Once upon a time, the PFA Awards were the undisputed measure of a season’s most valuable players. Voted for by the Professionals themselves, the response to their announcement was one of awed hush and consent – how could mere onlookers presume to know better than those involved in the rough and tumble of the actual sport? But the saccharin, sentimental and simply silly award of the 2009 Players’ Player award to Ryan Giggs changed all that. In one fell swoop, footballers were shown to be as susceptible to a bit of old fashioned press lobbying as the rest of us….
All posts tagged West Ham
West Ham should not panic
West Ham United’s 4-2 reverse in today’s crunch clash with Reading would have seemed apocalytic if it were not for the torpor that the home support showed in adversity – fortune wasn’t so much hiding as participating in out and out hermit status as the team tumbled and even the bubbles had to be artificially produced via vents at the pitch side. But Sam Allardyce needs to be judged on what happens at the season’s end – not one jittery afternoon. For half an hour, Hammers completely refuted those who have them down as a reworking of an Egil Olsen or Dave Bassett XI….
The downward spiral
Late March, and if you listen carefully you can – in the parlance of a certain puce-cheeked knight of the realm – hear the sound of bums starting to squeak. So, time to cast an eye over the teams who this May are most likely to be swapping the preening pros, plastic fans and prawn sandwiches of the Premier League for the Bovril, goal celebration music and cheerleaders of the Championship. In descending order… Aston Villa The Villains are seemingly intent on casting themselves in the role for this year’s Big Club Who Get Sucked Into Trouble. They can’t score…
Fathers and Sons at West Ham
Our latest guest post sees us welcome Tom Victor. Tom is the Major League Soccer Correspondent for Footy Matters and you can read a selection of his missives here. He’s also a proud Hammer and here brings his attention to the extraordinary development of family tradition at that storied east London club. You can follow Tom on twitter here. Plenty of things have happened over the last few months which have made me feel old. My little sister started her first term at university, patriotic manchild Jack Wilshere spawned a future World War III infantry soldier, and the newborn baby commemorated…
Capital: London Football, Present and Future
In an article last year, The Economist coined the phrase `Londonism’ to refer to what it regarded as a distinct ideology driven by the office of Mayor. It cited as the central tenets of `Londonism’: enthusiasm for the financial services industry; an openness to immigration; and the unceasing pursuit of economic growth. The success of this new way of thinking, according to the piece, is symbolized by the redevelopment of the Docklands to the east of the city’s centre. The landscape of this part of the city is now replete with tall, shimmering citadels of global financial behemoths, futuristically-designed transport hubs and high-value property developments. Unsurprisingly, however, the article fails to look beyond the streets…
James: Are the wealthy middle classes really the ones to back a football team...
Lanterne Rouge: Garath McCleary on signing for Reading today:
"It's amazing to be a...
Lloyd: On the Oxford / Reading thing, Lanterne, you write that "there is no c...
Ben: Yes, it does loom a bit, doesn't it? Moxey's comments on the ground re...
