2015/16 in review: December & January

Join us as we take a look back at the 2015/16 season through the eyes of KUMB Editor Graeme Howlett, who penned a weekly column for the Echo newspaper throughout the campaign.

Today we look back at December and January in part five of our review...


20 December

West Ham secured a fifth draw in seven appearances at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday afternoon - although there was very little else to cheer on a dreadfully dull day in South Wales.

Slaven Bilic will probably be one of the few to return from Swansea satisfied with the result, being as he was without half of his favoured first team. However it was a dreadfully dour spectacle from the perspective of the club's travelling supporters, who saw West Ham eke out a third successive goalless draw for the first time in Premier League history.

On the face of it, a point away from home looks like a decent return - and James Collins in defence and goalkeeper Adrian were both magnificent in preserving a third successive clean sheet. However given Swansea's lowly Premier League position - and that West Ham enjoyed just 27 per cent of possession - it's no wonder there were rumblings of discontent amongst the West Ham fanbase post-match.




Minus the likes of Dimitri Payet, Manuel Lanzini and Diafra Sakho, West Ham pose very little threat in the final third of the field. With Andy Carroll also ruled out at the weekend, Bilic was left with just Mauro Zarate and Nikica Jelavic in attack - one of whom is frustratingly inconsistent, the other consistently substandard.

Despite those shortcomings, West Ham still managed to conjure up 11 shots at goal - even though just two of those were on target. Fortunately the hosts were just as profligate, with only two of their 21 efforts finding their intended target.

West Ham stay on the road for their next outing, away to Aston Villa on Boxing Day. The Villains have endured an even worse opening half of the season than Swansea, having failed to win since the opening day of the season and taking just seven points from their opening 17 matches.

So it's with renewed optimism that Bilic's boys go into that one, before completing their Christmas programme with home fixtures against Southampton (28th December) and Liverpool (2nd January) - two teams who, like Swansea, are in less than sensational form and must be considered beatable.

Prior to that, it just remains for me to wish all of my readers a very happy Christmas and thank you for following this column so far this season. Let's hope Santa can bring us at least one more win before the curtain falls on 2015. Come on you Irons!


27 December

Following the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on Boxing Day, it's now two months since West Ham United fans have been able to celebrate a win. Merry Christmas, everybody!

On the face of it, that appears to be a desperate situation - although it's also the case that the Hammers have only been beaten twice during that period (at Tottenham and Watford).

Six draws in West Ham's last eight matches have kept the wolves from Slaven Bilic's door, although the first voices of discontent have been heard following the last two outings - both of which ended in stalemate - at lowly Swansea and Villa.

West Ham enjoyed just 27 per cent of possession in their goalless draw at the Liberty Stadium last week and whilst that figure was marginally better at Villa Park (41 per cent), there is growing concern regarding the squad's ability to cope with such an extensive injury list.

No less than SIX players who would be in contention for a spot in the starting XI were absent at Villa Park, where West Ham rarely threatened - despite scoring their first goal in four games (ironically perhaps by marauding defender Aaron Cresswell).

Yet given a bit more luck - and assistance from referee Mike Dean - the Hammers could have returned to London with all three points.




As it was Bilic's side were denied two penalty appeals - one, a cast-iron 'hand ball' shout against Ashley Westwood deep into added-on time - and to add insult to injury, conceded an equaliser from the spot after Angelo Ogbonna was deemed to have impeded Rudy Gestede when TV replays suggested the Villa man should have been penalised for shirt-pulling.

Defensively, West Ham are coping admirably without key man Winston Reid, who is out until February. James Collins, who agreed a two-year contract extension on Christmas Eve has been superb since winning a recall to the side and James Tomkins has performed admirably at full back, where he has been preferred to Carl Jenkinson in recent weeks.

However it's a different story entirely at the other end of the field, where the Hammers are struggling to make an impact having scored just once in their last four outings - and not having scored more than once since that last win against Chelsea back in October.

The club's crippling injury list should be reduced this week with Andy Carroll, Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini all expected to be available for the clash with Liverpool at the Boleyn on 2 January. Given the team's recent slide down the table, it's imperative that all three hit the ground running.


3 January

Not content with winning at Anfield for the first time since 1963 earlier in the season, West Ham completed the double over Liverpool at the Boleyn on Saturday with a thoroughly satisfying team performance.

The 2-0 win - courtesy of goals from Michail Antonio and Liverpool's record signing, Andy Carroll - means that the Hammers have put five goals past the once-mighty Merseysiders this season without reply and also ensured Slaven Bilic's team completed the double over Liverpool from the first time in 51 years.

Although Jurgen Klopp's arrival hints at a promising future for the Reds, the current squad is one of the weakest to have visited east London in the last half century and West Ham's win was no fluke, nor surprise. Despite seeing less of the ball the Irons were by far the better team on the day, created more goalscoring opportunities and could have won by an even greater margin.

All in all it was an overwhelmingly positive day for West Ham, who also welcomed the creative genius of Dimitri Payet back into the side. The French international wasted no time in showing the Boleyn faithful what they had missed in recent weeks as a sublime exhibition of trickery left three opponents looking foolish within seconds of his introduction as a second half substitute.




But West Ham being West Ham, something had to go wrong - and the sight of Manuel Lanzini limping off whilst clutching his thigh after just 39 minutes - in only his second game since returning from injury - was an all-too depressingly familiar sight in a season in which most of the club's key players have suffered from a serious injury at some stage.

The Argentine midfielder joins key men Winston Reid and Diafra Sakho on the sidelines - whilst Alex Song, Angelo Ogbonna, Enner Valencia, Andy Carroll and the aforementioned Payet have also experienced major injuries this season.

Yet West Ham continue to confound their critics and ended the day sixth in the Premier League - and remain unbeaten since losing at Tottenham back in November, some eight matches previously. Seven of the team's 32 points arrived over Christmas too - hopefully putting to bed the myth that West Ham come down with the Christmas decorations!

Next weekend the FA Cup takes centre stage as West Ham welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Boleyn Ground for the final time before we up sticks and move to Stratford this summer.

There have been some memorable meetings between the two teams over the years, although few will come close to matching the Barclays Division 1 clash in March 1993 when the current Championship side were the first visitors to an emotional Boleyn Ground awash with wreaths and flowers following the untimely death of Bobby Moore.


10 January

It may not have been the most memorable game ever to feature at the Boleyn Ground, but West Ham are in the hat for the fourth round of the FA Cup after successfully navigating a potential banana skin against Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Nikica Jelavic's first goal since moving to east London back in September was good enough to send Slaven Bilic's team through to the next stage of the competition, although a packed Boleyn Ground had to wait until five minutes from the end of normal time to celebrate the game's only goal.

Until that point the 30-year-old striker, signed by West Ham on transfer deadline day last September had been largely anonymous - although that could equally apply to most, if not all of his teammates too. However he was in the right place at the right time to convert Andy Carroll's delivery and send Wolves tumbling out of the Cup.

Although he made a number of changes to his starting XI, Slaven Bilic insisted prior to the game that the competition remains a priority. "Win a Cup and I could hold it up!", he told the media when asked if he'd prefer to win a trophy or qualify for the Champions League. And that was music to the ears of Hammers fans who have been starved of success having witnessed West Ham fail to lift a proper trophy for 35 years (1999's Intertoto Cup success notwithstanding).




For a team with a notable FA Cup pedigree, West Ham's form in recent seasons has been atrocious. The Hammers have progressed beyond the fifth round of the competition just once since appearing in the 2005/06 Final a decade ago - whilst having failed to get past the initial (third round) stage three times in the last four years under Sam Allardyce, whose utter contempt for the Cups was no secret.

Of course Lady Luck has a major role to play in any successful Cup run. Draw the likes of Colchester or Peterborough at home in the next round and you stand a good chance of progressing further; get a trip to The Emirates or the City of Manchester Stadium and your chances are greatly reduced, even if West Ham have won at both already this season!

Following Monday's evening's Cup draw (which takes place live on BBC1), it's off to Bournemouth where West Ham will be attempting to make a better fist of things than the last occasion upon which the two teams met. Back in August, the Cherries secured a surprise 4-3 win at the Boleyn Ground in what was only Bilic's third Premier League game.

Since that disappointment, West Ham have only been beaten twice in the league (by Watford and Tottenham) - a run of 17 games and a very impressive statistic to take into the second half of the campaign.

* Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.

* Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the highlighted author/s and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of KUMB.com.


More Opinion