Monthly Archives: April 2009 - Page 2

West Ham are there for the taking

Posted by on April 8, 2009 68 comments

Tottenham can put a disappointing result against Blackburn behind them with victory over West Ham on Saturday at White Hart Lane.

The Hammers deserve a lot of credit for their performances this season and the arrival of Steve Clarke to work alongside Ganfranco Zola seems to have made all the difference.

Unfortunately for West Ham, they face a Tottenham side that are capable of beating anyone at the Lane on their day. Since Palacios and Robbie Keane have joined the squad, Spurs look like a different side. Admittedly, Palacios being suspended is a big miss but a fresh Zokora can prove a solid deputy.

The Hammers are hard to beat, only two defeats in eight games illustrate that, but if they are vulnerable it’s when they play away from Upton Park. They also don’t tend to score many goals away from home.

Although they sit 6 points in front, victory on Saturday would cut that advantage to 3 points and give us a realistic chance of nicking that 7th spot, and the chance of European football next season, from right under their noses.

Our last 2 home games have seen us take a poor Middlesbrough side apart by four goals to nil, followed by a 1-0 win over title challengers Chelsea. I can’t see any reason why West Ham should prove a bigger challenge than the Blues.

We turned the Hammers over 2-0 at Upton Park earlier in the season and I can envisage a similar result come the weekend.

We’re not safe mind games from Harry

Posted by on April 6, 2009 2 comments

I was as disappointed as anyone with Saturday’s result against Blackburn. We dominated them early and had a host of chances to kill the game off. Admittedly, out penalty was never a penalty but the referee more than made up for that with his sending off of Wilson Palacios which totally changed the game and made it easy for the punt and rush merchants.

As if all those fun and games weren’t enough, Harry came up with some comedy of his own;

“We are not safe yet. Thirty eight points is not safe. It is still all to play for.

“When I arrived staying in the Premier League was the only thing that mattered. We have to make sure we do that first and foremost.

“The general performance was terrific, so to come away with nothing is unbelievable.”

Fair enough, we aren’t 100% safe but I don’t see how Harry Redknapp can really believe we are in any significant danger now with 38pts on the board coupled with the form the team has been showing in recent weeks.

West Brom certainly look doomed and Boro don’t look in much better shape. With another 7 very average sides between Tottenham and the last relegation spot, there is no need to start thinking negatively again. With home games against the Hammers on Saturday followed by Newcastle 8 days later, I’ll be very surprised if we aren’t past the 40 points mark and safety very soon.

ps I could do with some Spurs support at the North London Divide. We are looking for guest writers and it seems to be all Gooners at the minute!