West Ham v. Wimbledon 03/09/04 (R)

[pething101]

Ok, this is just a must win situation ... wait, I think I was typing the same thing this time last year.

Deja vu.

[pething101]

Etherington returns from suspension but Mullins is questionable due to a bad back.

The Dons are down to ten senior players due to various injuries and transfers recently.

All things point to a ...

























0-0 draw.

:rolleyes:

:D

[panicfc]

I'd like to see us win this match.

No other comment, but pizza is on the menu for lunch.

[panicfc]

Up 2-0

etherington @ 37
Zamora @ 39

[pething101]

Originally posted by panicfc
Up 2-0

etherington @ 37
Zamora @ 39

Excellent!

Hopefully, when I get home from practice this will be a 3-0 or 4-0 scoreline.

[panicfc]

Halftime

[panicfc]

In the 49th minute

Matty Etherington!

[panicfc]

Nigel Reo- COKER!

4-0

[panicfc]

That was in the 62nd minute.

[panicfc]

Nowland on for Carrick

Anton for Harley

I don't like the sound of this.

[panicfc]

5-0 - Etherington with a hatter

[Frieslander]

"Coolness, Park"

[pething101]

http://www.speedmonkey.net/miscimages/marv_albert.jpg

[El Toro]

We wasted way too many goals against this "team" and should have saved them for later.

Still..........sweeeeeeeeeet. :)

[El Toro]

I stand corrected. Check out that GD.

Standings: English Division One


Norwich 34 19 10 5 53 28 13 3 2 30 13 6 7 3 23 15 67 25
West Brom 35 18 10 7 49 30 10 5 3 27 13 8 5 4 22 17 64 19

West Ham 35 14 15 6 51 32 8 6 4 30 17 6 9 2 21 15 57 19

Wigan 34 15 12 7 48 35 9 6 3 23 13 6 6 4 25 22 57 13
Sheff Utd 34 16 7 11 50 41 9 4 4 30 19 7 3 7 20 22 55 9
Millwall 34 14 11 9 41 33 9 6 2 21 10 5 5 7 20 23 53 8
Ipswich 35 15 8 12 63 57 10 2 5 39 26 5 6 7 24 31 53 6
Reading 35 15 8 12 44 47 9 4 4 25 21 6 4 8 19 26 53 -3
Sunderland 31 14 9 8 41 31 8 5 1 18 7 6 4 7 23 24 51 10
Crystal Palace 35 14 9 12 55 50 6 7 5 27 24 8 2 7 28 26 51 5
Preston 34 14 8 12 50 43 10 3 4 34 20 4 5 8 16 23 50 7
Stoke 34 14 8 12 49 46 9 6 3 30 19 5 2 9 19 27 50 3
Coventry 35 12 13 10 44 39 5 8 4 18 17 7 5 6 26 22 49 5
Cardiff 34 12 10 12 53 43 7 5 5 31 17 5 5 7 22 26 46 10
Crewe 34 12 8 14 43 46 9 2 5 24 16 3 6 9 19 30 44 -3
Rotherham 34 10 11 13 40 47 6 6 5 23 20 4 5 8 17 27 41 -7
Burnley 35 9 13 13 47 56 7 6 5 28 22 2 7 8 19 34 40 -9
Watford 35 10 10 15 40 49 6 7 4 24 21 4 3 11 16 28 40 -9
Gillingham 33 11 7 15 35 46 8 1 8 19 22 3 6 7 16 24 40 -11
Nottm Forest 35 9 11 15 42 45 5 6 6 24 20 4 5 9 18 25 38 -3
Walsall 35 9 11 15 36 47 6 6 5 23 23 3 5 10 13 24 38 -11
Derby 34 8 11 15 35 54 6 5 6 24 27 2 6 9 11 27 35 -19
Bradford 36 9 5 22 31 52 5 2 11 18 27 4 3 11 13 25 32 -21
Wimbledon 34 5 3 26 28 71 2 3 12 14 30 3 0 14 14 41 18 -43

[El Toro]

GAAAAA!

My table sucks! I got it from soccernet.

Pething, where do you get yours?

[Batcave Brigade]

29,818 cheers for West Ham

Kevin Palmer

West Ham Utd 5 - 0 Wimbledon
If the roles were reversed, you have to wonder whether that team playing Champions League football up the road at Stamford Bridge tonight would attract support such as this.

This is not meant to be a snipe at Chelsea's Johnny Come Lately band of fans who have latched onto the team that have been assembled with a small fortune of cash from England and Russia, yet history suggests the sell-out crowd for the visit of Stuttgart in Europe's premier competition may not have been in attendance for a game such as this.


The now ex-Chelsea chairman Ken Bates never grows tired of telling the tale that the first game of his tenure in charge of the club was a feast of action in front of little more than 12,000 fans. 'And when I found out that around 900 of those were free tickets handed out to whoever fancied, things had to change,' is the boast of the ever-vocal Bates.

It's obvious where Chelsea have found their extra 35,000-or-so fans. A few thousand will have been there in the days when Kerry Dixon was God or when David Speedie was a terrace idol, but the majority may not be so familiar with the talents of ex-Stamford Bridge heroes.

The same cannot be said of a West Ham side that has held onto remarkable levels of support despite their recent troubles. I am no Hammers fan, but when you see 29,818 flock to Upton Park on a cold night in mid-March for a First Division game against the bottom club in the league, it is a tribute to the impressive following they command. Take into account that the travelling support in that crowd was a mere 191 and that attendance makes even better reading.

Add in the fact that West Ham fans have been put through the mill by their relegation from the Premiership last May and the sale of star players that inevitably followed and their loyalty is that of a side who will thrive once they book a return to the big-time.

Walking to the ground, there was very much a feeling that West Ham are on loan to the First Division for a solitary season. That's their plan anyway, but their home form this season suggests such an elevation is far from certain at the first time of asking. So against a Wimbledon side who have not looked like scoring a goal or winning a game for some time, there could be no room for mistake and to be fair to Alan Pardew's remodelled Hammers, they never looked like slipping up.

Matthew Etherington was the star of the show with a fine hat-trick that blew away a young Wimbledon side, many of whom looked as if they should have been doing their homework. However, it's hardly Wimbledon's fault. In financial administration, the club that recently relocated to Milton Keynes looked well out of their depth and were it not for woeful finishing from David Connelly, this rout could have reached double figures.

Warren Barton was just about the only recognisable name on the team-sheet, while Nigel Reo-Coker, Jodi McAnuff and Adam Nowland lined for West Ham against the side that had to sell them for financial reasons just a few weeks ago.

For now, the jury is out over whether the contentious move to Milton Keyes will eventually prove fruitful. The Dons left their south London home in a bid to attract more fans through their turnstiles, but with such a modest level of support with them for this short trip, the danger is this football club will pass them by all too quickly.

Unless businessman Pete Winkleman's planned take-over Wimbledon goes through, there is every chance this club will fold, yet any progress in winning over a town that has not been used to having football in their doorsteps will take time. If you liked the idea of a club moving some 80 miles up the road or not, you have to wish them well.

As for West Ham, they were in a different league and Etherington looked every inch the Premiership player he was at Tottenham last season. His well-taken triple, capped by a fine third as he lofted the ball over Dons keeper Steve Banks, earned him a deserved match ball.

Etherington opened the scoring after 36 minutes with a neat back post finish and then Bobby Zamora doubled the lead as he crashed home an unstoppable shot from outside the box moments later. Etherington added a third shortly after the re-start and Reo-Coker added insult to Wimbledon's injury as he scored against his former club, but he has enough respect not to celebrate his strike.

'We had a job to do tonight and once we got that first goal, we played some terrific football,' said West Ham boss Pardew. 'We have been threatening to bash a team for some time and unfortunately for Wimbledon, they took the bashing.


'And I'm delighted to see Mattie Etherington get his hat-trick. He would be in any First Division side this season and it was great to see him going home with a ball in his bag. Now we go into the Sunderland game feeling buoyant and putting pressure on the top two.'

Wimbledon boss Stuart Murdoch was philosophical after his side's latest drubbing and he may just have put the Hammers display in perspective. 'You have to look at what West Ham were up against,' he stated. 'I would not judge them against us as they will play much better teams than us. Of course they are a good side, they have half our players! If we had Connelly, McAnuff and Reo-Coker, we'd be half-good.'

Listen hard enough and you could almost have heard the gentle hum emanating from Stamford Bridge on a night when the eyes of Europe were bearing down on their lavishly assembled side. They may be into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but their future depends on the health and continued good will of one Russian with remarkably deep pockets.

West Ham's traditions run much deeper and their loyal fans deserve to see Premiership football return to this stadium next season

[pething101]

Originally posted by pething101
http://www.speedmonkey.net/miscimages/marv_albert.jpg

Apparently Marv Albert is a banned entity for the Cumberland County school system. All I get is the big red X.
__

El Toro, I generally cut and past mine from the BBC site.

1 Norwich 34 25 67
2 West Brom 35 19 64
3 West Ham Utd 35 19 57
4 Wigan Athletic 34 13 57
5 Sheff Utd 34 9 55
6 Millwall 34 8 53
7 Ipswich Town 35 6 53
8 Reading 35 -3 53
9 Sunderland 31 10 51
10 Crystal Palace 35 5 51
11 Preston 34 7 50
12 Stoke City 34 3 50
13 Coventry City 35 5 49
14 Cardiff City 34 10 46
15 Crewe 34 -3 44
16 Rotherham Utd 34 -7 41
17 Burnley 35 -9 40
18 Watford 35 -9 40
19 Gillingham 33 -11 40
20 Nottm Forest 35 -3 38
21 Walsall 35 -11 38
22 Derby County 34 -19 35
23 Bradford City 36 -21 32
24 Wimbledon 34 -43 18