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The Season Ahead Part Eighteen : West Ham United

Published by Ian John on September 18, 2009

Prospects for 2009 :
The likeable Gianfranco Zola has been in the job at Upton Park for a year now and under his guidance West Ham have established themselves firmly as a mid to upper half of the table side. All this against a back drop of financial worry for the club which has led to rumours of almost all of their top players being linked with a move away and forcing Zola to bring on some of the talented youngsters at the club. Second seasons can prove to be notoriously difficult at clubs and while Zola may find that the lack of squad depth he has bites more this season, he has enough quality in the squad to ensure West Ham are not drawn into a relegation dogfight.

2009 is a big season for :
Dean Ashton. The big striker has suffered with injury throughout most of his career and once again he has missed the start of the season due to still not being fully recuperated from the season ending injury he incurred last season after just four league games for the Hammers. The injury was unfortunate for Ashton as he’d made the England squad for the first time during the 2008 tour to the West Indies and looked like he could play a part in the World Cup qualifying campaign. Ashton will need to have a great season if he is going to push himself into contention for Fabio Capello’s squad for the finals in South Africa next summer.

Guaranteed to irritate in 2009 :
Well, we’ve already seen some of the dregs of the West Ham fan base disgrace themselves during a Carling Cup tie with Millwall this season. These simian-browed, pea-brained losers are a disgrace and bring an unwelcome shame on an otherwise friendly and historic club. One only hopes that the subsequent police enquiry rounds up these mono-syllabic morons and prosecutes them fully. Other than that, there is only the minor irritation of Kieran Dyer looking to get back to form, only to get injured when he just looks about to do so once again. What could have been, eh Kieran?

Things they’ll moan about in 2009 :
It’s hard to know what anyone at West Ham will moan about to be honest. There are those that will probably complain bitterly about being the poorer relatives of London’s football elite, but really it is simply a financial fact rather than any great unfairness towards them. I suppose the lack of financial clout may be a reason for some to moan about the leadership at the club but you can’t sell something if nobody wants to buy it I suppose. Gianfranco Zola doesn’t seem to be the manager who moans an awful lot, he has too big a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye to become a fully paid up member of the snarling, closet mentality brigade, and let’s face it, it is a refreshing and most welcome change.

Song that sums up their chances in 2009 : “Hammer to Fall” by Queen
Last season’s top half finish was an excellent showing by Zola in his first year as manager and if he can get several of his clubs fragile stars to play for the majority of the season, notably the likes of Danny Gabbidon, Dean Ashton and Kieran Dyer, then the Hammers have a chance of at least matching this impressive 9th place showing. However I think injuries will see Zola’s side struggle to match last season’s performances and while relegation will be no threat, I can’t quite seem them achieving a top half finish this season.

Image Courtesy of ***Eamon Curry123*** at Flickr.com

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