The West Ham triumvirate of Green, Upson and Cole have been named in the England squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Egypt.  That is all well and good and shows that the three Hammers are firmly in Capello’s thinking for the forthcoming World Cup Finals.

The interesting thing will be how many of this claret & blue troika actually start on Wednesday.  Upson should theoretically play in Ferdinand’s absence.  Green may get another chance to impress between the sticks and Cole is well overdue a place in the starting line up.   With regard to Cole, I hope that that Capello does not go for Heskey or Crouch again.  Capello knows all about those players, he now needs to find out just what Cole can do, especially in tandem with Defoe.  That requires a start and a full 90 minutes in an England shirt.

One would think that Capello would use this fixture to have a look at some of the ‘contenders’ for a place in the squad.   Obviously, he needed to experiment at left-back and will include either Warnock or Baines in the starting eleven.  An interesting addition is Ryan Shawcross, who is a highly promising young centre-half and well worthy of consideration.  It must have been a bitter-sweet 24 hours for Shawcross, being named in the squad on the same day that he was unfortunately involved in the injury to Aaron Ramsey.

Apart from the enforced experimentation with Warnock and Baines, and the selection of Shawcross, there were no other surprise inclusions in the squad.  From an Hammers perspective, it is perhaps disappointing that Scott Parker was not included.  Parker is an outstanding PL performer for us week in and week out, but Capello obviously feels that he does not offer anything different from the midfielders currently in his squad.  If Parker was to be given a chance then this friendly was probably going to be it.  But you never know, he just needs to keep playing well for the Hammers, that’s all he can do under the circumstance and hope he gets a call.

For the second week running the PL results went our way, with Pompey beating Burnley and Wigan losing to Birmingham City.  Yes, it would  probably have been better if the Bolton victory over Wolves had been a draw, but it is ok, especially if we beat Wanderers next week.  With Pompey to be deducted 9 points and effectively relegated, we have to hope that they continue taking points off the other teams in the bottom half.   If Liverpool beat Blackburn and Fulham take points off Sunderland tomorrow we will have had a very good weekend, results-wise, without even playing!!

As a post-script, it was an interesting match at Stamford Bridge today.  I am not referring to the Terry-Bridge issue, the thing that caught my attention was ex-Hammers Tevez and Bellamy destroying Chelski with their pace and clinical finishing.  Once more, the regretful refrain so familiar to all us Hammers fans, ‘if only, if only’!

SJ. Chandos.

History Repeats itself: ‘the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce’   (Karl Marx)

During the course of this turbulent season there have been comparisons made with the tragic relegation of 2002-03.  And high tragedy it most certainly was, as the club was demoted with a record 42 points and then  subsequently suffered the loss of a unique generation of top class youngsters.  

Sports journalist Martin Samuels recently drew upon this comparison in his Daily Mail column .  In a peice on the misfortunes of the club since the 2006 Icelandic takeover, he made an unfavourable comparison between the strength of our current squad and that relegated in 2002-03.  Samuels, raising the spectre of a repeat, then went on to suggest that on the (then) current form of the team we might only accrue a total of 33 points  for the season! 

More recently, Zola has postulated that a 10 or 11 points tally from our remaining  fixtures may well be sufficient to guarantee PL survival.  That means that we would be looking at winning a total of 37/38 points, which is more than possible.  However, Zola does add the caveat that if the PL fixture list throws up further improbable results, like the Wolves double over Spurs, that could mean that 40 points may be required and the club must strive to reach and even surpass that safety target.

So, if we accept the less optimistic 40 point target, where are the additional 13 points going to come from?  As we all know, we are fortunate to have a run of winnable home games with Bolton, Wolves, Stoke City, Sunderland, Wigan and Man City.  We must set a target of securing 13 out of 18 points at Upton Park.  That means 4 wins and a draw from Bolton, Wolves, Wigan, Sunderland and Stoke city.  So, admittedly there is  not much margin for error there!  Lets hope that they have acquired the winning habit at home, after the back-to-back Brum-Hull wins, and this continues to the end of the season. 

If there are slip ups, then we will obviously need to win additional points from the other fixtures.  These are more likely to come from Man City at home or Fulham or Everton away.  Of these, a win and a draw or even two draws are more likely from the Man City and Fulham fixtures.   Everton should be a real possibility, but they seem to have had a bit of a jinx over us  in recent years, who knows if that will come to a timely end?  Whatever, lets hope that we are safe before the final home match with Man City, as that is a potentially gut wrenching, last day, experience that can all very well do without!

That leaves Chelski, Arsenal and Liverpool away.  None of these are exactly happy hunting grounds for us, although we probably have the best recent away record against the gooners!   We have shown both this season and last that we can compete with Chelski on a good day.  However, can they afford to slip up against us, as they battle Man Utd, in the run in for the PL title?  As for Liverpool, they are not the force that they once were, but it has been 47 long years since we last won there, 1-2, courtesy of a Geoff Hurst winner.   This would definitely be a great season to break that particular historical hoodoo!!

So, that is my overall appraisal of where the points might be accrued.  Of course being West Ham, they are just as likely to turn the odds completely upside down and drop home points and gain more than expected away from home!   The best case scenerio is that the easier 37/38 point target will prove sufficient and we can afford to drop a few more points then I have estimated.  What would really be nice is a 40 plus points total and a comfortable 11th or 12th place finish.  COYI!

Whatever the eventual combination of points won, I do anticipate that we will achieve safety this season.   I do not believe for one moment that the tragedy of the relegation of 2002-03 will be repeated as farce in 2009-10.  Arguably, we have too much in the locker and enough winnable games to prevent this particular peice of club history  repeating itself!

SJ. Chandos.

It has been confirmed by the club that Nani has left his post as Technical Director by ‘mutual consent.’   It had been strongly suggested, for some considerable time, that this might happen as part of the ongoing cost-cutting measures at the club.  A clear  indicator was the way in which David Sullivan took personal control of the transfer negotiations in the January transfer window. 

I think that Nani’s role at the club split opinion amongst Hammers fans.  Some emphasised the recruitment of Behrami, Ilunga, Daprela, Diamanti and Franco as clear evidence of his value to the club.  They also pointed to the recent flow of promising overseas youngsters like Ferriera and Sanchez in to the Academy as further evidence of added value.  In contrast others have been disappointed with the acquisitions, were worried by an alleged recent over-emphasis upon the Italian/overseas market and cited the  acquisition of Nsereko as the ultimate costly mistake.

As with most things in life, the assessment of achievement and ultimate value is a balance sheet of perceived successes and failures.  Based on such an analysis should we be pro or contra the deletion of Nani’s post at the club?  Should we acknowledge that the radically changing circumstances at the club (particularly the worsening financial situation) fatally undermined the scope of what Nani could achieve in the role?  Is it the right move for the club or a short-sighted measure?  More to the point, what arrangement is likely to replace his post and will it ultimately improve the club’s recruitment policy and track record?

SJ. Chandos.

Mmmm ….  I must admit that my feelings were mixed at the final whistle at Old Trafford.  Whilst naturally disappointed with a 3-0 reverse, I was actually not displeased with the Hammer’s overall performance.  I have attended many matches against Man Utd at Old Trafford over recent decades and I can assure you that there have been many far worse performances.

It was an expansive Hammers display, but with a crucial lack in the final third.  We had lots of possession, we passed and moved well and created a number of decent chances.  But ultimately there was no final product.  On another night Carlton Cole could well have had an hattrick, but on each occasion he was just behind the play or his reactions were not quick enough.  Diamanti tested Foster with one of his speculative long range efforts and a truly wicked left foot drive.  While Upson ballooned the ball over the bar from about 4 foot out!  So, no one can deny that we had our chances!

At the other end we were undone by two peices of sheer class, with Berbatov (£30.75m), Valencia (£17m) and Rooney (£32m) combining beautifully to carve us open.   That’s the extra class that expenditure in the region of c.£80m (plus mega salaries), on three top quality forwards, secures you!  Without labouring the point, West Ham can only dream of laying out that sort of money on three players.  If we could then perhaps our current ambitions would be very much higher this season (ie. Champions League rather than avoiding relegation).  A unpalatable fact of PL life that should be made, but not dwelt upon for too long!  So, lets move on.

Before the match I had feared that Man Utd would get at our full-backs.  However, all things considered I thought Faubert and Spector did reasonably well.   Yes, Valencia’s class told on the right hand side, but Spector did everything that he could under very difficult circumstances.  Personally, I think Zola should have seen the writing on the wall after the first goal and done some ‘outside of the box’ tactical switches.  He could have brought Daprela in on the left and had him double up with Spector to counter Valencia’s threat.  Daprela could also have been given the licence, whilst we were in possession, to get forward, provide extra width on the left and get at Gary Neville.  This would then have allowed Diamanti to come inside and support Cole through the middle.   I feel that this might have worked better than just substituting Franco for Mido.

If the first two Man Utd goals were just pure class, the third was very unfortunate from our perspective.   Noble was down injured, Faubert lost posession in a dangerous position and Owen cruelly punished us with a clinical finish.  Yes, 9 times out of 10 the ref would have stopped play to address Noble’s injury, but that is the typical of the way that key refereeing decisions that have gone against us this season!

At the end of the day, we were beaten by a team who are the reigning PL Champions and regulars in the Champions League (winning it twice in recent years).  They are a top class act, even minus Ronaldo and Tevez.  But there were still some promising signs for us here, such as the quality of our overall play, the chances we created and the very good performances of a number of our players, particularly Tomkins, Kovac, Faubert and Behrami.  This should not be lost in a sea change of opinion from over-optimism to excessive, negative criticism.

Like Zola, we should accept that they had too much for us, learn from it and move our focus firmly back to beating Bolton on Saturday week.   Yes, we also have Chelski, Arsenal and Liverpool away fixtures coming up.  If we get a point or two from those matches than I will be very happy, because they will effectively be a bonus.  For me the important thing is to be positive and give class opposition a real contest.  And of course, in the process, defend our advantage of having a superior goal difference over the teams down at the bottom of the PL table.

However, our fate will ultimately be decided against the likes of Bolton, Stoke City, Wigan and Wolves at home.  And we have more than enough ‘extra class’ of our own to beat opposition of that ilk!

SJ. Chandos.

Click HERE to rate the West Ham player performances against Manchester United.

I was offered a ticket to go to Old Trafford today. I declined. Not because I didn’t want to go, but the last time I went (and the only time) we won 1-0 and it was one of the best days out of my life. I said I would never go back because it couldn’t get any better than that. We’re about to find out whether I was right.

After the last two home victories, we are looking as if we have the makings of a half decent side. The big question tonight is whether Zola will tinker with the lineup and go for a more conservative formation. My instinct is that he will retain the same lineup that started on Saturday on the basis that it was a fantastic team performance. If he was going to change it, I imagine Diamanti or Franco would make way for Noble, to shore up the midfield. But Diamanti would be very unfortunate to miss out after his last two performances. And he’s always likely to score from a set piece – and when was the last time we had a player who you could say that of? Probably Nobby Solano.

When we go to Old Trafford we either win or get a complete tanking. Frankly, I’ll take a boring 0-0 now….

UPDATE: The team is the same as v Hull except Noble is in for Parker, who is presumably injured. Subs: Stech, Daprela, Da Costa, Collison, Dyer, Ilan, Mido

Readers may remember a brilliant piece Peter Butler (who played for us in the eaely 1990s) penned in the early days of this blog (link HERE). I’ve just been sent a link to an ARTICLE which brings us up to date with his whereabouts. Butts is now coaching in Myanmar (that’s Burma to you and me).

David Sullivan has been beating the Olympic Stadium drum again today. All well and good, and I am in favour of it, but I do wonder if he and his colleagues realise the fight they have on their hands.

I was on Ken Livingstone’s LBC show on Saturday and during a break we had a chat about the Olympic Stadium. He told me that there was absolutely no hope of West Ham getting their hands on it as it would stay an athletics stadium. Why? Because when the stadium plans were being negotiated Livingstone put a lock on it remaining an athletics facility. For this to change, four vetos would have to be removed. Boris Johnson, Seb Coe, the IOC and the World Athletics Federation all have vetos and all would have to agree to a change. I can see Boris being persuaded, but the other three? There’s more chance of Boris beating Seb Coe in the 800 metres.

Ken also told me that the Mayor’s office were all set to sell the old Parcelforce site to the club and he still thinks this would be a go-er.

This victory was as comprehensive as it was merited. There wasn’t a period in the game when Hull looked dangerous. Their front line was ineffective and apart from a short period at the end of the first half when their midfield came into the game more, we looked in complete control throughout. Admittedly, getting a goal in the third minute helped settle any nerves, and thart lead should have been added to on a couple of occasions in the first half, especially from a point blank Behrami header. The team played as a unit. With the possible exception of Kovac, the entire team played well and as a team. It was not a match of individual performances. Although Diamanti was awarded the man of the match by one of the sponsors, Upson, Franco, Faubert, Cole and Parker could all easily have won it.

In defence, Upson had his best game for a good few weeks and he and Tomkins played well together. Tomkins got forward a bit more than usual, but one of the midfield, usually Kovac, always have the foresight to fill in for him. Spector was solid on the left and had one rampaging run into the penalty area which had us all on the edge of our seats. But it was Julien Faubert’s performance on the right which ought to be receive particular mention. Faubert has come in for a lot of criticism on this site in the past, but he is now in a rich vein of form. His pass to Cole which led to the second goal was one of the most sublime you will ever see, and he nearly repeated the trick a little later. His goal in the final minute was no more than he deserved, and I have a feeling that now he has got one, he may get many more. You could see how much it meant to him. His mother, who died a couple of weeks ago, would be proud of him.

Parker put in another phenomenal performance. If he’s not Hammer of the Year there will be no justice in this world. As I have said, I found Kovac disappointing. Too often, his tackles were mistimed and his passes misplaced. I think it might be time for him to be rested and Collison or Noble brought back in. Behrami was his usual self. He took his goal well, and could easily have had a second. Diamanti had, by all accounts, a brilliant game against Birmingham, and put in another excellent performance today. He tackled tenatiously and passed well. He still has a tendency to go for the money shot too easily, but it nearly paid off when he nearly scored from well inside his own half, having spotted the keeper off his line. It forced a save, although I suspect it was just going wide. But at last we have a free kick specialist and a player who can whip in dangerous crosses.

Cole and Franco were heroes up front. I don’t think Franco had a sniff on goal but his workrate and holding up play in the first half were outstanding. He was certainly man of the match for the first 45 minutes. Cole, as usual, caused all sorts of problems and seemed more willing to shoot from distance than usual. He took his goal very well and it was his ninth goal in sixteen games. Not a bad record.

So all in all, a great afternoon which sees us rise to the dizzy heights of 13th. However, it’s still only four points above the relegation zone and we need to make sure we win our home games to ensure end of season safety.

I wish I was going to Old Trafford. It’s a good time to be playing Manchester United. I’m not saying we will get anything out of the game, but it’s certainly a possibility.

Green 8
Upson 8
Tomkins 7
Spector 7
Faubert 8
Kovac 6
Diamanti 8
Parker 8
Behrami 7
Cole 8
Franco 8
Mido 6
Ilan 6