This is never a pretty fixture for West Ham and we went into this one not exactly setting the world on fire. But we had won our SF in the LC and they had lost theirs. Could lightning strike twice?

Rumours all morning that this was Avram’s last game irrespective of the result. No Scott Parker and Kovac in the team doesn;t make it a good start to the day. Also one of the John’s had lost his ticket the night before (long night apparently !). The day was not getting better.

So to the match. Long story short we did not turn up, and Wayne Bridge could be our most expensive mistake yet (which in itself is quite impressive). I hope further matches will improve performances.

If Avram is to go, then it has to happen before Everton away. If not come out and let us know. Because its starting to look a bit like a death from a thousand paper cuts, and its is also a little bit painful for everyone i think.

Will Martin O’Neill come, probably not if our spending is anything to go by. But its a funny old game and all that !!

Keep right onto the end of the road, the BCFC anthem goes and thats what WHUFC managed to do last night, in an interesting match last night at the Boleyn. After a reasonable start and a Mark Noble goal from a near impossible angle, West Ham fell to pieces for the next 5 minutes and did their best to get BCFC back on level terms.

But they did hold out for half time and to be fair were good for the score.

THEN the second half. What the hell does Uncle Avram tell these guys are half time. There was no way in the world were we going to be good enough to soak up that pressure for any length of time. We were struggling to string 3 passes together for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Then up pops Liam Ridgewell (another WHUFC academy product) and we are at 1-1.

We still donk about the pitch, giving the ball away, and struggle to get any momentum, then , for no discernable reason Mr V Obima decides to display his MMA skills and we are down the 10 men, and looking like we are going to be on the wrong end of a hiding.

So AV leaves it 5 minutes too long and then makes 2 good subs, Carlton on for Freddie, and Zavrom Hines, for……………..Freddie (you know what i mean !).

So now i’m assuming CC holds it up and time wastes, and ZH keeps charging around to close up space which Big Vic should be covering. Final score 1-1 and we get away with it.

But no , that powerhouse of English Football Johnnie Spector makes a great run matched by a superlative cross, which is met head on by Carlton Cole, who…………………………………………………..

Scuffs it towards to Ben Foster, who for reasons best known to himself allows it through his legs and its 2-1 West Ham.

Even I felt for him as it was shown on the massive screen in his eyeline about 4 times !

Both teams were then knackered, WHU with charging about and Brum psychologically i think and the game petered out.

So will 2-1 be enough for the hammers in the return leg. Depends who turns up. 1st half hammrs, yes, second half no. Roll on the 15th Jan.

Other points of note, prior to the game there was Police vans flyong about everywhere, and during the second half, some charming looking chaps in riot helmets were placed in front of the away enclosure. Coincidence -no. Good luck anyone from west ham going up for away fixture, and wear a tin hat !

A good point was made on the radio as i drove home. The famous cliche about West Ham under lights, will disappear with moving the Olympic stadium. Interesting point i thought, as i have some fantastic memories over the years, and the thought that this may be coming to an end, is the first time i have questioned the move.

ed to post after every match that i’ve seen (either telly or live), and thats worked out well hasn’t it. Eg one report and nothing. So i’ll catch up here and then move on. Maybe i’ll update monthly or only on important matters.

So BOxing day and away to Fulham, a ground we traditionally do well at, until 10 mins or so in, and we are 1 – 0 down. Typical rubbish defending. But not to be outdone we get to see Fulham do this twice, the first to Carlton from a missed clearence, and the second leaving Freddie completly unmarked at the back of the six yard box. A second from Carlton and its three points, thanks for coming.

Everton on the 28th, was a boring one one draw with pretty much no redeaming features.

The new year brings us Wolves at home on the first, and its always funny watching 30000+ hangovers in one place. Luckily enough, none were on the pitch in the claret and blue, as West Ham coasted to a 2-0 win, and (bloody hell) 15th place.

So far so good, but so far to Newcastle and a 5-0 thrashing with some defending from a Sunday morning U-8’s team. Back to the bottom, rock bottom.

An unmemorable disposal of Barnsley in FA3, and its upto date . Tonight sees the “biggest game at upton park for 20 years”, the LC SF 1st leg against Birmingham. I will be in attendance, and will report while its fresh. I promise.

So yesterday  iwent to the Boleyn for the first time in over a month with the two Johns, and expected a good game. Although City were forth in the league i really didn’t rate them, and as the main man Carlos wasn’t playing i expected a draw at least.

I also expected to see West Ham team with some determination, and fight, as this could pull us away from the bottom of the table.

I got neither. Parker, Green and Tomkins were the only ones who made any sort of effort. It was one of the most gutless performances i have ever seen. If this continues, i can see my Season Ticket not being renewed for the first time in over 20 yrs.

In short not good enough. In Jan we need two centre backs and nother forward. We should also cash in on Cole and Faubet while we can still get some cash for them.

At least Mr abuse wasn’t in front of us today, so every cloud and that.

To be fair to City, De (a ?) Silva was very special and not only looks like Messi from a distance, he plays like him as well. So well done City, just don’t do it again