Such a simple question, yet so many answers and statements that could be made. My opinion changes regularly. What I type now could differ after our next home game as West Ham are so topsy-turvy! But if I were to sum it up in 1 word, it would have to be agonising!
I have never been a good football player. If Lionel Messi is both footed, I’d call myself no footed. And as cricket and rugby take up a huge chunk of my life, I’m amazed at myself how I fell in love with a Cockney based, hooligan related club, even though I live 100 miles away in Cardiff. And to this day, I still can’t remember. I even had the chance to stop! My Uncle, a West Ham fan his whole life (something to do with Iron Maiden), sat me down one day, about 10 years ago, and told me, “Rhys, listen. West Ham, they’re not the best team. They lose a lot, they never win anything. You’ve got the City (Cardiff City) down the road, they’re your local club,” and for some reason, I ignored him and since then I have never regretted it!
Are you on Facebook? Excellent, so are we http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/ForeverWestHamcom/200938616608282
I have always felt proud wearing claret and blue. I love it when my Uncle tells me “we won the World Cup” and we did. I think I’m the only Welshman who enjoys England beating West Germany. Even in the biggest game in the FA’s history, a Hammer was at the heart of controversy! Also, I love it how we thrive in the idea of youth is the way forward. That is the West Ham way. And I do agree with most fans that we have fallen astray of this path, but not because Sam Allardyce ignores the midfield, but because he ignores the youth policy. All he does is use them as a name on the bench, not respecting their potential. Even when our senior squad was a mere 14 players with injuries, he used them only to fill the back page of the programme. But I won’t turn my back on him, he’s doing the job for us!
That brings me back to the original question, what is it like being a West Ham fan right now? Well, on one side, pretty good. I’m a regular listener of talkSPORT and we rarely get mentioned anymore (apart for an outburst against the Olympic Stadium bid) which means that nothing is going wrong. Another positive note is that we’ve found our wheels. I have a fear that most West Ham fans suffer of amnesia, as they say we’ve got nowhere. What do they want? Champions League in the first season back? Do they not remember Bjorgolfur Guðmundsson and how we only just missed the fate of Portsmouth, Rangers and Coventry City? Do they no remember the state of our squad? With overrated, overpaid Italians and Swiss! We were only saved by three passionate football fans and an experienced manager who is not getting the credit he deserves.
He has done a great job! He got rid of the likes of Alessandro Diamanti and Danielle Di Michelle who weren’t good enough. He took risks by parting with Matthew Upson and captain Scott Parker. He built an experienced squad that brought us back to the Premier League. I also think he has the credentials to keep us there for a season or two. And we are on the eve of fixing the problems the Icelandic left, with the history making move to the Olympic Stadium which is great move because their will be a larger capacity (which we will fill week in, week out) and the sale of the beloved Upton Park which I will miss dearly as never will I strive down Green Street with the ambition of crushing Spuds or Chelsea. But, we will have millions to spend on improving the squad! But this is where the positives stop!
Looking for experience? Just want to be heard outside of the Boleyn? We are currently looking for writers, drop us an email at foreverwestham@snack-media.com for more details
This is what’s so agonizing about being a West Ham fan. Over the years of watching and keeping up to date with West Ham, it has turned me into a very pessimistic person. I have never predicted anything more than a 1-0 win or even a clean sheet. If I turn on Sky, or tune-in to 5 Live or even pay cash to enter the Boleyn, I sigh and think “Oh God, here we go!” It is almost depressing now, watching the first half of a West Ham match. There’s no flair, no buzz, no players shouting “Come On!” like Stan Collymore. It’s just negative, negative, negative! Tackle, give to defender, launch, lose ball and sit back for half and hour and do nothing but watch their possession get swallowed away. This negativity has now spread to the fans! More than once have I had to stand up, on my own in the Alpari Stand and start singing ‘Forever Blowing Bubbles’ and people behind me ask if I sit down. How is that right?! And then when we score, and everyone is jumping and screaming, I get the fingers for implying “You weren’t singing when we were 1 – 0 down!”
But, even with the problems I have mentioned, being a West Ham fan is most of all amazing! Never will I experience going to Wembley and getting hugged by a stranger after Vaz Te broke the top of the net. Never will I turn to tears and not be seen for a fortnight after an insultingly brilliant goal from Captain Scouser. West Ham is a club that has moulded some crossed Hammers on my heart. Chelsea, Manchester United nor Cardiff City could never leave such a mark. And when the Pièce de Résistance arrives, and I walk up the steps and looking over the Olympic Pitch, I will savour that moment forever. “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles..!”
By Rhys Lloyd
Forever West Ham is now on Google+, so be sure to find us on there by quite simply (and rather unsurprisingly) searching ‘Forever West Ham’
I seriously think people are stupid sometimes because they forget that when we were relegated Upson was still the captain and Robert Green was the vice captain. Parker rarely ever wore the armband.
Obviously a knowledgeable West Ham fan – Diamanti now plays for the Italian national side so he must have been real rubbish!?
Also, the Opta analysis for last season showed that Real Madrid and Barcelona played more long balls than West Ham! Not a much publicised fact