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

[LP-Harvey]

So tell me West_ham_hammer, can I play golf with these Irons? Or are these the shirt pressing variety?



(Some threads can be unlocked upon request, if the reason merits it).

[West_ham_hammer]

[carf]

Nice to see the hammers doing so well this season.

Even better to see Spurs "Champions league contenders" doing so bad.

Got to love the way there season is turning out.

[West_ham_hammer]

Went and watched West Ham play Roy Keane's Sunderland Sunday afternoon. Had I realised it was going to be shown live on Sky when I booked the ticket I wouldn't have wasted £34 to go, would have sat in the comfort of my living room and been an armchair supporter for the afternoon. Same goes for my next game against Bolton Wanderers in a few weeks time. I had to give up on my season ticket a few years back because of work and money. So when the chance arises to save a few quid and still watch West Ham, then these days that's what I do. I read in 'Over land and sea' (west ham fanzine) that seven of our next eight games are on television. So apart from the aforementioned Bolton game. I am going to enjoy my comfy armchair and slippers for the games that I am not going to. Unfortunately I will miss the Coca cola cup game against Coventry due to work. But do believe I am off for the others.

On to today's game and Sunderland. I feel they should have taken a share of the points today. Roy Keane has them playing well. For a team of not really big names, they defend and attack well. Kenwyne Jones was a constant threat and West Ham couldn't deal with him on the many corners and balls that came into the box. He managed to get a well deserved goal to level it at one a piece at half time. However West Ham managed to get an equaliser of the unfortunate 9 million pound Sunderland goalkeeper. Nobby Solano only just on as a sub, smashed a ball against the Sunderland upright only to see it rickochet out and hit Craig Gordon and rebound into the back of the net.
The third goal came in injury time. I managed to miss that one as I had just gone for a pee before I left for the journey home! I have since seen the replay of the match and goal on Sky Sports. The third was courtesy of Craig Bellamy from a lovely ball from West Ham's other substitute Louis Boa Morte.
All in all, not the best game off football I have ever seen. Equally not the worst game off football I have ever seen either. The most important thing was to get three points after three straight defeats prior. We now sit in the the top half of the table in tenth place. After last seasons relegation battle, I'll take that at the moment!

[West_ham_hammer]

Come on you irons!

That tonight was revenge for the FA Cup Final. Injury time goals hurt don't they


Commmmmmmeeeeeeeeee on

[krt]

Sigh. I guess you earned it after the first half dominance or Liverpool's lacklustre performance depending on which way you look at it.

Only condolence is that this only confirms that the best we are going to get is a Champions League berth, so I don't know if this qualifies as revenge for the FA Cup final but I guess that getting the points with a last minute penalty puts it in a different perspective.

Good on ya...

[pjthefarmer]

Three games, twelve goals conceded and none scored - things are looking up...
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[pjthefarmer]

Sadly I don't blame Curbishley. They're in 10th position and I feel that's about right, if not more than what I'd expect from West Ham. They're not good enough to push for Europe but they shouldn't be fighting relegation. They're a decent, hard working (most of the time) Premiership side.

I'd love to take control of that club for a week. I'd clear so much dead wood;

Dean Ashton - overrated piece of...well, you know. How long can he ride on the "I'm not match fit" excuse. His performances are appalling and if the rumours of clubs wanting to buy him are true then I'd bite their arms off if I were Curbishley.

Anton Ferdinand - another player who has been substandard of late. He needs to move club for both his good and West Ham's. He's a big enough name and they'd be able to command a decent price for him. Sell not before his stock falls.

Carlton Cole and Bobby Zamora - Cole wasn't good enough at any of his previous clubs, he's not good enough for West Ham either. A worker he is though, I'll give him that. Zamora is dung, pure ***. A decent Championship player but not Premiership quality.

Freddie Ljungberg - He had his chance to continue his career in the Premiership and his attitude has blown it. He looks like he can't be bothered and he looks very unfit. The last game he was awful and he looked exhausted even at half time.

Lee Bowyer - Just awful. Had one good season for Leeds but since then......nothing. Get rid.

There's more but for me they're the worst. West Ham have potential but they need a clear out, not just players added to mask the problems.

Oh, and when Rob Green has the ability to successfully catch a cross THEN he might be worthy of being considered for an England spot. Until then he's no better than many in the league.
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[West_ham_hammer]

Dean Ashton needs to get fit quick smart! However against Spurs he looked a lot more like the player off old.

Anton is going through a bad patch at the moment. There is no way he should be sold. If you were a West Ham fan PJ I would ask where you are coming from with that statement. I know you see a lot of West Ham games and probably know a lot more then your average Manchester United fan does about West Ham. But if every club sold one of there players when they hit a bad patch, well....

Carlton Cole and Bobby Zamora. Spot on

Freddie has looked past it in 99% of games he has played this season. He should retire!

Lee Bowyer started to get a good run off form going before niggling injuries have kept him out for ages.

Rob Green may not be the best goalkeeper out there. Definitely on par with David James as the best English goalkeeper though. Definitely should be on the bench for England. And if you look at who gets picked, no way are they better!

[pjthefarmer]

[pjthefarmer]

The problem I feel for Curbishley is two fold (that sounds posh!), firstly that he inherited a team of players that on paper look amazing but who are extremley lazy and full of themselves. Secondly he tend with the high hopes of the West Ham fans who lets face it are never going to be happy with someone who they didn't really want as manager themselves.

The man could finish in a Champions League place but he'd still be critised for not winning the league. He's in his first full season in the job and in that time he's steered the team clear of a seemingly impossible relegation battle last year, and this year he has fought unbelievable injury problems within the side to secure them in the top 10.

Give the lad a proper chance for god's sake. Whether or not his style is something to awe at at least he's doing better than the rest managed recently. Maybe he's not happy either with the way they're playing and plans on investing in players that would help the team play a more attractive style of football - the signing of Faubert in the summer is certainly not one that would show he wants to play the same way as Charlton.

He played boring football at Charlton, thats a given. But what else could he do? The players he had there weren't good enough to outplay other teams but they could fight and scrap for points, which they did successfully. Now West Ham have the potential to outplay teams but he just needs to get his team available and playing regularly to show that. He might also want to clear some of the underperformers that he inherited out of the team, and then bring in more of the style of Faubert.

Frankly, no one but he knows. But it makes me laugh when people are critising him and saying he's not the man for West Ham when in reality he has done a bloody good job this season and from a neutral perspective has shown no reason to be under pressure. 3 big losses in a row? So? Every team goes through a bad spell in a season, its normal. But I just get the feeling that many are looking for an excuse to get rid.
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[raqqauniv]

I suppose theyve got as much a chance as any of the teams left in the Cup

[pjthefarmer]

[krt]

He doesn't speak much English. Maybe he meant the league but he did say "left in the cup" which implies a cup competition. Oh well, he's banned anyways.

BTW, nice them for Ashton to get off his behind a little, and thanks for keeping Everton at bay.