yup. and being mates with a few more.

it's the mates thing really.

what gets me (deep breath...) is that they completely re-write history. When I was growing up watching footie, West Ham were at best a yo-yo kind of club - sometimes in the top division, often not. Yes they banged on about '66, but they'd mostly done sh*te all since then. And were certainly no more successful than us, for example.

As far as I remember that went on until the 90s. No-one particularly noticed or cared which division they were in (and more often than not it wasn't the top flight). And then in one of the early prem seasons, they escaped relegation with the Hartson / Kitson signings, and went on to have a few years in the prem, just when coverage/money was going loopy, until roeder etc.

But suddenly, the 'official' line, including from their fans, media, neutral fans etc, became that they're a massive club whose rightful place is in the premiership. And that's it's a shock to the football world if they're not (eg Tony Cottee last night).

Why? They're no bigger, more successful or more important than us.

Sorry for the rant.

Posted By: Tricky Hawes, May 19, 12:02:40