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Get it Right This Time Round!

No doubt the board will have learnt from their mistakes in 2010-11 and will ensure that they do quality business in the summer window and, hopefully, just make minor adjustments/supplements next January, You will recall that in the last season in the PL we did not do satisfactory business that summer, with Hitzlsperger, Obinna, etc, and subsequently it rebounded on us. While understanding the key imperative around reducing the club's debt, there needs to be a sensible balance struck with the necessity to strengthen the squad. Otherwise, we could face a struggle next season and no one wants that. I personally agree with Allardyce's point that the start to the season is crucial, do well over the first 10 matches and you are far less likely to struggle, do poorly in that opening phase and it is almost guaranteed.

I remain optimistic that we have the core of a squad that can perform in the PL. Green (if he stays?), Demel, Nolan, Tomkins, Noble, Collison, Taylor and Cole are all of PL quality.The likes of Henderson, Vaz Te, Maynard, Baldock and Reid all have promise and there is every possibility that they can adapt to the quality and pace of PL football. Whilst there is also much promise amongst our younger players, with Hall, Montano, Moncur, Potts and even Spence pushing for selection next season. And below them there is a rich vein of talent waiting to come to the fore in the shape of Elliott Lee, Voce and co. That collectively gives us a core to work with, But it needs supplementing with experienced and quality additions in a number of key positions.

No doubt David Sullivan has commenced work on Sam Allardyce's wish list of transfer tragets. And there are some real gems up for grabs/potentially available this summer. The names are well documented, in defence Clyne is available at Palace, Johnson at Wolves and Olsson at WBA. In the wide positions, players like Jarvis at Wolves, Hollett and Gast Pedersen at Blackburn Rovers are similarly available. In midfield and up front, players such as Mark Davies at Bolton and Stephen Fletcher at Wolves could be usual additions. Two Championship players that I think are well worth a gamble are Snodgrass at Leeds Utd and Andy King at Leicester City, I rate both players highly and feel that they are more than overdue a chance in the top tier. Other Championship players also worhy of a gamble include Bechio at Leeds Utd and Thomas Ince at Blackpool. And no doubt Sam Allardyce will also have his sights set on some overseas transfer targets. In particular, expect him to pull a rabbit out of the hat with an experienced, top European name who is ready for a stab at the PL in the latter part of his career. We saw him bring a number of players like that in to Bolton Wanderers and they all did a good job.

Anyway, the links with players are coming fast and furious. Lets hope that we can pick up a few of the aforementioned players and really strengthen the squad. That is undoubtedly necessary, but in doing so, lets not forget the claims of our own kids. The likes of Hall and Potts should get more game time next season, especially in the cup competitions. While, what would also be really handy is if a player like Spence or Montano were to undergo a 'Brooking like transformation' and start turning their potential in to actuality!

Regardless, it should be an interesting summer of transfer business, lets just hope the board have learnt their lessons and understand that it is a very dangerous game to try to survive in the PL on the cheap!

SJ. Chandos.

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The Great West Ham Clearout Begins

West Ham annonced this morning that six players will be released when their contracts end on 30 June. They are Julien Faubert, Abdoulaye Faye, Papa Bouba Diop, John Carew, Frank Nouble and Olly Lee.

I have little doubt that if we hadn't been promoted Faye, Nouble and Diop would have been retained, and perhaps Faubert would have been offered a new deal. Let's look at them in turn.

Julien Faubert on his day could be a fantastic player, but we still don't know whether he was really a right back or a right hand side midfielder. His crosses could be belters or just plain awful. There's no doubt, he did have some great games this season, but he seemed to go off the boil at just the wrong time. But his value to the side was seen on Saturday in the Play-off final when he really shored up a very suspect right hand side. We wish him well.

Abdoulaye Faye had a great season but latterly he has been eclipsed by the form of Winston Reid. He really is a man mountain and I am sure will do a great job for a Championship side next season. He was never going to stay if we go promoted, though. He has great positional instincts and I remember some briliantly timed crunching tackles. Abdoulaye, we will miss you.

John Carew never really had a run. He scored a couple of early goals, and was always difficult for opponents to play against. But he always looked a little heavy and not quite fit. That was when he wasn't injured. Its difficult to feel sad at his departure because we didn't really see much of him. He only made 7 starts, scoring 2 goals.

Papa Bouba Diop is another man mountain who I was more impressed by than I expected to be. He made 14 appearances, scoring 1 goal. He specialised in playing the holding role in a 5 man midfield, and very effective he was too. Of all the six, I thought he might be offered a new contract.

The other two players to be released are youth team graduates who never quite made it into the first team. Frank Nouble looked to be quite an exciting prospect, and has played well at Gillingham on loan, which is where I suspect he will now be heading. Olly Lee has been out at Dagenham but it appears he doesn't have what it takes to graduate to a higher level. They go with our very best wishes for the future.

I suspect this is not the end ot the departures. I think Joey O'Brien and Sam Baldock may well go, although in Baldock's case, I hope it is only on loan. I'd also like to see us sell Gary O'Neil, but he does seem to be a favourite of Sam Allardyce. We shall see.

* Apologies for the hideous amount of typos in the original post. I typed it on my Blackberry.

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Vaz Te Considering his Options?

The Daily Express/Daily Star have reported that Ricardo Vaz Te will consider his options if the right move comes along. While admitting that he is currently happy at West Ham, and acknowledging that he still has two years left on his contract, Vaz Te is quoted as stating that he will consider olffers, especially if they come from his native Portugal. Anything in it? Well, it is only in the Express stable of papers and their football coverage is not the best. So, there is a good chance that he has been quoted out of context or misquoted. If not, Mr Vaz Te might be well advised to show that he can do 'the business' in the PL with West Ham before he starts fishing for other offers. Or perhaps it is all about nudging West Ham in to offering him a new, improved contract. After all, the club does not want to lose another natural goal scorer, following Demba Ba's exit last summer, because they do not have him tied to the right contract, do they!

Elsewhere, we are being linked wth a number of players: including Arsenal keeper Fabianski, WBA centre back Olsson, Wolves centre-back Johnson, Sunderland winger Richardson and Crystal Palace's right-back, Clyne. Other rumours centre on signing Robinson from Blackburn Rovers or a possible free transfer move for Gordon, who has recently been released by Sunderland. While it seems largely a formality that a deal will be struck with Sunderland to make George McCartney's move permanent. What will be interesting is the outcome of Henri Lansbury's show down talks with Wenger about his Arsenal future. If Lansbury does not get the assurances that he is seeking then surely West Ham will make a bid to bring him to Upton Park?

The latest news on Robert Green's future is that he has opened negotiations with the club on a new contract. Rumour has it that he is asking for £40,000 a week wages and that is a bit too strong for the club's taste. Yet, another report states that they are considering signing Paul Rolbinson on, yes you knew it, a £40,000 a week contract. Why not just bite the bullet and sign up Greeno? Elsewhere, they have moved quickly to finalise a deal to sign the promising Henderson from Portsmouth. That could prove to be a very good deal indeed.

It will also be interesting to see who is on West Ham's released player's list, due to be announced shortly. Favourites to be released are veterans Faye, Diop, Carew and Piquionne. Although players like Faubert might also be included? We shall see?

Oh well, we have not been linked with Yakubu as yet, but its probably only a matter of time.

SJ. Chandos.

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My West Ham Memorabilia: A Letter From John Lyall

GUEST POST BY DECLAN HEALY

I was looking through some old books and programmes this week and found my copy of ‘Just like my dreams’ by John Lyall, inside it was a copy of a letter sent to me by the great man himself after his dismissal in 1989. It was a very honest and sincere letter which was sent to me after I wrote to him when he was sacked ! Although brief it restored my faith in the club, having supported the club since 1975 who had just sacked the man who’d been at the helm for all this time, I had become disillusioned with West Ham briefly!

Back in the 88-89 season West Ham hadn’t exactly set the world alight. From almost winning the league in 1986 things had gone gradually down hill – the family jewels (Cottee and McAvennie) had been sold, things were looking bleak. As an Economics student living in Lancashire at the time I saw a haul of 0 from a potential 9 points from the north west fixtures I attended – the final being a 5-1 thrashing at Anfield by Liverpool, the eventual champions - or so we thought !! West Ham were relegated 2nd bottom of the old 1st division – Oxford, Plymouth, Port Vale all beckoned.

Not long after West Ham sacked their manager of 14 years (servant of club for 34 years). If this were today I wouldn’t have been surprised, this was 1989 however and this man had been at the helm of the club since nailing my colours to the mast in 1975 as an 8 year old. He had always been Manager and the scenario of a West Ham without John Lyall was unthinkable – in between exams I decided to write to him to offer my sympathy, and hoped that perhaps the players may organise a revolt against the club to have him re-instated – as players had done at QPR with Tommy Docherty a number of years previous. The tone of my letter suggested West Ham had lost their traditions and were not now the club I had idolised.

A few weeks went by, no player revolt had taken place, Macari was at the helm ( a manager with no link to our club) and frankly I couldn’t get excited over this appointment and wasn’t in a hurry to make the first home fixture of the 89-90 season – confirmed as Bradford City.

Then a letter dropped through my letter box in mid July with an Essex postmark. On opening it became clear it was from John Lyall responding to my letter sent the previous month. I was surprised he had even read my letter, never mind responding to the points I had raised. The letter re-in forced my view that John Lyall was a true gentleman and despite his treatment didn’t want fans to give up on the club – I didn’t take much persuading back from the wilderness.

If I could describe John Lyall it would be the ‘Ron Greenwood of the Grange Hill Generation’. This man had turned a lanky Liverpublian kid and a QPR/Crystal Palace reject (Alvin Martin and Alan Devonshire) into England Internationals, persuaded the King – Trevor Brooking – to remain at the club for 3 seasons in the 2nd division and took the club to the brink of the 1st division title together with winning 2 FA Cups in his time as manager and reaching the finals of a European competition. He turned the unlikeliest of players into crowd heros – players who are revered to this day such as David Cross, Frank McAvennie, and Pop Robson amongst dozens – and he did all this whilst not compromising the traditions of the Academy of Football.

Who knows, maybe the traditions of the club mentioned by Mr Lyall in his letter will one day return.

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In Praise of Carlton Cole

Those of you who follow Carlton Cole on Twitter (@CarltonCole1) will have been fascinated by his tweets in recent weeks. His personality shines through. And his commitment to West Ham is also vey apparent. Here are a few from the last few days...

i'll tell u a lil secret I've been playing with an injury for the last 8 weeks but there was no way i wasn't showing up ....

i finished the season strongly i hope to start next season stronger.....

i was literally driven to stoke but thats a story that stays where it is i never asked or wanted to go ... #nothingagainststoke

i was taught when someone invites you into their home you treat it like its your own west ham have shown me a home #settled

I have sometimes been a big critic of Carlton Cole, but for me he has now come of age. Sam Allardyce is now getting out of him the same level of performance that Zola did. Cole is a confidence player. If a manager and a team show confidence in him, he will repay them. He has never been, and probably never will be, a prolific goalscorer. He should have got 20 goals this season, but we should remember that his 15 goals have come in only 31 starts. In his entire West Ham career he has scored 46 league goals from 130 starts - a ratio of a goal every 2.8 games. If you include substitue appearances it goes down to 1 in 4.2.

Watching Carlton Cole in recent games, he has scored some fantastic goals. really skilful ones. Not just tap ins, but difficult to score goals. I have always thought he needs a nippy striker to feed off him. Unofrtunately we haven't really seen enough of Baldock and Maynard to make a judgement. Someone like Defoe would revel in playing off Cole. A lot of the crowd underestimate Cole's abiity to hold up the ball and bring others into play. It's a part of his game that he has developed well. He has a languidity which can be mistaken for not trying. But no one should doubt the effort Cole puts in. His battling qualities were evident on Saturday and we have seen a lot of them throughout the season.

I was watching the celebrations on Saturday with great interest and it was clear both from his reaction to the win and his interviews afterwards that this meant everything to Carlton Cole. His revelation today that he took a 50% pay cut last season says a lot about him. He seems genuinley committed to us and as fans we should continue to recognisee that.

It is clear that we need a goalscorer next season. Cole cannot carry the burden alone. People are talking about Berbatov and Joe Cole. We'll see. But I for one want to keep Carlton Cole and build on the excellent form he has shown of late.

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Goalkeeper Signs

It has been announced that Stephen Henderson has completed a permanent deal to stay at Upton Park following his loan spell. The 24 year old Republic of Ireland Under 21 international has yet to make a full appearance for the Hammers, but impressed during his 25 first team appearances at Portsmouth, when he ousted Jamie Ashdown. He was called up to the full Irelad squad in February for the first time.

Clearly no one knows if Rob Green will be at the club next season or not. If he isn't, it is hard to think of Henderson as a full time replacement, but he will be a very able deputy.

More on Stephen Henderson HERE

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Five Minutes With David Sullivan

Here's a free podcast of a 5 minute interview with David Sullivan that I did during my LBC radio show this morning. We talk about what happened yesterday at Wembley, the Olympic Stadium and holding on to Robert Green.

Click HERE to listen.

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Mission Accomplished - As 'Ruthlessness' Makes the Difference in the £90m Match!

Well, it was not the performance that we had anticipated, but we just about did enough to deliver the win. West Ham looked quite uncertain in the opening 15-20 minutes,as Blackpool cut through our rearguard three times to create clear scoring chances. The problem for the Seasiders was that they missed all three. In contrast, West Ham scored with their first chance, as Taylor did very well to find Carlton Cole in the box. Cole then showed real class to control and convert the chance.

Blackpool, to their credit, caused us a lot of problems, as Matt Phillips and Thomas Ince used their pace to 'get at' Demel and Taylor. Phillips gave Demel at torrid time at right-back, while Ince also gave Taylor problems on the opposite flank. Thankfully, the Tomkins-Reid central defensive partnership stood firm, as Blackpool put us firmly on the back foot defensively. And we made it through to half-time with our 1-0 lead intact.

However, Pool's two wide men combined, at the beginning of the second half, to grab a well taken equaliser. And for the next 10-15 minutes or so West Ham rocked as they were caught on the ropes. This was the most dangerous period for us in the whole match, this was when the Final could have been lost. Thankfully, Sam Allardyce took decisive action to stabilise the ship and get us back into the match. Basically, he took off O'Neill and brought on the ever reliable George McCartney to deal with Ince and, then, replaced the struggling Demel with the pacy Faubert. For me, those tactical substitutions were the decisive turning point in the match. Suddenly, Ince was getting 'no change' out of old campaigner McCartney and Phillips was up against a player, in Faubert, who could match him for pace. At the same time, Taylor was pushed forward to concentrate upon delivering his accurate balls in to the Pool penalty area. And Blackpool suddenly lost the initiative that they had enjoyed, but had failed to exploit sufficently to win the match.

McCartney really is a good player for us. He has been outstanding, in his consistency, this season. Not only did he neutralise Ince's threat, but also started to drive forward to supoort Taylor in attacks along the left flank. Reid-Tomkins were put under pressure at times, but stood up to it well. Tonkins won ball after ball at the back and was also a constant threat at set peices; while the underrated Winston Reid saved the day on more than one occasion. Rob Green made a couple of crucial saves, particularly the one from Dobbie early in the first half. Nolan worked tiredlessly and put in a real Captain's performance. He almost scored with a wicked volley that struck the bar and, of course, played in the ball that led to the winner. Collison and O'Neill grafted tirelessly, but the Hammers' midfield unit did not function as proficiently as usual in this match. This also applied to Mark Noble, who failed to shine as he has done for most of this season. He did, however, stick at his task and made a crucial goal line clearance in the second half. While Matt Taylor made a huge contribution with his 'pin point' balls forward, but definitely looked most effective when McCartney's introduction afforded him the opportunity to get in to more advanced positions along the left flank.

Up front, Carlton Cole had an excellent game. He was lively and a constant danger to Blackpool's rearguard. His goal was taken with clinical class. Similarly, the second half shot on the turn nearly secured him a second goal and had class stamped through it like a stick of Southend (or should that be Blackpool) rock. Finally, his shot and folow up challenge was instrumental in creating the winner. Vaz Te had one of his quieter games, but still had a couple of decent efforts, including one that went narrowly wide, which would have put us 2-0 up.. But it is the mark of a good striker that they can have a relatively quiet match for 80 odd minutes and then pop up with a winning goal. And so it proved to be, as Vaz Te was in the right place, at the right time, to pick up the knock-on by Cole and convert with aplomb, via a powerful strike in to the roof of the net in the 87th minute. .

Then it was merely a case of holding on and seeing out the remaining 7 minutes of normal and extra time. Blackpool threw everything at us, but we held firm and obtained a crucial victory to secure a return to the PL at the first time of asking.

As previously stated, it was not a great performance by West Ham. We rode our luck at times, but ultimately it is the result that matters in Play-Offs Finals. Although not playing particularly well, we held it together, worked hard and secured a £90m win. Blackpool gave it their best shot, but they could not land the big knock out punch. And the big difference was ultimately quality in the final third, Pool were wasteful and inefficient, whereas we were clinical and, yes, 'ruthless' in taking our opportunities. In that respect, Cole and Vaz Te should take great credit for the quality of their finishing. Hopefully, Carlton Cole will return to the PL a more consistent player; while there is an intriguing question as to just how good Vaz Te will prove to be? He is outstanding at Championship level and, hopefully, he will also excel against PL defences. We will only discover the answer to that question next season, but there is a strong possbility that West Ham have uncovered a real gem of a striker in Mr Vaz Te.

So it is mission accomplished, it was nervous and uncomfortable at times, but we got there in the end. And the atmosphere and victory celebrations were truly memorable. And so, we will now bask in the glory of promotion for a while, until everyone's attention gradually turns to next season and squad strengthening in the summer transfer window. But for now, that can wait. COYI!

SJ. Chandos. .

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My Wonderful Day at Wembley

Oh West Ham we love you. Despte you making us tear our hair out, despite you being the most wonderful but frustrating team, we still come back for more. And today showed both sides of West Ham, but who cares? We are Premier League, I say we are Premier League! And there were many times today when I thought that wasn't going to to happen. And if were honest, we could so easily have lost today. You could say that class showed in the end, and you might have a point, but at times in this game, Blackpool were all over us, especially the middle period of the second half. At times they cut through our defence like butter, but we survived. Indeed, shortly after Carlton Cole's opener, Vaz Te had a good chance to put us two up. His shot went slightly wide of the post. If that had gone in, I suspect we'd have chalked up another hatful. But credit to Blackpool, they fought and fought and they nearly did us over.

My day started at my parents' home at Ashdon, near Saffron Walden. I got up and instantly felt nervous. Four of us were going - my Blackpool supporting Dad and another friend of his, Dennis Peach, who's also a Blackpool supporter - and a Hammers supporting schoolfriend of mine, John Bidwell. We'd booked a car to pick us up at 10. It turned out to be a Skoda. Great. Just what I always wanted to travel to Wembley in. And the driver decided to go the scenic route. Even greater. We had arranged to meet some other friends under the Bobby Moore statue at 11.45. It soon became clear that would be an ambitious target. Not only had we got a driver whose familiarity with SatNav proved illusory, but he hadn't got a clue where to go when we actually had the Wembley Arc in our sights. My Dad is 82 so I needed to get as close to the stadium as possible as he's not so sharp on his pins. Eventually we got there, and my bloodpressure was racing. I managed not to quite tell the driver what I thought, sorely tempted though I was. Manners won out in the end.

We slowly made our way up to the statue, my Dad having to climb countless steps to do so. We then made our way up to the Club Wembley area- thankfully via escalators. My Dad hadn't been to Wembley since 1948 and his eyes were on stalks. I had only been to a concert in the new Wembey. Before we went into the Arc restaurant to eat, we took a peek at tthe pitch. It looked perfect. I have to say the food wasn't worth the price, but it was nice to be able to relax before going to our seats. We decided to forego the half time drinks and stay in our seats. We were about the only ones to do so! Most of the people near us weren't even back for the Blackpool goal. But I am getting ahead of myself.

The first twenty minutes didn't see a single free kick given. Blackpool probably had the better of that period, mainly because we weren't getting stuck in. Indeed, I don't recall a single West Ham shot, while Blackpool had a couple of good chances. I began to get nervous, mainly because we normally start so strongly. Nothing was happening in midfield and we just couldn't get our passing game together. But we started to improve and had a succession of corners. Cole started to impose himself on the game and it was he who scored the opener after a wonderfully flighted ball into the box which Cole broguht down and volleyed into the net. It reminded me a little of David Platt's goal against Belgium in the 1990 World Cup. A few minutes later Vaz Te slid the ball wide when it looked easier to score. Half time. 10. We were feeling slightly lucky to be ahead.

By this time West Ham fans were in full voice. Even in the Blackpool end, where I was, there were loads of West Ham fans. What a shame (and a scandal) it was that there were so many empty seats in the Blackpool end. That should never happen again.

Only three minutes into the second half and Cole gave the ball on the half way line and Thomas Ince (so of Paul) ran into the penalty area and slotted the ball home diagonally past Rob Green. Terrible defending. Ince got loads of boos, which I thought was a bit off. It's not justified to visit the sins of the father on his son, but there you go. This started a purple patch for Blackpool and they could easily have had a couple more goals. But they didn't and that's the main thing. We weathered a prolonged storm and it was only when we reached the 70th minute that we gradually got back into it. I looked at the clock. Eighty One minutes. "If we get one now, we'll win this," I thought to mysef, having previously been convinced that Blackpool were going to win through. Kevin Nolan [I mistakenly said it was Faubert earlier] hit a screamer of a volley which hit the bar. Come on You Irons, And then he did it. Ricardo Vaz Te hit a rebound high into the net and that was it. Apart from a very marginal penalty appeal, Blackpool never looked like scoring. We did the professional thing and kept the ball well. Eventually, after a totally unjusified 4 minutes of injury time the whistle went, and the party started. Winning promotion via the playoffs probably means more than automatic promotion. Neither Reading nor Southampton had a party like ours in full view of a national TV audience, let alone in front of 78,000 people. It really did feel like winning the cup. Carlton Cole reacted like he won the lottery - and perhaps he has. It clearly meant a lot to him. After the presentations, he led the jollifications on the pitch. Onne slightly jarring note was the way Ricardo Vaz Te didn't join in and headed straight down the tunnel on his own. I'm not quite sure what to read into that. The other players stayed on the pitch for a good 20 minutes after he disappeared.

By this stage I had shouted myself hoarse, which is not a good thing when you have to present a three hour radio show in the morning. Anyway, we went back to the resturant for a few drinks and a bit more food before I managed to have a very loud disagreement with a Jobsworh Wembley steward who wouldn't let us eave the stadium on the same level as the Bobby Moore statue. I explained that I couldn't expect my 82 year old Dad to walk up two lots of very long stairs again. He still wouldn't open the door and let us out, so I am afraid the Dale temper was on full display. An unpleasant end to a fantastic Wembley experience. We eventually got to the waiting car and I waived off my Dad and his friends back to Essex, while I queued for the tube to get into central London.

And of course there are now so many questions. What effect will our promotion have on our planned Olympic Stadium move? Which players will leave? Who will Sam want to sign? How much are season tickets going to rise to? All those questions are for the next few weeks. For now, let's bask in the glory of today and revel in the victory. But let's also empathise with Blackpool. They have the makings of a really good team. They play great football and they gave us a real game today.

We are Premier League, I say we are Premier League!

Green 7 - Looked very safe in what could be his final Hammers appearance
Demel 4 - Shocker.
Tomkins 7 - Given Man of the Match
Reid 6 - Solid
Taylor - 7 Great cross for the first goal
Noble 6 - Industrious as ever. Better corners than usual.
Nolan 7 - Great effort, seemed to be everywhere
O'Neil 4 - Not up to par at all.
Collison 4 - Ditto
Vaz Te - 6 Not one of his better efforts, but yet another vital goal!
Cole 7 - Always a nuisance. Scored from more or less his only chance
McCartney 6 - Solid
Faubert 6 - Looked very comfortable. Super volley.

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Match Thread: West Ham v Blackpool

Please use this thread to comment on the match as it progresses.

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