By weird co-incidence I’ve been having nosebleeds for a few months despite it having stopped over the last three weeks. I’ve been referred to a specialist clinic locally for it to be looked at and, I hope, Cauterised, to stop the annoying occurrences from happening in the future.
With the heady heights that West Ham have found themselves in this season the metaphorical nosebleeds have almost coincided with my real ones in their timing. Of course there’s a big difference in that the ones involving my nose are unwelcome whereas the, figurative, Premier League table related one is something that we’re all enjoying and one that I’ve not had to get a doctor’s appointment for.
During lockdown I’ve looked forward to matchdays with the same excitement I used to enjoy in my youth. Despite not being able to attend games no 2 son and I have watched every minute of every fixture and enjoyed the performances immensely. Riding high in the league seems a distant memory for me and an experience almost alien to my sixteen year old. Whilst I agree, entirely, with Nigel Khan’s assessment that it’s not got quite the same magic as the ’85 – ’86 title challenge had there’s certainly elements of hope and expectation in there that are reminiscent of our best ever finish to a season.
Pep Guardiola was extremely complimentary to David Moyes and our team both before and after the match on Saturday. What he said was absolutely true. West Ham are not in fourth position in the league because of one month of good results. One of the most reliable maxims in Football is that ‘the league doesn’t lie’. What he went on to say about David Moyes and Declan Rice was both respectful and generous in praise. I’m aware of some negative feeling towards the Scottish gaffer, especially when it comes to how he has spoken to women in the past, but it’s my hope that he wins those people over by showing that he’s learned and grown because I believe that he can become a club legend in time. In the same way that Alex Ferguson respected and sought after the opinion of John Lyall it’s encouraging to hear that a manager of the stature of Pep pay compliments to the experience and love of the game of Moyesey.
So what to do? The nosebleed, for me, represents a temporary sense of foreboding that the brilliant run of form this season is about to end, brought on by the experience of all those years of false dawns and disappointments, and a decline back down to the bottom half of the table is about to begin. Conversely, in contrast to Pep’s comments, Jose Mourinho has forewarned that he expects his side to finish above West Ham by the end of game thirty-eight. With all that in mind should I cauterise that sense of foreboding, and get used to high expectation from DMs players in the belief that we’ll continue to play consistently well, or just wait for normality to resume and leave the nosebleed to sort itself out knowing that the ‘run’ will stop soon? If there were, however, an image to encourage me to cut that feeling of impending doom free then it’s the following one which sums up the squad’s winning mentality.
West Ham Women haven’t played for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately the last two games have yielded just one point from a possible six against lowly Bristol City, which ended up one a piece, and Brighton & Hove Albion. The point earned was hard fought as the ladies in Claret and Blue fought back from a goal down to secure the draw…displaying the fighting spirit that they may well need to stave off relegation. On a brighter note the club were delighted to confirm the signing of experienced Icelandic international Dagny Brynjarsdottir from Selfloss. Dagny actually grew up a West Ham fan in Iceland. As a midfielder Dagny certainly knows where the back of the net is. After gaining a scholarship to Florida State University Dagny netted forty four times in just eighty seven matches for the Seminoles. Ninety full caps for Iceland have yielded twenty nine goals during an illustrious career and Dagny finally brings all that experience to the team that she’s always dreamed of playing for. I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing her the best of luck during her time with our club.
Sitting six points adrift at the bottom of Premier League two the under twenty threes are not having the best of seasons. It is worth noting, however, that the success that Dimitri Halajko has had is very much in line with the mission to bring players through from the youth ranks to, ideally, play for West Ham’s first team or to become full time professional players elsewhere. The more successful Dimi and Steve Potts are at their main objective the less experienced, and arguably weaker, their squad becomes. So it’s definitely not all doom and gloom when you consider the number of players that are now developing in the professional leagues or have made it in to the first team squad at West Ham. In their last match on Friday they managed to keep a clean sheet away at seventh placed Derby County which is encouraging. As the new under eighteen lads get more game-time I’m sure that results will improve…even if the lads have a mountain to climb to avoid a drop down to Premier League Two at the end of the season. Next Monday sees the team travel to Manchester City so a nice easy one there then ;) ! Best of luck to them.
Have a great week all
COYRRI!