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Another close run race for the title in Scotland ,what an absolute joke
Another close run race for the title in Scotland ,what an absolute joke
Hi all, as an exiled hammer who formally lived in Romford, I have found myself living in a little village in nailsworth.
And will happily be returning to the area to watch my second live forest green take on Dagenham and Redbridge.
This is where I ask for your help, the boys need as much support as possible in there chase for promotion, and with attendances at home being little over 1,500 you can imagine away support isn't great. So if your bored with nothing to do on the 11th march, as you didn't manage to get tickets for the big game down in Bournemouth. Then please do us a favour and give forest green that extra bit of support they need heading into the latter stages on the season
Thanks
And lastly COYI
Nev how do you alter your profile in "my account"?
Cant help but feel sorry for Adrian, being demoted this season to backup keeper... I really liked him, I think he was the best keeper we have had in a long time and may even still be. His only weakness is his eccentricity, which has cost us in the past but I think in equal measure also saved us in a few games from defeat. Randolph offers a much more level headed option but he has had his wobbly moments too, some saves he has missed going through his legs and his positioning sometimes in goal have been suspect. I think he is a good keeper and has pulled off some great saves for us, but not quite the reflexive shot stopper/sweeper keeper Adrian is. Apart from the odd howler, coming off his line I think mostly Adrian added another safety barrier to our defence - always ready to chase down the ball and narrow the gap or smother the ball. I wonder how long he will be content to stay on the bench?
Watford: Gomes, Janmaat, Kaboul, Britos, Holebas, Capoue,Behrami, Cleverley, Niang, Deeney, Zarate. Subs: Prodl, Success, Cathcart, Doucoure, Zuniga, Okaka, Arlauskis.
West Ham: Randolph, Kouyate, Fonte, Reid, Cresswell, Noble, Obiang, Feghouli, Snodgrass, Lanzini, Antonio. Subs: Adrian, Collins, Ayew, Byram, Masuaku, Calleri, Fernandes.
Swiss midfielder Valon Behrami played 63 times for West Ham between August 2008 and January 2011, scoring five goals, while Argentine forward Mauro Zarate scored seven times in 29 appearances between August 2014 and January 2016. Both players were embraced by the 'Boleyn' faithful, Behrami for his non stop running and work rate while Zarate was admired for his ability to be spectacular. Now 31, Behrami joined Watford from German side Hamburger SV in summer 2015 and is approaching 50 appearances for the Hornets, while 29-year-old Zarate moved to Hertfordshire from Italian club Fiorentina last month.
So we have established that both players were from overseas and that both were warmly accepted in to the 'Hammers' family, they were both good players whose abilities were not always fully appreciated by their managers and essentially they both left the club for that reason, and, this is the big and, they both had wives who found it nigh on impossible to settle in East London. Sounds familiar? It should do, to those looking from the outside in it beggars belief that a 'well run' multi-million pound business would invest the large amounts of money involved in transfer fees and wages for a player without ensuring an 'emotional safety net' for the player's spouse and family. There are those who would say that the players earn so much money how could their better halves possibly be unhappy, or that with their money they should be able to put things in to place that would keep everyone happy. But the reality is that people are people and the grass so often seems greener on the other side! Both Behrami and later Zarate cited their partners inability to settle as the main reason for them wanting to leave the club, whereas many believed the reason was just an excuse to secure a move to warmer climates, the fact that both players have ended up at the 'costa del Hertordshire' seems to disprove that notion, because last time we checked the temperature differential between east london and watford was not really that extreme!
So one could argue that Behrami and Zarate were both 'surrender monkees' using their spouses as the route out of the club, or maybe that despite the wealth they have that we mentioned earlier, they just couldn't cope! Perhaps on reflection the club could have done more to help integrate their new arrivals in the form of interpreters and 'safe' buddies from within the club. Would Dimitri Payet have left the club if such facilities had been in place? Probably, but his case was slightly different, but it is interesting to note that in his recent interview on the official club site www.whufc.com Pedro Obiang stated how vital the role played by none other than 'Mauro' Zarate was in helping him to settle!
Are full time sports interpreters so really expensive that a club the size of West Ham United cannot afford to have a small group of them available 24 Hrs a day, especially for the first few weeks to help foreign language players and their families settle? If you were settling out on a long european road trip in your car, you would probably take a spare fan belt and a few other things 'just in case', of course you hope they won't be needed, but it is a sensible precaution to be prepared. The powers that be at the club need to protect their player investments, and it would be a great surprise if they have not learnt from their past mistakes. The current "buy british" mode was clear during the january transfer window with the purchase of Fonte and Snodgrass, but nest season's influx will have more than a fair smattering of foreign faces and the club cannot afford to see 'disenchantment' take it's ugly grip! Happy smiley faces in training are all well and good, but if a player comes home to a 'moody missus' (we've all been there!) it doesn't take long for the rot to set in. It is to be hoped beyond hope that the penny has finally dropped at the club and that the correct support structures are finally in place to at least give new players families the chance to settle. Happy families anyone?
Saturday's televised fixture against Watford in the Barclays Premier League represents an opportunity for West Ham United to erase the memory of "The match where it all went wrong". We of course refer to West Ham United versus Watford game at the London Stadium at the end of the summer, a chastening of a match that had started so unbelievably well yet ended in ignominy and despair. For thlrty odd minutes. odd being the operative word, West Ham played the best football seen in the claret& blue for at least thirty years, probably longer! It was like watching Real Madrid, Barcelona or Ajax in their heyday, or as someone else said "like the Harlem Globe Trotters on crack!". Hammers majestically swept aside those 'ruffians' from Watford with a myriad of flicks, tricks, rabonas and a whole host of breathtaking skills that saw Hammers shoot to a 2-0 lead within 33 minutes, those in the Stadium, intoxicated by the display, licked their lips in anticipation of a tumult of goals and the chance to say "I was there son! It was at this point Hammers season self destructed, both in the short term, which saw Watford claw two goals back before half time and then go on to win the match 4-2, and in the long term because following this match an already under performing Dimitri Payet decided he had had enough of the English League and all that it entails by beginning 'le sulk' which would eventually lead to his return to Marseille.
A lot has happened since the last match, Watford went on a good run, but then imploded, whereas West Ham went on an abysmal run flirting with relegation, before the inspired push which sees the club sitting above this saturday evening's opponents in the relative security of tenth place.
It will be interesting to see if Slaven Bilic selects Big Andy Carroll, who at best would surely only be a substitute given that he has hardly trained all week, the match also comes a fortnight too soon for 'Daffy' Sakho, which is a real pity because he would relish taking on Troy 'Bruiser' the Watford captain who deludedly reckons he is a cross between Dolph Lungren and Maradonna. A Hammers team lacking the physical prowess of Big Andy Carroll and the 'Sackman' might seriously struggle to make an impression on a Watford side that are most definitely not shrinking violets, thankfully Cheik Kouyate won't have to play at right back, but who will make way for him in midfield? Perhaps Slaven Billic has a 'cunning' plan? - Ed
Seeing all those spud fans faces as it dawned on them that they are not good enough something we all new a long time ago and oh yeah the icing on the cake was "one of there own" scored a terrifc header lol....sent me to bed with a smile knowing that those special fans realising what a shitty club they support.
Thursday 22 February…’Nam….Dagenham……07:43…mild weather, the scent of spring teasing in the air as the icy clutches of winter slip away, a distant memory…
Her peroxide clad hair teased her eyelashes like a 5 year old draping a ball of string above a cat. The cloud of super king smoke engulfed her head as she sucked down another lungful of toxic fumes. The civic centre loomed large on her left, once a busy hive of council activity, now preparing itself for university accommodation life. Students making this their abode unaware of the life skills they will quickly need to gain once they frequent a local pub here…..
Her onesie began to sag further with each step, engulfing her flop flip and beginning to absorb the moisture on the pavement, at least, it looked like moisture. The golden lights of Morrison’s dazzled in the distance. Her mecca. Looking to her right she surmised the many logos of West Ham United. Their arrival in the area being a topic of much discussion. However the security guarded gates made their arrival about as welcome as Trump twerking into the baggage claim area at Heathrow.
Pressing the green man at the crossing, she took the last drag and stamped it underfoot, scorching the fabric of her onesie that was still caught underfoot.
Crossing the road and heading to the gates she noted the Rolls Royce was there already, waiting. The driver’s window was slowly lowered hallway, a leather gloved hand slowly emerging, tightly holding the large envelope.
She stood a foot away, as agreed before.
“Right, this is it, do you hear? No more. He has gone, and if you say anything to anyone, we will deny it, do I make myself clear?” bellowed the harsh tones.
“Ah much isit? Are said 50 grand or arm torking to em? Yew carnt muck me abaht” she retorted.
“It’s all there, and that is it. He doesn’t care what you do with it, abort, have it, adopt it, whatever, but he has no more to do with it. And let me state again, you do not want to test me. Are we clear?”
She grabbed the envelope. Greedily tearing open to see the lovely colour of those notes, her heart beat faster, she was rich!! It had been worth it. That one night with the Frenchman whose breath stank. He’d made the mistake, not her. The fact she had been riddled with crabs made it even more enjoyable.
“I said are we clear?!” demanded the voice from the car window
“Yeah yeah, whatever! Eee ‘ad a tiny cock anyway!” she cackled. The crack had long since destroyed her teeth. She backed away, retrieving a mobile from her onesie and began jabbering in hushed tones.
Sully slid the window back up.
How had it come to this? Sully shook his head as the creature backed away and headed back from whence she came. The gates opened and Sully drove through.
Slav leant crookedly over the arm of his suitcase. The pains had been eased by the Middle Eastern sojourn, but his hip seemed to know it was heading back to blightly and had begun to protest immediately. The text alert on his phone beeped. “It is done. No more about it, I’ve told dp. Onwards and upwards. S”.
Slav sighed. It felt like closure but it was still hard to take. Sure it had brought the fans closer to him, and the team seemed to have been released, free to breathe, but there was no mistaking the fact the genius was a once every 25 years type player.
He then reviewed the stat sheet from the work completed in Dubai. It was clear now. And with the return to fitness of all bar one player, he may have to make that biggest of calls. It wouldn’t go down well with some, the media would latch on to it too. But he was paid to make these calls. He scribbled down “LB & Capt???” He’d give it a few more days.
The players lined up in front of the check in desk in 2’s. San Miguel had begun to partner Daffy, on account of chirpy happy go lucky persona. However, since San Miguel had lost his place, the pair together were as happy Brangelina.
Randy and the big man had managed to sneak 4 cans into their holding luggage and were giggling like schoolboys.
Pedro Obi Wan was studiously reading Gibbons Decline and fall of the Roman Empire, whilst Robert Snot turf set about weighing and measuring everyone’s luggage (he hated having nothing to do).
The Human League was still trying to convince Wyle E Coyote that he was not James Tomkins Dad, whilst Lambrini was making Ayew hold his mirror whilst he checked his hair. This was the most productive Ayew had been since he had been at the club.
The flight home was pleasant and uneventful. The pilot was introduced to his hero, Michal, which made Slav slightly anxious as to who was flying the plane. But given his weave was still settling in he had been told to worry less to allow it to flourish. The only slight concern was when the big man started to cry when the plan began it’s decent. His ears began to pop and there was a great commotion as everyone scrambled for boiled sweets. Slav took his hands and assured him 3 days of no training would help. The big man’s sobs receded as he nodded in approval.
The player’s coach left ‘Nam as the players all reached for their iPhones in unison, announcing to their better halves of their arrival back home. Plans were made for the rest of the week and Slav told the players to go home to catch up with family.
Sully waved the players off and made his way to Slav’s office. The standard plume of smoke engulfed him as he entered. Slav in trademark sprawled pose on the chaise lounge, sucking on the pipe, orchestrating his hands as Faith no More bellowed from the Bose system.
“Ah, nice tune, very, erm, emotive!” lied Sully. Slav smirked, he loved watching Sully struggle to come to terms with his pastimes.
“Erm, development, slightly concerning, may be nothing but, well, you know me….” Offered Sully.
“Yes?......” was Slav’s flat toned response.
“Well, you know the dp situation and the one we refer to as onesie?”
“How can I forget….”Slave rolled his eyes and rubbed them
“Well, turns out she has quite a connection to that motorbike gang, you know the one that chased the big man from here last year?” continued Sully
Slav sat upright and turned the music down. “Go on” he retorted.
“Well, I gave onesie the £50k this morning. In addition I placed a tracking device within the package. I tracked her movement’s online, fascinating stuff. I digress. The abode she returned to is registered to the leader of that gang, but what’s more, is who the owner of the property is….” Sully loosened his tie.
“Yes…..”
“Lambrini’s father…….”
Slav’s face dropped. Sully looked at the floor.
This was an unexpected development……