westhamfans.org

West Ham United and David Moyes's search for a new striker is similar to a long running soap, EastEnders perhaps? The same old characters disappear, and then emerge again once they have faded from the observers short term memory, and Chelsea's Tammy Abraham is no exception.

It was almost inevitable that the injuries players have sustained would eventually catch up with West Ham, it was indeed unfortunate that fate complied to exacerbate the situation with an absolutely calamitous Hammers first half performance against Newcastle. The key stone cops first goal swiftly followed by Dawson's second yellow was a mere portent of what was to come.

Newcastle: Dubravka, Fernandez, Clark, Dummett, Murphy, Shelvey (c), S. Longstaff, Ritchie, Saint-Maximin, Almiron, Joelinton Subs: Gillespie (GK), Carroll, Gayle, Wilson, Lewis, Hendrick, Krafth, Manquillo, Willock
West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Diop, Dawson, Ogbonna, Johnson, Noble (c), Soucek, Fornals, Lingard, Bowen Subs: Trott (GK), Martin (GK), Alves, Balbuena, Fredericks, Coventry, Lanzini, Yarmolenko, Benrahma

Ahead of Hammers 'next cup final', the words used by Mark Noble to describe the sequence of seven games that will determine the club's European destiny, a crumb of 'injury' comfort has been revealed, it may be conjecture or 'porkies' but David Moyes stated the following in his pre-match presser this morning.

Part of the function of an 'elite' football manager is to be able to detach oneself from the previous incumbent and all their associated errors, this involves developing 'blinkers' with regards to the purchase price paid for players by the outgoing manager.

The last Hundred Yards is always the hardest to complete in any distance running, race leaders can be caught agonisingly close to the finish line as the rest of the pack sail past them, and it is much the same in elite football. Irrespective of where West Ham United finish in this season's Barclays Premier League, fans can be rightly proud of how their team has 'duked it out' with the big boys, despite having the least well equipped squad to deal with the challenge.

David Moyes's reluctance in using Conor Coventry alongside Tomas Soucek has perplexed many Hammers fans, but credit where due, captain Mark Noble has stepped up to the plate and put in a couple of stellar performances. Unfortunately he has joined what has become a burgeoning list of injured players for the medical team to deal with.

They knew it wasn't a case of if, but when, the medical emergencies would begin to rack up at Hammers' Rush (Goose) Green treatment room, and so it has come to pass. Apart from Michail Antonio's specially cordoned off 'hamstring area', due to the almost perpetual need to leave the space free in order to accommodate his huge thighs, there is the Yarmo (not there) crypto trade complex funded by his £115,000 per week wages.

'Sir' Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore, the greatest defender of all time, was born this day in 1941. Sadly England's World Cup winning captain succumbed to cancer, and despite battling bravely, died on the 24th of February 1993.

In recent years a new breed of successful football players have become much younger, and the stars we see can only get better with age. Just imagine: Erling Haaland is just 20, Killian Mbappe is 22, so their potential peak is in the future. And there are so many examples of leaders in PL teams below 23 years old, like Bukayo Saka (19, Arsenal), Phil Foden (20, Manchester City) or Mason Mount (22, Chelsea), that you should be ready to support talents from the very young age.