Hi Trevor, the Hammers travel to play Manchester City this weekend, where do your loyalties lie?
TS: “It’s a tough one. From a childhood point of view it’s Manchester City, I was brought up in Manchester, they were the first team I supported. But from an experience and professional point of view, West Ham was the place where I had the best memories.
"From my first game against Everton at Upton Park, I was fortunate to get a couple of goals. That kind of encapsulated my time at the club. It was a brilliant time, there were a lot of young players coming through who went on to dominate the Premier League. Talking about the medals that Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard have won, and the impact Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe made, I could keep on going. It was a fantastic time.”
City will be hurting following the defeat in the Manchester derby, is it a good time to play them?
TS: “I think it is a good time to play City. There doesn’t seem to be much leadership and a lot of players are underperforming. That happens in football, you can’t be at the top of your game all the time.
“Obviously, losing to Manchester United at Old Trafford, the players will be hurting and they’ll want to respond to that. But it’s difficult to raise your game all of sudden when you haven’t been playing that well for a while. That’s why I think it’s probably a good time to Manchester City.”
A lot of people have been talking about the pressure growing on Manuel Pellegrini, is that fair or do you think he has done a good job?
TS: “I think he has done a good job in general. Recently I don’t think the formation has worked with two upfront, I don’t think it suits the players that they’ve got. You have to play to their strengths. So I think he could get more out of their better players if they played five in midfield, from that point of view I can understand the fans frustrations. It’s hard to say, at the moment he’s not utilising his best players.”
What have you made of West ham recently, a fantastic start but things haven’t quite gone our way of late?
TS: “The lads were on fire before Christmas but since then they’ve found it harder. If you look at the league position, everyone would have been happy with that at the start of the season, they would’ve taken a top ten finish. But because of they way we started, in the Champions League positions for a while, playing with confidence it raised people’s expectations. To let that fade has been a bit of a shame.”
“I’m a big fan of Sam’s, I had the pleasure of playing for him in a charity game, he’s a great guy to be around. I do appreciate the fact that fans want the team to play in a certain way but they want to win games, that’s the most important thing and Sam has done that.”
Who are they key players for each team and what is your prediction for the score?
TS: “Whether City are confident or not it is always tough to play them at the Etihad. For me, David Silva is always the key man in the centre of midfield. Alongside Sergio Aguero up front, they are the two key men that keep City ticking. If they turn up, it’ll be very difficult to keep them quiet.
“If they do, they’ll have a great chance of getting something from the game. We’ll need to keep the midfield packed, it’s all about solidity from the front man to the goalkeeper. They need to show great desire and determination to close the ball and put pressure on City. They need to get in City’s faces and not give them too much respect. If they do that it should be a ding dong of a game and they’ll have a chance.”
TS: “It’s a tough one. From a childhood point of view it’s Manchester City, I was brought up in Manchester, they were the first team I supported. But from an experience and professional point of view, West Ham was the place where I had the best memories.
"From my first game against Everton at Upton Park, I was fortunate to get a couple of goals. That kind of encapsulated my time at the club. It was a brilliant time, there were a lot of young players coming through who went on to dominate the Premier League. Talking about the medals that Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard have won, and the impact Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe made, I could keep on going. It was a fantastic time.”
City will be hurting following the defeat in the Manchester derby, is it a good time to play them?
TS: “I think it is a good time to play City. There doesn’t seem to be much leadership and a lot of players are underperforming. That happens in football, you can’t be at the top of your game all the time.
“Obviously, losing to Manchester United at Old Trafford, the players will be hurting and they’ll want to respond to that. But it’s difficult to raise your game all of sudden when you haven’t been playing that well for a while. That’s why I think it’s probably a good time to Manchester City.”
A lot of people have been talking about the pressure growing on Manuel Pellegrini, is that fair or do you think he has done a good job?
TS: “I think he has done a good job in general. Recently I don’t think the formation has worked with two upfront, I don’t think it suits the players that they’ve got. You have to play to their strengths. So I think he could get more out of their better players if they played five in midfield, from that point of view I can understand the fans frustrations. It’s hard to say, at the moment he’s not utilising his best players.”
What have you made of West ham recently, a fantastic start but things haven’t quite gone our way of late?
TS: “The lads were on fire before Christmas but since then they’ve found it harder. If you look at the league position, everyone would have been happy with that at the start of the season, they would’ve taken a top ten finish. But because of they way we started, in the Champions League positions for a while, playing with confidence it raised people’s expectations. To let that fade has been a bit of a shame.”
“I’m a big fan of Sam’s, I had the pleasure of playing for him in a charity game, he’s a great guy to be around. I do appreciate the fact that fans want the team to play in a certain way but they want to win games, that’s the most important thing and Sam has done that.”
Who are they key players for each team and what is your prediction for the score?
TS: “Whether City are confident or not it is always tough to play them at the Etihad. For me, David Silva is always the key man in the centre of midfield. Alongside Sergio Aguero up front, they are the two key men that keep City ticking. If they turn up, it’ll be very difficult to keep them quiet.
“If they do, they’ll have a great chance of getting something from the game. We’ll need to keep the midfield packed, it’s all about solidity from the front man to the goalkeeper. They need to show great desire and determination to close the ball and put pressure on City. They need to get in City’s faces and not give them too much respect. If they do that it should be a ding dong of a game and they’ll have a chance.”