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I wasn’t there so I can’t write a match report, but I believe there were two cracking goals from Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison plus an inexplicable Cheltenham penalty. And apart from that we didn’t exactly cover ourselves in glory. Am I right?

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

West Ham United: Adrian, Chambers, Tomkins ©, McCartney, Rat, Diarra, Cole, Collison, Taylor, Morrison, Vaz Te
Subs: Henderson, Nolan, Diame, Downing, Lee, Lletget, Ruddock

UPDATE TEAMS:

West Ham United: Adrian, Chambers, Tomkins ©, McCartney, Rat, Diarra, Cole, Collison, Taylor, Morrison, Vaz Te
Subs: Henderson, Nolan, Diame, Downing, Lee, Lletget, Ruddock

Like everyone else I am looking forward to Ravel Morrison playing a full match in claret and blue. He looks to be the first name on the team sheet for the League Cup second round tie against Cheltenham. Given his pre-season form he can consider himself unlucky that he didn’t make the first eleven against Cardiff. I fully expect Sam Allardyce to ring a lot of changes for this match. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if he retains only two or three of the team that started at Newcastle.

The two players I would retain for this match are Maiga and O’Brien. I’d like to see O’Brien play in his preferred right back position just to see if he links up with Downing better than Demel. And Maiga needs a chance to score a goal or two. For the same reason I’d bring in Vaz Te who also needs his confidence boosted. James Tomkins is a dead cert start in central defence, and it is difficult to see why Razvan Rat would get his debut. I’d imagine Diarra will also appear at some stage.

Perhaps more interesting than the first eleven, will be the makeup of the bench. I’d like to see Dan Potts, Blair Turgott and Elliott Lee feature, along with Dylan Tombides. But I think we only get 5 subs in these games, so I doubt more than one of two of those will get the nod.

We should be looking to tonk Cheltenham. They are four off the bottom of League 2 with four points from four games. It would be a major disappointment to score fewer than four. But this is West Ham we are talking about and we rarely do what we should against teams like this. But we should be aiming to win this trophy this season. Let’s not mess about.

Ronnie Boyce, fondly known as Ticker, played for the Hammers for twelve years after making his professional debut in October 1960. He was a one club man and made 342 appearances which included the FA Cup final win in 1964 and the European Cup Winners Cup final the following year. Following on from his last game in 1972 he worked under John Lyall on the coaching staff during which time West Ham won two FA Cups in 1975 and 1980. His last five years at the club were in the role of chief scout, a position he relinquished in 1995. His most important goal was almost certainly the last minute winner in the 1964 FA Cup final which brought the prized trophy back to the East End for the first time in the clubs history.

One of the most amazing goals I have ever seen was also scored by Ronnie Boyce. It was a game away to Manchester City and it was played on a mud bath. West Ham had just swapped Martin Peters for Spurs player Jimmy Greaves, plus a sum of cash, a deal most Hammer fans were more than a little sceptical about. The Hammers won 5-1 that day and Jimmy Greaves scored twice on debut. However when City keeper Joe Corrigan moved to the right sided edge of the box and kicked clear, Ticker from 40 yards out volleyed the ball straight back into an empty City net!

Ronnie was a firm favourite with Hammer fans in the sixties. The nickname “Ticker” was given to him because of his work rate and how he blended the team together – he made the team “tick”. He was born in West Ham and supported the team from behind the goals when he was a boy. He played twice for England schoolboys and was courted by Arsenal before being signed by Wally St Pier. Ron was also a big worrier. He always worried before games that he would not be picked. Then later he would have trouble sleeping after games as he relived every moment of the day’s match in his head.

Like many players, he liked to stick to the same pre-game ritual. He would always be first to the ground and would pop chewing gum into his mouth before he went into the dressing room. He was always first to change (once he knew he was in the team), and always sat in the same spot in the changing room. Ron also made sure he was right behind Bobby Moore when the team ran out onto the pitch.

In today’s game where all too often agents rule and players move from club to club, it is nice to remember “Ticker”. He was 15 when he first trained with the Hammers and it was 37 years later that he said his last goodbyes as an employee of West Ham. He even managed to be caretaker manager for a single game in 1990 after the infamous Lou Macari reign had come to an end. Ron is 70 now and I am sure he is not forgotten by fans who watched him play.

Enjoy a trip down memory lane and I wonder how City’s pitch curator felt when he came to work the following Monday?

Jack Sullivan has broken the news that Honduras striker Roger Rojas is signing on loan with an option to buy. In subsequent tweets Sullivan says the whole club thinks Rojas could be the next Tevez, but then says “even if he is rubbish, it is such low money as to be worth the gamble”. He also says the new players wages will not push the club over their FFP limit of £52 million. Well, he has scored 21 goals in 18 games, which sounds impressive, right? Not that I wish to be a party pooper, but I doubt whether the standard of the Honduran league is much about the Conference North.

More on Roger Rojas HERE on Wikipedia. In the videos below he looks a lot taller tha 5’8.

But the thought remains with me. Shouldn’t Jack Sullivan be in bed at this time of night?