Independent)
By Mike McGrath
West Ham United's preparations to face Aston Villa today have been
disrupted by serious concerns whether Scott Parker, their midfield
talisman, will be fit for a potentially decisive day in the club's
battle to avoid relegation.
With Avram Grant's team facing Manchester City and Chelsea after Villa,
earning maximum points at Upton Park is viewed as essential. And having
Parker free of calf and shoulder problems is just as important to their
chances.
Thomas Hitzlsperger, Parker's team-mate, is planning on playing without
the leader of the team. "We're missing Scott Parker but I'm optimistic
we'll have a good game," he said. "Unfortunately, we miss him and
possibly the week after."
Parker, 30, was substituted in the defeat at Bolton last week after
playing through the pain barrier. It was similar to his condition before
a man-of-the-match performance against Liverpool earlier in the season
when he could barely walk hours before kick-off. It leaves Grant hoping
for the type of brave recovery that has made Parker a nominee for the
Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year. "Before Bolton
it was like before the game against Liverpool when he could not play.
But he played and played well. We have to wait," Grant said.
If Parker does not play, the onus will be on Hitzlsperger to take charge
in midfield against one of the Germany international's former teams.
Hitzlsperger enjoyed his five years with Villa, before leaving in 2005,
but does not want to join the band of players who refuse to celebrate
when they score against their former clubs. "I think it's wrong – I'm a
West Ham player now," he said. "Although it was good at the time at
Villa, our fans would be hugely disappointed if they had a player in
their own team who doesn't seem happy when he scores for the team.
"Usually I'm quite spontaneous and you'll see a smile on my face. I
would be delighted if we win the game and if I can contribute – it
doesn't take away from anything about having a good time there."
During his time in the Midlands, Hitzlsperger struck up an unlikely
friendship with Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank Of England and
also a Villa fan. Hitzlsperger said: "He won't be there as he's in the
States. He talks to me about the economy and shows me the whole picture.
I'm glad I know him."
======================================================
West Ham United v Aston Villa - Match Preview (KUMB)
By: Preview Percy
He was away last week at a birthday celebration - apparently some of his
jokes are now nearly 100 years old. And so is he. He is Preview Percy.
Sorry no refunds.....
Next up we entertain Aston Villa in a 3pm kick-off at the Boleyn.
District Line? Hammersmith & City Line? Forget it.
The visitors are noteworthy for being fellow wearers of claret and blue.
The story goes that one of our old players won a set of Villa kit as the
result of a bet over a sprint race. Lovely though this tale of olden
times is, it is, I'm afraid, almost certainly a load of old tosh. Shame
really – it would be nice to think that there once might have been an
era where we had players blessed with genuine pace.
The visitors come to the Boleyn on the back of some stuttering form
having won two(4-1 at home to Blackburn and 1-0 at home to Newcastle),
drawn two (1-1 at Blackpool and 2-2 at Everton) and lost two (3-2 at
Bolton and 1-0 at home to Wolves) of their last six. This has left them
in 14th place with 37 points, which is five points and four places clear
of our good selves. On the road they've won one drawn lost two and drawn
three of their last six, their last win coming at Wigan back in January.
They are managed by Gerard Houllier, though their current flirtation
with the nether regions of the top flight has seen much dissatisfaction
amongst the natives, many of whom seem to be in favour of an early
departure for the Frenchman who must be seeing parallels with his later
days in charge at Anfield where his tactics were similarly castigated by
the home support. It's hard to believe that 30 years ago Villa were in
the process of winning the European Cup – back when you had to actually
win the league to enter the thing. Liverpool and Man Utd were so shocked
that they eventually set up the Premier League and Champions League to
ensure nothing like that could happen again.
In goal they'll have the usually reliable Brad Friedel who is a month or
so shy of his 40th birthday. Friedel spent most of the 90's shuttling
around different clubs in England trying but failing to obtain a work
permit to ply his trade here. It wasn't until 1995 when he signed for
Liverpool (a place singularly qualified to get round DWP paperwork) that
the authorities finally relented. He averaged about ten games a season
for the next few years before moving across Lancs to Blackburn where he
was a fixture between the sticks for eight years. He moved to Villa at
the start of the 2008/09 season, saving a penalty in his first match of
the season v Reading. He went on to break the record for consecutive
appearances in the Premier League – though a red card following a
blatant dive by Torres (quelle surprise) in a defeat to Liverpool looked
like curtailing his streak. Unusually for the FA a rare bout of common
sense prevailed and the red card was rescinded and the streak went on to
exceed 250 matches.
In front of Friedel we are likely to see the return of James "Ginger
Pele" Collins. Ginge was with the club between 2005 and 2009 featuring
in the 2006 FA Cup run as well as the so-called Great Escape season.
Ginge was on the scoresheet last weekend, his winner being enough to
take all three points from the Geordies and our traditional frailty at
set pieces will mean we'll have to be alert. Although he missed long
spells of his time at the Boleyn through injury, Collins was a popular
figure with the home faithful and will probably enjoy a nice round of
applause when his name is announced before the match.
Unlike Nigel Reo-Coker of course. NRC's comments at the time of his
departure from the Boleyn, alongside rumours of rifts with team-mates
and management alike, were such that he is unlikely to be afforded quite
the same warmth as Collins on his return. I was always slightly
infuriated by NRC as a player when he played for us. You always got the
impression that hiding somewhere in there was a potentially superb
player. However my main memory of him will always be seeing him burst
out of defence from box to box only to see him shoot when a pass was on
or, alternatively, pass when he should have shot. If he could have got
that habit sorted out surely a decent international future would have
beckoned. He does hold the honour of being the first Englishman to
captain a side at the refurbished Wembley (in a 3-3 draw for the U21's
against Italy) and, having yet to gain full international honours in
this country, there was some recent talk that Sierra Leone might come
knocking for African Cup of Nations qualifiers. However the player
announced that he was going to concentrate on his Villa career – adding
a rather optimistic additional comment to the effect that he'd quite
like to play for England as well.
A full uninjured squad means that Houllier is likely to name an
unchanged starting XI, which would mean a place on the bench for
Reo-Coker where he is likely to be accompanied by serial diver Robert
Pires. Up front they are likely to start with "Emile Heskey Lite" or
Darren Bent as he is known. Now I know I'm old and any transfer fee in
excess of five pounds seven and six confuses me and makes my arthritis
play up. However, even in this day of ridiculously high transfer fees
surely somebody has put the decimal point in the wrong place somewhere
in amongst the £16 to £18 million pound fees that have been shelled out
for him – Villa could end up having to pay £24m with add-ons. I realise
that this is probably the kiss of death and this means that he'll score
against us but surely he's not £24million's worth of player is he? No
wonder Niall Quinn always seems to have a smile on his face.
As an attacking force Houllier has tended to use the young Gabriel
Agbonlahor as a wide player, something that has reduced his
effectiveness as a goalscorer. Agbonlahor has a few England caps, making
his debut against Germany in 2008. After the match John Terry praised
the youngster saying "he's a nightmare to play against". That's where
you've been going wrong at international level Terry. You are supposed
to play alongside your team-mates not against them.
Ashley Young has, this season anyway, been given a free role behind the
main striker. Young is a former Arsenal supporter who, like Pires, seems
to have taken on board some of the less edifying habits of his former
role models, particularly in the "staying on the feet" department. He
also has a webcam apparently. Go Google it if you're that interested.
So what of us then. Well squad news is promising with all but the likes
of Stanislas and Collison fit and able though doubts about Scotty
Parker's achilles still persist. Amazingly, the squad includes Kieron
Dyer who has returned from his loan spell at Ipswich without picking up
any previously unheard of diseases or injuries, despite the reduced
resistance to illness that people have in those parts as a result of the
limited gene pool.
Der Hammer will face his old club – with all these warm rounds of
applause it'll feel just like the afternoon tea dances they hold here at
the rest home.
Of course no mention of the squad this week could go without some
mention of the passing of an era. Now as I get older and older I often
find myself walking into a room having no idea why I went in there in
the first place. This usually happens to me here at the rest home (the
incident at Cheltenham Ladies College was a one-off. Honest). So I can
have some sympathy with young Benedict McCarthy who must have had that
feeling every time he turned up at Chadwell Heath. Certainly every time
we saw him on the pitch we all had the same feeling ("what is HE doing
here?") as he must have been experiencing. So now he is gone and he will
soon be but a footnote in Hammers history, alongside such luminaries as
Titi Camara, John Radford, Marco Boogers and that funny looking bloke
who used to sell peanuts from the touchline all those years ago. As a
tribute we have managed to persuade matron to rename our rest home "The
Benni McCarthy Home for The Bewildered". Quite apt really as we're all
old, past it and it costs our kids lot of money to keep us here for very
little result.
On the pitch, the last two weeks have not been kind to us. As I pointed
out the last time I was able to put quill to parchment, no matter what
Ferguson says, the Salford whingers have the knack of getting more than
favourable treatment from match officials. In our recent match alone we
had the kid gloves handling of Vidic (who would have had to have done
something interesting with napalm to get a red card) the dodgy free-kick
and a penalty so astonishing that even Uriah Rennie would have been
embarrassed to have given it (and let's face it he had no shame). Now
admittedly they were far the better side in the second half but surely
we were entitled to mount a rearguard action without the opposition
being handed the initiative and advantage by a series of baffling
decisions? I'm sure Grant was fuming but as his touchline ban proved the
FA are less bothered in improving standards than they are in covering up
the poor ones they already have.
As for the Bolton game, well whilst you know and I know we never get
anything out of them, one would have hoped that the players might have
approached the match with a slightly different perspective. Sadly not.
The fact that the highlight of the game for us was the mismatch between
Noble and Green says it all I'm afraid.
It may be that, within the club, we had Man Utd and Bolton down as
"bonus games" from which we expected nothing. If so I wish someone would
have a word and stop the practice. By doing so you run the danger of
taking other matches for granted and, as we all know, football has a
habit of kicking you right where you don't want to rub linament when you
do that sort of thing.
Having said that, this match is certainly winnable. Villa's away form,
as mentioned, is patchy and, although last week's win over Newcastle was
comfortable enough, they were assisted in their efforts by Newcastle's
lack of attacking prowess – I understand that it wasn't until the 83rd
minute or so that they actually managed to get a shot away. I'd hope
that we'd show a little more adventure than that.
I hate the phrase "must-win" but if ever a match required the epithet
this was it. There are parallels with the home match against Wigan a
while back – remember "Save Our Season"? and I think the sheer urgency
of the matter will lead us to victory. A nervy 2-1 to us then.
Enjoy the game!
Last season: Won 2-1 A fine - and incident packed - game under the
lights. Noble (pen) gave us the lead. Green saved a very dubious
penalty. Young equalised. Beye got sent off. Hines gave us all three
points in stoppage time and the irritating Nigel Kennedy found himself
facing a hefty repair bill after driving into the back of Upton Girlie's
Overfinch.
Danger Man: Darren Bent – the sort of useless journeyman who always
somehow manages to score when better players don't.
Referee: Michael Oliver – Last seen overseeing the 2-2 away draw at
Birmingham. The youngest referee in the premiership, he is unlikely to
add much in the way of second half stoppage time as his Mum calls him in
for tea at 5pm on the dot.
Daft fact of the week: Apparently no Aston Villa substitute has scored
this season. Cue the arrival of Emile Bloody Heskey to net late on then.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Avram on Friday
Avram Grant has held his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's
visit of Aston Villa
Avram Grant has spoken to the media ahead of Saturday's vital Barclays
Premier League meeting with Aston Villa at the Boleyn Ground.
The West Ham United manager discussed a wide range of topics, including
the need to remain positive, the departure of Benni McCarthy, players
using social media and Scott Parker's strong case to be named PFA Player
of the Year.
Grant's full pre-match press conference is also available to view on
West Ham TV.
Avram on the importance of beating Aston Villa…
I'm used to this question, almost since the beginning of the season.
Every game is important but now we are in the last six games and are in
a position where it depends on us, when sometimes earlier this season it
did not only depend on us.
We need to do our job and to win the game against a very good team.
They are now in a better position because they won and drew their last
two games. In this league, everything is so tight at the bottom that
every one or two wins can give you a better position. We came from the
last place in the table and have shown a big improvement and I'm sure we
can continue this in the next game.
Of course there is a belief. We were in the last place in the table and
many points behind and we had also played more games than the other
teams, so we are in a better position. We are coming to the last six
games which, from the positive side, we are in a position where we could
stay in the league. We need to take the points that we can take.
I cannot say I am shocked to see Aston Villa down in the table because
anything can happen in football. They are a good team with a good
manager who I like very much and good players, but sometimes things like
this happen.
Avram on the importance of picking up points ahead of away games at
Chelsea and Manchester City…
From my experience, we have a game tomorrow and after that I can answer
this question. I don't like to think about 'What if?'. I am very
positive that we can do our job and we need to think about each game
separately.
Avram on Scott Parker being nominated for PFA Player of the Year…
You think I need to speak for him? What he did was speak for himself.
It's unbelievable. I didn't see a player who did more for his team than
Scott Parker did for our club. He did well.
When you choose a player you need to choose an example and he is an
example for the young generation how to behave in difficult times.
We had difficult times during the first half of the season but he was
there for the young players and he was there for the others and showed
high quality, scored goals, blocked shots and did everything.
He was also good for the national team in the last game so I think he is
the Player of the Year.
Avram on Benni McCarthy leaving the club by mutual consent this week…
He had some difficulties here. The club signed him with a lot of hopes
because they believed he could do the job, especially in a year that he
could have captained his country at the World Cup.
We gave him all the opportunities to play and also to be physically fit,
but he didn't do it. Now he is not here and we wish him all the best.
When players don't play, they are trying to find other reasons for why
they're not playing well. The only thing is that I'm very sad for Benni
because he's a nice guy, but the team paid so much money for him and big
wages and he didn't give anything. It's sad for him and sad for the
club, but sometimes things like this happen and we need to move forward.
I don't know if his career at the top level is over, but if he is as he
was over the past year, he has problems with his fitness, his body and
his mental approach. Sometimes players look in the mirror and say 'This
is my problem and I'll try to solve it'. Maybe he will do that, but I
don't know because I didn't speak with him about this.
Avram on players showing passion on the pitch…
It's an internal matter but I think what you saw from the players was a
lot of passion in the game and a lot of commitment. It's not as if we're
in an orchestral concert - this is football, so emotion is good. I don't
want everything to be quiet.
Avram on Kick It Out's new campaign against anti-Semitic chanting…
I am for it [the campaign], that's for sure because I think everybody
needs to be behind it. To take the power of football and use players,
managers and supporters for these things is very good.
I didn't feel any anti-Semitic chanting in England myself, I must say.
People say it is here, but personally I didn't have any experience of it.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Aston Villa match preview
Team news and background information ahead of Saturday's big Barclays
Premier League fixture
WEST HAM UNITED v ASTON VILLA
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2011
BOLEYN GROUND
KICK-OFF: 3PM
Introduction
• West Ham United play host to Aston Villa with plenty of incentive to
beat their visitors. Not only could the Hammers climb out of the
Barclays Premier League bottom three with victory, but they would also
close to within two points of their opponents and also avenge their 3-0
opening-day defeat at Villa Park in August.
• Saturday's fixture will see West Ham United raise awareness and funds
for the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK. The charity was founded
by Stephanie Moore, the widow of Hammers and England great Bobby,
following his untimely death from bowel cancer in February 1993. For
more information about the Bobby Moore Fund and how to get involved in
fundraising, click here.
• The Hammers sit 18th in the Barclays Premier League table, having
collected 32 points from 32 matches played. Aston Villa sit 14th on 37
points, also from 32 matches. A win would take West Ham out of the
bottom-three should Blackpool fail to overcome Wigan Athletic at
Bloomfield Road on Saturday afternoon.
• West Ham are seeking to end a run of two straight defeats - a 4-2 home
loss to Manchester United on 2 April followed by a 3-0 defeat at Bolton
Wanderers last Saturday. Villa, in contrast, are unbeaten in two league
matches, having followed up a 2-2 draw at Everton with a 1-0 home win
over Newcastle United last Sunday.
• Aston Villa have won on just one of their previous nine visits to the
Boleyn Ground. Last season's fixture ended in dramatic fashion as
substitute Zavon Hines scored a last-minute winner to secure a 2-1
victory for the Hammers. Earlier, Mark Noble had netted from the penalty
spot before Ashley Young missed a spot-kick for the visitors. Young then
scored a spectacular leveller before Hines' late intervention.
• Aston Villa have not won in their last five away matches in all
competitions - a run dating back to a 2-1 victory at Wigan Athletic on
25 January.
Last time out
Saturday 9 April 2011
Barclays Premier League
Bolton Wanderers 3-0 West Ham United
West Ham United: Green, Tomkins, Bridge, Da Costa, Upson (Jacobsen 46),
Noble, Parker (Spector 76), Hitzlsperger, Piquionne (Cole 46), Keane, Ba
Subs not used: Boffin, Gabbidon, O'Neil, Obinna
Sunday 10 April 2011
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa 1-0 Newcastle United
Aston Villa: Friedel, Walker (Cuellar 78), L.Young, Collins, Dunne,
A.Young, Downing, Makoun (Reo-Coker 67), Petrov, Agbonlahor (Pires 86), Bent
Subs not used: Marshall, Clark, Albrighton, Heskey
Goal: Collins 24
Previous meeting
West Ham United travelled to Villa Park for their opening fixture of the
2010/11 Barclays Premier League season. Unfortunately for the Hammers,
their campaign started in forgettable fashion as Aston Villa ran out 3-0
winners. Stewart Downing opened the scoring with a controversial goal
after just 15 minutes, despite appearing to be in an offside position.
Stiliyan Petrov doubled the hosts' advtantage five minutes before
half-time before James Milner - since departed for Manchester City -
added a third on 66 minutes. The match saw Winston Reid, Pablo Barrera
and Frederic Piquionne make their debuts for the Hammers, while
Alessandro Diamanti made his final appearance for the club as a
second-half substitute.
Aston Villa: Friedel, L.Young, Warnock, Dunne, Clark, Downing, A.Young
(Weimann 86), Milner (Reo-Coker 85), Albrighton (Bannan 89), Petrov, Carew
Subs not used: Guzan, Beye, Lichaj, Heskey
West Ham United: Green, Reid, Ilunga, Tomkins (Diamanti 72), Upson,
Faubert, Parker, Boa Morte (Barrera 46), Kovac (Piquionne 46), Noble, Cole
Subs not used: Stech, Gabbidon, Spector, Sears
Background
• Darren Bent, with 13 goals, is the joint-third highest scorer in the
Barclays Premier League. Frederic Piquionne is West Ham United's top
league marksman with six - the same number as Aston Villa wingers
Stewart Downing and Ashley Young.
• Downing is one of 16 players who have made a maximum-possible 32
Barclays Premier League appearances this season. Robert Green has missed
one fixture and made 31 appearances.
• Young (nine) and Downing (eight) are both in the Barclays Premier
League's top-ten in assists this season. Piquionne is West Ham's top
goal-maker with five.
• Villa defender Ciaran Clark has been booked nine times this season to
be ranked fourth in the Barclays Premier League. Team-mate Stephen
Warnock has been booked eight times, while West Ham's Scott Parker has
been shown the yellow card on seven occasions.
Head to head
Last six meetings: (Premier League unless stated)
14 August 2010 - Aston Villa 3-0 West Ham United
17 January 2010 - Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham United
4 November 2009 - West Ham United 2-1 Aston Villa
18 April 2009 - Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham United
20 December 2008 - West Ham United 0-1 Aston Villa
11 May 2008 - West Ham United 2-2 Aston Villa
Overall record v Aston Villa (all competitions) W 37 D 30 L 35
Team news
• Avram Grant has a virtually fully-fit squad to choose from.
• Jack Collison continued his comeback from a long-term knee injury for
the reserves in Tuesday evening's home draw with Aston Villa at Bishop's
Stortford FC.
• Kieron Dyer is back from a loan spell at Ipswich Town and also
featured for 70 minutes in Tuesday's reserve fixture.
• Grant is still without long-term absentee Peter Kurucz (knee) and
Junior Stanislas (hernia), Jordan Spence (Bristol City), Frank Nouble
(Charlton Athletic) and Olly Lee (Dagenham and Redbridge) are out on
loan at present.
• Aston Villa have no injury concerns whatsoever.
Ten-year records
West Ham United
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via play-offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
2002/03 Premier League 18th (42 points - relegated to Championship)
2001/02 Premier League 7th (53 points)
2000/01 Premier League 15th (42 points)
Aston Villa
2009/10 Premier League 6th (64 points)
2008/09 Premier League 6th (62 points)
2007/09 Premier League 6th (60 points)
2006/07 Premier League 11th (50 points)
2005/06 Premier League 16th (42 points)
2004/05 Premier League 10th (47 points)
2003/04 Premier League 6th (56 points)
2002/03 Premier League 16th (45 points)
2001/02 Premier League 8th (50 points)
2000/01 Premier League 8th (54 points)
Referee
• Saturday's referee will be Mark Halsey.
• Now 49, Mark Halsey has made a successful comeback to top-flight
refereeing after recovering from lymphoma of the glands - a condition
that required him to undergo surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from
his throat.
• Born in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, Halsey spent 12 years as
a semi-professional footballer himself, turning out for a number of
teams including Cambridge City and Hertford Town.
• After commencing his officiating career in 1989, Halsey was promoted
to the National List of referees in the mid-1990s before taking charge
of the dramatic 1999 Division Two Play-Off final at Wembley, which saw
Manchester City mount an unlikely comeback against Gillingham before
achieving promotion by way of a penalty shootout.
• The same year, 1999, saw Halsey promoted to the Select List of
referees qualified to take charge of Premier League fixtures, making his
top-flight debut in the 1-1 draw between Wimbledon and Coventry City.
• Halsey's first West Ham United appointment saw him referee the
unforgettable 5-3 home Premier League defeat by Manchester United on 16
March 2002.
• Having been added to the FIFA List in 2004, Halsey's first senior
international appointment saw him referee a friendly between Belgium and
France in Brussels,
• In 2008, Halsey was the referee as Avram Grant's Chelsea were beaten
2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur in a thrilling League Cup final.
• In all, Halsey has taken charge of 14 West Ham United fixtures,
including the 3-1 Premier League victories over Wigan Athletic, at
Fulham and at home to Liverpool this season.
Old boys
• James Collins swapped east London for Birmingham on 1 September 2009
for an undisclosed fee after making 65 appearances in all competitions
for West Ham United, scoring two goals.
• Carlton Cole will be playing against the team where he spent the
2004/05 season on loan. Cole scored three goals in 30 league and cup
appearances (20 starts) for Aston Villa.
• Thomas Hitzlsperger spent five seasons at Villa Park after leaving
Bayern Munich in August 2000. He left in the summer of 2005 after making
99 league appearances for the club and picking up the nickname 'Der
Hammer' because of his powerful left foot.
• Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker spent three-and-a-half seasons
at West Ham. The former MK Dons player made 142 appearances for the
Hammers, scoring eleven goals, before making the switch to Villa in the
summer of 2007 for a £7.5m fee.
• Among the other players who have represented both clubs are Billy
Askew, Alan Curbishley, Mervyn Day, Marlon Harewood, Ray Houghton, David
James, Fred Norris, Tony Scott, Les Sealey, Nolberto Solano, Tommy
Southren, David Unsworth and Phil Woosnam.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Parker doubt for Hammers (Footymad)
Footymad Football News
Midfielder Scott Parker is a doubt for West Ham ahead of their Barclays
Premier League clash with Aston Villa at Upton Park.
The inspirational England international has been struggling all season
with an Achilles problem and was replaced after 76 minutes of last
week's 3-0 defeat at Bolton.
Kieron Dyer has returned to the club from a loan spell at Ipswich and
Jack Collison continued his return from a long-term knee injury for the
West Ham reserves in a midweek draw with Villa. Junior Stanislas
(hernia) is ruled.
Manager Avram Grant will serve the second of his two-match touchline ban
following comments made about referee Mike Jones during last month's 2-1
FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Stoke.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Three Points – Or It's Relegation (West Ham Til I Die)
I've been astounded at the way the overwhelming optimism of a few weeks
ago has now been replaced by almost interminable doom and gloom. I have
to ask if the "We are definitely staying up" mood generated after the
draw at Spurs was justified, and whether the almost resigned mood
latterly apparent is reasonable.
The draw at Spurs was a magnificent performance and on the back of the
two results at home it was an amazing tonic for the confidence of
everyone connected with the club. And whilst that point may have filled
us with optimism about getting something from the games against
Manchester United and Bolton, the fact that we didn't leaves us in no
different a position than when we first started doing our sums. Most
people have said they did not factor in any points from the games in
their projections.
What has been disturbing is the manner in which we failed to pick up any
points. 2-0 up at half time against United, of course its disappointing
to end up with nothing. But we were very much 2-0 up against the run of
play and when Hernandez and Berbatov came on we just had no answers.
Tactics? Passion? Commitment? Decisions? Refereeing? Management? We can
talk about them all day long. Fact of the matter is United were two
goals better than us.
Bolton was slightly different in that away form has been good of late
but this is a place that we have never won and clearly if we give the
home side that much space we never will. We played badly, period. I
disagree that Noble and Green's spat was a bad thing. It shows they
care. They are good mates off the park and both felt aggrieved at what
had happened. I'd have been more disappointed if one of them had just
held his hand up and said "Sorry, my mistake!"
The difficulty now is in picking up the home form where it left off
against Stoke and making sure we beat Aston Villa. I'm not really a
glass half full or a glass half empty kind of person. I'm not very good
at looking forwards – working in mediation I tend to use reasoning and
analyse the past rather than use false optimism or undue pessimism.
My view on our chances of survival is that if we fail to beat Villa
tomorrow our task will be almost insurmountable. The remaining fixtures
for the clubs around us, however they go would make it very difficult to
stay up without three points tomorrow. It will be 7 May before we have
any realistic prospect of further points and we could well be on the
bottom again by then. As we know the bottom of the Premiership is
covered in superglue.
That said, I see no reason to believe we won't do so.
Apparently the appeal for applications to the Supporter's Advisory Board
returned 'scores' of responses. A score is 20 so 'scores' in
Gollivanese, presumably, means 40. If the response was so good I have to
question why the deadline for applications was extended. Anyway my
application was acknowledged a few days ago I received a e-mail inviting
me to a meeting at Upton Park on 26 May to discuss the way the SAB will
operate. I sent an e-mail back asking if that meant my application had
been successful. The reply I received said:
"The way in which the board will operate will be discussed in the
meeting on 26 May."
That didn't answer my question, surprise surprise. So I asked again. I
was told that there will be 'levels' of involvement with those able to
devote the most time being identified at the meeting.
This still doesn't really answer the question. I didn't want a
certificate or a badge or anything, but some sort of confirmation that
I'm in or out would be useful. Anyway I will go to the meeting and will
be setting up a dedicated e-mail address for those of you that can be
bothered to send in your comments for me to pass on, if I can.
It is clear from the way this has been set up that members of the SAB
will not be advocates. This is not a democratic process and no one will
be representing anyone but themselves, but I'm more than happy to
communicate the views of contributors to WHTID if I do get the chance.
I rather suspect that with the future of the Olympic Stadium now the
subject of further litigation, Gollivan is wondering whether this was
such a great idea (note that it wasn't announced until after the
decision had been rubber stamped by the Government) and they were hoping
we'd all be having nice discussions over tea and pink wafers about what
colour to paint the bogs and who to audition as Hammerettes. Now that
matters have taken a darker turn I suspect that it may be some while
before we get a chance to put our views forward.
I don't predict three points tomorrow – I predict that if they don't
come we will go down. I also predict the SAB will be disbanded before it
even starts. This is based on realism, not a glass half full or half
empty approach. But when you have been watching West Ham as long as I
have you know that surprise and disappointment await on every corner.
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Obinna open to Napoli move (SSN)
Nigerian forward would welcome switch to Naples
Obinna: Will weigh up his options over the summer
Victor Obinna's agent claims his client would relish the opportunity to
join Napoli this summer.
The Nigeria international is currently taking in a season-long loan
spell at West Ham, after falling out of favour at Inter Milan.
The 24-year-old has endured mixed fortunes during his time with the
Hammers, with a disappointing Premier League campaign for the club
making it difficult for him to shine.
He is, however, still highly regarded in Italy and is expecting to
return to Serie A at the end of the season.
With his contract at Inter set to expire, he will be available as a free
agent and is likely to have plenty of options to consider.
One of those could be a move to Napoli, with the club having held a
long-standing interest in his services.
Dream
"Obinna hopes to come to Napoli, which is a place he has always liked,"
Valentino Nerbini told Radio Crc.
"A few years ago, when Napoli's sporting director was [Pierpaolo]
Marino, there was a deal in place to take him to Napoli for 5-6million
euros, but then the deal broke down over problems relating to image rights.
"Now that Obinna could arrive on a free transfer, Napoli would be crazy
not to take him.
"The dream is to come to Napoli, a club who are playing beautiful
football at the moment.
"Obinna's best performances this season have come in the cups, for
example his display against Manchester United, but he is now paying the
price of West Ham's troubles."
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Downing: Villa have spirit to win
Aston Villa - Stewart Downing says Alvin Martin is wrong about Villa's
lack of team spirit
Stewart Downing has hit back at claims from former West Ham defender
Alvin Martin that Aston Villa may lack the team spirit to win their
relegation battle.
Martin, who now works as a media pundit, made the claims in the build-up
to Saturday's clash between the two clubs at Upton Park. But Downing
believes Villa can capitalise on the Hammers "being down in the dumps"
after their defeat at Bolton last weekend.
Downing told Press Association Sport: "He (Martin) is not in our
changing room. He doesn't know anything. I think team spirit is the
biggest thing here. We have stuck together, have a great set of lads."
He added: "Team spirit is a big thing at every football club and
fighting and tackling and making blocks and filling in for each other.
That is all part of being a team. If it wasn't there, we'd be in trouble.
"That is easy for him (Martin) to say. Who did he play for, West Ham? I
think he should look at West Ham. I'd tell you if the team spirit wasn't
there."
Villa moved five points clear of the bottom three after last weekend's
win over Newcastle but Downing knows a positive result against West Ham
is vital.
He said: "The Newcastle win takes a bit of pressure off but it can flip
around so easily.
"We've won a couple of games before and the next minute we are back in
it. I think it does take a bit of pressure off but if we can win at West
Ham it is a whole lot better.
"I am confident we can go there and win because they will be down in the
dumps a bit after last weekend.
"We need to kick on and punish them. West Ham is not a nice place to
play when the pressure is on."
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