Forum | General Discussion

The Hammers have found victory at last! After 10 unsuccessful fixtures, a win against QPR had been achieved but Nuno’s side always seems to make the job harder for themselves, a result that should’ve been concluded in the 90 minutes, but an extra 30 was needed to get it over the line.

A bore draw first half, the first 10 minutes were spent staring at the back of hoods after West Ham faced ticket issues and thousands of fans struggled to scan their withered paper tickets. However, upon entry to the bowl, the fans put out a half hearted attempted of the red card protest in the 15th minute, which seemed muted as the QPR fans in the home end unsurprisingly weren’t too keen to join in.

Stumbling upon a dismal entry and a muted set of fans, woes worsened as one of Nuno’s already limited choice of defenders shortened further. Konstantinos Mavropanos was taken off on a stretcher after suffering a suspected head injury, grim sights. Nuno Espírito Santo is now left with Kilman and Todibo heading into Spurs, perhaps it’ll prompt the club to sign a defender, but beggars can’t be choosers…

Summerville sparked moment gave us the lead after he converted Soungatou Magassa’s pass, but the Frenchman looked beyond poor for the entirety of the match before being hooked off, a night to forget.

Despite the opposition being in the Championship, a lead at halftime can only mean that it’s inevitable in the second half for the Hammers to concede, and that we did in the 65th minute. 1-1 and looked out the game, QPR causing Nuno’s side to make reckless challenges, earning the Hammers 3 yellows in 8 minutes.

To discuss the remaining 25 minutes would be a waste of words, a handful of controlled passes and everything you’d anticipate to see from a Nuno side with a few long balls over the top, showing glimpses of the game against Brighton.

This null action unavoidably led the Hammers to become the third Premier League side to go to extra time in the FA Cup Third Round.

A quick beginning and Nuno’s side seemed fresh, Scarles and Walker-Peterd came on and bolstered the Hammers energy levels, a ball to Summerville, which was controlled with perfection, saw him lace a ball into Taty, who converted the header making it 2-1 before the end of the first half in extra time.

Taty Castellenos’ first goal for the Hammers ended up being the winner and despite fighting back the first time, QPR couldn’t manage a second, meaning the Hammers move on to Round Four.

Whilst the Hammers have only managed victory against a lower league side, it’s a game where confidence has to be taken from, and individually, Summerville was the danger man tonight. Whilst the defenders he was going around might not have been of the same quality, his end product today proved crucial twice, something he’s not been able to nail recently.

Nuno’s side will now move into Round Four of the FA Cup and will be ball number 10. The draw is set to take place before the Liverpool vs Barnsley match tomorrow. - LN

In the latest guff report, it appears that West Ham United are in preparation for falling down to the Championship and seeing as they’ve seemingly accepted their fate, they are now working on signing a few players who aren’t exactly anticipated to pull of miracles.

The first of a plethora of names comes from senior Brentford defender Ethan Pinnock. He’s had a monumental amount of Premier League experience, but has fallen out of the squad this season and could be available for the taking. A 32 year old leader for the Hammers? A much-needed requirement, but a little too late for the Premier League, yet could be a helpful addition for the drop, can’t be worse than the centre-backs we’ve already got!

Up next, the debate regarding Areola continues on… Nuno, or someone much rather, has made it clear that he would like a goalkeeper this transfer window, and numerous scattered bits have been placed around, from England to Saudi. We knocked on the door of Peo and requested if we could sign James Trafford, only after seeing who knocked on the door, he told us to take a hike but not to leave empty-handed, as Steffan Ortega, Manchester City’s third choice goalkeeper, was offered to West Ham yet no response has been given at the moment.

From senior to unknown, we’re also attempting to convince the Braga defender, Arrey-Mbi, to join us. From sunny skies in the Braga Municipal Stadium to the dark, gloomy London Stadium, that’ll be an interesting one proposition to convince to a 22 year old!

All in all, it’s a load of big-mouthed twaddle, anybody who is to join the Hammers will understand that the likelihood of the club being in the Premier League is little to none and they’ll be bracing for the Championship. Perhaps after our €50,000,000 were confirmed, we were banking on the Wolves and Forest games to dig us out of trouble, but those supposed bankers ultimately just left us bankrupt.

Tough time to scout targets and certainly even harder to convince… wonder what old excuse will come out of the Russian hat again? - LN

West Ham: Areola, Mavropanos, Scarles, Walker-Peters, Todibo, Soucek, Fernandes, Summerville, Bowen (C), Paqueta, Taty
Subs: Hermansen, Kilman, Pablo, Rodriguez, Magassa, Potts, Earthy, Kante, Mayers

Nottingham Forest: Sels, Williams, Murillo, Hudson-Odoi, Anderson, Gibbs-White (C), Dominguez, I. Jesus, Hutchinson, Milenkovic, Aina
Subs: Gunn, Morato, Awoniyi, Douglas Luiz, Kalimuendo, McAtee, Bakwa, Savona, Abbott