Forum | General Discussion

Saying it like it is, Slaven Billic has been forthright in his appraisal of how things have panned out for West Ham thus far this season, although he did raise the 'new stadium move' factor he was also quick to point out that it was not the only reason for his team's dreadful start. The team much publicised, in the wrong way, bonding 'drink up' may yet prove to have been an inspired decision, but it may also provide further ammunition for his critics should things go wrong against Middlesborough on Saturday, of course in the past team drink up sessions were de riguer, particularly during the Tony Adams era at Arsenal!
Having been shorn of left backs and defenders at an alarming rate, the Hammers manager faces a selection headache for the impending crucial match against the Midlanders and will be forced to play several of his squad out of position. The attacking flair of Michail Antonio could be under threat if he has to fill in at right back, however as he is the club's top scorer that is unlikely, Arbeloa has performed relatively well at left back so maybe Sam Byram might start. Even more pressing than the defence is the mid field formation that the manager chooses, in the last few games the midfield has been bullied and over run by the opposition, perhaps a return to the hit them on the break approach that served so well last season, pack the middle have Feghouli on one wing and Lanzini on the other with Payet playing a more central role behind whichever striker is selected. It's not rocket science and Slaven Billic intimated changes were afoot, playing with less possession at home might upset the crowd but so does losing, so a bit of discontent would be a small price to pay if there was a positive result by the end of the match.
Stewart Downing will feature for the visitors and will no doubt seek to prove that he was and still is a class player, and to that end it would be churlish for fans to boo him rather than politely applaud him, especially as booing might inspire him to score against his former team.
Whatever the result tomorrow, Acca Tips has the odds as even, there follows a two week gap before the difficult tie away to Palace, time in order for the 'ship to be stabilised', which should see Aaron Cresswell, Diafra Sakho and Andre Ayew return to the first team squad, they are all scheduled to be ready or there abouts. They cannot arrive soon enough! - Ed

Having endured endless negative press and been the cause of massive schadenfreude for opposition fans around the country, West Ham fans may finally have some 'reasons to be cheerful'. Hammers head of medical and sports science Stijn Vandenbroucke confirmed the positive news about the progress of Aaron Cresswell, Andre Ayew, and Diafra Sakho's return from long term injury.
He told www.whufc.com "First, Aaron trained very well with the Under-23s on Wednesday. The Academy kindly put on a very hard session, which Aaron took part in under the supervision of Eamon Swift, our rehab-fitness coach. He will take part in another training session with the Under-23s on Friday and join the first team next week. Andre returned to France as planned to continue his rehab. He will return to Rush Green at the weekend. He has been working very hard on the pitch and is ready for the next stage in the rehab, introducing the ball, passing, kicking and faster running. Andre will continue working on improving his fitness levels for the next few weeks before he will join controlled introduction sessions with the Under-23s. Diafra is progressing well after a week on the training pitch running and working with the ball. He has to build up a lot of fitness after three months out, but the encouraging thing is that he has had no adverse reaction in his back to the hard work he has been putting in. Diafra is working very hard and there is light at the end of the tunnel".
Good news indeed, the prospect of the Sakman getting on the end of crosses accurately pinged in by Aaron Cresswell will definitely be a sight to behold for fans who have experienced recent games, because despite having thrown his toys out the pram, Diafra Sakho is capable of kick starting West Ham's stilted forward line, his energy and running off the ball makes him almost impossible to defend against. It appears that Slaven Bilic, who at one time was favourite with monsterbet to be the first Premier League manager to get the chop, and Sakho have 'kissed and made up'. They may not be best the best of buddies now but that is irrelevant, the team has sorely missed Sakho and we cannot wait to see him back in the claret & blue, of WEST HAM!
Cresswell, Sakho and Ayew could represent 30% of the outfield when they have returned from injury, they would be a big miss for any Barclay's Premier League club. And don't forget, the 'Big Man' will be back for a few matches (before picking up another injury) soon.
There are some reasons to be cheerful. - Ed

Apparently it is now open season for 'Hammer bashing' by all and sundry including West Ham fans, with the opportunities for getting a 'dig in' currently very plentiful it is hard to fathom out why two high profile West Ham United players apparently chose to go out on the razz, ending up in a couple of boozers "gurning and off their nuts" (gurning is not usually attributed to alcohol consumption, it is usually associated with other unhealthy activities). The inference is obvious from the 'twatterers' accounts that such alleged behaviour is not condonable in any way, and rightly so, however it would be far too easy to condemn Andy Carroll and Darren Randloph before investigating the matter further and before the players themselves have had a chance to explain their actions.
Keen eyed viewers will have noticed the lack of glasses or bottles in front of the pair, and whilst the players look as if they are sharing a joke or perhaps they were wary of someone taking their picture, they don't look particularly 'off their heads'. At the moment the alleged behaviour is purely a matter of conjecture, the wisdom of going out in public while the team that pays their wages flounders is questionable, although there will be some that say "in the old days when a club was in trouble the players would go for a right good piss up and sort things out" The only problem with that line of thought is that Randolph is currently warming the bench as N0 2 to Adrian San Miguel and that Carroll ahem, is currently working his way back to fitness! Not clever boys - Ed