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ABSOLUTE SHOWER!
Wet miserable and incredibly disappointed would sum up how most fans felt as they trudged away from the bleak 'scene of the crime', where they witnessed what was possibly the final death knell of Hammers Champions League hopes. Perhaps it is fear, perhaps the manager's tactics have been found out, or maybe the squad's lack of depth has finally and inexorably come home to roost.

Whatever the cause, the woeful performance on offer for this lunchtime's miserable 1-1 draw with Newcastle was simply NOT good enough for any team that has 'top flight' aspirations, time and again during the last ten weeks West Ham have continued to throw away the gilt edged opportunities to take advantage of other team's problems and lack of form. It seems as if the club want to emulate the deficiencies of their rivals, so poor have the recent performances been.

Admittedly the weather was atrocious today, but it was the same for both teams however it was the visitors who were able to dominate huge tracts of the game, particularly in the first half. It says something about Hammers performance that it took a 31 year old £3 Million signing from Watford, who has been relegated with TWO different clubs, to step up and score the Irons' only goal.

Too many Hammers players looked of the pace today, it was so alarming that even the imperious Declan Rice for once looked ordinary! Mikey Antonio played like he was auditioning for a new career in WWE, not helped by some typically Chris Cavannah refereeing, but Mikey spent an awful lot of the game on the deck.

Tomas Soucek played like his 'useless clone', he definitely didn't look as if he was at the races, unless you include the Donkey Derby! Säid Benrahma virtually guaranteed some bench time in the future following his petulant 'slow walk' as he was subbed off to be replaced by Nikola Vlasic who proved to be a far better option. David Moyes was less than impressed with the time Benny took to leave the pitch, he was even LESS impressed with the 'eyeball' he had with the player as the £25 Million signing from Brentford went to sit down, expect further 'metered retribution' from Moyes who is renowned for his disciplinariansim.

The classic British comedian Terry Thomas often used the expression "you lot are an absolute shower", well the weather was wet and the team WERE an absolute shower, with very few exceptions! Woeful, wayward and wasteful are some of the words beginning with the letter W used to describe Hammers performance that are polite, battling the elements along the canal tow path on the way to Hackney Wick, there was a lot of talk using other versions of the word beginning with W to describe the team's efforts, and they weren't very polite at all- Goodbye cruel dreams!-ED

Hammers go into today's early kick off against Newcastle knowing that nothing less than three points will do, the Irons have endured a really miserable spell since the last International break, but remarkably still find themselves there or thereabouts for a Champions League place, hence the need for an absolute minimum of max points!

The other teams around West Ham competing for fourth place in the Premier League are doing their level best to help the 'Moyesiah' reach the promised land as a result of their combined ineptitude, but it cannot last so Moyes HAS to get his team firing on ALL cylinders before the competition get their acts together, because they CANNOT continue to perform so badly between now and the end of the season.

Moyes has a couple of tough calls to make ahead of the Toon game, as he attempts to reinvigorate his 'stalwarts' as well as encouraging some of his newer talent coming through from the Academy. Hammer Czech mates Coufal and Soucek have both been well off the pace of late, with Vladimir Coufal in particular looking a shadow of his former self.

Coufal's poor form can be attributed to a niggling groin injury he picked up against Ronaldo United that has essentially NEVER gone away, Soucek's loss of form is a combination of exhaustion and the fact that he is playing in a deeper role that doesn't entirely suit him, or his style of play.

It is highly unlikely David Moyes would drop both players for today's game, but there IS every possibility he will drop Vladimir Coufal. The issue being who does he replace the Czech warrior with? Ryan Fredericks was brought on to replace Vlad against Leicester City in the last game a a result of the right back being continuously skinned by James Maddison. Fredericks' electric pace was used to 'some' effect, but left many fans wondering why Ben Johnson didn't take to the field, the answer was that Johnson was being kept in reserve in case Cresswell picked up an injury, given how poor Cress played it might have been a blessing to send young Ben on anyway!

Moyes cannot risk Coufal coming up against Saint Maxim unless the Hammers defender is in tip top condition, anything less spells disaster. The problem for the manager is that Ryan Fredericks may have truly astonishing speed, but as a defender and as an attacker he is virtually useless, he appears to have absolutely NO idea what to do with the ball.

However if Moyes elects to start Johnson, he will effectively have no cover for Cresswell on account of Authur Masuaku's ongoing knee issues. Newcastle will look to exploit Saint Maxim's pace, however the player is only marginally fit and the great expanses of the Olympic Stadium's pitch might prove too much for him.

Unfortunately there is also one huge nemesis arriving with the Toon, serial scorer against Hammers Chris Wood. He has scored seven goals in nine Premier League appearances against West Ham during his time at Burnley and will hope to continue that record today.

This is the type of game 'soft centre' West Ham would have definitely lost in the past, it is to be hoped however that now is the dawn of a new era. - Ed