The Blog is back - and so is losing at Stratford. No doubt this blog will be more difficult to produce as time goes by. Myself, and anyone else who have chosen to create West Ham related content (horrible word!) can see less and less to talk about, with fans travelling to the Stratford Doom Bowl seeing less and less to enjoy.
This week sees a real ignition of the Sporting calendar with Spring arriving. Cheltenham Races, The Start of Formula One, The Players Golf Championship, The League Cup Final...
Premier League Football features further down the menu. There is nothing too fresh on this plate. It's yesterday's vegetable lasagne. Nourishing, but only really featuring to make an option for the limited diet. Let's be honest, Everton v West Ham isn't exactly a sizzling plate of King Prawns.
The Premier League need to be careful. This product is stale and done in early March. It doesn't matter if you serve up Michelin Star food, if the restaurant is a filthy mess, people aren't coming.
Which brings me onto Monday's serving...
Fan speculation before Monday's visit of Newcastle was that Eddie Howe's men would be taking it easy with one eye on next weekend's Cup Final. They were right. It was however, still enough to take three points at Stratford.
I could stop the review there really, but I suppose we should be looking out for green shoots, for next season. It is Spring after all.
After a considerate pause for positive syntax, I'm wondering if the earth is really fertile enough. We are certainly throwing plenty of shit down out there, but there will be a long and nervous wait for colour in the garden.
I suppose the previous paragraph could be a bit unfair. We could have walked away with three consecutive wins, and after 25 minutes I thought we looked solid and stable. The only problem with the solid and stable spell, is that it looked familiar. The other two managers of the last 9 months have employed the same tactic. I'll let you decide the amount of success.
I really don't know what to take from the game. Every team seems to play the same now, with fear of losing possession overtaking the glory of the old fashioned game. I can't just blame West Ham for that, and I'm gonna try to give the club an easier time in this blog. Premier League football needs to shoulder some blame.
As promised, in the absence of my own tactical knowledge, I would defer to the ex players. The first response to last night's game was:
It aint a keep ball game it's football. Score goals and you win, get up front quickly, everyone supports, get it in the mixer go for their throats. Don't give them time. kill them with hard work. kick um - upset anyone that moves. terrorise them. Old fashioned game no one does it. keep ball? fuck that.
Anyone disagree? His team mates didn't. Another, who is now a season ticket holder added:
50% of season ticket holders have fallen out since the move from Upton Park. No wonder there’s no atmosphere, keep ball don’t excite you and get you off your seat. Put the thing in the box. You don’t need someone as good in the air as Alvin anymore because no one crosses it in the box or sends it up the middle. Our stadium is full of Johnny come latelys. No wonder it’s quiet. You build the passion naturally from standing on a box or sitting on your dad’s shoulders at five years old not sitting there with your popcorn
I admit, I wasn't expecting this, and this will definitely be something I will revisit.
The good news of concession restoration, and season ticket price freezing, is now being reinterpreted as a payoff for austere times for a while. I'm all for cutting wages, and changes need to be made for Potter to add his fingerprint. I expect more of the same for a while. If the Premier League want to make everything about money, then you are gonna see clubs adjust strategically to that.
So another short blog is nearly complete, and I have some Trevor McDonald style positivity to end on. I did make a gentleman's agreement not to upset West Ham United Football Club Limited for the following news, and I would like to think I have been easy on them this week.
The good people at Arsenal have commemorated our own Steve Bacon, with a plaque on their photographers room at The Emirates Stadium. They didn't want it shared on social media, as they were fearful of the response towards West Ham, and didn't want to be seen causing trouble.
Arsenal have also made similar dedications to Tottenham photographers, it's one of the things that they do privately.
The flow of Football isn't all one way, towards wealth and... well I don't really know where the flow is taking us. There are also plenty of people involved who do good things. That seems like a good place to end it today. It's only a game after all. Football should remember that.
Enjoy your Week. Len x
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