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It might be the day after valentine's day but there's no love lost here, it's the 5th round of the FA Cup against Manchester United. Both sides certainly left nothing on the pitch with two red cards to the left backs. It was a very competitive first half no goals a sending off and 4 yellow cards, but Manchester United didn't break us down the turning point came when Buttner as given his marching orders, the resulting free kick left them weak down the left wing and downing played an almost inch perfect pass to crouch only for Vidic to divert it past on the rushing De Gea and a Vidic own goal and a Jack Collison stirke from a Noble Free kick.

Ruben Ligeon our loan signing had his best performance in a West Ham shirt and I really like his development this season.

Mo Diame was nowhere to be seen I sent him home to avoid the press and fans but Jack Collison and Nobles composure and passing was a joy.



We have been given a difficult away draw to Aston Villa in the Quarter final

Its 8 am I'm on my way in from the car park,

Me: Hello?

Karen Brady: Hi Rob, look we have run through the finances , and we are aware of the backlash from fans on the forums and to capitalise on Saturdays result we've decided to all you to spend the entire £11m to reinvest the squad. We'll have a meeting on targets after the Liverpool game.

ME: Excellent, I'll get the scout reports ready for it.

A lot of ex Liverpool players make their return to Anfield; Peter Crouch capitalised on a Mignolet error. Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling rampaged against our defence and we performed admirably against the threat of the pure pace of their attack.

Another outstanding performance, by James Tomkins from a corner kick, a hard fought battle ensued but we played extremely well and didn't deserve a penalty to go against us. We defended superbly but created more chances too, Liverpool struggled to make an impact and then we get robbed. But an away point is an away point.

In the meeting, my Director of Football John Murtough, my Chief Scout Martyn Glover, My Assistant Manager Neal McDonald.

The Shortlist


Me: Okay lads we have £11m to invest in the squad and replace Mo, I already have identified his replacement. Franco Zuculini from Arsenal de Sarandi he's on a free a low enough wage to bring him in and he's a talent. I have been talking to his agent and we can agree a deal for around 15k.

Whats the opinion on other players?

NM: Well I know we missed out on him in the summer due to demands of the club but what about Omer?

MG: Omer's been superb out in Israel he looks an absolute player all our scout reports are very favourable.


JM: Is he ready for the Premiership though it could be a big jump?

MG: He could be there’s a risk he doesn’t do well but the transfer they are throwing out to us is around £2m it could be shrewd buy if we develop him. If we are looking for a midfielder Beram Kayal might be a good player to bring in alongside him for company.

Me: Okay I want Omer, lets sort that out and we'll keep an eye out on Kayal I know lennons desperate to sell. Okay who else can we bring in?

MG: There's some rave reviews of Jason Holt, young AMC we need to develop backup and he's on a free this summer.

Me: Okay John contact his agent put the feelers out there, also we want to bring in experienced but young players from the premiership can we contact Dyer, Gardner, Wilson and Faurlins representatives see what they are looking for as they are struggling to agree new terms.

NM: Stephen Ireland is possibly available from Stoke.

Me: I like Stephen but he has a lot of problem in his game and although I want to play good football and have good players is he a better player than Morrison, I mean Nolan's getting on a bit and he could replace him in the next few years but for now? No.

MG: I got some from left field, you know steau have developed a crop of youngsters and they are around 24 at the moment?

Me: Yeah but they won't be cheap!
MG: One of the boys was chatting to a director from Steaua and he reckons they might need to sell.

Me: OK get me a list of players and who we should target.

MG: Already have

Alexandru Chipciu
http://static2.libertatea.ro/typo3temp/pics/Alexandru-Chipciu_6879921ba4.jpg
A good prospect at 24; he's an AMR/MR/AMC 9 caps/2 goals great abilities too

and

Mihai Radut
http://www.fcsteaua.ro/media/images/article_pictures/normal_size/mihai_radut-1855973192.jpg
A decent ball player at 24 an AMC/MC only 2 Caps solid backup player and room to grow


But we really want their two wonderkids upfront Stanciu and Iancu but I can't see them selling it.

After battling with their local Rivals we face the surprise league leaders at the Boleyn and tru eto form they completely batter us. But in the second half they seemed to get a bit too relaxed after scoring a second sensing this we threw on two subs on the first goal and become a bit gung ho. It worked with Matt Jarvis equalising and dealing them a slight blow in their title hopes.

Victory at Villa Park secures our fans a trip to Wembley! We were very happy with this result, partly due to the nerves, and a superb free kick by Mark Noble!
Fortunately we saw Christian Benteke walk off the pitch and this helped in our efforts and dealt a huge blow to Villa as they had no choice but to bring in Andi Weimann, A workhorse but not a force like his departed team mate this gave us a shot in arm and momentum and error free defending secured a great win.

Downing and Crouch played a blinder but it’s a shame we had to concede before a reaction to conceding an early goal. It’s a shame we didn’t hold onto the lead and capitalise on turning our possession into a win. However since the 5th round we haven’t lost and I am delighted that this is the case.

Well in a game of no real chances it turned into the Ravel Morrison show with two glorious goals to take 3 point home with us. Khune also needs to receive a lot of praise for his performance between the sticks. He has had an absolutely excellent addition to the squad and his consistency and distribution have aided us and this has been particularly relevant in the cup run with 4 clean sheets.

Well this was an absolute pearl of a game 1-0 up away from home our captain Kevin Nolan receives his marching orders, we still score a second 2-0 up just before half time. We get in half time a quick chat to the lads about holding the fort and not conceding early. Well that went out the window with two fabulous strikes by Mason and Bellamy left us struggling for the second half.

What can I say we say we exploded into the game started very well Downing scoring another goal. We looked defensively sound especially Dyer against Angulo,b but then Winston Reid made a huge mistake to let Bony capitalise and score his 19th and then 20th of the season. Once again we did not capitalise whilst on top and this cost us a win and although we are not fighting against Relegation this season we are also not battling for Europe. Plus this was our first loss since beating Manchester United in the 5th round of the FA Cup

Back on the horse again great performance against a side who I’d consider as a comparative club as Southampton. The difference came with the absence of Schneiderlin and we certainly grew into the game after the change another set of goals from Crouch and Morrison helped by the superb performance by Downing
It should be noted the great display by Ruben Ligeon down the right wing

Movement

Interceptions

Only really one candidate stood this year

Shaun Romeo, local London boy with strong potential happy to be at the club, hopefully he will have a great future here at West Ham.
Neal McDonald, rates him highly and maybe with strong training we may have a chance at developing a new Glen Johnson.

Well this was a game of frustration; we were competitive, and strong; it was superb overall, so to lose in the last minute of the game, is extremely disappointing and Huddlestone scoring at the back post when we had spent so long on the training pitch practicing defence.

We knew this would be tough, we knew that but the game against hull did have an uneasy effect on the team, we kept Aguero quiet. We just struggled with the quality of the team and by becoming more open and attacking. We then became more open to the counter attack and Manchester City capitalised on this and scored a second. It was a shame we could not impact on the game and we could not impose our tactic in the game. We should be proud over the run and use this in the next season.

Last game , at home our tactics grabbed us a 6-1 victory with Peter Crouch having a stormer, this time Downing, Jarvis and Crouch performed admirably to safeguard a repeat of an impressive victory. Although Norwich are 19th they hold several threats with Dutch internationals Fer and Van Wolfswinkel. The fact we conceded two goals after scoring 4 suggest we took the foot off the pedal. It was a blemish considering the strength of the performance.

This was a landmark result we actually beat Crystal Palace comfortably, and managed to keep a clean sheet. This has not happened many times this season. It is becoming clear that although we don’t have a poor scoring record we are desperate to find a consistent approach. Maybe Jordan Rhodes if Blackburn are unable to gain promotion.

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An unlucky defeat from the bitter rivals a notable poor performance, by Nolan was not a particular highlight in this game it might be time to look elsewhere for leadership s his role might be marginalised next season. This performance did stink of end of season and I’m sure a couple of players were winding down but their performances were substandard for a derby.

Who knows in the last game of the season who’s performance was their last and who’s trying a last minute game to catch my eye. Stoke were solid as ever, and they to their credit finished 6th so to say a draw is a disappointing result would be a lie. I think Crouch might get a nod over Carroll as his performance have kept Andy out however, Crouch has been out of favour for a while.

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A good preseason only a narrow 2-1 loss in Ferdinand's Testimonial