OLAS 455 February 14th 2009
Last summer, after 50 years on Planet Earth, I did something for the first time in my life. I broke a bone. No, not just out of some mad desire to try new things borne of a mid-life crisis. If I wanted to do that well there’s plenty of things I could do, like, I don’t know, eat bacon or do naked water-skiing. No, it was an accident, you understand. And it was just one toe – my big one on my left peg, but fuck me was it painful! So Jermaine Defoe, you may have put your foot in it now, so to speak, but I want you to know I understand just how frustrating and maddening it is, especially at this stage of the season. I can really feel your pain…as if! Had it happened to anyone else I would sympathise but in this case I’m laughing my plums off!
When we were relegated you could hardly wait ten minutes to try and run away, but I notice you are not running anywhere now. I watched as you burst on to the scene at West Ham. You were the most talented striker we have produced for donkeys. With a bit of patience and humility (not qualities you are renowned for), you could have been a hero at Upton Park. But you were one of those mercenary Craig Bellamy types, so you upped and left. You broke our hearts and now you have broken your toe.
That’s karma, man.
And all you can do now, maybe for the rest of the season, is watch your mates struggle to beat the big, big drop (get the latest odds from Mr M Etherington at Stoke). You’ve got time to kill now, Jermaine. Enjoy. And, as they say, “have a nice break.”
So, last Sunday, for the benefit principally of the Sky TV mega-empire for world domination, we took on the mightiest team in Europe (the world?) and came second, but it was a close run thing. Disappointed? Only a little. Worried or depressed? Not at all. We gave a performance of guile, determination and commitment that left me coming away from the ground feeling convinced that something very special is being built here by our three musketeers, as Gary rightly called them last issue, (remembering that keen Kevin was just as much part of the team).
If you watched MOTD last weekend you would have seen a very professional and convincing win by the other team in claret and blue – Aston Villa who are now seriously challenging the big guns. If we continue to develop the exciting and effective style of play we are demonstrating now, and show the same determination next summer, as we did in January, to hold on to our best players while carefully adding to the squad, then that is where we can be, and that is what we can be doing in the next 2-4 years.
The last time I felt like this was 2001, coincidentally also just after we played Man U. That was the time we undid them with Paulo di Canio’s cheeky goal while Barthez tried to put him off in an even cheekier way. But the true promise shown that day was not by some mad Italian footballing genius who buys up Mussolini first editions, but by the midfield trio of Lampard, Carrick and Cole, Kanoute up front (alongside di Canio), Hislop in goal, players that were just developing and improving since coming to the club like Schemmel and Tihinen and a crop of youngsters including Defoe and Anton Ferdinand coming through the youth team. If the club had made a proper investment then to build on that base there is every reason to believe that we could have turned into a top six club. But the board and management blew it. Big time.
It has taken a few years of ups and downs but now we have that opportunity again. Zola has trimmed the squad very well and gradually introduced competition for places. With a massive potential talent like Savio on the bench, getting used to West Ham and integrating into our style of play, and Sears desperate to be back on the pitch, di Michele is pulling out all the stops to show what an excellent player he still is. His recent performances have been outstanding. With Tomkins pushing for a place at the back, Upson and Colllins know they must maintain their current commanding form. And with that giant Kovac arriving. The midfield diamond know that any one of them is expendable and could soon be warming the bench if they are not performing to the best of their ability.
Carlton Cole’s development has been remarkable. I am still a little surprised he has made it into the England squad, but he has definitely made enormous strides (and not just because he has big feet). Come April, though, and he will be challenged for his place by Deano, the man with bionic ankles. But if Cole carries on playing with the confidence, skill and aggression he is now showing most of the time, Deano might struggle to dislodge him.
The surprise factor, and the true personification of our on-field progress has been Behrami. For so long we have been missing that kind of player who never gives up in the middle of the field, wins unwinnable tackles, drives forward, is happy to grow a beard, and can even score the odd goal. A Steve Lomas-Martin Allen-Billy Bonds rolled into one, although he is definitely not a south Londoner.
The only disappointment for me against the Mancs was Scotty Parker. He has been getting a lot of praise for his performances lately but last Sunday I thought he looked lethargic and was far too willing to go sideways or backwards instead of forward with the ball. Against a team like Man U, your chances of scoring diminish greatly if during an attack you give them a few minutes to regroup and that, I’m afraid, is what Scotty did most of the afternoon, despite often winning the ball impressively. I wouldn’t be surprised, or sorry, if he makes way for Kovac today.
Middlesbrough should be a less tough nut to crack, although teams struggling against relegation often produce surprising cup results. We should not, in the immortal worlds of the unlamented George Bush, “misundersestimate” them, but if we play anything like we did against Man United we ought to win comfortably. Middlesborough really are dull, dull, dull. My only connection with them (a tenuous one) is that my mate Clifford is a dead ringer for their manager Gareth Southgate. So much so that a few years ago at an airport in Guatemala he was approached by autograph hunters. Although its hard to believe that if Clifford appeared on a high street in Middlesbrough today that he’d get anyone seeking his signature. More likely they would throw things at him.
So, a chance to get into the quarter finals. I think Middlesbrough will come to frustrate – trying to take us way up North for a replay. We will need players willing to run at them and drag them out of position. And maybe Savio should start. If we get through today I don’t think we need to fear anyone we draw in the next round.
Jermaine, are you watching a cup game today? Oh no, I forgot Spurs were already dumped out of it. The Northern Lights are fading while the East is glowing.
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Sunday, 8 February 2009
Regrets, I've had a few
OLAS 454 8th February 2009
One of my great regrets in life was giving in to the weather and packing up our tent at the Cambridge Folk Festival a few years ago hours before Joe Strummer was due to appear on stage with his Mescaleros band. It proved to be almost his last gig.
My other great regret was when I decided I couldn’t be bothered to come to a less than glamorous match at Upton Park in October 1983. I was probably washing my hair instead. It was the second leg of the League Cup or as it was known that year – the Milk Cup. We had won the first leg, 2-1, at Bury, and the second leg at home against inferior lower league opposition seemed a formality, so why bother? But what a formality! We buried poor Bury 10-0 that night, in front of less than 11,000 lucky fans. Tony Cottee scored four of the goals.
Well, with a bit of luck and a less agile goalkeeper we could have repeated that score against Hull in our last home match. Not that Hull were that bad but this was West ham’s cleverest and classiest attacking performance this season. The ball was pinging around in neat triangles and diamonds and we created enough chances to win very handsomely. Their goalie was magnificent stopping four or five certain goals. He pulled off two wondrous saves from Mark Noble, the first a powerfully driven penalty, the second an exquisite Yossi Benayoun-style chip. We hit the woodwork three times and Di Michele and Cole – who played magnificently throughout – both missed a couple of sitters each.
The team spirit, with every player making runs for each other, appreciating and applauding each other’s efforts - was there for all to see. And, to be honest, it needed Bellamy’s huge ego to be displaced for this team spirit to reveal itself. His constant moaning at other players, never mind the ref, was actually very undermining. Now we are truly West ham “United”. And what cheered me up no end last weekend was knowing that although Bellamy scored on his debut for Citeh during the week, he also knows what it’s like to lose to 10 men at Stoke, while we were glowing after picking up a point at Arsenal!
And what a point that is. One to add to the points already chalked up at Liverpool and Chelsea. And given the way we are playing at the minute, it wasn’t a big surprise. That afternoon, when some of you were in the Emirates, I was over in poncey Chelsea – not to see football, but art. We took my mother in law to “Unveiled” – a very powerful exhibition of Middle Eastern art – at the new Saatchi gallery at the top of Kings Road. We eventually found a free parking space after declining the opportunity to leave our car in the car park for a mere £12.20 for two hours.
Anyway we got home around 4.40 and immediately I switched on my computer on the Sporting life site – my footie site of choice - to catch the score. It was 0-0 with less than 10 minutes to go. Magnificent. I was in no doubt we would hold on. Now either I was dreaming or, even the anally retentive Arsene Wenger praised West Ham’s resolute defensive display. Something must be happening here.
Well, like wiping your bum, playing Man U is rarely pleasant but is one of those things you just have to do. Their current form may be completely awesome but we have no reason to fear them. Can West Ham beat Manure today? Well, it depends whether the historians or philosophers are right.
Historians base their methods on inquiry, explanation and argument. They gather information and evidence from the past and look for patterns to explain what has happened. On that basis they can claim to make a fair judgement about what is likely to happen today.
And if you look at West Ham’s results at home to Man U since the beginning of the 1990s you would expect to find a pattern of victories by the superpower that is Man U over the mini-statelet of West Ham – but Upton Park has been the great leveller where Alex Ferguson has failed time and again. In 14 attempts during that period Man U have won only four times. On the other occasions we have won three (including last year and the year before) and every other game has been a draw. And they have never beaten us at Upton Park two years running throughout that time. So if you go in for historical patterns, then even if they win this year they won’t next year.
Philosophers would no doubt disagree. They concern themselves with the nature of truth, reality and meaning. And let’s look at the reality, player for player. We love our team to bits but if you were Alex the Red Nosed Alky, is there one player in the Man U team you would swap for their West Ham counterpart? Rooney or Berbatov for Cole? I don’t think so. Ronaldo for Noble? Gary Neville for Lucas Neil – nope? And take a look at truth. It is clearly true that despite Robert Green’s heroics we have conceded 31 times this season while Manure have let in only 10.
The meaning of all this, from a philosophical point of view, is surely that this weekend after a great run, we are well and truly fucked. We should look forward to it only as an opportunity to witness a glorious defeat by the best team in the land.
Fuck philosophy – lets be historians this weekend and continue the fight for a better past. Because history tells us that we can do it. In those dark days last autumn I made myself feel better by counting a few matches we might scrape points from before we had to play the likes of Arsenal and Man U again. I had no inkling that we would go into this game unbeaten in league and cup for two months. But that is what we have done – and when I say “we”, I mean we, the fans who have kept faith and kept positive as Zola and Clarke have attempted to improve the team, and we the players and coaches who have never let their heads drop when things were not going our way. it is also pleasing to know that whatever the result, at worst we’ll stay in 8th place this weekend.
In my column a few weeks back I prematurely described the top six as a closed shop in which none of those posh clubs were going to be dislodged by the lower classes. Now we are within spitting distance of Everton (and it would be nice to spit at them after their daylight robbery here when we dominated the game for 80 minutes). If we keep our heads high, whatever the result today, and stay free of injuries with what is, still. a relatively thin squad, we might catch them. That would be an enormous achievement. There are no easy games in the last third of the season – many of the teams we will face will be worrying about relegation but we have momentum. Let’s keep it going.
Today, let’s remember to give Carlos and Rio a warm welcome, but let’s also use our volume as fan to encourage the team and put pressure on our visitors. In all honesty, I don’t think we will win today, but neither do I think we will lose. A hard fought draw, 1-1 or 2-2.
A final comment. I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon on the inside pages of OLAS these days. A bit like the way the pollen count goes up at certain times of year, the “Dave” count has also gone up. A recent issue had 6 or 7 of us (I was disguised as David). Perhaps a philosopher might look at this and surmise that if you happen to be called Dave their is a certain inevitability that at some time in your life you will write for OLAS. Or they might suggest that, if you continue to write for OLAS, your name might change to Dave. Alternatively it could prove something I have suspected for some time – that the world is essentially divided between Daves and non-Daves, and that the proportion of Daves are growing.
One of my great regrets in life was giving in to the weather and packing up our tent at the Cambridge Folk Festival a few years ago hours before Joe Strummer was due to appear on stage with his Mescaleros band. It proved to be almost his last gig.
My other great regret was when I decided I couldn’t be bothered to come to a less than glamorous match at Upton Park in October 1983. I was probably washing my hair instead. It was the second leg of the League Cup or as it was known that year – the Milk Cup. We had won the first leg, 2-1, at Bury, and the second leg at home against inferior lower league opposition seemed a formality, so why bother? But what a formality! We buried poor Bury 10-0 that night, in front of less than 11,000 lucky fans. Tony Cottee scored four of the goals.
Well, with a bit of luck and a less agile goalkeeper we could have repeated that score against Hull in our last home match. Not that Hull were that bad but this was West ham’s cleverest and classiest attacking performance this season. The ball was pinging around in neat triangles and diamonds and we created enough chances to win very handsomely. Their goalie was magnificent stopping four or five certain goals. He pulled off two wondrous saves from Mark Noble, the first a powerfully driven penalty, the second an exquisite Yossi Benayoun-style chip. We hit the woodwork three times and Di Michele and Cole – who played magnificently throughout – both missed a couple of sitters each.
The team spirit, with every player making runs for each other, appreciating and applauding each other’s efforts - was there for all to see. And, to be honest, it needed Bellamy’s huge ego to be displaced for this team spirit to reveal itself. His constant moaning at other players, never mind the ref, was actually very undermining. Now we are truly West ham “United”. And what cheered me up no end last weekend was knowing that although Bellamy scored on his debut for Citeh during the week, he also knows what it’s like to lose to 10 men at Stoke, while we were glowing after picking up a point at Arsenal!
And what a point that is. One to add to the points already chalked up at Liverpool and Chelsea. And given the way we are playing at the minute, it wasn’t a big surprise. That afternoon, when some of you were in the Emirates, I was over in poncey Chelsea – not to see football, but art. We took my mother in law to “Unveiled” – a very powerful exhibition of Middle Eastern art – at the new Saatchi gallery at the top of Kings Road. We eventually found a free parking space after declining the opportunity to leave our car in the car park for a mere £12.20 for two hours.
Anyway we got home around 4.40 and immediately I switched on my computer on the Sporting life site – my footie site of choice - to catch the score. It was 0-0 with less than 10 minutes to go. Magnificent. I was in no doubt we would hold on. Now either I was dreaming or, even the anally retentive Arsene Wenger praised West Ham’s resolute defensive display. Something must be happening here.
Well, like wiping your bum, playing Man U is rarely pleasant but is one of those things you just have to do. Their current form may be completely awesome but we have no reason to fear them. Can West Ham beat Manure today? Well, it depends whether the historians or philosophers are right.
Historians base their methods on inquiry, explanation and argument. They gather information and evidence from the past and look for patterns to explain what has happened. On that basis they can claim to make a fair judgement about what is likely to happen today.
And if you look at West Ham’s results at home to Man U since the beginning of the 1990s you would expect to find a pattern of victories by the superpower that is Man U over the mini-statelet of West Ham – but Upton Park has been the great leveller where Alex Ferguson has failed time and again. In 14 attempts during that period Man U have won only four times. On the other occasions we have won three (including last year and the year before) and every other game has been a draw. And they have never beaten us at Upton Park two years running throughout that time. So if you go in for historical patterns, then even if they win this year they won’t next year.
Philosophers would no doubt disagree. They concern themselves with the nature of truth, reality and meaning. And let’s look at the reality, player for player. We love our team to bits but if you were Alex the Red Nosed Alky, is there one player in the Man U team you would swap for their West Ham counterpart? Rooney or Berbatov for Cole? I don’t think so. Ronaldo for Noble? Gary Neville for Lucas Neil – nope? And take a look at truth. It is clearly true that despite Robert Green’s heroics we have conceded 31 times this season while Manure have let in only 10.
The meaning of all this, from a philosophical point of view, is surely that this weekend after a great run, we are well and truly fucked. We should look forward to it only as an opportunity to witness a glorious defeat by the best team in the land.
Fuck philosophy – lets be historians this weekend and continue the fight for a better past. Because history tells us that we can do it. In those dark days last autumn I made myself feel better by counting a few matches we might scrape points from before we had to play the likes of Arsenal and Man U again. I had no inkling that we would go into this game unbeaten in league and cup for two months. But that is what we have done – and when I say “we”, I mean we, the fans who have kept faith and kept positive as Zola and Clarke have attempted to improve the team, and we the players and coaches who have never let their heads drop when things were not going our way. it is also pleasing to know that whatever the result, at worst we’ll stay in 8th place this weekend.
In my column a few weeks back I prematurely described the top six as a closed shop in which none of those posh clubs were going to be dislodged by the lower classes. Now we are within spitting distance of Everton (and it would be nice to spit at them after their daylight robbery here when we dominated the game for 80 minutes). If we keep our heads high, whatever the result today, and stay free of injuries with what is, still. a relatively thin squad, we might catch them. That would be an enormous achievement. There are no easy games in the last third of the season – many of the teams we will face will be worrying about relegation but we have momentum. Let’s keep it going.
Today, let’s remember to give Carlos and Rio a warm welcome, but let’s also use our volume as fan to encourage the team and put pressure on our visitors. In all honesty, I don’t think we will win today, but neither do I think we will lose. A hard fought draw, 1-1 or 2-2.
A final comment. I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon on the inside pages of OLAS these days. A bit like the way the pollen count goes up at certain times of year, the “Dave” count has also gone up. A recent issue had 6 or 7 of us (I was disguised as David). Perhaps a philosopher might look at this and surmise that if you happen to be called Dave their is a certain inevitability that at some time in your life you will write for OLAS. Or they might suggest that, if you continue to write for OLAS, your name might change to Dave. Alternatively it could prove something I have suspected for some time – that the world is essentially divided between Daves and non-Daves, and that the proportion of Daves are growing.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Wemb-er-ley
OLAS 453 28 January 2009
We’re on our way to Wembley! Don’t you feel the vibe too? Two solid wins against the lower league sides that are normally our big banana skin and a home draw in the 5th round while some of the premiership teams like Spuds and Portsmouth are slipping out of the competition. Gianfranco knows what the FA Cup means and he’s got the players psyched up for it. All we need is for Liverpool to meet us there at Wembley. We owe them.
Hartlepool lived up to their name and put their heart and soul into the game but I was never in doubt that we would win and it was a great team performance. The patches of possession football where we strung 20 passes together were exquisite and at the heart of this was Scotty Parker who played his best game since we drew at Chelsea. But I was also impressed with di Michele. He also had a cracker against Fulham where he had some big shoes to step into.
With Piltdown Man heading off to Citeh, despite giving it all the “I’ll never ask for a move” bollox, di Michele knew he had to impress and it took him just 6 minutes to get us singing “Who needs Craig Bellamy?” as he quickly and cleverly took advantage of John Paintsil pants defending. Di Michele was lively and intelligent throughout the Fulham game and even more so at Hartlepool. And with Carlton Cole’s confidence high (and his boots – careful Carlton), we’re going well and things are definitely looking up.
Bellamy of course is a talented player, but very injury prone and a total wanker constantly in danger of getting sent off as he mouths off to the refs. the refs are crap – always have been – but here at West Ham we deal with them with a bit of class. Bobby Moore often used to get his way with refs with a few quiet words here and there. We’ll live without Bellamy and his prognathous skull, but I dearly hope that by the time this comes out we’ll have a replacement. The media reckon we’re “this close” to signing the 19yar old Ugandan wonderkid whose been playing at Brescia, or as Nani would like to see them, our feeder club.
If we sign Nsereko then I’ll have every reason to come to West Ham in my Ugandan under-21 football shirt. So what’s a 51 year-old geezer, London born and bred, doing with such a shirt? Well spiritually, Uganda is my adopted second home. I spent five weeks working in a school there in 2001, revisited the school and surrounding area in 2005, know some great people there who I stay in touch with, saw crocodiles chilling out there near Murchison Falls, and love the place. The school was in Masindi region about 130 miles north west of Kampala – Nsereko’s birthplace. I lived there in the local community – no electricity, no running water, no telly, no computers with West Ham blogs – and loved every minute. I hope I’ll spend more time there at some point in the future and I’m continuing to learn Swahili to prepare for that. The words you need to know are “mpira ya miguu” - that’s “football” and “Ninaendelea kuvuma viputo milele” – which means “I’m forever blowing bubbles”. Don’t know how to say “Bellamy you total toerag” but I’ll find out. No, hold on, it’s “Bellamy, wewe ni toerag kabisa kabisa!”
The school I work in over here is an inner city concrete jungle where space is so tight we have our playground on the roof. And because they are Islington kids and don’t know how to play the West Ham way, the balls keep flying off the roof.
In Kizibu School, Masindi we had space, mango trees growing in the playground, chickens and goats running around, and a full size football pitch. The only problem with the pitch is that about 5 in the afternoon a guy would come with his cattle for them to do their grazing. And these cattle were serious cattle with huge horns in semi-circles that almost met. They munched the grass for half an hour then moved on but they left a big bare patch in one half of the footie field. Nor sure the FA would approve, though they would probably be cool about it if it was Man U.
Anyway I’ve seen the youtube video and Nsereko look like a real prospect. Before Brescia he played in Germany. It’s going to confuse the BNP herd in the crowd isn’t it? They’ll like him, well, ‘cos he’s German ain’t he, but he’s black as well. Hopefully he’ll give them something to think about.
So back in October and November when we were dropping points as frequently as tosspot Russell Brand drops his pants, did you think Zola was going to turn it around? Me, I was worried. Big time. But I’m so glad he has. No doubt we’ll have injuries and a dip in form at some point but I feel he has properly developed a system, a way of playing, an approach that the players seem very comfortable and confident with. And I’m sure that Steve Clarke has had a big hand in that too.
The Fulham game was a key one because when you are on a good run you need to beat the teams around you. And we have the same task tonight. Hull also had a sound cup result, though their league form has been very ropey. They know that if they don’t start picking up points soon they can go back down again to their natural home. For all their fantastic form at the beginning of the campaign they are just 6 points above the drop zone. I think they will be a hard to beat, but we’re playing with confidence and determination and I hope we might nick it.
Another player whose return to form has really made me chuffed is our local hero Mark Noble. He’s had an inconsistent season while a lot of eyes have been on the new kid in the block – Jack Collison. But at the moment we’re blessed with both of them playing well. and with Scotty Parker returning to form and Behrami playing like the new Billy Bonds, our midfield is formidable
So just a few days of the transfer window left and we’ve still got Noble, Collison, Upson and Green –I’m starting to feel hopeful we’ll retain them. After tonight we’ve got the Arse and Man U. Wouldn’t it be great to go into those matches on a high. We may not take points from them but if we can face them undefeated since early December then we can give them a run for their money. Meanwhile I don’t want to bring you down, or make you feel blue, but I’m sad to report that Glenn Roeder has been sacked again….Wehey!!!!!!!
We’re on our way to Wembley! Don’t you feel the vibe too? Two solid wins against the lower league sides that are normally our big banana skin and a home draw in the 5th round while some of the premiership teams like Spuds and Portsmouth are slipping out of the competition. Gianfranco knows what the FA Cup means and he’s got the players psyched up for it. All we need is for Liverpool to meet us there at Wembley. We owe them.
Hartlepool lived up to their name and put their heart and soul into the game but I was never in doubt that we would win and it was a great team performance. The patches of possession football where we strung 20 passes together were exquisite and at the heart of this was Scotty Parker who played his best game since we drew at Chelsea. But I was also impressed with di Michele. He also had a cracker against Fulham where he had some big shoes to step into.
With Piltdown Man heading off to Citeh, despite giving it all the “I’ll never ask for a move” bollox, di Michele knew he had to impress and it took him just 6 minutes to get us singing “Who needs Craig Bellamy?” as he quickly and cleverly took advantage of John Paintsil pants defending. Di Michele was lively and intelligent throughout the Fulham game and even more so at Hartlepool. And with Carlton Cole’s confidence high (and his boots – careful Carlton), we’re going well and things are definitely looking up.
Bellamy of course is a talented player, but very injury prone and a total wanker constantly in danger of getting sent off as he mouths off to the refs. the refs are crap – always have been – but here at West Ham we deal with them with a bit of class. Bobby Moore often used to get his way with refs with a few quiet words here and there. We’ll live without Bellamy and his prognathous skull, but I dearly hope that by the time this comes out we’ll have a replacement. The media reckon we’re “this close” to signing the 19yar old Ugandan wonderkid whose been playing at Brescia, or as Nani would like to see them, our feeder club.
If we sign Nsereko then I’ll have every reason to come to West Ham in my Ugandan under-21 football shirt. So what’s a 51 year-old geezer, London born and bred, doing with such a shirt? Well spiritually, Uganda is my adopted second home. I spent five weeks working in a school there in 2001, revisited the school and surrounding area in 2005, know some great people there who I stay in touch with, saw crocodiles chilling out there near Murchison Falls, and love the place. The school was in Masindi region about 130 miles north west of Kampala – Nsereko’s birthplace. I lived there in the local community – no electricity, no running water, no telly, no computers with West Ham blogs – and loved every minute. I hope I’ll spend more time there at some point in the future and I’m continuing to learn Swahili to prepare for that. The words you need to know are “mpira ya miguu” - that’s “football” and “Ninaendelea kuvuma viputo milele” – which means “I’m forever blowing bubbles”. Don’t know how to say “Bellamy you total toerag” but I’ll find out. No, hold on, it’s “Bellamy, wewe ni toerag kabisa kabisa!”
The school I work in over here is an inner city concrete jungle where space is so tight we have our playground on the roof. And because they are Islington kids and don’t know how to play the West Ham way, the balls keep flying off the roof.
In Kizibu School, Masindi we had space, mango trees growing in the playground, chickens and goats running around, and a full size football pitch. The only problem with the pitch is that about 5 in the afternoon a guy would come with his cattle for them to do their grazing. And these cattle were serious cattle with huge horns in semi-circles that almost met. They munched the grass for half an hour then moved on but they left a big bare patch in one half of the footie field. Nor sure the FA would approve, though they would probably be cool about it if it was Man U.
Anyway I’ve seen the youtube video and Nsereko look like a real prospect. Before Brescia he played in Germany. It’s going to confuse the BNP herd in the crowd isn’t it? They’ll like him, well, ‘cos he’s German ain’t he, but he’s black as well. Hopefully he’ll give them something to think about.
So back in October and November when we were dropping points as frequently as tosspot Russell Brand drops his pants, did you think Zola was going to turn it around? Me, I was worried. Big time. But I’m so glad he has. No doubt we’ll have injuries and a dip in form at some point but I feel he has properly developed a system, a way of playing, an approach that the players seem very comfortable and confident with. And I’m sure that Steve Clarke has had a big hand in that too.
The Fulham game was a key one because when you are on a good run you need to beat the teams around you. And we have the same task tonight. Hull also had a sound cup result, though their league form has been very ropey. They know that if they don’t start picking up points soon they can go back down again to their natural home. For all their fantastic form at the beginning of the campaign they are just 6 points above the drop zone. I think they will be a hard to beat, but we’re playing with confidence and determination and I hope we might nick it.
Another player whose return to form has really made me chuffed is our local hero Mark Noble. He’s had an inconsistent season while a lot of eyes have been on the new kid in the block – Jack Collison. But at the moment we’re blessed with both of them playing well. and with Scotty Parker returning to form and Behrami playing like the new Billy Bonds, our midfield is formidable
So just a few days of the transfer window left and we’ve still got Noble, Collison, Upson and Green –I’m starting to feel hopeful we’ll retain them. After tonight we’ve got the Arse and Man U. Wouldn’t it be great to go into those matches on a high. We may not take points from them but if we can face them undefeated since early December then we can give them a run for their money. Meanwhile I don’t want to bring you down, or make you feel blue, but I’m sad to report that Glenn Roeder has been sacked again….Wehey!!!!!!!
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