What is it with West Ham? Just as the club is on the cusp of greatness, it appears to be doing its level best to muck things up, kindly note that we used the word Muck! That sentiment might be shared differently by fans, but whatever your opinion of whoever is to blame, the fact is Hammers are in a downward spiral that shows little chance of ending in smiles.
As late as possible, David Moyes announced that Vlad Coufal would not be playing against Newcastle citing that "He (Coufal) had a problem with his Hernia". This is not good, we at the Org were guilty of questioning Vlad's current run of form, as have been many media outlets.
ABSOLUTE SHOWER!
Wet miserable and incredibly disappointed would sum up how most fans felt as they trudged away from the bleak 'scene of the crime', where they witnessed what was possibly the final death knell of Hammers Champions League hopes. Perhaps it is fear, perhaps the manager's tactics have been found out, or maybe the squad's lack of depth has finally and inexorably come home to roost.
West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Zouma, Dawson, Cresswell, Rice (c), Soucek, Benrahma, Fornals, Bowen, Antonio Subs: Areola (GK), Yarmolenko, Vlasic, Noble, Diop, Johnson, Kral, Alese, Chesters
Newcastle: Dubravka, Krafth, Burn, Schar, Targett, Willock, Shelvey (c), Murphy, Joelinton, Fraser, Wood Subs: Darlow (GK), Dummett, Lascelles, Fernandez, Almiron, Gayle, Longstaff, Guimaraes, De Bolle
Hammers go into today's early kick off against Newcastle knowing that nothing less than three points will do, the Irons have endured a really miserable spell since the last International break, but remarkably still find themselves there or thereabouts for a Champions League place, hence the need for an absolute minimum of max points!
Very strange that the club sent out text messages yesterday stating that the exclusive 'window' for season ticket holders to buy tickets for Hammers Europa League fixture would end at 11am on feb 18th, however when we went to buy tickets last night, a good 16 hours before the 'deadline' we found that one of our season ticket seats had ALREADY been sold!
In the great scheme of things which is worse, kicking a defenceless cat or physically abusing a woman? We have waited a while before posing this question in order to see how things panned out once the dust had settled on Zoumagate, both acts are heinous, of that there can be NO doubt, but the mightier than thou 'wisdom' dispensed from all corners became an absolute joke.
Hammers fans who have grown used to showing only a distance interest in BT TV's European competition coverage and questioning why they pay their subscription, finally have an evening of 'indulgent' UEFA Europa League Cup coverage to enjoy as they watch the teams that have dropped down from the Champions League battle to earn a place against the teams that finished 3rd in their group for the right to appear in the knock out stages, something West Ham have already achieved.
It is strange how one event can trigger another and so on at a football club, there are few places in the World of Sport stranger than the Premier League, so the shenanigans going on at West Ham during the last week or so will come as no surprise to some observers.
The now infamous Zoumagate affair shone a not too decent light on West Ham as a football club and an even worse light on Kurt Zouma who, quite rightly, has come in for a lot of flack, however the surging indignation eventually grew out of all proportion to a ludicrous level.
Borussia Dortmund play Napoli, while Barcelona match up against Rangers on Thursday evening to decide which of the clubs progress to the knock out stages of the Europa League Cup, at which point previous group winners including West Ham are put into the hat for the 1/4 finals draw.