West Ham Utd 2 Leicester City 0 27th February 2025

Hammers Sink Struggling Leicester City in Routine Home Win at London Stadium

Hope everyone is safe and well.

I recently completed my 10k race in a little under 55mins, which I am quite pleased about because my training for this race has been very much stop start these last few months. Just when I thought I was getting back into a solid training routine I’d struggle to keep it going and end up missing a few sessions and then feel as if I had lost any progress I’d made previously.

This time of year the weather plays its part and when it’s cold and wet, I managed to get out a few times to run, but its miserable training in such conditions and you feel as if you’re constantly battling to keep up. But despite the last few weeks of missed sessions, I was warming up with all the other competitors outside the London Stadium waiting for the race to start. 

I chose the follow the sub 55min pace runner and with my Runna app playing to keep me on track throughout the race, I was pleasantly surprised to see my progress on the route and knew that I could achieve a decent time, at least for me. By the final km I was running faster and managed to cross the line with energy to spare and a sense of achievement, the result of all those weeks of preparation and training. 

Potter and his team, have their work cut out for them with the team and despite some fits and starts since his appointment, we are finally seeing some progress across the team with that outstanding away performance against Arsenal in our 0-1 win at the Emirates. The Gunners away seem to be a guaranteed 3 points for us these days, but it was a battling performance that showed the progress the team are making.

Interestingly it was a wonderful team performance without Paqueta, who also missed this home win against the Foxes. It has given Potter the chance to introduce players and tweak the formation and we have had the opportunity to see young Scarles and Ferguson get time on the pitch and prove their worth. But of course, there will be good and bad performances and times when it just doesn’t work and we find ourselves on the end of a frustrating loss. As with my running, as long as there is progress and we are moving in the right direction, which I believe we very much are with Potter, we can cope with some disappointing results.

I believe, as with my personal race time and my strong end towards the finish line, we can expect a strong end the season with a run of form that will leave us excited about what Potter can achieve going forward. Baring in mind of course that Potter was not Sullivan’s first choice and a sudden drop in form and a short run of defeats could see our new gaffer under pressure. As any manager would be given the nature of the Premier League game, but would Sullivan hold his nerve as he has in the past? 

I cooked dinner for the family – spicy Vegan swarma wraps with potato wedges and salad, before heading off to the game. I was able to arrive a little earlier than usual and come towards the ground from a different angle. My new camera kit, as I’ve mentioned before, is more powerful than my old 800D and I can push the exposure more with higher ISO and open the aperture to get some better shots in the low light.

I walk around the stadium as usual waiting to meet with my brother. Without the either of the boys with me and I feel I can take more time to stop and observe and carefully scan around for any interesting shots. Although it is a bit hit and miss when the light is this low.

I read some of the comments from previous posts how some of you prefer the atmospheric shots from he action shots of the players during the match and wanted to again push my little nifty 50mm Canon lens. It’s about how far away you can be from a scene and still get a good shot. I quite like this one of the fans checking out the names on the plagues on the floor, the light here works really well I think.

With the bar/ food stall shots, I can immerse myself int he crowd and get some interesting depth of field on the shots, blurring out the fans mingling around and focusing on the people serving or the food sign.

I love this shot of the family arriving to the stadium together for the match. This is the present and future of the clubs fanbase and it’s great to see that season ticket prices are frozen for next season and concessionary rates put back in place. The club didn’t have to take away concessionary rates for younger and older fans, there’s not much finical benefit and the good will of fans goes a very ling way, especially when the team are going though a rough patch of form.

I make my way round to the turnstile and stop and wait to see if there are any shots – to be honest I do tend to just shot away at times just to keep my eye in but also some shots are a matter of chance.

Inside the stadium and walking between the crowd to get to my usual stall for coffee, I again just stand for a bit, almost becoming part of the crowd but with my camera up and ready to take a few shots. This is a nice one of the fans chatting before the match over a few beers.

I’v taken this shot quite a few times, but thought it was worth it again with the light just catching ht eying fans as they walk up and into thew stands. This bit of getting to my seat is something I always enjoy, especially when the stands come in to view and the crowd are making their way to their seats and the team are practicing on the pitch.

Finding a particular fan to focus on, especially someone as excited as this wonderful fan, always makes for some great shots. I love how the image of her is captured on her friends’ mobile screen as well.

The flags come out and as the flag bearers wave them either side of the pitch the music helps generate the atmosphere across the stands and then we have the customary pyrotechnics to final get the crowd ready for the teams to walk onto the pitch.

The fan I’ve highlighted is fully immersed in the atmosphere and I loved this shot of the young fan calling out at James Ward-Prowse name is announced with the player’s image appearing on the large screens either end of the pitch. Love to capture this kind of passion.

Then a team huddle in the Homeside’s half of the pitch before taking their places for the start of the match. Togetherness is a theme that Potter has clearly worked on with the players and you get this increasingly evident on the pitch throughout the games.

The visitors put some early pressure on but despite any forays into our half, they were unable to care out any real chances.

Defensively we looked strong and it was great to see Ward-Prowse back in claret and blue. Tracking back for defensive duties and providing some cover in midfield. It was a very different game to when the Foxes too us apart 3-1 on 3rd December in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge.

Leicester lacked any real purpose upfront and their defensive frailties exposed as Soucek slotted in the loose ball from Kudus initial shot on 21mins – a perfect way for Tomas to celebrate his 30th birthday.

Then Soucek in helping out in defence – he is definitely a favourite player of mine and has been a key part of winning games for us, whether that is crucial goal or a strong presence in midfield and clearing up defensively. I hope he was bale to enjoy his birthday after the match.

This wasn’t the most exciting match and to be honest, if it wasn’t so cold I’d have fallen asleep at times. But they were moments here and there to excite.

We were enjoying plenty of the ball and applied a lot of pressure, although the visitors were not exactly making it hard for us. Then Jarrod Bowen finished off the visitors with a tight shot that deflected off defender Jannik Vestergaard beyond Hermansen and that really seemed to end the match as a competitive contest.

No last minute excitement from a Ward-Prowse free kick and the teams filed off the pitch for half time. I couldn’t believe how bored I felt watching the match as we were winning 2-0! 

A chance for a few shots as I catch up with my brother and those around me before settling down for the second half. During the break it’s not so easy to find any real interesting shots, I snap away hoping a few shots may make it into the post. 

Fans are roused as the teams return to the pitch and I always look forward to us playing towards the Booby Moore Stand so I can get some decent shots of some of the players.

Scarles continues to impress and its credit to his performances on the pitch that Potter gives him plenty of game time. I managed to get a few shots of him looking confident and getting involved in the play in advanced positions before he was substituted for Emerson on 65mins.

I really like this shot of both Cresswell and Bowen getting involved in the game and pressing high. It has been great to see Bowen back, and of course Cresswell has been a great servant of the club. Could this be his final season with us?

A few tame efforts from the visitors and a great shot here of a fan anxiously watching on as another Leicester chance is easily snuffed out, this time by Areola. Leicester have only managed 21 goals so far this season, less than a goal per game. And you can see why.

Ferguson replaces Kudus on 73mins and he does look exciting. Keen to get involved and take the ball, resting forward and making opportunities – I’m expecting his influence to grow and game time to increase as we see out the closing stages of this season.

Opportunities were few and far between in the second half, but I feel there could be a great relationship between Bowen and Ferguson if they are given time to develop it. Another exciting option for Potter.

And the match finishes with back to back wins for the Hammers after out impressive victory against the Gunners, and a win that puts pressure of Van Nistelrooy, whose side look unlikely to manage another famous escape from relegation.

Celebrations were high after the match as I walked around the stadium to catch some photos of the atmosphere. I lost a few shots of celebrations as the low light made it hard to capture a decent image, but these two came out quite well. Loved the sheer enjoyment in this fans dance and then the three fans together. So glad these came out ok after a bit of editing. The thing is I don’t really get a chance to properly check my shots as you want to capture a moment and so you rely on instinct in making any slight adjustment for exposure and hope for the best.

A couple of fans framed by the Hammers logo – a popular choice for a photo before an after the match and finally, after saying my goodbye’s to my brother I head off home. I usually try and find any last minute interesting shoots, especially using my nifty 50mm lens.

Apologies for the lateness of this post, it’s Ramadan and I tend to focus on other things during this Holy month, so takes a little longer to turn my posts around.

Take care everyone

Dawud

West Ham United v Brentford 15th February 2025

Struggling Hammers Lose to Battling Bees At London Stadium

I hope everyone is safe and well.

I was about to leave for this match when my wife and youngest boy noticed that the hot water tap was not running properly. Trying the taps myself, I found the water barely dripping out. It was the same with the cold water tap as well.

I quickly checked the boiler and water mains and everything seemed to be as normal. But still no water from the taps. What could be causing this?

I slipped on my boots and knocked on our neighbours door asking if they were having trouble with their water as well. Yes, they were so phew! It’s not anything wrong with our end but we had noticed some workmen behind our row of houses who were busy digging a hole in the communal garden area.

I walked round to ask them what they were doing – apparently they were upgrading some pipework and needed to turn off the water mains. I challenged them both “Did you not think to tell anyone you were going to turn the water off?” One of them, who was leaning over a barrier surrounding the hole and clearly busy on his phone, just looked up and nodded.

“Well, how long you going to be?” “‘Bout ‘arf ‘our mate” 

Strewth! They are not my mates and I started thinking what would someone do if they were in the shower when the water was turned off, or used water for a medical need, or needed the heating on. So inconsiderate and frustrating in equal measure. I thought about giving them both a piece of my mind, but decided it wasn’t worth my time and turned on my heals to quickly get ready and get to the match, we were already late by this time.

My patience was tested and my blood boiling from the short exchange with these noons, so as I walked to the match with my son, we talked about the team sheet and whether we would win this match. Brentford have been on a good little run but after our Chelsea performance, I was really hoping we could win this match. Bowen back in the team, Ferguson and James on the bench and the exciting Scarles likely to make another showing we were definitely feeling positive. Potter has done some good work so far with the team and we were expecting to see some more improvement in how the team play.

Being late meant I did not have the time to come towards the stadium from a different route to my usual. I have been meaning to approach the stadium from different areas around Stratford to get a few different perspectives, but today it was about getting to the stadium as soon as we could before the start of the match.

The steps are quite striking, especially taken using my nifty 50mm lens. I manage to get through security easily enough with a bit of banter and distraction away from my camera, and I send a quick text to check if my brother has arrived.

As it is so close to kick off, there are plenty of fans mingling around on the concourse that surrounds the stadium, and me and my boy quickly meander through the crowd towards the turnstile. I try and capture a sense of people gathering together before the game and finally get to the turnstile to find my brother waiting.

As my brother buys our coffees and some crisps, I scan around for anything interesting to quickly snap. 

Then we rush round past the founders wall and up the stairs that lead into the stands and we are in time to hear the crowd singing and music playing as the players enter the pitch with bubbles billowing around us.

As the players form lines around the centre circle the announcer introduces a celebration of Ronnie Boyce to gentle applause, who played his entire career for West Ham United, making 282 Football League appearances for us scoring the winning goal in the 1964 FA Cup final against Preston North End and then go on to help the Hammers win the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup.

The match starts and it’s quite hard to know what has happened since we last played against Chelsea away. Brentford rush breathlessly forward time and again.

We are over run and outplayed and whatever the plan was for the first half, surly it wasn’t to concede endless space and allow the visitors to attack almost without resistance.

Schade’s goal is briefly checked by VAR and confirmed as an early sucker punch before the team had a chance to get hold of the ball.

Paqueta, who was definitely struggling, thumps a naive cross field pass in front of our 18 yard box that is eventually snatched up by Wissa to sink home and its 2-0 before I’ve had a chance to drink any coffee or taste a crisp! 

After a short time, the goal is ruled out for off side, maybe this could be our day but it seemed only inevitable the Bees would be pressing again and again to try and double their lead.

Soucek is yellow carded for a silly challenge and again Kevin Schade was causing problems down the left side for us as he thumps another ball into the area.

But what on earth is going on with the short passes out from the keeper that time and again puts us under pressure as we struggle to get the ball up field? Every time either Areola or a defender soft passed the ball out from the 6 yard box, Brentford rushed forward to put whoever had the ball under pressure. This doesn’t work for us and leaves us exposed at the back.

We were lucky not to be 3 or 4 nil down by half time! If I was upset before the game I was feeling absolutely beside myself by half time. Surely Potter didn’t send the team out to play like that? Strewth! We just hoped something will change for the second half.

The first half felt like pre-Potter, where Lopetigui had the team set up in such as way as to leave the players confused about their roles in the game. Brentford came at us quickly and with purpose, cutting through our midfield like a hot knife through butter. 

It wasn’t working at all and we were fortunate for both VAR and Brentford’s lack of composure to finish off some of their chances. They were defending high on the press and we were giving them time and space on the ball.

But Potter rang the changes at half time introducing Prowse, Scarles and Ferguson to inject some purpose and energy into the team and try to tighten the midfield. And we looked a lot more competitive, turning the play over and making forward runs, but crucially the players worked harder to close down and chase that second ball. 

And we got to see James Ward-Prowse in action with plenty of corners and free kicks in front of the visitors penalty area. Nothing came of them, but it was great to see our dead ball specialist back in claret and blue. You felt as if something could happen, we held more of a threat from set ball plays, but in the end it just wasn’t to be and maybe too much to expect from JWP for his first match back in the first team.

And what a difference having Scarles and Ferguson on for the second half. We suddenly started to close down and defend higher up the pitch. We ran for the second ball, challenged and harassed and we were probing and searching for a way through the visitors defence. Both Ferguson and Scarles injected some well needed quality with Ferguson looking to be in the right place, Scarles throwing himself into the game and trying to make things happen.

The crowd were getting behind the team and there was a sense that we could at least take a point from this encounter, but ut was not to be. Brentford had done enough in the first half and held on for a win against a team still in some transition where Potter has a lot more work to do before we can find some consistency but get into a run of form and start securing points to take us up the table.

A frustrating game for sure, you could see how much it meant to Scarles and the crowd were left to wonder what the result could have been if the team that finished the match had started the game. One thing that we noticed was how much better Paqueta was in the second half. More of that please.

It was cold and wet, and after the game me and the boy didn’t want to hang around. My brother said his good byes and me and my son walked quickly around the stadium towards our exit for home. I try and grab a few shots but a lot of fans had gone already. I do love the shots with just enough light to capture a face or outlines of people at the bar. Although these hosts often need a bit of careful editing to bring anything worthwhile out of them.

A few younger fans playing football after the match – a bit of a challenge to capture even with the new kit – but I like these shots even if the focus is a little out the blurred with movement. But enough now, we both thought, it’s time to get home and reflect on a missed opportunity to secure a mid table spot in the league.

Take care everyone

Dawud

West Ham Utd 0 Crystal Palace 2 18th January 2025

Potters magic falters as Hammers slip to home defeat against Palace

Hope everyone is safe and well.

Apologies for the delay in posting my latest photo diary from the disappointing defeat against our London rivals Crystal Palace. The mixture of work and life balance have been a little tricky recently. The boys have been busy with their cricket training, I’ve been trying to fit in as much running as I can before my 10km race on 23rd February, and its been a bit stressful work wise with setting up our new project – lots of that boring admin work to do sadly.

Team work was something I was thinking a lot about since this match as me and my wife continue with our recruitment of a new post to run our Be Well Together Health Inequalities Learning Disabilities project. We have a plan about what we want to happen and when, the commissioners on the other hand have their own plan, developed without consultation and they then throw us curve balls when they want something done.

In a recent meeting with them, when we raised our concern about how they are just having meetings without us and then coming up with stuff they think needs doing without asking us first, they said ‘Oh, we are just trying to help, we are working on this as a team’ We highlighted that team work involved everyone being on the same page knowing what each person in the team was doing and why and wasn’t about them deciding on their own what was best for the project then telling us what to do! We feel this is going to be a difficult relationship, there is definitely something lost in translation of roles within this new project. Strewth!

Turning to all things West Ham, Potter said he is trying to build foundations for a successful team, bringing the team together and finding a way forward. He has certainly made some good progress in the short time he has been at the club, but the Palace result and performance just shows how much work he needs to do. The players are struggling with confidence and will need some work from Potter in the coming weeks and months, whilst he tries to work with what was left for him by Lopetigui.

There will of course be attempts for some movement in the transfer window, especially for a forward but we may have to accept that not much can be achieved in what is likely to be a tricky January transfer window for us. But what is good to see is how Potter is utilising the academy players and there is certainly some talent there for sure. I was watching Oliver Scarles when he came on for Rodriguez and in the short time he was on the pitch he certainly impressed me.

The performance against Villa was very much welcomed and there are definitely those green shoots of the players understanding and accepting what the new manager is trying to convey to them. I actually thought we could have won that match for sure. It was such a disappointment to see us concede to another home defeat.

Onto the Palace match itself and walking to the stadium with my youngest son we were certainly expecting something from the game – a draw would have made us happy, but a good performance on the back of the win at Fulham would have been just as welcome.

We were running late due to coming back from my son’s cricket training and having to quickly get changed and grab some food before heading off. It was starting to get busy around the stadium as fans filled from different directions to then queue at security, but to be fair, they seem to be checking everyone through more quickly these days, or so it seems. And I managed to ease through even with my camera bag, which has my wallet, tissue, prayer mat, hand sanitiser and keys so it’s easy to distract anyone looking through it away from my new camera kit.

My nifty 50mm lens throws up some good depth of field shots and I quite like this shot of the fans waiting to get through the security checkpoint with the stadium in focus and the fans in the foreground blurred out.

We met my brother, grabbed a coffee for us and some crisps for my boy and then headed into the stands, which were filling up quickly. I do enjoy the feeling of walking up those short steps as the stands come into view and then the pitch itself.

I was wondering if this fan found the name he was looking for – I’ve found my brother’s name, but haven’t found mine as yet.

As the chanting gets underway whilst the teams file out onto the pitch for the prematch line up, I always try to get some shots of fans with their hands held high in the foreground and players on the pitch behind.

No surprises with the line up and formation for this match as Potter is clearly limited for choice, but not having an out and out striker is going to continue to have a huge impact on us for the rest of the season, as it would any team. Potter has inherited an unbalanced side, but you can see what he is trying to do as certain players are starting to gel better across the pitch.

Our tactic seemed to be to get the ball to Kudus, which in itself is ok, but how often are the players watching him run instead of making forward runs to provide options either wide or central? But this is where the team are unbalanced, without Bowen or Antonio we are struggling in the final third of the pitch with little pace or creativity to make something happen in front of goal.

Palace were pressing and we had to keep our focus in defence with Fabianski called on to make some crucial saves. This shot of him saving looks like he has the ball in his hand! These kind of shots are a bit hit and miss and I’m just letting the shutter fire off in the hope of capturing a decent image or two.

We had some opportunities ourselves with set pieces and the crowd were getting behind the team to add some wind to the players sails in the hope of seeing us hit the back of the net.

But time and again we were toothless upfront, despite holding possession, without registering a shot on target all match and only 7 shots in total! Shocking statistics really. And a difficult game to watch without doubt. 

It was a relief to hear the half time whistle and see the players file off the pitch for what we hope is a rousing talking to from the manager. It wasn’t working for us and something had to change otherwise we could be looking at another heavy defeat, despite Palace lacking that clinical finish in the first half themselves.

Half time and not much is going on except Lyca time! (I kept thinking the announcer was saying Lycra time and kept wondering what on earth was going to happen!) With a fans quiz to occupy those still at their seats in the stands, I actually guessed this one correctly that Harewood scored more goals than Di Canio.

The mood amongst the fans around us was one of patience, give Potter time, see what he can do in the time he has over the transfer window but also until the end of the season. 

The second half begins and Carlos Soler comes on for the ineffective Rodriguez, who I’m not sure about still myself and it is now noted that Tim Steidten has now left the club, and I for one think it’s about time. I am expecting more purpose in our attempts to strengthen the squad – whether we manage to bag a transfer or two this month or over the summer.

Then Jean-Philippe Mateta scores to put the visitors ahead on 48mins from a through ball by Eberechi Eze to fire beyond the diving Fabianski into the bottom corner. Palace were good for their lead given the pressing they had maintained throughout the match and looked in control.

Then Potter throws the dice with a triple substitution taking off Paqueta, Emerson and Cresswell and bringing on Ings, Scarles and Orford. It could either be a stroke of genius with a flourish of a magic wand, or a move that could misfire horribly.

But one positive for me in this match was Scarles, what a promising player he is. Probing forward, confident to get in the tackle and retain the ball, looking to get involved in the game and such awareness to pick out a pass or two and get himself in good situations. Wonderful confidence from such a young lad. I really enjoyed capturing some decent shots of him for the short time he was on the pitch.

But beyond that it was such a frustrating watch and one of those evenings of football you want to quickly forget.

Then Mavropanos gets a red card after grappling with Mateta and then showing a high boot that earned a second yellow card. Another absent player for our visit to Villa, not exactly what we needed going into a tough game, but the performance in the end at that away game was very encouraging.

With just two minutes of ordinary time left, Fabianski takes out Eddie Nketiah in the area and up steps Mateta to slot home the penalty for his brace and seal a win for the visitors. Potter has not had a lot of time with the squad, but my days he must have been thinking ‘What have I inherited here?’

Fan file out of the stadium as the final whistle blows, but I think we all realise that its early days for the new gaffer and its great to see the academy players – although through necessity really – not just warming the bench but coming on and showing what they can do.

Scarles deserved the applause from the fans in the stands after the match. Really looking forward to seeing more of him this season.

Outside the stadium, I capture some shots of fans enjoying the music and a few drinks and a chat about the game before heading home. I wander about while chatting to my brother before heading home myself.

I’m trying to look at different aspects of matches this season and I capture discarded drinks cups and tins with the stadium blurred out in the background before heading up to the Greenway home.

A few diehard fans wait for the players to come out of the stadium car park, the flag has ‘Soucek your my favourite player’ written on it, and he has certainly been a fantastic servant for the club and I’m not surprised he is a fans favourite player. 

Overall a very disappointing evening, but I wanted to share this post even though it is late as I feel there are some good shots here worth viewing.

As an update, we saw a very different performance against Aston Villa, and hopefully we will see more of that in the coming weeks, especially with Bowen returning to the team sooner rather than later.

Take care everyone

Dawud

West Ham Utd 3 Fulham 2 14th January 2025

Potter’s magic inspires Hammers to win against Fulham at London Stadium

Hope everyone is safe and well.

We are in the process of recruiting a project co-ordinatior and have sent out the job advert to various places and are now waiting for application forms to hit our in box.

We know what we want this person to do and have a clear idea about what skills and experience they will need to demonstrate their suitability for this important project role to support adults with learning disabilities to become more active and improve health and well-being outcomes within the learning disability community.

When you have a clear idea about what you need in a person you are able to sort the wheat from the chaff as it were, and then interview the most suitable candidates. It’s not rocket science really, the project has a clear direction and set of outcomes and the new recruit will need to be able to show us they can deliver on times within the set timescale of the project.

In football any potential manager has to be able to convince the board that they are the best person for the job to take the club forward and get the players to produce the results required to build a successful team.

With some managers you know what you are getting, you do your homework and check their track record and say ‘That’s the person who can deliver what we want at this club’. Alternatively, you can have no clear idea what you want, or be convinced that the most important role in the club can be done on the cheap and just cross your fingers and hope that everything will work out fine. It depends whether you’re prepared to pay the right amount of money for the right person to come and work their magic.

You know what you’re getting with Potter, and despite the unhinged chaos he found himself in at Chelsea, he has his work at Brighton to show what he can bring to the club. With Lopetegui I really had no idea what we were getting, he seemed to have no clear idea or direction, he hadn’t even been to see the academy players and didn’t know what his best team was. The players often found it difficult to work with what they had been told and it almost felt as if they just got together as a team the week before.

Potter is confident, knows what he wants, comes across as someone with a plan, has spoken to each player in the academy team and is quickly assessing the first team squad and getting some of the players utilising their strengths and abilities already. The players are working more as a team, have purpose at times on the ball and you can see the level of commitment they now have, which was absent from the previous manager.

The Aston Villa result was expected in a way and there was no time for Potter to work with the players, but he impressed in his press conferences and media presentations and in going out of the FA Cup may, in the long term of this season, actually do us a favour whilst Potter settles at the club and begins the process of building his team for next season. Potter did well to negotiate a 2.5 year deal and I feel it is important to give him time this season to work out what he needs to take the club forward next season.

I was on my own walking to the stadium for this match, as it’s a school night the boys were unable to attend, but I was meeting with my brother as he has his seat next to mine. I was in a bit of a rush to get there and I really didn’t have the time to walk around the stadium pre match as I usually do. On my way along the Greenway I have been trying to capture fans walking to the stadium, silhouetted against the street lamps. 

I quickly captured fans crossing the road towards the security check as I made my way directly to turnstile A to join the queue. The new camera is a little bigger but with my nifty 50mm lens on the body it doesn’t seem to be an issue with the security checking my deliberately battered and worn camera bag. I engage in a bit of distracting banter as I open the bag slightly and I’m quickly through and skip amongst the crowd around food and drink area just inside the stadium and then climb the stairs and into the stands.

The pyrotechnics are in full flame with music filling the bowl and a rush of excitement hits you as the teams spill onto the pitch and form a huddle before taking their places for the start of the match. I was actually looking forward to this match and felt we could get a result if we were able to deliver some of the performance we showed for large parts of the cup tie against Villa only a few days before. 

The chanting and singing and atmosphere was electric as the crowd seemed to anticipate a better performance under the new gaffer and we were not to be disappointed. That new manager bounce had rippled through the fans and it helped build an atmosphere as the game started.

The visitors had their chances and we rode our luck at times as Harry Wilson hit the bar and we were outplayed for the first 30mins or so. Our defence needed to be sharper to snuff out some of those early opportunities for the Cottagers, who were left to with nothing to show for their initial attacking intent.

But we had purpose. The players were playing more as a team and you sensed everyone had a clear idea about their roles and what was expected of them. Something that had been lacking under Lopetegui and the progress made already with Potter at the helm added to our expectations. The manager himself has said he is building a ‘foundation of togetherness’ and that showed.

Kudus had the ball in the net but fans anxiously waited for the VAR review for potential offside, which was confirmed but we could see there was something different about the team and the crowd continued to urge the players forward.

And we didn’t have to wait long for the first goal as Carlos Soler collected a loose ball to curl his shot home. 1-0 the the Hammers. Now we could celebrate as we watched the players turn the game on its head in a frantic few minutes.

Only 2 mins later and we were celebrating again as Soucek, who has been such an amazing player for us over the years, headed home a telling cross from Aaron Wan-Bissaka. 2-0 to the home side and we fans could not believe what is happening. Fulham are a decent side and here we are tearing them apart.

But that wasn’t all going our way, except that Fulham were wasteful infant of goal and on another night it could have been a different game. But the crowd’s encouragement was not to be dampened.

There was even some fun with one fan holding up a yellow card for the foul on Fabianski as he rush off his line to gather the ball from another Fulham attack. 

The game played out until the half time whistle, and whilst the teams filled off the pitch, we had a lot to chat about. There were so many positives from what we had seen already – the 2 goals in quick succession had really got us excited for more and as Guy Mowbray says on FIFA 24 ‘could this be the two punch knockout?”

Me and my brother were chatting about what Potter has done and needs to do to get the team reaching higher levels in the Premier League as I scanned around for anything going on in the stadiums.

But before we knew it, the players had returned to the pitch and the game restarted.

But we were not going to get everything our own way as Alex Iwobi managed to curl his effort beyond Fabianski to give Fulham a way into the match on 51mins. Anxiety began to creep in and despite the team continuing to play well, it seemed as if that good work from the tail end of the first half was going to be undone.

But Danny Ings, replacing Kudus who received much well deserved applause as he left the pitch, had an almost immediate impact as he forced Fulham keeper Bernd Leno into making an error, Paqueta was there to pick up the loose ball and fire home to restore the Hammer’s two goal advantage. 

Wild scenes of celebration and we felt this was going to be our night. The fact that Ings pressed so well on the keeper and Paqueta was there to pick up the ball showed some of the work Potter has already done with the team. Before, it would have been an opportunity missed.

Players battled more, fought for those headers and if this the impact already, who knows what may happen by the end of the season. Can we dream of reaching Europe and bring Thursday night football back to the bowl? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Iwobi threatened to spoil the party with his brace after 78 minutes, but it was not to be. Irving replaced Soler and Scarles came on for Rodriguez and we managed to see the game out and the sense of intense celebration filled the stands as the final whistle blew after 6minutes of extra time.

Two of my favourite fans, Simon and Elaine, show a mixture of surprise and celebration as we wondered if we had seen a real turning point in our fortunes this season with some luck, some excellent periods of football from the players and a performance that deserved all three points Potter really could have waved his wand to bring the club to life again.

I thought it was a great touch for Potter and some of the team to clap the remaining fans at the end of the match. And shows his attention to detail because he realises the importance of the fans in building the togetherness required to be a successful club.

I managed to take a few shots before leaving the stadium and fans were checking the table – yes, we are above both Spurs and Man Utd. This fan was clearly happy and prepared to pose for a photo. We felt as if a weight had been lifted as we could honestly say we enjoyed an evenings football with lots of positives to focus on.

I walked around the stadium before heading home, clicking away to capture some past match shots of fans mingling amongst the food and drink stalls. 

My new kit does a much better job under the low light conditions of the evening games at this time of the year. I can edit the RAW files to get some decent photos, and capture some of that light and contrast.

Well, my assessment is that the team are certainly transformed already in such a short period of time since Potter was appointed. He has his challenges, especially with key players out injured, and any team would struggle with such important players missing from their first team squads. But, Potter has already shown he is willing to utilise the academy to good effect, he is instilling some belief back into the players and fans and I for one am really looking forward to the Palace game, expecting another good performance and 3 more points.

Take care everyone

(Edit – this post was written before the Crystal Palace game)

Dawud 

West Ham Utd 0 Liverpool 5 29th December 2024

The Hammers Suffer Another Thrashing at London Stadium to Premier League Leaders Liverpool

I hope everyone is safe and well.

Apologies for missing the Brighton match, I couldn’t recover from my flu and wanted to be well enough for me and my wife to go away to celebrate our anniversary. I listened to the match at home instead and took to bed early so we could drop the boys to their cousins house the following day whilst we went to Tunbridge Wells for a couple of days.

It’s been a tough end to work before the festive break and we finally managed to cross the T’s and dot the I’s on an exciting project to support adults with learning difficulties and disabilities to access leisure centres. We will also be delivering some staff training to make sure staff are able to make reasonable adjustments, communicate with and support some new members as we run a range of exciting sessions across the boroughs’ leisure centres.

It feels like all of our planning over the last year and a half has finally meant we can use the voice of those who we support to help shape the way leisure centres adapt their facilities and staffing to encourage people with learning difficulties and disabilities to become more active. Bu also we hope the project will mean people with learning difficulties and disabilities will have a say in what they want to do, where they want to do it and with whom and how they want to be supported. We will be employing someone to run the project across the borough and we are very excited about what we can achieve in the coming 18 months.

We have had the right team around us, people with the right skills and experience but crucially focused on the success of the project and this has helped us through the difficult negotiations with commissioners but also to hold our nerve when it looked as if the project would fail at the first hurdle, as we faced various difficulties in meandering through the various hoops and diversions towards finally getting the contract agreed and signed and the funding in place to start.

Turning my attention towards West Ham Utd, the right team is clearly not in place, and this goes right to the top of the club’s hierarchy. The manager, I believe, is not the right person to turn this around and no new manager will whilst the club is run as it is now. Yes, some of the players have to have a long hard look at themselves, but there are some who are not up for the fight and not the right fit for the team. If J-Lo is sacked, and I think he will, Potter – who seems to be waiting in the wings – may be able to get the team player better together, but our future is still anchored down by owners who will continue to hold us back as a club.

I was actually looking forward to the match, I always do, as my brother was unable to attend I managed to bring both of my younger boys to the game which is a treat.

We left home early because I wanted to meet up with the wonderful team at Hammers Utd as they handed out black balloons before the match. I had a chance to chat with Andy Payne about where we are at regarding the club restoring the concessionary rates for young and older fans alike. Andy said they had had a ‘productive’ meeting with the club, who he felt had listened to their arguments carefully, backed by 20k plus signed petition, and he said there will be an announcement from the club in the New Year. I sensed Andy was hopeful of some good news, but he wasn’t able to share any details as yet.

We made our way down towards the stadium. I was extra excited as well because I was using my new Canon EOS 7D Mark II with my nifty 50mm lens. A wonderful fan Greg, who sits in the row in front of me, sold it to me before Christmas and this was the first time I’d really taken it for a spin. My wife bought it for me for an anniversary present and I’d been desperate to really see what it can do.

As I’ve said before, the nifty 50 lens takes some getting used to as you are unable to zoom in or out of a subject – you have to actually get closer or further away, so the scene is ‘cropped’ and this throws up some wonderful compositions of you get it right.

Considering how early we were for the game it was very busy and lots of fans were taking time to arrive earlier to enjoy a drink and a chat with friends and family and have their photos taken. The Canon EOS 7D has a more powerful sensor than my old EOS 800D, so even in low light for the night games, I was able to get much better detail on my shots than ever before. 

We went into the stadium a little earlier too as I wanted to settle and take a few test shots before the game started to check I had the right settings for the match on the 7D. We settled into our seats and watched the crowd spill into the stands before the match as the teams were warming up on the pitch.

Bubbles was making his rounds and having photos with the fans in the front rows.

This couple were part of a larger group who are Liverpool fans. They didn’t jump up or celebrate the goals, but they did spend the match filming the Liverpool players and crowd. This row of seats are usually taken by away fans, how do they get the tickets? Me and other fans were not happy and I noticed there were away fans in other seats in near where we were sitting. We had this when we first moved to the bowl, and had thought this had been resolved, but it seems increasingly away fans are getting tickets in the home sections of the stands. It’s not acceptable.

The atmosphere was good and I sensed hope and an expectation that we would give Liverpool a good game.

The pyrotechnic show of flashing lights and flames got the crowd roused and after missing the previous match, I couldn’t wait to see the team on the pitch and ready for action.

Before that, we gave Ludo and huge round of applause as he made his way onto the pitch to greet the fans singing ‘Oh big boy, what’s your name? My name is Ludo Miklosko, I come from near Moscow, I play in goal for West Ham!’ It was an emotional moment given that Ludo has been fighting cancer since when he was first diagnosed after discovering a lump on his hip 3 years ago. Ludo has decided not to follow chemotherapy treatment after finding more lumps because he says he wants to live a normal life.

Ludo made almost 400 appearances for the Hammers in goal and helped us achieve promotion in 1991 and 1993 as well as appearing in both our FA Cup and League Cup semi finals. A legend at the club, Ludo is currently sporting director at Banik Ostrava and has said that he wants to stay busy an active for as long as he can. We wish him all the very best and thank Ludo for his time at the club.

Th black balloons made an appearance just before and at the start of the match against Liverpool, this time there were hundreds of balloons billowing above our heads and trying to make it onto the pitch, but stewards did their best to stop them. It was a timely reminder of the strong feeling from the fans about the clubs change in policy on the concessionary rates for match day tickets. 

The match started and I actually thought we were competitive for the first 30mins of the game. Of course, the visitors were pressing, but I felt the centre back duo of Kilman and Mavropanos was working well to soak up the pressure, albeit at bit desperate at times. I was feeling that we could manage a draw or at least not get thrashed.

But then up steps Diaz to put away the easiest of goals on 30mins. Argh! Once Gakpo had made it 0-2 on 40mins it was clear we were going to struggle. Salah added a third just before half time and it felt that we were lucky to only be 0-3 down!

We had our moments and defensively we seemed to be throwing ourselves into making sure Liverpool didn’t score, but all that fell apart quite quickly once we were approaching half time.

Bowen was getting a lot of attention from the visitors and despite his hard work, we had very little to offer up front.

Kudus was a dim light of hope for us in the first half, with his strong, mazing runs and attempts to get us going forward and was unlucky not to score as he saw his shot rebound off Alisson Becker’s post.

The atmosphere had changed considerably by half time and boos rang around the stadium as the teams left the pitch and many fans had already taken their leave to the bar.

We were talking about the thrashing we got from Arsenal last season and how we sat through that until the bitter end, this was not what I had thought it would be like. I was reminiscing about Boxing Day fixtures at the Boleyn Ground, the atmosphere was always good, as far as I remember, and it was a great way to blow off some festive cheer with chants whilst watching the team battle it out on the pitch. This seemed as far away from that as you could get.

Fullkrug and Todibo came on for Alvarez and Coufal for the start of the second half, and I felt that was a positive move by the manager. Let’s see what Fullkrug could do for us.

But he is not going to achieve anything the way we are playing. Why are we unable to utilise strikers at West Ham? He was often isolated, without service and struggling to get into the game. I can’t see him staying at the club sadly.

Mac Allister’s tackle on Bowen was enough to force a substitution as he left the field, feeling all the attention he had been getting from the visitors, to make way for Summerville. Bowen had apparently suffered a fracture to a bone in his foot and he tried to continue, but needed to be substituted. It looks likely he will remain out of the squad for quite some time. Another blow that we do not need in the tough games we have coming up, but we all wish Bowen a speedy recovery.

I actually thought Summerville was our greatest threat in the second half, he is lively, holds the ball well, is strong and has a desire to go forwards and make things happen. I may be biased but I felt we should have had a penalty, but the ref was not going to let the home side spoil Liverpool’s party as he seemed to wave on many of the fouls the visitors committed on our players.

Time and again Summerville found himself on the ball and trying to create a threat to at least show some desire to play competitive football in front of the home crowd. 

Both Kudus and Summerville were my shout outs for MOTM, if anyone deserved it after the performance we gave.

Many fans had seen enough even before Diogo Jota had made it 0-5 on 84 minutes and there were plenty of empty seats at the final whistle.

We left straight away and made our way out the stadium onto the concourse. The boys wanted to go home straight away. It had been a tough evening for all of us and we just wanted to get home in the warmth and grab some snacks and watch a film or something.

I wanted to try and push the new camera to see what I can do and switched to the nifty 50 lens after the game and started snapping away. It’s been a while since I’ve really used this lens and I’m finally getting the hang of it again. I’m so impressed with how well this Canon 7D Mark II is performing in low light, and I think I’ve captured some great shots. The feature that really impresses me about this camera is how it adjusts exposure when you are shooting in florescent light. Before my images would either go much darker or have an yellowy tint, meaning I needed to do more in the editing process. But with this camera, that doesn’t happen and it has reduced my editing time a lot.

So, as far as we know Julen’s position as manager is safe for now, although under enormous pressure. He has a huge backroom staff and paying everyone off is going to be ‘expensive’ for Sullivan and Co. Honestly, it’s ridiculous that what’s surely the most important job at the club is managed so poorly. Regardless of the score, we just need to see the performances under our new manager to know he is not going to turn this around. Appointing someone now would give them time to assess the team and have a plan for what to do in January. Getting Potter in on a 6 months contract shows you how little the owners ambition is for this club. Onward and upwards COYIs

Well, I pray everyone has had a peaceful Christmas and wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Thank you all for your support, positive comments and feedback on my posts in 2024. I do always hope you enjoy my posts and photos as much as I enjoy taking them and posting on here.

Let’s hope we get to have something to cheer about!

Take care everyone.

Dawud

West Ham Utd 2 Wolvers 1 9th December 2024

The Hammers scrape a win against struggling Wolves to keep Lopetegui as manager …. For now

Hope everyone is safe and well.

The Marshes have fallen foul of the various viruses and illnesses that have been circulating at the moment with both our boys off from school and me and my wife struggling through the days in the hope we can see the worst of it through before the Christmas break.

We are so looking forward to having time off this Christmas and don’t want to be laid up for 2 weeks because we were unable to shake off anything that the boys seem to share with us. It starts with a runny nose, then headaches and pains and before you know if, its full blown flu and rest and recuperation are needed.

I feel I’m over the worst of it and took a day out from work myself as did my wife previously. We are fortunate that we work together so we can cover the work when either one of us are off sick. But as we know, once the kids have it bad, it’s only a matter of time before me and my wife are totally floored. As day follows night, no matter what preparations you take – you’re going down, as we say in the Marsh household.

The thing about West Ham at the moment, there is something that is affecting the team, it started with a small snivel and has now ballooned into full blown flu because the owners are refusing to take the right precautions. The most important job in the club – the manager – is always seen as some after thought, with Sully going for the cheap as chips version instead of paying what is needed otherwise get a decent manager in place. Imagine wasting £30m or more on a player that can’t even get into the first team, but scraping around for a bargain basement or ‘unemployed’ manager that you don’t have to pay compensation for, to manage your team. We don’t have to imagine it, as we know.

I struggled to the match on Monday, knowing I’ve just managed to avoid any full on cold or flu and hoping not to get any worse, only to see an unconvincing win against a team we should be beating more easily. There are no real ‘easy’ games in the Premier League – ask Mann City! – but we should be able to see out Wolves who are in a dire situation at the moment and potentially going down.

The problem we have at West Ham is the owners refusal to make a decision – back the manager or not, either he is the person for the job or not, not this kicking the can down the road nonsense that just feeds into the negativity and infects the team and divides the fans. It starts with a snivel, then aches and pains and before you know it’s full on flu. 

I took my Canon nifty 50 lens with me this time, along with my Sigma 70-300mm lens which I need for the shots of the action on the pitch. The 50mm offers a very different kind of image and requires a different kind of photography to get decent shots at the matches, but it has the advantage of offering a very open aperture to let in what little light there is at evening games. Why not give it a spin tonight? I thought, there’s nothing wrong with trying something different.

And try something different Lopetegui did with the team selection with Paqueta on the bench and Bowen up top and Summerville starting and Todibo in defence. I was glad Paqueta had been benched, he needs time out of the first team and didn’t offer much when he came on in the second half, giving the ball away again so often. But, if one of your strikers scores a goal, surely he plays at the start of the next match? Crazy idea, I know but I’m old school like that. Fulkrug was reduced to warming up on the touch line. 

The usual pyrotechnics provided the backdrop to some pumping music to get the atmosphere up for a game that was over shadowed by Antonio’s car accident at the weekend that left many of us wondering ‘How on earth did Ant manage to get out of that?’ It was nice to see the team wear No 9 shirts before the game, and for the whole crowd to sing ‘Antoniooooo, Antonioooo, Antonio, Antonio, Antonioooooo!’ On 9 mins into the game.

But beyond that the first half reminded me of sitting in my hospital bed at the start of the year after my hand operation waiting for pain relief to be administered. It was one of the most boring halves of football I’ve seen in many of my years watching the Hammers. Strewth! It honestly had 0-0 written all over this match. The performance was a worry and lends itself to the need to rethink Lopetegui as our manager. The players – well most of them, are not playing for the manager at all. Bowen was the stand out for me and was always trying to affect the game.

I struggled to take any photos of anything because nothing was happening. I can’t remember how many times I checked my watch and then the big screen to see how long we had left before the half time whistle …. Felt like we were caught in some kind of Groundhog Day watching the same predicable passage of player on a loop. A few have chances here and there from both sides stuck in first gear.

When the ref blew for half time, what a relief! 45mins on my life that I won’t get back that’s for sure. I do believe that the indecision of the board, the way they allow rumours and information to circulate because they cannot make a solid decision infects the players and impacts what happens on the pitch. Are you seriously going to be 100% committed to play your best when you believe the manager is one game away, or two or maybe three, from getting his P45? You should be because that’s what a professional does, but this is the modern game and things work a little differently in the world of professional football.

The second half started and we pressed with a bit more urgency and deserved our lead after Soucek scored from a Bowen corner with a wonderful looping header into the top left corner. His celebration showed how much it meant to him and he passionately dedicated his goal to Antonio, running up to the pitch side cameraman and screaming into the lens. 

Bowen continued to show his quality and it’s clear he has been able to lead the team on and off the pitch through a difficult time since Antonio’s car accident. He fed Kudus in to score that saw him run to the barriers behind the goal for a trademark celebration only to have it ruled out for offside. 

The match continued to frustrate with stop starts for fouls by either side. Then Matt Doherty threatened to pour cold water on the party with an excellent equaliser but it felt that we had this game and it was only a matter of time before we retired the lead. 

Step up Bowen, with an amazing individual goal, twisting in and out of defenders to thump the ball beyond Johnstone in what was a frenetic spell of football. The total opposite from the paint drying first half! 

It proved decisive and we felt the benefit of a few VAR decisions that not only upset Wolves manager Gary O’Neil but once the final whistle had gone, but also Mario Lemina, who correctly asserted that the corner for Soucek’s goal was wrongly given as the ball had gone out off Wan-Bissaka. 

Lemina earned himself a yellow card for his confrontation with Bowen after refusing to shake hands and had to be dragged away by his team mates. 

A game dubbed as El Sackio was actually El Yawnio, but we secured 3 crucial points to keep us further away from the drop zone and looking up the table. By the end of the match – which had 8 mins of extra time added! – many fans had left their seats unable to watch anymore. For now, at least, both managers retain their jobs, but the scrutiny and pressure remains on both.

I didn’t hang about and went out of the stadium to wander around with my nifty 50 in place to see if there were any interesting shots. You have to judge your distances better with a 50mm lens because if you’re too close it crops the scene too much, if you’re too far away then the depth of field is very narrow when the aperture is wide open. 

I think I’m going to bring this lens again. It was an interesting challenge for me and brought out some different shots and I’d like to explore more of how I can capture different aspects of the match day at London Stadium.

Well, you can’t argue with 3 points and looking at the table we are only 1 point away from Man Utd and 2 points away from both Fulham and Spurs. Not a complete disaster, except for the fact that performances really haven’t filled any of us with confidence going into the busy festive fixture list.

Onwards and upwards because all I want for Christmas is another win, then another … you get the idea!

Be safe everyone and take care.

Dawud

West Ham Utd 2 Arsenal 5 30th November 2024

The Gunners thrash a disjointed Hammers at The London Stadium …. Again!

Hope everyone is safe and well.

I have been working on a joint project with leisure services to support adults with learning disabilities to take part in a range of activities to help improve health and wellbeing within the community. 

It’s taken quite some time to get where we are, which is to tie down the specifications that sets out the time frame, work program and targets of the project before funding can be finally agreed and someone employed to take up the role to make it all happen.

It is, without doubt, and ambitious but exciting project that will give adults with learning disabilities the opportunity to enjoy a range of activities from karate to aromatherapy, chair based exercise to gardening, accessible gym sessions and sports games to mindfulness, dance and movement in a friendly and supportive environment within local authority leisure centres.

The problem is everything takes so long when you are working with the local authority, it’s as if they have their own time frames to do anything, like having a clock that works at a different pace to everyone else.

The other issue is communication, or lack of it, where a commissioner seems to think they know what is best and gets on and does something – such as drawing up the project specification and making huge changes to the project – without liaising with us, despite the fact we have done many of these projects before and recently completed a very successful summer roadshow as a pilot to what we are proposing. Don’t ask the expert, just crack on even when you don’t really know what you are doing! 

We are confident the project will start, but its birth has not been without complications, none of which are our making but come from people who are more interested in budget spreadsheets, than commissioning a project that could have so much potential to positively impact some of the most vulnerable people within our community. 

Sounds a bit familiar when we turn our attention to West Ham Utd and not just how the club is run, but how team recruitment was done so that we have a manager trying to gel a team with players he did not select to work a system they don’t agree with …. Or so it seems and depends on where you get your Hammer info from. J Lo’s position is now under serious threat after yet another thrashing this week at the hands of struggling Leicester City, under their new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.

This was a game I was really looking forward to after Monday nights incredible performance against Newcastle Utd to secure a 2-0 victory at St James’ Park. Surely, after that we would compete with Arsenal and avoid another thrashing at home? Er …..

Well, what can we say? A first half performance that seemed like to halves where we were literally all over the place, lacking communication and cohesion with a midfield that conceded space and a defence that made it too easy for Arsenal to score 3 goals in 30mins! No wonder fans were getting up from their seats and going to an early half time drink.

I decided to arrive early for this match to meet the wonderful John Ratomski from Irons Supporting Foodbanks to talk about the current situation regarding the clubs position on the removal of concessionary rates for younger and older fans. Andy Payne was on the megaphone explaining to fans making their way to the game why it is important to sign the petition and support the efforts of Hammers United to get the club to review their ticket pricing policy otherwise the club will see both young and old fans alike struggling to afford to come to matches at the London Stadium. Read more about the campaign here

John also updated me about the amazing work being done to support food banks in Newham and across London to help those in need and the support they have received from the club. You read more about this here

I was able to walk around the ground from a different side than normal and captured the last of the sunlight through a clouded sky as I went back to my usual entrance to wait for my youngest boy to come with my wife via the Greenway.

The light was fading fast and my little Canon 800D always struggles with low light during the night games. Fortunately Lightroom Classic has a powerful AI feature that helps to bring the images up a bit.

Once I’d met with my brother, we grabbed a coffee and made our way to the stands and the light show brought back fond memories of European football under the lights, which seems such a long time ago now. It really raises the hair on the back of your neck with the music pumping out around the stands as the screens show scenes from past matches and the pyrotechnics dramatically light up the stadium.

The crowd were up for it and the chants and singing of Bubbles echoed throughout the smoke filled stadium as the players huddled before the start of the match as one or two black balloons floated above raised hands and scarfs.

The returning Declan Rice received a more positive than negative reception, with quite a few fans standing to clap near where I sit as he took his first of many corner kicks whilst the Gunners pressed for their early goals in the first half.

And then it starts, a total collapse that felt like a punch in the gut after the team’s performance against the Toons on Monday night. What on earth?

We had switched off defensively as Saka floated a ball into the box from his corner for Gabriel to escape his marker and head home on 10mins. The fans were straight up and shouting criticism of how easy we made it for the Gunners to score.

Crysencio Summerville did brilliantly to seemingly equalise on 17mins with a wonderful chip to place the ball beyond David Raya into the visitors net, but the flag went up for offside.

The smoke from the pre match show and the rather misty late November cold air combined with the glow from the overhead lights created a foggy atmosphere inside the stadium. Winter has definitely arrived, made all the more cold with the performance on the pitch.

Saka provided a telling cross for Leandro Trossard to easily steer the squared ball into the net beyond a leaping Lukas Fabianksi to double the lead. It was clearly not going to be our night and felt very similar to the 6-0 thrashing we suffered at home last season. The atmosphere was turning decided chilly.

Then we have 6 crazy minutes with 4 goals going in, 2 at each end, that made it feel like a game of FIFA on the Playstation!

Martin Odegaard scores from the penalty spot after a clumsy challenge from Lucas Paqueta as he tripped Saka in the area. 3-0 Was there was a bet on Paq getting a yellow card so early on in the match?

Then, Max Kilman makes a school boy error and misses a long ball allowing Kai Havertz to beat Fabianski one on one and slot the ball into the open net. 4-0. Where has the fight gone that was evident on Monday? Then we battled for every ball – here we were giving it away!

Aaron Wan-Bissaka scores his second goal for the club with an excellent shot that beats Raya at the near post. The crowd go wild and there seems a glimmer of hope as I shouted out ’Come on you Irons, we can win this 5-4!’ If only it was a game on FIFA!

Well actually, crazier things have happened with come backs, but this was a rare light of joy in a match that had everything in the first half. We could have all just gone home at the half time whistle and not missed anything.

A free kick just outside the visitors penalty area and up steps Emerson to take the free kick and send the ball beyond the diving Raya into the top corner. 

The crowd quite rightly go wild and celebrate what could be a most unlikely comeback. Both these goals showed the potential within the team, but why are we struggling to show more of this in other games? Is it the way the manager sets the team up to play? Something is holding this team back because on paper we have some much potential.

Tensions get the better of players on both sides, brought to a head by the Gunners’ endless time wasting and play acting when a particularly menacing blade of grass catches them and the frustrations from the home side as they are being systematically taken apart again.

There was actually still some atmosphere inside the stadium, despite some fans leaving their seats early, and the scoreline after only 36mins. For the neutral, this must have been a very entertaining game to watch. I had a few images of the stands but this shot seemed to capture some of the atmosphere during the first half.

Then the final blow, a sucker punch as it were, when Fabianski misses a punch for the ball from a corner and accidentally punched Gabriel instead. The ref rewards Fab with a yellow card.

Up steps Saka to thump the ball passed the diving Fabanski. 5-2 to the Gunners. At this rate we could be down 10-2 by the final whistle! I took quite a lot of photos of all the goals, but selected only a few images and it seems to work well.

An isolated Fabianski leans forward on his thighs watching the game just inside the Hammers own half. What on earth must he be thinking? Photos like this can really tell a story and it just seemed a great shot to have Fab isolated like this with the weight of the gaols conceded on is shoulders.

We did actually manage to have some shots on target, which is surprising given how over run we were for large parts of the first half.

Half time could not have come any sooner and a change to catch our breath as we try to soak up what on earth had just happened on the pitch? Lopetegui, sitting in the stands to serve his one match pitch side ban, must have been holding his head in despair at this performance.

The teams return to the pitch for the second and we are told about the penalty decision against Fabianski for his punch to Gabriel at the end of the first half.

The second half played out as I thought the game as a whole would play out after Monday’s performance. Arsenal had definitely taken their foot off the pedal as we continued to find composure in front of goal and failed to get a hold on possession. The Arsenal players continued with their time wasting, pulling the ref’s shorts down time and again as they were allowed to stop any rhythm to the match, and home fans were quite rightly getting frustrated at yet another Arsenal player lying on the grass.

A shout out for Wan-Bissaka, who I thought was out best player during the match. He used his pace to go forward, tracked back for defensive duties and was in the box for his goal and clearly wanted to get involved throughout the game. Definitely a player to watch for us as he is growing into his role and offering us some well needed pace and desire.

It was great to see Irving later on in the game as one of the substitutes used to try and get us something from this match.

And Danny Ings showed some quality when he came on, sending an excellent opportunity to score just wide of his far post, when a tap into the near post would have been a better option. Pretty typical of how things have been going for the Hammers this season so far.

The match ends, and not a moment too soon as the pain of yet another crushing defeat to the Gunners sinks in for those fans left in the stands.

We take our leave finally, heading down the stairs towards the exit and into the dark cold night. It really felt like a punch in the face and it’s clear there are issues within the team that go beyond the manager. Whatever happens to JLo this week after Monday nights shocking defeat to Leicester City, it’s clear defensively we are not up to scratch and the midfield is like using a sieve to stop water flowing down the river.

Story has it the owners are considering their options regarding the manager and potential replacements. It doesn’t matter who we as fans think ought to replace J-Lo as Sullivan has his strict criteria that he will not veer away from. And there in lays the real reason why we are in the mess we are in now.

The cold air hits as we walk around the stadium and I look around for some shots. I am able to get something of the shots I take in the very low light through editing in Lightroom Classic, so I keep clicking away in case there is anything worth working up. These two shots were the pick with a young fan balancing on her sister’s knee for a photo, and the two young fans chasing a ball in the light from the big screen at the front of the ground.

A fan wonders by himself with some food, probably wondering why he came to the match and it’s a kind of body depiction of what it can feel like as Hammer’s fan.

As me and my youngest boy head around the concourse towards steps that take us away from the stadium, I grab a few shots of fans queuing for food. I love trying to capture the light and contrast in these kind of shots, and there is usually something to catch the eye – the boy kicking his ball whilst balancing his food in his right hand.

Apologies for the delay in posting this up as the games come thick and fast. I’ve been rather pre-occupied with the project and have felt under the weather – hopefully I can get any colds, aches and pains out of the way before Christmas as we have plans to go away. 

Thank you for reading my article everyone.

Take care

Dawud

West Ham Utd 0 Everton 0 Saturday 9th November 2024

The Hammers hold out for a drab goalless draw against fellow strugglers Everton at London Stadium

Hope everyone is safe and well.

Recently our two boys both went to an open karate fighting competition in Harlow Essex as part of the process of achieving their second stripe brown belts. At this stage of their martial art journey, they have to attend both kata and fighting competitions. 

It was the first open competition they had both attended and its nothing like competing at inter club events, kids who attend these open meetings are there because they want to win, and in our boys age groups, there were many competitors who had more experience of these events, and were probably black belts already.

In each of their class they came out with a bronze medal and we are so proud of them both. The boys took it in their stride, which is so impressive as I know what it is like to take part in these fighting competitions because when I was younger I attended a few myself on my way to achieving a purple belt. It’s a tough watch as a parent though and I felt the adrenaline pumping through me as they battled on the mat with their opponents. 

Our eldest boy got punched in the face and I was about to rush onto the mat but was stopped by the ref. I checked he was ok to continue and with just a few seconds left with the score tied at 1-1, he produced a stunning ushiro mawashi geri (reverse roundhouse kick) for 3 points to seal his first heat 4-1. We later learned that his opponent for that fight competes at national level and is a 2nd Dan. Impressive win.

However proud I was of them both, it’s difficult as a parent to be there on the sidelines as your boys are fighting, but I will do it again, and hopefully they can come second or even win their next competitions in the future.

The boys just didn’t turn up, they gave their best shot in all the fights and deserved their 3rd place. Sadly, when it comes to the Hammers, we deserve no more than 14th place in the Premier League given the dire performances we are being served up at the moment. What a difficult watch the match against Everton was, who seem to huff and puff with no real end product. At least they were huffing and puffing, unlike our players who often strolled around the pitch with no clear ideas about what they were meant to be doing.

I managed to arrive a little early for the match and was able to get a few different photos of the stadium and alternative views of fans arriving for the game. I walked along the Greenway towards the ViewTube and from there you can see the stadium framed by the lights of the community football pitch below. I also got to have an overhead view of fans arriving from Pudding Mill Lane station. 

The weather was beginning to bite as the temperature dropped and the sky clouded over. With leaves finally falling off the trees  I managed to capture this great shot of fans walking up to the security checks framed by some stubborn leaves on the branches and those fallen on the floor. I still get anxious about going through security, this time they checked by camera, asking me to get it out of the bag, my zoom lens still inside the bag cleverly covered in my gloves. I was told to make sure I don’t get it out during the game as I may be asked to leave the stadium, then I walked through towards the steps that take me up to the stadium itself.

I love how this shot frames the fans with the metal barriers and is a great view as you walk up the steps towards the stadium. It felt quiet but very busy as I walked to the top of the stairs and then around the stadium, past the shop and towards the food and drink stalls.

This is one of those accidental photos that I sometimes get by holding my camera close to my chest as I walk around the stadium and just snap away hoping to get a decent shot. It’s not always easy to get the angle right, but I thought it was quite interesting view of a fan taking a photo with his phone as he walked amongst the crowd.

My brother was running a little late so I grabbed coffees for both of us and made my way to my seat and waited for the teams to come out onto the pitch.

One thing I must say is that the club’s events team do a great job putting on the pre match remembrance of those who have fallen in conflict and it is always tastefully done. But I was stood there thinking who sad it is that  far too many, often young people, are being killed around the world in senseless wars and conflicts that increasingly impacts innocent people’s lives and communities that are destroyed along with their homes, schools and hospitals. I always pray for peace across the world and for those who live in fear and realise how blessed some of us are to live in places where we do not have that fear.

It is haunting listening to the verse from ‘For the Fallen’ written by Laurence Binyon that was first published in The Times in September 1914, which is still so poignant today as then.

I was talking to my brother before the game that we need to be the 12th man for the team, urging the players on and singing and chanting to give them the support that could inspire them to play. But it was so tough to do that throughout this match. As fans, we also need something from the team, something to cheer about and to get us behind the team, the players have that responsibility and when you arrive at the game, you expect some commitment and effort and desire to win. It’s a two way relationship between the fans and the players.

But there was some light from the performance of Summerville, who is clearly becoming a fans favourite, with his desire to drive forward with the ball and make things happen, causing all sorts of problems to the opponents defence. A wonderful reverse flick for Emerson to run onto but like many of our forward plays, it ended nowhere.

Summerville wants to be involved and is there to pick up a ball or make a run to carve out a rare opportunity for the Hammers. We did not even have a shot on goal until the last minute of normal time! We could have continued played for hours without scoring.

But when a forward play breaks down, opponents are quick to counter attack and put us under pressure. The midfield is lacking pace and there are no leaders in that part of the team who have the strength to put in a tackle and break the play up. One of the many issues we gave as a team is how easily opposition players can run through our midfield at times, and with Paqueta losing the ball so often in these areas, we are our own worst enemy.

Bowen is not the player he was last season, and seems to struggle to get the ball in those areas that suit him and misfires more often than not. Is he struggling with the responsibility of the captaincy? He is a young player and has been a fans favourite for some time, his commitment to the cause has been there for all to see in previous seasons, but something is not right.

The half time whistle couldn’t have come any sooner quite honestly and you couldn’t decide which team deserved a win. It had ‘draw’ written all over this game unless an individual piece of magic could unlock either team’s defence, and ‘magic’ was not written into the story of this dreadful match.

As the players walked off the pitch we were reflecting that at least we hadn’t conceded a goal! But we reminded ourselves who we were playing against – a team that has struggled to score themselves with only 10 goals after 11 games.

I quite like the shot of a fan holding up a Hammers scarf to welcome the teams returning to the pitch for the second half, but despite the crowd singing bubbles as the players walked onto the turf, there was a sense that things weren’t going to get any better for the second 45minutes of the game.

The Toffies were still finding it easy to put us under pressure and Fabianski was the busier keeper, making some excellent saves to keep out the opponents attempts to score. 

It wasn’t working with Wan-Bissaka on the right and I was glad to see Coufal replace him on 67mins. I am a fan of Coufal, who I feel always gives his all to the cause and he seemed to be more effective and offered a bit more going forward.

Ings coming on for Antonio, who was clearly tiring, offered us even more with some close efforts on goal, but like so many opportunities to take all three points, we just lacked any real composure in front of the visitors goal. Although Pickford had to save a thumping shot from Ings, if only we he had been able to put either one of these chances away!

It wasn’t long before fans started to get out of their seats and make a move towards the exits and it was no surprise to hear a ring of boos from those in the stands who had stayed until the end. I don’t agree with booing, but given the cost of seats and food and travel to the match, devoting time to supporting the team and the club, especially as a family, you can understand fans frustration after watching a team that apart from a few individual players, showed no desire to win what was surely a very winnable game given Everton’s current form.

We definitely need thanking for our support, and the club could at least reinstate the concession rates  and reduce the increase in ticket price – although there is an argument for a refund after this particular match!

Soucek, another player I like very much, thanks the few fans who remained in the stands, before leaving the pitch with the other players.

It was wonderful to see Summerville go up to some fans after the game with his shirt and to have his photo taken. He seems like a really nice person and deserves the respect he gets from the supporters. I wasn’t able to get a better shot than this though, which is a shame. I need to learn to climb over the seats a bit quicker!

This shot sums up how we felt after the match, just speechless over such a poor performance, in a game we could – or should – have won that would have lifted us further away from the relegation zone. It really does feel as if we are destined for a long, tough season this year.

The music was pumping out, but many fans had left already, taking the chance no doubt to get through Stratford station as quickly as they could on their journeys home. Not much happening after the game, I wandered around and analysed the match with my brother, trying to work out what we need to do to get ourselves on a run of form that will see us win some matches, although the next game against Newcastle Utd and the a home match against Arsenal could show us what we are about and see 6 points in the bag.

You never know, we may get an early Christmas present!

Thank you for reading, and apologies for the delay in posting this up. It’s been a busy week in the Marsh household. 

Take care everyone

Dawud

West Ham Utd 2 Manchester United 1 27th October 2024

Hammers secure vital victory over struggling Reds in Ten Hags last match 

Hope everyone is safe and well.

It’s been a busy time in the Marsh household as we have had work done to replace our flooring. The flooring we had put in previously was literally falling apart and was the result of it not being installed properly. We couldn’t stand it anymore so have decided to get it taken up and new flooring laid down. So, we have had to put loads of personal belongings in storage whilst the flooring is laid, and this week there is a lot of cleaning to do before we can relax. It’s taken up quite. Lot of our free time, but it will be worth it.

Match day arrived, I had my camera loaded with blank memory cards, lenses cleaned and battery fully charged and as I walked to the stadium with my youngest boy, we talked team selection. Usually we have an idea what the team will be before we leave the house, but now with JLo posting the team sheet very late, we rely on various predictions from social media. 

But, once the team sheet was posted we were both surprised that Summerville was absent from the starting 11 again. We need his pace, confidence on the ball and ability to pull defenders in all directions. Personally, I would put him on and Paqueta on the bench. In fact, I’d send Paq home for a while to get himself straight as there are clearly issues affecting his game. 

And with Utd, who knows which team will turn up? Lately it is the team who seem to have no idea what they are doing and who have been struggling in front of goal, as well as shipping a few goals at the other end as well.

Walking through the Olympic Park towards the stadium, we can see it through the trees and then we made our way up towards the bridge that leads to our turnstile A. Fans had turned up for this match, and who wouldn’t? It was clearly very busy as we arrived at the stadium to queue up for the security checks. Fortunately, going through security was a breeze, a quick scan front and back and we were soon wandering around the outside of the ground as I looked for interesting shots to capture.

The weather was bright, surprisingly warm for this time of year and there was an expectation that we could do this today, a bounce back after last week’s shocking capitulation to Spurs. We needed something positive, despite Kudus being sidelined after his rush of blood to the head making him see red as we struggled to hold off a rampant Spurs team.

The stands were filling up as plumes of fire reached up in front of the Billy Bonds Stand, the crowd was in good voice as the players took their places before the match kicked off, the roar that urged the team on raised the hair on the back my neck. Foof! This is more like it, an atmosphere that gets the heart pumping and blood pressure up! COYI!

But the first half was a story of how many chances do Man Utd need to score? Garnacho was a constant threat down the left wing, out manoeuvring Wan Bissaka and sprinting wide to whip in crosses or coming inside to make telling passes to set up a team mate outside the box. 

Time and again we benefited from Utd’s lack of composure in front of goal. Garnacho shot wide, Diogo Dalot missed an open goal after flicking the ball over Fabianski as our keeper rushed out to make a block. 

A couple of black balloons made their way above the crowd, but there was nothing like previous home matches when stewards had a bit of a time of it popping all the balloons.

Whatever we threw at Utd – and that wasn’t much – it was easily dealt with or Onana gathered any crosses that came into the box.

Mavropanos had a good half and this tackle on Garnacho showed what he is made of, but also highlighted United’s constant play acting and time wasting that simply broke up the play to their advantage. The crowd were getting increasingly fed up of it and shouted at the ref to do something about it.

United continued to be wasteful infant of goal as Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford both had efforts blocked by Fabianski – who I feel was a wise replacement for Areola – and Utd’s Diogo Dalot sent his chip over Fabianski over the bar. This has to be miss of the season surely? And the crowd quite rightly gave him some stick.

Mavropanos suffered an injury in attempting to get back for that Diogo Dalot miss and this probably contributed to his substitution at half time.

Those around me were saying Utd should have been 4 or 5 goals in front, but I desperately replied “Well, our defence are doing their job” “How’s that?” Came the incredulous reply “Well, we haven’t conceded!” I realised we were struggling and something needed to change after half time. 

And it did. For whatever faults JLo has in getting the team to play and be competitive he is not shy of ringing the changes early and the second half saw Mavropanos – who clearly took a knock trying to cover the goal as Dalot sent the ball over the bar, Soler and Paqueta subbed for Todibo, Soucek and Summerville. 

But before that we were treated to Areola scoring from the corner several times – maybe he should be outfield and take the corners from now on!

And the change of players and tactics reaped their rewards as Summerville stretched out his right leg to guide the ball home from Ings – who was brought on with 20mins to go – miss hit in front of goal.

The crowd went totally wild! Absolutely fantastic and the least we deserved as it was clear our strategy of defending by prioritising attack finally paid dividends after sustained pressure from the Hammers. It was exhilarating!

Casemiro thought he had clinched a draw on the 81st minute, but that was not the end of the story for this match. The crowd wanted more and despite United players continued play acting and time wasting, as they seemed content with a draw, we continued to press.

VAR starred again as the ref, David Coote, was sent pitch side monitor to review a possible penalty on Ings by de Ligt. After over turning his original decision and as he was reviewing the footage, de Ligt and his team mates made their views clear and were stopped from harassing the referee by his assistant. It was shocking to see. 

Once the ref had pointed towards the spot, United players began to surround him as he walked to the penalty spots and Onana was reluctant to take his position for the penalty. This needs to stop. The delay contributed to the 12mins added time at the end of the match. 

Bowen, to be fair, showed incredible composure to block out this unnecessary chaos and steady himself to place the ball beyond Onana and send the crowd into ecstasy as we all believed we had earned a victory with a second half performance that showed us what we have been missing for too long. 

It was an anxious run down to the end of the game, with 12mins added time clocking on to almost 15mins before the ref finally blew his whistle …. followed by rapturous celebrations! As much as United lost this match with the many missed chances in the first half, we won this key match with a second half performance that had the crowd singing and chanting and urging the team on. What an atmosphere.

We didn’t want to leave the stands and waited until almost everyone had left and finally turned away from our seats and out into the early evening low light. 

There was so much to talk about as we walked around the ground and I looked out for more interesting shoots. Found this wonderful lady dressed in a Union Jack patterned dress with Bobby Moore’s face spread across the red, white and blue design. Just had to get a shot.

As we now know, this was Ten Hag’s final match in charge of the Reds as the defeat was a final nail in the coffin that leaves Manchester Utd legend Ruud Van Nislroy temporarily taking over.

This could be one of those games that signals the start of our season, a result that fires the team up and performances that finally shows JLo what his best team is and to finally put Summerville in the starting 11 when we play Nottingham Forest this weekend.

Hope you enjoyed my photos and write up of the match.

Be safe everyone

Dawud

West Ham Utd v Ipswich Town Saturday 5th October 2024

Hammers finally click in a comfortable home victory against Premier new boys Ipswich Town 

I hope everyone is safe and well.

Well, I love my Lego and was given one of those Hammers themed football shaped 3-D puzzles to do, not Lego but similar and to be honest it’s proving to be tricky to complete. I can’t seem to get my head around the instructions – they seem confusing compared to Lego sets – and I’ve lost count how many times I’ve just dismantled it to start over. Just can’t seem to get the foundation pieces right to make sure it all comes together as I build each layer of the football. The individual pieces are way smaller than ordinary Lego, and that’s making it even harder to complete. The delicate pieces need more careful handling and my chubby fingers are struggling.

JLo has his work cut out building a winning team from the players at his disposal, not just bringing existing players round to his tactics and style of play, but also bedding in the new players and some of whom were not his choice during the summer transfer window it seems. The various pieces of the puzzle to get the team gelling and playing to their full potential may not all the ones that Julen himself would have chosen, but they are the pieces he has to put into a winning formula. He needs to get the foundation set up quickly to start that building process. 

With stories coming out of discontent amongst players who are upset about being subbed off early or at half time, and those finding JLo’s style of management difficult to adapt to, we hear that agents have been speaking to the owners about the feedback they have been getting from their players and if our poor form continued, surely the manager would have been under some pressure. The Premier League is a results business, and although the season is 38 games, pressure soon builds up if the team are not performing well on the pitch.

Comparing our form with other teams who have also installed a new manager and a lot of new players there will need to be some forensic analysis as to who picked which players and why because some of the money spent may have gone to waste. A tricky situation Lopetegui finds himself in as he navigates the early stages of what will surely prove to be a difficult season. If only there were some clear instructions to follow to help the manager and his team put all the pieces together so we can see progress on the pitch and importantly points on the board. 

I was excited about the match as I walked to the London Stadium with my youngest boy. I had a feeling we would win despite Ipswich Town’s good showing from the previous week managing a draw against The Villains. Somehow, I believed things would start to click this week, even without Alvarez and Fulkrug in the starting line up.

I arrived later than usual for the match as my youngest had cricket training so it was a quick drive back home before grabbing my camera bag and collecting the boy’s lunch and snacks and off to the stadium. It was a bit of a rush and we managed to meet my brother outside the turnstiles and then into the stadium to take our seats before the ref blew his whistle to get the game underway.

The sunshine threw sharp shadows across the crowd filling their seats in the stands with the players of both teams warming up on the pitch. Mood was high, bubbles were blowing on the slight breeze and as the pitch cleared fans threw down their predictions for the match. I had is to win 2-1 with Kudos and Bowen scoring. 

As the music blared and the players returned to the pitch for the pre match line up the crowd sang and chanted, now was the time for a performance that will give us all some hope after a torrid series of results. You could feel the emotion pouring out from the crowd – COYI!

The black balloons from the Hammer Utd concessions and ticket price rise protest made their presence felt as they floated high above our heads as the teams settled into their positions for the match to start.

And what a start it was, with Ipswich kicking off the match they soon had a throw in and from there we were able to get the ball through midfield and on to Bowen, who nutmegged woeful Phillips with a pin point pass for Antonio to slot home – 1-0 West Ham with only 48seconds on the clock. Have we been practicing this kind of start juts like Brentford have?

The euphoria didn’t last long unfortunately as our defensive frailties were exposed again when Delap was afforded time and space to fire a shoot home beyond the diving Areola. 1-1 and I hadn’t even sat in my seat! Breathless stuff, but despite the disappointment of a quick equaliser from the visitors, we started to get a hod on the game. It also seems that VAR is working in the background and then posting up the outcome on the large screens. 

I wanted to give a shout out to Todibo, who for some was MOTM, I was watching him more closely in the first half as he was playing closer to where our seats are. His forward run from the box where he takes out several players from the visitors, including Phillips, before passing to Antonio was a joy to watch. He is confident going forward and was solid at the back and gives us plenty of options when on the counter. He is settling in nicely into defence and the team and has a great pass on him as well.

After Soucek had a shot cleared off the line by Dara O’Shea as Ipswich lost possession in their own penalty area, it was only a matter of time before we took the lead and such a perfect time to do it just before the break. Kudus reacts quickest after Antonio’s headed effort comes off the cross bar to restore our lead and what a goal celebration!

It was a perfect reaction from Kudus after being substituted at half time last week and this is the kind of performance you want to get out of our key players. Whatever happened in the dressing room at half time at the Brentford match, Kudus did what Julen surely wanted him to do – prove he can up his game, and he did and could have scored a hattrick. Kudus was close for MOTM as well. 

Half time could not have come sooner for The Tractor Boys and it was clear we were up for this match and ended the half in ascendency. Half time entertainment reminded me of when we took the boys to Peppa Pig World when they were younger. An image popped up on Facebook memories this week from that visit, they have grown up so quickly. Anyway, I did better with the questions about character names from Peppa Pig than I did from the football quiz. Lol

The players came out for the second half and anticipation was high for more of the same in the next 45minutes or so and we were not to be disappointed. 

If you give Bowen, who is out of the England squad for the upcoming National League matches for this week’s International break, too much time and space with the ball on his left foot, it will surely end in a goal. Ex Hammer Ben Johnson made a total mess of a back pass that gave the Hammers a chance to take the match beyond the visitors. Bowen was another player who responded to dissapointment with an outstanding performance. Everything was clicking for us, very little was going the visitors way and we could sense a confident victory. 

Bowen had his mojo and was proving a handful for the visitors, and a lobbed ball for Kudus as he darts behind the defence goes close to making it 4-1 for us. Antonio, Bowen and Kudus were ripping it up at will; Bowen the quiet leader who does his talking with the ball, Antonio with endless pace pulling the defence apart and Kudus with his little turns and burst of pace that make such a difference to our attacking play.

Where have the team been the last few weeks?

The black balloons reappeared with fans seemingly providing an endless stream to keep the stewards busy, with some inevitably finding their way onto the pitch during the match. They are becoming more prominent at each home game.

Bowen steps up to become provider for an easy tap in for Paqueta to finish the match, who then celebrates with Bowen by ‘cleaning’ his left boot. 4 goals, four difference celebrations by four different goal scorers. No wonder the crowd were celebrating and the atmosphere was rocking. Here are Simon and Elaine enjoying our 4th goal.

We were actually hoping for a 5th as the Hammers have yet to score 5 goals at home since moving to the London Stadium, but it was not to be.

It was a nice touch by Lopetegui to sub Kudus off before the end of the match so he can enjoy the appreciation of the home crowd, as did Antonio when he was subbed, leaving the pitch to the chant ‘Antonio, Antonio, Antonio, Antonio!’ This is exactly what we want and it’s the perfect match to photograph with goals and plenty of action on the pitch.

I managed to capture this young fan doing the Hammers sign as the match came to an end.

The game played out with Ipswich unable to get back into it and resigned almost to a thumping away defeat, which leaves them 1 point above the relegation zone. The Hammers climb a couple of places to 12th after all the matches have been played with a few results going our way.

Leaving the stadium I was watching the crowds walk passed the opened doors as I am always trying to get a better photo of this scene, and this guy just walked across my view as I fired off some shots. I actually really like this and it is a slightly different take on when I’ve tried to capture this before.

The low sun in a clear sky provided some sharp shadows and I do love a good shadow and some contrast in my photos. I just started shooting my shutter as I walked out of the stadium turning left to capture the shadows. The glare of the sun is not so easy to capture but if my lens is in shadow I can get some decent photos with a little editing.

I followed this group of fans, holding the camera down low and in shadow to get this shot. I like how the sunlight glares out one of the fans faces. The light and shadows add real drama to both images.

Me and my youngest walked home very happy with the result, the performance and the win will surely be a much needed boost to Julen and his team but also to the players, although we have yet another international break. Let’s just hope all those players who will be representing their national teams return fit and we can finally push on in our next fixture away to Spurs on 19th October.

Take care everyone.

Dawud