Last season, I wrote a piece that attributed a song to each Premier League team that reflected their current status or something that was going on at the club at the time. At the risk of going over old ground, I thought I would update the songs for the teams in this years Premiership with my current musings.

Click to continue reading...

It is starting to look as if West Ham striker Dean Ashton could be forced to retire from the game at just 25-years-old.

The former Norwich forward broke his left ankle while training with the England squad in 2006 and has been unable to recover from the injury.

Hammer boss Gianfranco Zola had this to say on his situation: "When something like this happens, it is very much personal.

Click to continue reading...

West Ham finally got their second win of the season with a last minute Zavon Hines' equaliser. It was a match that Villa lost rather than West Ham winning it. Nevertheless, the spirit and determination of Zola's men cannot be faulted and definitely this must spur the Hammers to climb up the Premiership table. Click to continue reading...

Last week, I asked you to vote for you favourite 20 players of the decade, here in this very post, are the Top 100 players of the last 10 years, voted for by you, the readers and bloggers of the offside. First thing I want to say is thank you, everyone for the absolutely amazing response [...] Click to continue reading...

I think I may have discovered what West Ham's problem is.
Their poor results may indeed be symptomatic of some problems with the manager, who some are suggesting is a leading contender for the sack race.
I think it is likely to have more to do with where the club focuses its attention, which it has to be said does not appear to feature football that predominantly. Click to continue reading...

West Ham may well be going down this season with a string of useless displays and a home record that even Derby County would be proud of. However, if the Hammers had kept hold of their top players where would they be now? Top 10, top 6, top 4 or even challenging for the title? Here's our Ultimate 11 of Ex West Ham players still plying their trade in the Premier League today, unfortunately for them, for other teams.

Click to continue reading...

Dressing up on Halloween isn't a challenge to be taken lightly. It's not just about the eating sweets, making friends and putting dog feces through mail boxes. It means much more than that. It's the one night when everyone on the planet can wear whatever they want and be whomever they wish.

Click to continue reading...

Hammers fans who watched the riveting match against Arsenal voted in their player performances as such:
This was posted on Iain Dale's popular, West Ham Till I Die site.
Extremely good result for Zola and the boys, especially as I wrote previously in my preview that that victory would be a near impossible task. Click to continue reading...

Arseblog as usual gives an well balanced summation and my two cents is that the "killer instinct" message should be obvious by now. It cannot be emphasized enough but now it needs to be internalized. I also think it comes from a leadership vacuum on the pitch.

This season, most matches need at least two goals for padding.

Click to continue reading...

Image by wonker via Flickr A valiant effort from West Ham saw them coming from two goals down to draw their Premier League encounter 2-2 with Arsenal last night. While Arsenal would have loved to win the match as they would've had a comfortable third position ahead of Tottenham in the table, West Ham still [. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal threw away the chance of a fifth straight Premier League win as West Ham battled back to earn a 2-2 draw at Upton Park on Sunday.
The Gunners had looked in complete control following first-half goals from Robin van Persie and William Gallas.
However, Carlton Cole pulled a goal back before substitute Alessandro Diamanti netted a late penalty. Click to continue reading...

It's gearing up to be a very interesting Sunday afternoon of football, with Liverpool and United meeting before we take a trip east to face West Ham, opponents we haven't exactly thrived against in recent years. In fact, some of the games have become infamous, the 1-0 defeat that saw Wenger and Pardew nearly come to blows, and a 3-2 reverse where Sol Campbell jumped ship at half time.

Click to continue reading...

Welcome to Ask The Oppo! Today we talk to Dave Hunt, an Upton Park season ticket holder from Aylesbury, Bucks...

Eldo71: You lot finished 9th last season, played some reasonable football along the way and the hopes for the new season were high under Gianfranco Xola and Steve Clarke.

Click to continue reading...

West Ham

Position: 19th, 1-2-5 (5 points, -3 goal differential)

Recent Form: LLLDL

Away Form: 0-1-2

Last Meeting: Arsenal 0-West Ham 0 (1/31/09)

London derby match against West Ham tomorrow.

Click to continue reading...

It's been seven matches since West Ham last tasted the joy of victory. Struggling from defensive lapses, visibly lacking goalscoring power and down on luck, West Ham faces a difficult London derby against "le magnifique" Arsenal. To hope for victory would be bordering on impossible but there is reason to be bullish. Click to continue reading...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Life's A Beach for Rafa Benitez with punters responding to Liverpool's worst run of form in 22 years with a wide variety of betting requests speculating on the manager's demise. Responding to the range of requests Paddy Power are offering 10/1 that Liverpool's crunch game against arch rivals Manchester United [. Click to continue reading...

Should I like the rich guy for wearing semi-normal clothes?
Or hate it because it's awful.
Hate it.
Don't hate the links:

• Avram Grant to Portsmouth. Name drops N.Y. [Goal!]
  
• FC Dallas 2, at San Jose Earthquakes 1. [MLSnet.com]
  
• Norwich goalkeeper goes AWOL.

Click to continue reading...

As we enter into another International break, many Hammers fans will quietly be asking themselves that exact same question. Inspired by Nick Frost's (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Spaced) twitter feed over the weekend, I quickly realized what a passionate yet disheartened bunch the Hammers supporters are this year.

Click to continue reading...

There is nothing bright about Mark!

Now I am sure he is a smashing chap and all of that but can someone tell me the point of Mark Bright? How he keeps a job on the BBC (the nation's premier TV network) is beyond me. Is it just me that notices that most things he says are incorrect?

Click to continue reading...

Posting Cheryl's pumps gave me a crazy idea. Why not scour the world of eBay each week in search of the best Chelsea stuff I can find. Why not provide links to my loyal readers. Maybe some of them will actually be some of this s***.

Sounds like a f****** great idea to me. On with our inaugural edition of .

Click to continue reading...

After the away defeat against Manchester City, Zola had stated that the team including himself will have to bring the thunder back. This basically means that the players must show desire, motivation and fighting spirit if West Ham are to start winning again.
If the Manchester City loss can be considered an "acceptable defeat", then this weekend's match against Fulham is rightly labelled as "the Cup final". Click to continue reading...

It was a bad week for West Ham. In the wake of the Battle at Boleyn, the English Football Association had decided to charge West Ham with four offences and the club has 14 days to respond to these charges. Hopefully the punishment will be justified rather than just an publicity attempt by the FA chairman to set an example. Click to continue reading...

Look away Hammers fans. Five points from a possible 21 and without a win since opening day at Wolverhampton Wanderers. West Ham United have not started a Premier League season this badly since 2002-03 – and unfortunately they were relegated at the end of that one. Where's the Zola magic gone?

Click to continue reading...

West Ham's chief executive and technical director have reportedly taken substantial wage cuts in order to pay for the wages of Mexican striker Guillermo Franco.

The Hammers are financially knee deep in dog shit and in order to sign the Mexican, the pair took pay cuts to keep the wage structure within budget.

Click to continue reading...

Can Diamanti emulate Di Canio?

Can West Ham United's new Italian talent have the same impact on the Hammers as club legend Paolo Di Canio did between 1999 and 2003? Gianfranco Zola signed Alessandro Diamanti for a fee of around £6 million in the summer. Big money for an untested player especially in light of West Ham's supposed financial handicap.

Click to continue reading...

A week ago I said that Rafael Benitez will have been looking for more of his side other that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to join Yossi Benayoun as match-winners but the Liverpool manager will still be delighted with his star striker's two-goal blast at West Ham.
It's not like the Spanish international has been struggling in front of goal so far this season – he netted in three consecutive Premier League games against Stoke, Aston Villa and Bolton last month – but his brace at Upton Park signalled a return to the kind of devastating form he is capable of. Click to continue reading...

.With half a dozen games gone already in the Premier League this season it seems remarkable that there have been very few drawn matches – just four draws from a total of 56 games to the end of the weekend Sunday 20th September. Stoke City in tenth place have been involved in half of the drawn [...] Click to continue reading...

Iain Dale, a celebrity West Ham supporter since 1974, has an engaging blog on the Hammers - West Ham Till I Die. In there, Iain had set up a very nice voting panel after each match for visitors to the blog to rate the players performance for that match. The condition set was that only those who actually watched the match live and/or on TV shall vote. Click to continue reading...

So near yet so far!

Tottenham and Sunderland have failed to agree a loan swap involving Anton Ferdinand and Alan Hutton, according to Sky Sports sources.

Spurs had been looking to bolster their options in central defence following injuries to Michael Dawson and Jonathan Woodgate earlier in the summer.

Click to continue reading...

1. Two Coins For The Boatman
If you should ever find yourself watching a game of football that is worse than this debacle, then pray that your affairs are in order, for you, my friend, are in Hades.
2. What Can You Say?

I can't pretend that this article will give you great insight into the machinations of this game. Click to continue reading...

Black Cat targeted

West Ham and Stoke are both reportedly set to make £2million bids for Sunderland's Phil Bardsley before Tuesday's transfer deadline. (Sky Sports)

24 year old Bardsley is of course a product of the Man United youth system and a pretty reliable right back who has served Sunderland well since arriving in January of last year being a virtual ever present since his arrival at the Stadium of Light.

Click to continue reading...

It finishes goalless after a stalemate at Ewood Park as Gianfranco Zola's West Ham side battle for a point against Blackburn Rovers.

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Click to continue reading...

West Ham have eased their striking problems with the signing of Livorno forward Alessandro Diamanti. The 26-year-old, who joins the Upton Park club for an undisclosed fee, has signed a five-year contract with the Hammers...
Mattia Fontana of Eurosport's Italian website gives us the lowdown on the new Hammer:
Diamanti is an incredibly talented forward, a 'number ten' if you like.

Click to continue reading...

After a horrific week at West Ham United, what better way than to get a boost from the transfer market. If the transfer rumours are to be believed, then there is a very high chance that three top players are coming to grace the stage that is Upton Park. Are there any credibility to these players strengthening the first team? Click to continue reading...

.Back in January the odds on Burnley beating both Manchester United and Everton by one goal to nil would have been significantly high. The town of Burnley only is only home to around 73,000 residents (the smallest in the division), they have the smallest wage bill in the Premier League and their transfer funds are [. Click to continue reading...