You are here

Teeming With Passion!

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Mon, 02/04/2018 - 22:16


West Ham produced a superb performance teeming with passion, flair and desire as they sealed victory in a massive relegation six-pointer against Southampton on Saturday. The Hammers are now heavy favourites to beat the drop, while the odds plummeted on the vanquished Saints going down. The win propelled West Ham all the way up to the giddy heights of 14th in the table, and they could even secure a top half finish if they maintain such a high level of performance. But their lead over Southampton is still only five points and, with seven games to go, there is no room for complacency as they could still get sucked back into the relegation scrap.
The fans will have a massive role to play between now and the end of the season, as they can either inspire the team or cause their heads to drop. The mood in the ground on Saturday stood in stark contrast to the toxic atmosphere that accompanied the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley last time out. Before the pitch invasions, West Ham were still in that game, but the protests clearly affected the players, their confidence suffered and Sean Dyche's men capitalised to devastating effect. But this weekend the protests were mainly confined to the pre-game marches, while a semblance of optimism prevailed inside the stadium.
Joao Mario urged fans to continue to "make the difference" heading into the business end of the season. "It was impressive from our supporters today," said the Portuguese midfielder. "I just want to say thank you to them, and let's continue like that for the next home game against Stoke City. I just want them to make the difference in that game, as they did today. All the team wanted to change the situation from the last match here, which we lost, and it was an important phase of the week so we're just happy to get three points today and come up the table."
The fixture list is pretty daunting going forwards - the Hammers still have to contend with away trips to Chelsea, Arsenal, and Leicester, while they host Man City and Everton - so the game at home to Stoke on April 16 is huge. It will be their best chance to get three points between now and the end of the campaign, and it will also be a great opportunity to stick the knife into a relegation rival. Check a review of the different betting sites and you will see that West Brom are all but down and have no hope of survival, while the clubs most likely to join them are Stoke and Huddersfield. Then Southampton are 5/4, Swansea are 6/1, Crystal Palace are 7/1 and the Hammers are all the way out at 11/1.
That looks a little optimistic, given how tough West Ham's run in is, but they have the quality to take points off those teams. Man City should have wrapped up the title by the time they visit east London, so they may field a reserve team as they concentrate on the Champions League. Arsenal have Europa League commitments, while Chelsea are focused on the FA Cup, so there are opportunities to exploit lapses in concentration and effort among the big boys. West Ham can certainly beat the likes of Everton and Leicester, but the job will be much easier if the fans back them. And the big one really is the game against Stoke, which could see the supporters roar the team to safety. Then any protests deemed necessary can take place from a position of safety and security, in an orderly fashion, as supporters demand change. - Ed

Share

Comments

Dartford Bhoy's picture

agree on consistency but really enjoying the winning feeling. The LS atmosphere on Saturday was brilliant. No surprise, 50 odd thousand people who, contrary to some beliefs, come week in week out to see that sort of performance and get behind their club! COYI's!!!!!!

up
80 users have voted.

Anyone failed to notice the similarity s between Elbows & Ashton not only are they almost identical in looks but i m o elbows style is identical to the much loved Deano ,well since his born again transformation from a lazy dont want to know player into wonder striker Arnie and best of all he seems to love it here ,the king is retired through injury ,bless him ,long live the king

up
78 users have voted.

Burkie 1

asheshammer's picture

Deano's bicycle kick goal against Manure was every bit as good as Ronaldo's recent wonder-goal. Yes, Arnie reminds me a little of Deano when he was healthy that first season and a bit. He has fight. Really like that about him. Keep feeding him the ball!!!!

up
79 users have voted.

Anyone put their finger on what happend to him i mean when he first came to us he was a right lazy bastard couldn't do a thing right ,now ,hes our most influential player ,said it befor that goel on Sunday ,his second was world class

up
74 users have voted.

Burkie 1

Probably got stale at stoke (no surprise there) & when he first came to us it looked like he couldnt be arsed!!Now hes as important to us as payet was,just hope one of the "big" boys doesnt come sniffing in the summer.

up
77 users have voted.

Sullys having a rest this week so she takes over the circus...apparently the L.S will cost westham 1 billion pounds over the course of our tenancy,thats the tenancy that lasts 99 years!!3 million annual rent + 6 million raised on match days goes to the stadium operators per season...but she fails to mention the rest of the money this board make from T.V revenue,corporate packages,season tickets,membership,match day tickets,catering & drinks on match days,merchandise,etc....the only people she is kidding is herself!!

up
83 users have voted.

So what is she trying to point out with all that crap about 99 year expense,im going to give british gas a good few thousand in the next few years on heating bills,everone has expenses to pay,so big deal,whats her point,are we supposed to be impressed.

up
71 users have voted.

Her & sully will try anything to insult our intelligence,i wonder if shes considered that the taxpayer has paid nearly half a billion to convert the stadium for westham to use & they are still paying for it!!We used to be known as other fans fave 2nd team,not with these clowns in charge we arent anymore...

up
91 users have voted.

Ah yes remember those days ,never heard a bad word against west ham mind you we were cannon foder to most of them ,i know moaning old git ,always goin on about the good old days ,what i wouldn't give to be back there ,get the tube out hot dog before the game and sample a beverage or two !course that was before the leaches took control

up
83 users have voted.

Burkie 1

Dartford Bhoy's picture

I never liked being other fans favourites as they were the ones who normally beat us!

up
73 users have voted.

Next Fixture(s)