Let’s face it, on paper the prospect of going up to Middlebrough for a midweek FA Cup replay hardly gets you salivating. Yet in my mind it’s a completely different prospect. The thought of getting a bus at 11AM for a KO at 8:10PM (cheers ITV) somehow seems particularly surreal and is sure to wreak havoc with my circadian rythmn. Yet, I want to see this West Ham team play, I am excited when we play and the confidence, enjoyment and life that was once sapped from me during Curbishley’s reign is slowly working it’s way back. Had Curbishly been in charge still, I have every confidence that listening to David ‘Shimbomba’ Pleat wobble and dribble through a plethora of mispronounced names, would have been an all together more memorable experience than actually getting to the game. I would probably still have made the trip, knowing full well that a loss would have stimulated a collective sigh of “we’ve got a lot of injuries”.

What a difference a year makes.

In all fairness to the club they are doing their bit to encourage people to make the effort…it’s only cost £20 for two tickets and travel. Credit where credit is due Mr Duxburry.

Put your balls on the ground

It’s going to be interesting to see how Zola shaped the team up for both the Bolton and Boro trips. Without CFC we are lacking in height and really apart from Upson and Collins at the back we are going to be fielding a particularly vertically challenged side. It does concern me somewhat that against a team like Bolton who put 10 men behind the ball even at home, that we will struggle to break them down and will simply end up passing the ball around them without making any forward based progress. On the other hand, it excites me that it will possibly open the doors for Zola to really express himself as if he were on the pitch in person.

I personally think that exploiting the wide areas will become of added importance and we may even see Kovac included with Parker granted more of a free role in a formation that resembles more of a 4-5-1. However, knowing Zola he’ll probably play 4 at the top and forget about defending all together…”you score one, we’ll score two” mentality.

This next week or so is a vital part of our season and I have full confidence that we are perfectly capable of further securing our encouraging league position, whilst setting up an FA Cup quater-final….Gianfranco Zola’s Claret and Blue Army!

IRONS!

Sam