Not so long ago, he was sacked.

Bookies have now slashed the odds of him becoming the next West Ham manager to 3-1.

Please no.

Please.

MyWHUFC are running petitions against the move to the Olympic Stadium and you can find the guys with a large banner and clip boards by the John Lyall gates before and after home games. If you’re against the move, or feel fans should have so far been consulted more, then please visit MyWHUFC.com and do what you can to help the guys out.

It was an interesting meeting and we’re hugely grateful to Ian for giving us the time to speak with him. The notes below were written up by Nigel of MyWHUFC:

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Ian Tompkins is a PR man who previous to working for West Ham was with Newham Council and before that British Rail. He seems to be a nice bloke (I’d say that even if I didn’t know he’d read this!) and is a West Ham fan.

I’ll cover what I think are the most important discussed:

Finance

Ian said that our debt is reducing and the plan regardless of whether we move to Stratford is that it will be to normal overdraft level by 2013.
He confirmed that the move is not to pay off debt.
He said that the move is to enable to club to grow.
He said that they don’t expect to fill the OS for every game.
He said that both Spurs & West Ham have had to submit bids based on Premier League, Championship & ‘yoyo’ status.
He said that the owners believe this is the best way forward to the club, although accepts that there is some risk.

Timescale

The preferred bidder will be announced by the end of January.
Contracts should be signed March / April, although Ian thought it may go beyond this.
If the move goes ahead we will play at the OS from 2014.

Running Track

Retention of the track is part of our bid so it will stay.
Ian agrees that it is not ideal, but says that the club are exploring a number of options, especially behind the goals, but cannot say more at present.
He also said that they are not spending a lot of money exploring it at the moment.
Ian is arranging to show some of us the stadium so we can see for ourselves that it is ‘not what you think’.
Questioned as to how the ground could be modified he said that digging down is not impossible – nothing can be ruled out – but later said ‘you can’t dig down’.

Consultation

The club intend to start some sort of fans forum soon.
Ian said that the owners had been busy sorting out problems on the pitch and with running of the club, so this hadn’t happened sooner.
Ian is aware that many fans oppose the move, especially with the running track and that surveys show this is a majority.
He has received many emails for & against.
He says that the club do intend to consult with fans, but not until they have firm information as they want people to be able to make informed decisions.
When I pointed out that the time from preferred bidder announcement to contract signing was 2 – 3 months, so didn’t allow much time for consultation, he said that consultation will start sooner than January.
He said that the Board will make the final decision but will listen to fans.

Boleyn Ground

Ian said that redeveloping the East Stand would take capacity to 42,000, but planning commission has run out and may not be gained if we applied again.
The club are not looking at this as an option at present.
Nor are they looking at a new purpose built ground as we don’t have the money for this.
He did not accept that any existing businesses (pubs, cafes & shops) would close if we moved.
He said that some may be able to move with us.

In summary & of most interest

The move to the OS is not needed to pay off our debt.
The club say they will consult but seem to have left little time for this. Whether any consultation will be meaningful & objective and whether they will take notice of it remains to be seen.
The track will stay and the club were unable to give any information on stadium modification to minimise its effect (strangely first he said it was confidential, then that they weren’t spending much money on exploring options – but that doesn’t leave much time to do so if contracts are to be signed by April).

Oh yes, Ian said that David Gold would join the meeting, or if he didn’t he’d go & find him – however Mr Gold did not grace us with his presence.

The meeting has not given me any confidence that this is the right move for the club & the majority of its fans. Some of the things he said did not seem to add up. We will look at the OS hopefully next week, and I hope will have the opportunity to further question the club.

———————

Thank you to Nigel for providing those notes.

My worries

Personally two comments particularly worried me.

1) Ian mentioned that “season tickets are going out of fashion“. My particular concern with this comment is that it does compound my fears that the move is not being made with loyal supporters and season ticket holders in mind. It’s a move that will most certainly favour one-time visitors and tourists. If this is to be the case then do what they do at Camp Nou and stick the tourists at the back, in the heavens.

2) Ian also mentioned that the club want to hold a fan consultation. Which of course is brilliant and what we want. Worryingly however the preferred bidder will be known in January and the final proposal and deal signed in March/April. This essentially gives the club February and if we’re lucky, March, to put together a proposal that deals with the running track issue and also to consult the fans. Somehow, I don’t see it happening.

And if season ticket holders really are going out of fashion then fully expect the club to invite people who’ve never been to Upton Park, never seen West Ham play and are in favour of watching West Ham in an empty & soulless stadium, to the meeting.

To be fair to Ian

To be fair to Ian he did explain that the whole process is essentially an exploratory negotiation and that nothing, as of yet, is set in stone. Once the preferred bidder is known then, assuming it’s us, the club will invest even more time and money on putting together thorough proposals that deal with issues such as how to deal with the running track. However as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t believe the timeframe can possibly allow for a thorough fan consultation.

I’ll keep you all posted

COYI

On the other, there is so much to talk about.

Spector, Cole, Tomkins, Obinna, Upson, Green……where do you stop with talking about player performances? Kovac maybe – not at all, he put in a very good shift last night. But I want to start with one man. Wally Downes.

The impact he has had on our team is tangible. He is the only change that’s been made since the Liverpool game – we have the same players, the same manager. Yet his methods, his attitude, his enthusiasm and his spirit have driven a team so low on morale into a side that has the confidence to not only beat Manchester United, but punish and embarrass Manchester United.

Nobody does that. Nobody.

It’s undeniable that desire and care were lacking in every game prior to Wigan. It was clear for all to see and that’s what made it frustrating for fans. Fans travelling hundreds of miles and spending hundreds of pounds to see a team who come out of the tunnel on a downer, dragging their feet and heads to the floor. Before a ball had been kicked.

It’s hugely frustrating as a fans. All we ask for is for the team to put in an honest, hard-working display and give it a go! We sat back against West Brom and against Blackpool – scared of losing. All that seems to have changed based on last night’s performance. The team were electric from start to finish – playing with a passion and a pride, playing like they cared. We could have lost that game 4-0 with the same performance and I still wouldn’t have been disappointed – we took the game to them and they crumbled.

Even in the last minute – at 4-0 up – Downes was on the touchline barking out orders, ensuring we didn’t concede. His hands were not in his pockets, he was animated and looking quite furious. Truly delightful.

Just what we needed.

Spector, Cole & LBM
These guys have taken a hell of a lot of stick this year. From me, and from everyone. For different reasons – apparent lack of effort and lack of quality have both applied. Last night, something seemed to click for each of those players. I’m not necessarily saying that in Spector we have a new Messi and in Cole a new Pedro but the players that turned up last night really did turn up. They clearly had points to prove after, if we’re honest, woeful seasons so far.

But each of those three were inspired – mistakes were not getting them down (and there were a few) and they played with energy and heart. The fans saw and recognised this. As they say, confidence breeds confidence and that was proved last night. The opposite has also been true this season and I can’t help but feel it is again the impact of Downes on these individuals.

It’s almost like a rollicking from Petrovic led to more mistakes.
A rollicking from Downes, who commands a different respect, leads to improved confidence and urgency to succeed.

No respect for Petrovic. Downes earns the players respect and they perform. Image from Daily Mail (http://bit.ly/hzDMDb)

I still can’t believe it!

Starting lineups and whinging Man United fans
In the aftermath of their humbling United fans (and Slur Alex Ferguson) were quick to point out that they played a weakened side. That’s a very fair point – a very expensive reserve side. But before you go around bemoaning that fact it’s only fair to remind you that we also fielded a weakened side. We started with a midfield of LBM, Spector, Kovac and Barrera for goodness sake.

So what you played some youngsters – Smalling cost you about £11M, Bebe about £7M and Anderson for about £18M. Johnny Evans has Champions League experience and that stupid Little Pea has been heralded as a replacement for Rooney and the next best thing. Let’s face it, the only quality Mexican on that pitch last night was Barrera.

Obinna make an absolute laughing stock of the Da Silva lads – both of whom play Champions League football for you.

John O’Shea is another with a lot of Champions League experience and Fletcher is a regular.

So don’t give me the crap about you playing a weak, young side. Ours was weak and we played youngsters (Hines came on and run your right back ragged).

In fact, of our starting lineup only Green, Upson, Obinna have been regularly making our starting XI week in week out. We were missing Parker, Noble, Gabbidon, Dyer, Behrami, Jacobssen, Piquionne & Da Costa. All of whom would likely be in our first XI if fully fit.

Compared to Tomkins, Smalling & Evans looked silly. Tomkins is only 22 don’t forget that.

The goals
There is no more left to say apart from IRRRROOOONS!

I’ve written about the ins and outs of Picklive before but it’s basically a live fantasy football game. I’d certainly recommend you play along whilst watching in the warmth of your own home!

If you need a little help with understanding how best to play the game then there’s a brilliant preview here which is full of tips.

CLICK HERE to play now

COYI!

As for the game itself, it is on according to the Official Site. Other people have also phoned the club to check and they confirmed, again, that it is on. However there are reports that the ref, Mark Clattenburg, is stuck on the M25. Which is brilliant news as he’s definitely got it in for us.

The players and the manager do not deserve our time.

Instead, I’ll leave you to enjoy this song – written for Avram

Image from Telegraph.co.uk

For what it’s worth, ignore what you heard from Collymore on TalkSport and Chris Waddle on ESPN. Our fans did not leave in droves to go home before half time. That is complete and utter rubbish. We were superb, yet again.

What so called football pundit assumes that fans would be going home at half-time and not just for a beer?

According to this article, as spotted by someone on Twitter, West Ham have begun the search for a property developer to ruin Upton Park assuming we win the Olympic Stadium bid.

Makes me feel sick.

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Don’t forget you can play along live to the West Ham v Liverpool game tomorrow night – WestHamProcess readers get a few free rounds chucked in. IRONS

The game is called Picklive and it works like this:

- You stick a quid in the pot then pick three players that are on the pitch (say Parker, Noble and Carragher)
- Then for 7 and a half minutes, you score points based on the actions that your chosen players complete:

- For example: Parker makes 50 completed passes (+50 points), Noble makes 10 clean tackles (+30 points), Parker also scores 3 (+60 points), Carragher scores and own goal (-20 points) and gets sent off for constantly complaining and having a red face (-20 points)

- The scores are tallied up at the end of the time (we’re on +100 points) and then the top three players win a share of the pot.
- You then pick three more players and go again!

The game is quality fun and I’d certainly recommend you give it a try just to see what all the fuss is about!

And to be nice to you, the guys at Picklive have also said that all WestHamProcess readers get three completely free rounds so you can suss it all out. Very nice of them. CLICK HERE or the banner below to get going

I can’t unfortunately play tomorrow as I’m at the game but look out for me when you’re next online, my username on there is quite simple: West Ham United.

IRONS!

It goes without saying what a huge loss it will be to be without him for the next month as he recovers. Not least because November was fast looking like the perfect opportunity to capitalise on what has been a solid October.

His performance against Stoke was superb and reminiscent of the player we got used to seeing back in 2007 when he kept us in the Premier League – assisted of course by Rob Green, Bobby Zamora and Carlos Tevez

A 23 year old who has made 125 appearances for West Ham

Particularly special about his determination against Stoke was the build up to it while he was on the bench. Or not, as the case may be. He spent almost every minute of the first hour of that game warming up in the corner of the Trevor Brooking Lower. Lapping up, enjoying and reciprocating the banter from the fans. The smile on his face was hilarious – he is clearly enjoying his football and loving playing in the claret & blue. Something we need to see more of from others on the pitch.

Mark Noble is a special player, lets not forget that. Ok, he may not be the quickest. But he’s not in the side to be quick so we have to get beyond that as a criticism. Sometimes his passing goes astray but other times his vision is second to none – take Obinna’s goal against Stoke as an example.

In Noble we have a 23 year old who has made 125 appearances for West Ham – the most experienced player at the club. You do not get to that point in your career without motivation and drive particularly through the bad times. He has, alongside Parker, become a very mature midfielder this season and it’s exciting to see.

In some ways, I wish we had more injuries at West Ham as a result of ‘busted gut’ – maybe then we’ll move off the bottom.

COYI

Statistics:

- Of our total 13 goals scored this year, Mark Noble has been involved in 5 (same as Parker, Obinna & Piquionne)
- We haven’t scored a goal that didn’t involved Mark Noble, Scott Parker or Victor Obinna this year

As a quick aside, I’d hugely recommend you take a look at Picklive (HERE). It’s a real-time, fantasy football game. You pick 3 players whilst your watching a match and score points on the actions that they complete. It even has the potential to add fun to a Stoke v Bolton game.

From football365.co.za

After the Wolves game, I still felt that there was a slim chance of Avram winning manager of the month – all it took was a win against Newcastle and a win against Stoke. And why not? We were 5 unbeaten after all….

However after a capitulation in performance worse than we saw against Bolton earlier in the season, any chance of going October unbeaten was firmly blown out of the water.

How we can demonstrate such extremes in performance in 90 minutes is beyond me – and it would seem, beyond Upson too:

“It’s difficult to explain. We have to analyse the reasons why we under-performed in the second half,”

“The supporters have every reason to be quite bamboozled how we can play so poorly in the second half. But we have to analyse that as a group. The manager has to figure out the answers and we have to work on it. It’s the only way to progress. If we do that we have enough to see us through this league campaign. It’s just a case of getting it out there on the pitch.”

However, what are the positives? Because I actually think there are some.

For one, I particularly find it refreshing to hear such honesty from Upson. It’s a far cry from the ‘smile, be happy and enjoy’ attitude we often heard from Zola. That’s not to be taken as a dig against Zola – it’s just a very different management technique (which got the best out of Cole)

The fact the the team, captain & manager recognise there was a problem with that display is a good start. Now we must push on, change the mistakes and progress in the cup.

There is a glimmer of hope in my opinion – but ask me again on Thursday

What other positives are you all still holding onto or are we slowly confining ourselves to a painfully long and depressing season?

COYI

Image from www.rozhlas.cz

Taking a brief look away from our on-field endeavours today to highlight an article I found about our former striker, Petr Mikolanda.

I realise to many the name my not immediately ring a bell but he was a signing by Alan Pardew in the season we found ourselves back in the Premier League. Although that year he notched up three pre-season goals, he never quite made the cut and was loaned out to several lower league sides including Northampton, Swindon Town and Rushden & Diamonds.

Although many people thought that I had no chance. Now I’m ready and I can’t wait to play again

What I didn’t realise however was that in 2006, Petr received the news that he was suffering from kidney failure and would require a transplant. Despite that devastating setback, Petr is still in the game having been a coach and now having been given the all clear to play again:

“The doctors stated that I’ll be able to play again. I was waiting for this moment for three years and I never gave up, although many people thought that I had no chance. Now I’m ready and I can’t wait to play again,”

I’d hugely recommend that you make his inspirational story your lunchtime reading today. The article is by In Bed With Maradona and is HERE in full.

Wishing him all the best and a speedy recovery