West Ham Till I Die
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Zaman Siddiqui's Match Review

Antoniho ho ho ho!

We have struggled to reach the lofty heights of last season, but are recovering well during the festive period. Christmas is a time to spend with family members and reminisce about the good ol’ days. Back in 1986, we finished 3rd with Tony Cottee scoring 20 goals in the league, as well as Phil Parkes playing in every single match of that momentous season. He had the awareness of me holding onto a dozen mince pies (“For the love of God, please don’t drop!”). The players were at their physical peak, as were the fans (it was Summer after all!).

Surely we were going to buy some new players and improve on last season? Nope. One season you play well, the next you become complacent. Like us during Winter overindulging on the Yuletide treats, the players were out of shape. We went from being just four points short of the first division title to finishing in 15th the season after.

This season, however, we seem to have turned it around at the last minute. We could end the calendar year in the top half! 1986 was a strange year. Something that I will take away from it is that we can’t cling onto the successes of last season. Oh, and the song Candy, which Antonio danced to, as part of his goal celebration.

Another week, another mediocre opponent. We have won three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since March. That eight point gap between us and the relegation zone might seem big, but I don’t think we are done just yet. If we fail to build on our form, we might just end up where we started, Our next opponents are Leicester. We need to continue our run, as if we are trying to win the title like they did, in order to make up for our early-season malaise. We lost 4-1 to Swansea last season, now we’ve won with the same scoreline.

It was no surprise that we took the lead early on, given that Swansea have conceded the first goal in 13 Premier League games this season – only Hull have done so more often. With reports of player unrest, I have absolutely no idea why the bookies put Swansea favourite to win this match. They have lost their last three matches conceding three goals in each and every one of them. Given the space their players gave us on the ball, I feel that Swansea are going to be bottom in no time. Hull have conceded early this season on numerous occasions, but they pushed us well in our last match.

This was one of the most complete performances I have seen all season. This was our first win, which did not end with a 1-0 scoreline, so it isn’t hard to see why this game was the best all season in the league. Both teams had 14 shots with seven on target, but our defence was virtually impenetrable. We made 35 clearances, and 20 headed clearances preventing the Swans from creating a single clear-cut chance. By comparison, we had four. Swansea will be ruing a few of the chances they had, but they should also keep in mind that they rushed them. They only have themselves to blame for the shift they put in.

Taking a look at the league table, I wanted to hurl in disgust. Then again, that may be the extra portions I had. The usual suspects occupy the top six, but the teams directly below are Everton and Southampton. It is as if you have to have good finances in order to push for a spot in the top six. Either that or sell some of your best players. There have been reports that Red Bull have been looking to buy our club. Jack Sullivan has tweeted his response to it down below.

Having read HamburgHammer’s post early (being a contributor rocks!), it is evident that he holds the view that Red Bull are mainly interested in exploiting to club to grow their own brand. The majority of German fans agree with him. Whilst I do agree with HH on this, I feel that it simply won’t happen in the ways he suggested. For instance, there is absolutely no chance that we would be renamed RB West Ham. For instance, Hull City couldn’t change their name to the Hull City Tigers. A PL spokesman said the name will remain the same back in 2013 when the initial application was sent. A couple of years later, the Football Supporters Federation voted against the name change by 70/30. Tigers has nothing to do with branding whatsoever, but the FSF, nevertheless, voted against it. They just didn’t like the name – harsh in my opinion.

Given that Jack Sullivan tweeted that Red Bull put in a £650M bid in August, I feel that the same company could have made a second bid a few months after. Now, given that HH doesn’t really support Red Bull and places more emphasis on the community aspect of football, I feel that I should give a rebuttal, given that I am more interested in the football on show, and am an economist who likes the work of Milton Friedman (who is very right-wing).

Man City didn’t have much going for them as they finished 9th,14th,15th, and 8th before the City Football Group took over. They were acquired for £210M back in 2008. The club has since done very well for itself in the league, as we know all too well. But, the development in place is why they are now revered. In addition to spending mega bucks on talented players such as 20 year old Leroy Sane for a reported £37M, they want to improve on these prodigies like him. Man City have a good balance where they aren’t too reliant on their youngsters to make an impact, but also don’t mollycoddle them. There is a lot of training ahead. The construction cost of their Academy Stadium was £200M. Only us and Stoke have cheaper season tickets than them. To be fair, that seems like good value!

But, it isn’t just clubs like Man City and Chelsea who have done well recently. In February this year, Farhad Moshiri bought a 49.9% stake in the club. The club still have chairman Bill Kenwright, who was elected to the board in 1989. To finish it off, Southampton are owned by Katharina Liebherr, who is very unknown.


Some of the benefits that clubs like RB Leipzig, Everton, and Southampton now have is better youth. We were once the “Academy of Football.” Surely if we are to maintain that status, we should let Red Bull buy us? Also, RB Leipzig are one of few East German clubs to do well. Perhaps a move East of London would be a match made in heaven?


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