Forum | General Discussion

As anachronisms are all the rage in media circles and platforms we thought we would kick off with L.A.M.E as the anachronism for West Ham United's woeful, yet predictable, defeat away to bottom three club Cardiff City. As many fans feared Hammers turned up like 'billy big bollocks' and were shown the door, they were out thought and definitely out fought by the home team who were buoyed by their opponents lackadaisical approach from the get go.

The 2-0 result flatters Manuel Pellegrini's men, Lukas Fabianski, apart from being guilty of being caught on his near post for the first goal, was instrumental in keeping the score line respectable, without his services it could have and should have been a cricket score! Seriously Cardiff could have been three nil up within the first few minutes of the match, they totally dominated possession for large parts of the game and ran out deserved winners.

L= Losing
A= Against
M= Mediocre
E= Ethos

For the umpteenth time this season Hammers Jekyll and Hyde ethos has reared it's ugly head, imperious one week and inferior the next, usually if not always against opposition placed below them in the Barclays Premier league or even below that when it comes to Cup competitions. European competition seems pretty much a far distance option now, unless Wolves and Watford self implode like West Ham, and to and almost greater extent, Everton have!

Manuel Pellegrini has gone to great lengths to explain his desire for a big club mentality to become the norm at West Ham, unfortunately the only norm is the old legacy of constantly losing against teams when victory was expected and should have been achieved. Perhaps the only way of burying this worrying statistic is through mass brain washing of the entire squad through sports psychology or whatever means are available, because something has to change in order to avoid what is becoming a regular 'false dawn syndrome'. - Ed

Cardiff City: Etheridge, Peltier, Morrison, Ecuele Manga, Bennett, Arter, Gunnarsson, Camarasa, Murphy, Hoilett, Niasse. Subs: Smithies, Ralls, Zohore, Paterson, Reid, Bacuna, Harris
West Ham United: Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Rice, Snodgrass, Lanzini, Anderson, Hernandez.Subs: Adrian, Balbuena, Arnautovic, Obiang, Nasri, Masuaku, Antonio.

Fans of a certain age will remember one Lionel Scaloni, who is now the Argentine national team manager, for his misplaced pass that led to Steven Gerrard's late late equaliser in the 2006 FA Cup final played at the Cardiff Stadium. To blame Scaloni completely would be to do him an injustice as he had performed admirably for the club during his loan spell from Deportivo La Coruna, indeed some would say that without his services the club would never have reached the final.

Recently appointed as full time manager of the Argentine national team, Scaloni has earmarked the return of Manuel Lanzini and that of Lionel Messi as the way forward for his team that have under performed in recent tournaments. Scaloni's decision does have wide implications particularly bearing in mind Lanzini's only two major career injuries have been while with the National squad, his recall so soon after his recent major injury will be of great concern to all those involved. Obviously it is ingratiating for the club to have players recognised, and empowering for the players, but in Lanzini's case surely caution should be the order of the day.

Manuel Pellegrini is a seasoned campaigner and will not wish to see one of his 'jewels' sent straight back in to action after their cruciate injury, don't be surprised if Lanzini develops a 'niggle' just ahead of the International break, he would miss playing two 'friendlies' in Europe but surely that is preferable to t5he risk he faces if he 'goes too soon'.

Scaloni's actions had a massive impact on the club thirteen years ago, it is to be hoped that his influence is far less costly in the present day! - Ed

Following on from the naming of the Billy Bonds stand there has been a bit of a clamor to lobby for the Betway stand to be renamed the Sir Geoff Hurst stand, this is not going to happen for several reasons. The most pertinent of which is that Betway as the club's sponsor insist on having a stand in their name as part of their deal with the club, although this situation may well change in the future due to the impending legislation regarding sports sponsorship by betting companies, particularly sponsors of elite football teams.

To some it is a matter of opinion as to whether Hammers are an 'elite' club, but given the fact that the club is in the top twenty of the world it is safe to assume it will be affected by any changes in the law, it won't just effect West Ham. As of the beginning of August 2018 Nearly 60 per cent of the clubs in England's top two divisions will have gambling companies on their shirts this season, nine of 20 in the Premier League and a staggering 17 of 24 teams in the Championship. Back in 1998, not a single Premier League club’s shirt was sponsored by a bookmaker, and the first was not until 2002 when Fulham agreed to promote Betfair, since then there has been an explosion of activity from the Betting companies.

Currently in the Premier League, but not for long for two of them probably, there are seven teams who are directly sponsored by Gambling companies: Burnley, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Huddersfield, Newcastle, West Ham and Wolverhampton Wanderers. It is worth noting that Fulham, West Ham and Wolves all spent over £100 Million in the transfer market ahead of this season, and in the case of Fulham it shows that even with such sponsorship things can go awry.

The hammers hierarchy are well aware of the potential changes in the law and to that purpose have been actively seeking more 'acceptable' sponsors from other areas of industry, this season West Ham has become a bigger global brand due to interest from South America both for Chicharito and Felipe Anderson, not forgetting the General that is Fabian Balbuena. US electric car maker Tesla is one of the companies believed to be in negotiations with the club, the sponsorship numbers will be very little compared with Chevrolet's deal with Manchester United but realistically clubs receive so much money from their TV rights that having an attractively named sponsor for slightly less money is preferable to having the name of what is realistically a great cause of misery and social disintegration emblazoned across their shirts.

Hopefully the club will choose wisely, and hopefully act ahead of the event (gambling sponsorship ban) instead of reacting to it too late, proactive rather than reactive being the order of the day. A similar rule change hit formula one years ago when tobacco sponsorship was banned, some teams went to the wall whereas others prospered, key to their prosperity was having the right product at the right time for sponsors to buy in to. Manuel Pellegrini's big club mentality, and to his credit David Sullivan's vastly reduced profile, have made West Ham a far more attractive proposition for 'quality' sponsorship than in the past. A few more tweaks to the London Stadium, and we might have to get used to calling it the Tesla Dome' or something similar! Whatever happens though, that fourth stand will not get renamed after a former player, it's worth too much money. - Ed