Not since the early days of Mad man Di Canio and John Moncur and Julian Dicks before hand have I loved a player as much as I love Carlos Tevez right now. But all good things must come to an end, and unfortunately Carlos Tevez will not be a West Ham player next season. But if the unthinkable did happen and he did play for us in the Coca cola championship, then that league won't know what has hit it!
People say about how he hadn't scored for West Ham. But compare that to the games he has started. I think, correct me if I am wrong here. But I am sure I heard Andy Gray when commentating on the West Ham game Sunday say that after nine hundred and something minutes Carlos Tevez had finally scored a goal for West Ham. Now if my maths are correct then that equates too nine full football matches. Now I am willing to bet that Terry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Van Nistelrooy, Michael Owen and Alan Shearer. Some of the premierships finest strikers past and present have gone nine games in a row without scoring a premiership goal. Just because Tevez's goal drought came before he had actually scored a goal for West Ham that doesn't make him a failure in my eyes. I don't expect many fans other then West Ham ones will have seen Tevez play as much as I have. If they had they would know how unlucky he has been on several occasions. He has hit the bar on 2 or 3 times and had various goalkeepers pull of world class saves to deny him.
Hopefully that goal against the spuds will be the first of many in his final games of the season.
West Ham are going down, but we will fight until it's mathematically impossible.

Come on you irons!

[Magpie]

Well said about Tevez - and you're right about how people should get off his back about not scoring. Every striker goes through a rocky patch and I remember Alan Shearer having more than one period where he just couldn't find the net.

Anyways, where there are points there's hope and I don't hear the fat lady singing yet!
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[StephenG]

I remember watching a game from earlier in the season, when West Ham United travelled to play Everton, and Carlos Tevez ran himself ragged, and covered most (if not all) of the Goodison Park turf, to receive the ball and start West Ham on yet another attack. He looked hungry to get the ball at his feet, and was trying his luck from distance if the opportunity presented itself. The only thing he didn't do on the day was put the ball in the old onion bag, and West Ham lost the game two - nil (sorry, West_ham_hammer). It was great to see him finally score his first goal in the English Premiership, on Sunday afternoon, and no better way than from a dead-ball free-kick.

Even as a neutral on Sunday afternoon, I was heartbroken by the result from Upton Park. Like most other people would have felt, I thought that Mark Noble's opener and then Tevez's sublime free-kick (some people are blaming the starting position of Goalkeeper Paul Robinson for the goal, claiming he was two or three yards of his line - rubbish. It was a well placed, well struck up-and-over the wall delight) was going to kick start West Ham, and those two goals would have settled the nerves of the players and gave them the confidence to see out the game. I felt the dread creep over me when Tottenham Hotspur levelled the game at two - two. Then, with five minutes to go, Bobby Zamora powered in that header from the Carlos Tevez free-kick and everything was all right again - West Ham were going to hold on for the three points. The rest is history, as they say

I could hardly believe my eyes, at the final whistle. Utter disbelief. I felt about as low as I would, had that been my own team, and that's unusual for me as I normally watch a neutral game in a slightly detached way - I don't support whichever two teams are playing, but if one of the two could affect Middlesbrough, then I'll cheer for the team than can do the least amount of damage possible, to Middlesbrough. As Middlesbrough have to travel to play West Ham at the end of March, I can't feel too much sympathy if Middlesbrough win - I want my club to be as high up the Premiership table as possible - but I'll be cheering on West Ham, in the hope that they can "Escape To Victory" (see what I did there?) - Hammers fans will feel like they've won the Premiership, if they can avoid relegation.

[Dioufy]

[Magpie]

Why isn't he allowed a rocky patch? What kind of statement is that? Football players are human beings like you and me; they're not robots so why shouldn't he go through a bad spell? Just because you think he hasn't proved anything? Besides, what difference does it make if Tevez's goal was from a set piece or in off his backside? Match reports just give the name of the scorer and the time of the goal; they don't say "Oh, but it was only a set piece..." or "To be fair, I think he was a bit offside..." so why do you belittle the significance of his goal? You say you like the player but I'd hate to see what you'd write about a player you *didn't* like!
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[krt]

[Dioufy]

[West_ham_hammer]

Doofus, make your mind up!

[Dioufy]

[West_ham_hammer]

Wow so touchy! I only made a spelling mistake on your username!

Anyway, back to Tevez. This is what I wrote on the Socceram.net forums in the West Ham United topic on the 23rd February. So add two or three to Carlos Tevez's apperances if you will.

For a struggling team and no support for the front men he has done well
He has only started 9 times and been used as a sub 3 times. I couldn't find stats for how many times he has been subbed before the end of the game. I bet it's more then 5 though. Add that to the fact he was being used out of position on the right wing when Pardew was in charge. Then add to that the fact he has been injured for most of Curbishly's reign at Upton park. I'm not trying to find excuses to why he hasn't scored. But you can't deny that those facts speak for themselves. Plus I guess you can put into the equation how unlucky he has been with brilliant saves from goalkeepers and the ones that he has hit against the woodwork numerous times.

Compared to West Hams other 'established' premiership strikers I think he's done well.


App Goals
Zamora 21(3) 6 Most of these scored in the first 5 games of the season

Sheringham 4(6) 2 More experience then a whore in Soho

Harewood 18(2) 4 Championship striker. Never going to make it in the premiership

Cole, Carlton 6(3) 3 Does well in cup games against **** opposition

So as you can see he hasn't made anywhere near 25 appearances in a West Ham United shirt.

Of course I agree he should have scored more goals for the club. But when he's playing in a team where he is the only player performing and West Ham find themselves bottom of the premiership, what does one expect.
People always go on about one player doesn't make a team, so you can't expect Carlos Tevez to do it all himself.

Looking at it another way, I have yet to hear a West Ham fan slag off Carlos Tevez. Not one West Ham United fan has a bad word to say about him.