James Collins believes he is part of the best West Ham squad in his eight years at the club and said: “These are exciting times and hopefully I can stay in this team for a while.”
He told London 24.com ” “I came back from Wales and saw Winston (Reid) was struggling in training and Angelo (Ogbonna) hasn’t trained much, so the gaffer said I was going in and hopefully I can stay in now.
“Being on the winning side certainly helps and I have done myself no harm. I think I played well, so let’s see how long it can last.
“We knew they were going to come out of the blocks quickly, but we matched them and probably had the first couple of chances
“We have started slowly in some games and struggled, but luckily got points out of it, but against Palace we were bang on. The gaffer got it into us that it was going to be a tough start and we took that on board.”
He explained“I think we showed more patience in this game. It is tricky sometimes because you always think you have got to beat 10 men, but it can be harder because they defend so hard.
“But we have the quality in the team and if we keep giving these boys the ball, they will create chances and . score. “Andy has come on and I thought he was tremendous and he set up the second goal. As a team, as long as we defend well we are going to score them at the other end.”
He has already played 156 games in claret and blue and declared: “I don’t think we are in a false position. Look at the way we are playing, the way we are creating chances and defending.
“If you are being greedy you can look at the couple of home games we have lost and you can think higher. That is the way we are thinking.
Ogbonna will be the best bet against Costa to fight brawn with brawn,
Sorry Ginge but back to the bench,
I know I said earlier in the season to stick to the side when Tomkins was so good at right back but he has more class then Ginge,
I would start with Sakho as well the only change would be Noble who I would replace with Obiang and Valencia or Antonio instead of Moses,
But I am sure who ever Slav picks will keep me happy
Ginge won’t keep his place if Reid is fit for the Chelsea game.He is a decent back up these days.No more than that imo.
Yes agreed.His “airy” early on against Palace almost cost us.Better suited at Sunderland with Allardyce IMHO.
I trust Collins as a very good backup option against most teams, but the thought of him against the Chelsea strikers still freaks me out a bit. Collins has one or two dubious moments in most games and against Chelsea that could prove costly.
By all means have him on the bench.
But if either of Reid or Ogbonna are available again I would start them.
Collins will get more chances throughout the season for sure.
Collins will never be an automatic starter but he will always be an integral part of the team. His sheer work rate will govern that. The only other players I’ve ever seen prepared to shed blood like this guy all wore skates, helmets and carried a long stick.
If Reid is fit I think he will go back into the team, I do remember Collins scoring a corker of a header against Chelsea when we were at the Bridge, I was sitting among a load of the Chelski at the time, it was very difficult not to jump up and shout with all our supporters I was just to the side of, sadly they then knocked four past us but hopefully this next fixture will be the continuation of our unbeaten run and a win, COYI !!!