Who's barking now?

OLAS 457 March 16th 2009

Geezers from the East End don’t get a chance to feature on telly too often. Wrong accent no doubt, but one who gets a bit more airtime than others is Bob Crow – General Secretary of the RMT trade union. Brought up in Shadwell, these days he lives in Woodford but his accent is unmistakably East End. A lot of people aren’t that keen on him; they see him as something akin to the hard-nosed, totally intransigent, stereotyped trade unionist in Peter Sellers’ “I’m All Right Jack”, but I had the chance to spend a few hours in his company last week – and reckon he’s actually a top guy. He’s sharp and witty, interesting and very well read.

When I’m not writing for OLAS, one of the things I do to earn a crust is lead historical walks of the East End. Last year I wrote to some trade unions to see if they were interested. After all, trade unions played a crucial role in raising the standard of living for many East Enders. Anyway, the RMT were the first ones to make a booking. So Bob C and around 20 crew from their office turned up. He’s very personable – and I assumed from where he grew up and his general manner, that he must be West Ham. I was wrong. Over a curry after the walk I asked him if he follows the footie. He said he was Millwall! He then tested me on which team I supported. When I told him West Ham, he came back quick as a flash: “I liked you up to that point, Dave!” Some of his crew though were definitely West Ham – with a perfectly acceptable soft spot for Dagenham and Redbridge too – a bit like my soft spot for Leyton Orient that goes back to the ‘60s.

Now I’ve only ever met two other decent Millwall fans. One is a really dedicated teacher at the comprehensive my kids went to, who is not impressed with the obsession with academic qualifications and goes the extra mile to ensure that non-academic kids get proper life opportunities and develop self-respect too. The other is a rat catcher called Paul who misspent his youth in the Young National Front before giving even more years of graft to the cause of anti-fascism. And here’s a connection. Because if there is one respect in which Bob Crow is certainly not like a lot of other Millwall tossers past and present, it is that he is a deadly serious anti-fascist. And he knows that the next couple of months are crucial for campaigns to keep the BNP from winning European seats – which unfortunately is looking on the cards. And a couple (or more) Euro seats will bring in much more money and prestige for these political numskulls.

Given the support they have had in Barking in recent years, it is surely the case that the other loyalty some BNP voters hold to is the same one as us –West Ham Football Club. Although you have to wonder what their West Ham support consists of, because they could hardly cheer for the players who are immigrants or children of immigrants such as our newest great prospect Savio, or Carlton Cole or Herita Ilunga, not to mention Keiron Dyer or some of our youth prospects coming through like Zavon Hines and Bondz N’Gala. And some of the white immigrants such as Lucas Neill, Valon Behrami, Jan Latuvska probably tax their analytical skills too. If you hate immigrants, what happens if their skin is not too dark? They are still bloody foreigners… Though you wonder where some of these BNP characters originally came from too. I don’t suppose their ancestors lived thousands of yeas ago in caves in Hornchurch or Romford. And I’m willing to bet a bob or two that some of them are no more solidly British than St George was. He is generally believed to be Turkish or Persian. So maybe if they ever do get to power they’ll chuck themselves out. We can’t afford to test that one though.

Our club is bang in the middle of Newham and Newham today is a really multicultural area. Living cheek by jowl with the older English and Irish communities you have families from Angola, Eritrea and Tanzania, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Poland, Italy, Turkey, Albania the Caribbean, Pakistan and Bangladesh – and gradually our fan base will start to reflect that more and more. and maybe the players too. We certainly have a more internationally mixed squad than in previous decades so, in that sense, the BNP are already yesterday’s grumpy old bastards fighting for an imaginary purer past, rather than the party of the future. But it is the damage they can do in the present that worries me.

Back on the pitch we’ve had two great results and lots of drama. The victory over Bellend’s Citeh was richly deserved and incredibly hard-worked for. It was a performance of patience and determination crowned with a beautifully taken goal by Jack Collison. Bellend hardly got a look in and not surprisingly was substituted in the second half. If he thought he was moving up in the world, instead of just moving north, he got a serious reality check.

Behrami’s injury was a terrible blow but it meant that Savio entered the fray earlier than anticipated and he gave us that extra dimension going forward that we were lacking. He deserves to be in the starting line-up. If the quick and clever passing movement that led to Savio’s shot being parried and Collison’s cool chip typified the West Ham way, then what can you say about Carlton’s goal at Wigan? This was made in Chadwell Heath, 68 vintage. Mesmerising one touch passing, with the ball never leaving the ground, and a curling 20-yard shot. Quintessential West Ham. When I heard that Carlton had been sent off three minutes later I feared the worst, but once the boy in black sent off one of their’s too I was confident we would hold on.

If the referee of the Citeh game was atrocious to both teams, hardly getting one decision right, the refereeing at Wigan was completely farcical. Carlton’s first yellow was a legitimate tackle in which he made fair contact with the ball. You shouldn’t get booked just for having long legs. His second challenge was clumsy but without any malice. Mind you even if Carlton should have stayed on, Scotty Parker and Lucas Neill were rather lucky not to be sent for an early bath. Scotty seems to have lost al composure in theses situations, and as for Lucas, who strangely is playing some good football these days, those old fouling habits seem hard to shed.

So after the last league game we find ourselves in 7th place, a few points ahead of our rivals. And given which clubs are fighting out the F A Cup, a European place is beckoning. Not everyone wants it. For a club with a thin squad, a place in European football can be poisoned chalice. We have a thin squad (though less than thin fans – still who am I to talk?) but a European place might just be the bait that can lure quality players keen to play for Franco Zola. I hope that, despite the injury/suspensions list increasing, we really go for it. And most importantly, I hope we maintain a healthy lead over Spurs points tally.

Harry is targeting Europe too. He doesn’t realise, or at least publicly acknowledge, that half his players are talented and half of them are crap. He might think they are out the relegation dogfight. I don’t think they are yet. A European place would be a bonus given that we started this season under Turdishley and his same-old, same old, boring style. Last year Turdishley took us to mid table and his ambition seemed to be limited to keeping us there. Franco wants to push on, to compete with and learn from the best. We’ve got nearly 40 points and there are 10 games to go starting with tonight.

Franco’s been a bit reluctant to upset a settled team with too many changes but tonight he has no choice – no Cole, Behrami or Collison. Freddie Sears has been getting a lot of stick in these columns and on the fans websites but he just needs a goal to regain his self-confidence. A defence as generous as West Brom’s might afford him that opportunity. I’d rather have his energy and drive up front than Diego Tristan who reminds me of a waxwork statue, though with less mobility.

I feel a bit sorry for West Brom, who generally try to play attacking football, but with few players of premiership quality. The teams above them are enjoying a mini-revival and they are dropping off from the pack. They are going to have to try to win tonight and that will give us the opportunities we need. So, 3-1 tonight with Savio on the score-sheet landing one in the eye for those in Barking who are barking seriously up the wrong tree.