Enough is Enough

Sam Allardyce is, for better or worse, going to be West Ham’s manager for the foreseeable future. The price tag attached to terminating his contract is one which we can’t afford and investing the sum in the squad is seen as a wiser use of funds by the club’s ownership.

The Silver Lining

We traveled to Anfield more in hope than real anticipation. We left it in shambles, putting on what was an absolutely dire performance and perhaps the worst of the season.

Situation Critical

It's like staring down the barrel of a gun. You don't know for sure what's going to come out in the end, but there's one outcome you most definitely don't want. Such is the lurch West Ham United are in at the moment.

Time For A Change

Now don't let the headline fool you. This isn't another article recommending we get rid of Big Sam, proclaiming the season to surely end in relegation if he stays. But there are enough worrying signs about that point to a change certainly being needed.

Welcome Back Carlton

News abounds tonight with stories of Carlton Cole's imminent return to the Boleyn Ground on a short term deal that will give the club a desperately needed third striking option.

Disappointment.

Disappointment. That one word sums up how the transfer window has winded up for West Ham United. It was a tough choice for a one word summary, being torn between "disappointment" and "failure".

2013/2014 Season Preview

So here we stand on the eve of another Premier League season. Transfer activity for most clubs in England’s top flight has been eerily quiet, perhaps leading towards a calm before the storm.

Much Ado About Nothing

With the way some West Ham supporters are moaning, one would be excused for thinking we've had the most disastrous transfer window in recent memory. That's far from the case.

Analyzing Andy

With the signing of Andy Carroll, on a six year deal, confirmed yesterday, West Ham United have entered a new era. While much has been made on this site of the ambition displayed by owners David Gold and David Sullivan as well as manager Sam Allardyce, yesterdays acquisition was the surest sign yet.

Can't Wait Til June 20th?

We know our readers well. And like us the anticipation on exactly what the new Adidas kit was going to look like was overwhelming. Well here we have it. Away kit is especially class but both tops are nice. It's good to be back in Adidas. All credit to @djleon1983 on Twitter for the snaps. Next season can't come soon enough.

Welcome The Rat!

The squad strengthening has already begun in earnest, with West Ham signing Romanian international Razvan Rat on a free after his contract expires in June.

Happy Birthday Bobby!

http://youtu.be/NK1LLV8uRAM

On what would have been his 72nd birthday, here's 12 minutes of Bobby at his best. From Barking to Wembley, he is a legend in every since of the word. Too often that term is tossed around, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who has done more to bring prestige, honour and success to West Ham United and English football in general.

West Ham 2 Norwich 1

Bit weird to be on the other side of the calls isn't it? While saying West Ham were lucky to do would certainly be a stretch, Mark Clattenburg definitely did us a bit of a favor in awarding a penalty to the Hammers with barely a minute gone in the match.

Hopes and Wishes

Ahhh, January. The start of a New Year and yet another transfer window. Hope for a better year, or continuance of a good year past, dodgy "in the know' accounts on Twitter and ridiculous speculation in regards to who your club is going to bring in. Isn't it a magical time?

West Ham 0 Manchester City 0

How disappointing was that? On a day when many in the press, as well as fellow supporters, figured we should be happy to get any points going into the match we were blatantly robbed of a victory over the defending Premier League champions by the end of it. Kevin Nolan was at his best once again, slotting home a ball dropped in courtesy of a Mark Noble free kick only to have it ruled offside. Well Kev wasn't, and there is no debating that. West Ham played remarkably well in the first 20 minutes of the match with Momo Diame and Yossi Benayoun also coming within inches of goals of their own. Manchester City took over for much of the remainder of the game, with resolute defending being supplied by the team as a whole. James Collins turned in one of his best performances of the season, barring his re-debut against Aston Villa and Winston Reid removed any doubts in our minds over whether he or James Tomkins should be regularly starting alongside Collins. And Carlos Tevez, a cult icon at Upton Park, had another homecoming. Carlos and the love he has for the club and its fans makes one forget about all the bad things in the modern game, even if he'[s occasionally been part of the problem. Oh, and Big Andy nearly scored the goal of the season with a beautiful bicycle kick attempt. It'll come Andy, don't ya worry.

Comings and Goings

Ambition has been in no short supply since “Big” Sam Allardyce came into the picture at West Ham. There is never a shortage of complaints regarding the system he plays with many feeling that his focus on the long ball and set pieces is blasphemous, a traitorous style not respecting the traditional “West Ham Way.” Fair play on that, his style certainly wouldn’t be described as attractive football.

Big Andy

Andy Carroll made a good first impression now didn’t he? By all accounts Andy’s first outing for the Irons was an industrious one in which he wreaked havoc for Fulham’s defenders before going off in the 75th minute for a full hearted challenge that upset his hamstring. He knocked down the ball which Ricardo Vaz Te laid on for Kevin Nolan to bury before Winston Reid headed home on the half hour mark. To finish off a dream first half Matty Taylor took a gift from Fulham’s Brede Hangeland and knocked it in. Guy Demel was another player who went off injured in the latter stages, replaced by young Rob Hall with Taylor taking over the full back position. It was a far better effort then last weeks calamitous match with Swansea. West Ham played the ball on the ground a lot more and Carroll made a massive impact in his first match for us. Perhaps now with the price tag pressure off his back Big Andy can now gain back some of the form he showed at Newcastle.

Big Sam Gets Big Andy

Big Sam has finally landed his man. It was confirmed by the club today that West Ham have completed the signing of Andy Carroll on a season long loan. Let us be honest: we didn’t want Andy at the club. It seemed as though he had no desire to play for the club and while that was the case we had no use for him. Our thinking was if he thinks he’s too good for West Ham than he can jog on. Now that he’s signed for the year, we’re behind him 100%. While certainly still wary of just how well Andy will fare, if he’s a Hammer he’s a Hammer and he gets our full support. Certainly when we look at the situation more objectively it looks like it could be a very good piece of business. Big Sam’s style of play is built around whipping the ball into the box towards a big striker and/or scoring off of set pieces. Andy Carroll, all 6’3” of him, is built for that style of play. We’re not going to see any tika-taka style passing or Messi inspired mazy runs through defenders, he’s a goal poacher and a very serious aerial threat. Yes his stats last season were far from impressive but at the same time he had Stewart Downing providing service. We rest our case. So let’s get on with it Andy. Make us regret ever doubting you.

West Ham 2 Crewe 0

Nice snap of one of our summer signings, Modibo Maiga, banging in one at Crewe on Tuesday evening. By all accounts the match was a bit of a walk in the park with a load of fringe players getting a run out to show their stuff. Alou Diarra landed his first full cap playing in the center of defense and we personally rather seem him partnered in the middle of the park with Winston Reid rather than James Collins. We were as pleasantly surprised with Collins performance in the Villa match as everyone else, but does he really have what it takes to perform at that level throughout an entire season? Diarra excels in the middle of the park as a defensive midfielder but we have Diame to play that role as well as get forward with the ball. Stephen Henderson started in goal for West Ham which may be a sign that Big Sam is moving on from Jasskelainen. We hope so at least, Henderson is a very talented youngster. It’ll be interesting to see whether either goalscorer, Maiga or Nicky Maynard, start on the weekend. Big Sam is going to have some tough choices in his team selection this week.

West Ham 0 Swansea 3

This wasn’t exactly a great sight for West Ham supporters yesterday afternoon. Yes that’s James Collins watching Swansea’s Michu chase down his back pass. Collins looked a completely different player then the Man of the Match in last weekends opening day win. Jussi Jaaskelainen didn’t fair much better. Jussi has been one of the most reliable ‘keepers in the Premier League throughout his career so mistakes are few and far between but that doesn’t mean much after his calamitous error on Saturday. We’re left wondering if perhaps Big Sam takes a chance on young Stephen Henderson next week. There was very few positives in yesterdays match so we’re just going to think forward to the next one. Also, to those West Ham supporters who were acting like the loss was a sign of the end of the world: keep it together. We’re not going to win them all and Swansea smashed QPR for 5 last weekend. We’ve got a lot of improvements to make but one loss in August won’t be the story of our season.