OLAS V Newcastle 13/14

Oh my life, its been a rocky road for the hammers since we were last at home, the draw with the Albion was painful to watch but then the defeats to Fulham, Forest and Citeh were possibly the worst performances in a week I have known in the nearly 40 years of watching us play.
To have only garnished 15 points from our opening 19 games of playing every team means we face an uphill task to get the 25 needed from the return fixtures to hit the magical “you don’t go down with 40” target. That equates to 3 extra victories and a draw on top of the results we got in the 1st half of the season, yet on top of that we have to throw in the fact that we beat Fulham at home but in the 1st game of the second round of 19 games we lost to Fulham, taking into consideration our victory V Cardiff away matched our home victory we are currently are -3 points for the second half of the season. That’s now an extra game we need to win on top of the 3 extra that were required going into the second half of the season. Considering we only won 3 games out of the opening round the fact that we need to win 7 out of 17 does not bode well, that of course pre supposes that we pick up the same amount of Draws. Today’s opponent’s Newcastle are one of the teams that we drew with, while only draw today is not disastrous a win would put the running total at just -1 bearing in mind that Chelsea away is up next, a certain defeat that takes us into February’s run of games which will define our season. In the corresponding fixtures we only took 3 points out of the 12 on offer against our opponent’s for that month but with 3 of those games at home this is our opportunity to get ourselves out of the mire. Swansea, Norwich and the saints all at home would generally be put down as a home banker for all 3 but if we think we stand any chance of keeping out of the bottom 3 then we need a minimum of 6 points from those 3. On top of that we have 1 away day to Villa, where we have to get a draw minimum. Stay undefeated in February with at least 2 wins then things should be looking up going into the final bend of March before hitting the home straight in April. We need to be on 40 points by the end of April as we don’t want to be relying on picking up points in our 2 games in May. As fine as our record is this season V spurs 3, 3 wins against them is possibly beyond even us, that leaves our final game of the season back up to Manchester City who could still need 3 points to win the title, and bearing in mind our previous visit there, would you really want to need points to stay up going into our last game of the season.
The fact I contemplate that we can stay up is more to do with the chances that there are 3 worst teams in the premier league than us, problem in Sunderland recently have shown that they have turned their corner, 1 month ago we drew with Sunderland here and were 5 points clear of them, that is now down to 1, Fulham and Palace with their wins over us perhaps do have the teams to put up a fight. To be honest I’m glad I’m writing this after the great away win at Cardiff because that has brought renewed hope that if we can come together as a team than we can dig out a victory, but if ever there was a definable fine line between winning or losing then that has to be the width of the paint on the goal line at Cardiff, because I swore that ball was over the line and if we do manage to stay up by a point or 2 then I wont be thanking BFS or his cronies, but the people at the FA who made the decision to bring in Goaline technology, without that being in place I reckon that we could quite of possibly lost that game if we had gone 1 down. It is that close, and it wouldn’t have been th 1st time. In September 1997 Bolton played Everton in a 0-0 draw, Bolton believed that they had scored when a shot hit the bar and crashed down then out into play, the referee didn’t give it, the TV proved it did cross the line, Bolton should of won the game giving them 3 points Everton 0.
Forward on to the end of the season and low and behold Bolton get relegated and guess who survived, yup, Everton, not only that but Everton only finished above Bolton by Goal difference, thus surviving to live another day, it sometimes can be that close as a did it or didn’t it cross the line.
I have tried as much to avoid mentioning in any detail our cup performances of the last week, suffice to say that when you bear in mind that we only realistically can win a trophy by winning a cup, and that our History was built by being in Cup Finals, our disregard for the FA cup this season sums up probably how the people running football clubs in this day and age are out of touch with the supporters. Even knowing what we know about Wigans demise from the premier league last season, and their struggle to get back up this season, I still would have had their season over ours. Football should be about winning, winning games and then that leads to winning trophies, to send out a team as we did v Forest especially with the owners knowledge shows the complete disregard for the supporters following the team that day, the owners should apologise for allowing that to happen, and refund all those attending. The only shining light to come out of our worst ever week of football was the conduct of our fans, Owners, players & staff may come and go but it is the fans that stay till the end.
Lastly the ticketing arrangements for the Man City return leg leave the club in limbo, 6-0 down at half time, they quickly changed the game to “Kids for a quid” but you can only get a kids ticket with an Adult, cheapest price £42. Who realistically is going to think about paying out close to 50 notes to take your kid to watch the most meaningless of games since the Oldham semi in 1990 and in that game we at least had our new manager the legend that is Billy Bonds in his 1st game in charge. I understand that they had to set the prices before the 1st leg but come on west ham, this was a great chance for those magicians in the PR dept to work their magic, cut the prices down to a score an adult, fiver any kid, I bet you would have got 25,000+, and you could of used as a thank you or giving something back to the fans, what great PR would that have been. Perhaps you could of gone further and bearing in mind the £5 ticket debacle at the previous city home game, a game that at least had meaning, made every ticket in the ground a fiver, but no, not even with a repeat of “come see city’s superstars” will the PR/marketing dept manage to magic up the fans to come out on possibly a cold winters night to watch a game that is live on TV or on the internet as is the fashion now days. I will be at the game as I am the mug punter, the fan that would possibly attend the opening of an envelope if it was done in claret and blue, yet I hope to see around 15,000 or less at the game because perhaps then our owners will see that we cant all be mugged off as they are doing with the charges for Tuesday night. Not only that, but the queue for the train might be a bit quicker as well.
Lastly I,ve started to try and collate in 1 place every video clip of as many West Ham games as I can find, legal or illegal I don’t care, I have named this “The Reel History of West Ham” the 1st clips are up on the you tube site with the earliest being a FA cup win against Manchester united from 1911. Feel free to pop by and have a look and if you want to recommend or ask for a clip I will do my best to get it up on the site. I will continue to update you all as I go along. Any comments etc etc to mywhufc@yahoo.com

OLAS V Cardiff 13/14

Welcome back one and all for another year of Upton park life.
We all live our own various lives yet we converge on mass, us fans, like iron fillings to the Boleyn stadium sized magnet, all with our own habitual haunts where we like to eat or drink, Kens Café, Best Turkish kebab, Ercans chips, Nathans Pie & Mash, The Boleyn, The Central, The Wakefield, The Stanley and the Black Lion. All of those have served not only us fans but our fathers and grandfathers and possibly even great grandfathers, the list seems endless yet many old favourites have gone.
The supporters club, the programme sellers, the OLAS sellers, the charity collecters, the leafleters, even the ticket touts.
The Lyall gates, the world cup statue, St Edwards school, Our Lady of Compassion church, whose bell can often be heard tolling as we leave the ground with its single thud.
Hot dog Hamburgers, sweets 3 for a pound.
Home fans, away fans, tourists and the locals who just walk past.
The youngsters here for the 1st time whose faces light up as they get their 1st look at the stadium, something they will never ever forget.
The Chants, The songs, The Bubbles.
The list is possibly endless yet as in life for every beginning their has to be an end, but that is 3 years away so for now lets all embrace what this area means to us all and enjoy our UPTON PARK LIFE.
(Cue blurs parklife)


“Green Street is the preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as (Upton-park life)
Queen’s road Market can be avoided if you take a route straight through what is known as
(Upton-park life)
Away fans get herded and intimidated by the old bill
They want a bit of it (Upton-park life)
Who's that gut lord marching, oi Stevie Bacon, cut down on your pork life mate... get some
Exercise

ALL THE PEOPLE
SO MANY PEOPLE
THEY ALL GO HAND IN HAND
HAND IN HAND THROUGH THEIR UPTON-PARKLIFE
Know what I mean

I get there early except on night games when I normally get stuck on the underground
(Upton-Park life)
I buy my programme, I buy my OLAS and think about entering the ground (Upton-Park life)
I cheer the team on, I always sing bubbles too, it gives me a sense of enormous pride,
(Upton-Park life)
And then I'm happy for the rest of the day safe in the knowledge there will always be a bit
Of my heart devoted to it (Upton-Park life)

ALL THE PEOPLE
SO MANY PEOPLE
THEY ALL GO HAND IN HAND
HAND IN HAND THROUGH THEIR UPTON-PARKLIFE



Upton Park life (Upton-Park life)
Upton Park life (Upton-Park life)

It's got nothing to do with your Francois Van Der Elst you know
And it's not about David Gold who just tweets and tweets and tweets and tweets,
Upton Park life (Upton-Park life)


ALL THE PEOPLE
SO MANY PEOPLE
THEY ALL GO HAND IN HAND
HAND IN HAND THROUGH THEIR UPTON-PARKLIFE”

OLAS V Stoke 13/14

There is no stereo typical West Ham fan, we come in all shapes, sizes, colour, gender etc etc and yet I sometimes wonder how some come to support West Ham, what makes someone choose to support the club. I mean if your given a free choice what is it about us that people go, "their the team for me".
I had no choice, literally in bred into me as a baby, my 1st football hero as a kid growing wasnt any star player of the mid 70's but my cousin who was a youth player at the club with the likes of Curbs and Alvin Martin. He never made it but I remember sitting round my aunts house while she ironed his kit and hung it up, so you see the club was all around me I knew nothing else, but yet there are many out there who when faced with a choice choose West Ham, a club that has won nothing in over 33 years, a club that at times resembles a circus rather than a football club. This week on a building site I over heard the site manager (villa fan) talking to an East European who was a hammer, he was banging on about Ravel Morrison, I asked where the bloke was from and his boss said he was Rumanian, but he'd been over here for a few years and that he was indeed a hammer, or "one of your lot" as the foreman described him. But that got me thinking, why, why not Man united or Arsenal or Chelsea. Not just him, just look at the west ham Internet sites and you'll find them abundant with fans who live thousands of miles from here but yet talk (type) about how how well we played, who did well, why we should do it differently. And they are not just Ex pats, Aussies, Canadians, Malaysians, even Americans get in on the act though for the life of me I do struggle to to take what they say seriously, after all their football is played with their hands mainly, and the concept of a draw is just not allowed.
What makes someone who lives 3,000 miles aways, watches the games in the morning, has no connection with the area of west ham, support that team. I was brought up in that you supported your local team as they represented your local area. I'm saying that anyone born outside West Ham should not support us, as our support in my lifetime has predominantly been drawn from West Essex as this was the area that many East Enders were moved to after both Wars, and those that have been brought up hammers fans by parents, or grand parents that have moved away. It's the fans that have no emotional or regional tie but for whatever reason, choose to support West Ham, be it they like the colour of our kit, they saw us on the TV on a good day. I'm pretty sure that the bloke that wrote the book, irrational hatred of Luton supports us because we were In the FA cup final in 1975, all you have to do on a matchday is stand outside the Boleyn pub and look at the foreigners taking their pics of the Green st sign to show that the film of the same name inspired more fans from abroad to follow this club
Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising them, (well may be the Americans), I welcome them all, and long may we keep attracting them, (may be not Americans) like it or not come 2016 we will need them to come and keep coming, I just don't think I will ever understand why people from the far flung corners of the world (or Wales) choose to support this two bob tinpot underachieving let down sorry excuse but yet is the greatest football club any fan could choose to support.

The internet may be the greatest invention ever, the way we communicate and share stories with people round the world at the drop of the hat has made the world a smaller place, but also it has allowed the club to communicate with the fans with much ease, either through the official website, facebook and even twitter. It has also created a demand for information by the users, many now no longer seemed satisfied waiting for the club to announce the signings many seem to want to speculate or try to second guess the goings on at the club, and then there are the ITK’s (in the know). King of the ITK is our owners son, a 13 year old boy who time and time again brings embarrassment on the club, or does he, if you read what his dad says about what his boy gets up to, he just passes it of as basically a folly of youth, asking if whether we should sign a convicted rapist is not a folly of youth. The club is like a circus act in the way we project ourselves and the saying no such thing as bad publicity seems to be the mantra at west ham. Its probably just a sign of the times, as we now live in a 24hr digital media world, and the media world needs feeding. I actually think that the amount of media work our owners and manager do is a clever marketing programme in that if we keep being seen by the public it will increase the brand exposure, but then if football is a business what CEO lets their son lose with inside information and then lets him broadcast it to the world. I thought in business you should keep schtum about your dealings, yet at WHU we have more leaks than Thames Water, we couldn’t even keep our new shirts a secret, pics of them were winging around the internet long before the clubs big Unveiling. Personally I preferred the old days when Chairman were unknown figure heads at the club and who like 13 year old owners sons, should be seen and not heard.

OLAS V Everton 13/14

3 weeks since the last home game and it appears the early good feelings have hit the buffers and a sharpe dose of realism has hit home to many hammers fans that we are facing a tough season and that we are not as good as many believed we were.
Last seasons 10th place was a great achievement for the squad that sam had assembled, yet there can be no denying that the club failed to strengthen on that team. Carroll's signing didn't strengthen as he was already here, Raat looks no better than O'Brien, Adrien is never going to displace JJ unless he decides to retire. Downing on the other hand is better than Vaz Te or Taylor that played on the right at times last season & the 6 million paid for him is about right for his talent, as he blows very hot & cold and hasn't it seems for years had 2 good games on the trott.
The signing of AC was the 1 Sam set out to achieve, possibly at any cost, and the owners delivered him, problems were though his cost nearly wiped out the whole budget set by messrs Sullivan & Gold, not only that but we bought him knowing he was injured, but No need to worry though he will be back early Sept just after the international break. The big mans signing early doors set our marker problem was every striker we looked at after then knew that as soon as Andy was fit he would be back straight into the team so declined our offers. The problem is West Ham have gone down the route of a big man up front to receive the ball early and hold up, or pepper the box with crosses hoping he gets on the end of them or creates space for others to come into. Andy is probably the best we could get to fulfil that role, problem is how many others out there than can come in and do the same job and are happy that when Carroll is fit will just drop back onto the bench. The answer was not many, transfer deadline day came and went and still no one would come so we were left with the scraps, the players that were free agents, released by their clubs and not picked up. In shopping terms we started off with at the Harrods Sale in the slightly damaged Section, after spending most of our money we then dropped into Asda to see what was on offer, via the East European wholesalers, stopped of in Lidles, but then when they closed finally found all we could afford was in the corner shop.
I don't know who was more desperate, us or Carlton Cole but it panned out in true hammers fashion, he wasnt fit enough and needs to prove his fitness so we end up signing Petric, late of the parish of Fulham were he did so well..........they let him go and to top it off he isn't match fit yet which does beg the question how unfit is Carlton Cole.
Maiga I feel sorry for, he is a different type of striker than Andy Carroll, looking at the goals he scored (not many i know) he likes to take the ball on the run and then hit it, yet so far this season he has mainly had to feed off the same service Carroll does, why, because the players we have now are there because the should help bring the best out of Carroll. Where it all goes pear shaped is when there is no AC, the rest of the team seem incapable of changing the play to suit the different striker, still the same long balls by Collins from any free kicks, still the same Jarvis chip crosses that are meat and drink for any 1/2 decent centre back pairing or keeper, yet not for Maiga who prefers the ball played into his feet.
You troll around the Internet sites and you see most think Maiga is a waste of time, yet the problem for that is we only have 1 way of playing and to blame for that is Sam. Again around the chat forums it seems many more are piping up moaning about the way we play, the negativity of it, the fact that in nearly every game, even the ones we win, the opposition have more of the ball than we do, the players though I'm sure can change the way the play. You only have to look at our last home game V Stoke, under Pullis they were no more than a rugby team yet under Mark Hughes, the same players out football'd the club that claims to be the academy of football, the Stoke performance was perhaps the worst home performance under big Sam and to not register a shot on target at home is quite honestly shocking but it just outlines our troubles. As it stands today we have only mustered 6 shots on target in our 4 league games, the lowest in the league and facing an Everton team whose manager believes that possession is the key, be prepared for another game of us chasing the ball around the pitch and quite possibly being shot shy again.
The price of football has reared its ugly head again with the BBC's study into the true cost of football and I'm sure we all agree it ain't cheap, and west ham love to lead from the front in the battle of cost with their AFFORDABLE FOOTBALL FOR ALL tag line.
The 2 words to concentrate on there are Affordable & all, how & what is defined as affordable , and who is the all it is aimed at.
West Ham say that in doing the 6 kids for a quid games in a season they do more than most and you can't argue that for the kids who pay a pound it is definitely affordable, but for the adult is the 37 quid affordable? That £37 is the price the BBC gave as the cheapest Match day ticket for west ham, not bad some may think, bit pricy for others but where does it sit in the scheme of things against other teams, and before I say where it does sit ill just throw in David Gold when pressed about ticket prices in football has said "we can't do it alone, it has to be done by all" which I take to mean yes football is dear at west ham but we need all clubs to reduce their tickets not just West Ham. A fine sentiment indeed and possibly a correct one as we shouldn't act alone on this but with the football family.
Now back to that cost of £37, in the league table of costs that price is the 2nd dearest in the league, Liverpool, are top by £1 more, so surely then west ham in fact could reduce that price without the other clubs doing so as well as we would just be re-aligning ourselves with the rest of the premier league. It's all well and good the club throwing out buzz lines but on the face of it how are they making football affordable for all, kids for a quid is not for all, that's just for kids, and lets face it, the only reason they do it is because without the discounts, those games wouldn't sell out. While it may make business sense to do the discounts the marketing rubbish that goes with it takes the biscuit at times.
DG made a direct link between ticket prices and league position tweeting that wigan charged the least amount and went down, so if we wanted cheaper ticket prices, be prepared to go down, but using that analogy we should of been at least in he top 6.
Of course there is 1 factor in what dictates the price WHU fans pay at the turnstiles, and that is the fact we are a London team, our competitors are not the teams around us in the league like Villa,Everton or the Geordies. No, it's Arsenal Spuds and Chelsea our fellow Londoners, they are the clubs that our owners use when justifying what we pay.
Arsenal by far and away are the dearest, Spurs and Chelsea and us behind them, those 3 are the barometer our owners use, and those expecting prices to crash once we enter the OS, with the other 3s prices at their levels, why would you move further away from them.
Can't see it happening. What I imagine is there will be small price rises in the last remaining seasons left here leading to cheaper prices in the OS but equivalent to today's prices.
It was shocking to read Gary's admission in the Stoke Olas that he hadn't renewed his season tickets, another victim of the OS. I'm sure the club don't care that one of the most loyal fans feels so passionately that he feels his only option is to stop, not just him, but many many others that I know feel the same. The way I deal with it is quite simple, when we leave here, WHUFC formed in 1900 will cease to exist, buried under the rubble of progress, and he demolition of its home. In its place, much like when WHUFC rose out of the ashes of the defunct Thames Iron Works, a new club will take its place starting a fresh over in Stratford, it may have the same name, but it won't be the same club but ill give them a go, I never know, I might like it.
Lastly I'd just like to say a great hammers fan sadly passed away this week, known affectionately as Bob the cap, it is said that he never missed a game home or away in over 30 years, I remember Bob from when I stood near him on the North Bank back in the day. My friends cousin knew him, and he was a character you never forgot. Mainly for me was the fact he was the first fan I'd seen just piss where he was standing on the North bank.
He may be gone but I doubt he will ever be forgotten. RIP Bob the Cap.

OLAS V Cardiff league cup

Don't say you wasn't warned, don't say it wasnt pointed out by many people, this is what you get when you appoint a manager whose (perceived) brand of football is alien to everything that had gone on before it. I have always said that the big man should never have darkened our door, he was a business appointment not a football appointment brought in because the Daves had in their infinite wisdom appointed the worst manager to tactically manage our club, and preceded to get us relegated. We had sunk so low that even the appointment of a manager who style of football was alien to everything this club had stood for looked to many a good move. We gave ourselves the title as "The Academy of Football" as a statement that we were where the best products of English football came to learn the game, learn it to played the right way. The production line that produced most of the golden generation of the last 20 years, players that have won hundreds of England caps, premier league titles and champion league trophies, fcuk it, we even did win the World Cup. 3 of our youths, taught the right way, leading the country to glory, not only that but some of the goals scored came off the West Ham training ground not the England training ground. You could make an argument that Ron Greenwood had a hand in lifting the trophy as much as Ramsey as it was him that came up with the ball to the nearpost for Hurst to head home v the Argies and the Germans. Academy of football, my fcuking arse,
The style of play should run through all the clubs teams, from the 1st team all the way down through the development (reserves) and the under 19's 16's etc etc. are we honestly teaching our kids to play the Alladyce Way, has the Great Tony Carr forsaken all that he has coached in the past, because if we are then we got to take down the signs proclaiming us as the academy of football because following the shame will be too much to bear.
I'm not a lover of Stats but even I can't ignore the evidence they give to the fact that something is wrong with the way we play. Every team, except Cardiff, has possession greater than we have, we have the worst pass completion rate in the top flight and our shots on target across the 5 games in the league are also the worst, 8 in total.
I can hear people saying that this is a typical knee jerk reaction and we've only had 5 games, but the opposition in those 5 games are teams that we should In The least be matching, but we're not, and the problem is after Hull we start a run against the big boys who on current form it could be embarrassing. It seems we are stuck, counting the days until Andy Carroll is deemed fit enough to bring a bit of hope but then he is not really the answer, in fact he is possibly part of the problem, big lump up front a easy target to hit early, Sam has built his team around him neglecting to realise that if he's not available we had no like for like replacement. Love him or hate him but Carlton Cole at least did slot in to that role a dam sight better than Maiga, who if we are honest we are not playing to his strengths and we were trying to off load to anywhere in the summer.
It appears we chased Lukaku in the summer to no avail, Demba BA & Jermain Defoe as well, all it appears turned us down who knows why the did s open for debate but its not out of the realms of fantasy to suggest they all knew when Carroll is back, they are out the 1st team, most of Sams signings have been in their very late 20’s or early 30’s this is not building a team, but short termism, think forward 3 years to the OS, it appears to foundations of the team has been built on sand. Knock Pards as we might, he bought young players that even when it went tits up we managed to sell at a good profit.
Unfortunately it seems we are stuck with Sam as our owners probably just look at staying in the premier league as success, I doubt they give a monkeys arse about entertainment or seeing a team playing half decently and that is why his appointment was purely a business decision made by desperate owners to clear up the god awful mess their 1st appointment made.
What the answer to this mess is to be honest I don’t know, me personally I would out him straight away, but then again I would of sacked him after the play off final, then again I would never of appointed him in the 1st place. The answer of who could take west ham forward is out there somewhere, I just doubt our current owners would ever take the risk on that person. They like safety managers as highlighted by their appointments at Brum, could you ever see them appointing a manager in the way Southampton did, they were on the up but the owner realised it wouldn’t last so rather than stick with the incumbent he went bold, a total unknown, now Southampton are no great team but they certainly outplayed us at their ground and then topped it off by going to Liverpool and winning. Look at Swansea and the appointments they have made, 2 of their previous managers are managing in the premier league and yet they go from strength to strength.
The fact that both Swansea’s and Southampton’s managers learned their trade in Spain is no coincidence to the success they are impacting on their respective teams, when you look at the success of the Spanish national side, that comes from every team in spain playing virtually the same style, so any new player called into their squad can fit straight in with the stars of Barca and Real, you cant say that of the English national team.
Some where out there is a manager for us, I just hope we find him before someone else does.

OLAS V Man City 13/14

If aliens had landed 3 weeks ago and wanted to know what it is like to be a west ham fan then the last 3 weeks should have been enough for them to get the gist of it. Everton turning up in an old Tottenham kit to turn us over after we were twice in front, we then travel up to Hull actually dominate a game with possession and shots etc etc only to lose to possibly the softest penalty decision ever leaving us staring at the bottom of league with the easiest 6 game combination all season done and dusted, it has been bad enough going to Tottenham recently without our obvious failings upfront making us all fear the result, but then just as even the most ardent Big Sam fans are starting to question the man’s tactics, he comes up with a system that absolutely baffles the spurs defence, and perhaps shows to those of us haters that he does have a plan b. The Spurs result has brought hope where there was possibly despair that perhaps it wont be as bad as the doom merchants like myself were prophesising. Actually im quite looking forward to todays game because if the team can play the same way as we did against Spurs then I believe Man city can be defeated ,on their travels this season they have already been beaten twice, by Villa & Cardiff, and only managed a goalless draw against Stoke so they are struggling for results away from their own patch, of course if that alien is here it will probably end up with City being victorious as we all know we never have 2 wins back to back in the prem, another harsh lesson for our green friend to learn. The funny thing about it is that our current form is probably what makes many of us keep coming back, it’s the unpredictability of West Ham which goes back decades that for me is an added attraction. Look around the top grounds, look at the atmosphere around those grounds and excluding perhaps todays visitors the crowds seem a bit flat, perhaps due to the fact that more often or not if you turn up at The Bridge, Old Trafford, The Emirates etc you are more likely to see a home victory, you cant say that about West Ham, while we may predict a hammers victory that is probably more bravado to our non-supporting friends rather than a sound judgement based on fact. If you felt inclined you could easily make an argument for all 3 results today and none of them would make you sound deluded. I think the bookies call it coupon busters as not many football fans let alone Hammers fans would have stuck the spurs game down as an away win.
The eagle eyed of you may have noticed that today’s game was advertised at the Everton game on the big screen, nothing unusual in that you may say, but the wording of the advert was unusual to say the least,
I’m no lover in marketing in football, for the simple reason that I don’t know 1 football fan that attends west ham on the back of an advert so if you consider how much we spend on marketing as a club, adverts in papers, on the radio etc etc and throw in the wages of the staff I often wonder if the marketing dept actually is needed but considering our vice chairman is the queen of marketing and brand expansion it is probably a necessary evil as Stratford looms but surely they need to think about how fans would react to some of their output. Come see City’s superstars at the Boleyn the advert cried, yet what the makers of the advert failed to realise is that us hammers fans would instantly pick up on the fact that they fail to mention OUR super stars. Ok I know we have no real superstars but our players are stars to us and they should be afforded that courtesy by our marketing dept, 1 simple way would have been “Can the hammers heroes beat city’s superstars at the Boleyn” but no they went down the road that appealed to NON WEST HAM FANS, THE NUETRAL. THE TOURISTS, those that are needed to fill the extra seats at Stratford or those mug enough to pay the extortionate price being charged today. We are led to believe that the club employees are not only workers but fans of the club, well the person who designed the advert showed a distinct lack of knowledge or feeling about the club, hopefully he has learned their lesson and wont make that mistake again.
In old days having such a gap between home games we would of struggled get our fix of all thing hammers but now we live in the digital media era and the rise of social media we can converse all day every day if we want to, I myself love to sit in twitter land and tweet away all my negative feelings about the club, its good as a release mechanism. Sometimes though I can overstep the mark, I must apologise to Hugh Southon the leading west ham journalist and writer, he of claret and Hugh blog fame. It appears I did over step the mark in commenting on one of his blogs. He wrote about how Big Sam was safe from the sack (I didn’t know he was facing it either but anyway), in his blog he wrote that when our esteemed owners bought Brum they inherited Barry Fry as a manager sacked him then appointed their own man who of course they backed even though that said manager managed to relegate brum in his 1st season.i now realise that instead of praising Hugh for his great piece I quite disgracefully pointed out that he was wrong, Terry Cooper was the Brum manager when G&S bought the club not Fry. In fact they appointed Fry after sacking Cooper and it was Fry that relegated Brum. Hugh (naturally) took great offence at his journalistic skills beeing besmirched by a mere amateur as I am, for which he threw his dummy out of his pram after calling me a Troll? Blocked me from viewing anything he ever tweets again.i was naturally beside myself with anguish and shame I would to use my time here ,as I cant on twitter as he has blocked me. To say “Grow up you F#####g T##T”. I just hope hugh if you are reading you can accept my apology in the manner it was meant and I cant wait for you to un-block me so I can read more of the utter garbage you call Journalism i mean who would of thought it, a journalist that don’t like free speech. Feel free to contact me @mywhufc , even to point out my mistakes.

OLAS v Villa 13/14

Gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth saving'
Then you better start swimming'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changing'
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
Keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
Don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's naming'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they, they are a-changing'

yes folks as Bob Dylan says, the times they are changing, it appears that the goodwill built up by the owners since they have walked into the club is disappearing and many of the fans are starting to question the way the club is being run. To try and say what has brought this change in the fans mindset is not that hard as since they walked into the club little by little they have managed to alienate fans, but the big tipping point broke after the Man City game with the publication of a Photograph showing a hand-full of tickets bearing the name Community Trust & showing the price of only £5. I'm sure I don't need to point out to everyone that the face value price of those ticket's were £52, or £47 if you are a member, yet the club saw fit to dispose of over 2,000 tickets at under 10% of the price people sitting next to them paid.
Naturally outrage followed across the WHU forums and on twitter, some of it un-savoury, but many from fans who when looking to come to this game had decided that the price was just not worth paying or was out of their raech due to the cost, all were West ham fans that would of loved to attend especially at £5 a ticket & bearing in mind a child ticket was £29 as well, how many parents had purchased their tickets for £52 and then their kids at £29 to sit next to or near the lucky owners of the £5 tickets. The Club monitor all the main sites so they knew the groundswell of opinion regarding this matter and the reponse they put out on the official website frankly was poor in my opinion, totally ignoring the main complaint of fans, i.e the price, they just told us how in their eyes the community trust was a success. As a SAB member I wrote to the club
“sorry to bother you but i hope you dont mind me contacting yourselves regarding the Ticket issue matter that has arisen after this weekends game.
The club has IMO many questions to answer over the misguided issuing of tickets at a discounted rate for a category A game and the clubs release yesterday im afraid will not stop the questioning as there is no official fan group that the club meets with apart from the SAB so i would ask you to consider calling a meeting of the SAB to allow at-least some dialogue from the club to the fans. Many fans are feeling alienated from the club and i feel that if you ignore the situation it will only damage the club as whole.
also by calling a SAB meeting and allowing members to feedback with no provisos then it could be away of showing the critics of the SAB, of which i admit to being one, that we do have a part to play in the club. If you read the forums, which i know you do, then youwill notice the apathy that the SAB is held in, not just from outsiders but some members as well. While i am a critical of the regime there comes a time when we all must realise we have to work together for the club to benefit. at this moment in time unless something is done to reverse this trend then i can only see the club fracturing even more its core fan base.
i implore you to start engaging with your core support more than you do and allow those you engage with to feedback to the wider fanbase and there is no better way to start than with all the SAB members.
looking forward to your response,
many thanks
Nigel Kahn
part of the response was that the club had previously done the same at the Wigan game last year, naturally I checked and yes the club had, but the difference was the club had advertised in advance that the game was a designated Community Trust, we all knew in advance that their would be people in the ground that hadn't paid or had paid significantly less than they had, also Wigan as we all know is probably the least attractive game in the football calender coupled with the fact that wigan themselves probably only bring around 500 fans to the Boleyn which leaves over 1000 tickets normally that would be taken by the away support available for home fans yet check whufc.com and you find no mention what so ever of any community trust involvemnt or ticket distribution for the Man City Game. Somewhere out there is the truth over the reason why the club decided to sell tickets for £5 to people who may never have attended or thought about attending the ground while neglecting to offer the same tickets to members, who have paid £30 already for the honour, or fans on the database which they claim to have hit a million, with that many people you would of thought they could of outed those tickets without discounting, then again. The club have said they will call a SAB meeting where we will discuss ticketing and other issues, personaly the longer they leave it the more they will run the risk of alienating the very fans they need in the future.
Once the ticket scandal was starting to dampen then it came to light about a young boy who it had been claimed that he had been banned by the club for life, fined £1,100 and had his ST confiscated, all this after being arrested at the ground and then to top it all he had spent 16 hours in a police cell all for the crime of having a u-16 ST when he was 18.
#unbansam was the cry and rightly so in my eyes, as it appeared the club had treated him harshly, after all is not the east end way to pull astroke, beat the system, scam, no big crime is it. Bearing in mind the way some view the SAB I decided to see if as an SAB member could I help the kid out, I dont know him but I just felt he needed help, so again I emailed the club. The response was interesting to say the least, it apears there was more to this story to meet the eye, as it wasnt a club led investigation but a police investigation that brought him to the attention of the club, he wasnt banned for life, but until all outstanding monies owed to the club, yes the £1,100, due to the fact the club claim he defrauded out of them that amount, roughly abot £300 difference for the home ST and then the rest in away tickets etc etc.
Why the police came looking is not for me to divulge, 1. is that the police are still investigating him & 2. what he done was foolish but I wouldnt want him to be hung out to dry or have the sanctimonious fans having a pop at him. Ive offered to help him once the old bill have finished with him, I still think the £1,100 seems extreme and maybe the club could cut him some slack there, but the one thing both theses sagas have shown is that there is a need for a Fans supporters association/union, somewhere where fans with problems can go for help and advice and then that assosiciation could then speak with the club. It is quite clear that the SAB has not got the teeth to do that, it needs an independent fans body that with strength in numbers can do that. I look forward to that day, which will be soon, for people as bob dylan sang “ The times, they are a changing” VIVA Revolution.

OLAS v Chelsea 13/14

Monday is the anniversary of a football match that perhaps is defining moment in West Hams history, it laid the foundations of what was to become the "Academy of Football"
And yet the game in question did not feature West Ham nor any West Ham players, it was the defeat of England by Hungary 6-3 at Wembley Stadium. Significant in that not only was it England's 1st defeat by a non British isles team at home but the manor of the defeat and the way that England were outplayed by the Hungarians who deployed a deep laying striker or as we call them these days an attacking midfielder.
Why so significant to west ham though, to know that you have to look back to 1953 and the position the club was in. 1953 and we were what you would call an established 2nd tier team having been relegated in the early 1930's from Old Division 1whose only claim to fame was losing the 1st Wembley FA cup final in 1923, the club had stagnated after the war and it seemed content on keeping the Status Quo with no apparent ambition to achieve promotion back to the top level. The performance of the Hungarians, who to be fair to them were the reigning Olympic champions and would go on to be runners up in the next years World Cup, made a lasting impact on some of the very men that laid down the pathway to our future success. Malcolm Allison picked up the baton of making the changes needed, he was our centre half and club captain he was also allowed by the manager Ted Fenton to take coaching sessions and it was here in his coaching sessions that he tried to get the hammers fellow players to embrace the same system the Hungarians had used.
The coaching didn't just take place on the pitch, but continued in the Cafe on the Barking Rd, Cassertari's, using the condiments and sauces to re-enact the movements of the great Hungarian players. The players at that time also started coaching the younger players so the Academy was born. Promotion followed in 1958, sadly though Allison was to never play for the hammers in the top flight due to a serious bought of TB that resulted in the losing of 1 lung and eventually to his retirement, though he did go on to greater heights as a coach of Man city in the 60's. Allison was just the 1st though to make their mark on the hammers whose coaching was influenced by the Hungarians of the 50's, for after Fenton was dismissed they replaced him with a coach from Arsenal youth set up, Ron Greenwood, he too, as many English players at the time were now coaching the system the Hungarians had used to great effect, and perhaps luckily for Ron he got the benefit of all the early work started by Allison with the Youths on the Boleyn ground staff and so was born West Ham as a world known club through the success he brought.
From that momentous England Defeat on the 25 November 1953 was born the success that has made West ham from an also ran run of the mill team in to a club that has a history to be proud of and respected, hard to imagine what would of been had England won that day.
The recent international defeats to Chile and the Germans have laid bare a big problem with our national team and whether we are creating world class players to enable us to dine at the top table of football. 2 things for me stand out in to why we have a problem.
1 is there are no truly great English Coaches in the premier league, big Sam was the best placed English coach last season in 10th position, playing a brand of football that if played on the international stage would basically embarrass us, you can see similarities in the way Sam sets out to not lose games and the way Roy Hodgson sets England up, they are 2 peas in a pod. Sam though has a different task to Roy in that he has to keep us in the Prem more for financial reasons than any other, Roy though doesn't seem to know his favourite 11 let alone best, too many chopping and changing of players, we should be picking a team, not throwing in newbies to have a look at. He should of played the team he wants to take to brazil, get them ready as a team, using the fringe players now means with possibly only 3 games till the tournament starts next summer he is still no nearer knowing his 1st 11 let alone his squad not that we have 25 decent players anyway which leads me onto point 2, if any picture recently demonstrated why our young players who seem to have potential as teenagers don't quite reach their full potential on the world stage then I ask you all to check out what happened when Liverpool loanee to Derby Andre Wisdom took the wrong turn on his way to pride park and ended up getting his car stuck in about 3 feet of water and mud in a giant puddle. He abandoned his car in the water until after the game and he could get help to get it out. It wasn't the fact that Wisdom failed to use his name and not get the car stuck in the 1st place that highlighted for me the problem with our young talented players in this country but the fact that a 20 year old who has played less than 25 1st team games drives a £100,000 Porsche. When most kids his age can't afford to insure a ford fiesta let alone buy a 2nd hand one here we have a player flaunting his wealth when he has achieved absolutely nothing in his career so far. Can you imagine any South American 20 yr old footballer that hadn't made it as a regular in his team even contemplating sitting in a Porsche, I doubt it, yet in this country it seems the norm. I remember just after Junior Stanislas had broken in to our 1st team, seeing him sitting in his new Merc convertible waiting to get into the club car park, majority of the passing crowd didn't even know who he was. I'm not against players earning big money but I am against paying it to those that haven't even achieved anything of note in the game, we are rewarding our young players with far too much at too young an age and before they have achieved top class player standard. Wisdom probably already has more money than he thought he ever would when he was growing up in Bradford. Until we have youngsters hungry for success, and then if they do succeed reward them financially for succeeding, then I'm afraid England's national team will continue its down ward path as our young international players are coached by inferior English coaches with no drive in the players to succeed as financially many of them already have.

OLAS V Fulham 13/14

I was recently contacted by a west ham fan who wanted me to tell his story and in a way use it to help others that may feel trapped and alone. I have changed the name of the fan to protect him from unnecessary embarrassment or shame.

My name is Trevor ,,,,,,, and,,,,,,,,,,,,, I’m a West ham-a-holic. Its been all of 7 days since my last game. It all started as a kid, my uncle introduced me to it, I was so young that I can’t even remember the 1 st time, it’s as if all my life it’s been there. I never saw it being a problem, I mean have always gone West Ham, at first it was exciting being in the crowd with like minded people, . I had it under control. I could take it or leave it. I worked hard and was entitled to unwind in the company of like-minded friend’s, I enjoyed a good night game, and away days could be even better, pretty soon that it was evident that it was out of control though not to me, My wife complained that I was always going West Ham and didn't spend enough time with her that in turn led to many arguments. She just didn’t understand that when I was at football, I came out of myself, the highs were unexplainable, though too few or often and in the end I was just going to blot out the rest of my life, the trouble is in recent years I could find nothing to blot out the West Ham. My friends at 1 st were sympathetic but then 1 by 1 as their clubs became successful or won trophies they questioned why I continued down the path I was going. Its not the misery of supporting west Ham that gets you in you the end it’s the hope, the hope that they will win today, or even score a goal Yet they never do.
I have been suffering for many years now from the addiction, it seems there was no-where to turn, no help for me but at last it does seem that there is hope for me. This week I attended West Ham—a-holics anonymous, a group of like-minded west ham fans who through regular meetings help others afflicted with this debilitating illness. They have put in place a 10 point programme that all sufferers should follow to help them through and if like me you too are brave enough to admit you are a West ham-a-holic.

1. Cultivate continued acceptance that your choice is between being unhappy watching West Ham or being happy without west ham.

2.Accept as being normal that for a time, perhaps a long time, you will recurringly experience
A. The nagging craving to watch West Ham
B. The sudden impulse to go West Ham
C. The craving, perhaps not for West Ham, but for the warm fuzzy glow going West Ham gave you.

3. Remember that the times you didn’t go West Ham, normally called "Post Season" and use that thought to build up the strength to not go West Ham when you feel the urge taking over.

4. Develop and rehearse daily a plan of thinking and acting by which you will live each day without West Ham, regardless of how hard the urge to go West ham may hit you.

5. Don’t allow yourself to either think or talk about any real or imagined pleasure you got from watching West Ham, chances are it wasn’t real.

6. Don’t think for a second that "isn’t it a pity I can’t go West Ham like the normal fans can do

7.Don’t permit yourself to think "1 more game wont hurt" or "just let me go 1 more game and I will be able to stop" you won’t, just 1 game will make it worse.

8.Cultivate and woo the enjoyment and freedom of not going West Ham.
A. How good is it to be free of the shame and guilt of supporting West ham,
B. How good is it to be free of the consequences of being a West Ham fan, the misery of that feeling when you wake up on a Sunday morning after going West ham,
C. How good is it to be free of what fans of other clubs have been thinking and whispering about you, and their mingled pity with contempt,
D. See how good it is to be free of the fear of defeat.

9 Cultivate a helpful association of ideas.
A. Associate being a west ham fan with the single cause of Misery, shame and fear you have ever known
B. Associate being a West Ham fan as the only thing that can destroy your new found happiness, and take away your self-respect and full possession of your faculties.

10. Cultivate Gratitude:
A. Gratitude that so much can be yours for not paying the price of that ticket
B. Gratitude that you can trade going west Ham for all the happiness that brings
C. Gratitude that West Ham-a-holics exist and that you found them
D. Gratitude that you are a West Ham-a-holic, youre not a bad or wicked person, just you have been in the grip of a compulsion.
E. Gratitude that since others have done it, you in time will learn to live without West Ham

If you recognise the symptoms and think you need help as well ,
You can contact them free on 0800 0-0 0-0 0-0

Bloody Karren Brady sketch

Being on the SAB as I am I sat recently on the media committee that was discussing how they can improve the output on WHUTV.
It appears some one in the club has come up with an idea of having our 2 esteemed chairman re-enact comedy duo moments but with a west ham twist. 1 pitch was a Pete n Dud sketch and though sadly it was rejected the script has been passed to me and I present to you.
To set the scene Gold & Sullivan are sitting in the boardroom after a game having a pint with each other

Gold & Sully .THE BLOODY KARREN BRADY SKETCH

Goldy: All right then Sully are you
Sully: Not too bad, you know, not too bad
Goldy: What you been doing lately, then?
Sully: Well quiet, pretty quiet, not been up to much - I had a spot of the usual trouble the other day.
Goldy: Oh, did you - what happened then?
Sully: A spot of the usual trouble - well, I come home about half- past eleven - we'd been having a couple of drinks, remember? - I come home about half-past eleven, and, you know, I was feeling a bit tired, so, you know, I thought I'd go to bed, you know, take me clothes off, and so on, you know.
Goldy: 'right - well, don't you take your clothes off BEFORE you go to bed?
Sully: Er - no, I made that mistake this time, got it the wrong way round - anyway, I got into bed, settled down, I was just about, you know, reading "Pure Gold" your autobiography.
Goldy: Good ain't it
Sully: It's a lovely book, Goldy, a lovely book - an' I got up to about page 442, second paragraph, when suddenly - 'bring, bring - bring, bring'.
Goldy: What's that?
Sully: That's the 'phone, going 'bring, bring'. So I picked up the 'phone, and - you know who it was?
Goldy: no who?
Sully: Bloody Karren Brady. Calling from the government trade mission to china, bloody Karren Brady - I said, 'look, Karren, what do you think you're doing, calling me up half-past eleven at night?' She said 'It's half-past seven in the morning over here'. I said, 'I don't care what bloody time it is, there's no need to wake ME up'. She said, ' Sully, Sully - get on a plane, come dance with me, be mine tonight'. 'Be mine tonight' she said - I said, 'Look, Karren - we've had our laughs, we've had our fun, but it's all over'. I said, 'Stop pestering me, get back to Peschcisoledo - stop pestering ME' I said. I slammed the 'phone down and said 'Stop pestering me'.
Goldy: Shouldn't you have said 'Stop pestering me' BEFORE you put the 'phone down?
Sully: I should have, yes ...
Goldy: It's funny you should say that, 'cos a couple of nights ago, you remember, we had a couple of drinks ...
Sully: I remember that, yes ...
Goldy:... and I came home, you know, I was going to bed, felt a bit tired - I was having a nightcap ...
Sully: 'Course you were ...
Goldy:... and I was just dropping off nicely, and all of a sudden I heard this hollering in the kitchen.
Sully: Hollering'?
Goldy: And screaming and banging on the door, you know, and I thought I must have left the gas on - so I go down there - I fling open the door - you'll never guess - it's bloody Franco Zola, up to his knees in pasta, screaming at me - portami cuocere, mi permetta di essere ancora il vostro gestore!'
Sully: Italian.
Goldy: Italian, yes, he wants to be our manager again –anyway he was covered in mud, he grabbed hold of me, he pulled me all over the floor - he had one of them old Macron tops on ...
Sully: one with the stickers that peel off ...
Goldy: ... Yes, and we rolled all over the floor - I hit him, I said 'Get out of here! Get out of here, you Italian ... thing!' I said. 'Get out of here', I said ...
Sully: 'You Italian thing ...' a good thing to call him.
Goldy: Yes ... I said. 'Don't you come here and mess up MY pasta again, mate'.
Sully: I should hope not. I had the same bloody trouble about three nights ago - I come in, about half-past eleven at night, we'd been having a couple of drinks I remember - and I come in, I get into bed, you see, feeling quite sleepy, I could feel the lids of me eyes beginning to droop - a bit of the droop in the eyes - I was just about to drop off, when suddenly, 'tap, tap, tap' at the bloody window pane - I looked out - you know who it was?
Goldy: Who?
Sully: Bloody Karren Brady again, flown back from china! Bloody Karren Brady - stark naked save for a shortie nightie. She was hanging on to the window sill, and I could see her knuckles all white ... saying 'Sully, Sully I want you...' well you know how she bloody goes on - I said 'Get out of it!' - bloody Karren Brady. She wouldn't go - she wouldn't go, I had to smash her down with a broomstick, poke her off the window sill, she fell down on the pavement with a great crash ...
Goldy::She just had a nightie on, is that all?
Sully: That's all she had on, Goldy, just a ...
Goldy: See-through?
Sully... a see-through, shortie nightie. Nothing else - except for her dark glasses of course. Dreadful business.
Goldy: Well, it's funny you should say that ...
Sully: Yes, it's funny I should say that.
Goldy:... after the Sunderland game, I come home, we'd been having a couple of drinks ...
Sully: Couple of drinks, yes ...
Goldy:... I come home, I come through the door, and - sniff - sniff, sniff, I went - you know - funny smell, I thought, smells like aftershave ...
Sully: Brute Aftershave, Goldy?
Goldy: what ones brute aftershave
Sully: its the aftershave of choice for norvenors Goldy
Goldy: Funny you should say that, because I come in the bathroom, you know, I thought, 'bit stronger here', you know, 'sfunny - I come in the bedroom - it's getting ridiculous, this smell, you know, so I get into bed, you know, turn the covers back - it's a bit warm in bed - I thought, 'funny', you know, being warm like that - and - I get into bed, I put out the light - and, I was just going off to kip - and suddenly I feel a hand on my cheek.
Sully: Which cheek was that, Goldy? ... Come on - which cheek was it?
Goldy: It was the left upper. I said, I thought, you know, 'funny' ... I turned on the light - bloody hand here, Black fingernails urgh...
Sully: Who was it?
Goldy: You'll never guess - bloody Sam Allardyce
Sully: Sam Allardyce?
Goldy: Sam Allardyce, in bed with me, stark naked - I said 'Sam' ...
Sully: with the huge
Goldy: With the thing .yes.. I said, 'SAM', I said, 'get out of here' ...
Sully: Get out ...
Goldy: 'Get out of here', I said, 'you may be mean, arrogant and magnificent, but as far as I'm concerned, it's all over'. So I threw him down - I chased him out of bed, threw him down the stairs - I threw his Addidas coat and his - er – stupid head set after him, I threw them down ... and the Bolton wanderers scarf ... I said 'Get out of here! Get out of here, you fraud!' ... I threw his chewing gum - I threw a bucket of water over him, I said 'Get out of here, you fraud!'take your long
Sully: Ball?
Goldy: Ball…Yes,long ball - I said, 'don't come in my bed again, mate, it's disgusting!' Terrible ... I was shocked to the quick.
Sully: You're quite right, you got to do something about these bloody managers who pester you ...
Goldy: What you doing tonight, then?
Sully: Well ... I thought we might go watch Birmingham city play.


Next week they do Morecambe and Wise