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Hammers To Meet Blackpool In Wembley Showdown

May 11, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

Hammers get to play Blackpool in a 90m showdown at Wembley for premiership glory after the seaside town boys managed to pip Birmingham at the post and win 3-2 on aggregate. The thriller of a match ended in a 2-2 draw after Birmingham made a courageous comeback from 2 nil down.

The Blackpool boys were well up for it in the first half and pretty much played Birmingham off the park. It did look at one stage that it was going to be a cakewalk for Blackpool until the brummies stepped up to the plate and snatched one back.Then it was 2 apiece and Birmingham just needed a goal to take it to the wire. It didn’t happen though and although it was a brave fightback, Blackpool get to meet the Hammers at Wembley on May 19th for Premiership glory. I think Chris Hughton’s team reacted far too late in the game and left it to the last minute to do anything about it.

Chris Hughton had this to say afterwards:

“Their goals killed us and gave them a lift.”

Remarkably this will be the third successive playoff for goal scorer Stephen Dobbie. The Scot has been in triumphant playoffs with both Swansea and Blackpool and is hungry for a third against the irons!

Dobbie, who is on loan at the moment from his old club Swansea had this to say about Blackpool’s win last night:

“There is something special about Blackpool. It’s why I came back. The future is bright.”

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway is out for revenge, too. He’ll remember that the Hammers have stuck eight goals past his seasiders this year and he’s out to make amends! He also has in his sights a repeat of the 2010 season when Blackpool got promoted and would like to get back to top flight football after being relegated last season.

Holloway had this to say after the match:

“I’ll be trying to work out how to beat a team who finished 11 points ahead of us and won 8-1 over two games.

“I am so proud of my boys. Going back to Wembley is magnificent. We’re through to the biggest game on Earth!”

So, with that out of the way, who do we fancy to go up next year? The Hammers of course! I don’t think the Blackpool boys will be that difficult to overcome, especially as they will have in the back of their minds the eight goals we’ve put past them, too 😉

Having said that, it’s a Wembley playoff final and sometimes you have to accept that it’s anyone’s game. For example, who would have thought that Chelsea could clobber the best team in the world and dump them out of a fourth successive Champions League final? Nobody, right?

Well, this a similar game and I think the Hammers are favourites given their record against Ian Holloway’s outfit this year alone. But, on the other hand we shouldn’t be misled into thinking that Blackpool will roll over and let Vaz Té and company walk all over them, although that would be rather nice, wouldn’t it?

The Hammers are going to have to prepare “big time” for this game if Allardyce is to get premiership action again. What a way to end a long hard season, eh? COYI!!

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Wembley Glory In Sight As Hammers Beat Cardiff

May 7, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

An awesome performance by West Ham today at Upton Park that left Cardiff beaten 5-0 on aggregate has put the Hammers within a whisker of Premiership glory.

At Cardiff they were beaten 2-0 and today the boys just finished them off in style with goals coming from Ricardo Vaz Té, skipper Kevin Nolan and Nicky Maynard. Jack Collison’s brace set this game up in Cardiff and West Ham have not disappointed their fans who are itching for Premier League action next season.

And skipper Nolan’s header after just 15 minutes virtually said goodbye to Cardiff’s hopes of ever being in this tie. Then Portuguese wonder kid Vaz Té doubled the Hammers advantage just before the break with some decent finishing inside the box. West Ham were on a roll and nothing was going to stop them now! The bubbles were freely flowing and Cardiff could sense it!

Just before the final whistle Nicky Maynard, not to be outdone by his fellow Hammers, fired a beauty into the top corner of the hapless Cardiff keeper.

The Hammers are now awaiting their rivals with Birmingham hosting Blackpool on Wednesday. Blackpool have a one goal advantage after a Birmingham own goal in the first leg of the tie.

Hammers boss Sam Allardyce had this say after the game:

“We’ve produced two outstanding performances. “We’ve got a massive opportunity now. Hopefully we can hold it together and produce a performance like we did today at Wembley.”

Jack Collison had to come off after dislocating his shoulder in the clash. His shoulder was “popped” back in but was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure. We have no news at the moment on his condition but it doesn’t look like at this stage that he’ll miss the final.

Great work by the boys, you’ve had us on the edge of our seats at times throughout the season but this tie with Cardiff has shown us all that we deserve to be back in the Premier League. What do you think?

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Jack Collison Double Is Just The Ticket

May 4, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

A brace by Hammer Jack Collison at Cardiff last night gave the irons hope in the first leg of their playoff with the Welsh team.

Even Sam Allardyce had to admit that “it was a great night” as his boys firmly planted one foot on the Wembley turf on their road to redemption and back to the Prem.

Cardiff now have to come down to our “manor” in East London and bring it if they want any glory. It’s going to be a tough game at Upton Park for the boyos in blue and the hammers are ready to take them on.The match will be on Bank Holiday Monday so expect a large and lively crowd for that one.

Of course, anything can happen in these games as we have seen all throughout this season. I think the Hammers can hold their heads cool and keep their nerves – I can’t see it being too big a problem to put away another few goals at the Park.

Big Sam said:

“This has been a great night for us but it’s only 90 minutes gone of a two-legged game and anything can happen.”

“We nullified their threat and restricted them to minimal chances on their own ground. Tactically, we did everything right.

“There’s no pressure on Cardiff, they can come and try to claw something but this result gives us a great platform”.

I have to agree with the boss on nullifying Cardiff as the boys did a good job and to be fair Cardiff looked pretty dangerous at times throughout the game and even tested Rob Green in the first 10 minutes or so of the first half.

Ok, so it might not be a cakewalk but we are two goals up thanks to Jack Collison and Cardiff will have to attack if they want to spoil the party.

This is just what West ham needed, too. A clean sheet and a couple of goals – you can’t ask for anymore, can you?

Cardiff boss Malky Mackay said this about his team:

“We’re disappointed with their first goal and our defending”.

Make no mistake though Cardiff will come down here on Monday thinking they are two down and it’s only half time. The boys need to be on the ball and a goal or two will seal the deal I think.

The funny thing is that Collison is a Wales midfielder, so that must have gone down like a hole in the head for the boyos down at Cardiff 🙂 Cardiff have been trying to get into the Premier League for three seasons now and Collison’s double might make the Welsh side wait another year – we will see!

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Hammers Beat Hull And It’s Into The Playoffs

April 28, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

The Hammers did what they had to do yesterday but it wasn’t enough to seal the number two spot for automatic promotion. Saints had a field day yesterday as they bulldozed Coventry City in style to seal the second place promotion spot.

All credit to Saints as they snatch the second place. That leaves the Hammers in the play-offs to snatch the third place and go back to the Premier League. It wasn’t what big Sam and the Hammers had in mind but hey, it’s been a long season and we’ve let a few good points go adrift and we can only blame ourselves for being in the play-offs instead of topping the league or coming home second!

The lads played well yesterday,too. With some classy stuff from Carlton Cole, the hammers looked like Premiership material!

Manager Sam Allardyce was stunned it was only 1-0 at the break.This is what he had to say:

“We completely annihilated Hull City in the first half. I was amazed at half time it was only 1-0 to us it should have been like the Brighton score. But we didn’t convert our chances even though we had the opportunity to do so.”

On Carlton Cole grabbing his brace, big Sam had this to say:

“We deservedly doubled our lead just after half time with an outstanding goal from Carlton Cole. He got two goals, which is very important going into the Play-Offs as our front men will need to contribute in a very big way during the Play-Offs.

It went down to the wire and the Hammers still had a chance of pipping Saints to the coveted number 2 automatic promotion spot. It wasn’t to be however, because Saints pulled off a great escape against Coventry and completely knocked them for six. It didn’t really matter then that the Hammers had won as Southampton already did the damage. You could see the fans faces yesterday at Upton Park as people got wind of what was happening at Southampton. The agony was apparent and West Ham just had to make sure of this game against Hull – no more slip ups please! The lads pulled through and it was thanks to Carlton Cole.

West Ham were always the better side and there was some nice football coming from both Carlton Cole and Vaz Té. West Ham seemed to have drawn a line under previous erratic performances which ended in draws. They looked good and the fans knew it although it got a little scary five minutes from time when Richard Garcia’s diving header, was ruled out for offside!

A word of hope for the Iron’s fans: in four of the past six seasons, the team who finished third in the Championship has ended up winning the play-offs. Ok, we’ve got Cardiff on Thursday and we have to be prepared. The Hammers are up for it, are you?

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Reading Back In The Prem

April 18, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

You’ve heard that right, Reading are back in the Premier league thanks to a one nil win at Forest with a goal from hero Mikele Leigertwood.

The Royals are back in top flight football thanks to an 81st minute strike by Mikele Leigertwood. They must be walking on air now as this is only the second time they’ve been in the Premier League. The last time they enjoyed top flight football was for two seasons before being relegated in 2008.

Brian McDermott, a former Arsenal midfielder, who took over from Brendan Rogers in 2009 had this to say:

“It’s my best moment in football, considering the worst moment was losing the play- off final.

“We are in the Premier League and I will celebrate for the next couple of months. But this doesn’t seem real at the moment.

“It’s a strange feeling. In fact it feels like it’s happening to someone else.

“But I’ve been very lucky with the players and staff I have. They have carried me along.

“I’m happy. I’m content. But you do it for the fans.

“I had the worst summer after losing in the play-off final last season. I’ll have the best summer now.”

So where does that leave the Hammers, you may be wondering? To put it bluntly, Big Sam may be forced to use the playoffs to reach the top flight where we belong! The game against Bristol last night ended in a draw thanks to Cole Skuse’s equalizer that leaves the irons 5 points behind Saints with just two “freaking” games left! Rob Green should have done a bit better, we think.

Allardyce admitted that it was difficult now and they only have themselves to blame. I cannot believe it myself, if the Hammers fail to reach the Prem, then what? Another year in the wilderness, simple as that!

West Ham roared into the lead from a Tomkins header which came courtesy of a Mark Noble free-kick just after 25 minutes.That gave us some hope until blooming Skuse stuck one in for Bristol 4 minutes later!

And on that note i’ll leave you with what one Hammers fan posted:

Yes lets prepare for the white knuckle ride the play- offs lottery, worth 90m to the winners,US hammers fans wouldn’t have it any other way lol……….COYI – source here

Come on you irons!

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