The art of being positive has escaped many of us West Ham nutters this season, For good reason, it’s been a nightmare of our club’s own making.
It’s been easy to see the worst of a club run by our dodgy-as-Hell board, who appointed a coach who hasn’t had a grip since he walked through the door despite all the promises of a brave new world.Then along comes a miracle on Tyneside and the whole world looks a (slightly) better place. A 2-0 win, our best display of the season and the 3,200 who were there from these parts got a night they will never forget.
The fact that Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek made a point of praising their loyalty, ten hours round trip by car from home and no trains, says a lot about these two players. They get it.
I admit to having trouble seeing the good and the great side of our regime and much of the aching nastiness that comes from them. Let's rinse the old fans and the kids, let’s drive them out so we can fill the stadium with tourists. Let’s charge them over £100 to see Liverpool.
And it’s catching. Manchester United, of all clubs amongst the richest in the world, announce they will charge children £66 for a ticket. That stinks. They’ll have the foreign fans paying it, so too the rich Cheshire lot, but I doubt many from Salford’s backstreets will take up the offer.
Then there are clubs desperate to end the £30 maximum for away fans. People's game, my arse. It all colours my views and beliefs. Then, of course, along comes the near-world class play of Bowen, the naive beauty of Soucek and the occasional wonders of Lucas Paqueta.
Bowen looks to have been boosted by his England goal and his performance at Newcastle suggested he could figure in any decent side in Europe. Soucek, naive… well after another tireless display and yet another crucial goal, he’s not slow to say we could beat Arsenal on Saturday. ”We did it twice last season so we can do it again”, insists the Czech captain.
And then we have Paqueta who produced a stunning display of midfield control at Newcastle. Fluency, sublime technical ability. His best display of the season after weeks of indifference. Do it again on Saturday and we have a chance. There’s positive for you.
Bowen, Soucek and Paqueta all stepped up to the plate at Newcastle. I don’t know whether that was anything to do with Julen Lopetegui, or whether our top players decided the time was right for a statement of intent. Yet everything about them was right.
So, being positive. I have a beautiful little granddaughter, every day when she leaves for school her mum tells her to be positive. It’s quite moving. Maybe she could apply that maxim to us - or maybe not, there are more important things in life.
So Loopy survived, David Sullivan was spared all that nasty business of sacking a coach, finding a new one - they did have a replacement set up ,my sources insist - and hoping for a few bob change from a fiver to take his latest flame on the Med again this summer. Two people who were mentioned in the House of Commons this week under privilege. My word.
So we have Loopy for a while, you can’t sack a coach after a performance and result like the win at Newcastle. But not let’s get carried away. Newcastle, on form, would have finished us off by half time.
The result was a shock for most of us, maybe a turning point as Bowen suggests. The big players turned up, we ran the second best figure in the Premier league this season, a collective 74 miles. Our pressing was hugely improved, from 16th worst in the league this term.
So we have to do it again, that level of performance must be the norm. it’s the style Lopetegui wants and with Carlos Soler finally making an impact. But one swallow and all that.
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