I've done quite a few season with Man City and after losing my saved game I decided a new challenge was needed and what better than to attempt to get a team promoted. Was disappointing to see West Ham get relegated last season and fancy getting them back into the Premier League. So here we go sit tight people and enjoy my story because this is going to be a interesting Season.
Will be Updating the Season month by month.
Pre Season
Start of the Pre Season I was told by the board that I would have £7M to spend in the transfer window which in fairness for a Championship team its a decent amount of money to spend in the transfer window. Pre Season has been interesting time in charge of West Ham and its fair to say im rather pleased with the squad considering relegation West Ham managed to keep key players including Carlton Cole, Mark Noble and Robert Green, the only downside to the relegation were the departures of Demba Ba(Newcastle) Kieron Dyer/Danny Gabbidon(Queens Park Rangers).
There were also the downside to a big Club like West Ham United getting relegated with Premier League Clubs such as Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Sunderland interested in Key Players James Tomkins and Jack Collison. I decided to stand my ground and fend off any bids or interest for my players and tied down Tomkins to a new 5year contract after rejecting a £3.9m from Newcastle United. I ended up accepting a £5m from Aston Villa for Collison but he rejected their contract and i was more than happy to keep him.
In addition to having Kevin Nolan, Matty Taylor, Papa bouba Diop, Sam Baldock, David Bentley, John Care and Joey O'Brian being signed by previous regime (Sam Allardyce) I still needed to bring in few more players to the club. so heres my transfer activity so far
Transfers in :
Ashley Williams £3.8M (Swansea City)
Ryo Miyaichi on loan (Arsenal)
Sol Campbell (free transfer)
Adam Lallana £2.9M + player exchange (Southampton)
Daniel Sturridge on loan (Chelsea)
Ravel Morrison on loan ( Man Utd)
Ryan Bertrand on loan (Chelsea)
Matt Jarvis £4.25M) (Wolves)
Transfer Out:
Frederic Piquionne £4.5M (Lazio)
Peter Kurucz P/EX (Southampton)
Oliver Lee on loan ( DAG & RED)
Mathias Fanimo on loan (Hereford)
August: Let the Season begin
1st Npower Championship game : Burnley (Home)
West Ham 3-0 Burnley (Kevin Nolan 20, Sam Baldock 23,Carlton Cole 61)
Very happy with 1st match and especially happy with two new signings bagging debut goals.
Carling Cup 1st Round : Stevenage (Home)
West Ham 4-4 Stevenage (West Ham win 4-1 on Penalties)
Although didnt have a full strength squad out was still very dissapointed with the performance and the fact it had to be decided on penalties.
2nd Npower Championship game: Brighton (Away)
Brighton 1-1 West Ham (James Chester 41, Carlton Cole 72)
Was dissapointed with the draw although we were behind until the 72nd minute which you would assume id be happy with a point but was dissapointed due to the fact we dominated the game but couldnt take our chances.
3rd Npower Championship game: Hull City (Home)
West Ham 2-2 Hull (Daniel Sturridge 57,Carlton Cole 76,Matty Fryatt 79,90)
Absolutely Fuming!! were 2 goals ahead with 10mins to go and blew it, absolutely not acceptable.
4th Npower Championship game: Portsmouth (Away)
Portsmouth 0-2 West Ham(Carlton Cole 57, Kevin Nolan 90+3)
Was very pleased with the win after throwing away a 2goal lead in the last game, played well throught the match, kevin Nolan and Mark Noble dominated the middle of the park. Mark Noble picks up injury and is out for 2weeks.
Carling Cup 2nd Round: Southampton (Away)
Southampton 1-1 West Ham (3-2 Extra time) (Schneiderlin 30, Sturridge 39,108, Lambert pen 94, Collison Own goal 112). Very dissapointed to go out in extra time as we dominated the game, midfield was awful, papa bouba diop and collison played terribly and collison proved that with his idiotic own goal. I Guess one advantage is the fact we can focus on promotion more now.
After the dissapointment of going out of the carling cup and concerned if I have enough strenght in depth I decided to bring in 2 final additions to the squad before the end of the transfer window, I brought in Emmanuel Frimpong on loan (Arsenal) and signed Simon Church £2.2M( Reading) as he had already scored 4 goals this season in the league .
5th Npower Championship game : Derby County (Home)
West Ham 5-0 Derby (Sturridge 7,45+4,50, Jason Shackell own goal 39, Carltion Cole 56)
Absolutely delighted by not just the scoreline but the performance to go with it, especially from Daniel Sturridge, bagging a hattrick and scoring 6goals in 4games, 4 of those goals in the league.
September: Transfer window over, head down and concentrate!
6th Npower Championship Game : Ipswich Town (Away)
Ipswich 2-3 West Ham (Sturridge 9, Carlton Cole 11,Dallku own goal 19, Beciraj 40, Sonko 75). Very happy with the win as the great striking partnership of Daniel Sturridge and Carlton Cole rolls on as they cant stop scoring!! and this win puts us top on 14points after 6matches, hope the unbeaten run continues.
7th Npower Championship Game : Watford (Home)
West Ham 3-1 Watford (Shaun Batt 42, Collison 54, Sturridge 73, loach own goal 85)
Performance overall was very good as I was delighted to see that heads didnt drop and performance improved after going a goal down, managed to turn it around and score 3, yet again Daniel Sturridge Scored.
8th Npower Championship Game : Crystal Palace (Away)
Crystal Palace 0-2 West Ham (Noble 12, Carlton Cole 32)
Completely played Palace off the park and the score didnt reflect the performance as it could and probably should easily have been 4-5 goals in their net.
Will be Updating the Season month by month.
Pre Season
Start of the Pre Season I was told by the board that I would have £7M to spend in the transfer window which in fairness for a Championship team its a decent amount of money to spend in the transfer window. Pre Season has been interesting time in charge of West Ham and its fair to say im rather pleased with the squad considering relegation West Ham managed to keep key players including Carlton Cole, Mark Noble and Robert Green, the only downside to the relegation were the departures of Demba Ba(Newcastle) Kieron Dyer/Danny Gabbidon(Queens Park Rangers).
There were also the downside to a big Club like West Ham United getting relegated with Premier League Clubs such as Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Sunderland interested in Key Players James Tomkins and Jack Collison. I decided to stand my ground and fend off any bids or interest for my players and tied down Tomkins to a new 5year contract after rejecting a £3.9m from Newcastle United. I ended up accepting a £5m from Aston Villa for Collison but he rejected their contract and i was more than happy to keep him.
In addition to having Kevin Nolan, Matty Taylor, Papa bouba Diop, Sam Baldock, David Bentley, John Care and Joey O'Brian being signed by previous regime (Sam Allardyce) I still needed to bring in few more players to the club. so heres my transfer activity so far
Transfers in :
Ashley Williams £3.8M (Swansea City)
Ryo Miyaichi on loan (Arsenal)
Sol Campbell (free transfer)
Adam Lallana £2.9M + player exchange (Southampton)
Daniel Sturridge on loan (Chelsea)
Ravel Morrison on loan ( Man Utd)
Ryan Bertrand on loan (Chelsea)
Matt Jarvis £4.25M) (Wolves)
Transfer Out:
Frederic Piquionne £4.5M (Lazio)
Peter Kurucz P/EX (Southampton)
Oliver Lee on loan ( DAG & RED)
Mathias Fanimo on loan (Hereford)
August: Let the Season begin
1st Npower Championship game : Burnley (Home)
West Ham 3-0 Burnley (Kevin Nolan 20, Sam Baldock 23,Carlton Cole 61)
Very happy with 1st match and especially happy with two new signings bagging debut goals.
Carling Cup 1st Round : Stevenage (Home)
West Ham 4-4 Stevenage (West Ham win 4-1 on Penalties)
Although didnt have a full strength squad out was still very dissapointed with the performance and the fact it had to be decided on penalties.
2nd Npower Championship game: Brighton (Away)
Brighton 1-1 West Ham (James Chester 41, Carlton Cole 72)
Was dissapointed with the draw although we were behind until the 72nd minute which you would assume id be happy with a point but was dissapointed due to the fact we dominated the game but couldnt take our chances.
3rd Npower Championship game: Hull City (Home)
West Ham 2-2 Hull (Daniel Sturridge 57,Carlton Cole 76,Matty Fryatt 79,90)
Absolutely Fuming!! were 2 goals ahead with 10mins to go and blew it, absolutely not acceptable.
4th Npower Championship game: Portsmouth (Away)
Portsmouth 0-2 West Ham(Carlton Cole 57, Kevin Nolan 90+3)
Was very pleased with the win after throwing away a 2goal lead in the last game, played well throught the match, kevin Nolan and Mark Noble dominated the middle of the park. Mark Noble picks up injury and is out for 2weeks.
Carling Cup 2nd Round: Southampton (Away)
Southampton 1-1 West Ham (3-2 Extra time) (Schneiderlin 30, Sturridge 39,108, Lambert pen 94, Collison Own goal 112). Very dissapointed to go out in extra time as we dominated the game, midfield was awful, papa bouba diop and collison played terribly and collison proved that with his idiotic own goal. I Guess one advantage is the fact we can focus on promotion more now.
After the dissapointment of going out of the carling cup and concerned if I have enough strenght in depth I decided to bring in 2 final additions to the squad before the end of the transfer window, I brought in Emmanuel Frimpong on loan (Arsenal) and signed Simon Church £2.2M( Reading) as he had already scored 4 goals this season in the league .
5th Npower Championship game : Derby County (Home)
West Ham 5-0 Derby (Sturridge 7,45+4,50, Jason Shackell own goal 39, Carltion Cole 56)
Absolutely delighted by not just the scoreline but the performance to go with it, especially from Daniel Sturridge, bagging a hattrick and scoring 6goals in 4games, 4 of those goals in the league.
September: Transfer window over, head down and concentrate!
6th Npower Championship Game : Ipswich Town (Away)
Ipswich 2-3 West Ham (Sturridge 9, Carlton Cole 11,Dallku own goal 19, Beciraj 40, Sonko 75). Very happy with the win as the great striking partnership of Daniel Sturridge and Carlton Cole rolls on as they cant stop scoring!! and this win puts us top on 14points after 6matches, hope the unbeaten run continues.
7th Npower Championship Game : Watford (Home)
West Ham 3-1 Watford (Shaun Batt 42, Collison 54, Sturridge 73, loach own goal 85)
Performance overall was very good as I was delighted to see that heads didnt drop and performance improved after going a goal down, managed to turn it around and score 3, yet again Daniel Sturridge Scored.
8th Npower Championship Game : Crystal Palace (Away)
Crystal Palace 0-2 West Ham (Noble 12, Carlton Cole 32)
Completely played Palace off the park and the score didnt reflect the performance as it could and probably should easily have been 4-5 goals in their net.
