Lincoln: Jensen, Sorensen, Mitchell, O'Connor (c), Roughan, Burroughs, Erhahon, Hamilton, Hacket, Smith, Adelakun. Subs: Wright, Brown, Jackson, Bishop, Duffy, Eyoma, Makama.
West Ham: Fabianski, Kehrer, Mavropanos, Ogbonna (c), Johnson, Soucek, Fornals, Cornet, Kudus, Benrahma, Ings. Subs: Anang, Coufal, Alvarez, Aguerd, Coventry, Casey, Mubama, Marshall, Chesters.
Hammers game against Lincoln City tonight will NOT be broadcast at all! There will be absolutely NO streams available from ANY source across the globe so fans hoping to get a glimpse of new signings Mohammed Kudus and Konstantine Mavraponas will be extremely disappointed.
However there is still a distinct possibility that the game might have to be rescheduled due to the potential havoc that may be caused by storm Agnes which is currently 'marauding' its way towards the Irish channel! Met Office severe weather warnings are in force from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday morning., however the precise nature of the storm is still incredibly unpredictable and updates vary depending on which source you use.
According to the BBC 'there are a few uncertainties in the depth and track of Agnes, the most likely scenario is for a swathe of strong winds with gusts of 50-60mph (80-97km/h) to affect inland areas of Northern Ireland, south-west Scotland, west and north-west Wales, Cumbria and Lancashire. Some Irish Sea coastal parts though could see gusts of 60-65mph (97-105km/h) with the most exposed areas up to 75mph (120km/h). These wind speeds have the potential to bring travel disruption with bridges closed or ferry services cancelled.Trees may come down and power supplies may be cut in some areas, there is also the potential for injury and damage to property.'
Things don't look very promising but Lincoln is 90 miles away from Lancashire, where the storm is supposed to hit hardest, so there is a chance the bulk of the bad weather might be avoided. Nevertheless the chances of the game going ahead are only 50-50 and fans are most definitely advised to check before leaving if they are going to the game.
If the game is cancelled and rescheduled for a later date it will more likely that not be televised, which might be fine for armchair fans but will be a pain in the proverbial for David Moyes and his staff. Squeezing another game into what is already a very tight schedule is far from perfect, but it is in the lap of the gods and they will just have to get on with it.
The League cup has never been won by West Ham and this year represents a genuine opportunity to go far in the competition for 'trophy hungry' Moyes. It would be better i the game can be played tonight although if it does go ahead, the blustery conditions may well suit the home side a good deal more than their 'pampered' Premier League visitors! - Ed
With absolutely NO disrespect meant against tomorrow evening's EPL Cup opponents Lincoln City, Hammers manager David Moyes MUST give Divin Mubama a starting slot in the line up should the match go ahead, Storm Agnes permitting. The manager might start Danny ings, but if he does the attack will be devoid of pace, therefore the only way to make up for Ings' lack of speed would be to have Ings AND Mubama start together in a shift from Moyes' preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.
Mohammed Kudus will surely start as will 'Stan the Man' or Konstantinos Mavropanos for those who have their teeth in and like a lot of syllables! Both players will be itching to play having been 'subjected' to the Irons manager's 'easing in' policy.
Elsewhere, Ben Johnson will most likely be deployed at left back while Thilo Kehrer would operate at right back. Angelo Ogbonna, despite his howler in the Europa League Cup, will deputise for Kurt Zouma and captain the team. Conor Coventry will be looking to start as a DM alongside Tomas Soucek who would add some experience in midfield.
With 'Fabbo' in goal, Johnson, Ogbonna, Mavropanos and Kehrer in defence, Coventry and Soucek in defensive midfield and Kudus, Ings and Mubama one place remains which could be taken by Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma or possibly George Earthy.
Who knows, Moyes might spring a surprise by including one or more of the other crop of brilliant youngsters currently coming through the ranks. Obviously Moyes needs to respect the opposition and should have a strong bench in case things go pear shaped, but with game time so hard to dish out to youth players in the Premier League Wednesday night would seem like an ideal opportunity to give some of them a go, that is if 'Agnes' behaves herself! - Ed
Well the Jesse Lingard saga appears to finally have run its course as the player pursues the riches to be found in the Saudi Pro League. For many Hammers fans this turn of events is a blessed relief as they viewed Lingard as a mercenary who was just looking for the biggest pay packet available.
In reality few people would turn down the opportunity of earning massive amounts of money as they come to the end of their career, of course modern day 'elite' footballers exist in a completely different world to 'normal' people and as such their actions are hard to fathom on occasions.
Like it or not Lingard spurned numerous opportunities to re-join West Ham following his successful loan spell at the club and his final rebuff may well turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Lingard's high profile 'so shall' media presence was never going to sit well with 'old school' David Moyes, in fact when he initially arrived at West Ham the first thing Mark Noble did was to tell Lingard that mobile phones were banned during training!
Hammers fan base was split between those who saw value in lingard and those who saw him as a disruptive influence, even those who wanted the player to have a second chance eventually began to come to the conclusion that he was a bit of a 'rotten apple' and that the club should drop its interest in the midfielder.
On reflection, a player who turns up at a club's training ground wearing a watch that cost more than some people's homes should have triggered some alarm bells, the fall out created when his watch went missing had a profound effect, with an unnamed highly thought of youth player having to leave the club as a result of an internal enquiry, this sort of crap is what Lingard brought with him irrespective of his football talent and as such the club are well rid of him.
Hammers dodged a bullet with Lingard, in a similar way that it dodged a bullet by NOT signing Harry Maguire, hopefully David Moyes will now concentrate on getting the best out of his impressive squad that he has available to use, without any 'billy big bollocks' players who think the sun shines out of their proverbial! - LN
West Ham United's Wednesday night League Cup fixture against Lincoln City is in serious danger of being called off due to the impending arrival of storm Agnes. With wind speeds in excess of 80 MPH and torrential rain predicted to arrive in the Midlands from Tuesday evening through until Wednesday night, the fixture will be unplayable because of genuine safety fears for those attending the game.
A Lincoln City spokesperson is quoted as saying that the club, in conjunction with the local council, will be keeping a close eye on the progress of storm Agnes and that the safety of the public is paramount and will dictate whether the game will be postponed or rescheduled.
The aim is to give a clear indication at to what will happen because someHammers fans will have already made arrangements to travel up to the Midlands and that the match itself is a sell out, meaning there could be mass disruption for ALL those who intended to be at the
Updates will follow, but due to the unpredictable nature of storms like Agnes it is best that fans intent on making the journey check and double check before they set off. - Ed
So here we are the season started better than we thought it would and we hoped but did not expect much from the games against Citeh/bindippers and that turned out to be the case but i am rather optimistic as to how the season will go now.
Relegation dogfight i do not see that happening top 8 finish will be tough but it is most certainly achievable. The team are playing well and although i understand when fans say we need to do more than sit back and counter and be more proactive in games and yes we certainly are more than capable of doing that but against the bigger teams it would seem to be the safer option but of course when we go behind that gameplan goes out the window and that really is the one area that Moyes and his coaches have to work on.
Aguered has come in for some stick which is harsh IMO yes he has made some mistakes but the level of player that we buy at that is always going to be the case but look at Manures new GK and that howler in the champions league so i will not dig Aguered out and with Mav now ready to step in the challenge is there.
We have a squad now that Moyes has to utilise a little better but one area he really needs to look at is the striker look at that appalling header Ants had yesterday and back to his diving to the ground as soon as he is touched is not good, Mubama the answer? not for a while yet IMO yes use him this week in the carabooo cup and bring him on slowly at the end of matches if we have the game done and dusted but seriously this is one area we need strengthening badly.
As a team i think we are doing well and yes we tailed off some yesterday but that had nothing to do with players being tired if that was the case sack the fitness coach because it is an argument i cannot accept we played at home the bindippers were away midweek so its an argument that has no grounds for me the players need a little more belief and mental toughness in what we are capable of Derren Brown available?.
All in all i am pleasantly surprised as to the start of the season but after the blunts on Saturday it is the barcode game at home that will be the yardstick for me as to where we will finish this season and a game that Moyes has to show that he is the manager that he thinks he is.
Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Mac Allister, Jones, Szoboszlai, Salah, Nunez, Diaz.
Subs: Kelleher, Endo, Konate, Gakpo, Elliott, Jota, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Quansah
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Alvarez, Soucek, Bowen, Paqueta, Antonio.
Subs: Fabianski, Fornals, Kudus, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer, Mavropanos
A few years back, just after my daughter died in a 'traffic incident', I was so busy that I did not renew the Org's registration and as a consequence it was purchased by someone else. Once they heard of my circumstances they sold the domain back to me at cost price despite being able to ask a massive premium, I have never forgotten their act of kindness.
They recently got in touch and asked if I would review and possibly feature a link to their Football Quiz Site, which of course I am more than happy to do. So if you want to take a look please follow this link.
No card details etc are asked for, so it is just a bit of fun, hope you enjoy. -Ed
New boys Konstantinos Mavropanos and Mohammed Kudus were both given their first starts for West Ham in the tricky Europa League fixture against Backa Topola yesterday evening in London. Neither failed to impress and aided and abetted by fellow new signing James Ward-Prowse the trio showed that there IS life after Declan Rice.
Hammers rain lashed Stadium was nowhere near full, especially the away end, but considering it was an unglamorous Thursday night game held in atrocious weather conditions it was still a good turn out, the envy of so called 'elite' clubs like Citeh and Chelsea, although not this season for the latter of course because they failed to qualify for ANY European competitions this season.
The boot was definitely on the other foot as the visitors packed their entire team behind the ball and began time wasting and play acting from the off! The time wasting was understandable but the feigning of injuries was embarrassing for any team, especially a team from Serbia where 'men are supposed to be men'.
David Moyes had made a lot of changes and it showed with a lack of cohesion in the pick and mix team he put out despite their efforts they were unable to break down the visitors who were attempting to 'out West Ham' West Ham! There were several clear cut chances that on another night would have seen Hammers two or three goals up, instead the visitors began to grow in confidence towards the end of the first half and start the 2nd half with a spring in their step.
An atrocious error by the usually reliable Angelo Obonna let the visitors go a goal ahead which kick started the crowd and the team into a positive response. James Ward-Prowse has already justified his £30 Million fee and continued to do so with his precision set pieces.
Mohamed Kudus was the beneficiary on two occasions as he forced a defensive error for Hammers first goal which he swiftly followed up with a header to put the home crowd at ease and make for what ended up a comfortable victory. A win that was compounded by Tomas Soucek who came on as a late sub and scored a header that was straight from the 'Old Tomy' hand book.
Soucek has come in for a ridiculous amount of unfair criticism from a large section of the team's fan base, they should remember that 'Big Tomy' was sacrificed last season in order to let Decal Rice play a more advanced role. Soucek is now showing glimpses of being the superb player he once was when he first arrived at the club, Moyes knows it as well and it seems there is now an aura of positivity around the big Czech.
Several players got a run out to show what they are about, unfortunately for one of them fan favourite Pablo Fornals, the night was not so good, his play went from dreadful to anonymous before he was finally hooked, he looked to all intents and purposes to be a player already preparing for life in La Liga, don't be surprised if he is off in the January window.
All in all a decent night, but also a salient portent of what can happen if you underestimate the opposition!- Ed
West Ham: Fabianski, Kehrer, Mavropanos, Ogbonna (C), Cresswell, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta, Fornals, Benrahma, Kudus, Ings
Subs: Johnson, Zouma, Coufal, Antonio, Cornet, Areola, Aguerd, Soucek, Coventry, Emerson, Mubama, Anang
TSC: Simic, Cvetkovic, Antonic (c), Dordevic, Petrovic, M Radin, Dakovac, N Stojic, Kuveljic, Stanic,
Jovanovic
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