Revealed: What Inter Fans Think About Mario's Departure

So at long last the Hammers have managed to get some extra help into their squad with the arrival of Joao Mario from Inter Milan on loan until the end of the season. The signing is being hailed as a major boost in David Moyes' efforts to stabilise the club as a Premiership outfit and, all going well, Mario may stay thereafter as we hopefully look towards becoming a major force in the League.

Mario is an experienced Portuguese international and has a winners medal from their 2016 triumph at the Euros. In the aftermath of that, he moved from our old mates Sporting Lisbon to Inter for E40 million. He had a decent first season at Inter making 33 appearances with three goals and eight assists. However, this season he has struggled and has been in and out of the team, spending much time as a substitute. Indeed, his 14 appearances this season include 9 as a substitute. The arrival of Rafinha from Barcelona has persuaded him to move to where he can get first team action as it is a World Cup year.

So what does Moyes see in him? He sounds VERY like Pedro Obiang, which means he is probably going to push young Declan Rice further down the rankings for game time. In fact, although we typically think of swashbuckling surges forward when we picture Cheik Kouyate, this season the Senegalese has been much more conservative in his role and, in many respects, has provided a defensive midfield role.

Mario is technically gifted and can hold onto the ball - qualities that a team that frequently concedes 65% plus of the possession will benefit from. He has almost 90% pass accuracy but he is otherwise quite conservative - energetic but not especially pacey or creative (no goals and just 3 assists all season). The Hammers really need another creative and attack-minded midfielder. Hmmm.

We linked in with Italian contacts who follow to Inter to check out their feelings on his move - the responses were lukewarm and included "not sure that he is a top player. May be that in a less demanding team he would perform better" and "Speed is not his primary characteristic, but I think he will compensate with organization and geometry".

Hmmm. It seems they are a little underwhelmed. In reality, any player who is looking to move in January will have similar baggage with them. Let's hope he finds the Premiership to his liking and maybe will free up Cheik Kouyate to recover his old swashbuckling swagger!

Maybe we will get a viewing against Palace on Tuesday?

 

Strap yourselves in, this is going to get a bit bumpy!

So it's still all quiet on the West Ham front in terms of new signings. Hmmm. Let's hope it's the calm before a storm of activity that brings in a top quality midfielder and a forward who can score goals without limping off every time they collide with something or simply break into a gallop (Yes, Andy C running does look like a gallop!).
 
With a whopping nine first team squaddies out injured, we are in poor shape facing into a key part of our season. With Premiership games against Palace at home next Tuesday and away at Brighton on Saturday week, the trip to Wigan for Round 4 of the Cup will be a sweaty affair and undoubtedly  impacted upon by our slim resources right now.

Stuart Pearce has intimated that the kids will dominate the side as we really need to keep whatever we've got back for Palace, so we can expect Joe Hart to be minding for Reece Burke, Josh Cullen, Toni Martinez, Sam Byram and probably Declan Rice - although the latter may find himself key to Tuesday night's game and managed for Saturday's trip.

We really need to be careful pushing the likes of Collins and Noble too far as at their age they can only put in so many miles within short time periods and, in all honesty, Zabaleta has been remarkable all season with his consistency, but again we need to be careful about overstretching the 'mature' body.

Meanwhile Wigan are top of League One and full of it! Of course, they have good recent history having won the competition in 2013 - but at a terrible cost as their current League one status shows. Personally, I've never really warmed to them, partly due to their former Chairman's unhelpful interventions during Tevezgate, but they will fancy another premiership scalp for sure. having gone toe to toe with Bournemouth before thumping them 3-0 in the replay, they are riding high. At 7-4 they are a decent bet for the win!

A draw might be a good result in footballing terms, but we could do without the extra game. Imagine if we actually were in Europe with this squad!!! Just a marker of how far short we are right now of being the club we aspire towards.

Kick off is at 3PM. It's not on telly. It'll be a proper test for the kids - it's a long time since we produced a first team player through our youth system but the Reece's, Cullen and especially Rice are looking to buck that trend. Now is the time!  




 

Totally Tired...Farewell Mr Smith....true genius

Mark Edward Smith

1957 – 2018

We expected you to go on forever, but in the end you'd given it your all. Who else can honestly say that they have never compromised, ever!

Can you ever forget him reading the footie results: "West Ham United 1H"

Or when he accused Shearer, Owen and Mr Crisp ('the shirt brigade') of shopping together, like a bunch of policemen 😅😂🤣

A proper funny man, always perfectly out of tune.

RIP.

If Masuaku Leaves i Wont be Responsible for What I Might Do to Myself

Ok, before you send around the community mental health outreach team (or maybe the fire brigade), I don't actually plan to engage in self-immolation, but with many Hammers fans responding to news about Marko's dodgy hamstring with tweets saying 'we're doomed' and even 'please kill me', it does seem that hyperbole is the fashion of the hour at West Hamstrung United!

Having said that, rumours that Monaco, Roma and Man United are all trying to steal our Congolese Champion are a step too far and represent the final straw in what has been a vicious January transfer window, seething with scurrilous fake news - especially designed to destabilise West Ham! 

The Masuaku rumours are particularly disturbing because, although Arnautovic and Lanzini have taken most of the plaudits for our recent upturn in fortunes, all season Arthur has been top value entertainment - cheeky, crafty and totally unpredictable. My bets are that if you held a fastest feet competition, that he would win hands down!

While I know we all have a soft spot for Cresswell, who is undoubtedly a better defender and returning to his best form, Arthur's new role in a back five is really working well. For sure, as a standard left back your heart was in your mouth every time the opposition invited a clumsy tackle in the box (and God knows if we are honest he's actually given away 4-5 times more penalties than some lenient refs have awarded), but coming forward Arthur is the Dogs Bollix.

Masuaku is skillful and intelligent but most importantly, he is fun to watch! His recent skill against Spurs was the funniest moment delivered by a West Ham player since Payet's audacious free kick against Man U a few seasons back. For a week afterwards I chuckled every time I thought of it....Ok, OK here it is again: https://www.instagram.com/p/BdiyqPGBSnP/




Thankfully Arthur has moved quickly to quash these scandalous and distressing rumours, and most likely saved countless lives of impulsive Hammers fans who, like me, are at the end of their tatty tethers and simply cannot hack losing our best player to Roma or Monaco.......are they really bigger than us???.

His tweet, albeit from last November, puts an end to the nonsense and emphasises his absolute and total commitment to the cause. He's clearly enjoying his football right now and needs to be let get on with being brilliant!

Go away merchants of fake media, Masuaku is going nowhere!!!

COYI!!!

A Five Point Plan to Prevent the Annual Injury Crisis at West Ham

Here's a thing - every year around December and January we get to use the bubonic plague sketch to describe West Ham's injury situation. Every year. Right now we are second in the league in terms of injuries with a whopping first team squad players out through injury.

Having china dolls like Andy Sicknote and Diafra Sakho on the payroll is certainly part of the problem – with a total of 12 Premiership goals between them in the last two seasons (Carroll =9; Sakho =3) it’s simply not good enough! In all honesty, at this stage we really need to take the hit and free up space for players who will be available for selection at least 50% of the season.  

However, our most recent issues relate to Manny Lanzini and Marko Arnautovic. The optimist in me hopes that the Arnautovic injury scare is to end the tiresome media focus on the non-transfer of Marko to Chelsea. First it was Antonio, then Carroll and now Arnautovic - all fake news and it makes you wonder if there aren't some serious West Ham haters out there desperately trying to destabilise our club with these unhelpful rumours. 

However, in Lanzini's case you have to link his hamstring injury to the Shrewsbury saga. It's great to give the kids game time opportunities, and the replay certainly did that, but did our midfield talisman really need to be out there for 120 minutes in midweek with another (more important) game on Saturday? 

We have tried moving training facilities to reduce our injury count but with no benefit. Maybe it's time to make a coherent plan to reduce our injury count for the future. How about this: 

1. Offload long term chronic sicknoters - Carroll and Sakho. They are taking up space and wages that could be used better.

2. Include a detailed analysis of injury history in all new signings.

3. Restrict new signings to players who have not yet passed their prime - Jose Fonte is 34 years old - it's much harder to manage the speed of the game once you are over 30, and recovery time from injuries is greatly prolonged in the 'more mature' player.

4. Treat the FA cup and league cup the way the top clubs do - kids only. No Lanzini's out there against have a go types like Shrewsbury!

5. Invest in a big enough squad to allow for more player rotation - it's cost effective to have more players because it leads to less Lanzini-type overuse injuries.

 

 

Hammers simply can't afford NOT to strengthen!

With just a week left in the January transfer window it's all getting a bit heated at West Ham. Even worse, the injury list is (as usual) growing with news that both Andy Carroll and Manny Lanzini are set for prolonged absences - three months in Carroll's case (ED: that usually means nine!) and which essentially ends another season of disappointment for the big man.

With a series of very winnable games looming in the next month, Moyes can nail down his job as Hammers head-honcho for next season beyond, but with the squad depleting it looks like all the good work of late , which has propelled the club to mid table safety, could well come undone.

With rumours that just about every Hammers forward is potentially on the move (Chicharito to Besiktas; Ayew to Swansea; Sakho to Rennes; Carroll to sickbay instead of Chelsea) and revelations today that Chelsea are trying to destabilise Marko Arnautovic, it makes for hard viewing right now at the London Stadium.

Even worse, do we really think that the likes of Joe Allen or Jonjo Shelvey are top six standard players? With some reports suggesting that Moyes wants to stick to proven Premiership performers, it is clear that he has an eye for inter Milan's midfield Joao Mario. The Portuguese would bring a winning mentality but as a principally defensive-oriented player, he will hardly provide the solution to our reliability on Arnautovic up front.

Similarly, Anderlecht's Leander Dendoncker, another energetic midfielder that the Hammers have been linked with, is not exactly prolific with just 10 goals in 155 appearances for the Belgian club. 

It's pretty clear that its going to be difficult to bring in quality players as the January window is cagey and overpriced! Offloading the volatile Diafra Sakho for the reported fee of £10 million (who is out of contract in the Summer!) would be a start. Also, Chicharito might have finally checked in with his strike on Saturday against Bournemouth. It's also relevant that after high profile failures chasing 'big' players in the past, last Summer saw the Hammers board adopt a less flamboyant approach to transfer dealings which perhaps underpins the relative silence about possible signings.

With the 13th highest income from gate receipts worldwide, we can certainly afford to dip into our pockets and ensure our Premiership survival! We predict some good news on the transfer front, and soon!  

What is the Logic Behind Andy Carroll's Proposed Move to Chelsea?

As speculation grows regarding a shock move to Chelsea for Andy Carroll, fans are wondering what logic underpins the potential switch. Having mustered just 86 games in his four and a half seasons at West Ham, offloading Carroll for a decent fee (or just offloading his weekly wage) would possibly be the best piece of financial business the Hammers have done in recent years during the treacherous January transfer window.

With Carroll once again in sickbay - this time with rumours that he is feigning an ankle injury to keep himself available for any potential move - David Moyes has been coy about the move. From a Chelsea perspective, the move makes little sense. The Pensioners already have a big man up front in Alvaro Morata who has a decent record of maintaining injury-free status over recent years and hardly needs back up.

At the start of this season Hammers fans hoped that a combination of Carroll and Chicharito up front could propel them up the table and onto the verge of Champion's League glory. However, the two have rarely played together as both have had constant injury niggles, while in reality, the two up front combination represents an outdated model of attack since most clubs prefer these days to work with a lone attacker and a mobile midfield pushing up in support.

Carroll appears very settled in London, but it is worth noting that many of his closer friends have departed from West Ham, including Kevin Nolan, Joey O'Brien and Darren Randolph. After a career that has been blighted by injuries, it may well be that Andy has adjusted to the reality that he can only ever be an occasional presence for any club and that, at 29 years of age,  role as an impact substitute at Chelsea may be the height of what is possible for him now.

For the Hammers, losing Carroll would be a blow (sort of!) but if they could offload both Carroll and Sakho it would free up considerable resources to bring in strikers who will hopefully be reliable - both in terms of fitness AND goal scoring record. A possible swap for want-away Chelsea forward Michy Batshuayi represents good potential business as despite being used as a substitute for much of his time at Chelsea, he still has a considerably better scoring record (17 goals in 50 apps) than Carroll (32 in 124) that is similar to that of the terminally unhappy Diafra Sakho (24 in 71).

At this stage, if the rumours are correct, it might be better for Carroll to depart as it seems that his head has been turned. After so many false dawns over recent years, a fatigued Hammers fan base will mostly welcome moving on with new blood up front.

COYI!!!



 

Hammers Face Fiery Trip To Wigan for Fourth Round

After last night's heroics from Reece Burke in extra time, the Hammers face some real fireworks in the next round of the FA cup as they are set to face Wigan Athletic. The Latics may have slipped into the third tier of English football but that did not stop them dishing out a 3-0 hiding to Bournemouth this evening.

Since their rather costly FA cup win in 2013 - the year that also saw them relegated from the Premiership, Wigan have had little to cheer, enduring a yoyo existence between the Championship and League one. They were relegated back to League one again last year but are currently top - just above Shrewsbury who were the Hammers victims of the last round.

Perhaps the most notable happening at the DW stadium has been the imposition of major bans for fans engaging in pyrotechnics as the club was identified as amongst the top three users of smoke bombs in a 2016 report (along with Everton and Man United!).

Despite the away fixture, the Hammers will fancy their chances against the Latics who rank Northern Ireland's Will Grigg amongst their top threats and have based this season's success on their well organised tight defence (only 12 goals conceded in 26 games!). Whatever else, the game will provide much needed additional game time for the Hammers many rising stars.

COYI!!!

  

What On Earth Was Lanzini Thinking?

The Hammers pushed themselves into mid-table safety after ravaging Huddersfield at their John Smith Stadium. Using a solid defensive set up as the basis from which to attack, the second half saw the Hammers rip Huddersfield apart and, in all honesty, the 4-1 final score line did not flatter the East Londoners.

However, it could all of turned out quite different if Huddersfield had steadied themselves after Marko Arnautovic's early second half strike that left the Terriers chasing the game. Thereafter, Arnautovic and Lanzini sliced through the Huddersfield defence at will but on 55 minutes, and just one goal ahead, Lanzini found himself through on goal BUT instead of taking the relatively easy option to put two goals between the sides, the stylish Argentinian bizarrely decided to try a rabona!!! 

Thankfully, a punch drunk Huddersfield conceded a third soon after as Lanzini seemed to learn from his earlier misjudgement and smashed in the third and then a fourth. In reality, Lanzini should have had  a hat-trick and on another day the missed rabona effort could have cost the Hammers dearly!

That said, the Hammers are looking good and the Manny-Arnie partnership is working really well.  It's a pity that none of our strikers seem to be able to join them in the fun! Arnautovic’s physicality and Lanzini’s craft make for a potent combination, especially where the opposition pushes up and leaves space to run into like yesterday.  

Also worth a mention is the fact that Mark Noble's well taken effort to open festivities yesterday was his 50th for the club. A truly top Hammer and with still a bit left to give! 

Next up it's the 3rd round cup replay with a well organised Shrewsbury hoping to wreck our current buzz. Moyes only named six substitutes yesterday revealing that he wanted to keep some of the kids fresh for Tuesday. With our Premiership status looking much healthier as we are now up to 11th, perhaps Moyes might fancy a run in the cup and field a strong side?

Hammers kids run riot against Man United

Some senior Hammers show the new squad members the ropes

The one pleasing thing about yesterday's rather subdued performance against League 1 Shrewsbury in the FA Cup was the fact that some of our youngsters got a run out, with Reece Burke, Josh Cullen, Declan Rice, Domingos Quina and Toni Martinez all getting some valuable game time, while a host of other members of our U23 squad got to travel with the team.  

It seems that the feel good factor has paid off as the U23 side are running riot against Manchester United after second half strikes by Grady Diangana, Toni Martinez and Martin Samuelsen gave the Hammers a 3-0 victory. Even more pleasing was that Terry Westley's lads played some brilliant football and more than deserve their margin of victory!

With a replay against Shrewsbury on Tuesday week, the youngsters will get another valuable opportunity to strut their stuff in the first team squad and are doing their best to give Mr Moyes plenty to think about!

West Ham United U23s: Trott, Pike, Akinola (Wells 72'), Alese, Hannam; Coventry, Makasi, Haksabanovic (Diangana 46'), Quina, Samuelsen, Martinez (Hector-Ingram 82')

Unused Subs: Matrevics, Scully

Hurst Springs Hat Trick of Surprises as Hammers Make Treacherous Trip to Shrewsbury

The matchday team sheets are in and in shocking news we can reveal that Shrewsbury boss, Jeff Hurst, has pulled a big surprise by fielding three unexpected faces in his starting XI. Dennis Rodman, Travis Bickle and the terrifying Kevin Nolan are all listed, along with the complete Bolton squad and a Wally!

David Moyes has been decidedly more conservative by fielding just two youngsters in Josh Cullen and Reece Burke. Poor Pedro Obiang and Cheik Kouyate are starting despite their heroics in the two games earlier this week and will presumably be substituted to allow the host of youngsters on the bench to get some big match action.

Shrewsbury - Henderson, Godfrey, Sadler, Beckles, Whalley, Ogogo, Morris, Bolton, Nolan, Nsiala, Rodman

Subs - MacGillivrary, Lowe, Dodds Gnahoua, John-Lewis, Morris, Payne

West Ham United - Hart Burke, Rice, Reid, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Obiang Cullen, Hernandez, Ayew

Subs - Adrian, Neufville, Makasi, Samuelsen, Haksabanovic, Martinez, Quina,

Moyes Hopes to Avoid Another Shakespearian Tragedy by Taming the Shrew

Today's FA cup clash between Shrewsbury and West Ham provides a chance for Hammers fans to discover how youth-friendly the Moyes era is likely to be. In his pre-match press briefing Moyes emphasised that the Premier league takes priority and as such it seems likely that Toni Martinez, Sead Haksabanovic and Domingos Quina will get their chance to lay stake to a place in the first team.

However, Moyes will be wary of the opposition having previously suffered defeat at the Shrews in 2003, at the beginning of his stint as Everton manager. An Everton side that included a young Wayne Rooney lost 2-1 in the Cup. That defeat was all the more significant as Moyes spent three seasons as a player at Shrewsbury between 1987 and 1990.  

An 'upset' is by no means off the cards today as Shrewsbury have been in top form this season and currently occupy one of the Promotion spots in League one. Their success has been built upon a solid defence that has only conceded 15 goals all season - and only 4 at home! However, that stability may well be affected today as their usual netminder, Dean Henderson, is cup-tied. With the relatively inexperienced Craig MacGillivray stepping in what are the odds that Pedro Obiang might test him out with a few long range missiles like his stunning strike at Spurs on Thursday night? 

Up front, the Shrews are not very prolific but top scorer Stefan Payne and his pacey accomplice Shaun Whalley will be hoping to rattle West Ham's often shaky defence. However, the Hammers are recently looking more solid at the back and look to have discovered a real talent in young Declan Rice. Joe Hart will replace Adrian in goal and will be hoping that the return to his hometown club, for whom he played 58 times before moving to Man City.  

The game is being televised which reflects how much the team at Auntie Beeb suspect a shock might be likely. Shrews manager Paul Hurst is a shrewd operator having steered Grimsby back from the National League before taking over at Gay Meadow in October 2016.  

This one is hard to predict until the team is announced as Moyes may field an inexperienced side for what is West Ham's third game in six days.

Kick off is at 2PM and coverage starts at 13:40 on BBC One.

COYI!!!


 

Major Lessons From the Spurs Game: Is Declan Rice the New Bonzo?

Thursday night's Premiership clash with Spurs at Wembley made for pretty compelling viewing - and not necessarily only for positive reasons. Moyes' men were clearly told to park the bus with two layers of defence protecting Adrian's goal and as a consequence Spurs were reduced mostly to long range efforts.



No pressure there mate!

In his post match interview, David Moyes was disappointed that the Hammers didn't come away with all three points but, in reality, giving up 71% possession and 17 shots on goal to a side with Kane and Eriksen in it is a risky strategy that fortunately worked out reasonably well. under Moyes we have managed just 3 shots on target in 4 London derbies - hardly the stuff of a side looking to win games! 
At this stage we have established that Moyes' side can defend well when they opt to park the bus but, equally, when we try to play a more open and expansive game we suddenly seem to morph into a pub team at the back with costly consequences against Bournemouth and Newcastle, not to mention that horror night at Goodison. So what did we learn about our current plight on Thursday night? 

1. Chicharito is not effective as a lone forward. Physicality is not Hernandez's strength and he really struggled to have any impact up front. Worryingly, when Spurs cocked up leaving him with a clear run on goal from 30 metres out he was easily outpaced by both Spurs centre backs. Chicharito is a poacher and needs the ball in and around the box.

2. Our midfield cannot hold onto the ball under pressure. The final haul of 29% possession says it all - throughout the game we found ourselves making hopeful passes forwards - often from the edge of our own box! But for the nimble-footedness of Lanzini and Masuaku, we might never have crossed the half way line! Noble was our best midfielder on the night - even counting Obiang's fabulous strike. Top of our January transfer list must be a midfielder who can hold onto the ball. 

3. Declan Rice can be the new Billy Bonds! Another super performance from the youngster. With all the talk about Reece Oxford, Rice has slipped in there with a mature head on 18 year old shoulders. The kid seems to have it all - pace, close control, strength, good positioning sense....and a natural leader. This kid is the real deal. 

4. Adrian is back on best form. In fairness, neither Lloris nor Adrian had much chance with the two sublime strikes on Thursday night. Otherwise, Adrian was excellent in pulling out a series of great saves. Why are we paying Joe Hart so much per week to sit on the bench?

5. Arthur Masuaku is bloody brilliant!!! Still only 24, he will get better and better. At last we have realised that he is better in a more advanced role with five at the back and he is loving it. One particular cameo on Thursday night was perhaps the best skill we've seen all season as he plonkered two spurs defenders before deftly flicking the ball across the penalty area - OUTRAGEOUS STUFF!

Check it out:



https://www.instagram.com/p/BdiyqPGBSnP/



Our main players can expect a well-earned rest as we travel to Shrewsbury for the FA Cup today. It’ll be fascinating to see how our latest crop of kids perform when they finally get their chance.  






 

Moyes Shows Muscle For Crunch Baggies Clash

David Moyes has opted for a muscular side to face West Brom at the London Stadium tonight. With the physicality of Arnautovic and Carroll up top, along with the return of Winston Reid, the Hammers will pose an aerial presence.

Key to the outcome will be whether Zabaleta and Masuaku can get down the wings and create from out wide. Adrian continues in goal but will be needing to do better than the past two games where we have reverted to our previous defensive chaos. 

If we get ahead then Captain Claret is available to come on to calm things, while if we are chasing then Chicharito is an option. Michail Antonio has failed to recover from injury while Diafra Sakho is absent for uncertain reasons.

The starting XI is: Adrian, Pablo Zabaleta, Angelo Ogbonna, Winston Reid, Aaron Cresswell, Arthur Masuaku, Cheikhou Kouyaté, Manuel Lanzini, Pedro Obiang, Marko Arnautovic, Andy Carroll. 

On the subs bench are: Joe Hart, Mark Noble, Domingos Quina, Declan Rice, André Ayew, Chicharito, Sead Haksabanovic. 

The atmosphere is building! 

COYI!!!

 

It's Time To Stop Blaming Every One Else

It's been a terrible year - it started with the loss of Dimitri Payet and has ended with us lying in the relegation zone. SuperSlaven Bilic has departed after a poor start to the new season and David Moyes has arrived as the supposed saviour. So far with two wins in ten games Moyes can hardly claim to have changed much but we live in hope.

As we entered Christmas there was a sense of genuine hope - a cracking win against Chelsea and a draw with the Gooners, alongside a decent crack at Man City and we rightly felt our defensive woes were over. The dismantling of Stoke looked like the start of a charge up the table but then we follow up by losing at home to a poor Newcastle side and throw away a win against Bournemouth in injury time, on each occasion shipping three goals to pretty blunt opposition!  

Many fans have focused upon the stunningly poor decision of Bobby Madley et al in allowing a blatantly off side and handled goal by Callum Wilson, but you'd have to query how the hell Bournemouth managed to get a chance to score the goal in the first place. having been gifted a win by Begovic's double goalkeeping howlers, how did a speculative lofted ball into the box end up in our net? 

And while we are in whinge mode, we need to face up to the fact that we still lack a decent striker. Andy Carroll and Sakho are too unreliable and at this stage most fans feel should be moved on. Worryingly, Chicharito has stuttered since his arrival and needs a decent second half to the season if he is to justify his signing. After a flying start with a brace against Southampton in August he has managed just 2 more goals in 16 appearances. Is it him or the service?  

The January window is rarely a place where good business is done by purchasing clubs. We still need another 6 wins to reach the magical ten it usually takes to stay up, let's start with a much needed win over Pardew's Baggies. Languishing below us in 19th and with two wins all season this is a relegation six pointer.  

Mark Lawrenson predicts a 1-1 draw. One suspects that Pards will look to keep it tight and hope to snatch a win. We reckon Moyes will outfox the Baggies - an early goal would work wonders in opening up the cagey Baggies. Whichever striker we start with will have plenty to prove.

Anyone for a 3-1 home victory?