Blowing Bubbles #50

BY FANS, FOR FANS WWW.BLOWING-BUBBLES.CO.UK

AUGUST 2015 #50

Harry Redknapp

PayetCan he bring sexy back?

Dimitri

‘My mate Slav can make West Ham great again’

WELCOMEEDITOR-IN-CHIEF: David Blackmore MANAGING EDITOR: Simon Osborn CONTRIBUTORS: David Bowden, Marcus Johns, Geoff Hillyer, Andrew Hosie, Stuart Plant, Danny Rust, Liam Newman, David Meagh-er, George Parris, Emily Pulham, Matt Santer, Brian Williams, Bill West, Bianca Westwood, Lucy Woolford PHOTOGRAPHER: Nicky Hayes EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: editor@blowing- bub-bles.co.uk ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: advertising@blowing- bubbles.co.uk WHERE YOU CAN READ IT: Blowing Bubbles is available to buy and is also available to read on your PC, Mac, Tablet or Mobile. Blowing Bubbles is published by Fanatic Media. Blowing Bubbles is a completely independent publication. The views expressed within Blowing Bubbles are not necessarily those of the publishers. Opinions expressed by companies and individuals appearing within the magazine are not that of Blowing Bubbles or the publisher. The publisher accepts no liability from any action raised in response to any such opinions. Readers are strongly advised that although we take every care to ensure prices and content, etc, are up to date, it is the responsibility to check with the advertiser before purchasing or travelling to view products. No reproduction, either in part or whole of the magazine is allowed unless written consent is obtained from the publisher. The publisher accepts no responsibility for any actions arising from articles or features or advertisements within this magazine. Readers are advised to pay by credit card when ordering goods as these are regulated under the Consumer Act 1974. Debit and charge cards are not. (c) Blowing Bubbles

What an interesting summer it’s been

to be a West Ham fan. I don’t know about you but it barely feels like I’ve had a break from all things claret and blue.

With the summer an-nual, Big Sam’s sacking, Slav’s appointment, all our transfer activity and, of course, the Europa League - it’s been non-stop.

But here we are, the first issue of the season and what a season this could be. There are only two ways it can go in my opinion.

We could have a decent run in the Europa League, FA Cup and

League Cup, and be battling for a European slot in the league or we’ll crash out of the Europa League and the two cups early doors, get loads of injuries and end up struggling to stay in the league.

There is no grey area for West Ham but qui-etly, I hope I’m proved wrong.

Turning to all matters Blowing Bubbles and with the appointment of Julian Dicks to the coaching staff at West Ham, it has brought an end to his column.

It was an absolute pleasure to have Julian on board for two sea-

sons. As many of you have seen on Twitter, he is West Ham through and through. He has such a fantastic relation-ship with the fans and I can’t thank him enough for contributing to Blow-ing Bubbles.

Moving on and I’m absolutely delighted to introduce our new col-umnist, George Parris. I’ve been so impressed with his passion for the magazine and I look forward to reading his musings over the coming season - as I’m sure you are too.

Come on you Irons!

This year is huge for the Irons so belt up for one hell of a ride

David

The big interview - Harry Redknapp

‘Slav smoked 60 fags a day but he was fantastic for us’Former Irons boss Harry Redknapp on the Olympic Stadium, Bilic, the West Ham way and why he’ll never rule out a return to management...

SIMON OSBORN

Harry Redknapp believes Slaven

Bilic can lead West Ham United into a new golden period in their history.

Th e former Hammers chief says the Croatian is the perfect man to take the club into the Olympic Stadium, and reckons the move will give West Ham the chance to compete with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.

In a wide ranging interview with Blowing Bubbles Monthly, the 68-year-old insisted the Irons were right to leave Upton Park and main-tained it could herald a new dawn in the club’s future.

‘People say West Ham won’t fi ll it but I think they will easily,’ said Redknapp, who

managed at Upton Park between 1994 and 2001. ‘West Ham can attract the fans, they have a great fanbase and are a well-supported club.

‘It’s sad to see them leave Upton Park aft er all this time but sooner or later you have to move on. Th ere is no room to extend the current ground and this is a great opportunity.

‘I don’t know the exact numbers involved but it sounds like the club

have had an absolutely fantastic deal. It’s a very clever deal and you have to say it looks like Kar-ren Brady and the rest of the board have done a great job.’

Critics of the move claim the new stadium, which will maintain the running track and be shared with British Athletics, will lack the atmosphere generated at Upton Park.

However, while Redknapp admits he

will miss the ‘special nights’ at the Boleyn Ground he is convinced the facilities, retractable seating and size of the new stadium will more than make up for it.

‘Upton Park is, and always was, one of the great football stadiums in the country because when the crowd are in full fl ight singing bubbles it is fantastic,’ he added. ‘But Upton Park has changed so much over the years anyway, it is already miles away from what it was like when I fi rst started play-ing there in the 1960s.

‘When I was a kid we used to clean the Chick-en Run out or do a bit of painting at the end of the season. It was a tiny little stand and all wood, that original old chicken run was full of characters, East End characters if you like, and the atmos-phere there was amazing in them days.

‘You’re not going to get that back whatever you do, but if they can bring the stadium in so the fans are closer to the pitch then I’m sure it will be just fi ne. You

Leader: Slaven Bilic impressed Harry Redknapp

Still ambitious: Harry Redknapp says he isn’t ready to retire

wouldn’t want to go back to what it used to be like at Stamford Bridge when they had the dog track as there wouldn’t be an atmosphere, but by bringing it in over the athletics track I’m sure it will be a great stadium.’

Of course, the success of the move will, in part, depend on how West Ham are performing on the pitch. It is crucial the club begins life at the Olympic Stadium in the Premier League.

The man now en-trusted with ensuring that happens is former Lokomotiv Moscow and Besiktas boss Slaven Bilic. The 46-year-old, who had one and a half seasons at Upton Park under Redknapp in the mid-1990s, replaced Sam Allardyce over the summer after the board decided not to renew the manager’s contract.

Redknapp admits to feeling ‘sorry’ for Allardyce, insisting that he did a good job for the Hammers during his four seasons in charge, but says once the deci-sion to replace Big Sam

was made Bilic was the outstanding candidate for the job.

‘I wasn’t surprised but I thought Sam had done a really good job there in all honesty,’ he explained. ‘I don’t think anyone could deny he had done

a top job but it didn’t surprise me as when the owners didn’t renew his contract at Christmas you could tell it was heading that way.

‘I don’t know if there was something behind the scenes or what but for some reason it wasn’t right.

‘I’m pleased for Slaven though as I like him a lot. He was a great char-acter when he played for me and I’ve seen a fair bit of him over the years since he left West Ham. He is very enthusiastic and he knows the club.

‘I think he’ll be good and it was good to see that he brought in Julian Dicks. He’ll be a big help to him and I’m thinking

he will do well and I’m really hoping he does and it works out for him and the club.’

Redknapp first met Bilic in January 1996 when the player came over to train with West Ham having fallen out with Winfried Schäfer, who was then manager at Karlsruher SC where Bilic was captain.

And the former Ports-mouth, Tottenham and QPR boss says he knew within one hour of see-ing him in practice that he wanted to sign him.

‘He came over for a couple of days to train with us,’ he recalled. ‘I wouldn’t call it a trial as we knew he was a top, established player

Open to offers: Redknapp has been out of work since leaving QPR at the start of January

Deal: Redknapp brought Bilic to London in the 90s

already but it gave us the chance for us to have a look at him.

‘First morning he trained and within an hour I knew I wanted him. He was a voice and a leader. He organised well at the back and had loads of enthusiasm and right then I thought he would be a real good player for us.

‘Slaven was a leader but he liked his rock

music, he played in a band and smoked about 60 fags a day. He was a bit of a one off. He had something about him and I always liked him. He had a warm person-ality and whenever I’ve seen him around the world since I have always enjoyed his company and catching up.’

While results last season were up and down, the main reason

Allardyce did not have his contract renewed was that his relationship with the West Ham support-ers had broken down and was beyond repair.

Another factor, of course, was the style of football, but while Redknapp acknowledg-es Bilic starts his new role with an enormous amount of positive sup-port from the terraces he insists the ‘pragmatic’

How modern players are really found

Slaven Bilic must trust West Ham’s scouts to deliver quality players for him in this summer’s transfer window.

Harry Redknapp says a modern Premier League manager is only part of the process and the global nature of English football has changed the way club bosses operate.

‘At this stage a manager will know what positions he wants to strengthen and the club will have a few options, but identifying tar-gets is all done now by your scouts and head of recruitment,’ he explained.

‘Years ago I was at a game every night of the week. Now at the top level you are bringing in world class players from all over the world. You need people around that can come back and say “I’ve found a player.”

‘You can’t just pop to Spain so really what you are doing is you are watching videos. The scout will say there is a player I’d like you to watch and then the tech guys will put an hour clip together for you to view.’

Fan favourite: Slaven Bilic proved very popular with the West Ham supporters

new boss will not priori-tise style over substance.

‘What is the West Ham way?’ asked Redknapp, rhetorically.

‘To play that kind of football you have to have the players. There is no point having Andy Carroll in your team and start playing this passing football with lots of touches around the box. If you have Andy Carroll, you have to get the ball in the box. You have to hang it up to him in the air and go from back to front.

‘If Slaven has Andy Carroll in the team I don’t think you are going to look to him to play short stuff and slide little balls in and around the box for him to run onto.

‘It is like if you have got Crouchy – I had him in a few teams and we had to mix our game up. You had to play long as well as the intricate foot-ball. It’s a balance and I’m sure Slav will look to get that right.

‘That is the key to playing entertaining football and to do that is going to need goalscor-ers. You need goals and you need goalscorers. It’s vital West Ham bring in the right players this summer if they want to play a more expansive game this season.’

Yet while the Hammers clearly understand the need to bring in fresh talent this summer, and big money deals for Dimitri Payet, Pedro Obiang and Angelo Og-bonna prove there is an appetite for investment,

it is clear the new man-ager will also have to get more out of the players already at the club.

And Redknapp says the work done over the pre-season campaign will be vital as Bilic tries to establish who can have a part to play in his new-look side.

‘It would have been difficult for Slaven as he

was taking over a few lads who you would class as “Sam’s lads” – a few who had been around with Allardyce over the years,’ Redknapp added. ‘Slav would have soon found out who was with him or not. Any new manager finds that out fast so it doesn’t take you long to decide who you want to keep or not.

‘That said you may go in with some pre-con-ceived ideas about some of them and think “I don’t want him around” or “he’s trouble” or things like that. Some-times though the players surprise you and after a week or two you change your mind and think “actually he is alright and I’d like to keep him here”.

‘As a manager you’ve got to be prepared that they will judge you very quickly and make their mind up about you quite early. You want to hit the ground running and it is important you set out how you want to work.

‘It’s important they know who is the boss and you get your mes-sage over so the players

Harry Redknapp is tipping Arsenal to win the Premier League title this season.

‘I’ve got a feeling Ar-senal will be really close this year,’ he said. ‘Petr Cech is a great signing and he gives them a real class presence in

goal. I reckon they need two more players and if [Arsene Wenger] can get the two right ones in now then I think they are a real threat.

‘He needs a striker for sure. I was surprised he didn’t get that Jackson Martinez from Porto.’

Who will win the league?

Giving: Redknapp, pictured here with Russell Brand, has focussed on his charity work

know what you expect from them in terms of discipline as well as on and off the pitch.’

Skilful man man-agement was perhaps Redknapp’s greatest strength as a manager, and he believes it is vital a manager knows how to get the best out of the players at his disposal.

‘I quite like characters and you need a bit of character in your team,’ he added. ‘If you look at the great teams of years back you had characters and not everybody can be a nice guy.

‘Look when Paolo Di Canio came to West Ham – he was a maverick who did things his way but he was im-portant to the dressing room.

‘You don’t want a team of choirboys and you need some rogues. Yes at times they can be hard to handle, a few who like a night out and whatnot, and you have to be on your toes with them but I’d like to think everyone can be handled even if you have to do it in different ways.

‘Going back to Slaven, he has managed at the top level, he’s beaten England at Wembley with Croatia so he’ll not have a problem making it clear to the players that this is what he expects from them.

‘I never really worried about someone not being a good lad. I knew when I took Paul Mer-son or Razor Ruddock that they were characters but they were good lads

really. I enjoyed being with them and I still tell stories about them now. When you went home at night you laughed but dealing with those big characters is one of the big challenges that I enjoyed.’

Whether Redknapp himself will get the op-portunity to handle top players again remains to be seen. The Londoner has been out of work since leaving QPR at the start of February, unable to continue the Hoops’ relegation battle as his knee required surgery.

Six months on and Redknapp insists he

would be fit enough to take on a new role, but says it would have to be the right club for him to return to football.

‘I don’t know really, I honestly have no idea if I’ll work again,’ he said. ‘I’ll see what comes up, if anything. If it was some-thing really interesting I’d be interested but otherwise I wouldn’t.

‘Physically I could manage again, no problem. I’ve been playing in a charity golf tour and I’ve been out on the course every day playing golf. I’ve enjoyed it, it has been good fun and I’ve met

a lot of nice people but I played eight days on the spin for charity days and for cancer research but in the end I got a bit golfed out.

‘I’ll just wait and see what comes up and if it looks interesting I’ll take it from there. I’ve got no need to take something for the sake of it. If I want to go to work I will if I don’t I won’t. If the phone rings, it rings but if it doesn’t I have enough to do.’

Hopefully that will include watching Slaven Bilic take West Ham into that golden new era after all. BBM

Difficult: Redknapp says getting the best out of Paolo Di Canio was tough

I went to the Anni-versary Games at the

Olympic Stadium.It was the first time I’d

been to the Stadium as I didn’t get any tickets when the Games were in London and have to say it is pretty breathtaking.

I was in the upper tier of what will be the new East Stand and I had a good view of the pitch and it didn’t feel as far away as I feared it might be.

With the retractable seating in the lower tier I think most fans will be pleasantly surprised as to how the place looks in football mode. I wasn’t convinced about the move before but now I’m looking forward to it.

It will be very sad

when we leave Upton Park after so many years but we are moving to a world class stadium that can be the springboard to take the club to the next level.

You only have to look

at what the City of Manchester Stadium did for Manchester City and if we can get the right investment we could join the elite clubs at the top of the Premier League.

Gavin Bateman

Your shout

New kit really hits the spot

Europa League is not worth the botherI’ve enjoyed the three Europa League games we have played at Upton Park this summer.

Ok, so the standard of the opposition hasn’t been all that and our own performances have been questionable, but for a tenner you can’t really complain.

I think anyone with a brain though will be able to tell you that nothing good can come of our participation in the competition.

We are not going to be able to win it and all that will come of it is our league form takes a dent.

Yes the fans will have a few decent away trips but surely risking relega-tion would be too high a price to pay for a jolly to the continent?

I think Slaven Bilic should use the compe-tition to give first team experience to our best young players and not worry about the result.

Mark Pemberton

Olympic Stadium has the ‘wow factor’ as moving day looms I’m just writing in to say

how happy I am with West Ham’s new home shirt.

I’d been a bit worried when it was announced that we’d teamed up with Umbro to produce the last shirt we’d wear at the Boleyn Ground as they’ve produced some pretty poor efforts over the years.

The style of the kit has been inspired by the first ever West Ham shirt worn at the Boleyn Ground in 1904 and the classic light blue sleeves.

A noticeable addition to the kit is having the light blue ring around the neck of the shirt, something that hasn’t been a feature since that very first kit.

Joshua Leather

If Slaven Bilic has learnt one thing from his first few games in charge it must be that Kevin Nolan’s time is up.

I’ve actually supported him over the last few years and I think some of the stick he has got has been unjustified.

But it is clear he is now well past his best and if we want to kick on as a club we need better in the heart of midfield.

A Bolton return, Kev?Giles Bigden

Time is up for captain Nolan

Email: [email protected]

Looking good: West Ham are going to Stratford

GEORGE PARRIS THE HAMMERS’ HERO PULLS NO PUNCHES IN HIS EXCLUSIVE COLUMN

Th ere has been a bit of talk about Kevin Nolan and whether or not he will be a West Ham player for much longer.

From my point of view, he is a West Ham player at the moment and if we have players like No-lan at the club, Bilic will be using them.

Th ere are other players who you’d brand as being an Allardyce player but these are still quality players and Bilic will be looking to utilise all the players he has at his disposal.

Th e thing is, we’ve got a good squad. Th ere is a good nu-cleus of players there and we’ve been able to add new faces and there are some prom-ising young players coming through too.

It’s not as if Bilic has come in and the squad needs a com-plete overhaul. He must be loving that fact because it can make a huge diff er-ence for a manager.

Nolan still has a role

The main objective for this season has

to be to make sure we are still in the Premier League come the fi nal whistle being blown at the Britannia Stadium on May 15. Full stop.

With the move to the Olympic Stadium, I don’t think it can be stressed enough how much we need to retain our Premier League status this season.

Sure, it has been nice to see West Ham play in Europe, but we’ve seen in

recent years the impact of playing Th ursday/Sunday over a long pe-riod can have on league form and we need to be careful we’re not pulled into a relegation battle.

Only time will tell what impact the early start to our season will have on our entire season.

If we start really well in the league in August and September, people will say starting in July has helped us but if we don’t start well, people will say

the players are tired.With the squad we

have, we should be looking at securing a top 10 fi nish.

Of all our summer signings I’m really look-ing forward to seeing a bit more of Dimitri Payet. He looks like he is going to be a decent buy.

I just hope we’re able to get a similar start to the one we had last season, get some points on the board early and then, unlike last season, kick on in the New Year.

Forget Europe! It is the home front that counts

Big plans: West Ham move to their new home next summer

Pub talkBlowing Bubbles’s top writers settle down to put the world to rights...We have interviewed Harry Redknapp in this month’s issue, where does he rate in the list of best West Ham managers?

Marcus Johns: I think Harry has to be judged on merit, and not people’s opinions of him as a person. Finishing fifth in 1999 was an incredible achievement. Had he not been forced to sell the good young players, who knows what we could have achieved. Without the longevity of Greenwood or Lyall, it’s difficult to say what could have been, but we’ve yet to hire a better manager since he left.

Brian Williams: I used to love H when I was a kid. Harry, Harry Red-knapp, Harry Redknapp on the wiiiiing! I used to sing that to myself when I was standing outside

the headmistress’s office waiting to get another bollocking after getting into trouble for pledging my allegiance to WHUFC with a sharp implement on the desks at school. But I can never forgive him for stitching up Billy Bonds. You just don’t do that to your mates, do you? And you certainly don’t do it

to my all-time favourite Hammer. Our best ever manager? For me it’s John Lyall.

David Meagher: Cer-tainly the most amusing! Hazza brought a whole added dimension to our fabled “West Ham Way” with his crafty wheeling and dealing. He created a buzz around the club that has only returned

with the prospect of the Bilic era. Only ‘Arry could manage madness ranging from Di Canio to Boogers in one crazy spell.

Andrew Hosie: Well, let’s say he did a reason-able job. He got us a fifth placed finish but that success couldn’t be rep-licated, infact it quickly dropped away, so in that respect it was a one off - an over achievement. He also never got us to a semi final in a cup com-petition. Even Avram Grant managed that. So, definitely not listed as one of the greats, but perfectly adequate!

Where do you think West Ham will finish this season?

MJ: A lot will depend on how far we progress in Europe. Many people cite the sacking of Sam as West Ham fans having

Club legend:John Lyall is the best we have had

ideas of grandeur – we know we are not a top six club. I think an im-provement on last sea-son’s twelfth but playing attractive football will be a plus. I think eighth to tenth is realistic.

BW: Like most West Ham fans, I hope for the best and fear the worst. We all know we’re not going to finish in the top four, but I do hope we get a chance to roll out the ‘Barcelona, we’re coming for you’ chant again this season. That was hilarious, even by West Ham’s unbelievably high standards. I kinda think we’ll avoid relega-tion, too, although I have got my fingers and toes crossed as I say this. A good cup run would be nice. The last ever game at Upton Park being against Swansea is a real anti-climax – a trip to Wembley would almost make up for that.

DM: We had this out last week in our local. Sixth but only if we bring in a reliable striker. The excellent options in defence and midfield suggest that we can avoid the usual post-Christmas slump. Payet looks like he could be a talismanic signing who will keep opposition defences nervous, while our full backs should be freed up to rampage down the wings under the new 4-2-3-1 Bilic system. We will concede more but score plenty.

AH: This is a difficult one. If we don’t produce results quickly there’s a danger of a snowball

effect building quite quickly. Looking at the fixture list, nowhere do we seem to have a run where we could win four in a row to help us out if things are getting a bit sticky. I think we’ll do very well to get into the top eight, but it wouldn’t be out of the question to end up in a similar position to the previous season. Although I’m sure it’ll be a more enter-taining watch

Which of the Hammers’ summer signings are you most looking forward to watching?

MJ: It’ll be interesting to see how quickly they

all adapt, but the one most buzz seems to be around is Payet. We’ve been crying out for a genuine playmaker, and it seems as if we’ve finally found one. After a great start against Sou-thend, it’ll be interesting to see how he manages the step up.

BW: Martin Samuelsen could be the real deal by all accounts. And I think we’re all expecting great things from Dimitri Payet. I fear Manuel Lanzini could be another one of those punts that looks exciting at the time but turns out to be noth-ing special in the end. (Sorry, did someone just

say Savio?) There is one bloke I’d like to see turn out for us occasionally, though. Big fella with a pony tail. Andy some-thing or other. I’ve heard he’s quite useful.

DM: It’s got to be Payet who looks amazing. Lanzini has plenty to do to replace Downing of pre-Christmas last year but Bilic seems chuffed to have captured ‘the jewel’. It’ll be interesting to see if Ogbonna is the addition at centre back that Bilic believes him to be. Andy Carroll is again like a ‘new’ signing and might finally deliver on his undoubted potential. Season two will be

Massive talent: Martin Samuelsen could prove to be an inspired signing

defining for Valencia as it often takes time for South Americans to fully adjust - if he gets off to a good start we can expect fireworks.

AH: Dimitri Payet. His debut may well not have been against the greatest opposition but we can still say he made an impression. I do hope he won’t have to carry us though and that once we’re playing our first choice eleven the whole team will work as a cohesive unit.

What do West Ham still need to do in the transfer market?

MJ: People talk of another striker, but I’m not so sure. Sakho, Valencia and Carroll, if/when fit, are more than sufficient to cover a lone striker role. Some of our better business would be to move on some of the players who are now surplus – Nolan, Jarvis etc. – and concentrate on the youth prospects.

BW: Buy some luck. And some decent ref-

erees. But you can’t buy referees, can you? Not unless you’re Fifa.

DM: We look sorted apart from a striker or two, and a winger. Char-lie Austin is a proven consistent Premiership

poacher and looks per-fect for the job of striker. We need a winger who can cross the ball with speed, unlike Jarv and Amalfitano who prefer to float the ball.

AH: I do feel we need another striker. It looks like we’ll at least start with Payet and Valencia playing opposite sides of the pitch feeding Sakho and hopefully the Payet/Sakho partnership will flourish. However, with Carroll out until at least October, it’s taking a risk not reinforcing in that area and let’s face it when West Ham take a risk it never pays off. Also hopefully another winger to replace Downing. I think Jarvis will be OK for Europa

League games for the moment but Lanzini will need time to grow into his role

What is West Ham’s best current centre-back pairing?

MJ: Who can say?! Without seeing Ogbonna play, it’s too early to assess. Until we signed Ogbonna, with the amount of midfielders being bought in, plus with Song and Diarra linked, I’d half wondered if we were going to see Kouyate as a centre half prepared to bring the ball out from the back. Right now, I’d probably controversially say Kouyate with Reid.

BW: This is a really difficult question. Win-

Big loss: With big questions over Andy Carroll’s fitness, West Ham need to sign a new striker

Still here: Matt Jarvis could have a big role to play in Europe

ston is a great defender, but gets done for pace occasionally. Tomkins oozes class most of the time, but his positional sense can be dodgy. The Reeces (Oxford and Burke) are both tremendous prospects, but centre-back isn’t the position to chance your arm on a “prospect” in the Premier League. Big Ginge is a legend, albeit a rather static legend these days, and Ogbonna is clearly no mug having played for Juve 41 times. How you pair that lot up is anyone’s guess. But the one player I would find room for every week is Cheik Kouyate. I’d prefer him in midfield, but if there’s no room for him there I’d rather he was in the back four than on the bench.

DM: A tough one. Reid and either James Tomkins or Ogbonna. We will probably play further up the field this year which won’t suit Collins. The Reeces are on the way but they will need another season to really push for places in the starting line up.

AH: I think the strong-est pairing for us at the moment is Reid and Ogbonna. Let’s hope our centre halves can remain relatively injury free and so the first choices will be continually pushed to perform at their best. It’s good to hear that James Tomkins has welcomed the competition and will fight for a first team place, maybe he’ll up his game. Collins is an adequate replacement

if needed and we have some strong academy players coming through to help out.

Who do you think will win the Premier League title?

MJ: Chelsea were streets ahead last year, but haven’t really strengthened. Similarly, I’d say Man City are about on a par with where they were last year. I think this year will see the re-emer-gence of Arsenal and Man United challenging. With Liverpool to pip City for fourth.

BW: Crystal Palace. This prediction is based less on form and more on the fact that my mate who supports the Eagles, and with whom I have a pound-a-point bet now Palace are back in the Prem, is such a jammy dodger they will undoubtedly finish above us again this year – meaning I will be obliged to put my hand in my pocket once more. The one thing that would make it bearable, should it happen for the third season on the bounce, is that they actually win the title and wipe the smile off the collective face of every Chelski supporter in the country.

DM: Chelski again un-less teams work out how to expose their ageing defence. Man United will be stronger for LVGs bedding in year but are probably still porous at the back and Old Traf-ford isn’t as terrifying as of Fergie times. Man

City will continue to intermittently stumble. The Gooners will strug-gle to recover from a first day hammering from Bilic’s braves.

AH: It was interesting that Jose Mourinho has accused other teams of trying to buy the title this year and I guess that’s aimed directly at Louis Van Gaal as Wenger had a slight dig at Manchester United too. Van Gaal says he needs one more

superstar signing and relying on Rooney so much might mean they fall a little short. Arsenal have looked almost un-playable at times in their pre-season so they could be strong contenders this year, if their midfield keeps on producing the goods, Liverpool again appear to be employing a ‘scattergun’ approach to transfers. Man City will challenge, but I think Chelsea should hold them off. BBM

Champion manager: Can anyone stop Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea?

Austin would give Bilic enough firepower to enjoy a fast startThis is a crucial sea-

son for West Ham and it is vital we get off to a good start.

Getting some points on the board early doors can set the tone for the whole campaign, and it will be important for Slaven Bilic on a person-al level because we know how impatient West Ham fans can be.

I’ve already heard some grumbling about how we’ve played in the Europa League games. None of us were happy about what happened in Malta but I just wish the moaners would chill out.

The Thursday night matches we have played so far have effective-ly been a glorified pre-season and for me our season really starts against Arsenal.

You have to remember we have just changed managers and it is going to take time for Bilic to really make his mark on the team.

We need to let the

players get to grips with each other and with the manager, his way of doing things and his vision for what he wants to happen on the pitch. If we don’t get the results early, I hope we can all bite our tongues a bit.

That said the home games against Leicester City, AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United could be significant and a great opportunity to get some points in the bag as it is difficult to see us getting much from

our trips to Arsenal and Liverpool, where we never win.

One of the big features of our fine start to last season was how our new signings started remarkably well, and hopefully the players we’ve been able to bring in this summer will do the same.

Having said that the Premier League is a tre-mendously tough league. It is draining both physically and mentally, especially when you first arrive because it is just so relentlessly intense. Again, if we don’t see the best of the likes of Dimitri Payet or Pedro Obiang right away we have to be patient and not get on their backs.

I know how the reac-tion of the fans filters down to the players when they are edgy. Confidence on the pitch is everything and we need to do our bit to help keep spirits high, especially at Upton Park.

Goals: Charlie Austin has proven himself at the top level with QPR

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Whenever I interview players the usual party line is whatever happens outside doesn’t affect them or they don’t let it get to them but I know from what’s said off-camera and from interviewing ex-players that it does.

All the uncertainty last season with Sam didn’t help – neither did the way the fans were on the back of Kevin Nolan.

Fans expect Premier League players to be able to take the stick because they earn so much money but it just doesn’t work like that.

Moving on, I’ve been pretty happy with the signings we have made this summer but I’d still like to see us sign an-other striker and I’d love

it if we signed Charlie Austin.

We need someone upfront who is a proven goalscorer and that’s what he is. I hope he proves me wrong but Mauro Zarate, for me, isn’t a 20-goal-a-season type of player and we can’t just rely on Diafra Sakho. Despite scoring a cracker against South-ampton and the winner at White Hart Lane I’m yet to be convinced by Modibo Maiga and Andy Carroll isn’t back until at least September and probably October.

Austin works hard, tracks back and has a proven record of scoring goals at the top level.

Whatever happens I’m hoping it won’t be as stressful or as conten-

Fresh start: Slaven Bilic will want to build on the feel-good factor

tious this season as it was towards the end of the last one.

West Ham fans like Slaven Bilic and that should cut him the bit of slack that wasn’t afforded to Sam Allardyce.

Perhaps he will be more shrewd in trying to placate the fans and tell them what they want to hear.

In short he needs to play the game better than Big Sam did. BBM

For a number of years West Ham trotted

out the same old lines of ‘we didn’t want to sell him but the off er was too good’ and ‘we felt we off ered him a good off er but they came in with an off er the player, and us, couldn’t turn down’.

Flash forward to 2015 and we fi nd ourselves with French interna-tional Dimitri Payet who left his former club, Marseille, frustrated at having no option but to use that very line we’d all grown sick and tired of our club using.

Th e 28-year-old Frenchman arrived in East London having had his best season of his ca-reer; scoring seven goals as well as notching 17 assists in 33 appearances for Marseille.

However, more impressive was the fact that he created more goalscoring opportuni-ties across Europe than

Eden Hazard, Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne and Cesc Fabregas.

Not too bad an achievement by any stretch of the imagina-tion, especially when the player in second place – Wolfsburg’s De Bruyne – was actually 23 chances behind Payet.

We could have done with a player of Payet’s capability and creativity in the second half of last season when we were struggling to create any-

thing and even when we did, we more oft en than not fl uff ed our chances.

Our main creative force was Downing in the fi rst half of the season, but his form dropped off as did that of the whole starting XI.

With Payet, we’ve got a player who sets up a teammate every 23 min-utes and on average he creates four goal-scoring opportunities per game. From one player, that’s an incredible stat.

Another thing we rare-ly seem to do, let alone attempt, is long shots.

Th ere were only a handful of goals we scored from outside the box in open play but Payet should change that. He attempted the most shots from outside the box in Ligue 1 with 58.

I’d be impressed if our midfi eld had even attempted that many shots throughout the whole season regardless as to where from on the pitch.

Th ere have been murmurs regarding the move. Is he right for the club? Is the fee justifi ed? What about his attitude/his agent’s attitude?

To answer the fi rst question, we need more creativity and goals, so yes.

As for the second, the fee isn’t all one lump sum, as has been pointed out, it is going to be heavily based on bonuses so regardless of his age, the fee is not questionable in my opinion.

Th e last question is the most worrying, he had indicated he wanted to stay at Marseille before his head was turned by

Dimitri Payet

Creative King Payet can send West Ham in a new direction The France international will give the Hammers attack extra quality

STUART PLANT@IronViewsStu

Confi dent: Dimitri Payet has vowed to take English football by storm

more money so who’s to say after one season with us he could have his head turned elsewhere?

All of these worries will no doubt be forgot-ten quicker than you can sing La Marseillaise should Payet replicate his form from last season and judging by his comments when he signed, he’s going to be around for a while.

‘West Ham really showed me that they wanted me to come, both the chairmen and the manager,’ Payet told whufc.com. ‘That’s very important for me. I was also keen to sign up to a clear project. West Ham’s is very interesting and matches perfectly with my ambitions.

‘Firstly I spoke with the manager, who really wished for me to come here and had been watching me a lot. He made it clear that he wanted me to sign and that too was important in my choice.

‘I’m an attacking footballer so for sure I like attacking football and that they’re counting on me to help achieve that gives me a sense of responsibility. The fact that I’m here is also down to that.

‘I’m very happy to be here. It’s true that it’s tak-en a little while but that’s normal, negotiations are like that. But now that it’s done, I’m very happy.’

Slaven Bilic even reckons Dimitri Payet is so good he will improve every single West Ham player.

‘It’s still early days but Dimitri is not only a great player, he’s a pro-fessional, he’s a good lad,’ Bilic told the press ahead of our Europa League game against Romanian side Astra Giurgiu

‘He’s the kind of player I thought we really need-ed, that’s going to make every player better than they actually are.

‘He’s got everything. He likes to take respon-sibility. He was my No1 and I am grateful to chairman that we got him. And it was done like that - not in four weeks.

‘He’s doing really well at the moment. It may go a bit up and down. But we’re going to help him and he’s going to help us.’

Payet gave us an early glimpse of his talents in the 3-2 friendly win at Southend and there was nobody more impressed at Roots Hall than team-mate James Collins by the former Nantes, Saint-Etienne and Lille man.

‘He’s a special player,’ Collins said. ‘I played with him at Southend in the first half and he was by a million miles the best player on the pitch.

‘He’s a tremendous signing for the club. He’s going to create so many chances and score goals as well.

‘You can see it from the day he walked in he’s kept himself fit. He’s come in and speaks very good English and gets on with the lads. It’s an exciting time to have players like that in the squad.’

He was Marseille’s and Marcelo Biesla’s star man but now, he could well be the star for West Ham and Slaven Bilic. Let’s hope that will be the case. BBM

Class: Dimitri Payet has looked sharp for West Ham in pre-season

FROZEN IN TIMEThursday, July 2, 2015: Slaven Bilic is presented to the crowd at Upton Park before West Ham’s Europa League qualifier with Lusitanos. The Croatian got a fabulous reception from the fans and the Irons went on to win 3-0.

Bilic’s boys must not mess up this most crucial of seasons

Season preview 2015/16

Anything other than survival would be a disaster for our great club

It’s that time of year again when we lift

ourselves from our more relaxed moods on a Sat-urday and everywhere, goals are celebrated, defeats are consoled and stress levels generally rise a point or two.

Yes folks – another season is beginning for West Ham United.

Th is time around, though, it’s not just any old season: it’s the fi nal one in our Boleyn Ground home before we move to the Olympic Stadium this time next year.

Th e next nine months or so will no doubt be tinged with a touch of sadness and fond mem-ories of our soon-to-be old home.

Of course, this makes it all the more important that we’re in the Premier League this time next year so how might we fare in our fi nal season at

the Boleyn Ground? It’s easy to think that some teams have an ‘easy’ fi xture list and others don’t, but the truth of the matter is that everyone has to play everyone else twice at some point. So bearing that in mind, let’s look at the opening fi xtures.

Firstly, it doesn’t really get much tougher than our opening game at Ar-

senal. Personally, I think their acquisition of Peta Cech is incredibly smart and he will win them points, no doubt.

Perhaps we should view this result in terms of how well we play, as opposed to what the result is. Let’s be honest, not many will be expecting us to pick up points here. Of course, if we do, we could be in for

a really exciting season.Th e next two games are much kinder, at home to Leicester City and then to promoted Bourne-mouth.

If we are to be success-ful this season, six points is a must, and there’s no real reason why this couldn’t be achieved, even if Bournemouth might still be on a high from a ‘promotion bounce’.

Liverpool away next. We always lose, and let’s face it, it’ll probably happen again.

We are used to disappointment in this fi xture. Sorry for the negativity, but every year I think ‘this is the year’, and every year I end up being disappointed.

Th ere then follows an intriguing tie against Newcastle, a team which I’ve always compared us as being on some kind of even keel with. Could be a good one.

An away trip to Manchester City follows, and naturally our defence will need to be on its best form in order to cope with their fi repower.

Th at completes the fi rst six matches of the season

GEOFF HILLYER @geoffhillyer

Early start: West Ham’s players have been involved in Europe

– and the way I see it, we need to be on or above nine points at that stage.

Achieve that, and much kinder fixtures follow, with matches against Norwich City, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Watford to look forward to, all of which are winnable.

It can’t be emphasised enough though that the most important thing is the team getting off to a good start.

Should the points re-turn be low a few games in, confidence will also be likely to be low and that might point it risks becoming a tougher sea-son than we would like.

However, early points on the board could point to a more successful season - and really, success for us will mean (particularly with our potential Europa League commitments)

a mid-table or higher finish.

To be quite hon-est though,

as so much rides on it, the

most important thing is that we’re in the Premier League this time next year.

Saddle that with our side playing attractive football and Andy Carroll having some semblance of fitness, and that’ll be good enough for me. BBM

19games to go at our ground

BOLEYN

Positive: Cheikhou Kouyate and Reece Oxford have enjoyed a good pre-season

The new Premier League season starts

with a bang this month as West Ham United travel to Arsenal for a mouth watering opening day.

The London derby is always one of the most eagerly anticipated fix-tures on the calendar for any Hammers fan – and the away supporters will be desperate for Slaven Bilic to begin his reign with a positive result.

With new signings Dimitri Payet and Angelo Ogbonna set to feature it will be interest-ing to see how the Irons line up.

Here Blowing Bubbles flicks through the archives and picks out five of West Ham’s most memorable opening days in the Premier League era.

Barnsley 1-2 West Ham (August 9, 1997)A Frank Lampard goal 14 minutes from time gave West Ham the win in their first match of the 1997/98 season.

Newly-promoted Barnsley had enjoyed the better start and took an early lead through Neil Redfearn after just nine

minutes.But John Hartson, who

would go on to score more than 20 times in his best ever season for the Hammers, equalised early in the second half before substitute Lam-pard, who had just came on for Eyal Berkovic, smashed in the winner.

It was a good start for West Ham who finished eighth, just one place short of UEFA Cup qualification.

West Ham: Miklosko; Breacker (Lazaridis 46),

Ferdinand, Potts, Rieper, Hughes; Berkovic (Lampard 76), Lomas, Moncur; Hartson, Kit-son (Terrier 89).

West Ham 1-0 Spurs (August 7, 1999)The last time West Ham played Tottenham on the opening day they came out victorious, and once again the Hammers had a young Lampard to thank for the winning goal.

The youth team grad-uate struck home Paolo

Di Canio’s cross on the stroke of half-time to give West Ham all three points in a game they dominated for large periods.

It would prove to be a good omen as West Ham would enjoy another fine season, finishing ninth in the Premier League and playing European football after lifting the Intertoto Cup with a two-legged victory over Metz.

West Ham: Hislop; S Pearce, Potts, I Pearce (Keller 35), Ferdi-nand, Minto; Sinclair, Lampard, Foe; Di Canio (Cole 85), Wanchope.

Preston 1-2 West Ham (August 9 2003)West Ham won their first match outside of the Premier League in a decade with a comeback win at Preston.

It was a poor start for Glenn Roeder’s team as American Eddie Lewis gave North End the lead.

But Jermain Defoe pulled the visitors level with a great finish after good work by Matthew Etherington and Don Hutchison.

Midway through the second half substitute

Five thrilling opening days that will never be forgotten

Opening day 2015/16

Bill West looks back at some dramatic starts over the last 20 yearsGoal: Frank Lampard hit the net against Barnsley in 1997

David Connolly, who had controversially been left out of the starting line-up for Neil Mellor, made a point by bagging the winner late on.

The season ended in heartache for West Ham as they lost 1-0 to Crys-tal Palace in the Play-Off Final at Cardiff ’s Mille-nium Stadium.

West Ham: James; Bre-vett, Ferdinand, Dailly, Repka; Garcia (Sofiane 63), Lee, Hutchison, Etherington; Mellor (Connolly 60), Defoe.

West Ham 3-1 Blackburn (August 13, 2005)After two seasons in the Championship, Alan Pardew’s side got their

Premier League return off to the perfect start as they beat Blackburn at Upton Park.

The home side were trailing at the break after Andy Todd scored from a Morten Gamst Peders-en corner.

But Teddy Sheringham equalised after half-time before a Nigel Reo-Coker screamer gave the Hammers the lead.

Matthew Etherington tapped in to make certain of the points before Rovers had Paul Dickov sent off for a wild challenge on Paul Konchesky.

It was a memorable first season back in the top-flight for West Ham

who finished ninth and were runners-up in the epic 2006 FA Cup final against Liverpool.

West Ham: Carroll; Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Dailly, Konchesky; Benayoun, Reo-Coker, Mullins (Noble 84), Etherington; Sher-ingham (Newton 72), Harewood.

Wolves 0-2 West Ham (August 15, 2009)Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham United easily beat newly-promoted Wolves at Molineux.

Mark Noble curled in a fine effort from outside the penalty area before Matthew Upson sealed victory with a header 20

minutes from time.This was a great start

for West Ham on the road but this was to be their only away win away in a very poor season which was marred by financial problems and instability off the field.

The Hammers finished 17th, just five points above the relegation zone, and Zola was sacked by new owners David Gold and David Sullivan at the end of the season.

West Ham: Green; Ilunga (Spector 65), Upson, Collins, Dyer (Stanislas 73); Faubert, Collison, Parker, Noble, Jimenez; Cole (Nouble 90). BBM

Mistake? Glenn Roader left David Connolly out of the starting line-up at Preston in 2003

www.blowing-bubbles.co.uk

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One of the brightest stars of our summer

football games has been a lively and tricky Nor-wegian 18-year-old, and the fans are loving what he’s had to off er so far.

He dribbles around players with ease, passes well and constantly pushes forward, making him a dream addition to our squad, but who is this Martin Samuels-en kid, and should we expect to see him feature more this season?

West Ham’s offi cial website has him listed as a fi rst team player, but other than telling us his birthdate, information on the player is scarce.

What we do know is that Samuelsen was born in Norway in April 1997, making him currently just 18 years old. He has previously represented Norway at U16, U17, and U18 levels and

joined us from Manches-ter City on a contract that keeps him a Ham-mer until 2017 with an option to extend this for a further two years.

A quick search on You-Tube will provide some necessary background viewing and has clips of this youngster showing skill aft er skill as he nar-rowly and craft ily weaves the ball around the legs

of his opponents. Th is kid can do tricks

for days and it’s exciting to think that we’ve got a player with that type of potential on our books.

He featured for us in our preseason matches against Peterborough and Southend, our Europa League match against FC Birkirkara, and scored a lovely goal against the aforemen-

tioned Peterborough. He’s a joy to watch in these games because he moves the ball around with ease, he’s constantly looking to go forward and has the skill to get there.

His confi dence is building by the game and he’s quickly becom-ing a fan favourite.

He’s even already got his own chant – ‘there’s only one Justin Bieber!’

It remains to be seen whether or not we will see any fi rst team action from Samuelsen once the Premier League season starts.

He’s certainly got the potential to play, but his confi dence and strength may need to be built up further before bringing him into West Ham’s fi rst team.

His inclusion, of course, is also dependent on our injury list, but knowing how West Ham normally fare in that area, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him on the bench come the sec-ond half of the season.

One thing’s for sure, Samuelsen has a bright future in front of him and I’m thrilled he is going to experience it as a Hammer. BBM

Martin Samuelsen

Move over Bieber! Samuelsen has West Ham hearts a fl utter West Ham’s youngest signing has already made a huge impression

EMILY PULHAM @makingthemarrow

Bright future: Martin Samuelsen has had a very good pre-season

It’s been another inter-esting summer for the

Daves and their cheque-books, and aft er letting Jussi Jaaskelainen go at the end of last season, there was an opening in the goalkeeping position to be fi lled.

Step up Darren Randolph. Signed from Birmingham City on a free transfer, Randolph comes with plenty of ex-perience in lower leagues and the Scottish Premier League, but can he cut it in the English Premier League?

My gut instinct tells me that Randolph will serve as a back-up ‘keep-er for the Hammers.

Adrian has fi rmly ce-mented his place in the fi rst team now and there is no hint of dropping him.

But even as a second choice, the Irishman has to be at the top of his game in a season that is

so crucial to West Ham. In what we hope will be a busy season, a solid second goalie will be a key factor in times like these.

We’d hope for a good run in the Europa League, the FA Cup and League Cup to add to a strong Premier League campaign and if Adrian needs a rest or (God

forbid) he picks up an injury, Randolph will be the man.

So, what’s he got? Well we’ve seen a brief glimpse of him already in the Europa League qualifi ers, but to be hon-est we can’t gather much from that.

At 28 years old, he’s not a spring chicken, but for a goalkeeper he

should be hitting peak form. He’s on the edge of the Republic of Ireland squad, but hasn’t really been called into action on an international stage.

As a player, Randolph seems to be one of the guys you can rely on when you need him, especially in his latter ca-reer years, but he’s never been a great stayer.

His longest days were spent at Charlton, and at Motherwell he impressed in his three seasons. It has to be said that he impressed enough there to oust John Ruddy from his fairly solid place in the team.

In 136 starts for the Scottish outfi t he racked up 42 clean sheets, which is a rate of 31% for those of you, like me, who like a percentage thrown in.

Despite his fi nal season there being less successful in terms of shot stopping, some of the saves he made saw him selected for SPFA Team of the Season in 2012/13.

As an interesting side note, he also represented the Republic of Ireland

Darren Randolph

Net gain for Irons as Randolph will keep Adrian on his gameCan the former Birmingham keeper really challenge to be our No 1?

LUCY WOOLFORD@lucy_whufc

No 1: Adrian will start the season as West Ham’s fi rst choice goalkeeper

in basketball. At 6ft 1in he’s no giant but he’s openly admitted that it was his first passion, more so than football.

Seems as though he made the right choice for his career and hopefully his basketball skills have made him a better all-rounder between the sticks.

Randolph hasn’t been without his contro-versies; he faced a two-match ban in 2012 as Motherwell ‘keeper, following a very high challenge on Hearts’ Callum Paterson.

After examining footage of the incident in which Darren appears to kick Callum in the face, I draw two conclusions: first, he might have a bit of a spiteful side, if not overly aggressive and secondly he’s really quite flexible!

As far as his upcoming Hammers career goes, the signs are promising that he’s a suitable and reliable number two to the almost ever-present Adrian.

Of course, you all know what a fan of the Spaniard I am, but research suggests that should the main man require a rest, Randoph will be welcomed into the side.

Will Adrian need a rest? That is the ques-tion. It really depends on so many factors.

Should West Ham make good progress in the Europa League and domestic cups, it’s hard to see how any player won’t need a break. If

Bilic fancies placing full trust in Randolph, the League Cup seems like a good challenge for a backup ‘keeper.

To give him the chance in such a competition would keep up the inter-nal competition for the goalkeeping shirt and hopefully he’ll be keen to impress.

I wouldn’t necessarily

say we’d be taking any cup as a ‘practice’ this season either. The board is out to impress and trophies attract both fans and players looking to join in the future visions. Ultimately, his key role is to be ready for anything that league and cups could spring on him.

We might be as reliant

on Adrian as any club is on their number one ‘keeper, but there’s a lot to be said for big squads of players who are up for any challenge.

To be competing at a consistently high level, we need men like Randolph to have the commitment and skill that any good substitute should have. BBM

2 caps for the Republic of Ireland so far

RANDOLPH

Ambition: Darren Randolph has not come to sit on the bench

It has been a summer of immense change

ahead of our fi nal season at the Boleyn Ground.

Th e managerial appointment of Slaven

Bilic has seen one familiar face return to the club, and one of his fi rst tasks was to appoint former teammate, and former Blowing Bubbles columnist, Julian Dicks as fi rst-team coach.

Every top manager needs an equally capable right-hand man and nobody could have any complaints about the current Hammers No.2.

At a time when the club is preparing to step into unknown territory,

the familiarity of a club legend could be crucial in helping the team strive for success both on and off the pitch.

Th e owners clearly have a very vivid vision about how to reach new heights, and Dicks is seemingly an integral part of those plans. It might be early doors, but all the signals suggest that it’s an extremely wise decision.

Th e four-time Ham-mer of the Year was

always going to be a popular choice with the supporters, but club sta-tus isn’t the only source of optimism.

Several players, includ-ing James Collins, have heaped praise on the 46-year-old. Th ose high levels of respect can only serve the team well for 2015/16 and beyond.

While Dicks will enjoy great relationships with everyone at the club, the Terminator still casts an authoritative fi gure.

Julian Dicks

Dicks must inject old school passion into the stars of 2015Former Hammers captain is great addition to Irons’ coaching team

LIAM NEWMAN@ThatLiamNewman

Back: Julian Dicks has joined the West Ham coaching staff

Assuming the club enjoys a long Europa League campaign, disci-pline is going to be a key element throughout the season.

Adjusting to the demands of European football is no easy feat, and those potential challenges are only exasperated by the current circumstances surrounding the club.

It’s never been so ex-citing to be a West Ham fan behind the scenes, but it has also never been more important to succeed on the pitch. Dicks’ personality, standing and influence could be a huge boost at difficult times.

Perhaps more crucially, though, Dicks has been around the club recently thanks to his time as manager of the Ladies team.

The girls are in a much better position than they were prior to the former left-back’s appointment; they have lost a great tutor, but their loss is the senior team’s gain.

Dicks’ time with the girls also shows immense coaching dexterity. The ability to adjust a coaching style to suit a different set of players underlines a versatility that could become a key asset as he works under his former defensive partner.

Arguably the most shining quality during his year with the Ladies, however, is a willingness to help the club progress in all departments.

His passion for the

game, and the club, is unquestionable. He’s openly stated that his dream is to manage the first team at some stage in the future, and he is already one step closer.

This enthusiasm, combined with a will-ingness to try new ideas, can only benefit the players. Dicks won’t be a backseat coach; his style and personality should be a major asset on the training field.

With Bilic an equally commanding character,

the pair should have no trouble putting their phi-losophies into action.

Like Dicks, Bilic al-ready enjoyed a positive relationship with the club and its fans. None-theless, the Croat had spent 15 years away from English football.

The help of his former teammate will soften the transition back into Premier League life. The pair already look to have a fantastic working relationship and the assistant’s presence will

inevitably prove a huge hit in the dressing room. And maybe his penalty record helped the players survive that scare in Malta too.

The appointment of Dicks isn’t just a popular one, it’s the best one too. Everyone at Blowing Bubbles wishes him all the best during our concluding season at Upton Park, and hope he’ll be a vital member of the backroom staff when we enter our new home. BBM

Julian Dicks’ appointment to the West Ham coaching staff brings an end to his monthly column in Blowing Bubbles Monthly.

It was an absolute pleasure to have Ju-lian on board for two seasons and we can’t thank him enough for contributing to the magazine.

One thing you could never accuse Julian of is holding back and his honest words often hit the nail on the head with the problems we faced as a club.

We wish him every success in his new role - and would love to be in the dressing room when the lads have put in a mediocre first-half performance and need a rollocking!

It’s the end of an era!

Hero: Julain Dicks was hugely popular with the West Ham fans

Pedro Obiang is a top addition for West

Ham and I believe he could be our signing of the summer.

With the Hammers losing Alex Song after his loan spell from Barcelona came to an end, we needed to add strength to the midfield and Obiang fits the bill.

He’s tough and good on the ball and im-pressed during his five years with Sampdoria.

The Hammers’ new No.14 was an important man in the middle of the park for the Serie A side and the Italian outfit were desperate to keep hold of their man.

With the Irons being involved in the Europa League this season, it was clear that the club needed to make signings going into the new campaign.

And at £4.3million, Obiang could turn out to be one of better value signings of the summer - like Diafra Sakho was last season.

The 23-year-old is known to be a combative midfielder and his quali-ties include winning the ball back in dangerous positions and tracking back. His athleticism

and energy on the pitch are also plus points.

Many of Obiang’s qual-ities are similar to that of Cheikhou Kouyate and the departed Song so it could prove to be that Kouyate and Obiang form a good partnership in front of Slaven Bilic’s back four.

Bilic will also be happy that Obiang is versatile

and comfortable playing in a number of different formations and posi-tions.

After joining Sampdo-ria from Atletico Madrid in 2010, Obiang went on to make 139 appear-ances.

He doesn’t, however, get on the scoresheet very often. In his time at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris,

Obiang only scored four goals and this is an area he will be hoping to improve in.

The Alcalá de Henares-born midfielder has also been capped at youth international levels, having won two caps for the Spain U17 and U21 sides, while he has also appeared three times for the U19s. BBM

Pedro Obiang

Powerhouse Obiang will take his chance to shine in EnglandDavid Bowden says the midfielder can do the Alex Song role perfectly

5 seasons with Sampdoria in Italy

OBIANG

Strong: Pedro Obiang will add power to the West Ham midfield

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Supporters’ club of the month

#5: Swedish HammersWhen, how and why was group founded?

West Ham Fans Swe-den, or Sverige as it is in Swedish, was formed in 2004.

The idea came from a group of Hammers fans that regularly met at St George Pub in Gothen-burg who thought there was an urgent need to have a fan club ‘closer to home’ in Sweden.

Together with people writing at the Svenskaf-ans.com forum they con-tacted interesting people to form the first board for the fan club.

Many had been mem-bers of the Scandina-vian Hammers before but found them to be more of a Norwegian fan club, correspond-ing in Norwegian and arranging things mainly in Norway.

For many of us there was a need to start

organizing things in the bigger Swedish city’s, for example in Stockholm and Gothenburg so peo-ple who shared the same interest could easier team up to watch games together at local pubs.

Last summer we

celebrated 10 years as the official Swedish Fan Club with a big party in Stockholm.

How many members in your group today? How quickly has that membership risen since you founded?

We have around 750 members on our books. The numbers go up and down a little but we also know there are many more Hammers fans out there that we communicate with through our Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as through a forum on a big sports site called Svenskafans.com.

Where do you watch games?

We arrange pub meet-ings a few times every year, mainly in Stock-holm and Gothenburg but sometimes smaller groups also get together in smaller cities such as Umeå and Örebro.

In Stockholm we often get together at The Liffey and in Gothenburg they go to the Glenn Sports-bar. Info where we meet is announced on our social media websites.

People regularly ask for pub meetings but at the moment we have a hard time arranging as only

Delight: The Swedish Hammers celebrate their 10th anniversary

Fan: One lucky member gets to present Mark Noble with a symbolic wooden hammer

one or two games are allowed to be shown on Saturdays at 3pm.

How many times do members travel to games? Do you travel just to Upton Park or do you travel to away games too?

There are people from the fan club at most games, especially as we today have two season tickets that our members can book through us. I don’t think that many go to away games as it is usually hard to get tick-ets for that. In the future we hope to have a few more season tickets if the interest in West Ham and number of members increase.

What have been your most memorable days as a supporters’ club?

It is always memorable when we once a year present our Swedish Hammer of the Year award to the player voted for by our fans.

We have this exclusive wooden hammer that we know the players really like. It is made by an artist called Bengt Erik Nilsson from Umeå and made in super light and hard wood.

We know for example that Mark Noble has it on the wall at his house.

There were also very special times when West Ham gained promotion to the Premier League and we celebrated in numbers at pubs in Stockholm and Goth-enburg! As Hammers we really need those few moments of total joy! Our 10-year anniversary

celebrated in Stockholm last year was very special for us. We even specially ordered a number of cakes with golden ham-mers on top!

What are the benefits of being part of your

group?You can enjoy coming

to London with us on our membership trips twice a year or watch games together. We usually have competi-tions where you can win

nice West Ham prizes. We also have two season tickets that can be booked at a good price, by members.

But the biggest benefit is to meet all these cool people that have tons of Hammers stories to tell!

What is your website address? What’s your Twitter handle? Are you on Facebook?

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WestHamFans-Sverige

Official Twitter: @SwedishWestHam

Forum: http://www.svenskafans.com/eng-land/westhamutd/forum.aspx BBM

Loyal: The group has more than 750 members who watch games

Star: Yossi Benayoun is given an award by the group in ’06

West Ham Ladies

West Ham ‘two years away from Women’s Super League’Ladies chairman Stephen Hunt says club’s plans remain on trackBy promotion or fran-

chise, the West Ham Ladies will be playing in the Women’s Super League in two years, ac-cording to co-chairman Stephen Hunt.

As the Hammers con-tinue their pre-season under the watchful eye of new boss Marc Nurse, the hard work towards the holy grail of women’s football in England has already begun.

And it is this work off the pitch, Hunt believes, that will also help the Ladies achieve on it.

‘The franchises in the Super League come up again in two years so it we aren’t able to get promoted into the league, we might be in a position to buy a fran-chise,’ Hunt told Blowing Bubbles.

‘Our focus is very much about getting ourselves set up so if we don’t get promoted on the pitch, we will be able to buy a franchise and enter the Women’s Super League that way.

‘At the moment, it feels like it’s all coming together for us off the pitch. We’re trying to get everything behind the scenes running as smoothly as we can to

ensure we can get suc-cess on the pitch.

‘I’m a serious busi-nessman and I’m trying to bring my approach to business to this role. I want to make the whole club operate like a business so that it’s generating a decent income and part of this is making sure we have a professional back office.

‘We are in a decent po-sition considering where the club was a year ago but by taking more of

a business approach, I think we’ll have a huge impact in the club.’

Hunt also praised former manager Julian Dicks for everything he did for the Ladies before leaving his post to join the first team’s coaching staff.

‘We were aware of the previous relationship between Julian and Slaven and there was no question that if there was a job going that he would go for it.

‘As dedicated and committed as he was to the Ladies, his decision didn’t come as a complete surprise and it must be nice for the players to know they were coached by a first team Premier League coach – hopefully that will count for something.

‘It was all about work ethic with Julian – he never did anything by halves. His aim was to make the team the best he could and we knew he was always going to be a tough act to follow.

‘We knew the day before it was announced that Julian was going and I had a long conversation with him when the news broke but by the time I got off the phone, I already had a few emails from people expressing their interest in replac-ing Julian.’

The Dicks factor ensured a few applicants turned into dozens with the Hunt and his father John, having to make tough decisions to come up with a shortlist.

‘Some of them were current ladies football coaches, some were ex-Hammers and there were a few who had been coaching non-league

Gaffer: Marc Nurse has been named West Ham boss

men’s football – it was a wide variety,’ Hunt continued.

‘Julian leaving us to join the men’s set-up generated a lot of media coverage for us and as we whittled down the long list of applications, we felt those who weren’t quite read to lead the senior team could work their way up through the junior set-up.

‘For me, it was the first time I have appointed a manager and as we went through all the CVs to come up with our short-list, we focused on those who had either a UEFA A or B licence because we wanted a top coach.

‘We ended up with a shortlist of four and Marc was the last person we interviewed. He was very much the man with a plan from the moment he walked in and impressed us with the paperwork and spread-sheets he had brought in with him.

‘I think he had a good “likeability” factor. We were looking for someone who would be a spokesperson for the club, a focal point at the club and someone who is a natural leader – Marc is that man.

‘He is straight-forward, to the point and says it how he sees it. Julian was such a big personality that it was always going to be tough for anyone to follow.

‘But the problem with having a manager with such presence is that it does dwarf the players. Beyond Stacey Little, I’d

argue there are many people who would strug-gled to name another member of the team such was Julian’s person-ality so we were keen to get someone in who was a football person.

‘To his credit, the amount of interest shown in the job was down to what Julian had done and this put us in a very good positions. Something I’ll always be grateful for.’

As for his hopes and expectations of the Ladies on the pitch, he joked: “I don’t have any targets apart from, of course, winning every game.

‘I’m not trying to

be too worried about the football – I have coached and players for that. Anything I do say about what’s happening on the pitch is purely from an armchair fan’s perspective.

‘As a chairman, of course I want to win everything but on the pitch, the players and the coaches are the only people who can have any say in this. My job is to create an environment for them to flourish.

‘If we can make a suc-cess of the club off the pitch, then we will get success on it. At this lev-el of football, the richest clubs are the ones who win the most games.’

He added: ‘We will be doing everything we can to get people through the turnstiles because if we have more fans, we are going to be successful.

‘My argument has always been if you put someone in a West Ham shirt, people will engage and connect with that. We all follow West Ham United and it doesn’t matter if they are a junior, men’s or women’s player.

‘People who come along to see what the Ladies is like, tend to come back and we will be trying anything and everything to get people through the doors.’ BBM

Ambition: West Ham Ladies will hope to build on the progress they made in 2014/15

We’re 50 not out but the best is yet to come for our magazine

The last word

This special issue of Blowing Bubbles shows just how far we’ve come

To order or read our back issues visit: blowing-bubbles.co.uk

They said it wouldn’t last six weeks but

this month Blowing Bubbles celebrates its 50th issue.

It is a special number for the team who work on the magazine and a long way removed from when editor David Blackmore fi rst dreamed of launching the publica-tion one sleepless night.

‘My thinking then, and remains so today, was that Blowing Bubbles should be a multi-plat-form publication with a focus on the digital side,’ he said. ‘I had no intention of standing on street corners shouting until I lost my voice in all types of weather ala your traditional fanzine.

‘Th e idea was the pub-lication would come out in advance of matches. Too oft en you’d buy a fanzine at the match but only get to read it on the way home when the copy was dated.’

Blowing Bubbles stead-ily grew over the fi rst two seasons, building up a loyal readership and a team of talented writers.

However, aft er signing off the 38th issue, it be-

came clear the magazine needed refreshing and it was this desire for change that eventually led to Blowing Bubbles Monthly. It turned out to be an excellent decision.

‘Th e move from fort-nightly to monthly gave the team more time to think, plan and produce,’ explained Blackmore.

‘From an average of 1,000 readers in our fi rst season to 6,000 in our

second, we then started to hit the 20,000 mark very early on in our third season.

‘And the numbers kept going up until we got to where we are today. A multi-platform magazine that reaches 30,000 West Ham fans every month.

‘It’s not been easy at times. Th ere have been plenty of late nights and lows but I’ve made sever-al friends for life.’ BBM

How it all began: The fi rst issue of Blowing Bubbles and, right, the team’s more recent efforts

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Blowing Bubbles #50

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