THE PREMIER LEAGUE

MARCH 2003

1st Tottenham (h). ht:1-0. ft:2-0. (ferdinand, carrick). SWEETNESS!
"The Hammers showed that they have the quality and desire to save themselves, in particular their young tyros - Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe. They were helped and given direction for an hour by a former Man of Tottenham Les Ferdinand", "The goal emanated from a truely wonderous piece of skill by Defoe. The ball had been played to him with Richards and Bunjevcevic right at his back. With masterful touch and dexterity the West Ham youngster flicked the ball over his shoulder, and by the time the two big central defenders had turned, Defoe was away from them, and then with precision his diagonal ball invited Ferdinand to shot from an angle 13 yards out. The shot was hard and low, but straight at Keller who could only deflect it ineptly across the goaline", "Once again the clueless Tomas Repka was exposed at set-pieces", "Tottenham, despite having three centre-halves on the field, allowed Ferdinand to challenge Keller in the air not once but twice. His pressure made the point and when Keller's punch dropped the ball towards the penalty spot, Carrick instantly swept it left-footed high into the net". The Sunday Times.

THE BOTTOM SIX CLUBS...	08.03.03.
Leeds United	34pts/P28
Birmingham City	32pts/P29
Bolton Wanderers	26pts/P29
West Ham United	26pts/P29
West Bromich Albion	21pts/P29
Sunderland	19pts/P29

15th Everton (a). ht:0-0. ft:0-0. Well, at least we did'nt let any in!
"Given the circumstances, West Ham's passive play was the more surprising. They need points and they need goals, yet for 45 minutes they could not muster a shot", "Neither Joe Cole or Michael Carrick could demonstrate sufficient guile in midfield to break the stalemate". The Sunday Times.

THE BOTTOM SIX CLUBS...	17.03.03.
Leeds United	34pts/P30
Birmingham City	32pts/P30
Bolton Wanderers	29pts/P30
West Ham United	27pts/P30
West Bromich Albion	21pts/P30
Sunderland	19pts/P30

22nd Sunderland (h). ht:1-0. ft:2-0. (defoe, kanoute). Nice One, lets keep it going!
"It was'nt a mirage. Indeed, had pressure been translated into goals, we could have witnessed a re-run of the record 8-0 by which West Ham beat Sunderland in 1968", "At right-back, in the composed and confident teenager Glen Johnson, the West Ham academy has unearthed yet another player of excellent technique. He did not miss a tackle nor waste one ball during the first half", "Defoe controlled the ball, turned with rapacious instinct and hooked the ball gently over Sorenson", "Carrick produced a measured ball between Bjorkland and El Karkouri. He and his partner were breathlessly swept aside by Kanoute, who then had the calmness and the fine precision to place his low shot past the hapless figure of Sorenson". The Sunday Times.

THE BOTTOM SIX CLUBS...	24.03.03.
Birmingham City	35pts/P31
Leeds United	34pts/P31
Bolton Wanderers	32pts/P31
West Ham United	30pts/P31
West Bromich Albion	21pts/P31
Sunderland	19pts/P31

APRIL 2003

5th Southampton (a). ht:0-1. ft:1-1. (defoe). 2 home wins, 2 away draws...
unfortunately Bolton keep winning! Surely they must lose soon!
"West Ham had the better chances initially, but were a goal down at half-time as Beattie scored his 21st goal of the season", "West Ham really should have been ahead, Les Ferdinand stubbed his big toe in failing to put away Bowyer's cross and Sinclair attempted a diving header that went a couple of feet wide", "Glen Johnson's long throw was not gathered by Niemi, nor cleared by the defence. Instead, the ball ran to Defoe, who smartly hooked it in after it had bounced". The Sunday Times.

THE BOTTOM SIX CLUBS...	06.04.03.
Aston Villa	37pts/P32
Bolton Wanderers	35pts/P32
Birmingham City	35pts/P32
West Ham United	31pts/P32
West Bromich Albion	21pts/P32
Sunderland	19pts/P32

12th Aston Villa (h). ht:1-1. ft:2-2. (sinclair, kanoute).
"This draw leaves West Ham 3 points behind Bolton who they play next Saturday", "A sustained run by Kanoute, under pressure, gave him room for a fine cross that skidded off the Villa defence to Trevor Sinclair. His shot was so fierce that although Enckelman got to it, he could not stop it reaching the net", "Repka then recklessly conceded a penalty", "West Ham seemed to lose their cool, increasingly getting embroiled in petty incidents", "A glorious long ball by Cole found Kanoute, who controlled it and banged in West Ham's equaliser", "Defoe's dazzling solo run took him clean through to shoot, but Enckelman saved". The Sunday Times.

19th Bolton (a). ht:0-1. ft:0-1. Bollocks...
"Glenn Roeder, who has deflected the disbelief of West Ham supporters all season long, finally looked like a man without an answer", "It would have been a big help had all the Hammers players, especially Kanoute, been as passionate as Roeder", "Okocha collected the ball midway in the Bolton half. He glided with such supreme balance, such unsuspected pace that the efforts of Cole to stay with him, even to foul him, simply fell behind in his wake. And then Okocha delivered a looping right-foot shot from outside the area that gave James not a ghost of a chance", "Bergsson was spared by West Ham's inability to control their anxiety for long enough to take aim. Sadly this was encapsulated by Defoe. The young player who had done most to keep the bubbles afloat this season was clean through after 76 minutes, but he snatched over-eagerly at a chance from 11 yards, drove it wide and held his head for the second successive profligate match". The Sunday Times.

21st Middlesbrough (h). ht:0-0. ft:1-0. (sinclair). a glimmer of hope still remains...
"The first half, was in truth, pretty poor, bar a couple of good chances from Joe Cole", "13 minutes to go and Glen Johnson sprints down the right flank with frightening speed. He cuts inside along the by-line, and is presented with three options: cross into the area, take an ill-advised shot which might result in a corner, or look up and pass to the waiting Sinclair, who will sweep the ball into the bottom left hand corner. The Boleyn erupts", "Out went the wild, desperate frustration of late, and in came some control and a few level heads, which kept the team going right through to the final whistle. Les Ferdinand was paramount in this. On an even more positive note was Sinclair going straight to young Glen Johnson to thank him for his superb role in the goal - it was fantastic to see spirit between old and new."
taken from the KUMB Website.

THE BOTTOM SIX CLUBS...	21.04.03.
Birmingham City	44pts/P35
Bolton Wanderers	39pts/P35
Leeds United	38pts/P35
West Ham United	35pts/P35
West Bromich Albion (R)	24pts/P35
Sunderland (R)	19pts/P35

Glenn Roeder suffers a minor stroke after the Boro game.
The Board appoint Trevor Brooking as caretaker manager.

27th Man City (a). ht:0-0. ft:1-0. (kanoute). Come on West Ham!
"Jermain Defoe tapped a short corner to Joe Cole, his diagonal ball into the box was headed straight towards Schmeichel until another substitute Don Hutchinson poked out a boot. Schmeichel managed to block, but the ball rebounded to Hutchinson whose shot hit the post. The ball screwed back across the goalline to where Kanoute was waiting to deliver the touch that could yet prevent the Hammers from falling out of the Premiership after 10 years.", "Only 6 minutes earlier, Brooking's nerves were stretched to the limit when Niclas Jensen headed a Defoe hook shot off the line", "Brooking was all smiles as he exchanged high fives with every one of his players as they left the pitch". The Daily Star.

THE BOTTOM SIX CLUBS...	27.04.03.
Fulham	42pts/P36
Leeds United	41pts/P36
Bolton Wanderers	40pts/P36
West Ham United	38pts/P36
West Bromich Albion (R)	24pts/P36
Sunderland (R)	19pts/P36

MAY 2003

3rd Chelsea (h). ht:0-0. ft:1-0. (DiCanio). The double over Chelsea... SWEET!!
"Brooking fielded three up front, West Ham true to their traditions, would try and score their way out of trouble", "Kanoute held the ball before feeding Joe Cole who sent Sinclair to the byline with a perfectly weighted pass, Sinclair centered, the ball looped off Babayaro's shin and arrived to DiCanio, who swept it high into Cudicini's net. The shirt came off, the arms went up and the tears began to flow", "Frank Lampard seemed to have scored when he beat James after getting a free header at a corner. Rufus Brevett hacked it off the line", "By the end Upton Park was blowing bubbles loud and clear while Chelsea, were barely in it during the second half as West Ham's passion washed them out of town", "One Trevor Brooking sang the denizens of E13". The Sunday Times.

THE BOTTOM FOUR CLUBS...	04.05.03.
Bolton Wanderers	41pts/P37
West Ham United	41pts/P37
West Bromich Albion (R)	25pts/P37
Sunderland (R)	19pts/P37

And so it's all down to the last day of the season. Bolton at home to Middlesbrough? What's the betting we go down on goal difference in classic West Ham style? However the appointment of Brooking has brought back some much needed pride in the club, and I hope we do it just to see Brooking's face! Come on you Irons!

11th Birmingham (a). ht:0-0. ft:2-2. (Ferdinand, DiCanio). And we're gone!
"Even Trevor Brooking's magic failed as West Ham's Premiership dream finally died", "They battled, fought, harried and dominated at St Andrews in a desparate bid to stay up, they even took the lead, went behind and equalised through - you guessed it - Paolo DiCanio. But in truth their destiny was never in there own hands", "Just for a few seconds in the second half there was hope as Ferdinand gave them the lead, and Ricketts grabbed one back at the Reebok, but the miracle never happened", "To think that West Ham got to that 42 point tide-mark is incredible, but in the end a side packed full of talent was not too good to go down", "We'd like to keep the nucleus of a side to bounce back but rash promises would be silly - Trevor Brooking" The Daily Star.

THE BOTTOM FOUR CLUBS...	11.05.03.
Bolton Wanderers	44pts/P38
West Ham United (R)	42pts/P38
West Bromich Albion (R)	28pts/P38
Sunderland (R)	19pts/P38

12.05.03. Jermain Defoe hands in a transfer request!

13.05.03. West Ham refuse Jermain Defoe's transfer request!

17.05.03. West Ham release 10 players, including Paulo DiCanio, Gary Breen,
Nigel Winterburn, Lee Bowyer, Scott Minto, and John Moncur.

18.05.03. Trevor Sinclair announces he is happy to stay at the club.

West Ham United Goalscorers 2002-2003