Forum | General Discussion

Ghosts were laid to rest this lunchtime, unfortunately there might also have been an as yet unconfirmed, but unprecedented amount of calls to the London Ambulance service! West Ham United are GENUINELY in the top four of the Barclays Premier League, Hammers opponents in today's game, Tottenham are now in NINTH place, on 36 points, albeit with a game in hand.

When David Moyes was reappointed as West Ham manager the second time around, his arrival was greeted underwhelmingy by the vast majority of Hammers supporters, but boy has he, and his team, proved the doubters wrong! This was the first time a team managed by David Moyes has beaten a Jose Mourinho side.

It is hard to find fault in the performance put in by Moyes's boys, but special credit has to go to Tomas 'schwarzenegger' Soucek for his 'Terry Butcheresque' performance where he truly added 'claret' to the blue of his team colours. Not to be out done, Soucek's Czech Republic compatriot Vladimir Coufal, also sustained what would normally be a 'subbed off' injury but elected tostay on the pitch, they don't half build them tough in the Czech Republic.

Having gone ahead through Big Mich Antonio, and then compounded the advantage with a third goal in four games for Jesse lingard, Hammers prepared for what was going to be the inevitable Tottenham 'surge', which they tried to accomplish by having too many forward players to shake a stick at. They got one back via a superb header by Lucas Moura, but Hammers held firm, with a little bit of help from the woodwork, tosee out the game.

What a result, it wasn't just the win, it is the way the team set about it, the nay sayers will say "yeah but it cannot continue, they will be found out by the end of the season" well you know what? The season only has thirteen match days remaining! - Ed

To start off with David Moyes was asked about team news…

Michail Antonio has a good chance for Sunday because he has had a few days training. We’re always careful with Mick because we want to make sure he’s right, but he was close for the last game. He’s been doing more work on the training pitch and we’ll know more tomorrow.

On Jarrod Bowen slotting in well up front on Monday night...
Part of your job as a coach is to find solutions within your squad. Jarrod played well there in midweek and he played at centre forward for Hull City as lot as well so it wasn’t new for him. You need that flexibility in the squad.

On the threat Tottenham will pose, despite their inconsistent form...
I don’t think I’ve ever doubted for a minute the attacking threat or qualities Spurs have. They are one of the top teams in the country and we know we’ll have a tough game on Sunday.

He looks back to that incredible 3-3 draw at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this season...
That fixture will always be a good memory for me. To come from 3-0 down with ten minutes to go against Tottenham takes some doing. I can’t remember doing that before as a manager, so it was a great achievement for the players. Sometimes you need a result like that to get momentum going and help your belief, and I’m sure we took a lot of belief from that one.

And now he's asked what victory on Sunday could do for his team...
It would be really significant if we could beat them because it would push us on in our position. We’re new kids on the block in this, so we’re trying to challenge and hang in there. We’re challenging in every game, we might not win every game, but we’re trying to make our mark in them and in most of the games we’ve had a chance.

Next comes a line on the benefit of having goals from unexpected sources against Sheffield United the other night...
Quite often you need people to get you goals when you least expect it. We needed goals from other areas, and Declan getting a goal from a penalty, Issa from a header and Ryan at the end was good. You need goals spread around the team, but we’d also like someone to get 15 too!

He also says there is still room for more improvement from his side over the last part of the season...
I think what I see from them every day is that we can get continue to better in every aspect. We’ve got room for that – with our shots on goal we need to get more on target and score more, and with every bit that we can move forward will help us. You also need good fortune in football and hopefully we can get a sprinkling of that in the future.

That's all from David Moyes. - Ed

West Ham assistant manager Stuart Pearce, or Psycho as fans used to call him while he was playing for Forest, England and latterly West Ham, has never been short of 'direct' communication, so his apparent absence on match days has come as some surprise to Hammers fans, has he fallen out with David Moyes? More likely it would be the owners, who Pearce had a well publicised spat with, that fans would assume are the problem, but the truth is neither is the correct reason for 'Psycho's' absence.

When manager David Moyes and defender Issa Diop were forced to isolate following positive Covid-19 tests, Moyes was forced to manage by 'remote' from home, the results attained during Moyes absence were superb, and part of the way the great results were achieved was by some 'creative' thinking. Observing the game from 'above' is not a new thing, many managers in the past have preferred to view at least the first half of the game from an 'elevated' position in the stands, as opposed to viewing the match from the dug out, or from the coach's area.

Psycho was given the 'spy in the sky' role, and excelled at it, it should be remembered that he managed the England U-21 team, as well as being City's manager before they became rich, so he should know a thing or two. Such is Pearce's 'prowess' from above, that being in the upper stands, or indeed the roof, has now become his permanent match day location, and the team are benefiting from the insights he provides.

This 'answer' to where Psycho is on match days, also explains WHO David Moyes's assistant coach Paul Nevin is always 'chirping' on with during the games. After all, they don't expect Pearce to run up and down the stairs all the time, especially the 'Everest like' sides of mountains that there are at the London Stadium!

Whatever it takes, is the order of the day, and let's face it, the club is progressing at what some might feel is an unsustainable pace, well we would suggest that Leicester City fans might have a tale or two to tell about aiming for the stars, instead of reaching for the moon! - Ed

It's been a long time coming, but David Moyes looks like a man who has had a great burden lifted from his shoulders, he finally appears to have put his 'Manchester United ghosts' behind him. One of the ironies associated with this strangest of seasons, is that Moyes path to redemption has been partly paved by another United exile in the form of Jesse Lingard.

There were doubts regarding Lingard's fitness before his arrival, but above all his attitude, both doubts have been dispelled by the player's actions both on and off the pitch. It is as if the 28 year old has finally come home, such is the ease in which the winger has settled in with his new team mates at the London Stadium, it seems as if they have been playing together for ages, and not just three games!

There has been a ridiculous amount of media focus on Hammers' lack of strikers, however we would suggest that the term crisis that had been used to describe the situation was totally incorrect, crisis, what crisis? The only cloud on the horizon is that Lingard will not be able to play against his 'neglectful parent' club, a game that could cement West Ham as a top four team if the result goes well, not bad for a team without a striker!

There is of course a long way to go until the end of the season, but it has already been a journey of redemption for David Moyes, and it looks as if it may also be a similar journey for Jesse Lingard and others, including 'Les' Dawson.

Whatever happens, how nice is it to know that the team is safe from relegation with a further 15 games still left to play! - Ed