Reinventing AWB
- Thursday, 4th September 2025
- Paul Brand
Taking your Player of the Season and shoehorning him into a new position sounds like classic West Ham fuckwittery. But bear with me on this one, especially since the relative lack of squad depth might necessitate some inventive team selections at certain times...
When does pantomime season end?
- Saturday, 21st December 2024
- Paul Brand
After a creditable four points from two games, the pantomime around Julen Lopetegui has subsided somewhat. At the same time, no-one seems convinced that we’ve turned a corner.
Back Ache: The Need to Find a New Number One
- Thursday, 24th October 2024
- Paul Brand
They might hold a monopoly on being number one but goalkeeper is also the loneliest position, the last line of defence, unforgiving of mistakes.
Top of the Pops: what makes ‘Bubbles’ a bigger hit than ‘North London Forever’?
- Thursday, 17th October 2024
- Paul Brand
I’m currently reading The Arsenal Stadium Mystery, which is not – alas – an exposé on why Mikel Arteta thinks its okay to employ the dark arts but moans like an old fishwife whenever anything slightly untoward goes against his team.
The Enforcer and the Playmaker: Can Alvarez and Paqueta live up to the hype?
- Tuesday, 24th September 2024
- Paul Brand
I’m not a massive fan of stats in football. They rarely tell the whole story, as our greater share of possession and shots on goal in defeats against Villa and Chelsea would attest.
Last man standing
- Tuesday, 27th August 2024
- Paul Brand
Where does Emerson Palmieri rank in our pantheon of Premier League full-backs?
Come together
- Thursday, 22nd August 2024
- Paul Brand
"Support the team, not the regime" seems more pertinent than ever.
Journey into the Academy’s heart of darkness
- Wednesday, 17th April 2024
- Paul Brand
There’s been a lot of idle conjecture about the health of the Academy of Football whenever Divin Mubama (19 years old, eight Premier League appearances, zero goals) has been overlooked in favour of Danny Ings (31 years old, 220 appearances, 71 goals).