Write for West Ham Offside
By: AlexG |
Add Comments
Are you forever blowing bubbles? Do you know how to switch on a computer? Then we could use you here on West Ham Offside.
Writing for West Ham Offside is not a paid position, but it’s an opportunity to represent your team as part of The Offside community, and a platform to share your opinions with other West Ham fans.
If you’re interested in taking over this blog then please read our blogging guidelines here and then send an email to daryl[at]theoffside[dot]com.
Category: Team News
Put your money where your mouth is
By: Ted | Add Comments
West Ham is surely up for sale. Anything the tabloids report on us seems to come true these days, summer sales, curbs out, and the owner is broke are the three main ones. So now that it’s up for grabs, who should get it. Us, me, the fans. Take a few factors into account and one can make a guess at the price. The owner bought the club for 85 million. The world is in a huge financial crisis, that brings the price down to 60 million. We are facing an enormous lawsuit that could cost us around 50 million, knock the price down at least, at least, 10 million seeing as we don’t know how that will go. Add into that our owner is liquidating his assets, knock off at least another 10 million. That’s 40 million right there. Now, we have about 25,000 season ticket holders and another 5,000 members. That’s around 1.5 to 2 thousand a piece, or 4 or 5 season tickets worth. Make up your own mind, but I’d enjoy going to work every day to pay off that debt if it meant West Ham was run by the fans like Barcelona or AFC Wimbledon. The only question is can you trust putting that kind of money into the club. Well, there is nothing better to inspire confidence in this kind of situation then someone at the top you can trust. To support this initiative and then perhaps be elected its first President thereafter. And I happen to know someone who’s not too happy with his current job and fits the bill perfectly, Sir Trevor Brooking.
Category: Team NewsWest Ham 0-2 Arsenal
By: Ted | Add Comments
Three defeats in a row to bring Zola and the fans back down to earth. Defeats against Bolton and Hull should have already done that but this game proved where West Ham’s shortcomings truly lie. Curbishley built at West Ham a solid team that in all fairness is very tough to beat. We have plenty of good defenders and defensive midfielders. That is why we kept Arsenal at bay for so long. However, when it comes to attacking quality, we are severely lacking. Bellamy was back, and had a good chance and was playing well. If Ashton ever plays regularly we have a good strike force right there. Ilunga and Faubert at fullback could also be top Premiership players getting forward if you ask me as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsHull 1-0 West Ham
By: Ted | Add Comments
West Ham came undone at the Premiership’s form team by the odd goal from a corner. Like so many Premier League games nowadays, the first goal proved all important. Although Hull dominated the opening few minutes, West Ham whethered the early storm and eventually took control of the proceedings. However, despite having more of the ball, Hull were having more clear cut chances. The most memorable moment of the first half was when Ilunga nicked the ball off their keeper when he was preparing to punt it away, and lobbed it into the back of the net with a bicycle kick. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsFinancial meltdown hits West Ham
By: Ted | 4 Comments
Today for the first time our current economic woes became worth talking about, with the news that West Ham will not be able to spend money on new players any time soon. This news was followed by several reassurances from club insiders that the chairman still has significant resources and a commitment to invest in the club. However, recently the club has consistently taken less than a day to contradict its own statements, and quash newspaper reports that have invariably been proven to be true. Our chairman’s home country of Iceland has been suffering an economic crisis of astronomical proportions. It was only a short time before its largest bank, Landsbanki, our owner’s most important asset went under. Now he has been fired as its chairman Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsWest Ham 1-3 Bolton
By: Ted | Add Comments
This was truly a taste of our own medicine. Today’s game was a carbon copy of last week’s win at Fulham, for the other team that is. Two goalkeeping errors in the first half gifted the away team victory, as was the case at Craven Cottage the last time out. This side has been becoming like the West Ham of old, strong at home and weaker away. The key being that after finally chalking up an away win, we throw away our good home form. The first goal came after Green spilled a hopeless punt into the box that Davies put away. The second was when he could only deflect a shot into the bath of Cahill to score Bolton’s second in the space of about 3 minutes. Cole kept up his good scoring record to give us a chance of getting a goal, and with Bellamy coming off the bench it looked like we might get the equalizer, and who knows, maybe the win. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsTevez is a legend, but he didn’t keep us up
By: Ted | 2 Comments
This article intended to address not just current compensation case, but also the general assumption that Tevez kept us up singlehandedly. Don’t get me wrong, Apache is an absolute legend, there’s no player I would rather see in Claret and Blue. However, it undermines West Ham, and all the other important players involved to say he saved us on his own, and it’s just plain untrue. Therefore, attached is an interesting piece I read that sums up why the decision, based principally on the fact that Tevez was worth at least three points, is ludicrous not only as an attempted serious football judgement, that a player’s worth can be measured in points, but also that in this specific case is a ridiculous overstatement of his efforts. His contribution was nothing compared to say that ballet dancer Ronaldo’s 100-odd goals for Manure last season. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsFulham 1-2 West Ham
By: Ted | Add Comments
Basically a nothing match that if either team could have won by the odd goal, but in the end we got the rub of the green to take all three points and stay near the top of the table. The first half was pretty much all Fulham, but three minutes near the end of that period gifted us the victory. First, Etherington made a terrific run down the right wing and played a ball across goal that quite frankly Schwarzer made a hash of, palming it out to Cole who scored a tap in to put his midweek misdemenour behind him. Soon after that, Schwarzer made another mistake, rushing out to get a ball he never would that Etherington simply prodded into the goal. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsWatford 1-0 West Ham
By: Ted | 1 Comment
What a relief to see that despite all the upheaval we are still able to stay true to our traditions and lose to a lower league club. A changed West Ham team played out a fairly even game against a decent and direct Watford side, losing by an unlucky own goal from a set-piece. Our best chance came when we hit the bar from a corner towards the end of the match but never really threatened too much. The negatives to take out of this game is that it is a reality check, we will not play beautiful let alone all-conquering football just yet. Zola’s philosophy needs time to take hold, and our ambitions of being a major force in English football are still some years off. The honeymoon period for the manager is over, for now. The positives were a solid but unspectacular debut from Walter Lopez, and the consolation that despite its growing reputation, the Carling Cup was the least important competition we entered this year. Some might say it was a chance for silverware, but I didn’t really see that happening. The stand-out performers on the day in my book were:
Lastuvka: Proved to be a reliable deputy with much to do. One mistake led to the goal but keepers will always be punished for mistakes and despite that did well. Not a good sign though when the keeper stands out.
Mullins: Again he gets in despite scoring the own-goal. However, I think he took his chance back in the team well and did the kind of solid job we expect from him.
Etherington: Best attacking player on the pitch, creating the majority of our best chances, including making a great 70 yard run that almost led to a goal at one point. My ‘man of the match’ for showing the quality that a Premier League side should show against a lower league team. Good to see him play well for the whole 90 minutes, and to see him move around more dynamically from the left to the centre and even to the right under this new regime and formation.
Category: Team NewsThis is an outrage!
By: Ted | 7 Comments
What an absolute disgrace. Two years ago West Ham broke a rule that few people knew existed and paid the biggest fine in Premier League history because of it. Fair enough, I can bite the bullet here. However, because a certain team that finished three places below us have been unable to come to terms with the fact that they weren’t good enough on the pitch to stay up, they have endlessly appealed to any authority from which they can get revenge. West Ham indulged them and in an attempt to draw a line under the entire incident accepted a final tribunal on the matter. This tribunal, made up of three people with no football knowledge have essentially decided that Tevez was worth at least three points to West Ham that season, which would have seen us relegated in the other team’s place. Well, following that logic, he was worth a lot more than three points, so why not get Charlton in on the act who were also relegated that year. The entire argument is ridiculous anyway, as no one player’s worth in points can be measured. Every player played a huge part in our survival including Zamora, Noble, Collins, Neill and Green to name but a few. Furthermore, this completely overlooks the disruption that the arrival of Tevez caused which resulted in our poor form that led to relegation worries in the first place, and that fact that he didn’t score for the first seven months of the season anyway. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team News
Home 
