By CandH blogger Allen Cummings
We may not have been at our best…in fact the first 20 minutes were nothing short of awful!
But with the help of an unusually generous referee, we went on to beat Fulham and earn ourselves another valuable three points and a healthy looking ninth place in the Premier League. Every win, no matter how it arrives, brings with it a ‘feel good’ factor and Friday night was no different.
Loud and up-beat music blaring out around the stadium as we left the Bobby Moore stand gave that particular area a kind of joyous ‘fans park’ feel about it, with happy Hammers enjoying an extra pint, and celebrating with a song and dance to go with it.
There was also the sight of the Rib Man back plying his trade in close proximity to the ground, just like back in the good old Boleyn days.
Even The Rib Man is back!
It caused me to reflect that maybe, just maybe, happier days are returning to our club after all the bitterness and recriminations of the past few seasons, off the pitch as well as on it.
We have the prospect, only a proposal at the moment, of fans moving closer to the playing area – a repetitive bone of contention with the London Stadium dissenters.
The east stand is shortly to be renamed the Billy Bonds Stand, in rightful recognition of another of our greats of the past.
There’s a statue in prospect, replicating the one at Upton Park, remembering our three World Cup Heroes Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.
Plus next August season tickets for the three named areas of the stadium will carry images of those respective iconic players. We shouldn’t forget either the new pitch surround which will shortly reflect our own famous claret and blue colours.
There are those who will continue to insist there is still work to be done, and that is probably right. And then there are those who will never be happy by anything the board of this club do – no matter what.
But I for one believe it’s right to acknowledge the strides that have been made so far in bridging the undeniable gap that had developed between the club and the supporters. They have listened. They are trying to make a difference, make this club more inclusive, more a feeling that it’s becoming our club again, and we are an important part of it.
All very true, generally things are improving but my own personal bugbear was that the Real Ale bars ran out of beer again a good half hour before the kick-off – that’s the third game in a row – surely it’s not beyond the whit of man to order sufficient beer to get us at least to the start of the match!
I think it not wise to dwell too much on the actual match, the least said about that the better – and, fair enough, a win is a win!
Just have more real ale bars there are not enough of them. The atmosphere has been getting progressively better, a lot of the credit should go to the manager and team, funny that winning games and playing with style has had an effect 😜 the chair people also DS keeping a low profile, KB making headway with the council etc it all helps. Hopefully we can push on and compete for 7th if Nasri and Lanzini can hit form we will have a good chance COYI!!!