If you were there, you will never forget it. Eleven amazing minutes that could change the future of West Ham forever. We certainly all hope and dream so.
The London Stadium plunged from total silence to despair and back to unreserved jubilation. I was fortunate enough to be in the Bobby Moore lower to witness the sort of utter refusal to buckle under extreme pressure that has characterised this current West Ham side, fighting for its life and carrying a desperate support with them.I’m told by family and friends who were either listening on the car radio or viewing hysterical scenes on Sky, that it was nerve shredding, gut wrenching stuff. That 11 minute spell that marked Callum Wilson’s 81st minute arrival on the pitch to his dramatic winner on 92 minutes may well go down in West Ham folklore, depending on our final four games.
I admit to be bitterly disappointed when we signed Wilson, client of a friend of the owner. Not because he didn’t have Premier League quality—of course he did—but because Newcastle had discarded him because of his injury record and his legs. They felt he wasn’t what up to it any more.
But Wilson has now managed two critical goals in injury time that has won us six points, the winner at Spurs and now at home Everton. Elsewhere on Saturday, a minute after Wilson joined the fray against Everton, Spurs were grabbing an eventual winner at Wolves through Joao Palhinha. Cue utter mayhem at Molineux.
Someone whispered in my ear, “Spurs have scored.” That sickening information was being told all around the London Stadium. You could have cut the silence of 62,000 souls with a knife, the players must have realised too.
Six minutes later it got worse. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall equalised for Everton. A stadium sunk in despair. Four minutes later, bedlam took over as Wilson guided home Jarrod Bowen’s exception assist with that towering header.
I’m told Tim Sherwood in the Sky studio spun his chair away from the camera in despair, utter horror enveloped him. Sue Smith, the Everton fan on the panel, was screaming the news to the world. What that must have done to the hearts of Spurs fans at Wolves and worldwide wasn’t difficult to imagine.
It’s going to be like this now to the death. It’s them or us. We’d have all liked more clubs involved but both Leeds and Nottingham Forest had started winning. Whether they can be hauled back into this death march to the Championship is debatable.
We still have our priceless two-point lead. Now we have a gifted chance to put real pressure on Spurs if we can stretch that lead to five points by winning at Brentford on Saturday. Never easy because Keith Andrews has made them a very difficult side to handle, with their long throws and ‘Arsenal style’ corners. But it’s not out of the question.
And the current form of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side gives us all hope. Prior and including that horrible home defeat by Forest on 6 January, we had gone 10 league games without a win and taken four points from 30. Shocking, dispiriting times. Defeat at Wolves, an awful display losing a home to Fulham, a sickening home draw with Manchester United who scored deep into injury time.
We were as good as relegated. Since then so much has changed. Nuno has finally hit on a solid, competitive, defiant side. We’ve picked up 22 points from 13 games, losing only three times.
Bowen’s on fire, Cry Summerville is a danger every time he’s on the ball and Tomas Soucek is defying age and the critics who had written him off before Christmas.
I’ve never accepted that. This guy loves the club, he even had his kids out at the London Marathon with placards cheering on West Ham staff who were running. There really is nothing not to like about Soucek.
Our former boss David Moyes was gushing about Soucek after the midfielder had scored a fine goal and cleared one off the line at the other end in the 2-1 win over Everton. Nuno has restored Soucek to the side and the response has been outstanding.
His stats on Saturday made him our best player. Typical goal apart, he completed 40 of 47 passes accurately, 28 of 30 in the opposing half. He had 54 touches of the ball, losing possession just seven times. He is holding our midfield together and giving Matty Fernandes the space and possession to play.
Overall this season Soucek has played 31 games, has a 77.28% pass completion, has won 34 tackles plus 16 interceptions and 75 clearances. What is not to like, all you doubters?
If he and West Ham can produce more of the same at Brentford we can really put Spurs under pressure. The following day Spurs are at Aston Villa. How a win for us at Brentford will affect their mentality it’s hard to say.
But you do sense that Spurs fans, who haven't experienced a relegation fight since the mid-1970s, are still finding this all hard to take. They are a big club, it’s all big mistake and they’ll wake up and all will be fine.
And there’s the near non-stop support from Sky and their Spurs fans pundits and reporters. The moaning about their injury list is painful. They have a massive squad and have spent a fortune. They were in the Champions League this season, for heaven’s sake.
Losing Xavi Simons with an ACL is a big blow, and nobody wishes injury on anyone. But it says something that the player was abused by his own fans as he was being carried off on a stretcher at Wolves. Disgusting behaviour.
Their club is also encouraging fans to meet the team coach ahead of games for one of those annoying flares-led receptions. Squad players are even being encouraged to sit on the bench and cheer on their colleagues. It’s somehow false, assuming this will change things and the rich boys will be soon be home a dry, well away from the nasty end of the league and a club they continually deride.
Us, well we’ve all been here before, it’s not a shock. If our team fights for everything, gives their all, we’ll be with them. Been there, seen this before. Maybe a bit too often!
Of course no few days can go by without another twist in our ownership saga. Now with Karren Brady out the door—was she pushed or did she walk? We’ll never know—the name of Amanda Staveley appears again. I’m tempted to suggest there’s more chance of Amanda Holden buying us than the former girlfriend of Prince Andrew, or whatever he’s called now.
Staveley has been linked with us before and tried three times to buy Liverpool before fronting the Saudi bid at Newcastle. Now it’s being alleged that she’s looking to get back into Newcastle and has us as a fall-back.
At one point she held 10 per cent of Newcastle shares, before parting company in 2024. Her usual approach is to front consortiums, with previous cash from the US, Dubai, China and the Saudis.
For what it’s worth, I had some contact with her and her people when she was first trying to buy Liverpool from Hicks and Gillett. When I had to work for a living, Liverpool was my patch and she agreed to an interview the next time the Anfield club were in town.
That turned out to be for one of those Champions League ties with Chelsea. A date and time for the interview was arranged, but in the end she cancelled and sent an underling instead. I know my place, but I’ve never forgiven her.
With Daniel Kretinsky now having agreed to increase his holding alongside David Sullivan, who has also bought some of Vanessa Gold’s family stake, it seems clear that the Czech multi-billionaire has a vision for the future. Sullivan may well one day sell his shares, but with it known he wants to pass them on to his two sons, any further involvement from outside the club seems highly unlikely.
The current change in the ownership structure has been formally agreed and will be tied up at the end of the season. As for now, Staveley may well be sniffing around, but so it seems from Jacob Steinberg’s article in the Guardian last week, so were others.
Now in the wake of Brady’s exit, the relationship with the London Stadium ownership may change. It has been alleged that the current situation was frosty, to say the least, with lawyers involved far too often.
London mayor Sadiq Khan commented only recently that he would not be adverse to West Ham moving out if a new ownership wished to leave the London Stadium. The hint then was that there were others who could become involved.
The London authority is losing vast sums on the current deal, the one Brady prides herself in securing for West Ham. More rock concerts and other sporting events could be introduced. Kretinsky’s view on the relationship from now on will be interesting.
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