Over half of the Championship season has been and gone and finally, West Ham fans can say that they are top of the league! After Southampton lost 2-0 to Leicester on monday evening and missed the chance to go back to the top of the table, West Ham remain at the top after a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on saturday.
Being top of the league may put extra pressure on the players and the manager to stay there, but speaking as a West Ham fan, I'd just like to see them back in the Premier League after last season's horror show and I wouldn't mind missing out on winning the Championship if it meant a 2nd place finish and more crucially, not finishing in the play-off places.
This could prove to be a crucial time in the season for both clubs. The next 3 games look a bit easier for West Ham (Ipswich away, Millwall at home and Peterborough away) compared to Southampton's next 3 league games of Cardiff at home, Birmingham away and Burnley at home. West Ham should look to get the maximum 9 points out of their games to ensure that the Saints don't go back on top, however their game against Birmingham could be the real turning point in the season for Southampton because their opponents have been on form recently and Southampton's less than impressive away record would lead many to believe that a slip us in this game would give West Ham an advantage, however any real advantage would only exist if the Hammers were to beat Peterborough and therefore extend the gap at the top.
However, if the gap stays at 3 points, the game at Upton Park between the Championship's current top 2 will be very important as it could extend West Ham's gap to 6 points, or it could shorten the gap to 1 point if Southampton win. Needless to say, whatever the situation is by Feburary 14th, both teams will be in an attacking mindset.
We mustn't forget the threat that the teams in the play-off places pose, if Cardiff can stay consistent and the two in front of them slip up, they could have a chance of going up automatically after missing out on promotion after being in the play off places twice in the last 2 seasons. Although West Ham 's and Southampton's main aim should be extending the gap between themselves and that dreaded 3rd place.
Come on you Irons!
TB 2012
Thursday 26 January 2012
Wednesday 25 January 2012
HCJ2 - Seminar 1.
Before I go into 'Rural Rides' and Cobbett, here's a short introduction, or look at my notes from the lecture here...
William Cobbett's campaigning was ultimately started off by the 'Policy of Enclosure', this was when landowners bought new machinery and expanded their land. Villagers were pushed into cities like Manchester, these became overcrowded and disease ridden. The Corn Laws were brought in to help British farmers because there were no farmers to grow food during the war, so everyone bought imported food during the war and then after the war, British farmers had no business, so something had to be done to stop people importing foreign food and the Corn Laws were the answer. With the CLs in place, British farmers could actually sell the food they were producing.
However, the Corn Laws didn't please everyone, the CLs forced British food prices to go up and cheaper food was needed. Also, factories had to pay higher wages to workers because the workers couldn't afford the British food. If there were no CLs, then cheap foreign food could be brought in and factories wouldn't have to pay such high wages. The Corn Laws were abolished in 1846.
William Cobbett and 'Rural Rides'
He was an anti-radical conservative kinda guy who (maybe) inadvertently turned into a radical socialist. He saw the Corn Laws as unfair on workers, he believed that the government was focusing too much on industrialising the country and not on rural life. His campaigning and work landed him in jail, however it could be argued that the Reform Act in 1832 was brought about by his work.
Cobbett developed his views on farming and the government whilst on his 'Rural Rides', this was the name of the book he wrote about his travels around the south and midlands of England. Cobbett wrote the book as a social reformer and a farmer. In the book he refers to 'overfred tax eaters' (landowners) and that farmers had become 'walking skeletons'.
He released a newspaper called the 'Political Register', this informed people of the government's corruption and the problems that farmers were having. To his surprise, the newspaper was supported by working class people. However, he had to change the Political Register to a leaflet because newspaper tax came into force - this was something he also campaigned against.
Cobbett and Rousseau
Rousseau can link to Cobbett. Rousseau talked about the 'statue of man' being eroded away by change. Cobbett thought that things would have been better if the industrialisation revolution hadn't happened.
Cobbett and Dickens
Dickens and Cobbett both attacked the establishment, however Dickens was more successful as he appealed more to the middle and upper classes.
TB 2012
William Cobbett's campaigning was ultimately started off by the 'Policy of Enclosure', this was when landowners bought new machinery and expanded their land. Villagers were pushed into cities like Manchester, these became overcrowded and disease ridden. The Corn Laws were brought in to help British farmers because there were no farmers to grow food during the war, so everyone bought imported food during the war and then after the war, British farmers had no business, so something had to be done to stop people importing foreign food and the Corn Laws were the answer. With the CLs in place, British farmers could actually sell the food they were producing.
However, the Corn Laws didn't please everyone, the CLs forced British food prices to go up and cheaper food was needed. Also, factories had to pay higher wages to workers because the workers couldn't afford the British food. If there were no CLs, then cheap foreign food could be brought in and factories wouldn't have to pay such high wages. The Corn Laws were abolished in 1846.
William Cobbett and 'Rural Rides'
He was an anti-radical conservative kinda guy who (maybe) inadvertently turned into a radical socialist. He saw the Corn Laws as unfair on workers, he believed that the government was focusing too much on industrialising the country and not on rural life. His campaigning and work landed him in jail, however it could be argued that the Reform Act in 1832 was brought about by his work.
Cobbett developed his views on farming and the government whilst on his 'Rural Rides', this was the name of the book he wrote about his travels around the south and midlands of England. Cobbett wrote the book as a social reformer and a farmer. In the book he refers to 'overfred tax eaters' (landowners) and that farmers had become 'walking skeletons'.
He released a newspaper called the 'Political Register', this informed people of the government's corruption and the problems that farmers were having. To his surprise, the newspaper was supported by working class people. However, he had to change the Political Register to a leaflet because newspaper tax came into force - this was something he also campaigned against.
Cobbett and Rousseau
Rousseau can link to Cobbett. Rousseau talked about the 'statue of man' being eroded away by change. Cobbett thought that things would have been better if the industrialisation revolution hadn't happened.
Cobbett and Dickens
Dickens and Cobbett both attacked the establishment, however Dickens was more successful as he appealed more to the middle and upper classes.
TB 2012
Saturday 21 January 2012
WHU blog: Why no signings and a lack of goals.
A lack of new signings up and down the 4 English league divisions may seem surprising because of the amount of deals that have taken place in the January window over the years. Who could forget Fernando Torres' £50 million move to Chelsea or Andy Carroll's £35 million move to Liverpool? (Both have been almost failures I'd like to add).
Obviously, fans from every club must be asking the question: "Why haven't we signed anyone yet?", well, after looking around some West Ham United forum websites, one the major topics being discussed was just that, 'why no signings?' Sam Allardyce has signed George John from FC Dallas, but no one else and this may be cause for concern amongst Hammers fans, let me tell you why.
Bringing in a new defender can only help keep up our great defensive record this season and quite frankly, our goal difference is only as good as it is because of our good defence! However, the team needs to be scoring more goals and Big Sam thinks that the solution is to bring in a new striker, however after being to 3 West Ham games this season, the problem hasn't been the strikers, it's been the supply to the strikers (or lack of it). The only wingers or wide midfielders we have are Julien Faubert - who has actually been one of our best players this season, Matthew Taylor - he did well at the start of the season, but has been injured since before Christmas, Freddie Sears - an inexperienced player but with a lot of promise and Gary O'Neil - he's only just coming back to full fitness and has been sorely missed.
With these 4 players in mind, surely the obvious plan of action for BFS is to buy a left winger. I guarantee that if Carlton Cole had got better supply from both wings, he'd have scored a lot more goals than the 8 he's notched so far.
However, buying a new winger isn't the only solution to West Ham's problem. I think one solution could be to get rid of Freddie Piquionne, he's probably been our worst player this season. In the 2 West Ham home games I have been to, Faubert was whipping in crosses towards Piq, but poor touches from the Frenchman kept sending the ball out of play and no attempt to knock the ball down to a team mate was made.
Over the years, there have been some great players that have graced the Upton Park turf, however to be liked by the claret and blue army, you have to be committed and play well, however Freddie Piquionne hasn't really done either, he's only scored 11 goals in 61 appearances for West Ham and if you compare that to Sam Baldock (who was signed in August 2011) who has scored 5 goals in 14 appearances, I think that tells you a lot about Freddie Piquionne.
So that's the end of the my first West Ham United post of this season, I'll be writing about the Hammers for the rest of the season.
Come on you Irons!
TB 2012
Obviously, fans from every club must be asking the question: "Why haven't we signed anyone yet?", well, after looking around some West Ham United forum websites, one the major topics being discussed was just that, 'why no signings?' Sam Allardyce has signed George John from FC Dallas, but no one else and this may be cause for concern amongst Hammers fans, let me tell you why.
Bringing in a new defender can only help keep up our great defensive record this season and quite frankly, our goal difference is only as good as it is because of our good defence! However, the team needs to be scoring more goals and Big Sam thinks that the solution is to bring in a new striker, however after being to 3 West Ham games this season, the problem hasn't been the strikers, it's been the supply to the strikers (or lack of it). The only wingers or wide midfielders we have are Julien Faubert - who has actually been one of our best players this season, Matthew Taylor - he did well at the start of the season, but has been injured since before Christmas, Freddie Sears - an inexperienced player but with a lot of promise and Gary O'Neil - he's only just coming back to full fitness and has been sorely missed.
With these 4 players in mind, surely the obvious plan of action for BFS is to buy a left winger. I guarantee that if Carlton Cole had got better supply from both wings, he'd have scored a lot more goals than the 8 he's notched so far.
However, buying a new winger isn't the only solution to West Ham's problem. I think one solution could be to get rid of Freddie Piquionne, he's probably been our worst player this season. In the 2 West Ham home games I have been to, Faubert was whipping in crosses towards Piq, but poor touches from the Frenchman kept sending the ball out of play and no attempt to knock the ball down to a team mate was made.
Over the years, there have been some great players that have graced the Upton Park turf, however to be liked by the claret and blue army, you have to be committed and play well, however Freddie Piquionne hasn't really done either, he's only scored 11 goals in 61 appearances for West Ham and if you compare that to Sam Baldock (who was signed in August 2011) who has scored 5 goals in 14 appearances, I think that tells you a lot about Freddie Piquionne.
So that's the end of the my first West Ham United post of this season, I'll be writing about the Hammers for the rest of the season.
Come on you Irons!
TB 2012
Wednesday 18 January 2012
HCJ 2 - A tale of 2 revolutionaries.
The 2 acts of revolution that you could say have changed the world were the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.
However, before all of the fun of the French Revolution had even begun, there were problems with our noisy neighbours - the Scottish. The Act of Union 1707 (with Scotland) was the start of the British Empire, however it could have been a whole different story. In 1698, Scotland attempted to set up it's own colony in Central America, this was a disaster. They made a second attempt at starting an Empire in Darien or New Caledonia, this was a disaster too! The whole thing cost Scotland at fifth of it's wealth and they were broke, so the English set up a Union with Scotland to start the British Empire. Of course now, they're throwing it back our faces!
The French Revolution was a turning point in Europe.
The UK did well out of the FE, but it became expensive and Income Tax was introduced.
During this time, the British Navy was supreme. The blockades they set up at French ports pretty much destroyed French trade and British exports dominated, the best example of British domination was that the Frenchies' uniforms were made by us! Britain then built up it's Empire in India, Singapore, South American and Africa.
The Transantlantic Triangular Trade
In the 16th century, 1 million slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas, in the 17th century, 3 million were transported and 7 million were transported over in the 18th century. This triangle started in Africa, went to the Americas (where the plantations were), the sugar and cotton grown on the plantations was taken back to England and made into products that were sold to the rest of the world.
At the end of the battle of Waterloo (and the end of the Napoleonic Wars) the boom ended and unemployment rose, along with wages falling. The response was the Corn Laws of 1815, these were high taxes on imports into the UK. These taxes were created to help British farmers and home grown produce flourish again.
The Industrial Revolution was a turning point in Britain.
Manchester became the centre of the world, the population rose from 17,000 to 180,000 in just 70 years.
In 1850, Manchester was the most important place in the world, however it was almost hell-like, with pollution levels high and diseases like ricketts rife.
The political system at the time was totally corrupt, with a constituency of only 11 people voting in 2 MPs and a constituency that had fallen into the sea mysteriously voting in 2 MPs.
Any sort of dissent shown towards the government was met with strict penalties, a revolutionary group called the Tolpuddle Martyrs was sent to Tasmania after resisting wage cutting - how dare they!
The dissent and anger of the people was met in (what is now) St Peters Square in Manchester, around 60,000 peaceful anti-government protestors in what is known as The Peterloo Massacre. 18 people died from trampling and cuts and over 700 were seriously injured. This happened in the name of freedom from poverty and liberty. At this time, the Corn Laws meant that bread was unaffordable and less than 2% of people had the vote.
http://www.peterloomassacre.org/history.html
The New Poor Law Act 1834 meant that no able bodied person would recieve money from the government, until the were in a workhouse - this was based on Utalitarian principles i.e. risk the minority for the sake of the majority.
TB 2012
However, before all of the fun of the French Revolution had even begun, there were problems with our noisy neighbours - the Scottish. The Act of Union 1707 (with Scotland) was the start of the British Empire, however it could have been a whole different story. In 1698, Scotland attempted to set up it's own colony in Central America, this was a disaster. They made a second attempt at starting an Empire in Darien or New Caledonia, this was a disaster too! The whole thing cost Scotland at fifth of it's wealth and they were broke, so the English set up a Union with Scotland to start the British Empire. Of course now, they're throwing it back our faces!
The French Revolution was a turning point in Europe.
The UK did well out of the FE, but it became expensive and Income Tax was introduced.
During this time, the British Navy was supreme. The blockades they set up at French ports pretty much destroyed French trade and British exports dominated, the best example of British domination was that the Frenchies' uniforms were made by us! Britain then built up it's Empire in India, Singapore, South American and Africa.
The Transantlantic Triangular Trade
In the 16th century, 1 million slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas, in the 17th century, 3 million were transported and 7 million were transported over in the 18th century. This triangle started in Africa, went to the Americas (where the plantations were), the sugar and cotton grown on the plantations was taken back to England and made into products that were sold to the rest of the world.
At the end of the battle of Waterloo (and the end of the Napoleonic Wars) the boom ended and unemployment rose, along with wages falling. The response was the Corn Laws of 1815, these were high taxes on imports into the UK. These taxes were created to help British farmers and home grown produce flourish again.
The Industrial Revolution was a turning point in Britain.
Manchester became the centre of the world, the population rose from 17,000 to 180,000 in just 70 years.
In 1850, Manchester was the most important place in the world, however it was almost hell-like, with pollution levels high and diseases like ricketts rife.
The political system at the time was totally corrupt, with a constituency of only 11 people voting in 2 MPs and a constituency that had fallen into the sea mysteriously voting in 2 MPs.
Any sort of dissent shown towards the government was met with strict penalties, a revolutionary group called the Tolpuddle Martyrs was sent to Tasmania after resisting wage cutting - how dare they!
The dissent and anger of the people was met in (what is now) St Peters Square in Manchester, around 60,000 peaceful anti-government protestors in what is known as The Peterloo Massacre. 18 people died from trampling and cuts and over 700 were seriously injured. This happened in the name of freedom from poverty and liberty. At this time, the Corn Laws meant that bread was unaffordable and less than 2% of people had the vote.
http://www.peterloomassacre.org/history.html
The New Poor Law Act 1834 meant that no able bodied person would recieve money from the government, until the were in a workhouse - this was based on Utalitarian principles i.e. risk the minority for the sake of the majority.
TB 2012
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