Tomorrow afternoon, West Ham United face Reading at Upton Park in a game they may not have thought would be so hugely important just a few months ago. Whatever the result, however, there is a deeper discussion taking place in east London about the methods of one particular manager. Sam Allardyce has presented himself as a solutions man, his recent interviews pointing to the failure of “the West Ham way”. Essentially, the West Ham he came to save, not a team categorised as playing route one football under Gianfranco Zola or Avram Grant, have been unsuccessful in recent years and…
All posts in West Ham United
How many points are needed to reach the Championship play-offs?
It offers you hope. It plunges you into despair. The strength of its grip increases the longer the sun stays in the sky each evening. Until the dreaded mathematical impossibility comes into play. Then it’s all over. It’s PO the PO and it’s an obsession throughout the Football League at this time of year. If your team are currently between seventh and twelfth in their division, you probably know exactly how many points they are off the play-offs. In the Championship, the points tallies between fourth position and twelfth currently read: 59, 58, 57, 57, 56, 56, 53, 51, 49….
Who are the most important players in the Championship promotion race?
With the Championship promotion race moving into the final two months of the season, let’s take a look at the key players for each of the teams currently sitting in the top six. Rather than blandly regurgitating tired tales of Rickie Lambert’s goalscoring prowess or Peter Whittingham’s range of passing, perhaps it would be more useful to delve into some statistics to see how effective some of the best players in the division have been this term. The tables below show the individual W/D/L records of selected players in all competitions - their side’s record with them having started on…
Saints, Hammers, Bluebirds and Boro: The closest promotion battle since 1992?
Southampton and West Ham United are level at the top of the Championship on 47 points, while Cardiff City and Middlesbrough both lie just two points further back on 45 apiece. In a division which is more accustomed to runaway winners, this is the closest gap between first and fourth on January 3rd since 1992. Back then, Blackburn Rovers and Ipswich Town each had 44 points although the latter had played two games more than the Lancashire club. Southend United had 43, Middlesbrough had 42 and Leicester City and Cambridge United both sat on 41 points. There were then three…
Lanterne Rouge: Thanks for your comment. I recall that when I first started watching f...
Neil Francis: I was only 10 when Graham Taylor took over so never really appreciated...
Mr B: Good article but Dan your a idiot, stay away fans are not killing the ...
John BCFC: You might add that the chairmen of Reading and Villa both wouldn't do ...
