Forum | General Discussion

Atmosphere, Ionosphere And Stratosphere! That is where bubbles go! Of course they fade and die, but while they fly they nearly reach the sky, currently, on their way, West Ham United have encountered and beaten three of the best teams in the Barclays Premier League on their travels. The first, a victory against Arsenal at the Emirates was seen as the 'freak of the week' result by BBC pundits, the second against Liverpool was described as totally unexpected by all and sundry and now a 2- 1 victory against title leaders Manchester City, who had not conceded a Premier league goal all season, Hammers have finally been shown the respect that the team deserve.
The match against Manchester City is first up on match of the day!!!! Unbelievable, in fact it is almost as unbelievable as West Ham United winning their first three away fixtures against Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City!
Yes, if you are viewing this from a south sea atol or a boat in the middle of the Ocean or anywhere else this is all true and not a delusion! Although it might be time to be temporarily delusional with the assistance of some liquid refreshment, because when things are going well, the odd hangover is easily forgotten, or remembered with fondness for why it occurred in the first place.
These are happy times to be a hammer! - Ed

Manchester City: 1 Joe Hart 11 Aleksandar Kolarov 20 Eliaquim Mangala 30 Nicolás Otamendi 3 Bacary Sagna17 Kevin De Bruyne 7 Raheem Sterling 42 Yaya Touré 21 David Silva 25 Fernandinho 10 Sergio Agüero
Substitutes: 6 Fernando 14 Wilfried Bony 50 Pablo Maffeo 72 Kelechi Iheanacho 26 Martín Demichelis 15 Jesús Navas 13 Willy Caballero
West Ham United: 13 Adrián 3 Aaron Cresswell 12 Carl Jenkinson 2 Winston Reid 5 James Tomkins 14 Pedro Obiang 28 Manuel Lanzini 16 Mark Noble 27 Dimitri Payet 20 Victor Moses 15 Diafra Sakho
Substitutes: 30 Michail Antonio 26 Nikica Jelavic 19 James Collins 35 Reece Oxford 1 Darren Randolph 9 Andy Carroll 10 Mauro Zárate

Slaven Billic has finally recruited the last of his West Ham back room staff with the appointment of Nikola Jurcevic as his assistant manager joining first team coach Edin Terzic, head of performance Miljenko Rak, goalkeeping coach Chris Woods and coaching assistant Julian Dicks. Jurcevic and Billic worked together at Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas as well as with the Croatian national side.
Jurcevic told the official west ham website www.whufc.com: “I am very happy that I can start work at the Club, I am very motivated for the future and think we have a good team. I hope we will have a very good season,“I have worked with Slaven for a number of years with the Croatian national team, Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas. He called me about West Ham and I said yes straight away.“I am very excited to work in England because I think that Premier League is one of the best in the world.“I know it is a big opportunity for me and I am happy to work in the Premier League, live in London and work for a big club like West Ham.“I know Slaven well and when I started my career as a coach and was manager in Croatia, Slaven called me when he was national coach and we worked together for six-years. We are good friends but we have a similar view on football and we work really well together.“I am professional, have a big experience in football having worked in Belgium, Austria, Germany and have played in the big tournaments in Europe. I also have the experience as a coach and will do my best for West Ham. I hope we will be successful.
Talks a good talk, let it be hoped that his visa difficulties weren't a bad omen! - Ed