Hello there. I had been thinking about making a blog of my own for some time and here it is. Over the coming weeks (as over a month or so I will possibly lose interest in this blogging lark) I will comment on events in the world of sports. Well when I say sports I mean football. From time to time there will be a token sport for the politically-correct idiots like Cricket...... or Rugby. Anyway onwards and upwards. Well I say upwards but now is as good a time as any to mention the team I support.

Hi my name is Paul and I support West Ham United.

There. Now I can get on with the business of posting bias stuff to do with the footballing world in general. First up, this weekends game between West Ham, the club from a working class background vs Chelsea, the club in the upper class stretch of the capital. Times change though and this is no longer the obvious clash of classes in society. Ever since a certain Russian invested in our West London rivals, this fixture has taken on an even bigger meaning. Since the creation of the Premiership, everyone has played catch up to Manchester United. Now Chelsea have overtaken Man Utd and that in turn has led to the old stereotypes being banded about by rival fans and Chelsea fans alike. Fickle fans, glory hunters, jealously, bitterness etc. The truth is however and this is a point that Chelsea fans have to concede is that with the success does indeed come the fair weather fan. In my experience of being at Stamford Bridge when we got spanked 4-1, the middle tiers on both sides of the pitch emptied at half time completely to get back into the corporate boxes. This is obviously where a football club makes a lot of money but to have 10,000 or so people as corporates? Speaking of fair weather fans, even Mr Mourinho has said that the Chelsea fans are too silent

Before I continue I am going to be lazy and take all the links to news stories from skysports.com today. Carrying on, Chelsea have made the news for a couple of reasons. Apparent death threats against Reading players Stephen Hunt and Ibrahima Sonko for their parts in the injuries to Chelsea goalkeepers Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini. Chelsea have promised to help if needed by the police and have distanced themselves from the actions of those who wrote the letters. Good.

and the former Manchester United "player" John Obi Mikel. His attitude in training has gone over like a Paul Ince plea to the West Ham fans for forgiveness. Showdown talks today with Jose and the agent in tow have produced no further news but looking at Jose's past stance on people with poor attitudes within the Chelsea squad (IE Glen Johnson) it could be a long spell on the sidelines for the former Manc.

But enough about Chelsea, its time for my beloved Hammers. Well what can I say? The season has been........head scratching to be honest. It would have been a good idea to start this blog at the start of the season so I could look back and see my thoughts on everything that has happened. Starting with a win against Wasps on the first day of the season up to two Argies coming out of nowhere, to takeover talks and a trip to Palermo. Take all of that and then factor in an 8 match losing streak, out of the Carling cup and the bother (and win don't forget) against Arsenal. And to think it’s only November. Still I have not mentioned West Ham this coming Saturday and now I will. The most interesting aspect for me is who is injured and who is not. Reo-Coker, Ferdinand, Collins and Gabbidon all did not play for their countries this week and Benayoun played through the pain barrier and scored for his country. Plus the reserves lost 4-1 away to Fulham on Tuesday. Now you might think that is not important but there is one name missing from the team that has played the last two reserve games, Javier Mascherano.

For once its not skysports! Anyway that could signal a start or at least a place on the bench (again) against Chelsea. My opinion is that he will start and West Ham will flood the midfield but not in the way we did against Arsenal. Against the likes of Ballack and Essien, West Ham will have to stifle the creativity with more then one central holding midfielder. My team would be:

Green

Spector
Ferdinand (if not fit then Collins)
Gabbidon
Konchesky

Bowyer
Mascherano
Mullins
Reo-Coker
Etherington

Zamora

Bench: Carroll, Paintsil, Benayoun, Harewood, Sheringham

If we are to have any chance, stifle the Chelsea midfield. Let Jose trot out the old "parked a bus in front of the goal" comment after the game but to be honest I would be very happy with one point. Well this post has gone on a long time. So much more to go into but its taken up enough of my time to get to where I am at the moment so with a bit of wishful thinking and a bit of praying to something or someone, we shall play with a bit of dignity.

Prediction? 3-1 to Chelsea.

Oh and here is a first mention of Lampard.........

Wanker (now wasn’t that predictable?)