Zola made an interesting, cryptic comment in his Wigan post-match interviews.  He was reported in the Sports Telegraph as stating that:

“Staying up would be a big, big deal because we’ve had to deal with so many problems this season. You only know half of them.

“It’s been difficult, but despite that we’ve stuck together. It’s been an emotional year and Scott [Parker]‘s goal was an unbelievable moment.

Mmmm ….  ‘You only know half of them‘  And it was thought that West Ham’s problems this season were very well known and widely publicised.  Have other things occurred behind the scenes, of which we are unaware?  I previously speculated that there may be unknown factors involved when, in a recent blog post, I made my ‘There is something rotten in the state of Denmark’  argument.  This cryptic comment by Zola may substantiate at that suspicion.  

Now we have David Sullivans’ reported comments on the whole squad being up for sale, at the right price, except Scott Parker.  If you look at the substance of Sullivan’s statement it is reasonable.  Certainly a radical restructure of the squad is clearly necessary if further struggle is to be avoided next season.  Although I would also argue that there is a core of players in the current squad, beyond Parker,  that we would want to retain next season.

However, it is a matter of ’cause and effect,’ in the sense that he may have made these comments for good reason, but thought needed to be given to how it is going to be spun and presented in the media.  Would it not have been better to just say, the squad needs strengthening, we cannot afford to struggle again next season and that improvement will mean radical change, with some players leaving and others arriving …..  full stop!   If the whole squad, bar Scott Parker, is up for sale, keep it to yourself and use it as a determinant of your transfer strategy, observing the protocols like involving the manager in the decisions.   Some things just do not need to be said publicly!

The ‘effect ‘of recent statements is that you get the media playing up alleged internal divisions at the club and nonsense articles appearing like that published in the Sports Mail yesterday.  The sub-text of that article was one of a ’fire sale’ in which our players are up for grabs at silly prices, particularly the youngsters.  Sullivan should have been at pains to stipulate that the Tomkins, Collisons, Nobles and Hines were are not for sale.  Indeed, this is a key message that I want to see underlined, that the Academy is vital to the future success of the club and that our major prospects are not going to be flogged off. 

There was another interesting aspect to the story and it is that enquiries have commenced to secure posible summer tranfer targets.  On the face of it that is a positive thing, it will be a good to get off the transfer starting blocks quickly for a change.  It does, however, raise the question, who is calling the shots on transfer policy?  We are told that Zola sees himself as a coach who trains and prepares  the first team squad and that he has less interest in identifying transfer targets!!!!  That’s crazy in the extreme, what coach would not want to determine the players to be recruited or sold?  Has Zola not previously stated, prior to the takeover, that he has the final word on transfers?  So, what has changed?

Zola may see himself as a coach in the continental model, but he must provide an assessment of the squad and a list of targets to pursue.  If David Sullivan’s role is negotiate and make it happen then that is fine.  For instance, Daniel Levy has a similar role at Spurs,  There is no need for Zola to get bogged down on the mechanics of transfers, such dealing with agents and negotiating contract terms. 

The alternative is that it may be the case that the right and proper line of demarcation between the executive management and football management of the club have become blurred.  Do we as supporters really want non-football people assessing the squad and deciding transfer targets?  I think not.

Even if Zola is to depart in the summer, is it wise to recruit players without the approval of any successor?  Personally, I think that this situation needs to be clarified and confirmation provided on the way that transfer policy works/is to work at the club. 

If Zola stays, is there a case for an older, more experienced figure coming in as a general manager/director of football to work with Zola on the macro-strategic football issues?   Perhaps Nani did not have the right background or skills/knowledge set, but an older, experienced former manager might be able to play a strategic role and provide expert advice and support to Zola if things are not going well?  Obviously, such a figure would need to be someone that Zola respects and can work with and who is not perceived as a managerial alternative waiting in the wings.

Finally, the club have now announced the cost of season tickets for next season.  They have confirmed that they will freeze prices at the 2009-10 levels for renewals and new applications received by 30 June 2010.  So it would seem that existing commitments have been honoured and the temptation to quickly try to raise income via season ticket sales has been resisted. 

Mind you, in retrospect, could you imagine trying to hike prices in the aftermath of the current dire season.  No, neither can I!

SJ. Chandos.

When I read the back page of The Sun today I was almost lost for words. With the exception of Scott Parker, David Sullivan has put the entire West Ham squad up for sale. Unbelievable. And the season isn’t even finished yet!

I would agree that we need to clear out half of them, but anyone who thinks we should sell Collison, Tompkins, Noble, Ilunga or Behrami wants their heads read.

Sullivan makes clear he thinks British players are too expensive, so what we have to look forward to is a team packed with average foreigners. It doesn’t exactly entice you to renew your season ticket early, does it? He also says that Zola has made clear he only wants to coach and doesn’t want to be involved in transfers. I find that very difficult to believe.

After the elation of Sunday, I am suddenly rather depressed.

So, the victory over Wigan and the defeats suffered by Hull City and Burnley have effectively confirmed our PL safety (Barring some extremely improbable results in our and Hull City’s final two games).  The apprehension can now be banished from the West Ham psyche and we can go out against Fulham and Man City to try to maximise our 2009-10 points total. 

Hull City were predictably found wanting and we have managed to scramble to safety with two games to spare.  Scott Parker has been magnificent all season and it was fitting that he should strike that wonderful winner on Saturday.  Noble also had another good game, with lots of industry, application and quality distribution.  Noble’s free-kick was right out of Diamanti’s locker, he must have picked up a few tips on his technique in training. 

Da Costa was commanding and showed strength in the air and ability on the ground.  However, the thing that struck me once again, on Saturday, was the developing understanding between Cole and Ilan.  They are beginning to almost look like a strike partnership.  Ilan’s pace and sharpness  in the box compliments Cole’s strength and power.  You can criticise the January signings, but with three vital goals in four matches, Ilan’s acquisition definitely came up trumps for the club!

Before the Everton match, I called for a player(s) to step up to the plate and make a difference a la Tevez, Noble, Green and Zamora in 2006-07.  Ilan has certainly done that with his goals, while Noble, Behrami, Da Costa and Faubert have also made significant contributions.  Together with Hammer of the Year, Scott Parker, they have been instrumental in securing the club’s redemption.  

Much was made of the threat of Tevez scoring the winning goal, on the final day, that sent us down.  What price now that West Ham might end up getting the result that prevents Tevez’s Man City from qualifying for next season’s Champions League?  That would not be polite conduct towards a home coming Hammers folk hero, especially if it also effectively handed  a CL place to Spurs! 

There were a unique set of circumstance in play in the PL relegation struggle this season.  We cannot forget that the poor quality of the teams at the bottom was instrumental in letting us off the hook.  Compare Hull and Burnley’s lethargic results, with the relentless battle that Bolton put up in 2002-03!  In another PL season, our six match losing run would probably have condemned us to relegation.  That is a sobering and unavoidable conclusion!

The club need to be mindful of that and make the necessary changes to ensure that we do not struggle next season.  I am not getting in to the whole management debate just yet, but we certainly need a major restructure of the existing playing squad.  How is that to be achieved with the alleged financial situation at the club? Will Gold and Sullivan be successful in attracting external investment from Dubai or anywhere else?  Or perhaps it will be a case of sell to buy?  Will they make a transfer budget available and supplement it by sales?  We shall see?

However, Gold and Sullivan do need to heed the lessons of West Ham’s history in this respect.  Twice, in 1976-77 and 1987-88, we pulled off heroic end of season relegation escape acts.  On both occasions, the  board failed to strengthen the squad in the following summer transfer market.  Consequently, this meant that the club merely deferred its relegation by one season, as both 1977-78 and 1988-89, saw the club slip out of the top flight.  There must be no recurrence in 2010-11!

Finally, this is the time of the year when season ticket holders learn how much they have to pay to renew next season.  It will be interesting to see whether the new regime honour the existing commitments by C&B Holdings on prices over the next two seasons, made when enticing fans to renew last summer?  Or will they use the financial situation as a pretext to bin them and implement a price hike? 

We live in interesting times.  Yes indeed we do!

SJ. Chandos.

Isn’t it nice to win a game we didn’t really deserve to. That kind of luck has eluded West Ham for most of the season, but today Lady Luck was with us, and virtually giaranteed our Premier League status for next season. But it could have been oh so different. Why? Mainly because of the performances of Mark Noble and Scott Parker. Without them we would have been a shell of a side. Together, they put in two of the most powerful performances you’re ever likely to see, and in Scott’s case, it was rewarded with one of the goals of the season to win the game. Before then, both players had run themselves into the ground and risked very bad injury with some overly committed tackling. They were an inspiration to a team which was at times so nervous that it looked as if it was about to have a collective breakdown.

Wigan, it has to be said, are a great passing side. Some of their football was lovely to watch and we found it difficult to get the ball from them at times. And when we did, we sqaundered possession all too easily. We gifted them too annoyingly silly goals and when the first one went in after only three minutes (off the hapless Spector’s legs) you just felt it was going to be one of those West Ham days we have become all to familar with. But we were wrong.

I wasn’t expecting Carlton Cole to play, but he did much better than in recent games. When he drove into the penalty area for the first goal, I fully expected him to shoot from an acute angle. Instead, he acted more intelligently and crossed for Ilan to tap in. We were on our way to heaven. And it was Mark Noble who eventually took us there in the fifth minute of first half injury time. From a free kick way outside the area he hit the bar, with Kovac on hand to head the rebound in. In fact, Kovac didn’t have too bad a game today – did I really just type that?!

Defensively, Jonathan Spector had another poor game, although he did go on a few rampaging runs forward. Faubert did well and was his committed self as usual. Upson, I felt, was very shaky indeed and I do wonder if he will make the plane to South Africa. On present form he certainly doesn’t deserve to. He’s one of the first I would sell in the summer. I just can’t wait to see Tomkins and Da Costa together. I love Da Costa. He had an excellent game today both in the air and on the ground. He and Faubert seem to read each other very well.

Ilan looked very bright and went on some nice runs but he doesn’t seem able to combine with Carlton Cole at all. Franco can read Cole in a way that Ilan can’t, but let’s rejoice in the fact that Ilan has scored four goals in four starts. The only other player I haven’t mentioned is Behrami, who I thought, for him, had a distinctly average game. But after this result, I am not complaining.

We can now look forward to the Fulham game in a rather more relaxed way, and we are safe in the knowledge that Carlos Tevez is now unlikely to score the goal to send us down!

Green – 8
Faubert – 6
Spector -4
Upson -5
Da Costa -8
Behrami – 6
Kovac – 6
Noble – 8
Parker – 8
Cole – 6
Ilan – 6
Franco -6

Click HERE to rate the West Ham players who played against Wigan.

Please use this thread to comment on the match as it progresses.

If we win today and Hull lose, we stay up. It really is as simple as that. Isn’t that enough of an incentive for our boys to step up to the mark and put in a proper performance? You’d think so, wouldn’t you?

The good news is that Scott Parker is back. I imagine he will replace the hapless Stanislas who was appalling against Liverpool. It’s possible that Diamanti could come in for Kovac, but unlikely.

If Spector isn’t dropped in favour of Daprela, my opinion of Zola will plummet. I’ve often defended Spector but his performances in recent games have been terrible, whereas Daprela has hardly put a foot wrong whenever he has played.

Up front, there seems to be speculation that Cole isn’t fit to start but will be on the bench. If he’s not fit, he shouldn’t be included at all. But if he is I’d imagine he and Ilan will start together. If he’s not, who knows? Both Mido and McCarthy have been utterly useless since they came in January and I just can’t see either of them scoring.

There is also a thought that Luis Boa Morte may feature at some stage. I’m glad he’s recovered, but can we really risk a player who hasn’t played all season in such an important game?

Make no mistake, despite their position, Wigan are no mugs. They proved that on Sunday and are quite capable of turning us over.

Let’s hope our team actually bother to turn up today, and play with some pride. A lot is at stake.

By far and away the worst ratings for any game this season… Never has a player not managed to get a 6!

It has been reported Luis Boa Morte came through a friendly run out against Spurs this week.  The indications are that Zola wants to pitch Boa Morte in to the fray before the end of the season.   However, will this Saturday ultimately prove too soon for his return?

The final say will be with the fitness and medical staff who will assess whether his knee is ok, and physical conditioning sufficient, to start in the Premier League.  Also, it is not just a matter of fitness, it is also about form.  It often takes players a while to adapt after returning from a long-term injury and regain their form. 

Boa Morte is a player that Zola has shown a lot of faith in.  He consistently selected Boa Morte last season, even when he was out of favour with the majority of supporters.  After his fine performances at the end of last season it was clear that Boa Morte was very much in Zola’s plans for this campaign.  Then serious injury struck in the pre-season match against Spurs in China and those plans had to be redrawn!

Boa Morte has admittedly been a fustrating player for much of his time at Upton Park.  He has rarely reproduced the attacking ability that he demonstrated at Fulham.  However, he does  give you balance on the left flank and a battling, hard-working presense, that provides vital cover for the left-back and reinforces the midfield.  His end of season form last year (no doubt sparked by the dire prospect of being packed off to Hull!) was very promising and indicative of even better things to come.  This was recognised by the Upton Park faithful, who applauded him off the pitch in one of his final home appearances last season.  That was a quite an astonishing turn around in fortunes for the player.

Boa Morte has always been a popular figure in the squad.  His colleagues obviously value his industry, honesty and commitment.  That commitment might have resulted in too many yellow cards, and the odd dismissal, but how we could have done with some of his industry this season! 

Knowing Zola’s regard for Boa Morte’s attributes, I think that he will select him if he has a reasonable level of match fitness.  Even if he only completes an hour, it may very well be worth the risk.  His contribution in that hour could help deliver three vital points.  He will balance up the team, give Daprela (hopefully) experienced cover on the left and, just as importantly, give the team a boost. 

Elsewhere, Daprela must replace Spector at left-back.  It looks like Illunga is out for the season, so we must show confidence in the ability of this promising young defender.   We can continue with Da Costa and Upson or think about introducing Gabbidon.  I think that Zola will stick with the Upson-Da Costa combination and keep Gabbidon on the bench.  But the central defenders, and Upson in particular, will need to significantly up their game.

In midfield, supposing Boa Morte does come in on the left, Zola needs to decide whether Kovac plays?  Personally, I would go for Noble-Parker in the centre and Behrami on the right flank.  Regardless of his alleged recent distractions, N’zogia is a real threat on the left for Wigan.  Faubert and Behrami will need to combine to keep him quiet.

Up front, Cole will probably start with Ilan, with Franco coming on from the bench.  I have always admired skillful players, with technique, touch and vision, and Franco very much falls in to that category.  Even amidst the awfulness of Monday night’s display, Franco stood out when he came on.  It was the only then that we demonstrated any threat going forward.  However, I feel that Zola will probably start with Ilan because of his greater pace and sharpness in the final third.

We also need to get Diamanti’s unique offensive and creative abilities back in to the first team mix.  If Boa Morte starts, Diamanti will probably be named on the bench and be introduced at some point, probably when the former tires or if things do not go according to plan.

This is a match that we all know we must win.  If we beat Wigan, and Sunderland take the three point against Hull City, we will be virtually safe.    We will be six points ahead of Hull City, with two matches to go.  Although we still probably need another point to be mathematically safe, baring a transformation of Hull City’s forward line in to a uber-goal machine, we do have the insurance policy of our vastly  superior goal difference.

I sincerely hope that this is the positive scenerio that we face Saturday evening.  I do not know about other fans, but this season has taken a greater toll than any I can remember.  That includes all the previous relegation seasons and the upheaval, stress and ultimate redemption of 2006-07. 

Consequently, I will be very glad to achieve safety and see the back of this season.  Other concerns and threats undoubtedly lay ahead in the summer, but lets cross that bridge when we come to it.   Probably on the Monday after the final match against Man City!!!!  

SJ. Chandos.