De Zerbi loses the plot as Nuno exudes calm before Palace raid

It's all getting very tense at the foot of the Premiership with West ham and Spurs seemingly the two side left to slug it out over who goes down.

Form certainly favours the Hammers as they have reeled in a whopping 14 points on Spurs and now sit a point above them with 6 games to play.

Spurs looked to be finally turning the tide on Saturday but then threw away a precious win by conceding in the 5th minute of injury time!

Bizarrely, Spurs manager de Zerbi responded by claiming that his side will win all of their remaining 5 fixtures! A laughable notion given that they haven't won a Premiership game during 2026 and look leaky at the back and gutless in midfield!

Nuno, meanwhile, is patiently coaxing his side away from relegation and has instilled a system that the players understand and believe in.

That said, the Hammers need to maintain their recent form and tonight's trip to Palace will be tough. Quelling Mateta is key but easier said than done. Up front, Summerville and Bowen need to have a good night.

It's tight and feisty at Selhurst park so we can expect plenty of tough tackling in midfield. The first goal will be crucial. Its the perfect evening for another Mateus Fernandes screamer!

Let's hope Palace are tired after last Thursday's European heroics.

COYI!!!

Moyes mixes it up for Palace clash

West ham are still in need of at least one more result to nail down their Premiership status for next year and make the trip south of the Thames to take on Crystal Palace in the early kick off today. 

The Hammers form has been hood of late and they will be looking to pick themselves up after an unlucky 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in midweek.

Benrahma and Cresswell move to the bench as Emerson and Fornals come in to change things up down the left flank. Otherwise, the starting XI is as expected with Antonio leading the line. 

It's a measure of how far the squad has come that the bench includes a string of players who would readily walk into the starting eleven for most Premiership clubs. In addition to Cresswell and Benrahma, Moyes can call on any of Ings, Cornet, Downes, Kehrer and Ogbonna to adjust the side as the game unfolds.

Kick off is 12.30. 

COYI!!!

West Ham Starting XI: Lukasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice (c), Lucas Paqueta; Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio, Pablo Fornals

Bobby Bubbles' Ratings as Hammers Slip up in the Dying Moments

Roberto: Surprised many with a solid performance. Almost stopped Kouyate's goal and could do little about Ayew's strike. Also pulled off a tremendous save from Wickham when through one-on-one 7/10.

Zabaleta: Did well against a pacey Palace left flank, with decent support from Snoddy. 6/10. 

Ogbonna: Our best defender on the day. Will be furious about the late concession. 6/10.

Balbuena: Solid but missed out for Ayew's late winner. It's surely time for Diop to get a run again? 5/10.

Cresswell: Not his best performance. Has been decent of late but looked out of sorts today. Very little going forward. 5/10.

Rice: Decent but we look slow in Midfield. Brings very little in creativity. 6/10.

Noble: Is the Rice-Noble partnership (a) lacking in pace and (b) not creative enough? 6/10.

Fornals: Has looked better of late and seems to be getting the gist of Premiership football but he has yet to justify his transfer fee. 6/10.

Snodgrass: Our best player today. Great goal and really unlucky not to get a second. Also good defensive contribution. 8/10.

Antonio: Looked lively all day and great ball for Snoddy's goal. 7/10.

Haller: Looks unhappy and sluggish. Better with Antonio as a partner but again, nowhere near justifying his fee. 5/10. 

Substitutes:

Lanzini: Little impact but we will need his creativity and pace to get those vital 5-6 wins that will keep us up. 

Anderson: Needs to rediscover his mojo. 

Errrr... Pelle Selection Surprises Bode Badly For Crunch Game

Manuel Pellegrini has gambled with his team selection for Today's trip to Selhurst Park, bringing Roberto back in goal despite a series of horror performances a few weeks back! With David Martin out injured, that was perhaps an enforced call, but Hammers fans will be equally concerned at Zabaleta's selection in a position that will see him square up with the pace of Zaha! Otherwise, it's a brave selection with (probably) Antonio and Haller up front, while for once the Hammers have game changers on the bench with the returning Anderson and Lanzini ready to join the action if needed. 

All in all, Rory Nostradamus is thinking that a draw would be a good result!

West Ham: Roberto, Zabaleta, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Snodgrass, Rice, Noble (c), Fornals, Antonio, Haller.

Subs: Anang, Diop, Masuaku, Sanchez, Lanzini, Anderson, Ajeti

Clash of the Lamborghini Lads: Antonio vs Sakho

As the Hammers prepare for a key clash with Crystal Palace today, fans will be hoping that MVP Michail Antonio is fit after a midweek smash in his Lamborghini. Former favourite Diafro Sakho had a similar accident in 2016 as he smashed up his £200,000 Lamborghini under mysterious circumstances!

Since departing for Rennes in 2018, Sakho's career has nosedived as he has struggled for form at Rennes and was part of the relegated Bursaspor side while on loan last season. In total he has only scored five times since leaving West Ham for £4.5M!

However, Hammers fans will recall how the Senegalese striker enjoyed an impressive scoring rate during his time at the club. In truth, Antonio and Sakho are similar in style - fast, aggressive and single-minded. Both have been played out wide and centrally and pose a high aerial threat. But how do they square up in terms of strike rate?

Its perhaps something of a surprise that Sakho had a significantly greater strike rate at more than a goal every three games compared with just more than one every five for Antonio!!!

Let's hope Michail can keep up his impressive recent form today as since returning from a niggly injury he has recovered that crucial pace and abrasiveness that underpins his best play.

COYI!!!

Mystic Mark, Mrs Merson and Rory Nostradamus Predict Palace Clash

After Monday night's heroics where a poor call from the referee's assistant robbed West Ham of a deserved win, its hard to know what to expect today from Manuel's moody bunch as they take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Palace will be missing ex-Hammers Kouyate and Tomkins, who are both injured, but have both Benteke and Batshuayi available to partner Saha in their attack. The Hammers, meanwhile, have Mad Marko back - the smart money is thus on a high scoring encounter as both sides look better in attack than in defence.

Mystic Mark Lawrenson has opted for a fence sitting 1-1 draw, Paul Merson reckons Palace will sneak it while the bookies favour a home win (11/10) over a draw (5/2) or Hammers win (5/2). With Cresswell and Fredericks looking more assured at full back and both Anderson and Antonio in top form to support Arnautovic up front, we reckon the smarter bet is on a Hammers win. Rory Nostradamus is calling a 2-1 win for Pelle's men which you can get 12-1 against.

COYI!

Player ratings as West Ham come from behind to beat Palace

Bubbles the Bulldog was there to witness a great comeback from his beloved Hammers after they had trailed 0-1 at half time, running out 3-2 victors. Here's what he thought of the West Ham players on the day:

Lukasz Fabianski - 7

For once caught out and he was slow to react and come out to clear the danger as Palace got a soft opener. Otherwise looked assured with good distribution. Could do nothing about Palace's free kick that clanged off the crossbar just before half time or for Schlupp's goal.

Pablo Zabaleta - 7

Blessed with a wise old footballing head, Pablo looked solid in defence throughout and added to the forwards momentum with some ambitious runs in the second half. Was unlucky not to score with a deflected scorcher early in the second half.

Issa Diop - 7

Booked in the first half for a 'necessary' challenge on a marauding Andros Townsend and came close to a second yellow just before half time for a crude lunge on the edge of the Hammers box. Otherwise, was solid and dominant, as usual!

Fabian Balbuena - 7

Solid throughout with plenty of sound decision making and a determination to pass out from the back. Looks to have a great Hammers career ahead of him.

Arthur Masuaku - 6

Looked a bit shaky for the first 20 minutes as things were just not going his way. Might have done better to clear the ball for Palace's opener. Grew into his role as the game progressed and had a fine second half opening up space on the left and whipping in a fine cross that Chicharito should have converted late on. Arthur is a player of extremes!

Declan Rice - 8

Outstanding once again. You constantly have to wonder how a 19 year old can look so assured in the holding midfield role? Numerous important tackles and always in the action when needed. He plays like a young Bryan Robson or even Roy Keane depending on which country you think he will ultimately opt for!

Mark Noble - 7

Another big performance from Captain Claret. Might have done better from a few good attacking positions in the first half but keeps us ticking over and makes sure that heads don't drop when things go against us.

Robert Snodgrass - 8

What a rehabilitation for a player who bacame an outcast last season. Looked like the player we paid £10 million to Hull for three years ago as he zipped about the pitch and created numerous chances. He will be delightwd to have scored the goal that turned the tide with a classy curling finish just after half time.

Felipe Anderson -9.

Our MOTM. A constant threat throughout with jis nimble footed play tjat creates opening after opening. Topped a cracking performance off with a stunning goal on 65 minutes that looped over Hennessy and will surely win him goal of the month for the Hammers in December? He is now our top scorer this season with six goals to his name.

Lucas Perez - 6

In and out of the action in the first half but largely ineffective and will have fallen back down the pecking order after Carroll's impact. Harsh to be substituted so early but Pelle is ruthless and the change worked.

Javier Hernandez - 8

Looked lively throughout if caught (? unfairly) for two offsides early on when we looked to be building momentum. Looked very comfortable alongside Big Andy in the second half and picked up a trademark poachers goal as Hennessy spilled Anderson's rasping free kick. Almost bagged a second from Masuaku's excellent cross soon after that. A good days work!

Substitutes

Andy Carroll (for Perez, 46') - 8

Created a palpable sense of fear in the Palace derfence and won the free kick that led to Hernandez's goal. Adds plenty of muscle when defending set pieces as well. Great to see him back in action.

Grady Diangana (for Hernandez 75') - 6

Brings a frisson of excitement to proceedings but we were reminded of the naivity of youth as he lost Schlupp to allow Palace's second goal. He will learn!

Pedro Obiang for (Anderson, 84') - 7

A solid 10 minutes as he helped us see the game out.

Return of the Cockney Rejects!

Yes indeed, Stinky Turner and Co. did provide one of the more memorable Top of the Pops moments for Hammers fans, but Today the 'rejects' are none other than James Tomkins and Cheik Kouyate.

The departure of Tomkins for 'just' £10million a few seasons back proved to be poor business for SuperSlav as we suffered from a lack of a defensively sound right back and ultimately towards the end of the season could have done with him at CB! That said, its a measure of the improved strength of our squad that Tonks would struggle to get game time (or even bench warming opportunities) in the current squad.

Similarly, Kouyate's sale fetched nearly £10million and has probably been wise business. His energy was a real asset a few seasons back, but last year he struggled for form and seemed perpetually distracted. His poor first touch was always going to catch up on him as we have moved to a more possession hungry style, so maybe his departure was the best thing all round.

As for our current squad, we are once again looking seriously depleted as Marko seems set to be absent until January with his hamstring injury. We will miss his energy and guile. Lucas Perez did well against Cardiff and will be hoping to push on in Arnautovic's absence but given his performances prior to Cardiff, the jury is out for now.

Kouyate's departure in the Summer almost certainly extended the enigmatic Michail Antonio's career at West ham. He has really struggled for form since his injury last year but finally looks something like the player who was, lest we forget, at times almost unmarkable two years ago! He seems to have recovered that extra yard of pace that is so central to his success as, again, first touch is not his main asset. He is back in the goals and his physicality will be important in Arnie's absence.

Its hard to call how Pelle will set things out today in terms of using Snoddy, Antonio, Perez and the exciting energy that is Grady Diangana. We can expect Chicharito to continue up front and our guess is that Perez will get a rare start alongside him. Snoddy will probably start ahead of Pedro Obiang, while we expect Antonio will move up to right wing to allow the return of Zabaleta at right back while Diangana can be our gamechanger from the bench along with Big Andy if things aren't going our way.

Rory Nostradamus says 3-2 with Palace getting a dodgy penalty from Anthony Taylor but the gallant Hammers proving too much against familiar faces.

Predicted starting XI: Fabianski, Masuaku, Diop, Balbuena, Zabaleta, Noble, Rice, Snodgrass, Antonio, Hernandez, Perez.

Don't Blame Antonio: We Were Lucky to get a Draw

After Slaven Bilic's side threw away a two goal lead to draw 2-2 with lowly Crystal Palce yesterday the blame has focused very firmly on Michail Antonio. With the game deep into injury time Antonio passed up the opportunity to run the game out when he had possession in the opposition's corner and instead gave the ball away softly.

Palace duly took the opportunity and scored an dramatic 97th minute equaliser with the final kick of the game. Apart from the loss of 2 valuable points, the goal took the gloss off of a good week for the club where they put an embarrassing defeat to Brighton behind them with a cracking win away to local enemies Tottenham. The goal may even tilt the balance against Bilic who is struggling to hold onto his job.

However, the ire being directed towards Antonio is distracting from some pretty awful facts about the game. Palace are a poor side yet they totally dominated the second half and deserved at least a point. The Hammers had two shots on target through the whole match compared to Palace's haul of seven. With 43% possession we managed just two corners to their eleven. Joe Hart had a great game - he needed to!

The reality is that we were bosses by a very limited side who are bottom of the league and could not hold out despite having a two goal lead. That's the form that makes for relegation worries. With our current squad that seems unthinkable but we know all about getting relegated with a strong squad as the Cole-Lampard-Defoe-Di Canio etc team proved in the past.

Hmmm.

An Ayew statistic that will surprise many Hammers fans!

Am I alone among Hammers fans in sometimes finding myself sighing when Andre Ayew enters the fray? Often the Ghana international looks to be running down blind alleyways with his low centre of gravity and head down combining to make it look like there is an imbalance between effort and guile.

In reality, after his first season many fans were still undecided about the relative merits of Ayew and his £20 million transfer fee seemed to hang like a mill stone around his neck. Some fans feel that we should have held on to Sofiane Feghouli instead of Ayew.

However, Ayew's high energy game is starting to pay dividends as our stunning victory over Spurs in midweek demonstrates. His MOTM award was well deserved for a brace that Chicharito would have been proud of (And needs to start delivering!). But Ayew's recent good form is perhaps more sustained than many fans appreciate as in his 15 months at the club he has been involved in more goals (10 goals and 5 assists) than any other Hammer!!!

As his goal count this season mounts (currently 4), maybe he can join Michail Antonio as a double figures forward? He achieved double figures in 4 of his 5 seasons at Marseille and also with Swansea in the Premiership before joining West Ham. With Marko Arnautovic needing to prove himself and Nathan Holland waiting in the wings, the Hammers are starting to look potent out wide.

Palace today should provide the ideal opportunity to build upon Wednesday night's performance for player and club. With Palace lacking firepower going forward, surely Slaven Bilic will go with an attacking formation?

Kick off is at 3pm.

COYI!!!

How Bizarre, How Bizarre!

It's a laugh a minute at West Ham right now - with the arrival of a host of top signings, fans are now finding amusement in some of the sad efforts of our Premiership rivals to steal some of our Jewels on the cheap!

First up - The Jewel- is reportedly wanted by Liverpool as a replacement for Philippe Coutinho. While that would make for a good deal for Mr Klopp and Co., it's hard to see why the Hammers would undo all the good work of the transfer window by selling their principal playmaker. In short - No, No, No...go away Liverfools!

Staying in Merseyside, it has also emerged that Everton are looking to sign James Collins as a replacement for the injured Ramires Funes Mori. Happily, in a recent interview Ginge made it clear that at 33 years old he expects to see out his career at West Ham and, as last season demonstrated, he still has plenty to offer when called upon. Moreover, although the Reece's and Declan Rice are all top prospects, they are not quite ready to step up to first team football on a regular basis.

And then the most amusing of them all - Palace want Adrian for a mere £3million!!! NO, apparently that's not a season long loan fee but a full transfer bid. With Darren Randolph departed it would make NO sense to let Adrian go, especially for a comedy fee!

As the Otaro Millionaires Club remarked in their 1995 hit - 'How Bizarre'!

Feghouli To Stay As Fans Finally Warm to Algerian Ace

Sofiane Feghouli has had to stay strong during his time at West Ham. Having arrived on a free transfer in the Summer, much was expected of the Algerian winger but after a series of solid early season performances he was hit by injury.

Having battled back he suffered the injustice of Mike Dean's poor judgement against Manchester United before getting a late reprieve and making the starting XI for Man City. Feghouli looked lively and got into the perfect position to score a goal that would have pulled the Hammers back into the tie but alas scuffed the ball wide from just three yards!

However, Feghouli shrugged that set back off to open the scoring with a crucial game-changing strike against Crystal Palace. He continued in good form throughout and put in a series of decent crosses as he teamed up with Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll to torment the Palace defence. Having Sam Byram behind him certainly suited his style better.

And suddenly the rumours of a switch to Roma have quelled and Feghouli looks set to stay at the Olympic Stadium  as an important creative force for the post-Payet era!

The fans have voted with two-thirds expressing a preference in out poll for him to stay and now have even penned a song for him - sung to the air of Toni basil's 1980s hit 'Hey Mickey'.


An alternative is provided sung along to Carly Simon's 1970s hit - 'you're so vain' as:

"You're Sofiane,
You probably think this song is about you
Don't you, Don't you
Sofiane"
Just goes to show how it's not all gloom and doom without Mr P!



 

Jenkinson Move Paves Way for Tomkins Return

The latest transfer gossip is that Carl Jenkinson is on his way from Arsenal to Crystal Palace today. Big Sam needs to shore up a defence that is rapidly sinking the Eagles into a relegation scrap. On Saturday, the Hammers ripped Palace apart in the second half as their unbalanced back four were stretched by a carefree Hammers attack.

But how it could have been so different if ex-Hammer James Tomkins had netted his excellent first half opportunity which he scuffed just wide! Tomkins made a shock move to Palace in the Summer in search of first team football and although this has been delivered, his opportunities have been principally at right back.

In the interim, it has become more than apparent that West Ham are regretting the short sightedness of letting Tonks depart as they have struggled for leaders as they try to maintain their sense of tradition and identity. Many fans have called for a return of the lad who graduated through ouyr academy and is Claret and Blue through and through.

With the likely arrival of Jenkinson at Palace to take up the right back position, Tomkins may find himself looking for a starting berth again. From West Ham's perspective, recapturing Tomkins would be a real coup right now to lesson the disappointment of the whole Dimitri Payet debacle. Palace need cash to strengthen their side and have lots of options at centre back.

Is this a no-brainer for all concerned? Come on Sully & Co. - give us a lift why don't you?

Hammers Want Jenkinson Back

The victory over Crystal Palace was an important moment in West Ham's season as they demonstrated that there is much more to our current team that just a certain want-away Frenchman. Importantly, the introduction of Sam Byram as a specialist right back made a massive difference to our set up, allowing Michail Antonio to play up top alongside Andy Carroll - to devastating effect!

However, despite Byram's return, we are still light on right back cover as Superslav has clearly decided that Alvaro Arbeloa is not to his liking. Former Hammer Carl Jenkinson has been mooted as a possible signing and our recent fans' poll indicates that the majority (70%) want him back at the club.

With Jenks given the freedom of the city by Arsene Wenger, there are a host of interested clubs. The current favourites are Crystal Palace where he could link in again with Sam Allardyce and allow James Tomkins to shift to centre back. Rumours have it that Palace hope to seal this deal today but there is still time for a late Hammers swoop!

Here Comes Trouble...

SuperSlav has done his best to paper over the cracks for today's crunch clash with Crystal Palace by reverting to a (probable) three at the back, buts whatever way you look at it, one gets the sense that Big Sam will smell blood!

James Collins gets a rare start with many of the view that he might find himself at Palace by the end of January! Nobes returns instead of Fernandes to partner Pedro Obiang in midfield. The ability of this pair to cope without the AFCON-busy Kouyate will be a key determining factor in today's outcome.

Up top, Feghouli and Lanzini will be trying to link with big Andy to show what we can do without L'Etranger Dimitri Payet. Maybe the freedom of playing without trying to constantly get the ball out to Dimitri will help their form improve?

Sam will be loving his visit to the Olympic Stadium and will undoubtedly try to use a jittery home support to his side's advantage. Hmmm. A point might be a good result but all three would send out a much needed message to everyone that we are more than a one man team!

What should Bilic do with Feghouli?

West ham's Summer signings have been a huge disappointment so far this season. Apart from Edmilisen Fernandes, they have all underwhelmed. However, while Zaza, Tore and Calleri have totally flopped, the case of Sofiane Feghouli is much less clear.

Feghouli looked like a tasty signing in pre and early season as his first touch and passing impressed, along with his ability to deputise on free kicks and corners in Payet's absence. Many fans were quietly hopeful that he would form a powerful understanding and partnership with Mr P.

However, those plans were scuppered by injury and he is only now resuming the challenge. For one thing, his return to the starting XI as a right winger has allowed Antonio to move more centrally and added a more balanced shape to our side, albeit with only a modest contribution in support of our beleaguered right back!

But more misfortune - a harsh red card against Man United, followed by a bizarre open goal miss against Man City have posed to possibly dent his confidence. Interestingly though, Feghouli kept fighting and getting forward after the awful miss and looked relatively undeterred.

With Roma trying to prise him away from the London Stadium in a deal that would see the Hammers recoup their £10million outlay, the big question is whether we have really seen enough to decide whether the Algerian truly is Premiership quality.

The jury is out for now and the games against Palace and Boro look set to swing Bilic's mind either way.

What do you think? WHY NOT LET US KNOW IN OUR FANS POLL?

Defoe: I Want Another Bite at the Hammers!

My ole man's....

Just as the bookies slashed the odds on Jermain Defoe returning to the Hammers, Ex Captain Kevin Nolan has advised the prolific striker to seize the opportunity if and when West Ham come calling.

While Defoe is still 8/15 to stay at Slumberland, West Ham lead the chase at 51/8, with Crystal Palace second favourites at 8/1 and Spurs next at 28/1. Undoubtedly David Moyes will want to keep Defoe on Wearside as Defoe's goals are the main barrier that exists between the Black Cats and another relegation to the Championship.




 
 
 
 
 
Defoe remains something of a controversial figure for Hammers fans and is sometimes referred to as Judas #2 after handing in a transfer request within hours of our tragic relegation in 2003. However, a recent poll indicates that over two-thirds of fans have forgiven him for his insensitivity and would welcome him back to the club to add a bit of much-needed bite to our misfiring attack.




Oi, wot u doin - this aint Gauchos mate!

However, some fans remain sceptical and recall
Defoe's outlandish attack on then-Hammer Javier 'i can probably play better than this' Mascherano in 2006. Defoe was subsequently given a life ban from playing for a proper football team, something which forced him to stay at Tottenham for most of his career.

Oliver Can....and he will!

But even though the Hammers will blame tragic Tottenham for Defoes conversion to cannibalism, there can be no doubting that Oliver Kahn's 1999 carnivornous attack on Borussia Dortmund's Heiko Herrlich occured whilst wearing a Hammers away jersey. Such behaviour is unacceptable - even in the Bundesliga.








BTW that's Neil Ruddock looking on nonchalantly.

All of this could have been snuffed out if only the footballing world hadn't misinterpreted John Hartson's attempted purge of gnasher-related footballing offences when he attempted to kick teammate Eyal Berkovic's teeth out during a training ground routine in 1998. This was almost certainly a (vain) attempt to remove dental problems from the game for once and for all.

However, once again  the ruling authorities got it all wrong, horribly horribly wrong.

The Player Who Should be Top of Our January Transfer List - and he wants to PLAY for West Ham!

Still ridiculous!

For many Hammers fans the image of James Tomkins playing in Crystal Palace colours is simply repulsive. Even worse, his fine form for the Eagles since his shock Summer move from his boyhood club has only served to further emphasise how poorly West Ham did in the Summer transfer lottery.

At the core of West Ham's problems is the lack of stability in defence. What we would give for a defender who can play in the centre or at right back and who has positional sense and tackling as his main attributes. Tonks may not be so great at flying down the wing but he proved last year that he brings stability and cohesion to the defence. His versatility would also allow for consistency in defensive personnel.

Having now established himself at the heart of the Palace defence, Tonks is now weighing in with goals - three already this season which, as Hammers fans know, is more than our six strikers have managed all season!

Tomkins allegedly departed because the club couldn't guarantee him a starting spot - ironically, our injury problems have meant that he would have played in the vast majority of our games to date! At £10 million the club imagined they were getting a decent deal. Now we are constantly rumoured to be in the market for another centre back - at what price one wonders?

And then there's the identity issue - letting one of our dyed in the wool Hammers leave was truly bonkers as we faced an identity-testing move to a new stadium. Superslav says we lack dedication and intensity - hardly attributes that Tomkins could ever be accused of lacking.

While some might suggest that Tomkins would be unlikely to move back so soon, here's one Hammer who suspects that it's part of his long-term plan and with all the nonsense these days with agent, we all know that a player who wants to leave will depart no matter what their contract says.

Sadly, Hammers fans are likely to embrace that reality in the near future in respect of Mr Payet.

So, it's time to beak the news to Palace that we want our boomerang back, and soon!

 

 

Bilic goes Bold for Palace Trip

Slaven Bilic has responded to the current pressure by selecting his an attack-minded starting XI regardless of fitness! That means starting berth for Aaron Cresswell with Michail Antonio asked to slot in at right back once again. Not surprisingly, he has persisted with the three man central midfield in the hope that it will protect his leaky defence. Simone Zaza gets another chance to show what he can do...Lanzini gets the nod ahead of Feghouli et al.

West Ham starting XI: Adrian; Antonio, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Noble, Obiang, Kouyate; Lanzini, Zaza, Payet .

COYI!!!

Bilic facing Choices Aplenty As Pardew Holds the Aces

This time last year who would ever have thought that 'Little' Crystal Palace would have the audacity to pinch James Tomkins from our squad? As the best to emerge from our academy in the past decade, Tomkins is West Ham through and through and seemed to be one of the key players to lead our charge as we dabbled with our identity by moving to a new stadium.

Alas, We let Tomkins go and have sorely missed his versatility both as a mobile centre back but also as a makeshift but reliable right back. As we prepare to play against Tomkins' Palace today how fortunes have changed with Palace unbeaten in five while Slaven Bilic's troops are out of sorts and look battle weary.

In truth, Pardew has built an excellent squad at Palace and they are now formidable opposition especially up front where they have pace aplenty out wide and in the centre Benteke is on fire after an International hat trick. .

Last time out Bilic opted for a more defensively solid set up with Pedro Obiang as a third central midfielder to patrol the large spaces of our Olympic Stadium. Selhurst Park is considerably more compact but with Palace in such good attacking form it looks like Bilic will need to keep things tight and switch to a 4-3-2-1. Palace are less strong at the back which may tempt Slaven to try a more offensive 4-2-3-1 formation but given our limited options up top just now, maybe a conservative approach is preferable. Questions are starting to emerge about the form of both Kouyate and Noble, but it's hard to see Slaven dropping either at this stage.

The return of Aaron Cresswell will bring some cheer to Hammers fans but he is unlikely to be ready for 90 minutes of Wilfried Zaha and, in reality, will probably join proceedings in the final quarter. We expect Angelo Ogbonna to start at left back with the Collins-Reid Combo in the centre to try to stifle the physical presence of Christian Benteke.

Up front, there are some hard choices to be made. Simone Zaza is surely running out of time as Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho near their respective returns, but for now Ashley Fletcher is the main competition. Bilic has been talking up Zaza in midweek, so it looks like he will start. Payet and Antonio will likely provide the support, with Lanzini or Feghouli joining things later on. 

predicted Starting XI: Adrian, Arbeloa, Collins, Reid, Ogbonna, Obiang, Kouyate, Noble, Payet, Antonio, Zaza.

Tough times at West Ham right now - SuperSlav would surely settle for a point if it was offered right now!