A Game We Have To Win

Let's begin with an understatement, "Bolton are not our favourite team"! There is something about them that doesn't agree with West Ham - and Green in particular goes all fuzzy headed when he sees the Bolton boys thundering on to the field. Asked to identify Green's best ever game for West Ham and we would all pick that match at Highbury in the Great Escape run in; asked to identify his worst ever game and some might lump for the 6-0 hammering at Reading, but most would debate whether it was at home to Bolton last season or away to Bolton this. Certainly, if you want to see Green's worst ever howlers, then they would figure in those two Bolton games.

What is it about Bolton? Well in the Allardyce and Megson days, it was because they were in your face thugs, bullies who stripped the game back to the basics - and we all know that West Ham have never liked it up 'em. The one time I remember us playing well against them was the 3-1 victory in the penultimate game of the Great Escape season. And why did we win, Tevez apart? Because Bolton were trying to play something called "football" under Mini Me Sammy Lee. The hope is that Coyle's purist principles might work in our favour today, just as Lee helped us to 3 points in May 2007 by encouraging his players to play the ball on the ground rather than launch it into the box and charge.

Go back to that absolutely must win game, the last home match of the 2006-07 season, and only Green, Boa-Morte, Noble and Spector (who was a sub on the day) remain at the club. Of those, only Green and Spector are available for selection today. There is no doubt in my mind that the team that took the field on that day would beat the team that we will send out today. For all the talk of "the project", we have gone backwards already; and after the fire sale planned for the summer, we will be a pale shadow of the team that only survived by the skin of it's teeth back in 2007. For the record, we lined up as follows: Green, Neill, McCartney, Collins, Ferdinand, Benayoun, Reo-Coker, Noble, Boa-Morte, Tevez and Zamora. The subs employed were Harewood, Spector and Mullins.

We desperately need the team to perform today. If at 5pm we have 30 points in the bag, it will take a nightmare end to the season for us to go down. Anything less, and we will be biting our nails right the way through to May. I hope Ilan starts and that nobody tells Green that Bolton are the opposition. When I look at the team sheets of all the clubs at the bottom I think, "They are crap" but that isn't the case with Bolton. Even with seven players out injured, they can field a tasty looking team. Klasnic and Davies are a threat up front, I would not be disappointed to see Jaaskelainen between our sticks next season and Taylor, as we know, can deliver a wicked free kick. Our performance at Bolton in the league this season was miserable and they have done us in the cup as well. Logic tells me this will finish 1-1 but I hope I am wrong. We need 3 points almost as much as we needed them back in 2007. Come on Owen Coyle, do a Mini Me Sammy Lee!