But midway through the 2011/12 season and it isn’t too clear who will be the eventual winners.  Although Tottenham are having a great season, and by winning their game in-hand will only be four points off the lead, I can’t see the title going anywhere else than Manchester.  The problem is whether to choose Manchester United who have a habit of being stronger in the second half of the season, or Manchester City who remained unstoppable and unbeaten until they a late penalty against Chelsea earlier this month.

The Championship is almost as tight with Southampton three points clear of West Ham & a rejuvenated Middlesbrough.

League One has been dominated by Charlton who are currently seven points clear of the chasing pack after almost completely changing their squad last summer.  Sheffield United & Sheffield Wednesday are both showing good form with MK Dons & Huddersfield Town a further two points adrift.

Finally, Crawley Town are leading the way in League Two in their first season and look likely to continue their ascension from non-League football, though they are only three points clear of Cheltenham and four ahead of Southend, who have a game in hand.

So last weekend, unsure of the outcome of all four leagues I decided on Manchester City, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday & Crawley only to see Man City held by West Brom to a 0-0 draw while Man Utd thumped five passed Wigan, and Crawley Town lose at home to Gillingham.

My initial choice, and one I would have stuck to if it wasn’t offering such a poor return was Manchester United, West Ham, Charlton & Crawley.  Here’s hoping my bet is still alive come next May.

So it’s a good time to give you a heads up about a new website that is about to launch which will bring you a scores and results service covering all of the major British and European leagues and tournaments, including the Premier League, English Football League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and the Champions League.

As well as following favourite domestic clubs in the Premier League and Championship, I also follow the trials and tribulations of my non-league hometown team, formerly Gravesend & Northfleet now known as Ebbsfleet, as well as favourite European teams of which I have personal favourites in each of the top European leagues.

These passive allegiances stem from my childhood when the only European football to be shown on British television was on Wednesday nights on the sadly missed Sportsnight programme.  My memories are full of exciting  European football matches when I was allowed to stay up way past my bedtime to watch great teams with world class players and cool looking football kits to match.

Johan Cruyff and Ajax, Franz Beckenbauer and Bayern Munich and wonderful sounding teams like Dukla Prague, Panathinaikos and Borussia Monchengladbach!

I recall Leeds United losing 1-0 in a ill-tempered game to AC Milan in the 1973 Cup Winners Cup final just four days after losing 1-0 to Sunderland in the FA Cup final; Nottm Forest beating the Swedish part-timeers Malmo in 1979 with a Trevor Francis header and retaining the European Cup by beating Hamburg in 1980; and West Ham losing to Anderlecht of Belgium in the 1976 Cup Winners Cup.

I remember the glory days of Saint Etienne in the French League and how Real Madrid played in a similar all-white kit to Leeds United (only to recently read that Don Revie changed the home kit to mimic the Spanish giants on becoming manager of Leeds United in 1961!).

I also have a passive favouritism for teams with cool kits, choosing Celtic over Rangers not for any political or religious reasons but because I thought green and whites hoops looked cooler than a regular blue shirt.  I also preferred the black & blue stripes of Inter Milan to the red & black stripes of AC Milan.
So even before European football was made available on satellite tv, my interest in football spread further than the English leagues.  The English Premier League is often cited by critics and players alike to currently be the best league in the world.  But I still lookout for scores and results from the Spanish La Liga and Italy’s Serie A.

The Football Scores website will be a great source for all this information and will also include international tournaments, such as the European Championships, international friendly matches, international qualifiers and the World Cup. The website is called FootballScores.com and it launches this month.

Less than one full season into his contract, Aston Villa has parted company with Gerard Houllier who was hospitalised before the end of last season. That said, I felt Houllier was about to get the sack anyway and expected Rafa Benitez, who has been loitering around since returning to his family home in England in January, to become the next Aston Villa manager.

But Fulham boss Mark Hughes is the bookies favourite for the job. This follows rumours that Hughes has recently fallen out with Fulham owner Mohammed Al- Fayed and that he has a get-out clause in his contract. But yesterday I heard that ex-Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has stated that he would like to stay in England rather than return to Italy. I am sure both parties would be interested in Ancelotti becoming the next manager of Aston Villa.

The other manager-less Premier League team, Chelsea look like they are closing in on their first choice to replace Ancelotti at Stamford Bridge, as Guus Hiddink has apparently stated he is ready to leave his current position coaching the Turkey national team, to return to club management. If there is any truth in this statement then I would expect Hiddink to be the next Chelsea manager by next week.

Guus Hiddink to Chelsea & Carlo Ancelotti to Aston Villa is my bet.

The appointments of a Chelsea and Aston Villa manager will be followed by what I believe will be a busy summer for transfers in the English Premier League. Chelsea desperately need to buy some younger players and begin to build a team around striker Fernando Torres. While Manchester City will be throwing a lot of money around again, only in this transfer window they will be able to attract the very best players in the world with Champions League football next season.

Joint owners David Gold & David Goldman appointed Avram Grant last summer on a four-year contract but the exciting, attractive style of football that West Ham fans have been used to was not present this season.  Instead, the Hammers rarely played as a team unit.  Scott Parker’s ‘never say die’ spirit helped paper over some cracks, something that helped him win the Player Of The Year award.  But Parker’s leadership qualities have been dogged by injuries; and when Parker was missing, the game plan often collapsed.

On Saturday 15th January, on the morning of a home game against Arsenal, it was leaked that Martin O’Neil had agreed to become the new manager at Upton Park.  Following a 3-0 defeat Avram Grant took off his claret & blue scarf and threw it into the crowd as he applauded the faithful fans.  This appeared to be Grant’s farewell, but O’Neill never came and the owners weren’t decisive in managing a damaged situation; and yesterday West Ham paid the price for poor leadership s they were once again relegated from the Premier League.

I’m pretty sure the West Ham owners will attempt to sell as many of their top players as possible to lessen their outgoings.  Inflated wage bills may prove difficult to shift the likes of Carlton Cole, Matthew Upson, Wayne Bridge and some of the foreign players but there will be plenty of interest for Scott Parker and Robert Green.

Following a summer clearout I believe the owners will set about rebuilding a team with Championship players on Championship wages.  To this end, I wouldn’t bet on West Ham returning to the Premier League immediately.

Next Sunday will see the last round of the Premiership 2010/11 season games kick off simultaneously at 4pm.  The results will show which two from five teams will join West Ham to be relegated.

With three teams on 39 points Blackburn and Blackpool look favourites to go down.  Birmingham are away to Spurs, who will want to secure 5th place and Blackpool are away to the newly crowned champions Manchester United, who will want to finish the season on a high.  Of the three, Wigan have every chance to win against a deflated Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, following their FA Cup defeat to Manchester City.

Wolves and Blackburn currently have 40 points each, and will play each other at Molineux.  With neither club wanting to leave anything to chance, this should be a high scoring cracker!

The Seasiders have certainly brought colour to the Premier League but since Christmas they have been on a rapid nose dive.  Their miserable plight continued last weekend even after securing a point with a 1-1 draw at Spurs.  They dropped into the relegation zone for the first time this year after Wolves won 3-1 against ‘black country’ rivals West Brom on Sunday.

Wolves have spent much of the season in the bottom three even though they have beaten the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City.

The bottom three, with just two games to go are: West Ham (33 points), Wigan (36) and Blackpool (36).  The three teams above them are Wolves (37), Birmingham (39) and Blackburn (39).

But looking at the remaining fixtures I can’t see Blackpool or West Ham escaping relegation to the nPower Championship. But Wigan’s two games at West Ham & Stoke could possibly see them play a ‘get out of jail’ card and send Blackburn, Birmingham or Wolves down in their place.

Bottom Six Premier League Fixtures Remaining:

Blackburn – Manchester United (home) & Wolves (away)
Birmingham – Fulham (home) & Spurs (away)
Wolves – Sunderland (away) & Blackburn (home)
Blackpool – Bolton (home) & Man Utd (away)
Wigan – West Ham (away) & Stoke (away)
West Ham – Wigan (away) & Sunderland (home)

I’m going for West Ham, Wigan & Blackpool.  What about you?

Kenwyne Jones opened the scoring with another headed goal from a Jermaine Pennant cross. Ryan Shawcross tapped in a second from inside six yards, and Jermaine Pennant made it 3-0 with a deflected shot from about eight yards.

Wolves were very poor while Stoke continue to impress, playing to their strengths under the excellent management of Tony Pulis.

Wolves (34 points) stay in the bottom three, along with Wigan (33 points) and West Ham (32 points) but there is still time for all three to avoid relegation with four games still to play.
Blackpool climb out of the relegation places on goal difference after a 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Saturday.  Blackburn are currently 16th (35 points) and Birmingham (38 points) are far from safe following a run of bad results.  Fulham are in 14th position with 39 points and a game in-hand on the six teams below them, which I believe will be enough to see them play Premier League football next season.

I personally think the relegation battle will go to the final day and is now between the bottom six: Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool, Wigan, Wolves and West Ham.

At the top of the Premiership Arsenal and Tottenham both dropped more points at the weekend.  Spurs were held to a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane by West Brom, while Arsenal lost away to Bolton. Tottenham appear to have blown a chance of a top four finish and Champions League football next season with two from a possible six points last week; while Manchester City overcame Blackburn on Monday with Edin Dzecko’s first Premier League goal.

Man City are now 5 points clear of Spurs with five games to play; and with Arsenal winning only one point from their last two games, Arsene Wenger will be looking over his shoulder at Roberto Mancini’s sky blues who are now just 5 points behind them with a game in hand.

Chelsea continued their recent good run as the most inform team in the Premier League with a 3-0 thrashing of West Ham on Sunday, including a first goal for Fernando Torres, and Manchester United continued to grind out results beating Everton at Old Trafford 1-0 on Saturday.

Both Chelsea (67 points) & Manchester United (73 points) have four games left.  This weekend Chelsea are at home to Spurs while Man Utd are away to Arsenal; two massive games for all four clubs.  But the Premier League title could be decided when Chelsea play Manchester Utd at Old Trafford on Sunday 8th May.

Avram Grant, Carlo Ancelotti and Roy Hodgson’s days are surely numbered after Blackburn Rovers thrashed Liverpool 3-1, West Ham was humiliated by Newcastle United 5-0 and Chelsea were embarrassed at Wolves whose 1-0 victory lifts them out of the relegation zone.

I think Roy Hodgson’s time was already up before the kick-off but this latest defeat may have the Liverpool owners turning to Kenny Dalglish as a caretaker manager until they can get a big name to take up the reins at Anfield.

Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea’s poor run continued last night at Molineux.  It’s still amazing what has happened at Stamford Bridge since the sacking of Ray Wilkins. They started the season scoring for fun only to stumble and fall at the first serious challenge against Manchester City, and since then have never looked that confident.  If ever an English Premiership team could be compared to David Haye at the beginning of the season, only to fall from grace and turn into Audley Harrison midway through the season, Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea are that team!

Of the three managers things were looking brightest for Avram Grant this time yesterday afternoon.  I assume owners David Sullivan and David Gold may have been content with a draw against Newcastle at St. James Park until it was confirmed their first and second choice strikers, Andy Carroll and Shola Ameobi, were both injured.  They must have expected West Ham to grab all three points, not get absolutely hammered 5-0 with some of the poorest defending I had seen on Match of the Day since the Liverpool game, thirty minutes earlier!

Chelsea, West Ham and Liverpool to sack their managers in January, what are the odds on that?

There will be those too who dismiss the Carling Cup as a Mickey Mouse trophy, but memories are sometimes short when it suits in football, especially given the significance of being the only trophy in the cabinet from last season at Old Trafford.

No, there is nothing anyone can say that will change my view that United went into last night’s game expecting to win and we should take our hats off to West Ham who simply wanted it more than their illustrious opponents, on the night.

Despite their poor form so far this season in the Premier League, where they are still rooted firmly in bottom place, West Ham managed to look anything but relegation fodder for most of the game.

It was a fantastic team performance from the Hammers, but the inspirational Nigerian striker Victor Obinna who set up all four goals stood out for all the right reasons and it would certainly help the cause if he could replicate that form regularly in the remainder of the season.

Former Man Utd player Jonathan Spector was also a man inspired, notching up his first two goals in English football with a header and a close range finish, both in the first half, while Carlton Cole rounded up proceedings with two more in the second half.

West Ham progress to the semi finals of the Carling Cup for the first time in twenty years and with their own player of the season Scott Parker on the bench!

So what are the omens for West Ham and particularly their manager Avram Grant, he says that his methods were vindicated by the result last night, insisting that he changed nothing but continue to do what they have been doing all season while they have been losing games.

“We continued to do what we did when we lost games and everybody said we needed to change something. We didn’t change anything. I’m very proud, and very happy.”

With echoes of last season when he took Portsmouth to the FA Cup Final while being relegated from the Premiership, Grant insists that West Ham have been playing great football all season but not getting the results and he believes the tide has turned on the back of last night’s historic victory.

The Carling Cup result may temporarily ease the pressure on Grant’s position at Upton Park, but West Ham need to build on last weeks Premier league win with a result away to Sunderland on Sunday to start believing in themselves.

The betting tips still show Avram Grant as the most likely Premier League manager to lose his job and all the time West ham are in or hovering around the relegation zone the pressure is unlikely to ease for him.

An Irrational Hatred Of Luton by Robert Banks

An Irrational Hatred Of Luton by Robert Banks with a foreward by Jeremy Nicholas

An Irrational Hatred Of Luton is the classic account of one football fan’s obsession with West Ham United.

“Somewhere in a parallel universe there is another Robert Banks, who is a season ticket holder at Manchester United and is a highly successful novel writer and adored by everyone in the world, regardless of footballing, religious or racial denomination. But is he happy? You bet the hell he is”

But Robert Banks is not that man. Since childhood, he has been obsessed with West Ham United Football Club. A team of persistent and historical under-achievers.

After all, the only thing West Ham ever brought home was the 1966 World Cup, but that doesn’t count, apparently.

Originally published in 1995, An Irrational Hatred of Luton fast became a cult classic amongst Hammers and football fans in general. Spanning twenty years of matches home and away, it contains some of the most sublime writing on football and the irrational nature of fandom ever committed to paper.

“A rattling good read!” John Inverdale

Laugh out loud funny, and almost devastatingly poignant, An Irrational Hatred of Luton
is an odyssey through the world of a committed football supporter. A real-life Fever Pitch, and with a Hornby-esque deftness of tone, Banks’ book shows how intricately in the life of a true fan, football interconnects with the everyday. Banks’ friendships, relationships, work, emotions of joy and despair all take place against a backdrop of claret and blue.

Then Saturday comes and he watches his team get thumped again. A compelling and hilarious journey into the nature of obsession.

An Irrational Hatred Of Luton by Robert Banks with a foreward by Jeremy Nicholas
is published in paperback by Biteback priced £9.99.

The likeable Italian accepted the managers position with the Hammers in September 2008, despite having no previous managerial experience at club level. He took over from Alan Curbishley and with the help of former Chelsea colleague Steve Clarke took West Ham to ninth in the Premier League.

Zola was offered a four year deal following his first season accomplishment, but it seemed that the honeymoon period was over for West Ham with some pitiful results this season.

The club have had there fair share of problems off the pitch as well as on it and the recent acquisition by former Birmingham owners David Sullivan and David Gold has only added further pressure on the team and management.

A statement on the club’s website read:

“West Ham United confirm that they have terminated the contract of Gianfranco Zola. The Board of Directors would like to thank him for his contribution and wish him well for the future.The club will now be focusing its efforts on seeking a replacement. The club will be making no further comment on this matter.”