Hello and welcome to the first of a series

Hello and welcome to the first of a series of columns I’ll be writing for Blowing Bubbles this season. Every month, I’ll be giving my thoughts on all things West Ham for you, the fans, to chew over. Plenty to talk about so I might as well get stuck in!

Hello and welcome to the first of a series of columns I’ll be writing for Blowing Bubbles this season. Every month, I’ll be giving my thoughts on all things West Ham for you, the fans, to chew over. Plenty to talk about so I might as well get stuck in!

I watched us play quite a bit last season with my work for BBC London and sometimes it was a bit boring but football is all about getting results and that’s what we did last season. When Sam Allardyce came in, if someone had told the fans he would get us promoted in the first season and in the next season finish 10th in the Premier League, I’m sure 99 per cent of fans would have taken that and I think West Ham had a great season last season.

I know a lot of fans disrespect Sam Allardyce about his style of play but we played some great football last season. I think Sam is an experienced manager whatever people think of him. His teams are always well organised and don’t conceded many goals. But this season I would like to see a bit more football played and another striker up top with Andy Carroll.

himself a lot but he wins so much in the air and holds the ball up really well but at times there was never anyone to play to. Having heard Sam Allardyce speak last season, you would think we were playing 4-3-3 when the reality was we played 4-5-1 and at times it showed. I am looking forward to seeing more of Matt Jarvis and Stewart Downing charging down both flanks this season.

Both are brilliant crossers of the ball and I bet Andy Carroll can’t wait to get playing again because these guys will be firing good deliveries from both sides. I think Downing has also got quite a bit to prove because when he went to Liverpool from Villa, he didn’t perform. Hopefully he has come to a side where he can play how he wants to play. For me I think what we spent on Andy Carroll was way too much money.

Having said that I like his style of play and he gets the team going when he is firing. But for £15 million he has to be more prolific for me and score 15 to 20 goals a season. It’s the same for Kevin Nolan. When he’s scoring goals he is fine but when he isn’t scoring goals, I don’t think he brings anything else to the side. He needs to be doing a lot more.

There is no denying he is a good captain and I know his game is to ghost into the box unmarked to score but I think he needs to be doing more for the team. Just look at players like Alan Shearer who when he wasn’t scoring goals would be working hard to create chances for others. Looking ahead to this season and I think we have to continue to progress and we have to finish 10th or above. We have the players to do this so long as we keep everyone fit.

You look at some of the other clubs outside the top five and they are fairly average and nothing special to be honest. I really do believe we have the players to get at least 10th again. I think the three teams who came up last season will go straight back down because they haven’t got the quality and they aren’t big clubs, like us or Newcastle.

It’s not all about spending mega bucks to stay in the Premier League — it’s about having a strong core of players, keeping them fit and making sure your home form is good. Home form is key and if any of the promoted clubs start playing well at home, they might surprise me. Moving onto the Olympic Stadium saga and I have never wanted to move there. I can remember the first time I played at Upton Park — it was scary!

was only 17 and was playing for Birmingham at the time and thought it was the scariest place on earth. But when I was playing for West Ham it was the best place in the world. The ground was tight and the atmosphere was electric — especially under the lights. I think for all the family to go to the Olympic Stadium it should be £30. You hear the term “affordable” banded about a lot these days and more often than not, it is not affordable at all.

Upton Park wasn’t completely full for every home game last season and I think going from a 35,000 seater to 55,000 seater, you need to find another 20,000 people so you have to make it affordable. A lot of my friends can’t afford to go to watch their team play at the moment because it is just too expensive at Upton Park. I’ve never been for moving away from Upton Park because it is a fantastic stadium.

People have said to me that when we move to the Olympic Stadium we will bring in better players but that’s a load of rubbish. A stadium doesn’t attract better players — a good manager, money and winning trophies does.