Last night I recorded a 40 minute Stop! It’s Hammer Time podcast with West Ham fan and stand up comedian Phil Whelans and his colleague Jim Grant. We talk aboujt all things West Ham, including the performance against Everton. I do apologise for the bad word I used. Although maybe they have edited it out!

Listen HERE.

You can find out more about this weekly podcast (last week they had Kris Akabussi on) on their Facebook page HERE.

There is no denying that the Everton defeat was undeserved and clearly a missed opportunity.  I previously argued that the Everton  match could be both pivotal and defining for  the rest of our season.  Certainly, if we had managed to grab the points against Everton, we could have reinforced our position above the relegation zone.  That would have then set us up very nicely for two winnable matches against Hull City away and Burnley at home. 

But that would be doing it the easy way and the Hammers invariably have other, more painful, ways of going about things!  Everton was not a ‘must win’ match, but a victory could have been instrumental in changing our focus  from relegation struggle to more positive and ambitious aspirations.   However, it does not now necessarily mean that the dye is cast for a season of struggle.

I am looking for us to scramble up to mid-table, consolidate there prior to Christmas and then position ourselves in the hope that a further push up the league table is possible in the New Year.  That still remains the objective, in my view, as we now prepare for the Hull City and Burnley games.  It is just that now we have put needless pressure on ourselves going in to those key games!

What went wrong?  Well, we just set our stall out wrong from the start.  I got to the ground late and I was absolutely amazed when I saw that Jimenez had replaced Noble.  Surely if you rest Mark Noble, the obvious replacement is Diamanti?

The team did not play badly in the  first half, but the incisive play in the final third, apparent against Arsenal and Villa, was missing. We over-elaborated, had little width and unsuccessfully tried to pass through the centre of the Everton defence.  

After a lot of unproductive  ’huff and puff,’  we suffered two self-inflicted goals of the worst kind.  For the first, our players clearly failed to close down Saha and he had an absolute age to get his strike off, 0-1.  For the second, we did not clear our lines properly, even though we had the opportunity to do so, 0-2.   Everton must have thought Christmas had come early for them at Upton Park.

However, the introduction of Stanislas and Diamanti transformed us.  The substitutes ran with the ball,  initiated greater movement and gave us width.  We looked a different team and pushed Everton on to the back foot.  Diamanti played like a ‘force of nature’ and frightened Everton to death with his skill, vision and passing.  The way in which he expertly picked out Stanislas’  forward run for our goal was just sublime! 

Diamanti is a class player, can anyone still doubt that?  Moreover, its clear that his presence lifts the team and brings direction and variety to our forward play.  Yes, sometimes Diamanti is over-ambitious with his long range efforts,  but you should not discourage a player like him from attempting the outrageous.  It’s an integral part of his make-up.   He will start hitting the back of the net soon, it’s just a matter of time.

Diamanti must start against Hull City!  I reiterate my long standing view that he is best deployed at the point of the midfield diamond, just behind the two strikers.  He needs to be given a free role to dictate play and closely support the strikers in advanced offensive positions.   And I feel that this is an important point.  If he is so accurate and dangerous shooting from 30 yards, imagine how deadly he could he be in and around the edge of the opposition box?   In that respect, Diamanti could potentially play the same type of goal scoring role for us that Lampard does for Chelski!

With Diamanti on the pitch, pulling the strings,  we carved out enough chances to win three matches!   On leaving the ground I overheard the ‘fair weather’ tendency criticising Hines for missing his opportunities.  No doubt the very same people, on Wednesday, were praising him to the heavens for grabbing the winner! 

Yes, Hines missed two or three good chances.  On a couple of those it was probably inexperience that was his undoing, snatching at shots that he should have placed more carefully.  The fact remains that he is a real prospect, but he is not the finished product!  As good as he currently is, we must not lose sight of that.  Hines is on a steep learning curve and it is vital that he learns from his mistakes in this match and comes back all the wiser.

The key thing for me is that Hines has the natural instincts of a  goal scorer.   He instinctively gets in to dangerous goal scoring positions.  He may have snatched his shots, but he had to be in the right position to get the goal scoring opportunities in the first place.  You can sharpen your finishing, but it is far harder task to try and teach a striker that type of instinctive play.

We played some magical football in the second half.  At times we tore the Everton rear guard apart.  Hines is dangerous and Franco is starting to show what a neat player he is.  Parker runs himself in to the ground for the cause and we have quality and variation in Berhami, Collison, Noble and Stanislas.  The rearguard looks to have improved, but there are still lapses at the back that need work.

We need to be more professional in our approach.  We need to defend higher up the pitch as a team, stop making silly mistakes at the back and convert our chances when we have the opposition under the cosh.  And Zola needs to rethink using Diamanti as a so-called ‘impact sub’ and play him from the start.  Even if he runs out of steam at the hour mark, hopefully by then he will have steered us in to a winning position.  At the moment he is being brought on to try to rescue matches and that is counter-productive!  When we start getting these things right then the results and points will follow.

I am actually very encouraged by the way that we played in the second half against Everton.  I do not see any reason why this team cannot get it right and climb in to mid-table before the New Year. 

Hopefully, they will not do it the hard way, but I think it is safe to say that ‘do it,’ they most certainly will!

SJ Chandos.

What a disappointment that was. I genuinely thought we’d tonk them 4 or 5-0 today. I know we have a bad record against them lately, but even so. They were there for the taking.

We started well – like Villa, we were quickest out of the traps and battered them in the first ten minutes. But to no avail. And then, at a time when Everton were being outplayed again, up popped Louis Saha to do what he normally does against us and score. Rob Green was rooted to the spot and didn’t even see it. Instead of reacting we just went to pieces for the whole middle part of the game. It was only when Diamanti replaced Jimenez that we came to life again. Once we scored we dominated and could so easily have won. Hines spurned two cast iron chances, which summed up his whole game. And Diamanti insisted on going for glory time after time, rather than play the simple ball. But it has to be said that it’s a mystery why he didn’t start and the ineffectual Limahl look-a-like, Jimenez did.

The difference between the two sides was named Fellaini. He had an astonishingly influential game. There seemed to be two of him on the pitch on occasion. He had an absolute stormer of a game. Everything Everton did went through him. He won virtually every header, every tackle, and virtually every pass went where it was intended. A fantastic performance.

Despite the fact that we conceded two goals – again – I thought we looked we looked OK defensively. Da Costa had a great game – again – and looks so comfortable alongside Upson, who also had a good game. Faubert was very busy in the second half, but he really cannot cross a ball, can he? Spector had one or two forays going forward, but he’s no Ilunga in the opposition’s half. He improved at the game went on.

I assume Collison was subbed as he had picked up a knock. He hadn’t been on his best form but hadn’t done anything wrong. Behrami looked great operating centrally and I’d lilke to see him have a few games there. He and Parker looked very comfortable together and as usual he was buzzing all over the place. Jimenez did very little to justify his inclusion. You always felt he was about to give the ball away, and he didn’t disappoint. Scott Parker had his best game of the season. He played a much more attacking game than usual and was at the centre of everything we did going forward. He was our man of the match by a country mile. Stanislas always looks dangerous and he has a real eye for goal. He could so easily have bagged a second with a shot from outside the area which just went wide.

Franco did very well in the second half after a largely anonymous first forty five minutes. He held the ball up well but I don’t recall a single shot on goal. Hines had the proverbial mare. Nothing he tried came off and for most of the first half looked thoroughly dejected and out of place. In the second half he found himself out on the right, but it was only when Diamanti came on that he brightened up. Indeed, he had to cast iron chances which on another day he would have scored, But not today.

And then there was Diamanti. Quite why he doesn’t start a game is something only Zola can know. When he came on he changed the game. As he did against Arsenal too. He is brilliant at set pieces and inventive too. He’s also very very frustrating as he is a glory hunter. He only has to have sight of goal and he will shoot. Sometimes that’s a good thing, but not when other players have moved into good positions. He played some sublime passes forward, right to feet, and if he is given a run in the team I am sure he will come good. But where do you play him? Personally, I’d play him in the hole behind the front two, as part of a four man midfield, alongside Collison, Parker and Behrami. He’s not an out and out striker.

Part of the reason why we didn’t win today was that Zola reverted to a 4-3-3 fprmation to accomodate Jimenez. It didn’t work. At all. I hope he won’t make that mistake again.

Green 7
Faubert 6
Spector 6
Da Costa 8
Upson 7
Collison 6
Stanislas 6
Parker 9
Behrami 7
Jimenez 5
Hines 5
Franco 7
Diamanti 7

Vote HERE to rate the players who played in the game against Everton. Please only vote for those players who played at least 15 minutes. And only vote if you saw the whole match.

Please use this thread to discuss the game against Everton as it progresses.

Everton have been a bit of a bogey team for us recently. Last season we lost three times to them. Today we need to exorcise some ghosts and hopefully we will do it in style.

We are all bouyed up after the Aston Villa result, and the prospect of climbing to twelfth place should be enough to gee up the players – as if they should need it.

It seems likely that both Carlton Cole and Herita Ilunga will miss the match after having to go off in the first half against Villa. Jonathan Spector is likely to replace Ilunga, although it would be good to see Fabio Daprela. It’s also clear that Zavon Hines will replace Cole. They are very different types of players, so a shift in formation may be required, with Franco taking on the role of central striker and target man. I’m sure Diamanti will be frustrated not to be in the starting lineup, but his turn will surely come. I don’t see that happening tomorrow as it is difficult to see who Zola would drop from the midfield four – especially after Mark Noble came back to form on Wednesday.

It would also be astonishing if Da Costa didn’t keep his place after his more than impressive performance on Wednesday. Tomkins is one of my favourite players, but I’d like to see Da Costa get a run of a few games so he can show us what he is made of.

So I’d expct the lineup to be Green, Da Costa, Upson, Spector, Faubert, Nible, Parker, Collison, Behrami, Franco, Hines.

Prediction: 2-0

I think it was in the Mail that I read this, but did you know that West Ham have put in more tackles than any other side this season, and had a higher successful per centage that any other team? No, me neither. On the face of it, it’s an impressive statistic. Unless you consider we have to put in so many tackles because we lose possession too easily!

Glass half full, or half empty?!

This Sunday we remember the fallen of two World Wars and other subsequent conflicts. 

For my part I will particularly remember the sacrifice my 19 year old great uncle who was killed on a Lancaster bombing raid over Nazi Germany.  He died after completing 30 bombing raids and volunteering for extra missions due to flight crew shortages.  His death occurred on what was supposed to be his final extra mission in late March 1945, just mere weeks from the end of the war. 

I still treasure his Flight Engineer’s log book, medals, photographs and a war time collection of letters to his family back home in East London.  I have also visited his war grave in Germany.   One of the single most moving and poignant experiences of my entire life.

Many of you probably also have family and friends that you think of on Remembrance Sunday.  Including those who may have fallen in more recent or current conflicts such as Northern Ireland, The Falklands, Iraq or Afganistan.   

On the eve of this Remembrance Sunday,  I would like to tell the story of a lost Hammers Hero, Arthur Stallard.   Arthur was spotted as a highly promising young striker with Chatham Town .   He signed for the Hammers in April 1913, supposedly to replace the great Hammers goal scoring idol Syd Puddefoot, who was the subject of a pending transfer to Sunderland.  Subsequently, the proposed deal fell through and Puddefoot remained with the club and forged a brief, but very successful forward line partnership with Arthur. 

Stallard made his Hammers debut, deputising for the injured Puddefoot, against Millwall on 14 April 1913, scoring the winner in a  3-2 Boleyn victory.   Such was Arthur’s goal scoring ability that he was to claim the number 9 jersey as his own and Puddefoot moved to inside right to accommodate him.   Stallard proved a sensation as he grabbed an impressive 7 goals in the final 11 matches of the 1914/15 season.  It seemed that the Hammers had unearthed another deadly marksman to rank alongside the likes of Harry Stapley, George Hilsdon, Danny Shea  and the great Puddefoot himself.

However, the horrors of the western front were to rob the Hammers of their new legend in the making.  Stallard joined up to do his duty, but as if to underline his great potential for posterity he was to go on and score a further 17 goals in 23 war time fixtures.  A great goal to game ratio by anyone’s standards.

Those who later remembered him said that Arthur Stallard was an exceptional young talent, who could have gone on to play for England.  But it was not be, as Arthur was killed in France on 30 November 1917, a mere 7 months after scoring what was to be his final goal for the Hammers.

On Sunday wear your poppy with pride, observe the minutes silence and remember the fallen.

As you do so please also spare a thought for Arthur Stallard and the ultimate sacrifice of a lost Hammers hero.  

SJ Chandos.

There is a report in today’s  Sports Mail alleging that the specialists treating Dean Ashton will shortly confirm to the club that  his ankle injury is likely to prevent him continuing his career as a professional footballer.   As a consequence, it is further alleged that the player  is to submit a claim with the FA’s insurers for compensation for the career ending injury sustained whilst on England duty.  

The report states medical opinion is likely to agree that the ankle injury picked up in training, while on England duty in 2006 is responsible for the premature ending of his promising career.  It would also mean that West Ham would be able to claim the £7.5m for which the club have him insured. 

I have no idea if this story is true, but if it is then West Ham and English football have lost a real footballing talent.   He is probably the most technically gifted English Centre Forward since Teddy Sheringham and a player who should have achieved great things for both club and country.   

As a West Ham fan, schooled on strikers of the ability of Hurst, Goddard and Di Canio, I admire the player’s technical skills and prowess in front of goal.   My fondest memories of Ashton are probably from the 2006 FA Cup run, including his goals against Man City in the quarter-final, his knock down for Harewood’s winner against Boro in the Semi and his goal against Liverpool in that classic Final.   Other Ashton goals that stick in the memory are his fantastic  bicycle kick against Man Utd at Old Trafford and his sharp turn and drive to equalise against Aston Villa in the final home match of the 2007-08  season.

If the report is correct, then I know that my fellow fans on WHID will set aside their frequently aired fustrations and lament the premature loss of a highly talented Hammers striker. 

However, by way of a caveat, it should be noted that at present it is only one isolated report.  As such,  it can only be considered speculative until such time as the player’s retirement is officially confirmed by the football club.

SJ Chandos.