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It has taken nearly three years for West Ham United and the LDCC to address one of the most glaring failures of hosting football, British football that is, at the London Stadium. Given the outrageous costs of converting the Stadium from an Athletics dome in to a football arena, it seems almost unbelievable that it has taken so much time to resolve the issue of having a pitch that virtually looked like an oval.

Having taken what seems like an age, West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has finally pledged his international future to England, Rice has won three senior Republic of Ireland caps, all in friendlies, having played for his grandparents' country ever since he was a youngster. In August the London born central defender said he needed time to decide his future, as winning a competitive cap for the Republic would have tied him to that country.

It is hard to imagine the consequences and how far reaching the effect of the long term serious injury sustained by Manuel Lanzini while training with the Argentine national team ahead of last summer's FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Manuel Pellegrini has taken his West Ham squad to Malaga where they will spend four days of warm weather training before returning to London, the break is intended to provide recovery time for some of the club’s injured players and the Hammers boss expects to have Samir Nasri back from his calf injury against Fulham, while Manuel Lanzini and Fabian Balbuena could also return in that game.

Crystal Palace : Guaita, Wan-Bissaka, Kelly, Sakho, Van Aanholt, McArthur, Milivojevic, Schlupp, Townsend, Zaha, Benteke Subs: Hennessey, Ward, Dann, Meyer, Ayew, Batshuayi, Sako
West Ham : Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Rice, Antonio, Anderson, Snodgrass, Hernandez Subs: Adrian, Zabaleta, Arnautovic, Carroll, Obiang, Masuaku, Diangana

As we go in to the business end of the season, Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini will be secretly content with what he has achieved so far, despite a catastrophic injury list that almost beggars belief. The 'Charming Man' has had to negotiate the difficult task of taking what was a disparate set of players and moulding them in to a team of believers with a big club mentality.

The angry bigoted man images of the abuse hurled at Liverpool's Mo Salah during Hammers 1-1 draw with the match officials has received plenty of coverage and rightly so, normally rational people, in a similar way to some car drivers can suddenly become either vile or monstrous or both in just a split second. In no way do we countenance such behaviour, however we do need to look at the root of the problem, and there is a problem but it is one born out of ignorance and fear, not generally loathing.

Apologies to Hammers fans for having Harry Kane's 'boat' on our front page, but this charity is worthy of attention. Willow is the only national charity working with seriously ill 16 to 40 year olds to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable Special Days. For some their Special Day is the opportunity to return some normality to their lives. For others it is the last chance to fulfil a dream.

Manchester City fans quickly labeled then manager Manuel Pellegrini 'This Charming Man', after the Smiths song of the same name, no one doubted that he was capable of being tough when required, but his overall demeanor was of an accomplished and relaxed man who more often than not had a smile on his face. Pelle set City up to be the club they are today, him along with the owners many millions of course, but in essence he oversaw the recruitment, the relocation of the training ground as well as the infrastructure of the youth system.

West Ham: Fabianski, Cresswell, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Rice, Noble, Anderson, Snodgrass, Hernandez, Antonio. Subs: Adrian, Zabaleta, Carroll, Obiang, Masuaku, Perez, Diangana.
Liverpool: Alisson, Robertson, Matip, van Dijk, Milner, Lallana, Keita, Fabinho, Salah, Mane, Firmino. Subs: Mignolet, Sturridge, Moreno, Shaqiri, Origi, Jones, Camacho.