Forum | General Discussion

Managers of modern day football clubs have not only to try and impress their own style of play on both their players and supporters alike, but also have to be diplomatic when it comes to criticism facing their players, especially so it seems if the player in question is an incredibly frail goal keeper who has just conceded 12 goals in the preceding six Barclays Premier League matches since taking over from last season's player of the year!

Roberto Jiminez Gago is a well travelled keeper with vast experience, but his exploits between the sticks for West Ham United have been catastrophically atrocious, admittedly not aided by an incredibly embarrassing ponderous and porous defence. His confidence must be shot following what was probably the worst of a bad bunch of performances, culminating with his own goal in the miserable 3-0 defeat at Turf Moor against Burnley.

So why throw a player who is clearly disintegrating in to the maelstrom of a london derby against the club's fiercest rivals, rivals who will be egged on by the arrival of their new manager 'old sourpuss' himself, Jose Mourinho, who will be looking forward to putting one over on his old sparring partner Manuel Pellegrini. Pellegrini and Mourinho don't send each other Christmas cards, in fact they have a mutual contempt for each other, so it will be interesting to see if Pelle's well coiffured feathers get rustled by the presence of the Portugeezer.

So, what other options ahead of such an important game does the Hammers manager have to fill such a crucial position in his starting line up? David Martin is the fans' choice, son of West Ham and England legend Alvin Martin, he would bleed Claret and Blue, why not? Essentially David Martin was signed from Millwall to be a 'target Joe', in other words cannon fodder for the players to 'have a go' at. He was never signed to play for the first or even second team, so selecting him is seen as an unreal, despite being popular, option.

Pellegrini is quoted as saying “Every player when they are in a bad moment needs the confidence of us behind them. Roberto has a lot of experience in a lot of countries. He knows it’s not his best performance in the last game, but I think that all of us must be behind him.” A statement that will strike fear in to the hearts of the thousands who will turn up for the early kick off at the London Stadium!

If David Martin is out of the frame, why not promote Joseph Anang from the U 23 squad? He has been performing admirably and wouldn't be as fazed as Martin might be in a big match situation, he could not be any worse than Gago, and would more than likely be a whole lot better! He might grab the opportunity with both hands and show that he is capable of stepping up to the next level.

Although Anang is registered as one of the club's youth players, a special FA emergency goal keeper's dispensation is available to promote him to the senior squad, and Manuel Pellegrini should snap at the chance. If Anang isn't included in the U 23 squad due to play on Friday, then speculation will intensify as to whether he plays instead of Hammers current calamity clown. - Ed

Spurs owner Daniel Levy's shot in the foot moment comes just a bit too soon for Hammers to fully benefit as it is understood that Tottenham's U-18 manager, Ryan Mason, will apparently lead the senior side out for the London Stadium derby, despite being younger than many of the first-team players. Levy has just jumped in to bed with the Devil from a financial point of view with the announcement that 'old sour puss' himself, Jose Mourinho, has been appointed manager in place of Mauricio Pochettino who was sacked after five years in charge.

Quite how the developments across London unfold will have some impact on this Saturday's early kick off, the 'bounce' factor often occurs when a manager is dismissed, players can sometimes play out of their skins just to prove that the outgoing manager had nurtured their talent and will be greatly missed. On other occasions players can play to their maximum ability if they know a new manager is watching on, and essentially they are playing for their places in the new manager's line up.

Manuel Pellegrini has been under the cosh recently, but now that the wild reports that 'Moanrinho' might replace him have dissipated, the Chilean really does have to leave his mark! That requires several of the well paid but under performing players to step up to the plate, in the past few matches the Irons have seemed devoid of energy, with many players looking dead on their feet way too early in matches.

When David Moyes took over from Slaven Billic, the ex-Manchester United manager along with Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce embarked on an intense training programme that eventually saw energy levels rise significantly. Pellegrini might well have already adopted a different regime, if tales of the cancellation of player's days off are true, he has certainly got more youth players involved in the first team's training sessions, probably in the hope that their energy will rub off on some of the senior players who have been playing more like senior citizens!

Unfortunately the derby against Spurs comes about a month too soon for Lukasz Fabianski to feature, which means Hammers will have to persevere with the uninspiring and calamitous 'Radio Gaga' (Roberto Jiminez) in goal. As if that wasn't enough, the team will most likely be without the services of inspirational skipper, Mr West Ham, Mark Noble, who is battling to be fit for the type of game where his leadership skills really are in true demand.

One bright element ahead of Saturday's game is the presence of Michail Antonio, he probably won't start the game, but just being with the rest of the players will energise them, and hopefully his enthusiasm will be infectious. Hammers have played horrendously ever since the injuries to Fabianski and Antonio, the alarming aspect is that the loss of these two players has had such a collateral effect on a team that people were tipping for a Champion's League slot just two months ago.

Saturday's result is crucial to both teams, neither can afford to lose, as a loss would put the losing team perilously close to the drop zone from the Barclays Premier League, a situation few Hammers fans would have envisaged up until 'the slump'. Defeat won't mean the end for either club, but it could be the beginning of the end instead of the end of the beginning! - Ed

If all goes according to plan, West Ham United will be able to call on the services of the irrepressible Michail Antonio following the international break, Antonio's energy and presence have been sorely missed. Along with Lukasz Fabianski's, the injury sustained by Antonio required surgery, however the 'beast' as he is referred to in the dressing room, is fighting fit again and ready to take his place in a team that has become devoid of raw energy in his absence.

Fighting fit and fighting spirit both have 'F' word prefixes, and fighting is the pre-requisite of what Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini is beginning to understand. Why it has taken a such a dire run of results before he contemplates 'going british' is beyond many fans, incidentally those are the same fans crying out for the investment in top players that culminated in the purchases of Felipe Anderson, Sebastian Haller and Pablo Fornals.

The above mentioned are all top players, but none of them are British, they have no inner allegiance or empathy with a club that is, in many cases, based thousands of miles from their homeland. When the crap his the fan clubs usually soldier on before sacking their manager at great expense before installing a 'safe pair of hands', that safe pair is usually David Moyes or Sam Allardyce, both managers have a similar modus operandi which essentially involves getting the team's home based players to roll up their sleeves and show the 'Carlos Kick Abouts' or 'Johnny Foreigners' what getting stuck in on a cold winter's night is all about!

West Ham United, like many in the Barclays Premier League, do have a lot of foreign players, however the ration of home grown players is similar to clubs in the top six. Real survivors and thrivers from six down cut their cloth according to their income and use a higher percentage of home grown players. The result being, teams like Burnley, Bournemouth, Brighton and Sheffield United are all able to select teams from a squad that has a 'healthy' British back bone, players who have grown up playing in the rain and cold!

All is not lost though, Hammers do have a British contingent, it is just a case of the manager taking the risk of playing them. One of the first changes that fans have implored Pellegrini to make is to replace the hapless Jimenez in goal with David Martin, son of Hammers legend Alvin Martin. Martin may not have played any first team fixtures with the club, but the ex-Millwall stopper cannot be any worse than Roberto Jiminez!

A team featuring Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell, Mark Noble, Declan Rice, Ryan Fredericks , Robert Snodgrass and David Martin would at least have enough players who speak the same language and understand the need to 'stand tall', in recent games there has been a distinct lack of urgency and energy that is palpable from the stands, so heaven knows what it must feel like on the pitch!

Despite his wealth of experience, even Manuel Pellegrini must recognise the need for change, something to freshen up a very stale and lethargic squad. He could even throw Nathan Holland in to the mix, as you will have noticed we didn't include Jack Wilshere in the British contingent as he is perpetually injured, but Holland is a different kettle of fish. Having overcome his own injury issues Holland is ready and able to step up to the next level.

It might do a couple of West Ham's 'luxury' players a power of good to be benched and watch players, who might lack their technical talent, putting in a proper shift. Fans at the London Stadium can be extremely fickle, but they recognise when a player puts in a shift, and essentially that is all they ask for. Results are important at the end of the day, but if fans see some real effort from players they can be really forgiving.

Time to 'Brit Up' Pelle. - Ed