The two faces of Big Sam

Big Sam at Away Games                                                                  Big Sam at Home                             

Another away win to make it a recording breaking three wins out of three on the road. The pleasing part is we didn't even play that well! Forest started the game much better than us and were all over us in the opening minutes. Greeno made some excellent saves but the first goal changed the game. Forest came close several more times but Greeno denied them while Nolan and Cole added two more goals which left us 3 nil up with 33 mins gone. Cole & Nolan worked well together and could have netted more. We could have easily been 7-0 at half time if we exploited all our chances. Nolan missed from 3 yards, which the radio commentary team described as the miss of the season. An embarrassed Nolan admitted he was sloppy as he thought it was already in the back of the net.


The final triumph of a 4-1 hammering was without the help of Ilunga and Parker. I am hoping Big Sam has finally since sense and dropped Ilunga from the starting line up and the bench. Maybe he read my blog or listened to our new podcast ;-) My only concern is that some papers are reporting that he was dropped due to a slight injury. Wishful thinking on his agent part I'am sure. Hopefully it is the last time we see Ilunga in a West Ham shirt.


However, It is sad that it is the last time we will see Scotty Parker in a West ham shirt but we have to move on. On the bright side the midfield worked better without Parker yesterday as it has been looking crowded lately.


Spurs are said to have increased their bid from £4 million to £6 million with the additional sweetener of season loans of Jake Livermore and Danny Rose from Spurs. If true, both are rated and have been loaned out to the championship before. Jake Livermore denied the rumour in his twitter account but maybe Spurs haven't discussed it with him yet. I also think £6 million is probably the correct valuation. They say a good premiership footballer is worth around £2 million per year of their remaining playing career. At 31 I can't see Scotty playing beyond 34 at the highest level so £6M seems about right.


It is just a shame the West Ham hero is going to our arch rivals Spurs, it will certainly help losing the reported £75,000 per week off the payroll but I was just hoping Arsenal come in with a late bid after their 8-2 trashing yesterday. He would have fitted in so well at Arsenal and it would have really pissed off Spurs.


I'am told the fee has now been agreed and Parker has also agreed personal terms. He is having a medical today so it appears a done deal. I don't be grudge him his future in the premiership after the way he paid last season for us.


We have a little break now until the next home match against Portsmouth on the 10th September. I am hoping Big Sam uses the time wisely to rid our team of the belief we can't win at home.


I don't know whether the fans are part of the problem, we have so high expectations and maybe that makes the team nervous playing in front of us. I am sure we will overcome Portsmouth to register our first home win.


We are recording our next 'Moore than just a podcast' this week and we have lots of material with what's gone on in the last week. We also hope to have an interview with match day announcer Jeremy Nicholas talking about his new book 'Mr Moon has left the stadium'


Come on you Irons  Let's win at home! Bye Bye Scotty