Sid Lambert takes us back 20 years to the 2004/05 season, when Alan Pardew’s Hammers secured a rollercoaster return to the Premier League...
Following an awful outing at Coventry, Alan Pardew ended August with a warning for his under-performing Hammers: “All I can say is that we’ll have two new faces in when we play Sheffield United in two weeks’ time.”
And the silver-haired supremo was true to his word.
Evidently, Pards spent the international break next to the fax machine as no less than three new faces arrived for the trip to Bramall Lane. There were no more sexy overseas signings like Sergei Rebrov, who had been a disaster so far. No, the West Ham gaffer was going back to basics. Spit and sawdust footballers who would put a shift in – and get us out of this league.
First up was Carl Fletcher, an industrious Welsh midfielder from Bournemouth for £250,000. He was joined by the rough, tough Malky Mackay from Norwich City. The Scot had been something of a cult hero at Carrow Road, playing a key role in their promotion the previous season. At £300,000 he looked like a decent bit of business. Pardew balanced the experience of Mackay with the youthful exuberance of Calum Davenport. The beanpole centre-back had only just signed for Spurs from Coventry but was being loaned out immediately to make sure he got minutes on the clock.
The message was clear from the gaffer. We needed a stronger spine. You needed backbone to get out of this division – and we hadn’t shown nearly enough of it so far.
Yorkshire hadn’t been a happy hunting ground for West Ham during my fandom. We’d taken some right batterings at Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday. And I was still haunted by a horrific surrender at Sheffield United in the early 90s, when we were 2-0 up and coasting on Monday Night Football, then somehow contrived to lose 3-2. We’d been absolutely bullied into submission that night and I was fearful we might suffer the same fate again. Our defence had been leaking like a sieve. The new arrivals needed to shore us up.
They did just that.
Sometimes you just know it’s going to be your day. And when Marlon Harewood unleashed a 30-yard howitzer right out of the Roberto Carlos playbook, the travelling Irons sensed three points were there for the taking. Though the Blades equalised, the sharp mind of Teddy Sheringham secured the win with a smartly-taken set piece.
With our new faces and newfound confidence, big things were expected for the visit of lowly Rotherham. The Millers were winless in four games and bottom of the league. On paper, this should have been an easy evening’s entertainment at Upton Park. But over the years I’ve learned that sadly West Ham United don’t play on paper. Life would be so much more enjoyable if they did. Because when they walk onto that pitch, anything can happen.
On a Tuesday night under the lights at the Boleyn, we failed to sparkle. Rotherham, with relegation already on their mind, showed the same sort of ambition as a snail crossing the M25. They camped around their penalty area, restricted space, and scrapped for every inch of grass. After 70 goalless minutes, the natives were growing restless. Then up stepped Matty Etherington, sweeping home a free-kick and earning us a precious, if utterly unconvincing victory.
On the walk back to the Tube, there was a sense of relief and frustration at the shape the season was taking. We were consistently inconsistent. There still didn’t seem to be any cohesion to our play, which was probably no surprise given the revolving door of players. Instead we were reliant on individual brilliance. The star of the season so far had been Teddy Sheringham, who seemed to be the only calm head amidst the hurly-burly of Championship football.
Yet even the veteran striker wasn’t averse to the chaos that so often afflicts those in Claret and Blue. In our next fixture, at home to table-topping Ipswich, Teddy was presented with a golden opportunity to put us firmly in the promotion mix.
Leading 1-0 thanks to a Mackay header, Fletcher burst through on goal and was toppled by the Ipswich keeper. The referee pointed straight to the spot. And the stage was set for Teddy. Steady Teddy. The man who had seen it, done it, got the t-shirt at football’s highest level. Five years earlier he’d been centre stage as Manchester United won the Champions League (and sealed the treble in the process) on a fabled night in Barcelona. A penalty on a random September afternoon against the Tractor Boys would hold no fear.
Sometimes you just know it’s not going to be your day. When one of England’s best strikers of the era shovels a penalty two yards wide of the goal, the home crowd sensed that three points were going to slip from our grasp. Ipswich equalised, Harewood missed a header from five centimetres out, and we settled for a draw.
The win would have taken us joint top of the table. But we’d blown our chance when it seemed almost impossible to do so.
Some would say that’s the West Ham Way.
Sid has a new book out: ‘Highs, Lows and Di Canios: The Fans’ Guide to West Ham United in the 90s’. Visit www.thewesthamway.com, or head into the official West Ham store for a rollercoaster ride through one of the most turbulent decades in Claret & Blue history.
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views opinions of West Ham United.