West ham appoint unknown spurs fan as manager

[Bobbybarks]

I thought it was a wind-up at first, but my agent finally convinced me that it was real. I had to pinch myself a couple of times after I'd put the phone down too, just to be sure that it wasn't a dream. But this was real, a dream come true maybe, but definitely real.

I'd applied for the West Ham job 3 weeks ago, as soon as I'd found out that they'd dismissed Gianfranco Zola. It was on the recomendation of my agent Robin Ghyt, who represented alot of upcoming English footballers. But I hadn't been a footballer for 12 years, my career cut short at just 17 years old after being involved in a car crash that saw me come close to losing my legs. But after 2 years of surgery and physiotherapy I'd gone into coaching. Football was my passion, ever since I was a little boy. I may have only been 6 when Maradonna dazzled the English players at the 86 World Cup, but that was the moment I'd decided to work hard to achieve my goal. I wanted to be the English Maradonna. But fate had dealt me a cruel hand and now, well now I was just grateful for still being involved with the game.

I'd been working for Barnsley as a youth development coach at the time of my application, so you can imagine my surprise at the proposal of an interview with David Sullivan and David Gold. It was here that I apparently won them over. Robin had told me a couple of days later that I had given a very impressive interview and that the chairman were considering me for the role. I'd heard in the tabloids that Avram Grant was nailed on to be the next manager, but I'd always held out hope and always tried to act positive. I hadn't even been mentioned in the papers, but that never deterred me from holding out some hope of being named a Premier Division Football Manager.

It was Monday 6th July when my Robin rung me to break the news. "They want you to be their new manager," he told me. "We need to go to London right now, so pack a bag and I'll arrange for a car to pick you up in an hour."

I was in the middle of a field in South Yorkshire with my Whippet, aptly named Theo, at the time of the call. So you can imagine the scene of a young bow legged semi-cripple trying to run home with one of the fastest dogs on earth trotting at the side of him.

That night I was in the East End, sat in a fancy restraunt, with Robin, the 2 owners of West Ham and a couple of lawyers while we sat to talk about a deal to make me the new manager of West Ham United. The fact that I had always been a Spurs fan raised some eyebrows at the table, but I convinced them that my desire to succeed, my proffessionalism and my commitment would outway any sympathy I hold for Tottenham Hotspur.

That night I signed a 2 year contract worth £33,000 per week and the following day I was officially unveiled as the new manager of West Ham United.

The first question that was asked of me at the press conference was in reference to my support of Tottenham. Which took me for surprise a little, as I'd expected something in relation to my inexperience, nevertheless I hoped the same answer I gave to my new gaffers would have the same affect with the press and West Ham faithful. I'd answered a number of questions, one journalist asked me whether I wanted to keep Carlton Cole at the club. Did he expect me to say no? "Of Course I want to keep him here," I said. Another asked me if I was interested in signing Andy Reid from Sunderland. "Andy Reid is not a West Ham player," I told him. "So I have no interest in discussing him here." I told the baying journalist and tv camera's that I didn't intend to make major changes to the club, that I thought they had a good setup and didn't see the need for an overhaul. I told them that I intended to play with an attacking attractive style and that any money available for new players would be spent on bringing in good young prospects.

The scenes I saw upon leaving Upton Park was quite astonishing. A section of fans were burning a Tottenham shirt, some had a huge poster of my face with the words 'Get Rid of the Yid' on them. And the general gathering were basically hurling abuse at me and the new owners. The first thing I did when I got in my car was question whether I'd made the right decision. It only took me a brief moment to realise I'd made the right one, but the hatred that I'd just witnessed would have made even the most committed person wonder about the future. I arranged for the car to take me straight to the training ground so that I could meet my new staff.

I was pleased that I'd been able to retain the staff left behind by Gianfranco, having Steve Clarke as an assistant would prove vital. I would have to rely on his experience and knowledge alot through these first few months. My chief scout was Gianluca Nani too, who had a huge reputation and a wealth of knowledge throughout Europe. I watched Steve close off training for the day and then called all my staff in for a meeting. I decided I'd meet with the players tomorrow.

I'll let you know how that goes...................

[Bobbybarks]

Okay so the first few days in the job saw me heavily criticised in the national papers. And rightly so in fairness, I'd gone against my statement that I wouldn't be making major changes. But I'd basically overhauled the backroom staff. After meeting with them and listening to what they proposed, I'd decided that I wouldn't be able to work with them. Dave Sullivan was a little bit annoyed me with me and told me any monies owed on their contracts would come out of my transfer budget. I thought that was pretty fair, since he was letting me retain any money generated from player sales to be used for purchasing new ones.

I'd retained Steve Clarke, Tony Carr, Kevin Keen, Alex Dyer, Ludek Miklosko, Erik Larsen and Gianluca Nani, but everyone else was shown the door. The next few days was quite exciting as I got to interview potential new colleagues. I was happy with the new staff brought in. Tony Daley was brought in from Wolves to assist Alex with the fitness coaching. Bobby Downes, Dave Parnaby and Gary Brazil were the new youth coaching team. Ex-England physio Gary Lewin came in along with Grant Downie. I'd appointed 2 new scouts, Jeff Vetere, who would scout through the Under 18's league and Paquito who I'd sent out round Southern Europe. The new coaches were former Charlton manager Les Reed, Ian Woan and Bill Beswick. All in all I thought I'd appointed some key personel, who were bound to assist me greatly.

So I didn't mind the early criticism.

[Bobbybarks]

I got the impression from some of the players that they weren't too happy at my appointment. Afterall, they all loved Gianfranco.....and why wouldn't they. He was a nice guy, but the nice guy was gone. I was here and I wasn't going to be a pushover. If they wanted to play for me, for this club, they were going to have to work hard. Those that didn't would be going. Kieron Dyer was the first to speak out in training at some of the exercises I was running, so he was the first out the door. I offered him out for transfer, but everyone seemed put off by his salary. £70,000 per week to be precise....how ridiculous for a club not competing in Europe to be paying out those sought of wages. Bayern Munich offered to take him on loan and pay 60% of his wages. It was enough for me to get him a plane ticket. I dropped some others off at the airport that week too. Daniel Gabbidon went to Porto for 3 million, Adam Street went to Palermo on a free, Jonathan Spector to Torino for 2 million, Zavon Hines to Racing for 2 million and Herita Ilunga to Lyon on loan. Andrea Zola also went to Shrewsbury for nothing and I released some dude called Georg Grasser who was so unfit my mother could have kept up with him in training. So I'd made a fair bit of money and wanted to bring in some good young prospects for the future.

The first of these was Alex Smithies from Huddersfield Town for 1.5 million. A good young English keeper who Rob Green had agreed to tutor for me. My scouts all believe him to be a future England goalkeeper, so this for me was a great bit of business. Next in was Mark Beevers from Sheffield Wednesday for 2.3 million, I'd seen Mark play before I came to West Ham and had thought then he would be a leading premier division defender in years to come. Morgan Shniederlin came in from Southampton for 2.2 million and Jonjo Shelvey from Charlton for 3 million. I thought that these deals were really good for the club and that the 4 lads would be the future stars of West Ham.

[Bobbybarks]

Pre-Season

I was happy with the way the friendlies went. We played some great football, defended exceptionally well and scored some great team goals. All I wanted was another experienced Premier division defender and I was sure that with a little bit of luck this team would be capable of finishing in the top half of the division. The friendlies went as follows.

Sheff Wed away - Won 4-0

Yeovil away - Won 3-0

Distillery away - Won 4-0

Coleraine away - Won 3-0

Geltoran away - Won 4-0

Crusaders away- Won 2-0

Although I was happy, I was a little uneasy with playing Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in August, so with the funds that remained I jumped back into the market. Newcastle accepted my 6 million pound bid for Steven Taylor, we thrashed out some personal terms and the former England U21's skipper was unveiled as a West Ham player. The Newcastle fans protested somewhat, but what did I care. I was in London, they were in Newcastle.

That was my spending over and in the next few days I would travel to Liverpool to lead my team out against one of the big four in my first ever competitive match as a manager.

[Cockney Hammer]

Being a West Ham fan I'm really enjoying reading this mate even if your a yid

[Bobbybarks]

Being a West Ham fan I'm really enjoying reading this mate even if your a yid

Thanks Cockney Hammer........it's my first try at an FM Story so I hope it's sounding okay lol. Even as a Yid I've always had a fondness for West Ham, it's also the first time I've played as them on FM, so we'll see how it plays out.

[Bobbybarks]

15th August 2009

Liverpool Vs West Ham Utd

I'd decided on the starting line-up the night before the game.

1) Rob Green

2) Julien Faubert

3) Manuel Da Costa

4) Matthew Upson

5) Steve Taylor

6) Scott Parker

7) Mark Noble

8) Jack Collison

9) Carlton Cole

10) Jonjo Shelvey

11) Alessandro Diamanti

We'd play a 4-3-3 formation with Parker sitting in front of the back four. Noble and Collison playing in a narrow centre, with Shelvey dropping in from a forward role to the right hand side and Diamanti the same on the left. Carlton Cole playing straight down the middle.

I was pleased to see Liverpool's line-up fail to mention Steven Gerrard.....not sure where he was, but I didn't care. Torres started up front so that was enough of a threat for my defence. Old West Ham stars like Benayoun, Glen Johnson and Javier Mascherano started for Liverpool.

The game started quite brightly for us, with us retaining possession and playing some nice one two's. It was Liverpool who created the first chance within 8 minutes when Torres went clear. Rob Green did exceptionally well and saved from the Spaniard. The same couldn't be said at the other end for Reina though. 11 minutes in, some good play on the edge of Liverpool's 18 yard box. Diamanti got off a shot, only for Reina to parry straight into the path of Cole. 1-0 to West Ham.

Funny enough 11 minutes later and Liverpool drew level. A goal mouth scramble saw debutant Steve Taylor upended Ryan Babel with Torres converting from the spot. This seemed to give Liverpool something to build on.

But 6 minutes later, Diamanti went through on goal. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Glen Johnson brought him down. Red card for the formers Hammers full-back. Liverpool down to 10 men after 28 minutes. I was over the moon.

I told the players at half-time that we could win this game. I generally believed we could take advantage of having the extra man.

The second half was quite tiresome. They defended very well and we struggled to break them down. It was clear Benitez had instructed them to get a point. I refused to accept that and brought Ilan on for Shelvey to give us a bit more firepower up top. After 89 minutes....it paid off. Carlton Cole, from 20 yards out smashed one into the top corner. If you thought Mourinho at Old Trafford was funny all them years ago in the Champion League, this was nothing. I ran up and down the touchline a dozen times. Words cannot express how overjoyed I was. When the final whistle went. Benitez refused to shake my hand....sore loser much?

Final Score :-

Liverpool 1 West Ham Utd 2

[Bobbybarks]

18th August 2009

Bolton Wanderers Vs West Ham Utd

After such a good result at Anfield I wanted to keep the same team and formation. However, Jack Collison had taken a knock. So I replaced him another of my signings, Morgan Schniederlin.

1 minute into the game and I was forced into a substitution. Steven Taylor had unfortunately twisted his knee, so James Tomkins came on to replace him. I was a little uneasy about whether Tomkins could deal with the threat that Kevin Davies posessed, but I had to just grin and bear it. Bolton appeared to be the better side in the first half, keeping Rob Green and my defence busy. I was glad to see that they were earning their high wages and defending brilliantly. After 35 minutes, young Tomkins intercepted a pass, laid it forward to Faubert, who beat his man, pulled it back to Parker. Parked picked out a run from Diamanti, sliding the ball through the Bolton defence for the Italian to thrash it across goal and into the far corner. 1-0 to West Ham. I was pleased with how we'd created the goal. But within minutes I was upset with how we conceded one. Our lead lasted just 6 minutes, when Elmander equalised for the home side. It came from some great play going forward by ourselves. Shelvey forcing Jaaskelainen into a save, which parried across to Joey O'Brien. Bolton counter-attacked before our players could get back in position. O'Brien crossed in to Davies who forced Green into a save, only for Elmander to react quicker than anyone else. 1-1.

I expected it to remain this score going into the break. But just before the whistle Schneiderlin laid a ball through for Cole, who muscled off Cahill and smashed it past Jaaskelainen. 2-1 to West Ham.

Other than how we'd conceded I was happy with the performance. But lets be honest, we're going to concede goals, particularly away from home. You can't keep a clean sheet in every game. I told the players I was pleased and that they should continue to play as they had been.

The second half was a bit more open ended with both teams creating goal scoring chances, but the defending by us and Bolton was quite good at times, whilst the finishing was exceptionally poor. With 20 minutes to go Collison came on for Schneiderlin and Ilan came on for Cole. I wanted to save Cole as my next game was at home to Arsenal and I needed the big fellow for that. Bolton decided to take off Matty Taylor and Gary Cahill.......I wasn't complaining and neither was Matty Upson. We scored our third goal 7 minutes from time from a well worked corner.

Final Score :-

Bolton Wanderers 1 West Ham Utd 2

[Bobbybarks]

22nd August 2009

West Ham Utd Vs Arsenal

I was pleased to take maximum points from my opening 2 games, particularly because they were both away, even more so because one had been Liverpool. Other than Tomkins replacing the injured Taylor, the same team that started against Bolton, started against Arsenal.

Arsenal controlled the pace of the game very well. Keeping and moving the ball in typical Arsenal fashion. We defended very well though, filling the middle of the pitch to stop their through balls. Forcing them into crosses I was confident we could deal with Bendtner. The first half took quite toll on my team, the physio coming on to nuture Da Costa and Tomkins, who were throwing themselves in front of anything.

0-0 at half time, I told the lads that I couldn't expect anymore from them and if they continued to play as they had then I was positive they'd get their just rewards. Within 8 minutes of the restart Da Costa threw a ball into the box, Cole rose above Clichy and thundered a header past Almunia. 1-0 to West Ham. I hoped we could defend as we had done because I honestly believed if Arsenal scored it would damage our confidence.

Much the same as our goal, Arsenal scored an equaliser on 63 minutes. Moments before hand Wenger had switched to a 4-4-2 and gone more direct to Bendtner. It worked when the big Dane outpowered Da Costa and made it 1-1. I began to think the worst. I know I shouldn't, but Arsenal were controlling the game very, very impressively.

On 71 minutes I nearly ate my hat....if I'd have brought my favourite flat cap down from Yorkshire I'd have been chowing down on the bad boy right now. Carlton Cole broke clear of the defence and smahed his second past Almunia. The big lad netted his fifth in 3 games, outstanding!!!

I thought we would see the game out, but I was surprised again. In the 90th minute Green was forced to parry a Van Persie effort straight onto the foot of Bendtner, who volleyed home. 90th minute...gutting!! Still we'd avoided defeat to another of the big 4, so I was pleased with the overall performance and result. I'd have definitely taken it before the game.

Final Score :-

West Ham Utd 2 Arsenal 2

[Bobbybarks]

25th August 2009

Yeovil Town Vs West Ham Utd (League Cup 2nd Round)

We tinkered with the side for this one. It was the league cup and to be honest I wanted to use it as a platform for the fringe players to gain some match fitness and show me what they could do.

1) Alex Smithies

2) Tony Brookes

3) Matthew Fry

4) Mark Beevers

5) Bondz N'Gala

6) Radoslav Kovac

7) Junior Stanislas

8) Oliver Lee

9) Ilan

10) Benni McCarthy

11) Guillermo Franco

Final Score :-

Yeovil Town 0 West Ham Utd 3

Smithies saved a first half penalty and the goals came from Ilan, McCarthy and Beevers. The overall team performance was very impressive, particularly from the younger players.

[Bobbybarks]

29th August 2009

West Ham Utd Vs Chelsea

Another one of the big four, the third one out of my opening four fixtures....marvelous. The results against Liverpool and Arsenal were great, but Chelsea were a different kind of class altogether. I reverted back to the same side that started against Arsenal, in hope they could defend in the same fashion. And defend they did. 20 shots throughout the game for the visitors, 6 blocked, 10 off target and 4 saved. I had 6 shots, 5 off target and 1 saved.

Final Score :-

West Ham Utd 0 Chelsea 0

[Bobbybarks]

With the transfer deadline approaching I had some offers come in for some of my players so I agreed to let some go out on loan and some leave the club.

Terry Dixon went to Aberdeen for 100k

Daniel Kearns went to Rangers for 120k

Marek Stech to Hibernian for 325k

Fabio Deprela went on loan to Notts Forest

Freddy Sears to Southend on loan

and Jordan Spence on loan to Crystal Palace.

The 2 David's had finally accepted that I needed a feeder club and had brokered a deal with Crystal Palace to be just that. That was quite handy, but it had come a bit late in the transfer window and Jordan Spence was the only one I was able to send on loan, as they'd already acquired some other loaness taking them to their maximum.

Just before the transfer deadline closed I thought it would be good for us to bring in a left back. We only had Manuel Da Costa who was a senior left back, but I also had less than a million pound to spend. Man City agreed to let me take Javier Garrido on loan for the season, so I was pretty happy with Robbie Mancini for allowing that. I told him I appreciated it, but he just asked me not to call him Robbie and then muttered something in Italian under his breath. Smug git.

[Greasy Chip Butty]

Good read so far mate; as a Blades fan, I hope your West Ham side get hammered ( ) and I'm not thrilled with your Tottenham lot either. However, you are in Barnsley like me so I will let you off with it. One bit of advice - the regular FMS lot will tell you this too - is to slow down. Posting loads in one day doesn't give the readers chance to get into your story.

[Bobbybarks]

Lol - thanks Greasy Chip Butty. I gathered that with the too many posts, but I'm just getting into the West Ham save, so wanting to play it with every spare minute. Back to work tomorrow though so it'll be a few days till I get another chance with it.

[BenArsenal]

Fantastic story, even though the title could be better.

[Bobbybarks]

September - Part 1

August had been a difficult month, fixture wise with us playing against 3 of the big 4. However, we'd come out undefeated which was more than I could have asked. We were third in the table, behind Everton and Man Utd who both had 100% records.

I was slightly disappointed with Mr Capello when he named the England squad for the upcoming internationals, Rob Green and Matty Upson were both called up, but Scott Parker and Carlton Cole weren't acknowledged. I have to say that Cole's omission was a bigger surprise, since he was the Premierhsip to goalscorer with 5 goals.

After the international break we were away to Portsmouth, followed by a home encounter with Wolves. I was confident that we could take maximum points from these games.

The side was picking itself on the form of the players, the only changes being Garrido coming into left back, and Franco keeping out Shelvey. Taylor was back from injury so he could start the match.

1) Green

2) Faubert

3) Garrido

4) Upson

5) Taylor

6) Parker

7) Noble

8) Collison

9) Cole

10) Franco

11) Diamanti

The game didnt start too brightly for Pompey, with Kevin Prince Boateng receiving a red card 12 minutes into the match. After that we pretty much dominated the match. Schneiderlin replaced an injured Collison after 15 minutes, then reminded me he should be a starter by firing one in from distance on the 28 minute mark. Cole scored his 6th premiership goal just before the interval to give us a 2-0 lead at half time. Franco rounded the scoring off mid way through the 2nd half.

Final Score :- Portsmouth 0 West Ham 3

Wolves proved a sterner test in the following game. They set themselves out to be defensive and we were finding it difficult to break them down. Schneiderlin who started over a doubtful Collison created our only real chance of the game, which Franco managed to slot home. We dominated possession throughout the 90 minutes, but only ever managed to create half chances. I was impressed with Wolves' determination in defending, but I was a little disappointed with our lack of ideas.

Final Score :- West Ham 1 Wolves 0

Before the travelling to Leeds for the 3rd round of the league cup I sat down with David Sullivan. He was extremely impressed with the start to the season and told me I was proving his decision to appoint me to be the correct one. Thanks Dave. I then asked him for more money in the transfer market. Afterall, we'd made a great start, I'd seen the amount of cash we had in the bank and believed if we invested some if into the squad, we may be able to keep up this good form and maybe qualify for Europe.

The man laughed at me.........like a Cheshire cat he laughed at me. And told me to go away, because he hasn't had any return on the money he's invested so far. I was obviously disappointed, if he had my feet further under the table...I might have thought about giving the smug git an ultimatum, but my feet were still feeling a draft so I didn't.