Ashley Young and West Ham tomorrow

You might have noticed that it is all a bit quiet at the moment and I thought I should explain. It's not that there isn't any news or there isn't anything I could copy and paste, but I sort of don't like to just copy and paste when you can get that news yourself. That and I know you're not stupid and I also know you don't come here to find out about ticket news.

Also if the only news I have worth commenting on is from John Carew saying he is happy with a point, I'm too scared to write my opinion on what he said, as I don't agree with him and I'll offend some people when it isn't meant to offend.

You see, I don't like getting fed garbage and I don't like fools. You might say I'm a fool and you're entitled to that opinion but I'm not and you know I'm not. You might not like my views and you might think I'm a little outspoken, but that doesn't make me a fool. It's also not just fools. I don't very much like Ashley Young at the moment either, but he is no fool and he is a top class winger on his day and a player I know will get better as the season goes on.

It also isn't that I don't like him, I actually don't know him, but I had an Everton supporter round at the weekend to watch the match and as soon as Young went down, again, and limped and sat down for his 93rd consecutive match, I got a little annoyed. It wasn't that Young had done it, it was that the Everton fan knew it was coming and told me he'd be fine and running around in a minute and that he does this every match.

Our Ashley Young is getting a bit of a reputation for this and while the diving, okay, scrub that, the falling over and making it look good after someone brushes past seems to have taken a back seat, I don't need fans of other teams telling me about our player and his feigning injury.

Don't pretend like you haven't noticed. Every single match the physio comes on and every single match he is fine. Maybe it is because I'm a little older and we were always told to run it off, maybe it's because we actually know he's going to be okay, or maybe it's because the referees are also not stupid and they look at our Ashley like the boy that cried wolf. I don't know what it is, I know it annoys me a little though.

Sure, he could get a little knock and sure, he could be in a little pain but surely he must have figured out that in the 93 times he has done it now, more often than not, it's turned out okay, so just stand up and keep running - it might also help his game if instead of thinking about how hurt he could be, he thought about the game and concentrated on the job at hand.

I'm glad I've got that thing about Ashley off my chest. He's a fantastic player and he will get better, but the falling over and the injury once a game is becoming too much now. Hell, it was too much last season and the season before but when supporters of other teams start talking about it, it has to stop. No more feeling hurt Ashley - get on and do your job or you'll never play for a top four side.

The Game in Hand

Right, moving on, we have West Ham tomorrow and I don't expect much. We played an under strength Everton at home and contrary to what John Carew has told us are not that decent at home - Wolves and Stoke both got a point and last season they relied on their away form for their 5th place finish. But if I don't expect much from tomorrow, maybe I'll be surprised.

I'm not looking at stats or previous results, but I have a good feeling about tomorrow. We like playing at West Ham I think and while, not remembering all the results Martin O'Neill has had against them, I have a feeling the matches are usually quite good.

But we need a win. A win will put us 4th and while Manchester City will still have a game in hand, chances are they will draw or lose as the Mark Hughes bubble has burst, but even a draw would move us to fifth and that is good news. A defeat to a team sitting in the relegation zone will be a hard pill to swallow and is a possibility.

Three points for West Ham would move them out of the relegation zone and up three places and say what you want about them, they won't go down and they play good football. When the football starts to get better for them under Zola, like it did last season, they'll slowly move up the table and if they were to get an injection of cash and some new players in January, West Ham could very well be a team fighting for a European place, much like us, season after season.

But that is tomorrow. This post started as me trying to explain why it was a bit quiet and took two directions, so now I can at least put a title to it, but more later maybe and definitely more tomorrow. So, until then, I'm off for coffee and to care for a 5 year old with fever and a desire to play XBOX.