We Are Claret n Blue...

Yeeeha!

This was Bilic's litmus...having shunned the Europa League, all the eggs were in a single basket...

The Croatian demonstrated his single mindedness by selecting an audacious side that weathered the Gooners assault before wrecking their buzz with a goal in the never time of the first half.

Cue....knicker wetting time. No. West ham went for the jugular and duly found a second.

Oooogh, big time stress...err, no. We suffocated their style for the remaining 30 minutes. 2-0. Reece Oxford man of the match. Yessssssss!

Under Slaven, no big deal. 

Let's Do This!!!

Yes We Can!

Europa League, Preseason friendlies, Betway cup de blah blah. Arsenal on day one of the Premiership is the real thing. Although the Hammers have only managed two draws in their last fifteen Premiership tussles with the Gooners, this side is different. After a few seasons of steady squad improvement under Big Sam, and having spent another £25 million in the off season, Hammer's fans will be forgiven for believing that they are ready to compete with the top six.

Moreover, with Slaven Bilic at the helm there is a greater sense of purpose. Bilic has been ruthless in his preparations to date, having spurned the Europa League in favour of the Premiership, including today's big kick off away at the Emirates. For sure, there's still plenty to do in terms of building a truly top class squad (Song, Austin and another winger?) but the side has class throughout and will face today's game with a level of confidence that they have not had for many years.

Bilic has given an assurance that the Hammers will not 'park the bus' today and his team selection backs that up with Sakho, Zarate and Payet leading an exciting attack. Mark Noble captain's the side, with Cheikidh Kouyate alongside him in midfield. The CB pairing of Reid and Ogbonna will be interesting, while the selection of young Reece Oxford sends out a strong message of intent and will undoubtedly please many fans who felt that the younger talent got little or no chance under Allardyce.

We are ready to rock!!!

Bbbbbbbubbles!!! Slaven's fag habit revealed!

In supergood news, Blowing Bubbles is back with a stonker of an issue to launch our final Boleyn season.

Read all about Dimitri Payet and an exclusive interview with Harry Redknapp where he spills the beans on Slaven Bilic's fag habit!

http://www.blowing-bubbles.co.uk/read-our-latest-issue.html

Jewel of Hope!

Slaven Bilic's 'boys' are putting in the performance of men so far in Romania tonight! Having been given the tall task of winning away after conceding a two goal lead at home, the kids got off to the perfect start with a strike from their new signing Manuel Lanzini - nicknamed 'the jewel'. Lanzini has been the brightest player for the Hammers so far with a goal and a number of decent deliveries from set pieces.

Astra looked stunned but managed to restore parity on the 33rd minute and then forged ahead moments later as Romanian international Constantin Budescu notched a quickfire brace. Kevin Nolan went close from a 38th minute free kick with a header from the six yard line that flashed wide.

Up front, Elliott Lee looks lively and 'grandad' Kevin Nolan is putting in a decent shift both in terms of ground covered as well as motivating the young troops. It's hot and humid in Southern Romania, so hopefully the more youthful Hammers side will recover the ascendency as the game progresses. Maybe if they can get it back to 2-2 and force extra time then they will feel the benefit of youth. In the interim, the defence needs to close down Astra more quickly!

The bench is entirely comprised of inexperienced development squad players, so options in terms of known gamechangers are limited. The good news is that Lanzini doesn't look like he's done just yet!

COYI!!!

Austin: "Yes, yes, yes!!!"

The Charlie Austin saga continued to dominate discussions yesterday ahead of the new season's kick off. As the QPR boss announced that he would be likely to start the season in the Championship with his current club, the odds of him staying at Loftus road for the coming season were listed at 10/1 against.

Meanwhile, West ham have apparently upped their bid to include Matt Jarvis plus cash and although the news about Enner Valencia is more encouraging (i.e. out for 12 weeks) they remain the 6/5 favourites to meet QPRs demands.

Ex-Hammers attacking coach, Teddy Sheringham, in an 888 Sport exclusive answered "Yes, Yes, Yes" when asked if the Hammers should sign him, while Lee Bowyer suggested that Austin would be wiser to move to Newcastle United, who are quoted as second favourites to sign Austin at 8/5.

As the Javier Hernandez campign kicked up a gear with West Ham reportedly making a 12 million bid, the plot continues to thicken and raising the question of which would be a better deal for the Hammers? £12m for Hernandez or £12m plus Matt Jarvis for Austin???

Bilic Should Stay At Home and Let Yoda Take Europa Charge

'To win at Astra, Patient we must be, young padawan' 

Back in May, qualification for the Europa League seemed like an ideal pre-season warm up. However, after a chaotic July, once again we face the first week of the Premiership with a serious absence of fit strikers. Moreover, in a congested fixture list, we must make a perilous trip to Southern Romania in the Europa League on Thursday night immediately followed by a Premiership opener at the Emirates two days later. Having picked up suspensions and injuries along the way, the squad is already looking threadbare and Bilic is going to have to be very astute in juggling the available resources if we are to avoid two embarrassing defeats next week.

 

News from yesterday's Romanian League fixtures indicates that FC Astra rested their first team ahead of the big clash with the Hammers. Last Thursday's tie demonstrated that Astra should not be underestimated. Although their goals were unusual, there can be no denying that they dominated  once they had the numerical advantage.

Slaven Bilic has indicated that he will be prioritising the Arsenal match, which means that our kids will be put to the test out in Giurgli. Many observers bemoaned the lack of opportunity for younger talent during the Allardyce reign, and perhaps Thursday's game should be viewed in positive terms as a valuable opportunity to get real experience in games where there are high stakes. However, two ugly words come to mind......Notts and Forest.

Let's hope the kids can hold their own and maybe with some carefully chosen senior players in the team they can snatch an unlikely win. Time for Jenkinson, Jarvis and Kevin Nolan to step up? However, the curmudgeons amongst us might suggest that Bilic is misguided in prioritising the Arsenal match. Given that we have such an awful record against the Gooners over the past decade, having lost nine on the trot in the fixture, maybe we should go for it against Astra and take the inevitable defeat at the Emirates?

One interesting issue is whether Bilic himself should travel. Having been red carded last week, he will have to sit in the stands and maybe might be better sit the whole trip out. One thing that we have learned about the Croatian is that he is single minded and will do whatever he believes is likely to bring results. Maybe Terry Westley can take the helm again - the 3-0 victory over Lusitans was a  decent win and maybe we can return to that form with his help.

However, how about the exciting alternative, why not let Julian Dicks lead the team into battle? As the reports of crowd disturbances during the first leg suggest, the atmosphere out in Romania will be far from welcoming. The many fans who engage with Jules' on twitter will know that in his middle age the Terminator has developed Yoda-like wisdom and would be a capable deputy for Bilic. It seems inevitable that Dicks will become first team manager at some point in the future.

Today's match against Werder Bremen presents an opportunity to give both the Europa League and Premiership sides a run. Maybe we should start with Thursdays starting XI and switch to the Arsenal side for the second half? Our predicted sides for the two fixtures are below. If the Arsenal side is our best starting XI (apart from Jenkinson who is not eligible), it demonstrates that we still need to bring in Alex Song, a striker of the pedigree of Charlie Austin, and some wide midfielders. Letting Downing leave is looking really foolish right now.

Either way, let’s hope we don’t pick up any injuries today! Next week’s games will certainly not be lacking in excitement – we’ve certainly travelled a long way since the soul-less wind down of last season’s campaign.

 

 

 

Striker Breakthrough As Hammers Respond to Valencia Injury

Stop Laughing at our Jersey Sponsor!!!

Reports emerging from the Spanish media suggest that Mexican international striker Raul Jimenez is on his way to West Ham for a season long loan from Atletico Madrid. After a disappointing year at 'Los Colchoneros' (The Mattress Makers!?!), Jimenez will be hoping to rediscover the form that prompted Athletico to splash out €11 million to capture his services from Club America.

Many Hammers fans will be wary of bringing in a player who has shined in the Mexican league but struggled for game time in La Liga and although he got on the pitch on 23 occasions last year, he started only five games and amassed a total of one goal.  Jimenez is struggling for game time in an Atletico squad that has both Mario Mandzukic and Fernando Torres as striking options but notably, Diego Simeone has repeatedly commented on the 24 year old's excellent attitude.

However, Jimenez is a completely different prospect to ex-Hammer Pablo Barrera. At 6ft 3inches and with a strong physique he is a substantial presence in the air and, in so far as is possible to predict, should suit Premiership football. He also has neat feet and the ability to produce the extraordinary as his bicycle kicked goal from outside of the area for Mexico against Panama in 2013 proves. If he can rediscover the goalscoring form of his time in the Liga MX, where his strike rate was a goal every 2.5 games, he could be a hit at West Ham. As a loanee, the Hammers are unlikely to lose out on the deal and will still have spare cash left in the Charlie Austin resettlement fund.

Speaking of Barrera, he has been back in Mexico for the past two years having had a stint in La Liga after leaving West Ham. He is currently playing for Monterrey but has fallen off the register of the Mexican National team since 2012.