WHUFC vs Arsenal 09/04/2016 EPL 2015-2016


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COYI

Where do I start with this one? Near the end as we have Man U tomorrow and time is of the essence I’ll be brief.

Once again big team syndrome prevails at Upton Park. Arsenal were allowed to dive and cheat their way through a game whilst WHU were booked for the slightest indifference. We had a goal ruled offside (Lanzini) early doors, that clearly wasn’t.

Arsenal’s first goal came about after Monreal dived in the box, and ref said no foul and indicated a dive. So surely a free kick ? No, but we stop, thinking yes, and Ozil scores.

We also had another ruled off for some reason I don’t know. We were 3-2 up and Carroll got involved with the Arsenal keeper and defender, by the left hand post. There was a tussle and Carroll came out with the ball. Ref doesn’t blow. Carroll passes to Payet. Ref doesn’t blow. Payet taps the ball in and the ref blows??? WTF????

So MOTM is obviously Carroll for his first WHU hatrick. The game ended 3-3 and probably ruined our CL chances and Arsenal’s Championship assault.

One thing I should add, is the atmosphere. When we scored our second to equalize the game, while everyone on the pitch was celebrating with Carroll, Noble was running around the centre circle on his own, and Adrian was shaking hit net , while facing the crowd, like a madman. And the roof was coming off.

Same again tomorrow night and we win. The normal pessimist me has gone. I even tweeted while we were 2-0 down that I thought we would win (just as Carroll got his first)

#COYI

All the way from Aus, mate
Mr Noble I presume
Kicking Off

 

A weekend in the Highlands – Easter 2016


To most who know me, I am an Londoner / Southerner, with an definitive accent to match. To those that really know me, I have a big ole family in the North of Scotland and that is where we ventured to over the Easter weekend, to see places old and new, and visit family and friends. To truly appreciate this area could take about a million photos, but heres some from that fantastic weekend. Also, who thought not having a mobile signal for 4 days could be so great. Click on the photos for a better view. All taken with an iphone 6

Rainbow over the brush
Home of the Champions 2/2
Lunch
Ness Canal (no pusher)
Loch Ness
There is no gold at the end of the rainbow
Driving through the clouds
Home of the Champions 1/2
More Loch Ness
Farmer Mac on a style
Typical Highland Vista
Braver than me
Pretty fast flowing
Farmer Mac tending the flock
Native Highland Bear
The road to Inverness
Some locals from the safety of the car
Dramatic !
Loch Ness (no nessie)
On the beach
Flowing through the heather
Down in the Valley

Manchester United vs WHUFC 6th Rnd FA Cup 13/03/2016


My first away game since Man U in the FA cup back in Jan 2013 happens to be Man U in the FA cup this past weekend. That said myself and @mrsmackay made a full long weekend of it so this a mixture of trip report and game report.

We took the virgin train up from London Saturday lunchtime. Now first class on virgin is lovely, and pleasant and all that, but the “free” wifi is shocking. Patchy does not describe it. So advice for anyone doing this a lot is to get a mifi or a good data plan.

Continue reading “Manchester United vs WHUFC 6th Rnd FA Cup 13/03/2016” →

WHUFC vs Aston Villa 02/02/2016 EPL 2015- 2016


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The lights come on, and the games commence.
The lights decended once again over Upton Park as the Premier League strugglers Aston Villa rolled into town for this midweek battle of the Claret and Blues.
We drew 0-0 with them just before Xmas, and knowing our history of being a charitable team to anyone who needs points, to be honest I expected the same.

Continue reading “WHUFC vs Aston Villa 02/02/2016 EPL 2015- 2016” →

WHUFC vs Manchester City 23/01/2016 EPL 2015-2016


Late in!
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Hammers under floodlights, those were the days, blah, blah.
 Having already beaten Man City on the road, this game should have been a stroll in the park for the Hammers.
Back in the real world, we needed to be at our best to get anything from this game, and Slaven realized this by trusting his experienced players and putting people in the right holes. Song came in for Obiang, and Jenkinson at right back for the injured Tomkins. Reid made up the back 4 in favor of Ogbonna.
He left Valencia up top, and also left in Antonio on the right, in lieu of the just back from injury Moses.
This worked well, as Valencia carried on his recent scoring run, by netting after 1 minute from a deflected Kouyate cross. Happy days. Obviously the crowd was going crazy, but we all know the next 10 minutes are the most important. Just on the cusp of this window, Aguero burst through and only needed the slightest touch from Jenkinson to go down, and the penalty was given. I’ve seen them given and not, but the way the ref was looking after the “bigger” team, it was no surprise. So 1-1 after 10 minutes, game on.
The ref carried on making decisions in the opponents favor, including when Kouyate was scythed down by Toure when he was clear and the ref didn’t even give a free kick. Obviously any West Ham challenge was met with a free kick and a yellow for Noble.
Jenks went off with a knock post the penalty (now confirmed as ligament damage, ouch), and on came Byram for his debut, after signing from Leeds in the week. His first job was to mark Aguero at a corner. Welcome to the Premier League son !
However WHU kept on plugging away and although City had most of the possession, we had our chances. Payet was sublime but Joe Hart was a match for him, with a fantastic save from a free kick into the top corner.
Overall , we went into the break, tails up, but looking tired.
Second half we came out a little brighter, and kept up the attacks. Antonio spotted a quick throw to an aware Valencia, who managed to drop a shinned shot into Joe Hart’s bottom right corner and we go 2-1 up. Roof comes of stadium and then reality sets in. Same as last year, we take a one goal lead of City and hope to hold on. We did well, with Ginge repelling all boarders, but you could see the back four melting with fatigue. Alex Song started to drop in and was winning great tackles all over the place, and Noble became part of the back 6. Young Sam was shot, so Payet was covering back as well. This resolution lasted until the 81st minute when that man Aguero popped up again for his second to level. Some people are suggesting the swap out of Antonio for Moses changed the game somewhat, but Slaven needed fresh legs out there.
The last kick of the game, was actually a header, which Kouyate put onto the City crossbar after a nice cross from Noble following a fantastic round the corner from Payet.
So we stay in 6th, but have taken 4 points from the team who in most peoples minds, will win the league. This is progression, make no mistake. If we can put Liverpool out of the cup this weekend, then why not dare to dream. Even Joe Hart stated it would of been unfair for City to win, but not unfair for the Hammers.
Payet was magnificent again, the big question is will we hold onto him in the summer. In fact everyone played well, but my MOTM goes to Alex Song, who actually looked like he did at the start of last season. Also big shout out to Byram, who looks like he will be getting a run in the team now, with Jenks out for quite a while.
I’ll just leave this here:

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WHUFC vs Wolverhampton Wanderers – FACUP 3rd Round 2016


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Sampling the pre match atmosphere

It’s that time of year again, when thoughts turn to cup glory and the romance and fantastic stories that the FA Cup normally delivers.

None of these were apparent at Upton Park yesterday where an uninventive WHU beat a Wolves team looking for a draw.

The main problem from a hammers perspective was there was no one in the midfield who wanted to go forward until Payet came on. Noble, Song, Zarate, and Obiang were happy to pass it sideways all day long. Zarate tried a couple of shots from distance, and as usual refused to pass to players in better positions.  Song and Noble seemed to be trying to make the perfect pass through defence with little success.  All in all, this left Jelavic isolated and he  lost interest pretty early on.

What also didn’t help was that Wolves played with 8 players back most of the time, which as Sheffield United demonstrated to Man U yesterday, is a little frustrating. This surprised me ,as they had some good breaks, and made the space, but then ran out of people to pass to due to them all being in their own penalty box.

It will not surprise anyone to know the first shot on target for either team was in the 16th minute.

Finally , Payet and Carroll were introduced and the game changed, for the better. It’s amazing how Payet lifts the whole team to play better. With 5 minutes to go, Carroll laid off the ball for Jelavic to smash in a great half volley.

So , we are in the hat for the next round, but will have to up our game to progress in this competition.

MOTM (after my slagging of the midfield) was Pedro Obiang. He kept breaking up play through tackling and sharp reading of the opposition passes.

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Everyone enjoying the exciting game from the bar..