West Ham v Bolton - Official Match Thread EPL Cup

[Taansend]

Thank you for your patience. Funny, a week after trhe hurricane & half the town still doesn't have power. It looks weird dark. Many of my friends & colleagues without any power in their house which means no aircon, fridges, cooking or hot water.

Anyway, the first time we ever played Bolton was THAT Cup Final. The one with the 'orse & everything. 126,407 people watched us lose 2-0. I bet some of your grandads or great grandads were there that day. Having a look at the names of our players then as opposed to now. How life has changed in London

Ted Hufton, Billy Henderson, Jack Young, George Kay (captain), Syd Bishop, John Tresadern, James Ruffell, Victor Watson, Richard Richards, William Brown, Billy Moore.

Richard Richards was the only foreigner.

Since then we've played them 67 times, winning 22, drawing 10 & losing 34.

We played them in the League Cup the week before I was born, winning 7-2 on September 4th 1968. Goals were supplied by Sissons, Hurst (3), Peters, Redknapp & a 19 year old Trevor Brooking in his 2nd season as a professional. A month later we beat Sunderland 8-0 and Hurst scored SIX.

The year before that we also played them in the League Cup, winning 4-1 & that man Hurst scoring all our goals.

In 1994 we played them in the cup again losing 1-3. Cottee got our goal in a team that included.....Miklosko Brown Dicks Potts Whitbread Bishop Moncur Rush Cottee Boere Holmes & Morley.

We met them for the 4th time in the Cup in 2005 when they beat us 1-0. Our attackers consisted of Aliadiere & Bellion that day so fuck knows how we didn't score.

Our last League Cup meeting with them was 2009 when we lost again, 3-1. Ilunga got our goal. The team that day...... Green Spector Ilunga da Costa Tomkins Parker Dyer Kovac Noble Diamanti Hines N'Gala Cole Faubert.

I remember when Bondz N'Gala was going to be our future Captain etc etc. He's at Dagenham nowadays. I wonder if Oxford will end up the same way.

So overall we've played them FIVE times in the League Cup, winning the first two by hefty margins & losing the last three. Both our wins came before I was born

In the years we played them in the League Cup we finished in these spots in the league. 12th, 8th, 14th, 9th & 17th proving absolutely fuck all.

Bolton currently sit bottom of the Championship, winless in 8 with 2 points. They've scored 4 & let in 16.

I expect to see a much changed team. Adrian will be back, Byram, Ogbonna, Sakho, Ayew & Rice should all start. Quina might get more of a run out too. Hopefully one or two youngsters will get a good look in.

I'm expecting comfortable win but this is West Ham & this is the Cup & we specialise on being involved in upsets - from either end.

4-0 West Ham with a few of the lads staking their claims for a place in the line up on Saturday.

[Taansend]

Preview

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dicksies Diner]

Our under 23 team could beat this mob. Been watching the championship and Bolton are shocking.

[Ibbyham]

Squad I expect Bilic to put:

Adrian

Rice
Fonte
Ogbonna

Byram
Masuaku
Noble
Obiang

Ayew
Sakho
Arnovmatic

Predicition: a tight arse game 2-1 for the

[Newmarket]

Squad I expect Bilic to put:

Adrian

Rice
Fonte
Ogbonna

Byram
Masuaku
Noble
Obiang

Ayew
Sakho
Arnovmatic

Predicition: a tight arse game 2-1 for the

What's going on Ibby ? I wouldn't be standing for all of this " I ain't got no internet so I can't do the official Bolton match thread but I reserve the right to reserve the thread by posting this crap" crap off Taaaansend

[redhammer]

Our under 23 team could beat this mob. Been watching the championship and Bolton are shocking.

Have to agree, they are woeful and I'd expect a comfortable victory with a wel rotated side. Just what we need as well to be honest.

[jhammers]

Please give Holland and Martinez a start. Always the standout players from the u23's - what is the point if they're not rewarded?

A mix of youth and squad players for me. Adrian, Byram, Rice, Masuaku, Holland, Martinez etc..
Also would give Arnautovic 60 mins as he needs game time.

[LeeWHU88]

Sort of game that we'll lose. They're shocking but it's a cup game, at a bigger club, big stadium, chance for them to put a show on. We always struggle to find the motivation against these sort of clubs.

I've got a bad feeling they'll nick it in extra time. Early goal is key for us, get that and I'd be more confident about winning the game, the longer it stays 0-0, the more confidence it will give them and the more nervy our lot will get which is when it becomes dangerous.

[Clayton]

------------------------ Adrian -------------------------
Byram -------- Reid ----- Ogbonna ------- Masuaku
Holland ------ Noble --- Hacksaw ------- Arnie
---------------- Sakho ------ Martinez -----------

Subs - Hart - Zabs - Rice - Cresswell - Makasi - Quina - Hernandez

Would imagine Adrian is a cert to start , fullbacks will be Byram/Masuaku . Zabs needs a rest , dont think Cresswell offers more then Mas . As far as CBs goes Reid needs to get some time in , and Collins needs to rest , so Ogbonna starts maybe for Rice to come on for Reid second half . Midfield , Antonio can have a rest on the right so Holland comes in ,surely we dont need Kouyate/ Obiang so Noble will start , would like to see Haks along side him adds creativity and strength in the middle , on the left Arnie has to start to get some game time , can take off in the second half and Quina brought on for a run out . Up front we are kinda short so Carroll will get rested I imagine , so Sakho will get a start with maybe Martinez or Hernandez , surely we wont start with 1 up in this game .

[Broga81]

----------------------ADRIAN------------------------
-----------FONTE-----REID----OGBONNA---------
---BYRAM-------------------------------MASUAKU-
------------------NOBLE----RICE-------------------
ANTONIO---------------------------------- QUINA-
-----------------------SAHKO------------------------

Back 3 will have a good run together to get ready for the Spuds.
Byram & Masuaku deserve chance to show what they can do
Antonio to bring strength to front line
Quina to gain experience (plus think we all want to see what the kid has)
Sahko with a chance to prove to us he is still interested.

This team should easily beat Bolton, we can afford to take off the bigger players when the job is done.