Monday 26 December 2011

A Season Defining Game

I said it before the Middlesbrough game and unfortunately that fantastic victory was followed by the miserable results against Burnley and Reading. So much for season defining games.

But this one really, really is! Just as West Ham don't do away games up North in the cold early winter, so West Ham don't, traditionally, do well when stuffed with turkey. Yet, oddly, recent Boxing Day results have been good. Last season we won 3-1 at Fulham, our first away win in God knows how long! The season before we beat Portsmouth 2-0 in a relegation 6 pointer, and the year before that we stuffed Pompey 4-1 on their dung heap. Go back another year and we struggled to a 1-1 home draw against Reading but that was an improvement on the previous year's 1-2 reverse at home to Portsmouth.

Birmingham will offer stiff opposition at St Andrews but they are beatable. If we come away with all three points it will be a huge feather in Doctor Evil's cap but a third defeat in four games would start to ring alarm bells.

An awful lot hinges on what is, in my opinion, our biggest game of the season so far. Win it and we are on our way back to the Prem; lose it and my money would be on a finish in a play off place.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hate to say it - but you write so much better than that buffoon Neville Nixon.

Hammersfan said...

He is a member of the NUJ! The pictures are better here though!

Anonymous said...

kevin in manchester writes...

If we were in the prem league you'd be right; as an also ran there you lose winnable games and you are in trouble but in the Championship not so. There's half a season to go and while two wins would make us all feel comfortable, the unpredicability of the championship means it's difficult to call until the last ten games or so. Suspensions and injury begin to kick in. For us it's already happened and we are still second. The likes of Soton, Leeds, Cardiff and M'boro are much thinner in their second eleven that we are and I think it will show- Jan to March is traditionally the most tospy turvy time in the Championship- hold onto your hats and watch Leicester who have a large squad that could take advantage in this period.

Anonymous said...

NUJ No way!?!?!? the syntax of his latest post is all over the place.