Stress of Being a Manager

Now I'm not exactly privy to the dates of these photos as to when they were taken. I do know however, that Zola hasn't even seen one full season with us yet. Compare the two pictures and tell me he isn't ageing quicker than a United States president?

It was Inevitable

Its been a long time coming. Yesterday we were finally found out. This is more or less the same team who were so lucky to win the way they did against Boro and Sunderland. The team that scraped out 1-0 wins over the likes of Birmingham, Blackburn Plymouth and Fulham. The same team that couldn’t beat Man City over 4 games, in fact only scored one goal against them. The team that draws at home to the likes of Reading , Bolton and Wigan. Curbishleys team. The same team I watched at that Everton Cup game that prompted me on the spur of the moment to say I’m never going to another game whilst that moron is manager. The team that much as I enjoyed the results, beat a Man Utd team that didn’t turn up,(Well Rooney certainly didn’t) and beat Liverpool with an injury time penalty (makes up for the Cup Final slightly). The same old team thats been playing all season, only this time the goals went in. I admire the fighting talk of the fans who feel we are gonna do the Poo. Win a game where we haven’t won for what? 50 years? Maybe you can give me some of that wacky baccy too. Because I didn’t think Chelski were that good. We just made them look good. Any aspirations of playing in Europe next season or FAT playing for England were blown out of the water. Even Green looked ordinary. Maybe we owe him more than we do. Truth is IMO is that we’ve had two good results this season. Away to Derby and Reading. And look where they are in the table. I’m interested to hear what the Pro Curbs fans have to say about this. And before anyone says I'm not a Hammers fan. I wasn't one of the thousands walking out after half an hour!

New Live Chat Room

PLEASE NOTE:You are advised to use Internet Explorer to open this Chatroom. (Log In Down the bottom of page). I've tried it with Mozilla and for me it just hangs and freezes. I have tried many chatroom scripts here and this one seems to be the best and has some fun options once you've worked them out. Any problems please leave comments and I will try to rectify them.

West Ham United - Soap Opera (Part 1 May 06-Feb 07)

This still makes me laugh.

Christmas Decorations

Been a while since I have posted and a bit of a mixed bag. The old saying that West Ham go down with the Christmas decorations could well be true this year as the end of December and nearly all of January looks a complete nightmare. Its history that we did the double over Utd last year and were the first team to win at the Emirates ,and that's all it is. History. I don't expect it to happen again and with the added attractions of Manchester City (twice) and Liverpool, I expect a grim opening to the New Year. Herein lies the problem, as losing, like winning becomes a habit. Losing drains the confidence, people suddenly don't want the ball or are not prepared to try things different because of the fear factor.
This is not to say that I give us no chance whatsoever, as the one shining light of this season has been our defence which is one of the meanest in the league. Unfortunately, this is tempered by the whole defensive set up that Curbishley has instilled in this team of his as opposed to the idea of going for the win. We do not have a ten plus goal a season midfielder and our strikers are not doing much at all. Ljunberg runs down too many blind alleys (when he is playing that is), Boa Morte is well, Boa Morte. Solano has some lovely touches but seems to have a fear of an open goal. Parker and Mullins are not attacking midfielders which leaves Bowyer and Noble. Nope. Can't see ten plus there either. So we ain't gonna leak goals (famous last words for this month) but we ain't gonna score too many either. So I will go for two points, come the end of January and possibly a Cup defeat in a replay to Man City.

Silly Month

So the first month of the season rolls to an end, a month I call the "Silly Month" because usually there are a couple of very strange results and unusual teams sitting at the top of the table. No really big surprises so far apart from ,mildly, Wigan doing a bit better than expected and Reading looking a bit poor. On the West Ham front, a bit of a mixed bag. Home defeat and draw to City and Wigan were followed by an unimpressive win against Birmingham who looked absolutely appalling and a win against Bristol which is as it should be. I suppose given our history against lower league sides it is a bit of a good win. This was followed by a good win at Reading although as I just said they look a bit poor and could well be a candidate for the struggle at the bottom so a reasonable start but not one to make me think any different about finishing just out of the bottom six.
I wasn't impressed with any of the new signings, but admit Bellamy is looking to be a sound investment and at long last Ashton started a game. Dyer does what he does best, which is gets injured along with Freddie and Parker the latter of whom I havent even seen yet. Come to that I haven't seen Faubert either. Never mind. Two stunning last minute swoops for Solano (anyone else want to come and be near their families?) and Camara had the fans whooping for delirious joy as Adriano reportedly turned down a £100,000 a week offer to play for us. The fixture list has been quite good for us so far so if September sees us still in the top half of the table I will be surprised after watching the Wigan and Bristol Rovers games.

Here We Go Again

So the whistle blows for a new season again. For all the hilarity of Man City getting Sven as a new manager and the mirth about the players he has bought, he quietly carries on as he always does and stuffs us in the opening fixture. Now I for one think that Sven is no fool. His record demands respect, but as with most fans we have short memories and can only remember him as England manager. And for all that, his record in competetive games is also up there with the best.
On to the current manager at Upton Park and as most of you who know me will know I am no fan of Alan Curbishley. For all the glee over Sven reportedly buying players on video maybe its a shame that our manager didnt look at a few himself He may just have seen how dangerous some of the City players were because they are all on YouTube!
Fair enough, we had some injuries, but he has had all summer to cover all positions. At the moment all he has done is replace players who have left and not necessarily for the better. The ball is out for me on Faubert because all I know of him is from YouTube. He doesnt look bad I admit which is more than I can say for Bellamy who is no substitute for Tevez, Parker who is no better than Reo Coker nor Ljungberg for Benayoun. Surprisingly Ferdinand is still there and even MORE surprisingly started the season off in preference to Gabbidon and Collins, the latter who played a blinder towards the end of our relegation fight.
Also still there is Spector, Quashie, Boa Morte some of whom surely were panic January buys as none have done the slightest thing to inspire me with confidence. Down the left, for all the public lack of faith in McCartney (another who finished last season with some stirling work) no cover at all although talk of Shorey coming seems to be dragging on a bit too long.
We were lucky to have saved money by not getting Bent and talk of Eider is another one that seems to be dragging on. The Dyer move is off (on/off/on) but why we want him is beyond me and most of the Toon fans too as even they dont want him.
The result? A 0-2 at home to Man City, some lamentable defending, passing, shooting and a team totally devoid of ideas. Added to the inspired mangerial decision to play Matty at left back when some semblance of game plan seemed to be appearing and the total lack of a player, (Tevez perhaps?) who could take the game by the scruff of the neck, it was an abject performance.
I know it's only one game and as a general rule I always say the first month is the silly season when strange results pop up. But I fear for the Hammers unless something happens and after watching the Roma game and the opener plus the comings and goings so far I put us to finish just outside the bottom 3 or 4. The writing is on the wall.