13 May 2007

The great escape

Not so long ago, West Ham was at the bottom of the table with every prospect of travelling to away fixtures at Colchester, QPR and Crystal Palace next season. They went into today’s final match just out of the relegation zone but with likely to get a mauling at the hands of Man Utd. The two other teams trying to avoid the drop (Wigan and Sheffield Utd) played each other today. There was a very good chance that Wigan would beat the Blades leaving West Ham to be relegated on the basis of a poorer goal difference.

Well Wigan did beat Sheffield Utd 2-1 but a single goal from the highly controversial signing Carlos Tevez meant West Ham gained a shock victory and ensured safety. Wigan is safe too but Sheffield Utd will be playing in the Championship next season.

Tevez started inauspiciously and his signing led to a £5.5m fine, but in the last few weeks he has been an inspiration. Personally though, I would like to thank Jesus, Allah, Jehovah, several saints in particular St Jude the patron saint of hopeless causes, Buddha, Zoroaster, Neptune, Poseidon (to avoid being sunk), the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Offler the Klatchian crocodile god, Blind Io, and Nuggan of Borogravia.....

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My Dad's old team! I'm glad they did good :-)

Anonymous said...

I have just watched the highlights on MOTD.

What an end to the season. I really hope the next one is entirely uneventful - no changes of manager, takeover bids or anything, and especially no offers we can't refuse from Joorabchian!

Anonymous said...

They aren't the Aachen "potato beetles" [yes, that's the name of Aachen football club, and I was a supporter when I lived in Germany] but West Ham is okay.

So, when are you going to get rid of that American team in the league, Arsenal? Americans don't really understand football - oh, wait, I'm an American.

jams o donnell said...

Glad, and relieved Alison!

Skuds, how about mid table, with a good run in the League or FA Cup? These brown trouser seasons are a bit much to take!

I'm not surprised that thee was been some US business interest in english teams given that names like Arsenla, Man U, Liverpool (and Real Madrid, A C Milan and so on) have a global reach that a gridiron team could only dream of.