westhamfans.org

Although Panto season is officially over, there are always a few 'shows' that keep on running, and 'Hamstrung United' has been such a hit that it could continue on it's run for weeks, even months to come!

Normally the audience are drawn it to a situation where they are forced to shout out en masse "look behind you", as the wicked witch enters the stage. In the case of 'Hamstrung United', the wicked witch hasn't been replaced by Lady Brady, but has been usurped by the 'Elephant in the Room' known as the 'Hammer'.

Having battled through the difficult 3rd round FA Cup tie away to Gillingham, West Ham United have been rewarded with a home tie in the 4th round, against Slaven Billic's West Bromwich Albion!

Wouldn't you just know it, out of all the clubs remaining in the draw you could have bet your house that the Irons would be matched against some form of nemesis, possibly Millwall or Tottenham, if they manage to overcome Middlesbrough in the replay.

The managers of most Premier League clubs bemoaned the amount of games their team's have to play during the festive period, the combination of playing so many matches and having to travel to and from them in such a short space of time can really rack up injuries, especially if the team is involved in more than one competition.

Gillingham: Bonham, O'Keefe, Ehmer (c), Ogilvie, Hanlan, Fuller, Jones, Lee, Jakubiak, O'Connor, Tucker Subs: Walsh, Hodson, Willock, Ndjoli, Charles-Cook, Pringle, Marshall
West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Balbuena, Diop, Ogbonna (c), Masuaku, Snodgrass, Rice, Lanzini, Felipe Anderson, Haller Subs: Roberto, Zabaleta, Reid, Sanchez, Fornals, Holland, Ajeti

Living not far from Park Lane, it is easily within a person's remit to walk past all the Aston Martin, BMW and various other high end vehicle manufacturers, with Ferrari and McClaren being just down the road in Knightsbridge and once in a while pop in to the gleaming showrooms hoping that a rooky salesman might invite you for a test drive, when offered, most people generally accept.

A week can be a long time in politics, and two weeks a lifetime, but two weeks in football can be an eternity! Just ask the chaps at BT Sport, when as soon as the FA Cup 3rd round fixtures were announced, their programmers looked for the 'best' potential cup upset and decided, following 'Oxford Gate', that Gillingham's home tie against West Ham United meant that they could have a 'giant killing' on the cards, after all, it's what the FA Cup is all about isn't it?

West Ham:
Fabianski, Fredericks, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Noble, Snodgrass, Fornals, Anderson, Haller.
Subs: Roberto, Zabaleta, Diop, Masuaku, Sanchez, Lanzini, Ajeti.

Bournemouth:
Ramsdale, Francis, Cook, Mepham, Rico, Cook, Lerma, Gosling, Callum Wilson, Solanke, Harry Wilson.
Subs: Boruc, Simpson, Dobre, Billing, Fraser, Stanislas, Surman.

Back in his dug out, 25 yards from the pitch at the London Stadium, newly ensconced Hammers manager David Moyes will have all eyes focused on him and his team selection for the crucial six-pointer against Bournemouth this evening.

Love him or loathe him, ex- a million team's manager Ian Holloway always had a wonderful ability to describe football exactly as it said on the tin, and once famously, and probably a little misogynisticically described an away draw as 'pulling the the ugliest tart at a party, but at least she came home in the taxi".

Well, he was a 'dead man walking' in managerial terms, but the timing of Manuel Pellegrini's sacking as West Ham manager will raise a few eyebrows, not least because one of the prime candidates to take over at the London Stadium is the manager of the club's next opponents, Bournemouth, who themselves are deep in a relegation battle!