ON STRIKE!!!

Fulham 1 - 2 West Ham

A victory away for our hammers propels us into 5th place. It's a big opportunity for us and one that will prove Gianfranco Zola as a manager.  You see, it's the measure of a manager to win the games you are SUPPOSED to win and then rise up and steal some games you are NOT SUPPOSED to win.  That is the key.

Last Saturday West Ham did what was necessary to put away Fulham and we learned some things about our management at the same time.  We learned that our team can close out lesser opponents, while at the same time learning the truth about why our management was so die hard about getting rid of Bobby Zamora.

We outplayed Fulham, pure and simple, for 90 minutes. That's the key.  90 minutes.  Fulham played a dirty, dirty game.  The fouls they committed were ruthless and many times very underhanded.  Pantsil can say what he wants but I've played football, in-doors where the pitch is much, much tighter and never have I seen a player HAVE to stamp on a keeper's arm.  He wants to apologize and tell Hammers fans he had no choice but I've watched the game thrice and he did have a choice.  It's about respect.

There is a reason why players like Joe Cole, Carlos Tevez and others can come in and get an ovation while players like Yossi Benayoun and Frank Lampard get booed.  The difference?  Some players leave because it's absolutely necessary for their careers and in most cases they would have stayed with West Ham if they could and didn't run their mouth off or do the club dirty when they left.  Let's examine.

First, Zamora and Pantsil could have said, "My time at West Ham was wonderful, their fans are some of the best in the world and I loved them and can't wait to play in front of them again."  You see that.  No negatives.  If that would have happened our fans would have gave a standing ovation to Pantsil and Zamora but instead the chose not to take the high road but go to the media and talk about how the team was desperate and had to sell them to compete.  It couldn't possibly be that they were pour in form.  No, it had to be that the club was desperate.

Now look at Tevez, for example.  He left, said he, "loved West Ham and their fans especially and it was a special time in my career. One I will always cherish."  You know what?  Even though the bloke is going to cost us as much as 30 million pounds to Sheffield United, he'll be cheered when he comes back to Upton Park.  He'll be cheered because he recognized what West Ham had done for his career.

Frank Lampard.  He's booed.  He's called, "Fat Frank."  Why?  Because his father, a West Ham legend, came out and said basically, "If you love a player you should pay them what they want."  We could not at the time and sold him to Chelsea.  Lampard Jr. never once acknowledged what West Ham has meant to him and for that he will always be booed.  Joe Cole, on the other hand, never said much of anything.  He just acknowledged the role West Ham played in his career and the fans never turned on him.  It's that simple.

People have emailed saying, "Weigh in on the Sheffield United saga!"  I already did. January 29th, 2008 I weighed in with my first and last comment.  If you go to the "Up The Irons Link" at top right and scroll down, all the way, you'll find it.  That's all I had to say then, and all I have to say now.  Shef deserved to be sent down and they deserve to stay there.  Regardless of how an overzealous chairman and a misguided jury see it.