Supporting West Ham is never dull, you can always be sure of that. In the space of just a few days our wonderful club came to within minutes of becoming the first team to beat Bayer Leverkusen this season, after putting in one of the best performances in the modern era, and then put in one of the worst performances in the modern era by losing 5-2 to Crystal Palace, having been 4-0 down after just 31 minutes. As a result of being knocked out of the Europa League and losing so heavily at Selhurst ...
Apr 23, 2024•1 hr 15 min
After a really great chat with Bayer Leverkusen fan and podcaster, Kevin Scheuren, in Germany last week, Will caught up with him once again ahead of Thursday's second-leg at London Stadium. Despite defending admirably for 85 minutes in the first-leg, Leverkusen's two late goals means we have a huge mountain to climb on Thursday if we're going to secure a place in the Europa League semi-final. Kevin said last week that Leverkusen were going to beat the crap out of West Ham in the first-leg and he...
Apr 17, 2024•48 min
After losing 2-0 to both Bayer Leverkusen and Fulham over the last few days, West Ham's chances of competing in Europe for a fourth consecutive season are hanging by a thread. We have a mountain to climb in the second-leg vs. the newly crowned Bundesliga champions and failure to beat Fulham at home means we're now reliant on the likes of Newcastle, Man United and Chelsea all slipping up in the race for a top-seven finish. If they don't it'll likely be a 9th placed finish and the end of our love ...
Apr 16, 2024•1 hr 23 min
West Ham United have yet another historic clash approaching as they take on ‘unbeaten in 41 games Bayer Leverkusen’ in the Europa League quarter-final first leg in Germany on Thursday. Will Pugh is out there for the game after his underwhelming trip to Freiburg in the last round ended in a 1-0 defeat. And he caught up with German journalist, podcaster and enormous Bayer Leverkusen fan Kevin Schueren ahead of the match on all things Xabi Alonso, Victor Boniface, the Bundesliga title, the threat o...
Apr 10, 2024•1 hr 1 min
It's nice to come out of a game of football without feeling hard done by, wronged and aggrieved by a scandalous VAR decision. This time, we were on the right end of it and it was Wolves fans crying scandal. However, this decision WAS correct and Max Kilman's goal WAS rightly ruled out for offside. No scandal this week. Nothing to see here, Wolves fans. It was a huge win and keeps us well in the hunt for another year of European football by virtue of our league position. It was also the perfect r...
Apr 09, 2024•1 hr 10 min
It's getting towards the business end of the season and after a good, hard-fought draw against rivals Spurs earlier this week, West Ham are still well in the mix for a fourth consecutive season of European qualification. One team threatening to beat us to it, though, is Gary O'Neil's Wolves, who have had a relatively good campaign, if not slightly inconsistent. They're currently three points behind us with a game in hand and, with all the other teams around us having a game advantage over us, th...
Apr 05, 2024•19 min
West Ham somehow managed to throw away a 3-1 lead with 20 minutes to go at Newcastle to lose 4-3. And it depends who you talk to as to who was to blame. Host Will Pugh gives his verdict on this latest podcast during the small window of time between that St James’ Park defeat and the mouthwatering home Premier League clash against Tottenham on Tuesday. Spoiler alert, he blames the dodgy officials for awarding Newcastle a penalty even though Anthony Gordon fouled Kalvin Phillips, not the other way...
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr 5 min
It was a relatively successful week in the life of West Ham United. A club-record 5-0 victory over Freiburg in the Europa League set up a third consecutive European semi-final, before a hugely controversial 1-1 draw with high-flying Aston Villa in the Premier League. The controversy was, as always, sparked by VAR and their failure to exercise their own 'Clear and Obvious' guidelines. The second disallowed goal was indeed handball, but the first? There is no conclusive evidence that the ball hit ...
Mar 19, 2024•1 hr 12 min
West Ham are through to the Europa League quarter-final after an emphatic 5-0 thrashing of Freiburg in the second leg on Thursday. And it’s another trip to Germany for the Hammers as they drew Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen in the quarters. That tie will kick off on April 11 but before that, it’s back to the day job with Aston Villa visiting in the Premier League on Sunday. A stressed-out Will, fresh from booking his flights to Germany, complete with Cheltenham hangover speaks to legendary ...
Mar 15, 2024•28 min
West Ham must beat Freiburg at home in Thursday’s Europa League last 16 second leg after last week’s 1-0 defeat in Germany. That would mean a third European quarter-final in three years for the Hammers which would be a quite simply staggering achievement. The last two results have not been great but West Ham were not a million miles away from a positive result in either game. Freiburg fan Michael from the Fuchsletalk podcast joins Will Pugh to look back on last week’s game in Germany and ahead t...
Mar 13, 2024•24 min
How many handballs does it take before it's classed as handball? That was the question we asked PGMOL over the weekend after West Ham were denied a penalty in the last minute against Burnley because a ridiculous law of the game says that if a player kicks or heads the ball against his own hand, it is not handball. In this particular scenario, the ball hit the Burnley player's head, then his left hand and then his right hand. So we asked, does the second handball cancel out the first? PGMOL's ans...
Mar 12, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Will made the last-minute decision to travel to Freiburg for Thursday night's Europa League last 16 1st leg clash and traveled back on Friday having regretted every single second of it. A late Freiburg goal and a very, very late VAR calamity means we have it all to do at London Stadium next week, but we are still well and truly in this tie. Before then, we host Burnley in Stratford on Sunday. In this episode, Will spends the first half of the hour giving his experience in Germany and his reactio...
Mar 09, 2024•1 hr 14 min
West Ham United are back in the Europa League knockout stages once again! Freiburg is hardly a glamour tie, but after the initial disappointment of not drawing AC Milan subsided, there is a renewed belief among Hammers fans that we can go deep once again and hopefully repeat some of the historic scenes we witnessed the last time we were in the knockout stages of this competition. In this episode, Will speaks to Freiburg fan Michael from the Fuchsletalk podcast ahead of Thursday’s away first leg ...
Mar 06, 2024•26 min
It's funny what a couple of wins can do for morale. Back-to-back Premier League victories has led us to 7th in the Premier League and in a strong position for a fourth consecutive season playing in Europe. This time, a lot of the thanks has to go to Alphonse Areola, whose saved penalty and string of saves at Goodison Park led us towards a brilliant 3-1 victory in David Moyes' old stomping ground. Speaking of Areola's penalty save; it sparked a heartfelt apology from James this week, who was prev...
Mar 05, 2024•57 min
That's more like it, isn't it!? After weeks of talk surrounding David Moyes' negative style of play, which had stopped getting results, West Ham turned up at London Stadium on Monday night and put on a bit of a show. It wasn't perfect, not by any stretch, but we scored four goals and overall looked like we wanted to have a go at playing football for the first time in 2024. Every time we got the ball we looked like we wanted to make something happen, while out of possession we pressed well and pu...
Feb 28, 2024•59 min
West Ham host Brentford on Monday night in desperate need of a victory having failed to register a single win in any competition since the turn of the year. Joining us this week to preview the game is friend of the show, talkSPORT presenter and huge Brentford fan, Natalie Sawyer to help us preview Monday's fixture. Also, we mentioned in the podcast earlier this week that we're taking part in this weekend's London Winter Run 10k in support of Cancer Research. If you would like to support us by do...
Feb 23, 2024•34 min
It has been a fairytale but, unlike the ones we see in the movies, this one won't have a happy ending. David Moyes' time as West Ham manager is surely coming to its conclusion. The latest defeat to Nottingham Forest has put even more pressure on him as his players continue to seek a first win of 2024. But we must not forget that while it's likely to end very soon, the era Moyes has overseen has been the most successful and, without a doubt, the most unexpected periods in a generation. He return ...
Feb 20, 2024•1 hr 22 min
We know we made a pact to not discuss David Moyes' future on the podcast again, but how can we not? Since we last recorded, we've been battered 6-0 by Arsenal, sold two wingers without replacing them and have failed to register a single win in our first seven matches of 2024. Surely the club needs to make a decision one way or another now? Stalling on a new contract only increases the uncertainty surrounding Moyes' future, and might perhaps be contributing to the current severe downturn in form....
Feb 13, 2024•1 hr 17 min
VAR is getting a little bit silly now, isn't it? Not having it against Bristol City arguably worked against us and then having it against Sheffield United meant we were all but robbed of three points at Bramall Lane. Put simply, it's sucking all the fun out of the game we love so much. The big question on everyone's lips is, how can enlisting the help of technology make referees worse at officiating football matches? None of it makes any sense! That's the main topic on our agenda this week as we...
Jan 23, 2024•1 hr 19 min
After losing to Bristol City in the FA Cup earlier in the week, West Ham will need to be so much better on Sunday when they visit Sheffield United in the Premier League. The Blades are rock bottom of the Premier League with the worst defence and the fewest points, so many will have this game down as a formality, but given our injury issues and the performance from our fringe players against Bristol City, we shouldn't be so confident. Hal from the Sheffield United Way Podcast joins us for the sec...
Jan 19, 2024•27 min
The last thing we wanted this week was to be doing another Bristol City Opposition View, but here we are. Ahead of Tuesday night's FA Cup 3rd Replay at Ashton Gate, Will is joined by Patch Warner from 3 Peaps In A Podcast to discuss the first game last weekend and how he thinks the replay will pan out. Remember, if you love what we do then PLEASE leave us a nice review on whatever platform you're listening on. It helps us more than you know and allows us to be found by new listeners, helping us ...
Jan 15, 2024•32 min
The FA Cup third round draw against Bristol City wasn't ideal, as it requires a replay to be played at a time when most clubs will be enjoying a mini-winter break, but we've decided to stop all complaining on this podcast for the foreseeable. Or at least James has! James returns for the first time in 2024 by admitting that he's no longer questioning David Moyes' long-term credentials as manager of West Ham and is instead vowing to enjoy the second half of the season for what it's shaping up to b...
Jan 09, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Well, well, well! Since our last podcast, West Ham have beaten Man United and Arsenal and draw at home to Brighton, topping the Premier League's festive form table in the process. It's a run of form that sees us sit 6th in the table going into 2024 and has many who were calling for David Moyes to be sacked wondering whether they'd pinned their flags to the correct mast. This week, Will goes solo due to James being tied up elsewhere, as he goes full blown Moyes love-in following recent results, w...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 23 min
Having put in two very good performances against Freiburg and Wolves, West Ham approached the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Liverpool at Anfield with some confidence. But all that confidence was removed instantly when the starting XI was announced, with David Moyes making a number of changes to his starting XI. Clearly he has one eye on Saturday's Premier League clash against Manchester United. The performance that followed complimented the line-up. Poor, weak and no up to standard. It was n...
Dec 21, 2023•1 hr 17 min
After comfortably dispatching Freiburg to top our Europa League group on Thursday night, David Moyes' men return to Stratford on Sunday to take on Gary O'Neil's Wolves. Wolves have been inconsistent with their results so far this term, beating the likes of Tottenham and Man City but losing to Sheffield United and Crystal Palace, and have only won two games on the road this campaign. West Ham will want to get back to winning ways domestically after being thrashed 5-0 by Fulham last weekend, and a...
Dec 15, 2023•25 min
If ever there was a three-day period that defined the term 'Typical West Ham', that was it. The win at Spurs was as unexpected as it was wonderful, only for us to completely ruin any confidence or optimism that result provided by going to Fulham and getting thrashed 5-0. Only West Ham, right? There are reports of a sickness bug making its way through the squad, which is being attributed to such a poor performance at Craven Cottage, but does it still warrant such an embarrassing result? If the pl...
Dec 12, 2023•1 hr 34 min
It's a third London Derby in a week for West Ham and there's a lot more confidence ahead of the trip to Craven Cottage after that fantastic 2-1 victory over Spurs on Thursday night. Fulham are also in good spirits after they thrashed Nottingham Forest 5-0 at home earlier this week. Joining us on the Opposition View this week is friend of the show and huge Fulham fan, Isabelle Barker, who gives us her views on Marco Silva's Cottagers this season. Remember, if you love what we do then PLEASE leave...
Dec 08, 2023•22 min
West Ham are unbeaten in five games in all competitions, but three of those games relied on last-minute Tomas Soucek winners and the draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday was a hugely winnable game given the Eagles' lack of intensity going forward. So despite going unbeaten, fans are beginning to get more and more restless with David Moyes' approach. That led to James and Will having a very long and intense debate about his future at the club. James understands why fans are getting frustrated and a...
Dec 05, 2023•2 hr 4 min
West Ham are on a run of four wins in a row in all competitions and now face a London Derby against Crystal Palace on Sunday, knowing that another victory will put them in a really strong position to continue competing for a top-seven Premier League finish this term. Joining us this week is friend of the show and huge Palace fan, Max Matthews, from The Athletic, who gives us the full lowdown on his beloved Eagles ahead of this weekend's London Stadium clash. Remember, if you love what we do then...
Dec 01, 2023•41 min
We all knew David Moyes would start Danny Ings against Burnley despite knowing it should be Divin Mubama who got the nod instead. For the first 85 minutes of the game it was so obvious that the decision was very wrong, and it was underlined, bolded and italicised when Mubama threw himself at a near-post Kudus cross and forced Dara O'Shea to divert the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-1. Soucek's second constructive late winner ensure we came away with all three points. But surely now, ...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 17 min
