We are all bouyed up after the Aston Villa result, and the prospect of climbing to twelfth place should be enough to gee up the players – as if they should need it.

It seems likely that both Carlton Cole and Herita Ilunga will miss the match after having to go off in the first half against Villa. Jonathan Spector is likely to replace Ilunga, although it would be good to see Fabio Daprela. It’s also clear that Zavon Hines will replace Cole. They are very different types of players, so a shift in formation may be required, with Franco taking on the role of central striker and target man. I’m sure Diamanti will be frustrated not to be in the starting lineup, but his turn will surely come. I don’t see that happening tomorrow as it is difficult to see who Zola would drop from the midfield four – especially after Mark Noble came back to form on Wednesday.

It would also be astonishing if Da Costa didn’t keep his place after his more than impressive performance on Wednesday. Tomkins is one of my favourite players, but I’d like to see Da Costa get a run of a few games so he can show us what he is made of.

So I’d expct the lineup to be Green, Da Costa, Upson, Spector, Faubert, Nible, Parker, Collison, Behrami, Franco, Hines.

Prediction: 2-0

Glass half full, or half empty?!

For my part I will particularly remember the sacrifice my 19 year old great uncle who was killed on a Lancaster bombing raid over Nazi Germany.  He died after completing 30 bombing raids and volunteering for extra missions due to flight crew shortages.  His death occurred on what was supposed to be his final extra mission in late March 1945, just mere weeks from the end of the war. 

I still treasure his Flight Engineer’s log book, medals, photographs and a war time collection of letters to his family back home in East London.  I have also visited his war grave in Germany.   One of the single most moving and poignant experiences of my entire life.

Many of you probably also have family and friends that you think of on Remembrance Sunday.  Including those who may have fallen in more recent or current conflicts such as Northern Ireland, The Falklands, Iraq or Afganistan.   

On the eve of this Remembrance Sunday,  I would like to tell the story of a lost Hammers Hero, Arthur Stallard.   Arthur was spotted as a highly promising young striker with Chatham Town .   He signed for the Hammers in April 1913, supposedly to replace the great Hammers goal scoring idol Syd Puddefoot, who was the subject of a pending transfer to Sunderland.  Subsequently, the proposed deal fell through and Puddefoot remained with the club and forged a brief, but very successful forward line partnership with Arthur. 

Stallard made his Hammers debut, deputising for the injured Puddefoot, against Millwall on 14 April 1913, scoring the winner in a  3-2 Boleyn victory.   Such was Arthur’s goal scoring ability that he was to claim the number 9 jersey as his own and Puddefoot moved to inside right to accommodate him.   Stallard proved a sensation as he grabbed an impressive 7 goals in the final 11 matches of the 1914/15 season.  It seemed that the Hammers had unearthed another deadly marksman to rank alongside the likes of Harry Stapley, George Hilsdon, Danny Shea  and the great Puddefoot himself.

However, the horrors of the western front were to rob the Hammers of their new legend in the making.  Stallard joined up to do his duty, but as if to underline his great potential for posterity he was to go on and score a further 17 goals in 23 war time fixtures.  A great goal to game ratio by anyone’s standards.

Those who later remembered him said that Arthur Stallard was an exceptional young talent, who could have gone on to play for England.  But it was not be, as Arthur was killed in France on 30 November 1917, a mere 7 months after scoring what was to be his final goal for the Hammers.

On Sunday wear your poppy with pride, observe the minutes silence and remember the fallen.

As you do so please also spare a thought for Arthur Stallard and the ultimate sacrifice of a lost Hammers hero.  

SJ Chandos.

The report states medical opinion is likely to agree that the ankle injury picked up in training, while on England duty in 2006 is responsible for the premature ending of his promising career.  It would also mean that West Ham would be able to claim the £7.5m for which the club have him insured. 

I have no idea if this story is true, but if it is then West Ham and English football have lost a real footballing talent.   He is probably the most technically gifted English Centre Forward since Teddy Sheringham and a player who should have achieved great things for both club and country.   

As a West Ham fan, schooled on strikers of the ability of Hurst, Goddard and Di Canio, I admire the player’s technical skills and prowess in front of goal.   My fondest memories of Ashton are probably from the 2006 FA Cup run, including his goals against Man City in the quarter-final, his knock down for Harewood’s winner against Boro in the Semi and his goal against Liverpool in that classic Final.   Other Ashton goals that stick in the memory are his fantastic  bicycle kick against Man Utd at Old Trafford and his sharp turn and drive to equalise against Aston Villa in the final home match of the 2007-08  season.

If the report is correct, then I know that my fellow fans on WHID will set aside their frequently aired fustrations and lament the premature loss of a highly talented Hammers striker. 

However, by way of a caveat, it should be noted that at present it is only one isolated report.  As such,  it can only be considered speculative until such time as the player’s retirement is officially confirmed by the football club.

SJ Chandos.

Yet, it has always been clear that this squad has enough quality to carry us in to the top half of the table.  If there is a concern  it is probably with the balance of the squad, with the goal keeper and full-back positions being covered by inexperienced, but promising youngsters and our true strength in depth being undermined by the long term injury absentees  Ashton, Dyer and Boa Morte.  As long as injuries do not start taking a toll of some of our key players (i.e. Cole and Illunga in the first instance) then our first choice XI and bench should enable us to compete.

Of course we would all have liked to have landed that top notch striker in the summer, but Cole’s amazing transformation continues apace, Franco looks an asset and Hines is shaping up to be an absolute  relevation!  Plus in Nouble and Dixon we have potentially two of the best young strikers in the country.  It may be a bit too early for Nouble, but if he or Dixon come good this season then our striking options could suddenly be multiplied. 

However, what we need is consistency.  Having put a three match unbeaten run together it is vital that we follow up with a minium 4 point haul against Everton and Hull City.   Personally, I feel that we could realistically secure maximum points from those two games.  Everton have injury problems and their form has been chequered this season.  While Hull City appear to be there for the taking with their current abject form.  That would set us up nicely for a tough fought, but ultimately very winnerable home match against Burnley!

We are arguably at a key juncture in our season.  What we need is a continuation of this run of good results to enable us to pull us away from the bottom three and adjust our season’s PL ambitions upwards to European quaification.   In contrast, a defeat against Everton would push us back down in to the danger zone and potentially shatter the new found confidence around the club. 

If draws against Arsenal and Sunderland provided the launch pad, the stunning win against Villa fired the engines and victory over Everton could provide ‘lift off’ to recovery and greater ambition!  As such, it could actually prove a pivotal match, much like Portsmouth away was last season.

Personally, I think it will be lift off !  Why?  Because I think West Ham will show the skill, passion and, ultimately, consistency necessary to continue this current run of positive results!

SJ Chandos.

We must take a lot of positives out of this game, but must also bear in mind the negatives. It was devastating to lose Ilunga and Cole so early and we did well to regroup and recover, especially as we seemed to be playing the referee too.

We hit the ground running and played some sublime one touch quick passing football in the first five minutes. The rest of the first half was fairly even but we always looked dangerous going forward. Cole was having a stormer before he had to go off with a strain. The watching Fabio Capello must have been far more impressed than he would have been by the lump that calls itself Emile Heskey.

We should admit we were lucky with the penalty. I thought Hines was offside when he got the ball. But we’ll take any bit of luck that comes our way. I didn’t fancy Noble to do the business, even though he was having a good game. But do the business he most certainly did! A brilliant penalty, high into the roof of the net. Villa were unlucky not to equalise with a storming hald volley which Green saw very late but somehow managed to deflect over the crossbar. A storming save.

I thought we went in at half time a little lucky to be one up, but playing relatively well. Five minutes into the second half Villa were awarded a penalty for, well, I haven’t got a clue. Was it because Da Costa climbed onto one of their player’s backs? Buggered if I knew, and no one around me did either. But Green saved yet another penalty and we lived to survive a little longer. But only a few minutes later Ashley Young (by far their best player) hit what I assume was a Konchesky like hopeful cross, and it sailed in over Green’s head. There was nothing he could do about it.

At that stage I thought we were done for, but not a bit of it. We raised our game and battled hard. Everyone contributed, and even those players who were having an average game lifted themselves. Villa never really got into it. I couldn’t understand why Diamanti wasn’t brought on later in the game, but a few minutes before the end Jimenez replaced the increasingly impressive Franco. I can’t tell you anything about the Hines goal because I didn’t see it! But he played very well, causing constant problems. He won the penalty and had three shots which went close.

The central defenders put in a strong performance. Upson and Da Costa looked good together. Indeed, I thought Da Costa had an absolutely superb game. His tackling and heading were excellent, and hsi distribution wasn’t bad, either. On this form he will give James Tomkins a run for his money. I thought it was odd that Tomkins had been dropped, but on this form I can see why Da Costa was given a chance. Faubert was a but like the curate’s egg. Good in parts. His crossing in the first half was woeful, but much better in the second half. He coped as well as anyone could with Ashley Young. There was one brilliant tackle right on the edge of the area. Jonathan Spector replaced Herita Ilunga and did OK, but always looks out of his depth going forward.

In midfield, Scott Parker took control of the game midway through the second half. He had a couple of hopeful long range shots, but also picked up yet another unnecessary booking. Mark Noble had his best game for some time, but his corners were still lacking any pace and any danger. But he ran his socks off and played some great balls through midfield. Behrami was perhaps a bit quieter than usual, but still put in a battling performance. I thought Jack Collison was also slightly off his game, even though he did some great things from time to time.

Up front Carlton Cole was brilliant until he had to go off after about 20 minutes. Guillermo Franco had his best game so far and is fantastic at holding the ball up and playing some very dangerous through balls. He combines well with Cole and I thought he played excellently. Zavon Hines is an excellent prospect. He’s quick, dangerous and a constant threat. Defenders don’t know what to do with him.

All in all, a brilliant night and hopefully the start of our season proper. This victory shoots us up to 16th and we are now unbeaten in three! If we win on Sunday we could go 12th. Heady heights indeed. So, my scores…

Green 7
Faubert 6
Spector 6
Da Costa 8
Upson 7
Noble 7
Parker 7
Collison 6
Behrami 6
Franco 7
Cole 8
Hines 9

All it means is that if you haven’t actually registered before, you’ll need to now, otherwise your comment won’t appear. Once you have registered, your comments will appear automatically. It may also mean that some of our, er, more aggressive commenters might think twice before letting rip.

You can see from Steve Clarke’s demeanour in the Tuesday press conference how fired up he is. Zola was incandescent after the Sunderland game and let the players know it. Hopefully this will have the desired effect tonight as we badly need three points. I still believe the Arsenal game was a turning point, and there were enough encouraging things to come out of the Sunderland game to give us hope for tonight. Villa have been doing well but apparently Milner is injured and he seems to be their lynchpin.

I’m going to stick my neckout for 2-0, with a brace from Carlton Cole. Six in ten for him so far.