Irons 'Right Up For It'-Rice

In the past prior to the second coming of he who some call the Moyesiah, West Ham United teams have always had the reputation of being incredibly consistant, in being incredibly inconsistent! Powder puff, Flakey, Soft Centred, you name it Hammers have been called all of these names and a lot more and rightly so.

Even with Moyes firmly at the Helm now, the club continues to baffle on occasions, beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottingham at home, but lose to Leeds and Brentford! Hammers form has dropped way off the pace of late but news emenating from the club's 'goose green' training ground is that ALL the players, the coaches and the manager have had a series of 'frank meetings' to help wipe away the International break induced cobwebs that have accumulated.

The loss of form as well as Kittygate has severely tested the bon hommie of the squad, but they have come through the other side as alluded to by Skipper Declan Rice. "Sometimes you need to sit down and take stock, look at the good as well as the bad and work out a plan to move forward, the Lads are absolutely buzzing about playing in the Europa Cup last 16 and look forward to giving it a real go under the lights. We have had a good week training and have been working on a few changes to freshen things up, we are still in the hunt for a high finish in the League and will be giving it our all on Sunday against Wolves, the Lads are right up for it!"

Defeat against 'high flying' Wolves would definitely extinguish ANY hope at all of Hammers attaining a Champions League place, although in all honesty that particular horse bolted as soon as the transfer window closed without any signings. Even top six is looking very challenging, but it can still be achieved which is actually pretty remarkable given the club's lack of strength in depth.

A win would keep the embers burning of a Champions League slot, but realistically Hammers ARE NOT a Champions League team! If someone had offered fans progression through to the League Cup 1/4 finals by beating Manchester City AND Manchester United, qualifying for the Europa League last 16 by topping their group, still being in the FA Cup AND being near the top of the Premier League for most of the season, those fans would bite their arms off!

it is a pity that what might have been wasn't fully taken advantage of, but a good committed performance in front of a packed Stratford Stadium would do wonders for the club ahead of going into a hectic week that includes Wednesday's visit to Southampton in the FA Cup, followed up by the trip to Anfield that could well decide the Premier League title! - ED