Forum | Non-Football Related

West Ham United travel across London to take on Conte's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this afternoon, the game will be marked by what will be an emotional tribute to Ray Wilkins who sadly passed away this week. These will probably not be ideal circumstances for David Moyes to sanction, the 'bounce' effect of a stadium full of people willing their team on in memory of a 'fallen' player invariably will see the home team prosper. Of course it can work the other way as well, either way there will be a definite edge to the game which is being televised by Sky, a match both teams need to win for different reasons. A loss for West Ham will drag the team back in to the serious areas of relegation whereas defeat for Chelsea will just about ensure they don't even qualify for the Europa League, but maybe that is a cunning plan to avoid what many see as a pointless competition albeit one that has a Champion's League place as it's ultimate reward.

Hammers will be giving late fitness tests to Manu Lanzini and Angelo Ogbonna ahead of another crucial match in Hammers' attempt to avoid the drop, results elsewhere went well meaning even defeat will still see the club stay in a relatively comfortable 14th place, the relative part of that statement is that all the other clubs at the foot of the Premier League are having issues themselves!

Full team sheets will be posted at 3pm - Ed

West Ham produced a superb performance teeming with passion, flair and desire as they sealed victory in a massive relegation six-pointer against Southampton on Saturday. The Hammers are now heavy favourites to beat the drop, while the odds plummeted on the vanquished Saints going down. The win propelled West Ham all the way up to the giddy heights of 14th in the table, and they could even secure a top half finish if they maintain such a high level of performance. But their lead over Southampton is still only five points and, with seven games to go, there is no room for complacency as they could still get sucked back into the relegation scrap.
The fans will have a massive role to play between now and the end of the season, as they can either inspire the team or cause their heads to drop. The mood in the ground on Saturday stood in stark contrast to the toxic atmosphere that accompanied the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley last time out. Before the pitch invasions, West Ham were still in that game, but the protests clearly affected the players, their confidence suffered and Sean Dyche's men capitalised to devastating effect. But this weekend the protests were mainly confined to the pre-game marches, while a semblance of optimism prevailed inside the stadium.
Joao Mario urged fans to continue to "make the difference" heading into the business end of the season. "It was impressive from our supporters today," said the Portuguese midfielder. "I just want to say thank you to them, and let's continue like that for the next home game against Stoke City. I just want them to make the difference in that game, as they did today. All the team wanted to change the situation from the last match here, which we lost, and it was an important phase of the week so we're just happy to get three points today and come up the table."
The fixture list is pretty daunting going forwards - the Hammers still have to contend with away trips to Chelsea, Arsenal, and Leicester, while they host Man City and Everton - so the game at home to Stoke on April 16 is huge. It will be their best chance to get three points between now and the end of the campaign, and it will also be a great opportunity to stick the knife into a relegation rival. Check a review of the different betting sites and you will see that West Brom are all but down and have no hope of survival, while the clubs most likely to join them are Stoke and Huddersfield. Then Southampton are 5/4, Swansea are 6/1, Crystal Palace are 7/1 and the Hammers are all the way out at 11/1.
That looks a little optimistic, given how tough West Ham's run in is, but they have the quality to take points off those teams. Man City should have wrapped up the title by the time they visit east London, so they may field a reserve team as they concentrate on the Champions League. Arsenal have Europa League commitments, while Chelsea are focused on the FA Cup, so there are opportunities to exploit lapses in concentration and effort among the big boys. West Ham can certainly beat the likes of Everton and Leicester, but the job will be much easier if the fans back them. And the big one really is the game against Stoke, which could see the supporters roar the team to safety. Then any protests deemed necessary can take place from a position of safety and security, in an orderly fashion, as supporters demand change. - Ed

West Ham: Hart, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Masuaku, Kouyate, Noble, Mario, Antonio, Arnautovic. Subs: Adrian, Hugill, Evra, Fernandes, Cullen, Pask, Diangana
Southampton: McCarthy, Soares, Stephens, Hoedt, Bertrand, Lemina, Hojbjerg, Tadic, Redmond, Austin, Gabbiadini. Subs: Forster, Yoshida, Long, Carillo, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Boufal.
Crikey, just managed to data connect! What an atmosphere, it is amazing what a 'few' goals can do, despite losing Antonio to an injury after 6 minutes that has required him going to hospital, the team has gone balistic insane first goal from super mario and a deuce from elbows arnie despite a calf injury that needed treatment. Moyes has had to have a word with arnie about taunting sparkie on the saints bench. Expect Moyes to make an early sustitution Ug for Arnie early in 2nd half. Fernandes has been superb as has king authur and all the rest of the team. Those of an older fan base will remember being 3-0 up at half time against wimbledon before losing 4-3!
COYI - Ed