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Wednesday, when the host Norwich City at Victoria Road, kick-off 7pm.
The fanz worst moments - caught in print
'NIGHTMARE on Green Street' is not yet another West Ham book.
\\esthamonline contributor Billy Blagg. aka Peter Thome, has taken the best
from the website and filtered out the spam.
When West Ham were last in this position in the league, fanzines were a sign
of the times. Every Hammers fan was running one, to
vent their anger, express their views and tell the world
what was wrong with the club.
By the late 1990s, fanzines were dying. From the
many that used to occupy the stalls down Upton Park's
Green Street, there is how a mere sole survivor - Over
Land And Sea. The rest moved with the technical rev-
olution and every self-respecting Hammers fan joined
an online forum to post their application for the man-
ager's job. Now it's not just publishers that can express
their views, it's everyone.
But there are things that are said in the heat of the
moment - after another home defeat or that rare trip
to Cardiff - which could be lost forever in the realms
of cyber space. These words tell the story of a
26 YEARS AGO: It was one for the real belting boys when West Ham went
to Old Trafford on November 27,197S. They had not won an away game for
a year. Their hosts had won one of seven home matches. Hammers gave a
debut to diminutive midfielder Anton Otulakowski, a recent signing who
had impressed in Barnsley's League Cup defeat at Upton Park earlier in
the season. The former British international gymnast - and a son of a
Polish soldier who stayed on after the war - Otulakowski enjoyed an excel-
lent first game for the visitors.
But a nervy home side were therefor the taking. Trevor Brooking's sec-
ond goal of the four gets the campaign for the Hammers on the way. Billy
Jennings supplied the pass and it was 'JillyJ who wrapped it up four min-
utes from time.
West Ham's jubilation was tempered by the subsequent realisation that
they were still propping up the table, even if it was only on goal difference.
As things worked out, they faced Manchester United at Upton Park in the
very last game of the season which they had to win to stay up. West Ham
of 2004, Hogan Ephraim, to play his year's competition for the u-18 side.
Hammers' fan in his deepest, darkest moments - caught in a horror film
'Nightmare on Green Street'. Sitting alone, he types these words - better put
down on paper, than in the head, as inevitably they would only turn you insane.
Billy Blagg has been a prime contributor to westhamonline and here, his
superb collection of dark memories are available for even the
computer illiterate. Dark they certainly are, as we haven't had
much to celebrate for the last few seasons. They are memories
that were thoughts of the day, thoughts that most of us have tried
to block out.
A prime example is the opening up of the old case, Manny-gate.
Most West Ham fans can recall the debacle, but can you remem-
ber your actual true feelings from the episode? Thorne must have
relived the nightmares as he collected his ramblings, and those of
others, who have made the book a humorous must read.
I can't wait for volume two, for as long as the team continues to
perform abysmally, we'll be switching on the PC at 4am to rip
apart Blagg's comments on the net.
Co<
• Nightmare on Green Street is published by Football World, Wall
priced £6.99. NICOLA LAGZDINS
did so 4-2 to record a rare double over Manchester United... but only after
conceding a first minute goal before missing a penalty!
EIGHT YEARS AGO: Harry Redknapp probably still has nightmares when
he thinks about Romanian Florin Raducioiu, the striker he persuaded West
Ham to fork out a club record £2.6 million for. Lee<
In a pre-season friendly, at Torquay's Plainmoor ground, the player came
off complaining the opposition were kicking him. Things didn 'tget any bet-
ter, either. In the very few appearances he made, Raducioiu gleaned just Adi|
three goals. His first came in a 1-1 home Coca-Cola Cup draw with hum-
ble Stockport County on November 27,1986. He was possibly surprised at
from
the raspberry Hammers got from their fans. advai
Which may be why he opted to go shopping in Knightsbridge while
Stockport were taking the replay 2-1 to reach the quarter-finals. Tic!
That was also the game in which Iain Dowie scored - in his own net!
Raducioiu or barmy Boogers? A real toss-up as to which of the two was nun
Harry's biggest howler ~-

KMAS CRACKERS
Three perfect stocking fillers for West Ham fans this Christmas...
NIGHTMARE ON GREEN STREET
! By PeteT Thome (aka Billy Blagg)
Football WoTld, £6.99
Books written by fans are nothing
new - Hammers News columnist Rob
Banks has penned three himself -
but Nightmare represents breaking
new ground in that it combines the
written word with the immediacy of
the internet messageboards.
For in this thoroughly entertaining
observation of life as a West Ham fan
over the past five years, author
Thorne allies his own very honest
and highly creditable views with
those of the supporters who
contribute to the popular unofficial
fan site, westhamonline.net
Thorne, in the guise of his cyberspace
alter-ego Billy Blagg, takes us on a
painful journey - from Mannygate
(Manny Omoyinmi's farcical
appearance that led to Hammers
losing a Worthington Cup quarter-
final they had already won), via the
sale of Rio Ferdinand, and the
sackings of Redknapp and Roeder, to
last May's play-off debacle and an
attempt at what the future holds.
He consistently hits the mark and
you'll find yourself nodding at
regular intervals as you turn most of
the 240 totally absorbing pages.
i
OUR DAYS ARE FEW
By Martin Godleman
Boleyn Books, £6.99
After spending more than a decade
on the 'other side of the camera' as
West Ham's official commentator for
video and DVD recordings, the
author should be well placed to
provide an insight into behind the
scenes life at Upton Park.
Godleman can certainly write as well
as he commentates, although he
clearly has little time for some of the
more celebrated TV mike-men of his
profession.
Relegation affects more than just
the obvious people and Godleman
was another who found his services
on the gantry curtailed by cutbacks.
He cannot disguise his dismay at
how money is now such a ruling
influence on the game, on and off
the field.
He continues to report from the
press room and even during breaks
to Australia and USA, he found he
could not get by without the latest
news of his beloved Hammers.
This diary of the 2003-04 season
shows that you don't have to attend
games at Upton Park to experience
the agony (and occasional ecstacy) of
following the fortunes of West Ham.
BOOK REVIEWS
CLARET AND BLUE BLOOD
By Kirk Blows and Ben Sharratt
Mainstream Publishing, £9.99
This softback edition follows swiftly
on from the hardback original, but
not only the committed collectors
will still be keen to add this
impressive volume to their shelf.
Apart from adding three new
chapters on the latest first team
players to have emerged from the
youth ranks - Stephen Bywater,
Anton Ferdinand and Kevin Horlock -
the authors have updated and fully
revised other chunks of the original,
including the chapters on Rio
Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Joe
Cole, three of the most celebrated
products of the famous 'Academy',
and Jermain Defoe whose move to
Spurs is also covered.
With eight glossy pages of pics to
accompany 256 pages of quotes and
candid conversations, this represents
great value and is certainly a very
worthy addition to any Hammers
fan's book collection.
The interesting question is, how
many other home-grown discoveries
will be produced at West Ham in
future seasons to make even the
contemplation of a similar book a
possibility? •
HAMMERS. 53