I’ll admit it; I did reckon that after the unthinkable (Southampton actually losing a game) I thought we too would slip up and fail to take full advantage and those fear’s and cries of ‘typical West Ham’ went up when Tamas Priskin put Derby 1-0 up. But a storming second-half come-back now means the Saints are now within striking distance with a mere two points separating us with the summit of the Football League.
We now take on Middlesbrough in a game of gargantuan proportions for not only could we go top with a win (a long overdue feat we haven’t managed so far this season) but it would also leave Boro’ eight points behind us…a tangible gap is starting to form between ourselves and the chasing pack, Middlesbrough at this moment in time are the biggest threat; with Cardiff having played an extra game.
It’s also a huge game for the men from the Riverside as a win for them would see them close the points gap between themselves and us to a meagre two points. We are heading into a crucial period of the season; we play a total of five games in December as we head towards the half-way point of the 2011/12 Championship season.
It seems that we’re finding form at just the right time with our first real winning streak of the season; that coupled with our fine away form means that we should relish the opportunity on Tuesday night of delivering a real blow to a side just two places below us in the table. We’ve had to be patient waiting for the Saints to falter in their seemingly relentless march towards promotion; now that moment has finally arrived we must pile on the pressure and see how Southampton react.
Since the Saints marched all the way to the top of the N Power Championship they have sat there in relative comfort…now we’re firmly breathing down their necks; just one slip up and we could usurp them. We have to assume that for Southampton normal service will resume when they take on Hull at home on Tuesday meaning anything other than a win at the Riverside would restore the gap we’ve gradually eroded.
Speaking of gaps the one we could impose between ourselves and Middlesbrough with a win on Teeside would be a massive eight points. It’s taken 18 games but the summit is within our grasp. And to scale this mountainous Championship with some daylight between ourselves and the other blood-thirsty pretenders at such a crucial stage of the season will leave us in a fantastic position to fend off all-comers come the new-year.
In other words three points on Teeside please…
Another good piece. Let’s get the 3 points tonight go top and lengthen the gap! 18 games to get to the top is excellent considering we are relatively a new team! You know what I’m loving about this season!? For the first season in ages apart from winning! It’s nice to have a team where it seems everyone wants to be a part of it!
All the deadwood has been flushed out, all the players that were too good for WHU are now warming the bench somewhere else! All the injury prone players are gone and warming someone else’s physio equipment and in Big Sam we have a manager that can change a game! As we have witnessed. We have a manager that the players have confidence in! Look at Julian Faubert this season for instance. Always had faith in him to come good and Big Sam got that out of him.
Also please dont take this wrong but it’s nice to have a manager that when he does a press conference before or post match, it’s nice that we can understand what he is saying! My God didn’t that Avram mumble! It’s nice to see his passion and explaining why some things might have gone wrong. I think this is a great time to be a Hammer.
A new Era
COYI
2-0 to us tonight cole & Nolan to score
Would love for us to win tonight and Southampton lose and we go top (if only for at least one week) but with so many long term injuries and now little Sam out for three weeks at least and Carew apparently injured in training on Sunday and only Cole and Piq as our main strikers it will be a big ask.
Would obviously take a draw and a point away but three points would be lovely.
COYI