Leicester City v West Ham 21.8.99 Away at Upton Park

Tight at the back, take the chances and we'll beat the voodoo.

For some reason we never seem to do well in this fixture; it's not for want of trying though and we often score goals but end up losing 4-3 or 3-2.   I think it's over twenty years since we came away with a result from Upton Park.

Last year 'The Hammers' had a great season and they ended up in 5th place which for a relatively small London club was absolutely brilliant.  I think many people have always had a soft spot for them thanks largely for the fact that the club provided three players for the victorious England World Cup winning side of 1966:Bobby Moore the captain of all captains, Sir Geoff Hurst the hat trick hero a feat never equalled and Martin Peters described by Sir Alf Ramsey as ten years before his time so highly did he rate him. Alf Garnett displayed his love for West Ham in the TV series Till Death Us Do Part with great humour.They have always been famous for playing attractive football something which has been used by cynics to explain their lack of big time success.

Last year they signed Ian Wright,Neil Ruddock,Chilean World Cup Star Javier Margas and Frenchman Marc Keller.
They had a famous training ground bust up between Eyal Bergovic and John Hartson although it looked like the big Welsh striker attacked the small Israeli and when a £7.5m bid came in for taffy boy from Wimbledon manager Harry Redknapp jumped at it.   He used the money to buy Marc-Vivien Foe and the infamous Paole Di Caneo, who hasn't blotted his copy book yet.

They didn't stop there they snapped up quality player Trevor Sinclair and a good 'keeper' in Shaka Hislop.

In the close season they lost arguably their best player in Eyal Berkovic when he opted to sign for Celtic but H.(as Andy Gray likes to call him showing that he's one of the 'lads') has assembled a formidable line up which when you add home grown talent like Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard really is quite impressive and we'll do well to get a result.

Don't let's be over pessimistic though since, although they finished 5th last season they had a real problem scoring goals with Ian(film star) Wright being the only player to score freely and then he only got nine.  Interestingly enough their best player according to Opta statistics last season was Shaka Hislop the 'keeper, which suggests that they took a battering at the back and his outstanding form kept them alive in many a game which is no more than the truth.

So if we don't shoot ourselves in the foot and we convert the chances that should come our way we could well do something interesting - but don't hold your breath.

*West Ham Utd started life in 1895 as Thames Iron Works FC which explains their badge and their nickname The Hammers.
*Harry Redknappp is only West Ham's eighth manager in 99 years.
*West Ham played in the first ever Wembley FA Cup Final in 1923 which they lost 2-0 to Bolton.
*Martin Peters's move from West Ham to Spurs in 1970 was then Britain's first £200,000 transfer.That's very interesting although Mr Peters did not spend his time after football lying on a beach counting the millions he earned.
*Surprisingly no West Ham player has ever won the PFA Player of the Year award.
*Last season they were KO'd from our Cup Competitions by Swansea and Northampton Town.  They are vulnerable.
*Last season the club's under - 19 side won both the FA Youth Cup and FA Premier Youth League.
*Harry Redknapp has stated that it is his long term aim to see at least five home-grown players in the first team which in the light of some clubs 'foreign policy' is very encouraging and even heart warming.
*Harry is the lady supporters favourite manger in The Premiership......... they like guys like Harry you know - a bit soulful, warm hearted and emotional.Remember how upset he was when the board sold Andrew Impey to us without consulting him?(Remember how upset Martin was when he found out he didn't like running around much?)

*Tony Cottee is a life long West Ham fan.