You don't know what you're doing!

So Fabian Balbuena's red card has been rescinded, predictably enough. Not much use to West Ham though, when the points have been lost against Chelsea. The dismissal can only have been rescinded by looking at the VAR footage, which makes it all the more baffling that two referees agreed with the original decision in the first place. Sometimes in football you get caught by a kicking leg, there's no getting around that. Time for some common sense at Stockley Park.

A legacy fan writes

The Observer has a great round-up of Premier League fans' opinions on the European Superleague including this legacy fan's contribution on West Ham. Strangely enough no-one likes it. Click on the link to read.

Ridiculous red ends Hammers' hopes

West Ham 0 Chelsea 1 

This was always going to be the most difficult match of the run-in, particularly without Antonio, Rice, Cresswell, Masuaku and Dawson. West Ham do pretty well containing Chelsea in the first half with a five-man defence and Fredericks does well at left back. Werner and Mount always look dangerous for Chelsea, with Pulisic spurning an inviting chance. 

The Hammers waste an early corner but towards the end of the half start to gain more possession and see Soucek's hook turned past the post by Azpilicueta with his hand, though unintentionally and the no penalty decision is correct. What's disappointing is that Chelsea score just before the break. Chilwell is allowed to get a cross in and Balbuena and Soucek just fail to get to the ball, allowing Werner to stroke home.

West Ham are more of an attacking threat in the second half with Fornals at least hitting the target when he might have scored and Lingard lobbing just wide. At the other end Werner misses a sitter after Fabianski parries Mount's shot. Any hope of a late West Ham equaliser goes with a ridiculous VAR red card for Balbuena. The General's foot can't follow-through anywhere else as he clears and catches Mount.  

There's still time to see the best and worst of sub Said Benrahma. He wastes one chance with a long-range shot when he should cross, but then creates a good chance with a mazy dribble into the box on the left.

It's sad to lose to Chelsea but when you look at their bench, it contains Ziyech, Havertz, Abraham, James, Hudson-Odoi and Zouma, whereas WHU have the likes of youngsters Alves, Odubeko and Coventry.

It's important to remember the next five games are all winnable. It's a miracle West Ham have got so close to the Champions League. If we can just get a few players fit for the run-in we can still make Europe.

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 7; Coufal 7, Diop 6, Ogbonna 8, Balbuena 6, Fredericks 6 (Johnson n/a); Fornals 5 (Benrahma 6), Noble 6 (Lanzini 5), Soucek 6, Lingard 6, Bowen 5.

Stop! Hammer Time

Enjoyed my spot on the podcast Stop! Hammer Time on Tuesday amid all the ESL turmoil. A good Zoom time had with Phil, Jim and Dan. The Newcastle match, Sheffield United's relegation and greedy owners all under discussion. Click on the link to listen.

Six clubs and you f***ed it up!

The demise of the Superleague is a great victory for fan power. The threat hasn't gone away, but well done to everyone who has spoken out: Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Gary Lineker, Danny Murphy, Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, James Milner, Patrick Bamford, et al. And to the Leeds fans who protested and then the thousand or so Chelsea fans who turned up last night with their epic "we want our cold nights in Stoke" banner. The fans' revolution has begun. Liberté, égalité, cold nights in Stoke! Mind you, it's a shame that Spurs weren't left as the last club standing in a Superleague of one... doomed to play themselves forever in a Groundhog Day of greed.

Stick your Superleague up your Arsenal

Well, it would be very like West Ham to threaten to reach the Champions' League just when the whole thing implodes. I can only echo the comments of Gary Neville and Danny Murphy, and indeed Jonathan Liew in the Guardian who says this superleague is the idea of people who hate football. A closed league where 15 clubs can never lose their place with five spots for other token European teams? What hope would there be for clubs like West Ham, Everton, Leicester, Aston Villa, Leeds and Newcastle? 

It might all be a negotiating bluff by the so-called 'big six', but football has to be united on this. Ban the breakaway clubs from their domestic leagues and cups and tell the players they won't play for their national teams. Fans of the breakaway clubs should boycott games. That should concentrate the minds of players and managers. It's not even going to succeed. No-one is going to watch the same big teams every season in a tired tournament with no hint of danger. And let's give some credit to Germany and France for not being involved in this fiasco.

Are the people running these clubs really fit custodians of our national sport? If football owners are so out of touch with the fans and the joy of the football pyramid then there's a strong case for the government temporarily taking over these 'big' clubs and installing a model like in Germany, where clubs are owned 49 per cent privately and 51 per cent by the fans. Greed can't be allowed to kill our game.

Defensive lapses end Hammers' good run

Newcastle United 3 West Ham United 2 

This always looked a difficult game up against a team trying to secure survival and so it proved. For half an hour West Ham look reasonably comfortable, if unsure how to break Newcastle down. But Saint-Maximin is proving a threat on the break and after 36 minutes it all unravels. Dawson has already been booked for an unwise hack at Joelinton and then clatters the same player again after the West Ham man miscontrols Diop's pass. 

ISSA OWN GOAL

The ref waves play on. Saint-Maximin speeds round Noble and puts in a fairly tame shot. But Fabianski manages to fumble it on to the heel of Issa Diop for a comedy own goal. To make it even more of an old West Ham moment, the ref then sends Dawson off for a second yellow. 

Another disaster happens four minutes later as Fabianski drops a corner on to the toe of Joelinton, who can't miss. To be fair the two goals are probably Fabianski's first mistakes of the season.

At least ten-man West Ham show some character after the break. The side looks much livelier as Bowen has a shot saved and then Johnson plays in a great cross for Coufal to head at Dubravka.

The lifeline comes on 73 minutes as Diop gets his head on to Bowen's cross to head home. The Hammers continue to threaten and after 80 minutes VAR spots a blatant handball by Clark. Jesse Lingard, who has had a quiet game by his standards, dispatches the penalty with confidence.

NEVER MIND THE WILLOCK

The Irons look likely to get at least a point, but the setback inspires Newcastle to attack with more freedom. Almost immediately Johnson has to clear off the line from Murphy. But the Toon's next cross from Ritchie proves lethal. Sub Willock gets across Ben Johnson to powerfully head home. Perhaps Fabianski could have done a little better as the header goes over him.

Not even eight minutes of added time can help the Hammers make it 3-3. If anything Moyes has gone too gung-ho replacing Noble with Benrahmi after 75 minutes, when it might have been better to keep it tight with ten men.

But the injuries were eventually going to take a toll. There was no Rice or Antonio and we badly missed the crossing of Cresswell and even a fit Arthur Masuaku might have helped.The one positive was that Ogbonna got through the game and will be a big asset in the next six games.

It's disappointing but not a disaster. We had to lose sometime and it's hard to legislate for the errors for the first two goals. Now the Irons need to focus on getting some injured players back and keeping some clean sheets again.

Is Lingard West Ham's best ever impact signing?

It's hard to think of a West Ham signing who has had a bigger instant impact than Jesse Lingard. The only person who comes close in terms of goals and assists is Paul Kitson, still the only striker my pal Nigel has seen score a hat-trick without West Ham winning (in a 4-4 draw at Charlton). The signings of Kitson and Paul Hartson by Harry Redknapp in 1997 certainly had a massive impact in taking West Ham out of the relegation zone. 

More recently Dimitri Payet also had a massive impact when he joined the Irons in 2015. He certainly inspired the side to their seventh-placed finish (and it should have been higher), although his early games included home defeats by Bournemouth and Leicester. Even Paolo Di Canio had a fairly slow start as he came back to match fitness after a long suspension for pushing over ref Paul Alcock when with Sheffield Wednesday.

Looking further Frank McAvennie and to a lesser extent Mark Ward were the signings that propelled West Ham to their best ever finish of third place in 1986. While in 1975 Alan Taylor signed from Rochdale and scored a brace in the FA Cup quarter-final, the semi final and the Final against Fulham.

But it's hard to argue that anyone has had a bigger impact in goals and assists than Lingard. Let's hope there's more to come at Newcastle today.

May the fourth be with you: Hammers dig deep to secure vital win

West Ham 3 Leicester City 2

When is this going to stop? I'd have taken a point from this game going into it without Rice and Antonio. But this West Ham squad seems to thrive on adversity. It helps that Maddison, Perez and Choudhury are absent from the Leicester squad after a Covid protocol breach. Bowen is certainly making a good job of winning fouls and playing the Antonio role.

After not having a shot on target in the first 25 minutes the Hammers take the lead just as my feed buffers. The replay shows it's yet another confident first-time voley strike from the edge of the box by Jesse Lingard. Nasuaku's cross has caused the initial problem and Coufal has then provided the assist. It gets better as Diop's long ball plays in Bowen who gets behind Fofana to spring the offside trap and cleverly square for Lingard to score into an open goal. We even manage to not concede before the break. 

Just as long as we don't go 3-0 up we'll be fine. Soon after the break we do though. Lingard is again involved, finding Soucek who squares for Bowen to poke home. A deserved goal for Jarrod in his unfamiliar role. Diop seems to have made it four from another Lingard cross only for the goal to be disallowed for offside.

But this being West Ham it gets jittery. With 20 minutes left Arthur Masuaku is caught in possession and Iheanacho turns to send a great finish into the corner. Cresswell goes off with a hamstring injury, forcing Masuaku to defend, which isn't his strong point, and The General to be called upon at centre back. The team spirit is epitomised by Fabianski's dive at the feet of Ricardo and Mark Noble making a vital block and injuring his arm in the process. 

It seems the Hammers have made it through, until Mike Dean adds six minutes of time. On 92 minutes Albrighton is allowed too much time to cross and Iheanacho bundles home a second. Leicester force endless corners and with Johnson and Benrahma on we're down to the bare bones. Credit to the likes of Soucek for some great late interventions. But once again we see the game out to go back to fourth. Always in doubt! Irons!

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 7; Coufal 7, Diop 7, Dawson 7, Cresswell 6 (Balbuena 6), Masuaku 6; Lingard 9, Noble 7 (Johnson 5), Soucek 8, Fornals 7; Bowen 8 (Benrahma n/a).

Antonio woe

The Guardian is reporting that Michail Antonio could miss the rest of the season with his hamstring problem. It was a disaster that was always likely to happen and it still seems short-sighted not to have at least loaned a striker as cover. We have to hope that Jarrod Bowen steps up to the role — he did come on and score against Wolves and also had a chance well-saved by Rui Patricio. Though he doesn't look a natural in the role and certainly can't bully defenders like Antonio.

There's also the option of playing Jesse Lingard as a false nine, but he's surely better running at defences rather than playing with his back to goal. Could Benrahma chip in with some goals? Other than that the options are down to a possibly soon to be fit Yarmolenko or the untried Odubeko. To be more positive Masuaku is back and Ogbonna will soon be fit which at least improves things defensively.

It seems very unlikely that we can make the Champions League without both Rice and Antonio. What's important is that the season doesn't end with a whimper. I'd say that three wins and a couple of draws out of the final eight games would get WHU in the top seven and the Europa League. After last season that would be a massive success.

Dawson is a bargain at £2m

Good news is that Craig Dawson is to join West Ham permanently from Watford in the close season. And if the fee is only the reported £2 million then he's a massive bargain — particularly considering the fact West Ham offered £31 million for Burnley's Tarkowski in the summer. Since coming into the side at Southampton Dawson's played 17 games and scored four goals. Without  Ogbonna he's had to be a leader at the back and has been generally immense at the back. Even his two own goals have been signs of a player who is always close to stopping a chance. Craig is a good old-fashioned stopper who is dangerous at the other end too. As befits someone who has come up via Rochdale, West Brom and Watford, he's still hungry at 30 and a great addition to the squad. 

Lethal Lingard takes Hammers to fourth

Wolves 2 West Ham 3 

Declan Rice's injury has every Hammers' fan despondent before we go into this, but the team starts as if determined to defy adversity. Within two minutes Antonio has steamrollered his way past two defenders to have a powerful shot tipped on to the post by Rui Patricio. 

Wolves go close through Willian, but on six minutes the Irons take the lead with a superb goal from Jesse Lingard. Receiving the ball from Coufal in his own half he runs the length of the pitch to glide through four Wolves defenders. Antonio's run creates space and Lingard lifts it over the keeper. Brilliant.

Soon it's two as Messi Lingard produces a brilliant flick to bamboozle a defender near the corner flag and find Arthur Masuaku. The returning left-back's cross is cleverly slotted home by Fornals. "Wow," writes Fraser on WhatsApp, an unlikely convert to Moyes' Total Football. While Nigel points out that Lingard's goal has just been compared to Paolo Wanchope.

MESSI LINGARD

Antonio is terrorising the Wolves defence and gets through them again to fire into the side netting, only to pull up with a dodgy hamstring and go off. Just when it was all going so well.

But it's raining goals. Lingard makes another surging run to find substitute Bowen who finishes with alacrity into the bottom corner. Blimey. What a loan signing Lingard has been. Most players from MUFC are on their way down, but Jesse looks determined to prove Solksjaer wrong. This is the sort of performance we should have had from a £45 million signing like Haller. Lingard is unplayable at times and runs 12km in the game, which is impressive.

Mind you, after the Arsenal game it's typical that us West Ham fans find ourselves worrying at 3-0. Willian has a shot parried by Fabianski and Neto fires over when he should score. That's a warning, but just like Arsenal, Wolves pull a goal back before half-time. Traore makes a brilliant run from his own half, speeding past the Hammers defence to lay on a great cross for Dendoncker to head home. 

NERVY FINISH

It's a difficult second half, though the Hammers think they've scored a fourth when Bowen's shot is parried and Soucek hits home the rebound, only for it to be disallowed for handball. It gets very nervy when sub Fabio Silva gets behind Diop and Johnson to angle home a fine finish.

Wolves play a lot better in the second half, but thankfully the Hammers remain resolute. Let's have some praise for Mark Noble too. He's never going to be as mobile as Rice, but he looks much more at home in front of the defence and plays sensibly throughout allowing Soucek to get forward. A good professional performance. Johnson and Benrahma come on to aid the cause and, care of some holding the ball in the corner, WHU see the game out. We go fourth!

Could the Champions League breakfast at Nigel's gaff in Kew Gardens be back on? Well, we're surely not going to make the Champions League without Rice and probably Antonio. But this team doesn't know when to give up and is very much a collective. Strange things are happening and with eight games to go we can still dream of Bayern or at least FC Astra. Irons!

Aaaaaargh!!! Rice crocked

It's the news we dreaded. Declan Rice is out for at least a month having picked up a knee injury with England in Poland. He could even miss the whole season and the Euros in the worst-case scenario. He's the one player we can't afford to lose and it's a massive blow to West Ham's European chances. In fact the Champions League qualification breakfast at Nigel's gaff in Kew Gardens might have to be be indefinitely postponed.

What are the options? If Declan is replaced by Mark Noble than at least Nobes would be playing in his proper position, not as a number ten. But can the 33-year-old Noble turn back time and produce a reprise of his finest performances? It's doubtful he'll be anywhere near as mobile as Rice, but here's hoping. The other alternative would be to play Soucek as a holding midfielder and pack the team with three attacking midfielders in Fornals, Benrahma and Lingard in the hope we can outscore the opposition. And I won't even mention Antonio's dodgy hamstrings…

Top Hammers trivia

Some great WHU trivia on my West Ham Whats App group after Nigel revealed that his mate Reg lives in the road where Matthew Upson was born. I was able to reveal that my mum once went to a furniture auction in Brentwood with Billy Jennings' wife, Fraser told us he once met Jimmy Neighbour's daughter at Ilford station and Nigel revealed that an old friend taught Alvin Martin's (Spurs-supporting) son (not David). This caused a further flurry of Proustian remembrance: Gavin revealed that the mum of a bloke at the Times used to teach Tony Cottee. While Stewart Robson once told Nigel to eff off. Matt's mate Peggsy had a girlfriend who used to live next door to Jimmy Greavees' son Danny. And Gavin's mum got him Bobby Ferguson's autograph at the park in Upminster, while his grandad once had his car pushed by Jimmy Greaves himself. Impressive niche trivia all round.