Hammers Brush Aside Foxes But TC and God Still on Top...for now

It's really starting to get more serious now as we head into Christmas perched in fourth place in the Premiership - and even more scary is the fact that our position is fully deserved! Today's match against Leicester would traditionally have provided a perfect opportunity for a Hammers side to trip themselves up, but not this time as despite rarely kicking out of first gear the Hammers strolled home to a 2-0 victory over a largely impotent Leicester side who need to strengthen in the transfer window if they are to have any chance of staying in the Premiership next season.

Alex Song was sensational again while Stewart Downing who had a (relatively) quiet game still chipped in by scoring a stunning goal! At the back we looked solid and it's a measure of the depth in talent in this squad that a twinge (hopefully) to James Tomkins resulted in James Collins coming on to slip into the centre back slot without even the suggestion that we might be destabilised in any way. Similarly, while Leicester may have been glad to see the back of Diafra Sakho, the sight of Enner Valencia coming on as his replacement would surely dampen any celebrations!

Otherwise, you really have to feel for the likes of Morgan Amalfitano and Mauro Zarate who have been excellent when given the opportunity so far this season but cannot get a start in this buoyant Hammers side.

Of note, we are a mere point off the total that the Boys of '86 had amassed at this stage of their season and a full five points above where our previous best Premiership finishing side - Harry Redknapp's side of 1998-9 - were after 17 games and they went on to snatch 5th place.

The next two fixtures will be revealing as if West Ham can get something out of Chelsea (away) and / or Arsenal (home) we are really in the mix as the current squad has enough depth to keep going in the face of injuries and African Nations Cup absenteeism...

Oooooghhh!!!