All 2 entries tagged West Ham

West Ham stay up!

Amazing! This time two months ago I thought we were down and out – I think everyone did. Not only were we about ten points adrift of safety but we just didn’t look like winning. Or scoring. Even when we did score we’d throw it away (Spurs) or the referee would cock things up for us (Fulham, Newcastle). Then it all turned around against Blackburn where we got quite a bit of luck and from then on something seemed to click – we started playing good football, the defence seemed a bit more solid, the goals started flowing. There was a brief dip when we lost heavily to Sheffield United and Chelsea in the space of a few days, but they were the only times we didn’t win in the last NINE games. Seven wins out of nine is fantastic, amazing form, up there with the title contenders.

As regards the whole Tevez saga, I think it’s been blown out of proportion. Dave Whelan and the Sheffield chairman have been sounding like they were the Birmingham Six or something. I find it very hard to stomach anyone in football trying to take the moral high ground. I know this is not an excuse for wrong doing, but it still pisses me off.

The truth of the matter is that, on the football field, we have pulled off a stunning escape, but also that Sheffield United have collapsed. They were ten points safe at one point, and even just a few weeks ago when they beat us, from the way Neil Warnock celebrated at the end, they thought they were safe. As soon as it looked like they might not be safe, Warnock started whining about legal injustices. You do wonder that if he had just concentrated on winning his last two games, he wouldn’t have had to worry about so-called injustices. In their game against Aston Villa last week, they pretty much capitulated.

As regards the Tevez situation, I’m pretty much as confused about it as I think most honest people are. This is not an issue that does have a lot of precedents. A lot of the precedents that are being thrown around either involve the Football League, not the Premier League, or are to do with player registration, or player ownership which is not the case here. As Mihir Bose makes clear here, this is a relatively unknown situation. It seems pretty clear that we were guilty of something to begin with. The question would seem to be a) how harsh the original punishment should be and b) if there is still some irregularity surrounding Tevez’s contract. As regards a), there is precedent in the Premier League of a tough fine being seen as more appropriate and replacing a points deduction – Spurs in 1995. As regards b), if Tevez’s contract is still breaking the law that’s pretty serious, but I have a feeling Dave Whelan is shit-stirring and we are going to be OK.

Daisy Christodoulou : 15 May 2007 02:30 |  Tags: Football West Ham |  Comments (30) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

WE ARE STAYING UP

Possibly. This entire season has been one catastrophe after another. When we lost against Spurs to two goals in the last minute, I nearly cried. But finally, in the last few weeks, things have started to look up. It may still be that will regret the points we threw away against Fulham, Newcastle and Spurs, but we are giving ourselves every chance. Today’s win at Arsenal was MASSIVE – I thought we might get a draw, maybe, but to become the first side to win at the Emirates (after being the last to win at Highbury) is amazing. OK Arsenal did their usual missing chances for fun act, but who cares. It’s going to upset every other side as well, because they must have put that down as a home banker. All the other results went for us today, Sheffield United and Wigan losing. Charlton are our biggest problem because they are on a good run too. Unlike us, they have relatively easy opponents in their last few matches.

We have a tough, tough run in, but that may well suit us, given that three of our few wins this season have come against Arsenal at home, Arsenal away and Man United at home. I really think we can beat Chelsea at home – they have not been playing well and are getting jammy results, I think we can trip them up. But first up is Sheffield United away, a huge fixture which we REALLY REALLY REALLY have to win, unlike those six-point matches against Watford and Charlton…dear lord they were awful.

And of course, all this is hoping that we don’t stay up and then get points deducted for the Tevez/Mascherano signings. I notice Herman Ouseley is on the panel that decides our fate. I remember him being drunk and disorderly at a sporting event I attended in 2002. Perfect qualifications for judging a football team, then.

Daisy Christodoulou : 07 Apr 2007 17:15 |  Tags: West Ham |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem