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BLOWING BUBBLES MONTHLY DECEMBER 2014 BLOWING-BUBBLES.CO.UK BY FANS, FOR FANS #43 How could West Ham cope with life after Reid? What was ‘England’s greatest’ Bobby Moore really like to know? Will the Hammers sell the Kiwi in January? Biographer Matt Dickinson talks about his long journey BOXING DAYS from heaven and hell ~ TONY COTTEE talks Enner Valencia Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson on Europe, sexy football and why he is loving life in E13 Home from home

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In this issue: *Carl Jenkinson on Europe, sexy football and where he is loving life in E13 *How could West Ham cope with life after Reid? *Tony Cottee talks Enner Valencia *What was ‘England’s greatest’ Bobby Moore really like to know? *Boxing Days from heaven and hell Edited by a team of journalists, we aim to inform, entertain and unite West Ham fans across the globe with our easy-to-read, well-designed & professional magazine. Our publication is available to read for FREE every month on your computer, mobile phone or tablet. You can have a hard copy of every issue of Blowing Bubbles posted through your door before you leave for Upton Park. E-mail [email protected] for details. www.blowing-bubbles.co.uk

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BLOWINGBUBBLES

MONTHLY

DECEMBER 2014 BLOWING-BUBBLES.CO.UK BY FANS, FOR FANS #43

How could West Ham cope with life after Reid?

What was ‘England’s greatest’ Bobby Moore really like to know?

Will the Hammers sell the Kiwi in January?

Biographer Matt Dickinson talks about his long journey

BOXI

NG D

AYS

from

heav

en an

d hel

l ~

TONY

COT

TEE t

alks

Enne

r Val

enci

a

Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson on Europe, sexy football and why he is loving life in E13

Home from home

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: David Blackmore MANAGING EDITOR: Simon OsbornSOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR: Lucy WoolfordPHOTOGRAPHER: Nicky HayesCONTRIBUTORS: David Bowden, Julian Dicks, Toby Fry, Geoff Hillyer, Liam Newman, Emily Pulham, Danny Rust, Matt Santer, Alex Shilling, Julian Shea, Bianca Westwood.EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: editor@blowing- bubbles.co.ukADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: advertis-ing@blowing- bubbles.co.ukWHERE YOU CAN READ IT: Blowing Bubbles is available to buy and is also available to read on your PC, Mac, Tablet or Mobile. Blowing Bubbles is published by Fanatic Media. Blowing Bubbles is a completely independent publication. The views expressed within Blowing Bubbles are not necessarily those of the publishers. Opinions expressed by companies and individuals appearing within the magazine are not that of Blowing Bubbles or the publisher. The publisher accepts no liability from any action raised in response to any such opinions. Readers are strongly advised that although we take every care to ensure prices and content, etc, are up to date, it is the responsibility to check with the advertiser before purchasing or travelling to view products. No reproduction, either in part or whole of the magazine is allowed unless written consent is obtained from the publisher. The publisher accepts no responsibility for any actions arising from articles or features or advertisements within this magazine. Readers are advised to pay by credit card when ordering goods as these are regulated under the Consumer Act 1974. Debit and charge cards are not. (c) Blowing Bubbles

Welcome to our Christmas issue.

This is always my favou-rite time of year with so many games played over the festive period.

The Christmas period can make or break a sea-son and I sincerely hope we are able to kick on from our impressive first half of the season and get to the end of January still in the hunt for an European place.

With Arsenal and Chelsea coming up this month we could take a huge leap towards Eu-rope and help blow the race for the title and the top four wide open.

Whatever happens,

I cannot wait for the games to come thick and fast – you only need to read Julian Dicks’ column to know how much the players will be looking forward to it to.

Our thanks to Bianca Westwood for her bril-liant interview with Carl Jenkinson. It’s another fantastic read.

Our thanks to Carl too for speaking so honestly about his time at West Ham so far.

We’ve also got two brilliant interviews with Tony Cottee and Matt Dickinson.

The former talks to Julian Shea about his striking partnership with

Frank McAvennie, while the latter tells Simon Osborn about his ‘warts and all’ biography on Bobby Moore.

I also loved Emily Pulham’s piece on Keira Knightley’s recent interview on the Late Night show Seth Meyers and how it might help to attract more West Ham fans from across the Pond.

I hope you enjoy read-ing what I feel is another cracker. As always, if you want to comment on any of the pieces, send us your views to [email protected] .

David

Hammers helping themselves as the season of giving starts

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The big interview - Carl Jenkinson

‘West Ham’s dressing room is a really special place to be’On-loan full-back Jenkinson admits he could stay beyond this season

Carl Jenkinson has not ruled out a per-

manent move to West Ham after enjoying an impressive first half of the season at the Boleyn.

The right back, on a season-long loan from Arsenal, has been a key player for Allardyce this season and admits he is enjoying life in East London.

‘We’ll see what hap-pens at the end of the season,’ he told Blowing Bubbles. ‘I’m loving it here and you can never say never, but I’m not making any decisions right now. I just want to keep working hard, do the best that I can for this team, then we’ll see what happens.’

There have been a more than a few eye-brows raised by Arsenal fans at Arsene Wenger’s decision to let Jenkinson

go to West Ham, espe-cially after some of his recent performances, but the England internation-al had no doubts about joining the Hammers.

‘When I signed here I knew it was a club going in the right direction,’ he continued. ‘I knew the players that had been brought in would make a big difference to the team and the style

that we were going to play. There were a few factors that helped me understand what it was going to be like coming in here, and it’s fulfilled my expectations and more to be honest.’

Not only did Jenkin-son believe the Ham-mers were heading in the right direction, the 22-year-old also admits he felt West Ham would

have a strong season.‘I’d be lying if I said

we’d be in the European places come the middle of December because you’ve got some massive clubs up there so we’ve done fantastically well and at the minute we’re punching above our weight so long may that continue,’ he said during an interview with Sky Sports.

‘Having said that it’s not like we’ve been nicking results and don’t deserve to be where we are. The way we’ve played has warranted the results we’ve got.

‘You could argue and there are some examples that spring to mind like at Old Trafford, where we should have got a better result really. We could have drawn that, if not won it, so there have been games where we could have got more.’

One of Jenkinson’s strengths so far this season has been the quality of crosses he has been whipping into the oppositions’ boxes – two of which resulted in goals against Burnley and Swansea.

But neither moment

BIANCA WESTWOOD

Gunner: Carl Jenkinson is on loan from Arsenal

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of individual brilliance makes Jenkinson’s best highlights for the first half of the season.

‘There have been quite a few highlights,’ Jen-kinson, who has played for Arsenal 37 times, continued. ‘Beating Manchester City and Liverpool at home were two fantastic results. It doesn’t get much better than that.

‘I guess at the time Liverpool was a game where it was a huge win and we really kicked on from there. We almost went into the City game half expecting a result because we’d been play-ing so well and we knew what we were capable of. So they’re the two that spring to mind. Fantastic results and fantastic performances.’

Used to going into games expecting to get a win at Arsenal, the right back now believes there is more of a winning mentality at West Ham.

‘I’ve got a few friends who are West Ham fans and they say it’s a completely different feeling being a fan this season, which is fantas-tic and is all we want,’ he continued.

‘All the boys are really enjoying playing with each other, the spirit within the team is great and it’s a really good environment to be in.

‘Obviously I came in this season and it was all new to me but I was able to settle in so quickly because the lads are fantastic, the spirit is

brilliant and that’s going to stand us in good stead for the season.’

He added: ‘We spend a lot of time on the training ground together and everybody gets on really well.

‘I’ve played in teams where it’s felt similar but I’ve also played in teams where it’s not like that and you have a few bad eggs. Not everyone is going to get on so well.

‘It’s the same in every working environment but here that’s definitely

not the case. Everyone gets on and that helps on the pitch.’

Used to playing with the likes of Aaron Ram-sey, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott, Jenkinson jumps to the defence of his current team mates when asked if the level of quality at West Ham has surprised him.

‘If you look at our team, there’s an awful lot of quality in it and there’s a lot of quality on the bench as well,’ he said.

‘I guess that’s a great thing for the manager, he’s got a lot of strength in depth and there’s a few players on there who aren’t used to being there. That’s the sign of a good team, to have that strength in depth.

‘We’ve got a lot of quality throughout the squad and the players who’ve come in who haven’t been playing regularly have done re-ally well so I think that’s going to be important because it’s a long

Happy: Carl Jenkinson says he is loving live at Upton Park

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season, we’ve already had a few injuries and we’re going have more so the strength in depth is vital.’

Before the start of the season it was unknown how the likes of Diafra Sakho, Aaron Cresswell and Enner Valencia would adapt to the Premier League and Jen-kinson has praised the manager and chairmen for the players brought in.

‘Diafra Sakho was a top scorer in the French second division but it’s completely different to the Premier League. They took a gamble on him and it’s turned out to be fantastic, he’s been outstanding for us,’ he said.

‘The credit goes to the manager and chairmen for making those bold calls and obviously they’ve worked.

‘With the money spent on Valencia, there was always going to be a lot expected of him but he’s more than stood up to that.

‘But like I said we’ve got an awful lot of qual-ity in the squad and also the team spirit, which

makes settling in easier. ‘Everyone comes in,

enjoys training, enjoys working with each other and it makes it less of a chore every day and that’s all you really want.’

Asked if West Ham’s impressive first half of the season has taken the pressure off the players

and allowed them to play with more freedom, Jenkinson continued: ‘Maybe. It’s a lot more difficult when you’re down at the bottom of the league fighting.

‘We’re in a nice place at the minute so like you said it does give you the licence to play with freedom and we’re doing that at the minute.

‘A lot of my friends say we’re playing in a com-pletely different style. I wasn’t here last year so I can’t really relate to that but they’ve been watch-ing for seasons.

‘They’ve said it’s been a joy to watch at the min-ute so, when you’re high up the table you have the licence to do that. May-

be it’s different when you’re down the bottom but everyone is playing with freedom and that’s really showing.’

He added: ‘I’ve been given the licence to go forward which is what I want to do as an attacking fullback but it’s also evident here that you have to do your defensive duties.

‘From a personal point of view that’s going to get the best out of me because the gaffer and the coaches want me and the team to defend properly as a shape and as a defensive unit but when we get the ball we play our football and express ourselves with the talent we have in the

Positive: Sam Allardyce has been praised by the right back

Impressive: Carl Jenkinson has two assists this season

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team. ‘The first thing for me

is to defend but I haven’t got the chains on where I’ve got to stay back and defend. I’ve got the licence to go forward and play. I think that’s the same with everyone in the team.’

But has there been a conscious effort to put more emphasis on attacking this season?

‘At the end of the day you keep clean sheets, you defend well, you win games,’ Jenkinson re-plied. ‘The gaffer knows that, the coaching staff knows that. It’s quite obvious.

‘We’ve got the players to go forward and get goals but there’s got to be a focus on keeping it tight at the back.

‘If we can keep a clean sheet we’ve got a good chance of winning the game so of course that’s the focus but it is for most teams to be honest.’

Jenkinson says it is inevitable the side will ship at few goals at some stage as they are approaching games with such an attacking mindset, but claims Sam Allardyce has encour-aged the team to be positive.

‘I think it’s a sacrifice we probably take and possibly may leak a few goals. It’s going to happen because of the style that we play but the important thing, and what will really make us a successful team, is if we can get that balance right.

‘In terms of our de-fensive unit and keeping the goals out and still managing to express ourselves going forward, I think that’ll be a real test for us.

‘I think we’re starting to get that balance now but it’s something we’re going have to master if we want to be up there at the end of the season.”

Valuable points have been picked up by West Ham this season after going a goal down, in-cluding victories against

WBA and Swansea, and Jenkinson puts that down to West Ham’s team spirit this season.

‘Stoke was a very tough day, they were good, but in the end we had to dig in and some individual brilliance from Stewart [Downing] got us back in the game and we ended up coming away with a result,’ he said.

‘There’s a lot of fight in this team. There’s a never-say-die attitude and that’s going to stand us in good stead for the

season.We’re not giving up at the end of the day and we’re doing really well coming back from them sort of positions so hopefully it continues.’

Asked if he feels West Ham can beat anyone, he replied: ‘I think so and I think we’ve proved that so far. We can’t get carried away but we’ve proven we can beat anyone.

‘We don’t have any fear at the moment which is a good thing to have in a team.’ BBM

No fear: Andy Carroll celebrates after scoring agsinst Swansea

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I really enjoyed your interview with Trevor Brooking and I agreed with his comments that fundamental changes need to be made in the way our young players are coached if England are ever going to succeed on the international stage again.

I find it hard to believe why, as businessmen, owners cannot look beyond the short-term, invest in their youth system and work to-wards a brighter future. There will be some who say, and rightly so, that survival in the Premier League is all that matters but surely, as busi-nessmen, football club owners would ensure their club could survive a drop down a division?

The other argument I’d have with these people is it costs a fraction of the

money to invest in the youth system compared to how much you’ll have to pay to buy the players in and pay their wages. To put it another way, it costs far less to grow your own carrots then it does to go to your local supermarket and buy them.

Southampton are an excellent example of a club which pumped money into its youth set-up and is now

reaping the benefit of this investment with the likes of Luke Shaw, Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana all coming through their system and breaking into the first team. What I’ve found most interesting with the Saints is that they have, pardon the pun, still gone marching on despite losing some of their key academy products.

Chris Hill

Your shout

The problem with winning

Bonds deserves further recognition Regarding your piece with Trevor Brooking backing the campaign to re-name the East Stand in honour of Billy Bonds, I would really love to hear what the club has to say about this.

Since the campaign was launched, the club has been very, very quiet about it and I don’t see

why they haven’t done it. Billy is West Ham’s most capped player and he also captained the side to the FA Cup wins in 1975 and 1980. He de-serves this recognition.

If anyone at the club is reading this, please don’t make the same mistakes you did with Bobby [Moore].

Mary Holmes

When it comes to the future, we all need to think carrots Is anyone else finding

they are watching West Ham this season through their fingers?

I must admit I always find it easier to watch West Ham knowing we will probably lose because my expectations are lower.

Then I just sit back and hope we can get something but going into games this season, I’ve felt we could take maximum points from each and I’m finding it unbearable.

Suzie Sampson

Quite a few of my mates have been asking me recently when I think the bubble is going to burst for West Ham and part of me is worried how I’m going to feel when it does.

I had hoped we might get enough points to secure our survival by early January and be able to afford throwing everything at the FA Cup.

The draw against Ever-ton ruined my dream somewhat.

Sure I think we can beat them but they have been our bogey side for a number of seasons now.

Sanjay Singh

Toffees prove a sticky draw

Email: [email protected]

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We must ask for six points from Santal loved having

a break from the kids at ChristmasPlaying on Boxing Day was as good as it got...

With due respect to Leicester City, who come to Upton Park this weekend, most fans are looking ahead to the games against Chelsea and Arsenal this Christmas.

The players should be beaming with confidence at the mo-ment and there is no reason why we can’t beat both our London rivals.

We’re scoring goals, we’re going 1-0 down against teams and coming back to win and we’re beating good teams. Things are looking up.

I know Jose Mourinho mentioned West Ham playing 19th century football when we went to Stamford Bridge and got a 0-0 draw last season and I can remember thinking that was rich because I can remember the days when Chelsea used to come to the Bolyen ground and park the bus.

Christmas time is always a really important period in the English

football season. Get some good results now and it

can really define where you finish.I know you hear a lot of managers

moaning about it but I loved playing at Christmas.

I used to look forward to the games on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day as most people seemed to be really happy.

I even used to enjoy going into training on Christmas Day - just to get away from the kids and the missus for a bit!

I played under some managers who used to try and take us away to hotels even when we had home

games because they wouldn’t want us to drink.

Mark Noble was right when he said it is a small sacrifice for being a professional footballer. You know what you are getting in to.

I can still vividly remember one Christmas Day walking into the changing room and Ronnie Boyce saying to me: ‘Morning Jules, Merry Christmas’ and I replied: ‘What’s so f****** merry about it?’. I wonder if he remembers that?’

Under John Lyall, there used to be Christmas parties on December 22/23 where everyone who had to come in on Christmas Day would have their kids and wives there hav-ing a party. It was always fantastic.

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Tony Cottee interview

Cottee’s delight as striking double acts are back in VogueHammers legend says trend to play two up top is great for football

He may not be the tallest player ever

to wear a claret and blue shirt, but nearly three decades after the pinna-cle of his Irons career, legendary striker Tony Cottee still casts a long shadow over all those who have followed him.

His partnership with Frank McAvennie which produced 54 goals in the 1985-86 season is the stuff of club legend – and in the near 30 years since it happened, many are the nights fans have passed reminiscing over the pair’s exploits.

Unfortunately for West Ham fans, one reason that Cottee and McAvennie have remained such a popular topic of conversation for so long is the absence of any partnerships since then to even come close to their success– which makes this season’s

Enner Valencia/Diafra Sakho double act all the more welcome and enjoyable.

In an exclusive interview with Blowing Bubbles, Cottee said it seemed that their partnership had been stumbled upon more by accident than design – and that had a familiar ring to it.

‘If Andy Carroll had

been fit from the start of the season, it would have been him up front and one of them either alongside or just behind him, but he got injured again, needs must, they were put together after a few games – and it’s worked,’ said Cottee.

‘That reminds me of how Frank and I got to-gether. He wasn’t bought in to play alongside me,

it was supposed to be me and Paul Goddard up front, but when Sarge got injured, he got moved– and we all know what happened after that.’

Although it was to prove a marriage made in striking heaven, the Cottee/McAvennie part-nership took a while to get going – and Cottee says that was entirely down to him.

‘Frank was off to a flier but I was playing poorly, so John Lyall had to take me aside for a chat and sort me out,’ he explained.

‘He left me out of the side, which was exactly what I needed - when I came back I was rein-vigorated and I scored in something like seven games in a row. That was when everyone realised just what we could do together. After that, everything in training revolved around creating maximum opportunity for us to score. The result was 54 goals in a season.’

Off the field, the pair could hardly have been more different – whilst Cottee was famous for keeping scrapbooks of

History boy: Tony Cottee has been impressed by Sakho and Valencia

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newspaper cuttings of his matches, McAvennie was equally renowned for going out with most of the models found nearer the front of the paper.

But this contrast in personalities only made their partnership more effective. ‘You don’t have to be similar characters or socialise, but there’s a definite art to being part of a double act,’ Cottee said.

‘It was something that didn’t come naturally to me – I had to learn it, but fortunately Frank was great at it. I learned so much about that from him, and he always says I was the best finisher he ever played with. That’s how you develop a pairing.

‘I’ve played with some great players at different clubs, but I never had a partnership as natural and as enjoyable as the one I had with Frank.

‘The stats say it all – in two years, we produced over 100 goals between us. Whenever fans meet either of us, the first thing they always want to talk about is the other one – that’s a sign of how well remembered we are, and how much it meant to people. It’s wonderful.’

Last season Carroll’s injury meant West Ham came close to paying the ultimate price for the absence of a plan B, but fortunately wisdom pre-vailed over the summer, Valencia and Sakho were brought in, and when Carroll was crocked

again, they were there for Sam Allardyce to try out – to spectacular effect.

Now, the England striker’s return to fitness poses an interesting dilemma – but as Cottee says, it is a nice problem to have.

‘The great thing is – at last West Ham have options,’ he explained. ‘I’m not a fan of change for the sake of it, and I’m sure most fans would say stick to what works, but it’s great that Andy is there as well if needed. There might be some games where it makes more sense to play him

up front with one of them, or one alongside him and one behind. But the most important thing is that there’s a plan B, C and D.’

Despite the early success of and public enthusiasm for the new twin strike attack, Cottee says it is way too early to draw any kind of com-parisons with the magic conjured up by him and McAvennie.

‘It’s very premature, but I’d love it if in a few months’ time they’re matching the sort of scoring statistics we did and we’re thinking about a third-place finish, be-

cause that would mean they were on course to make club history,’ he said.

‘I think Valencia will be the one to score more goals – I think there are more aspects to his game, he’s the one who’s more like how I was.

‘In recent years, it seemed the concept of the forward pairing was dying out, and I won-dered if it would ever come back, but it’s great how clubs like Man-chester City and United are really championing it – and it’s even better that now West Ham are as well.’ BBM

Golden boot: Tony Cottee has tipped Enner Valenica to score more goals

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My chat with Alex Song earlier this

season was one of the most interesting I’ve ever had at Chadwell Heath.

He’s one of the most enigmatic and self-as-sured characters I’ve ever met and was so enthusiastic about what can be achieved by this team that I went away with a real spring in my step.

He said that when he first mentioned joining the club everybody questioned his sanity. He wasn’t discouraged.

He then had a chat with Javier Mascherano and his cousin Rigobert and both told him what a terrific club it is and how passionate the fans are. It made his choice to come to East London an easier one.

He was extremely complimentary about Allardyce, who had persuaded him of the potential we have, with the move to the Olympic Stadium being another

factor in his decision to sign on the dotted line.

He was clearly proud to ‘be a part of the pro-ject’ and I took that as a good sign that, if we can have a decent season, it might encourage him to stay.

I also got the im-pression that outside negativity really doesn’t affect his mindset and, although his clothes might be crazy, he

knows exactly what he’s doing and why.

We joked about leaving Barcelona for Newham but he was adamant that the quality of the players at West Ham was good enough to succeed.

He was pleasantly sur-prised with the standard at training, especially in Sakho, Valencia and Kouyate as they were virtually unknown to him. Nolan, Downing

and Noble also got hon-ourable mentions as he’d played against them in the past but he had the utmost respect for all of his new team mates.

He was more con-cerned about his own form as he wasn’t match fit at the time and was eager to let me know he would soon show us fans what he is capable of. I think he’s doing that now.

Allardyce says he’s a born leader. He has the strength and composure on the ball that we have sometimes lacked in years gone by and, as his performance against City demonstrated, he doesn’t get overwhelmed by big game pressure or big names.

Let’s face it, he’s been playing (well, mostly training) with the likes of Messi, Xavi and Iniesta up until recently! I think the bigger the game the better he’ll play. So yes, we’ve only got one Song, but what a Song it is. BBM

Super Song strikes the right note for pitch perfect Irons

On song: Ex-Gunner has impressed in claret and blue

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The January transfer window

Could these two Hammers be heading out of Upton Park?Toby Fry says Jarvis and Vaz Te could be sold to raise transfer funds

One was once the most expensive

signing in West Ham’s history and the other scored the winning goal to send the Hammers back to the Premier League – yet both of their futures are uncer-tain to say the least.

Ricardo Vaz Tê was, of course, the player who helped us back to the top tier from five yards, but the promotion that he helped to secure wasn’t his first taste of the Premier League.

The Portuguese forward had been a Sam Allardyce signing from his time with Bolton and despite having a relatively poor time in the north of England, Big Sam was willing to sign him once more following a successful spell with Barnsley in the Championship.

Vaz Tê arrived in the January of our single Championship season and was prolific to say the least. In 15 league appearances, Ricardo scored 10 goals for West Ham, which when com-bined with his 12 with Barnsley made him the second top goalscorer in the division.

Despite playing such a huge part in the Ham-mers’ successful Cham-pionship campaign, he was considerably less effective in a good return season.

Last campaign Vaz made just eight appear-ances and thanks to a whole host of injuries to other players this season, he managed to come off the bench in the defeat versus Everton. Certain-ly a back-up player, but

does he have anything to offer the club at this level?

The other player in question is Matt Jarvis, who cost West Ham £10.75m. After arriving in the summer of 2012 from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Matt went on to play in 32 of the possible 38 Premier League matches.

His contribution, however, was an instant cause for concern. He’s

got lightning quick pace and can deliver a sweet cross, but at the time the team as a whole were not exactly finding goals for fun.

Like Vaz Tê, Jarvis came on as a substitute against Everton, which marked his second appearance of the season (after playing five min-utes against QPR).

Our new system has left the wingers of West Ham redundant, with

Irons will ‘sell to buy’

David Sullivan has hinted that West Ham may need to sell before they are able to buy new players in January.

The co-chairman said the Hammers wouldn’t be able to bring in a new signing without going over the wage limit under the Financial Fair Play rules.

‘So even if we want to sign players in January, we cannot unless someone leaves as those are the rules,’ he said.

Farewell? Vaz Te could be shipped off in January

Page 15: Blowing Bubbles #43

Stewart Downing forced to play a central position instead, which has lucki-ly worked wonders.

Both Ricardo and Matt are now struggling for any hope of game time and after signing for a hefty price tag, Jarvis is heading towards becom-ing an expensive flop.

In a formation that does include wingers, I still feel that Jarvis could fight for a starting spot, and at the very least would be a half decent impact substitute.

His first set of performances with the Hammers have left a lot to be desired, but the 28-year-old has all the

attributes to succeed if he can force his way past Downing and Morgan Amalfitano. The trouble for both of these players is that the new system requires versatility from the forwards.

Diara Sakho and Enner Valencia can both play centrally or out wide, whilst Downing is yet to find a position that he can’t play. Mauro Zarate has shown bright moments from various positions although he seems more comfortable centrally.

You rarely see a player more suited to the wide position than Jarvis. His main assets are his pace

and his crossing ability but they’re not particu-larly useful through the middle.

Therefore, while there are no wingers in the formation, Jarvis is an expensive back-up, and even when the forma-tion does include wide-men, it’ll be a place on the bench for Matt as he watches both Amalfitano and Downing continue their fine form.

As for Vaz Tê, he has had chances as a striker and hasn’t impressed anywhere near enough to secure a regular place in the side.

In terms of centre-for-ward choices, he would

be behind Carroll, Sakho, Valencia, Carlton and Mauro in Big Sam’s eyes – and rightly so in my opinion. Perhaps he found his level when in the Championship and when his contract runs out, I’d imagine that’ll be his next destination.

It’s a shame that it nev-er worked out for either player in the Premier League with West Ham, but I hold more hope that Jarvis can resurrect his time with the club than I do Vaz Tê.

Thanks for everything Ricardo, you’re written into West Ham folklore forever but your days here are done. BBM

Missng out: Matt Jarvis has rarely featured this season

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If national speculation is to be believed then

West Ham are resigned to losing fans favou-rite Winston Reid in January.

The New Zealand international has just six months remaining on his contract so the owners may be forced to make a cut-price deal during the transfer win-dow in order to avoid losing him on a free this summer.

Everyone associated at the club will be sad to see him move on, but that mustn’t halt the progress currently being made both on and off the field. Here are four

players that I believe could be used to plug the gap if the 26-year-old departs:

1) DAN BURNOne name being heavily linked with a potential move to E13 is Fulham youngster Dan Burn, with rumours suggesting that a fee of £4million will be enough to secure a deal for the 22-year-old giant.

At 6ft 7in, Burn is already a commanding

figure and is probably best remembered for his stunning performance in last season’s 2-2 draw at Old Trafford. On that occasion, his 18 clear-ances were instrumental in helping the Cottagers to a point despite the hosts making a record 81 crosses.

However, the defender only boasts over 100 professional appearances to his name including nine in the Premier League. He would be

Centre-back Reid’s been linked with Arsenal and Manchester United

Four defenders who we could sign to replace our Winston

Kiwi: Winston Reid could be snapped up on a free in the summer

Page 17: Blowing Bubbles #43

one for the future, but would be more than capable of stepping into the starting line-up whenever James Tom-kins or James Collins are absent. A lack of pace would make it a gamble but, considering the relatively low price tag, it could well be one worth taking.

2) FABIAN SCHARSome might dismiss talks of a bid for the Swiss international as overly ambitious, but if Big Sam persuaded the likes of Alex Song and Enner Valencia to join the West Ham cause then there is no reason that the Hammers can’t aim to land the FC Basel star.

Schar is only 22 but al-ready has experience of the Champions League and World Cup, acquir-ing widespread praise from across Europe.

The defender is already reportedly on the radar of Arsenal but if Reid was to join Arsene Wenger’s squad then that could pave the way for Allardyce to make a swoop on the highly-rat-ed youngster.

With just six months remaining on his con-tract, Basel are likely to accept a cut-price deal. Alternatively, the club could look to broker a summer deal for free.

3) DANIEL AGGERArguably a fantasy pick rather than a realistic target but the former Liverpool man could

be an avenue worth pursuing.

The entire football world was left flum-moxed by the £3million move back to Denmark this summer, but the Brondby man has openly cited Brendan Rodgers as the sole reason for his decision to quit the Premier League.

Whilst it is no secret that he loves his boy-hood club dearly, there is little doubt that the 29-year-old harbours hopes of another crack at the big leagues.

East London might not be the most obvious destination for the

Danish international but it would be far less surprising than his most recent move. Agger would be a huge coup for the club and a future at the Olympic Stadium could be used as a source of tempta-tion. Is seeing Agger in a West Ham shirt likely? Probably not. But we can all dare to dream.

4) REECE BURKELast month’s issue examined the possibility of Burke making the step up to a senior role and the academy star certainly boasts all the credentials to force his

way into Allardyce’s plans.

It might be a little premature for the 18-year-old to play a central role but big things are expected of the Newham-born youngster and he may well be called upon at various stages during the season.

In an ideal world, though, his first team involvement will be limited to sporadic sub-stitute appearances as he continues his develop-ment. In terms of play-ing a string of matches, Burke is definitely a last resort. BBM

Giant: Could Dan Burn fill the void if Reid departs?

Page 18: Blowing Bubbles #43

Collins and Tomkins will be crucial if we cash in on Reid David Bowden on how the Irons could cope without their star Kiwi

So it appears to many that Winston Reid is

entering his final month of his West Ham United career.

The New Zealand skipper sees his contract run out at the end of the season and despite the Hammers’ flying start to the campaign, which saw Sam Allardyce’s men in fifth place after 14 games, it looks as though Reid sees his future elsewhere.

It would be sensible for the Irons to sell the Kiwi if an offer comes in in January and there are signs the centre-half will continue to rebuff the offer on the table.

It is thought that Arsenal are monitoring his situation and whilst I can’t blame Winston, it’s a real shame that he sees the north Londoners as a better proposition.

I remember his debut in the Avram Grant season away at Aston Villa and he was awful, and in truth looked like a fish out of water most of that year.

Since Allardyce arrived, Reid has improved dramatically. It has, of course, been a roller coaster ride for the 26-year-old, who has been stuck in relegation battles and a promotion

season throughout his time here but now with the Hammers on a crest of a wave, it seems an odd time for him to want to leave.

With that in mind, it is crucial that the board and Allardyce come up with contingency plans for when he does leave, whether that is in January or on a free in the summer. In James Collins and James

Tomkins, we’ve a solid duo to step in. The latter having bounced back from his moment in the shade and has been a revelation at the back, producing solid displays against Newcastle and West Brom – scoring the winner at the Hawthorns in the process.

The Hammers number 5, like Mark Noble, is a West Ham academy product, and a firm fans’

favourite. He is a player who I have no qualms in replacing the New Zealander.

His centre-half partner Collins is also having a stunning season at the back for the Irons. In the past I have had my doubts over the Welshman, I’ll never forgive him for that back pass at Reading away a few years ago, but that’s all in the past now. His

Maturing: James Tomkins has produced some solid displays this campaign

Page 19: Blowing Bubbles #43

never-say-die attitude is testament to this season’s newly found grit and determination.

He blocks and heads everything thrown at him, and you just know that when a ball is flung into the box in the dying minutes he is the one who will climb the highest to head the ball clear of danger.

Should Reid leave, it is reassuring to know the Irons have those two waiting in the wings to step up and come into the side but his depar-ture would just leave us with a set of defensive midfielders and Reece Burke as cover for the above duo.

Whilst I believe Burke has huge potential and a massive future at

his club, to make him third choice centre back so soon would put unnecessary pressure on the youngster so we would have to delve into the January market for a defender.

If this is the last piece I write for Blowing Bubbles about Winston, I would like to take this opportunity to pay trib-ute to the centre half.

You are a typical West Ham signing, hopeless at first but you have come on leaps and bounds, and under Allardyce you have turned into a terrific player. Thank you for the memories in particular that volley against Millwall and good luck in the future wherever it may take you. BBM

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Solid: James Collins is enjoying a better season at West Ham

Page 20: Blowing Bubbles #43

FROZEN IN TIMESunday, December 7, 2014: Striker Diafra Sakho smashes the ball past Swansea goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel to put West Ham 3-1 up. The victory over the Welsh outfit saw the Hammers soar to third in the Premier League.

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Matt Dickinson

Bobby revisited: Finding the truth about a Hammers iconTimes’ writer Dickinson lifts the lid on his search for the real Moore

Irealised I was ignorant and hardly knew

anything about him.’As reasons to write a

book go you could argue it is as good as any, but when it comes from The Times’ chief sports writ-er and he’s talking about one of the most famous English footballers of all time, it’s a startling admission.

Matt Dickinson’s new biography of Bobby Moore has certainly caused a stir and, if the sales figures are anything to go by, quite a few West Ham fans will be waking up on Christmas morning to find the hardback lurking next to a satsuma in their stocking.

It has been dubbed the ‘darkest’ and ‘least flattering’ biography of Moore ever published, but the writer himself insists although it is a warts and all account of

his life, it doesn’t judge or portray the World Cup winning captain in a negative light.

‘I did fret a little bit at times and wondered ‘do we want to know all this’ about someone we have decided to gloss over,’ explains Dickinson. ‘But actually I’ve been really pleased with the reaction from the West Ham hardcore which has been ‘yes we do want to know it’.

‘We want to know the man in full and what he was like. If you gloss over someone and make them out to be a saint, it’s actually pretty boring. We want to know about their flaws and what they’ve overcome - it makes it more admirable.

‘When you look at things like the cancer he overcame, it makes him more heroic for what he achieved.’

Dickinson certainly approached the project with a blank piece of paper, admitting he knew very little about his subject other than the obvious before he started to research the book.

‘I think most books come from a person knowing a lot about one subject and feeling they want to expand upon it,’ he says. ‘I went on a radio show with some sports writers of my generation, what you could call the post ’66 generation if you like, and our sum of knowledge was: Bobby Moore, won the World Cup and died terribly young. I just thought for an iconic figure that was bugger all really.

‘It began to nag at me why I knew so little and I started making a few explorations and the more I realised I didn’t know, the more intrigued I became.

‘One of the first trig-gers, before I’d pitched the book to anyone, that made me think the book could be worthwhile was when I was in Denmark watching an England U21 international. I was

Author: Matt Dickinson

Page 23: Blowing Bubbles #43

in the back and beyond in a town where Bobby Moore went and played in when he was short of money after he had retired at Fulham.

‘I met a couple of guys there who had this little scrapbook and it was this great episode of how Bobby Moore, a World Cup winning captain, could end up playing in front of 400 people in a Danish third division game.

‘I came back and started looking up the biographies of him and Wikipedia and things like that and this episode was always reduced to barely a mention, if it was mentioned at all.

‘I thought this was extraordinary and, as no one had ever written about it, gave me a strong urge to investi-gate further.’

Dickinson insists Moore’s brush with cancer in 1964 was one of the most significant moments in the man’s life, but again was shocked at how little was documented about the incident and the way it shaped his thinking and actions in years to come.

‘At his request clearly it was never mentioned,’ he adds. ‘There wasn’t one word of it in the authorised biography. I thought this must be a life-changing moment for someone, having tes-ticular cancer at 23, but it’s not even mentioned.’

For a sports writer whose whole profes-sional career has been

in the era of the Premier League, Dickinson’s journey into the less glossy world of 1960s football was an interest-ing experience.

Did, for instance, his experience make part of him wish football was still like it used to be in ‘the good old days’?

‘You can flit from one extreme to another,’ he

laughs. ‘I did a piece saying I’ve been back to the good old days and the good old days were crap for a TV viewer as you only had one camera where you can’t see a thing. It was crap for players playing on those pitches, crap for players given the money they were on, rubbish equipment.

‘I’ve watched the video of that great England v Brazil game in 1970 and you can see Pele dive. So there is a lot of fake moralism about it, especially in regards to player loyalty.

‘Bobby Moore wanted to get out of West Ham and who can blame him. Spurs wanted him and he wanted to go. They

Icon: Matt Dickinson’s biography lifts the lid on the real Bobby Moore

Page 24: Blowing Bubbles #43

were offering more mon-ey and a better chance of winning trophies but we have this wonderful idea of these players who were one club men. Having said that a lot of them were loyal at gun point effectively.’

Perhaps the saddest part of Moore’s story is after he retired from playing, failed business ventures coincided with a period where the game he gave so much to virtually turned its back on him.

West Ham, of course, famously turned him away from Upton Park as he didn’t have a ticket while the FA could not find a role for him despite the fact he was England’s most capped player and the only ever English captain to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy aloft.

‘I think it was certainly misguided and a colossal opportunity missed,’ said Dickinson. ‘One thing I hope I’ve been able to do is put it in the context of the time.

‘It wasn’t just Bobby. It doesn’t make it right but there was no player knighted after Stanley Matthews in 1965 until after Bobby Moore’s death. I think Bobby Charlton was a year after that and I suspect the two events were interlinked.

‘West Ham should have got him back at least as an ambassador. One of the reasons that didn’t happen, or at least I was told this, was that

John Lyall was worried that if the club brought him back if he lost five games then he’d be in the manager’s seat.

‘The FA had a massive snobbery. The international committee thought if we started inviting ex-players in then all our nice jobs and junkets would go. So there was a combination of snobbery and it was in a culture where the ex-hero wasn’t looked after.’

The irony is that Moore died in 1993, just

as the Premier League was starting to take ef-fect and football enjoyed a new boom. Had he lived, it is likely his later years would have been far more befitting to a player who had graced the game for so long.

‘Sky have changed ev-erything in that regard,’ added Dickinson. ‘Look at Geoff Hurst – it was Geoff Hurst flogging insurance in the 1980s but it all changed at the start of the 90s.

‘He didn’t push it but he started getting phone

calls from corporations phoning up to say ‘turn up because you are Geoff Hurst.’ Bobby would have had that but unfortunately died at the wrong time. He died just when he would have had a second wind as a legend.’

While Moore may have passed away before he could enjoy a slice of Rupert Murdoch’s riches or a trip to Buckingham Palace, the outbreak of public grief upon his death showed how much he was loved.

Remembered: Bobby Moore died in 1993

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It is hard to imagine many of today’s genera-tion of players provoking such a reaction in years to come and Dickinson admits that the huge wealth modern footbal-lers enjoy and the 24-hour scrutiny of them make it difficult for fans to relate to their heroes in the way they perhaps could in yesteryear.

‘One of my favourite stories was Bobby Moore queuing for the bus on

his way to make his debut against Manches-ter United,’ he added. ‘He’s there behind all the fans at the back of the queue waiting to get to the ground and typically he is too polite to push to the front.

‘Even though he moved up in the world and had a mansion in Chigwell, a few guys I know from that area say local kids could go and knock on his door

and ask him for his autograph. He’d sign it for them and tap them on the head and say run along lads.’

That’s the Bobby Moore as many West Ham fans remember him.

And while Dickin-son’s book may show he wasn’t perfect, enlightening the world to his flaws won’t make football supporters love him any less. BBM

As close as we’ll get to a private man

As a footballer, Bobby Moore’s unflappable composure and ice-cool persona were two of the elements that made him one of the all-time greats. As a subject for biog-raphy, however, they make him one of the toughest subjects.

Matt Dickinson faces a huge challenge trying to get to the core of an intensely private character, but comes as close as anyone to painting a portrait which is, to quote the book’s subtitle, The Man In Full.

Even with death imminent, Moore rarely betrayed his inner feelings to close family, so in happier days, despite there being many witnesses to his successes and colourful escapades, a true insight into what made him tick is hard to grasp.

His talent would have shone in any era but his character was shaped by and belonged to one that is long past. Maybe that explains why his memory and our obsession with it endures, and why Dickinson’s book makes such a good read.

Julian Shea

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Keira Knightley & Seth Meyers

Hollywood stars bond over a very differnt kind of bubblesKeira Knightley tells tales of faded dreams to her American audience

West Ham United have a plethora

of famous supporters from Ray Winstone to the very outspoken Russell Brand, and even reportedly the Queen, but now it appears that we can count US chat show host Seth Meyers as one of the West Ham massive from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Hollywood actress and life-long West Ham fan Keira Knightley appeared on his show to promote her new film, The Imitation Game, and Meyers took the opportunity to discuss their mutual love for West Ham United.

It led to a really rather sweet, if not slightly self-depreciating, chat about the pros and cons of supporting West Ham in which Knightley proves herself as a very likeable, very genuine,

Hammer. Meyers opened the conversation by telling Knightley that they shared a love for West Ham – a bold statement, which Knightley immediately questioned.

It turns out that Mey-ers, on a previous trip to London, had a chance to see a football match, and when presented with the option of seeing Arsenal,

Charlton, or West Ham, wisely chose the latter. At this point, Knightley interjected with a tidbit of helpful advice for the American audience, who may not have been overly familiar with the Hammers’ track record: ‘I just have to say, be-cause not a lot of people will know West Ham... they’re not a team that win very often.’ Keira

followed on to tell the audience all about Blowing Bubbles – not the mighty magazine per se, but the famous West Ham song.

She described it by saying ‘the song is great. So at the beginning of the game... there’s this song. You sing the song, but you also blow bub-bles, because the song is called I’m Forever Blow-ing Bubbles, and so you have all these bubbles that go across the pitch, but the problem with the song is that the song is really sad. The song is about not winning. The song is about your dreams fading and dying...so it’s sort of not really a surprise that we lose all the time.’

Brilliant. She’s a multi-millionaire with a Chanel contract and she gets it. She gets the turmoil and anguish that comes along with being one of the faithful claret and blue supporters.

It’s not the same as supporting an Arsenal or a Manchester United; they don’t ride a roller-coaster of emotions in each season in the same way that we do.

Having said that,

Hammerette: Keira Knightly is one of West Ham’s celebrity fans

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Knightley was of course quick to point out that it’s not all doom and gloom at Upton Park, admitting that West Ham ‘are having an amazing time this season’.

She did also admit that she’s watching most of the games from behind her hands ‘because it’s not going to last...but maybe it will last’ (the girl truly does under-stand the West Ham way of always having that tiny bit of hope).

The subject matter made for an entertaining interview, and should West Ham now expect a stronger contingent of Americans tuning into their TVs for our Pre-mier League matches? It’s certainly a possibility.

Americans without

attachment to regions in England tend to support the teams they hear of the most – the Manchester Uniteds, Arsenals, and Liverpools of the world. It’s rare you meet an American with an interest in Hull, West Brom, or, god forbid, Queen’s Park Rangers.

Keira Knightley show-ing such an enjoyable interest in West Ham United is great news for our global appeal.

Given that we are going from strength to strength in the league, this is the time to make the most of our shout-outs and mentions, and show the world just how rich and fulfilling (and terrifying and nerve-wracking) and wonderful a West Ham life can be. BBM

www.oakhamales.com Tel 01733 370500

Iron: US chat show host Seth Meyers is a West Ham fan

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Vic Watson

Five things you (probably) did not know about Victor WatsonDanny Rust says the facts speak for themselves about this hot-shot

Vic Watson is best known for being

West Ham United’s all-time leading goalscorer with 326 goals, but here are five facts you may not have known about the centre forward.

1) Watson won his first two international caps for England in 1923, the year the Hammers contested the prestigious White Horse FA Cup Final, but he had to wait another seven years before winning another three caps.

Watson did not make another international appearance, despite scoring four goals in his five appearances in an England shirt.

Two of those goals came against Scotland in the 1930 British Home Championship, a com-petition that England went on to win that year.

2) Of Watson’s 326 goals, 298 came in league fixtures. The other 28 came in the FA Cup competition. This achievement is all the more impressive when you consider that he played 505 games in claret and blue. Of those appearances, 462 came in the league,

meaning that the Cam-bridgeshire-born striker scored more than one goal every other game.

3) The Hammers secured a real bargain when they signed Watson, as he only came at a cost of £50. Watson joined from Welling-

borough Town, who are a Northamptonshire side that now competes in the United Coun-ties League Premier Division. The club was, however, reformed in 2004 after the previous club folded. They now bear the name Welling-

borough Town 2004. Amazingly, Watson was originally only brought in as cover for Syd Puddefoot.

4) Vic Watson ham-mered home six goals against Leeds United on February 9, 1929. West Ham would go on to win the match 8-2. Watson also scored four goals on three different occasions while at the Boleyn Ground and he also chalked up an astonishing 13 hat-tricks in claret and blue.

5) Following a hugely successful 15 years in East London, Watson decided to end his career on the south coast with Southampton. His for-midable form in front of goal continued there as he scored 14 goals in 36 league appearances for the Saints.

In his one season with Southampton, he finished as the club’s top goalscorer. At the end of the 1935/36 season, Watson hung up his boots, having scored 312 goals in only 498 league appearances. This record is unlikely to be surpassed by any West Ham player in years to come. BBM

Record maker: Vic Watson scored 326 goals for West Ham

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It’s going to be a tough test for the Hammers

on Boxing Day as we take on Chelsea away in the Premier League.

But here’s hoping that we can replicate some-thing special at Stamford Bridge, be it last season’s ‘19th-century football’ draw or our famous Paolo Di Canio-inspired 3-2 victory some seasons back in our ultimately unsuccessful battle against relegation.

Boxing Day fixtures haven’t always been kind to us.

Last season, for instance, we took the lead against Arsenal at the Boleyn before being beaten 3-1 but in recent history, we’ve actually got a pretty decent record on this festive fixture day, with wins against Fulham and Portsmouth and a draw with Birmingham over the last few seasons (remember when they were all in the Premier League?).

West Ham’s first Boxing Day win in the Football League was in 1921, away to Bury in the old Division Two.

Percy Allen popped up

with the winning goal, to claim both points for the Hammers (three points for a win was a long way away).

This was to be the start of a three-match winning run, including a further 3-2 victory over Bury just a day later – but sadly, end-of-season defeats against Fulham,

and Blackpool (twice) cost us the chance of promotion. We made up for it the following season though, finishing second.

In more recent history, there have been some great Boxing Day wins – notably against Charlton in 2000, when we put Charlton 5-0 to the

sword, thanks to Freddie Kanoute (twice), Frank Lampard, Trevor Sinclair and an own goal.

On checking the history books, and with the squad that we had back then, I’m amazed to find that we ended up finishing 15th.

In 2001, it was another romp as we beat Derby

Boxing Day memories

From exciting late presents to quite a few rotten turkeysGeoff Hillyer looks back at West Ham’s best and worst Boxing Days...

Passion: Paolo Di Canio helped West Ham to a famous win against Chelsea in 2002

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4-0 in the midst of a six-match unbeaten run.

We all know what happened with Derby that season – relegation sealed a few months later – but for us, a 53-point haul at the end of the season meant that we finished three points above Tottenham in seventh.

Speaking of which, we mustn’t forget the 4-2 win over Tottenham on Boxing Day 1958, part of a double over them in that season (the other

match was a 2-1 win at the Boleyn, incidentally, the day before, when matches still used to be played on Christmas Day).

An own goal from Ron Henry, as well as strikes from John Bond, Vic Keeble and John Dick ensured that we snaffled the points from White Hart Lane.

There are other matches that could be mentioned – the fine 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest in our promotion

season of 2004, for in-stance – but there’s really only one other match to feature.

Just like this season, Boxing Day 1973 saw us travel across to west London to play Chelsea.

Our first part of the season hadn’t gone well: we were floundering in the bottom three at the time, but two goals from Clyde Best – along with a strike from Frank Lampard, and another from Bobby Gould – ensured that

the Chelsea goals (from Alan Hudson and Ian Britton) were merely consolations.

Eventually, in a season that saw Southampton, Manchester United and Norwich City relegated, we finished two places outside the bottom three in 18th.

Let’s hope for a similar result this season. Or perhaps some classic 19th-century defending might see us home with a point – it’s not beyond us. BBM

Hammers’ Christmas

results...2013: West Ham 1

Arsenal 32012: Arsenal 0 West Ham 0

2011: Birmingham City 1 West Ham 1

2010: Fulham 1 West Ham 3

2009: West Ham 2 Portsmouth 0

2008: Portsmouth 1 West Ham 4

2007: West Ham 1 Reading 1

2006: West Ham 1 Portsmouth 2

2005: Portsmouth 1 West Ham 1

2004: West Ham 3 Nottingham Forest 2

Festive: Can West Ham secure another famous Boxing Day win?

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Strike partnerships

How do these deadly duos compare to the current crop?Matt Santer looks back at West Ham’s best Premier League pairings

When scrolling through West

Ham’s history, there ap-pears a pattern of strike partnerships which come around about once-a-generation.

We have mainly relied on contributions from all over the park as opposed to the efforts of one ‘30 goal man’. Recent midfield examples are Kevin Nolan and the penalty king Mark Noble.

The current season has bucked a regular Hammers trend. New signings have flooded in, with our frontline being strengthened beyond anything we’ve seen for a number of years.

As Blowing Bubbles has recently reviewed our new strikers – par-ticularly Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia, both of whom have made instant impacts in East London - it seemed appropriate to look back at some of our most famous pairings to play up top for The Irons.

JOHN HARTSON & PAUL KITSON

Any victory over Tottenham Hotspur is a welcome one. But never

is it more welcome than when the team is strug-gling in the league and looking for a break.

This break was provided in February 1997 by the signings of John Hartson and Paul Kitson from Arsenal and Newcastle respectively. Hartson cost the club £3.2 million, with Kitson having a price tag of £2.3 million.

That outlay was more than paid back with debut goals from the pair against Spurs, in a 4-3 win which marked a turnaround and a move away from danger.

A total of 13 goals from the pair proved

crucial in the 1996/97 season, with the club avoiding relegation by only two points. To put it further into perspective, those goals scored between the end of February and May, represented a third of the total goals scored by the team all season.

PAOLO DI CANIO & PAULO WANCHOPE

No Hammers fan would argue that Paolo Di Canio was important for much more than just his goals. The passionate Italian brought back a brand of creative football to the club, as well as a new approach

to training and nutrition for the players.

That aside, Di Canio’s moments of brilliance and ‘heart on sleeve’ performances won the eternal affections of the fans and helped the club to an impressive fifth position in the league in 1999, as well as qualifi-cation for Europe.

His most fondly remembered goals might be his FA Cup nutmeg on Fabian Barthez, along with his Goal of the Season effort against Wimbledon.

But there was another Paulo (spelled slightly differently, of course) who made an important contribution with his Italian friend. Costa Rican Wanchope only spent a year at West Ham, but the signing could be considered £3.5million well spent.

He scored 12 of West Ham’s 52 league goals during the 1999/00 cam-paign, with his strike partner getting a further 16. Those goals proved vital when we consider that there were less than 20 points between ninth and 17th position in the Premier League table that season. BBM

Happy days: Paul Kitson and John Hartson

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West Ham fans

Best fans in the world? That depends on who you read...There are plenty of ways to evaluate supporters - most are pointless

West Ham fans – the best in

the world, right? Well, according to a recent piece featured in the Telegraph, the Boleyn ground generates the sixth best atmosphere from home fans in the Premier League.

That doesn’t make us the best in the world, but I’ll take that and happily brag about it.

But wait - The Daily Express completely dis-agrees and has labeled West Ham fans as the quietest in the league. Erm, I’m now really confused. Is it possible to have the sixth best home atmosphere and be the quietest at the same time?

The Telegraph’s piece does seem to be an opinion-driven article, but in my experience, it probably reflects general

opinion. West Ham has always been talked about as a club with a good ground and great fans.

The Express’ piece describes that, some-what unfairly, the sound was measured over two games with a smart-phone app. From my cal-culations, the Hammers’ fans were recorded at home to Aston Villa and away to Everton.

I might be biased (well, there’s no might about it), but this seems like an incredibly unintelligent way to measure such

statistics and doesn’t fairly reflect reality, or take circumstances into consideration.

The disclaimer style sentence within the arti-cle as good as renders it as pointless information anyway, but nonetheless, it does make me wonder how we are perceived as fans, home or away.

I have to admit that over the years, I had become increasingly dis-appointed with the noise levels at the Boleyn.

However, I accept that during my years as

a season ticket holder, circumstances were less than ideal. I saw relegations, subsequent relegation battles and heavy defeats, and with ticket prices rising there was bound to be some unrest in the stands.

Even in more recent years, away games just hadn’t been what they could have been, but again, poor form and lack of excitement were to blame. The reflection of the team is in the fans and vice versa.

But I have to say there has been an upturn in atmosphere at Upton Park this season, and there has been more en-thusiasm at away games. It’s been a joy to watch and listen to.

The question has to be asked of how ‘atmo-sphere’ is measured. Okay, the noise level is a given, but in terms of the Telegraph’s report on general atmosphere, it really is a feeling, and a personal one at that. In that case, it’s great to know that we are consid-ered in the top few.

But decibels are a whole different kettle of fish. If you’re standing behind the kind of

All smiles: The Boleyn ground has one of the best atmospheres according to the Telegraph

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fan who belts out the initial lines of ‘Twist and Shout’, the volume is cranked up to 11. On the flip-side, if your team is 3-0 down at half time, it’s going to be a bit on the quiet side with the exception of the odd expletive.

This raises other points of debate too and these are two things that, to me, have little or no place in football – sing-ing sections and music playing after goals. There’s just no need for either. Nope.

I feel that singing sections are cheating and essentially a way

of a club saying that the fans as a collective aren’t good enough. They will inevitably raise the feel-good factor and put smiles on a few faces, but it just feels too staged.

The same applies to music after goals. It’s just a ploy to get everyone to actually sing the same thing at the same time, and it’s not a sponta-neous eruption of pure joy at scoring a goal. It’s also going to raise the decibels, thus cheating.

Speaking as someone who has visited grounds across the country to follow West Ham,

atmosphere is a feeling, an instinct. The match atmosphere is one thing, and that is something that’s generally depen-dent on singing, banter and the excitement of the game itself.

But there’s more to a match day ambience than just the game, espe-cially on an away day.

It’s the opposing fans you meet on the streets, the journey to the stadium, the tension of the game in hand and even the history of the ground.

The conclusion has to be that there are simply too many variables when

it comes to exclusively measuring noise levels as a measurement for atmosphere: stadium capacity, proximity to the pitch, match circum-stances, maybe even the weather.

The atmosphere is about getting like-mind-ed people together in a stadium to support your club through thick and thin and making each game an occasion.

I hope the final season and a half at the Boleyn ground will polish its legacy off nicely and it’ll be the top of all the pointless polls for next year! BBM

Make some noise: Are all fan polls pointless?

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West Ham Ladies

Runnacles looking at the big picture as Hammers attackIrons keeper doesn’t mind conceding as long as side keep winning

The West Ham Ladies may have only kept

three clean sheets in their first 13 games this season but goalkeeper Nikita Runnacles admits she won’t be losing any sleep.

Why? Because the Hammers have enjoyed an impressive first half of the season and currently sit in the top half of the FA Women’s Premier League South having accumulated 18 points from their nine league games.

‘We’re not a team who will set up to sit back and defend,’ she told Blowing Bubbles. ‘We’re going to go out there and attack the opposi-tion in every game. Of course, when you do look to take the game to the opposition, there will be times when you leave yourself open to a counter attack and you will concede goals.

‘We are, however, working hard to keep the back solid and I hope we can get a run of clean sheets going in January. Having said that, we don’t want to lose the attacking part of our game because we’re brilliant going forward

and always look like scoring, which gives you great confidence that we can get something out of every game.

‘This isn’t an excuse but we’ve also had a couple of injuries at the back so we’ve had to change things about and not really had a settled defence for a long period which doesn’t help.”

The only frustration from the former Mill-wall shot stopper was

the lack of fixtures over November and Decem-ber because of the wet weather but she hopes the Ladies can resume their positive campaign once their season restarts in January.

‘It’s been tough for us recently because we had so many games called off in November,’ she continued.

‘It’s difficult because you work so hard in pre-season to build up

your fitness and then you get two or three games called off but we’ve been working hard in training to make sure we keep up our fitness.

‘With our last game of 2014 played, we’ve now got a few weeks before our next game in January but we are all committed to pushing ourselves hard to make sure we are ready to kick on come 2015.’

Her performances

Safe hands: Nikita Runnacles has impressed so far this season

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between the posts so far this season have been hailed by senior members of the squad but Runnacles believes she still has a lot more to give to the team.

‘I’m really enjoying my football at the moment and having Julian Rob-erts as my goalkeeping coach has been great because he is really keeping my on my toes,’ she said.

‘I believe it’s a really

good set up at the club and there is a really good feel about the place at the moment.’

As for her hopes for the second half of the season, Runnacles added: ‘We haven’t been very consistent this sea-son and there have been teams we should have beaten and we didn’t or we struggled to get a win so I’m hoping in the sec-ond half of the season, we can get a few games

in a row and get on a bit of a run. There have been some incredible individual performances this season and it has been these performances which have helped us get as many points as we have but across the board, I don’t think we can all say we’ve been 100 per cent consistent with our performances.

‘We’ve all had good days and bad days but we have got quality all

over the pitch with Sarah [McCrea] and Kelley [Blanchflower] down the wings, Stacey [Little] in the middle and Vicky [Kinsman] and Emma [Sherwood] up top.

‘Danica [Revell] at the back too - she wins everything in the air so there is plenty of talent and individually, on paper, we are strong and when we are all clicking, we are capable of beating anyone.’ BBM

Dicks happy with Ladies’

progressJulian Dicks says he has really enjoyed his first few months as West Ham Ladies manager.

The Hammers legend took over in the summer and has already had quite an impact.

He said: ‘I’ve come in and changed the training regime and I said to them I will treat them like the pros - even in training.

‘They have reacted well to everything I’ve thrown at them. I think they have sur-prised themselves this season compared to what they did last sea-son. Sure we’ve had a few bad games but we’ve also had some really good games and they should be proud of themselves.’

Terminator: Julian Dicks is loving life as Ladies manager

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How this Christmas could be a very, very Special One for us

The last word

Alex Shilling imagines what life would be like under Jose Mourinho

In a dramatic mid-sea-son turn of events,

West Ham boss Sam Al-lardyce has departed the Boleyn Ground having finally been offered the Real Madrid job.

His replacement? Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who recently left Stamford Bridge claiming he was ‘no longer in love’ with the Blues.

With West Ham still harbouring hopes of a top four finish, the stakes are high with five months of the season to go and it all to play for…

*Boleyn Ground press room, December 18, 9.15am - Jose Mourinho speaks to the press for the first time as West Ham manager.

JM: ‘I am delighted to be here at West Ham, I have admired the club’s history, tradition and footballing philosophy for many years now, success is measured in football by the trophies you win and I look forward to adding to this club’s impressive record.

‘After all, it was only- in fact, when was the last trophy we won? 1980?! Are you serious? [Picks up mobile phone and

speed dials]. Roman! Take me back!’

*Chadwell Heath, De-cember 18, 12.11pm.

Jose Mourinho addresses his West Ham squad for the first time ahead of Saturday’s clash at home to Leicester.

JM: ‘Hey boys, you know what? We are going to win Saturday. I can feel it. In fact, I can see us going through the whole season unbeaten. This team is a special one.’

Kevin Nolan: ‘Er, boss?

We’ve already lost a few games this season. We might make it into the Europa League if we’re lucky, basically though we’re looking at a top 10 finish.’

*The Boleyn Ground, December 20, 2.50pm.

Mourinho imparts his final words of wisdom to his West Ham outfit before they take on Leicester in his first game as Hammers boss.

JM: ‘Ok guys, you know the plan. Leicester are a big, physical side

who have very little skill and they will try and upset us with their 19th century football. So every time they come at you hard, go down ok?

‘The referees in this league all hate us and will give us nothing unless we go down every time. You are all beautiful players, but not everyone agrees with me. Now get out there and make me a proud footballing father - you are all like my sons. Let’s go!’ BBM

Translator: Jose Mourinho and his table-topping Chelsea side take on West Ham this month

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