Tomorrow is my mother's 87th birthday. Not that she will know this with her advancing dementia. But at Christmas she was at our house while I and three of my children watched West Ham play Fulham.
She responded with laughter at the abuse we vented at the television in the poor first half display and was sufficiently sharp to ask whether we would be doing any better. Obviously not and not just because I'm as old as 'Appy 'Arry Redknapp.
But as well as the players, we all had and have an opinion on the manager and the owners and their Vice Chairman Karren B (Yes Lord Sugar, No Lord Sugar ....)
We've been more or less decided since, well, the day of his appointment, that Avram didn't inspire confidence. For all his hero status at Portsmouth last season, he'd spent the season in the bottom three and ended in relegation and would have done without the points deduction. Fluking a cup run to lose in the final didn't seem adequate compensation. We've lost finals before and it doesn't feel good. And the transfer comings and goings did not set the pulse racing. Reid, Piquionne, Ben Haim, Barrera, Obinna? Ho hum.
The dour persona was not particularly engaging and the revelations of the visits to the, ahem, massage parlour, added to the general seediness of the club with our Pornographer cockney boy owners.
And the season has more or less gone as expected. Badly.
But the reports today in all media outlets suggest that this will be Avram's last game in charge and he'll be replaced by Martin O'Neill. Which is, to me, a surprise. And one which I welcome immediately before my suspicions kick in. The Controller comments that with regard to West Ham I'm a glass half-empty person. She reminds me we won against Birmingham in midweek, but all I could see was inevitable donwside (the 'yes, but ...' approach). So I'll give rein to my suspicions. Why would O'Neill come to West Ham in a relegation struggle (other than an obvious love for claret and blue)? His reputation is bigger than our club's. He's a success as a manager and would be in demand elsewhere. Whenever there's a Premiership job, there's speculation about O'Neill. But we're not exactly big league, are we?
And would he (would you) want to work for Sold and Brady? He managed to fall out with Lerner who has invested in Villa and let him manage without interference. Whereas Sold haven't invested and regularly interfere. Perhaps it's a Brummie thing - as a former Villa manager he wants to do down Birmingham in the semi (or take down the former Birmingham owners of West Ham from the Premiership). Or maybe it's Steve Walford who was a truly dreadful left back for us (and there's been competition as dreadful full-backs go down the years), who's always been part of O'Neill's management team, who fancies coming back.
Maybe it's just the first job he's been offered and after half a season he's missing it. But if Villa prompted him to walk out, god alone knows what he'll do at Upton Park.
I can't wait to find out. But first there's the little matter of today's game against Arsenal. Carling Cup preview, or beaten semi-finalists' might have been?
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