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Hammers went down fighting to Man City

April 30, 2013 By Stevo 5 Comments

The Hammers went down fighting at the weekend as Iron Bobby has already said in his match report. I suppose Roberto Mancini had told his players to go out fighting now that the league title has exchanged hands and belongs with the Red Devils.

I had to chuckle when Mancini said the other week that his team had played better than Ferguson’s – who’s he kidding? He’s 14 points adrift of the leaders! He’s built a team like Chelsea did with an open cheque book and mega wage deals – they should be a good team, but not just yet. [Read more…]

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Olympic Stadium Tenant Process Prolonged

May 15, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

It looks like the Hammers are in for a bit more waiting to see who gets the Olympic stadium after the London 2012 Olympic Games as the bosses at the London Legacy Development Corporation have extended the process. Apparently, a few issues have arisen regarding government body approvals, naming rights and stadium improvements.

The Hammers were expected to hear news about the successful new tenants on 21st May, just two days after the Wembley final play-offs. It looks like the decision has now been postponed.

There are at least 16 parties who registered their interest for securing the 99 year lease on the stadium once the Olympic Games have ended and among them are the University of East London, Essex County Cricket Club and of course, West Ham United. All bids for the prize location can be re-submitted, we are told.

The chief executive of Legacy, Andrew Altman had this to say regarding the process:

“We have been very encouraged by the quality of the bids so far.

“However, a number of issues have arisen during the process and we believe it is sensible to give everyone more time so they can be addressed.

“The fundamentals have not changed and it remains our intention to sign construction contracts for converting the Stadium at the end of October, with the intention of re-opening in 2014 as previously announced.”

“We want to make the process as competitive as possible and extending the competition period will allow all parties that registered an initial interest in the stadium another chance to bid.

We still think the Hammers have a pretty good chance of getting the lease and I personally believe this possibility will greatly increase if the hammers do their job on Saturday and beat the Tangerines at Wembley.
What a great showcase it will be if the Irons get to the Premier League and secure the 99 year lease on one of the sexiest stadiums around 😉

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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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Hammers 6 Brighton and Hove Albion 0: Match Report

April 14, 2012 By Stevo Leave a Comment

An in form Ricardo Vaz Té helped the Irons to an awesome 6 nil demolishing of Brighton and Hove Albion at Upton Park where he scored a hat-trick.

Vaz Té now makes it 8 goals in 5 games but more importantly has put the Hammers back in contention for an automatic promotion place. The Portuguese striker has now put West Ham 3 points behind Southampton who are sitting in second place with just three games to play. Vaz Té has breathed some life into the claret and blues just lately and today’s performance at Upton Park is no exception.

Brighton’s defending today has been atrocious to say the least which was highlighted when the Hammers hit their crossbar with just 40 seconds on the clock! This was the seagulls heaviest defeat this season and they only have themselves to blame.

Brighton’s chances of making the playoffs look left for dead now as they stand five points behind Cardiff City who are sitting at sixth place. Gus Poyet will certainly not be pleased with his team’s performance today!

To be honest lads, it wasn’t much of a contest, was it? You could say that with a quarter of an hour on the clock it was all over bar the shouting.

Ricardo Vaz Té got on the scoreboard first just after 3 minutes after skipper Kevin Nolan won the ball on the left and threaded it through to the striker, who was 30 yards out. Vaz Te’s shot was powerful and flew through Peter Brezovan’s hands. His second goal came just five minutes after. Vaz Té was left on his own at the far post to head home a cross from Gary O’Neill. Next up was Nolan three minutes later to stick the ball in the net after Tonks headed Matt Taylor’s free-kick back across the goal.

The Hammers had to wait a bit for the next goal and it didn’t come until 63 minutes when Vaz Té found the net and got his hat-trick with a spectacular hook shot over his shoulder. The ref had waived play on when Henri Lansbury was brought crashing down in the box but the ball found the magical Vaz Té and it was crashed home in spectacular style!

Carlton Cole then made it five after his shot was deflected off Lansbury’s heel. To complete the drubbing Seagulls’ Gary Dicker turned a Kevin Noble corner into his own net with 13 minutes left on the clock. West Ham came away on a high note and they could smell the Premier League in the air!

Match Stats:

West Ham 4-4-2
Green, Demel, Tomkins, Reid, Taylor, O’Neill, Nolan, Noble, Lansbury, Vaz Té, Cole

Subs: Henderson, Maynard, Colison, Carew, Collins

Brighton and Hove Albion 4-4-1-1
Brezovan, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Painter, Bridcutt, Dicker, Navarro, Assulin, Vicente; Barnes

Subs: Ankergren, Noone, Mackail-Smith, Lualua, Jara

Ref: Roger East

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