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Manuel Pellegrini's team selections this season have been subject to catastrophic intervention due to an almost unbelievable injury list, but to use a classic car motoring analogy he now finds his team selection at the top of a long up hill climb that has reached it's summit which is now going to gain rapid acceleration on the way from the top, so much so that it might give the brakes a good testing!

Saturday was a day of celebration as the club honored long standing servant Billy Bonds by naming a stand after him, Bonzo joins other West Ham greats Sir Trevor Brooking and 'Sir' Bobby Moore by having 'his' stand. Having played a record 799 games for the Hammers once he had signed from Charlton Billy Bonds assumed legendary status with the 'eyes of blue, six foot two and he's after you!' chant.

West Ham v Newcastle from the London Stadium, we will be there to witness Bonzo having the stand named in his honour.
West Ham United: Fabianski, Cresswell, Fredericks, Ogbonna, Diop, Rice, Noble, Snodgrass , Lanzini, Anderson, Chicharito, Subs: Adrian, Masuaku, Narsi, Perez,Arnautovic, Antonio, Obiang
Newcastle United: Dubravka; Manquillo, Schar, Lascelles, Lejeune, Ritchie; Perez, Longstaff, Hayden, Almiron; Rondon Subs: Dummet, Ki Sung-yueng, Diame, Joselu, Yedlin, Darlow, Atsu

When West Ham defender Reece Oxford debuted for the club at the age of 16, big things were expected from him. However, subsequent loans have sent Oxford to three different clubs including Reading, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Augsburg. Whether its Premier League or Bundesliga football, fans can use the William Hill promo code on the weekend games, to back their favourite teams to win.

Manchester City: Ederson, Danilo, Kompany, Otamendi, Zinchenko, Gundogan, De Bruyne, D. Silva, Mahrez, Sane, Aguero. Subs: Muric, Walker, Sterling, Bernardo, Mendy, Sandler, Foden.
West Ham: Fabianski, Johnson, Fredericks, Ogbonna, Diop, Rice, Obiang, Antonio, Nasri, Anderson, Carroll. Subs: Adrian, Zabaleta, Lanzini, Snodgrass, Noble, Chicharito, Diangana.

Last time we at the Org remembered, Barclays Premier league football was a game played between two teams each comprising of eleven players with three substitutes available to be used from the bench, the game is played on a pitch, not paper and usually the visitors supporters out sing the home crowd for much of the match. To read some of the pundits and fans comments there seems little point in West Ham even turning up to play all conquering Manchester City at the Etihad for this evening's fixture.

West Ham: Fabianski, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Noble, Antonio, Rice, Snodgrass, Anderson, Hernandez. Subs: Adrian, Arnautovic, Carroll, Lanzini, Obiang, Nasri, Fredericks.
Fulham: Rico, Sessegnon, Odoi, Chambers, Ream, Nordveit, Bryan, Seri, Cairney, Babel, Mitrovic. Subs: Fabri, Ayite, Vietto, Le Marchand, Christie, Anguissa, Markovic.

Arnautovic, Lanzini and Nasri on the bench?

Hammers returned from their 'warm weather' training session in Spain to find the temperature not far off back here in 'Blighty', however the team bonding excercise seems to have been worth it judging by the Instagram snippets shared with the media of the team celebrating Manu Lanzini's birthday. There are some observers who frowned upon hearing clearly drunk West Ham players singing Bubbles at Manu's birthday bash, but they weren't doing coke in the toilets or 'roasting' young girls in their hotel, nor were any of them caught breaking curfew by sneaking out for a late night binge!

It has taken nearly three years for West Ham United and the LDCC to address one of the most glaring failures of hosting football, British football that is, at the London Stadium. Given the outrageous costs of converting the Stadium from an Athletics dome in to a football arena, it seems almost unbelievable that it has taken so much time to resolve the issue of having a pitch that virtually looked like an oval.

Having taken what seems like an age, West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has finally pledged his international future to England, Rice has won three senior Republic of Ireland caps, all in friendlies, having played for his grandparents' country ever since he was a youngster. In August the London born central defender said he needed time to decide his future, as winning a competitive cap for the Republic would have tied him to that country.