Our West Ham Columnist hails the Cowley brothers and talks about winter breaks
With no West Ham game at the weekend I was watching Lincoln City’s clash against Burnley in the Sky TV studio and it restored by belief in the FA Cup.
The competition has taken a lot of hits in recent years, but this was a real cup tie and in the end I think Lincoln deserved to win it.
It’s great credit to brothers Danny and Nicky Cowley who have come through the non-league ranks at Concord Rangers and Braintree and done a great job at Lincoln.
They have proved to be excellent managers and I am sure there will be a lot of clubs queuing up for their services.
They are Hammers fans too, so it is nice to see us playing a small part in the competition still and who knows they could be West Ham managers one day!
I spoke to Slaven at the club’s open training day last Wednesday which was an excellent event, and he assured me that they would be working hard on the trip to Dubai.
With hard training in the mornings and then some downtime in the afternoons, the team would have been able to bond, especially the new boys in Robert Snodgrass and Jose Fonte.
I think it is important for the boys to go on these trips. Dubai was never available when I was playing, but we went to Spain and to Portugal in our time.
I remember once in La Manga there was some trouble with Stan Collymore and a fire extinguisher, but I have to state that I was totally innocent.
In general, these trips are a chance to switch off and come back ready to focus on the game ahead.
It is Watford on Saturday – another team that we owe after losing to them early in the season at home.
That day, it was said that we disrespected them by showboating at 2-0 up, but we certainly paid the price.
In the second half they ran riot and could have got more than the four goals we did, so first and foremost we should be making sure we don’t lose the game.
They are a dangerous side and have a couple of players in Valon Behrami and Mauro Zarate who will be playing against their old team.
I always found that I had a point to prove playing against West Ham, Everton or Leicester and I scored against all of them.
I had a bit more adrenaline in those games and I have to say I always celebrated as well.
I think we will have enough in defence to stop the likes of Zarate, but I expect a 1-1 draw. COYI!
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