“Regarding crowds in the late 40’s I was among many fans2 locked out of several full grounds, despite holding around 70,000 fans.

Why cant we have safe, convertible standing areas as in some of the wonderful Bundsliga stadiums saving the vast millions being spent on new grounds seeking increased capacity.

It will also solve the increasing problem of many present fans standing.”

R Potter, Ilford.

For the majority of this comment from Ceefax page 359 on BBC, I agree. Not every old ground could hold 70,000 but many times throughout history people have been turned away and many stories can be told about jumping walls and standing on creates. Anyway an answer to the problem of standing for me is to introduce particular sections of the ground for people who want to stand and another answer is the one suggested. Stand Up Sit Down is a great organisation that is fighting with the different organisations to open a debate on the subject and to allow freedom of choice. Their website is:

http://www.standupsitdown.co.uk

And I suggest you have a goosy gander. They have much more information on what I have briefly touched on Anyway onto another topic, Lucas Neill signing. Call me bias and all that entails but Liverpool’s comments rebuking what Neill said in his press conference should be the end of the matter and for Liverpool to respond in such a way might make them look bitter about the whole matter. I am very pleased he has signed for us and will prove to be a solid right back and the best we have fielded there in five attempts (Dailly, Newton, Spector, Mears and Paintsil). Before I start to retread old ground Alan Curbishley talking about Matthew Upson on Sky Sports News is very interesting. Alan has stated that West Hams interest in the player is there and it is up to Birmingham what they do. He went on to say that if Birmingham closes the door on the matter then interest from West Ham would go elsewhere. Obviously Curbishley wants a centre back so at least one more player will be coming in before the transfer window closes.

Watford in the cup on Saturday will see me, my granddad and friend Steve (who really needs converting from the side he follows) watching us play and I think to build momentum and a better team understanding, we should field a first choice defence, but with Mark Noble playing in midfield to give us some bite and to ensure no injuries.

Two more (unWest Ham related) matters now. Since the England manager said that he wanted the under 21 role to be full time, Peter Taylor has been on borrowed time and with his stepping down today, the under 21’s have lost a great manager. Obviously he can now focus on his commitments with Crystal Palace and the rumours of Stuart Pearce being employed to fill the role are nonsense for the reason stated previously. Sammy Lee looks to be a good bet for the job.

And finally, how much more lucky can you get then Spurs in the UEFA Cup? From the matches I have seen and the score lines, no team has given them a proper contest so far (either due to lack of quality of lack of playing on the day) and now they could have a bye to the next round if the decision to throw Feynoord out of the cup is upheld. And on that note goodbye.