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West Ham United have been given a home game against Birmingham City in the 3rd round draw of the FA Cup. Co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold were the owners of Birmingham before selling off there holding ahead of buying West Ham. The match is due to be played at 3pm on Saturday the 5th of January 2019 at the London Stadium, although the kick off is television coverage dependant.

Helter Skelter, the Water Wheel, the Loop-the-Loop, the Runaway Train, the See Saw and the Trap Door could all be descriptions of Hammers early season form and it's possible consequences instead of being the name of snooker holes. Fast forward to now and what is blatantly obvious is the team spirit shining through the squad, they have bought in to Manuel Pellegini's philosophy and are now beginning to see the benefit of their belief.

How many times in the past have West Ham achieved a great result and then followed it with capitulation to a team that they should beat? The answer is plenty, it is so long since Hammers won consecutive Premier League fixtures that Brexit voting was something on the horizon!

When Marko Arnoutovic helped bury Stoke City last season, their manager at the time Mark Hughes was 'less than pleased', he was particularly vociferous during the match at the Bet 365 Stadium where it was not necessary to be a lip reader in order to get the gist of his opinion of the player his club sold to West Ham for £24 Million. As a result of the minor verbal altercation Hughes was warned of his behaviour by the FA and the matter seemed to be forgotten, that was until the next meeting when unpleasantries were exchanged again.

After nearly two years West Ham United's Scottish winger Robert Snodgrass has finally been accepted by players, owners and fans alike as a true Hammer. Funny old game is football, Manuel Pellegrini saw enough about 30 year old Snodgrass to want to keep him at the club as opposed to selling him to Aston Villa who were very keen to reain his services given how well he had done there on a season's long loan.

Newcastle Utd: Dubravka, Yedlin, Fernandez, Schar, Manquillo, Ki, Diame, Ritchie, Kenedy, Rondon, Perez. Subs: Woodman, Clark, Lascelles, Shelvey, Joselu, Atsu, Longstaff
West Ham Utd: Fabianski, Cresswell, Balbuena, Diop, Zabaleta, Noble, Rice, Snodgrass, Anderson, Arnautovic, Hernandez. Subs: Adrian, Carroll, Obiang, Wilshere, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Perez

Take it with whichever size grain of salt you like, but there is a particularly worrying story on social media regarding the fitness, or lack of it, of Hammers striker Andy Carroll.

The media do love a good story whether there is any truth in it or not, nowadays it is called fake news, back in the day it was just known as bovine excreta or words to that effect.

Manuel Pellegrini has been very clear to state that he is not seeking to sell any players during the January transfer window, he has actually inferred that he wants to bring 'a couple more. The only fly in the ointment being that the Hammers hierarchy have sent a clear message that any incomings will have to be financed by outgoing player sales and possibly loan fees, after all it isn't as if they haven't backed their manager up already in the transfer market but enough is enough.

The usual scenario when Hammers striker Andy Carroll returns from one of his perrenial long term injuries is that he comes back for a couple of games, gets his Mojo back, plays a blinder and then picks up yet another injury, usually a long term one! The process of recovery then begins again as he takes back his permanently reserved place in the Kieron Dyer memorial ward of the club's medical facilities, however Carroll's potential return was temporarily suspended despite him being fit and available for the Manchester City game, was this part of a cunning plan?