Season 2010/11 Gameweek 14 preview

David Harris  20 November 2010 19:55:00

Ok, so not quite the regular updates that i intended in the last post. Ho hum.

It's been a strange four weeks since then. Liverpool have beaten Chelsea, then lost to Sunderland, the Mancs still seem to be misfiring, grabbing draws rather than wins like they used to, Citeh are progressing well, yet Mancini is facing calls fhim to be sacked. Arsenal, at least, are ccnsistent in playing fantastic looking football, full of movement and crisp passing, but half the time they seem more content with this than actually scoring. Even for a non-Gooner like myself, this can be intensely frustrating.

On the TIDC front, it's not been so bad, with points coming from most parts of the pitch - Reina's kept a clean sheet, or at least made enough saves for some 'keeping points, new buy Hangeland helped Fulham to keep Andy Carroll & the Barcodes out, although the pony-tailed one has been knocking them in of late, while Huth and Sagna have both scored recently. In midfield, Fabregas is back and scoring, while Scott Parker has chipped in with a few, and also some bonus points for outstanding performances, as has another new boy, Villa and England U21 youngster Marc Albrighton. Joe Cole's been out for most of the month, but the return of Torres' form has been the source of a good few points.

Overall, TIDC are in the top half at last.

So, to this week. The big two games are the six pointer between Liverpool and West Ham (more on this later) and the North London derby, with the Spuds taking the trip to the Emirates. This should be tight. Bagpuss is down to the bare bones, as usual, although there's a chance that Defoe might start, about a month before he was expected back. Nonetheless, Redknapp has been getting some good results, largely due to Gareth Bale coming into his own. For the Gooners, Marouane Chamakh seems to have settled into the Premier league pretty well, with fantastic support from Samir Nasri.

The geordies are at Bolton, Huth and the rest of Stoke visit the Baggies, while Villa are at Blackeye Rovers tomorrow. Fulham host Citeh, and the last TIDC player, Jagielka makes the trip to the Mackems on Monday. This week's other games: Brum vs Chelsea, Blackpool vs Wolves, and the Mancs vs the Pie-Eaters.

Up at Anfield, the Irons will be looking for their first away the Mickeys for almost 50 years. For some strange reason, I have a funny feeling about this one, and it's not just down to Gerrard being crocked midweek - Scotty's slight chest infection may rule him out to counter the Phil Collins fan's absence. No, this one's a bit more personal. Ten years ago this weekend, the Irons were at Elland Road, where we hadn't won for, I think, 22 years, FA Cup semis notwithstanding. I can't remember which half it was, but West Ham got a corner at the away end, and Nigel Winterburn scored the only goal of the game, and possibly his West Ham career, to send 3000 travelling hammers, into a frenzy, yours truly included. All in all, it was a fantastic present for my thirtieth birthday.

Now, if you've been paying attention, you'll have worked out that this weekend sees my fortieth - could West Ham manage the trick for me again? Fingers crossed

The Squad

GK        Reina
DEF        Jagielka, Sagna, Huth, Hangeland
MID        Parker (capt), Fabregas, Albrighton
FOR        Piquionne, Torres, Carroll

SUBS        Jaaskelainen, Noble, Young L, Cole

• View/Add Comments [0]

Season 2010/11 Gameweek 9 -Preview

David Harris  22 October 2010 23:42:40

Well, that's been a funny week. Liverpool get new owners, and feel happy about the future, the get drubbed in a six-pointer against Everton, which Woy calls the Mickeys' finest performance of the season.

Tabloid Wayne (©The Fiver) declares a wish to leave Oltd Trafford, Darth Ferg goes on telly to bemoan his lot, reminding one of the parents in She's Leaving Home, then suddenly a deal is agreed that sees Wazza pocketing money a banker would be ashamed to admit to taking home..

And West Ham are still bottom (on goal difference from Red Scouse, but still).

This week's games. For TIDC, it could be a good week. Jagielka is up first for Everton against the Spuds, and I can't really see him letting Gareth Bale doing what he did against Meelan. Knight comes in for Sagna, against Wigan, and Huth replaces Villa's Luke Young against ManU and TW's wheelbarrow of cash.

Then it's a delayed game, the mighty Irons against the Barcodes, with increasing calls for Scott Parker's international call-up and Andy Carroll trying to forget about an assault charge and the attack on his landlord Kevin Nolan's house. Liverpool play Blackeye Rovers on Sunday, so maybe Torres will find his shooting boots at last.

Finally, I've brought Cesc Fabregas back, since I've got a feeling he'll make an appearance versus Citeh. And boy, do L'Arsenal (and TIDC) need him.

Team:

GK:        Reina
DEF:        Jagielka, Knight, Huth
MID:        Noble, Parker, Cole, Fabregas
ATT:        Piquionne, Torres (capt), Carroll

Subs:        Jaaskelainen, Albrighton, Sagna (inj), Young L (inj)

• View/Add Comments [0]

Oops

David Harris  17 October 2010 16:52:25

Well, that all went a bit pear-shaped, didn't it. 13 weeks in, then nothing. Blame work, and an over-bearing sense of dread embodied by a purple velvet smoking jacket.

Since the last post here, a lot's happened. The misshapen creature known as Gollivan has bought my beloved West Ham, and spent the following six months, as they had the previous six months, talking the club down and trashing the players, ending in yet another relegation battle. The legend, and honourable, Gianfranco Zola was rewarded for his efforts in preventing relegation with his P45.

The World Cup saw heroes (New Zealand), villains (Nigel De Jong) and a new word entered the football lexicon - vuvuzela. Personally, I didn't mind the noise, apart from at 5 am on a non-football day in a street nearby our apartment..

And in the last week, the much and rightly despised Statler and Waldorf of English football were rightly shown the red card (™ Any redtop tabloid), despite a perverse attempt at having an english business dispute settled in the oft-forgotten outpost of English law, er, Dallas, Texas.

So, on with the show.

TIDC are competing this year, although not very effectively, given the usual reliance on West Ham and Liverpool players. I swapped Rob Green for Pepe Reina in goal this year, so I was delighted when Pepe upheld Rob's wonderful World Cup record in the first game of the season, fumbling the ball into his own net to gift L'Arsenal a draw (oh yeah, and Joey Cole got himself sent off). You'd never see Edwin Van Der Sar make that sort of mistake would you:



Oops!

*Photo trawled from guardian.co.uk, no credits attributed there.

TIDC lineup as of 16/10/2010

GK:        Reina
DEF:        Young L, Jagielka, Sagna
MID:        Noble, Parker, Cole, Albrighton
ATT:        Piquionne, Torres, Carroll

SUB:        Jaskelainen, Huth, Knight, Fabregas (inj)

• View/Add Comments [0]

Gameweek 13 - Preview

David Harris  21 November 2009 00:42:06

Well, so much for International Week being dull. The talk since Wednesday night has been all about  Main de Dieu, Henry-gate, or "that cheating bastard Frenchman". But more about that later. I used to have a lot of time for Thierry Henry, but I think it's safe to say that's not the case anymore.

It's an interesting weekend ahead in the Premier League, with the Liverpool-Manchester swapsies, a six pointer between West Ham and Hull at the KC, and the all C&B affair at Turf Moor as Burnley (of whom I'm growing quite fond) host Villa.

First off is a Torres-deficient Liverpool against a Citeh side who are, according to reports, soon to lose Carlos Tevez, to retirement post South Africa, and Craig Bellamy, due to long term injuries. That said, Bellamy still has a chance to fulfil the curse of the ex-player at Anfield. In the other direction go Everton, to Old Trafford, where they haven't won in 17 years. Imperial Lord Ferg's "touchline ban" isn't in effect for this game, although it is for a forthcoming Carling Cup tie. Funny that.

Elsewhere in the North West, provided the RNLI are on stand-by, Bolton host Blackburn, while Burnley, this season's Cinderella side, take on Champions League hopefuls Villa. Burnley have done pretty well at home so far, including a win against Man Utd, and were good value for a 3-3 draw at Citeh last time out, so this could be an interesting game. It'll probably end goal-less now I've said that.

L'Arsenal, former home of le Cheat, take on Sunderland. At Sunderland. Expect a vociferous reception for the Premiership's French contingent, especially the beneficiary of Monsieur Va-va-voom's legerdemain, TIDC defender William Gallas.

Fulham have two games this week, firstly away to Brum, then at home to Blackburn midweek (Everton go to Hull as well - Europa League off week), so I'm hoping Bobby Zamora has maintained his current attitude over the break.

The big game for Katy Perry's favourite club is against Hull. We don't know if Carlton Cole has recovered from his recent hamstring problem, but James Tomkins is likely to be out, as is Junior Stanislas. This should see Manuel Da Costa start alongside TIDC regular Matthew Upson, while we're hoping Signor Diamanti will start for once.

And that's it. The team:

GK:        Green
DEF:        Upson, Gallas, Collins, Cuellar
MID:        Fabregas, Benayoun, Mascherano, Arshavin
FOR:        Zamora, Diamanti

Subs:        Hahnemann, Huddlestone, Bridge, Torres

Up The Irons!!!

• View/Add Comments [0]

Gameweek 12 - Final

David Harris  18 November 2009 23:00:53

International week again, ho hum.

Week 12 was a bit of an odd one for the Ironworks. The constituent teams had mixed results, with good wins for Villa and Arsenal, draws for Liverpool and Arsenal, with West Ham gifting three points to Everton. It also saw Bridge and Cuellar make their first appearances due to James Collins and Fernando Torres being injured.Cuellar's 10 points were very welcome, but Citeh could only scrape a draw at home to Burnley.

Cesc Fabregas continued his run of form, picking up 11 points (doubled, as captain), but van Persie who he feeds regularly at Arsenal looks to have picked up an injury that may see Fabregas' assist tally drop over the coming weeks. The prognosis is similarly poor for Torres, although he's not opted for equine placenta treatment as yet.

Points then: Green 2, Upson 1, Gallas 1, Bridge 1, Cuellar 10, Fabregas 22, Benayoun 2, Mascherano 5, Arshavin 7, Zamora 2, Diamanti 1.

In the standings, TIDC are up to 86,883rd overall, 235th in the Football Weekly league, and 71st in Iain Dale's league.

And West Ham managers are still top.

Up the Irons!!!

• View/Add Comments [0]

Gameweek 12 - Preview

David Harris  6 November 2009 23:25:35

Gameweek 12 sees only five Saturday games, with Everton's and Fulham's Europa league commitments meaning their games are pushed to Sunday in addition to the usual Sky games, while Liverpool face Birmingham on Monday night. TIDC have no players in what's probably the biggest game, Chelsea against Man Utd. I have nothing to say about that game apart from "come on Chelsea".

Aston Villa should be able to cope with Bolton at home, as should Arsenal away at Wolves on Saturday. Huddlestone's and Bridge's places on the Ironworks' bench means that's where our interest ends until Sunday. Bobby Zamora is likely to start for Fulham against Wigan who can be a bit stingy at home, so fingers crossed he can help the Cottagers to a good result.

West Ham come off the back of two unlikely draws (didn't expect anything against Arsenal, deserved all three against Sunderland) and a good win against Villa midweek. Rob Green looks to be getting back to his best and it seems the sort of game that might need a bit of magic from Diamanti to come alive.

Then, what to say about Liverpool? One minute you think they're on the verge of collapse, then they come out with the sort of breath-taking performance that saw them beat Man Utd comfortably. With Torres vowing to play through the pain of his current set of injuries and Steven Gerrard not yet ruled out, with the game being on Monday helping both, this could well see the three points heading to Merseyside, or equally a Scouse implosion.

Finally, on Sunday at the Boleyn Ground, a plaque commemorating the sacrifices of the 13th Battalion (West Ham) Essex Regiment ("The Hammers") will be unveiled, with men from C (Essex) Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment playing the Last Post. The game against Everton, like all games in England this weekend, will be preceded by a minute's silence. Many of the men of the 13th were West Ham fans and employees of the Thames Ironworks Company.

We Remember Them

Up The Irons!!!

• View/Add Comments [0]

Gameweek 11 - Final

David Harris  6 November 2009 22:55:25

 Well, an amazing thing happened on Wednesday night - West Ham won a game against ten men. A true poacher's goal from Zavon Hines in stoppage time gave the Hammers all three points against a depleted Aston Villa, despite twice surrendering leads against ten-men teams earlier in the campaign (Fulham and Sunderland). To cap it all, Rob Green saved a penalty, meaning he ends the week with twelve points and a place in the Dream Team. Ashley Young's mishit cross/deceptive shot means that he and Upson miss out on a clean sheet bonus.

Three goals conceded means Matthew Upson gains a meagre three, William Gallas' goal against the spuds gives him six, while James 'Ginge' Collins' yellow card on Wednesday drops him to an anaemic two.

Across the midfield, Fabregas' goal and man of the match performance, sees him on eleven, with Benayoun and Mascherano on two each, and Arshavin on four. Up front, Torres' consolation goal against Fulham, plus captain's bonus, sees him also pick up twelve, while Bobby Zamora picked up six, and Diamanti's bench-warming antics garnered a solitary point. Yes, Torres' consolation for Liverpool against Fulham. yes, I reckoned it would be Zamora scoring the consolation. I know. I was wrong. Please let the Rafa implosion stop.

Standings:

Overall, TIDC dropped to 113,880th overall, to 302nd in the Guardian's Football weekly league, and 98th in Iain Dale's league. Those two leagues moved up to 4th and 34th out of all leagues, respectively.

And West Ham-led teams are even further in front.

Up the Irons!!!

• View/Add Comments [0]

The West Ham Pals

David Harris  5 November 2009 23:01:22

On Sunday, there will be a dedication at the Boleyn Ground of a plaque to commemorate the 13th Battalion Essex Regiment ("The Hammers"), also known as the West Ham Pals.

From the West Ham Pals site:

Please note: the unveiling, at the Boleyn Ground, of the Memorial Plaque dedicated to the sacrifices made by the Men of the 13th Battalion (West Ham) Essex Regiment ('The Hammers') will now take place on Remembrance Sunday, 8th November at 10.55am.

The original 13th Essex King's Colours will be paraded and the Last Post played by the last line of the Essex Regiment: Men of C (Essex) Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment with 2nd Newham Scouts as Honour Guard.

• View/Add Comments [0]

Gameweek 11 - Provisional

David Harris  4 November 2009 22:09:06

This was not a very good weekend for TIDC, all told. West Ham threw away a well-deserved 2-0 lead against 10 man Sunderland, Liverpool got battered by Fulham, with Torres picking up an injury that will keep him out of the game for weeks, While Aston Villa just scraped a draw at Everton. About the only bright spos were Arsenal's thumping of Tottenham, and Bobby Zamora's goal against Fulham.

Tonight see's the rescheduled game between West Ham and Aston Villa, at the Boleyn Ground. It could be interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, evening midweek games at Upton Park are always special. The ground takes on a different intensity, and the noise can be unbelievably loud: I remember an FA Cup quarter-final replay against Arsenal back in 1998 where, despite being in the Bobby Moore Upper, I didn't get get my hearing back properly for two days.

Secondly, tonight sees the return of James 'Ginge' Collins, Jack Collison's Wales team-mate, Ironworks stalwart, and former rock in the Hammers defence. I hope he gets a great reception (I'm sure he will), but doesn't have a great game. Finally, tonight's game also sees the likely return, due to injuries and suspensions taking their toll on the Villa bench, of former Hammer Nigel Reo-Coker. Son of a West Ham legend, and one of our youngest captains, the relationship turned sour when he left the club after he claimed he'd kept the club from relegation almost single-handedly, and that he deserved to be at a "bigger, better" club. Hmm. How to leave a club gracefully, from the Frank Lampard Jr  school of charm and etiquette. I can confidently predict he will not receive the same sort of welcome as Ginge.

No predictions on this one. It's an important game for West Ham, and we need to start to picking up points at home, but Villa have impressed me so far this season.

More results & standings after this game, annoying virus permitting.

COYI!!!

• View/Add Comments [0]

Gameweek 11 - Preview

David Harris  31 October 2009 00:22:35

Very short preview this week, being extraordinarily pressed for time.

Firstly, some team news, with Torres coming back as Huddlestone drops back to the bench. He also reclaims the captain's armband from Cesc Fabregas. That being done, Torres will probably have a stinker while Cesc scores a hatrick and makes four more. That would be a fantastic result in any case, since Arsenal host bitter north London rivals Spurs, which is another good reason to drop Huddlestone - despite West Ham somehow clawing back a 2-2 draw on Sunday, I can see the Gooners making hay this weekend.

Liverpool visit Fulham, so hopefully Bobby Zamora might grab a consolation goal or two, since I can I can only really see one outcome there, Fulham's respectable home form notwithstanding.

For Aston Villa and West Ham, there are two games this week, the second being when the play each other, a game rescheduled from Gameweek 2 due to Villa's Europa League commitments. I'll give that a proper preview during the interim results post. As for the weekend, Villa are away to Everton, who are, like themselves, one of the teams trying  to break the Big Four's stranglehold on Champions League places. Ginge and Cuellar (sub) will need to be on their mettle, I think.

West Ham will hopefully be full of confidence following Sunday's aforementioned draw with the Arse, so it should be an entertaining game at Sunderland. As a sidenote, there was a very good article in today's Star (the Malaysian paper, I mean, a far sight better than the English redtop of the same name) by ESPN presenter John Dykes - definitely worth a read.

Team for the week:

GK        Green
DEF        Upson, Gallas, Collins
MID        Fabregas, Benayoun, Mascherano, Arshavin
ATT        Torres, Zamora, Diamanti

COYI!!!

• View/Add Comments [0]