Blackpool v West Ham - live! | Evan Fanning:
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3 min: A great chance for Blackpool and Dobbie who breaks through the offside trap and hots a powerful shot from a tight angle. Green stays big and his arm is strong, blocking the drive before the ball bounces off the outside of the post and away top safety. This is a good start from Blackpool.
2 min: First attack from Blackpool - Dobbie pings a pass down the right flank for Tom Ince to chase, Ince is booed by the West Ham fans on account of his father, Paul. He tries to jink into the area but bodies are back and hold up the attack.
1 min: A first chance for West Ham to force an effort on goal but Kevin Nolan puts far too much on a through ball to Cole and Gilks gathers. "Are Blackpool still the lovable greenhorn no-hopers who nevertheless gave it a terrific go, like they were last year?" asks Brinda. "If that's so, seeing who's on the opposite bench, a neutral's decision has never been easier."
Peeep! West Ham get the game underway, in their traditional claret and blue playing from left-to-right. Blackpool are in white shirts and orange shorts, West Ham go long from the off straight towards Carlton Cole.
2.59pm: We're just about to get underway. There are an awful lot of empty seats in the Blackpool sections of the ground.
2.56pm: The teams are lined up on the pitch now for the national anthem sung by a girl in a black dress. They really shouldn't have the national anthem before the play-off final. Just because it's at Wembley is no reason to go through with all the formality of a cup final. It is, effectively, a battle for third place. Anyway, that's enough of my grumbling. Here's Ryan Dunne's step-by-step guide for neutrals:
"Delighted that my favourite (and so,plainly, Objectively Best) MBM oficiator is being rewarded with today's Big Game! ;) I, too, would rather see West Ham over Blackpool in the Premiership, for the following reasons:
i) They might be just the 6th most famous team in London, but everyone's heard of West Ham, and there are I'm sure lots of instances of them bringing something exciting to the Premiership table (off the top of my head - and I am, Glorious Glasgow Rangers aside, a neutral: that 8-1 Man U game when Scholes scored from the corner, beating Man U in the FA Cup at Old Trafford, the prelapsarian Joe Cole etc)
ii) Ian Holloway's schtick got very old, very quickly, last time Blackpool were in the Premiership.
iii) I like Karen Brady on The Apprentice."
2.55pm: Here's the view from the greatest league in the world, courtesy of Matt Dony: "Having no investment in the Championship, my decision on who to support comes down to whether I'll be more entertained by which manager on MOTD. The self-(deluded)-confidence of Allardicchio, or the sheer, joyful, bonkersness of Holloway. Can both not go up?"
2.50pm: Championship play-off survivors: is it really the most nervous you've ever been as a fan? Of course, what we can expect to see today is groups of fans anxiously biting their nails until the moment the realise their mugs are up on the big screen at which point they immediately forget that they're bricking it in order to wave maniacally at the camera.
2.46pm: It seems the public are behind West Ham, or at least the members of the public who support clubs playing in the Championship next season, as Steven Hughes explains: "I hope that West Ham do it today. I'm renewing my season ticket next week and I don't want 4.35% of that outlay going towards entrance to another deadly dull visit by West Ham and their doltish long ball shtick. No thank you. Up the Hammers!" I'm not sure Championship chairmen would agree.
2.35pm: Sky are examining Big Sam, his ways and methods. Sam talks about "the passing game" West Ham have as their heritage with so much suspicion and disdain in his voice he may as well be discussing Berlin's avant-garde fashion scene. "The club had no soul and had no heart," says Big Sam. "We've turned it around and are 90 minutes away from the best league in the world."
Good afternoon. How are those nerves? Blackpool v West Ham United. Ian Holloway v Sam Allardyce. They say form goes out the window in a cup final but for the Championship play-off final it is logic that is told to do a runner. But what else can you really expect from a game that is measured not so much in terms of glory or achievement, but in value?
The monetisation of the Championship play-off final is an unstoppable modern football clap-trap and whether this match is worth £10m, £20m, £30m or £100m to the eventual winners is not of concern – at least not today on the pitch or in stands. All that matters is that all the work put in over the last nine months does not turn out to be wasted.
"Where no hope is left, is left no fear," wrote Milton, and while he probably had more existential matters in mind that a play-off final, there are few more tortured souls as West Ham fans and so his theory raises interesting questions about a game of this magnitude. Many pundits will say that the team which sheds its fear and relaxes will be most likely to prevail but perhaps, as Milton suggests, a little fear is a good thing for it brings with it hope and possibility - the emotion that can cause a player to find that extra yard needed at that crucial moment. On the other hand Michael Chabon wrote about 'lives ruined again and again by hope'. It's hard to know where to turn
So who will emerge blinking into the bright light cast from the Premier League gold? Will West Hams pragmatism triumph over Blackpool's, eh, slightly less pragmatic approach? The bookies seem to think so and have Sam Allardyce's side down as odds-on favourites. They've taken six points off Ian Holloway's side in their two league fixtures this season scoring eight goals in the process - a 4-0 win at Upton Park in October followed by a 4-1 victory at Bloomfield Roan in February. Recently, both sides have been in pretty impressive form with West Ham unbeaten in eight (six wins, two draws) and Blackpool unbeaten in nine (five wins, four draws). In short, it's impossible to call. The Championship play-off final wouldn't have it any other way.
The teams have been named and there is one big piece of breaking team-news – the Blackpool striker Gary Taylor-Fletcher is out and so 109-year-old Kevin Phillips plays but presumably will not last the 90 minutes, West Ham are as expected.
Blackpool: Gilks; Baptiste, Evatt, Eardley, Crainey; Ferguson, Martinez; Ince, Dobbie, M.Phillips; K.Phillips.
Subs: Southern, Sylvestre, Cathcart, Dicko, Bednar
West Ham: Green; Demel, Reid, Tomkins, Taylor; Noble, Nolan, O'Neil; Collison, Cole, Vaz Te.
Subs: Henderson, Faubert, McCartney, Lansbury, Maynard
Referee/Scapegoat: Howard Webb
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
• Press F5 or auto-refresh for the lastest updates
• Email evan.fanning.casual@guardian.co.uk
• Tweet Evan, if that's your thing
3 min: A great chance for Blackpool and Dobbie who breaks through the offside trap and hots a powerful shot from a tight angle. Green stays big and his arm is strong, blocking the drive before the ball bounces off the outside of the post and away top safety. This is a good start from Blackpool.
2 min: First attack from Blackpool - Dobbie pings a pass down the right flank for Tom Ince to chase, Ince is booed by the West Ham fans on account of his father, Paul. He tries to jink into the area but bodies are back and hold up the attack.
1 min: A first chance for West Ham to force an effort on goal but Kevin Nolan puts far too much on a through ball to Cole and Gilks gathers. "Are Blackpool still the lovable greenhorn no-hopers who nevertheless gave it a terrific go, like they were last year?" asks Brinda. "If that's so, seeing who's on the opposite bench, a neutral's decision has never been easier."
Peeep! West Ham get the game underway, in their traditional claret and blue playing from left-to-right. Blackpool are in white shirts and orange shorts, West Ham go long from the off straight towards Carlton Cole.
2.59pm: We're just about to get underway. There are an awful lot of empty seats in the Blackpool sections of the ground.
2.56pm: The teams are lined up on the pitch now for the national anthem sung by a girl in a black dress. They really shouldn't have the national anthem before the play-off final. Just because it's at Wembley is no reason to go through with all the formality of a cup final. It is, effectively, a battle for third place. Anyway, that's enough of my grumbling. Here's Ryan Dunne's step-by-step guide for neutrals:
"Delighted that my favourite (and so,plainly, Objectively Best) MBM oficiator is being rewarded with today's Big Game! ;) I, too, would rather see West Ham over Blackpool in the Premiership, for the following reasons:
i) They might be just the 6th most famous team in London, but everyone's heard of West Ham, and there are I'm sure lots of instances of them bringing something exciting to the Premiership table (off the top of my head - and I am, Glorious Glasgow Rangers aside, a neutral: that 8-1 Man U game when Scholes scored from the corner, beating Man U in the FA Cup at Old Trafford, the prelapsarian Joe Cole etc)
ii) Ian Holloway's schtick got very old, very quickly, last time Blackpool were in the Premiership.
iii) I like Karen Brady on The Apprentice."
2.55pm: Here's the view from the greatest league in the world, courtesy of Matt Dony: "Having no investment in the Championship, my decision on who to support comes down to whether I'll be more entertained by which manager on MOTD. The self-(deluded)-confidence of Allardicchio, or the sheer, joyful, bonkersness of Holloway. Can both not go up?"
2.50pm: Championship play-off survivors: is it really the most nervous you've ever been as a fan? Of course, what we can expect to see today is groups of fans anxiously biting their nails until the moment the realise their mugs are up on the big screen at which point they immediately forget that they're bricking it in order to wave maniacally at the camera.
2.46pm: It seems the public are behind West Ham, or at least the members of the public who support clubs playing in the Championship next season, as Steven Hughes explains: "I hope that West Ham do it today. I'm renewing my season ticket next week and I don't want 4.35% of that outlay going towards entrance to another deadly dull visit by West Ham and their doltish long ball shtick. No thank you. Up the Hammers!" I'm not sure Championship chairmen would agree.
2.35pm: Sky are examining Big Sam, his ways and methods. Sam talks about "the passing game" West Ham have as their heritage with so much suspicion and disdain in his voice he may as well be discussing Berlin's avant-garde fashion scene. "The club had no soul and had no heart," says Big Sam. "We've turned it around and are 90 minutes away from the best league in the world."
Good afternoon. How are those nerves? Blackpool v West Ham United. Ian Holloway v Sam Allardyce. They say form goes out the window in a cup final but for the Championship play-off final it is logic that is told to do a runner. But what else can you really expect from a game that is measured not so much in terms of glory or achievement, but in value?
The monetisation of the Championship play-off final is an unstoppable modern football clap-trap and whether this match is worth £10m, £20m, £30m or £100m to the eventual winners is not of concern – at least not today on the pitch or in stands. All that matters is that all the work put in over the last nine months does not turn out to be wasted.
"Where no hope is left, is left no fear," wrote Milton, and while he probably had more existential matters in mind that a play-off final, there are few more tortured souls as West Ham fans and so his theory raises interesting questions about a game of this magnitude. Many pundits will say that the team which sheds its fear and relaxes will be most likely to prevail but perhaps, as Milton suggests, a little fear is a good thing for it brings with it hope and possibility - the emotion that can cause a player to find that extra yard needed at that crucial moment. On the other hand Michael Chabon wrote about 'lives ruined again and again by hope'. It's hard to know where to turn
So who will emerge blinking into the bright light cast from the Premier League gold? Will West Hams pragmatism triumph over Blackpool's, eh, slightly less pragmatic approach? The bookies seem to think so and have Sam Allardyce's side down as odds-on favourites. They've taken six points off Ian Holloway's side in their two league fixtures this season scoring eight goals in the process - a 4-0 win at Upton Park in October followed by a 4-1 victory at Bloomfield Roan in February. Recently, both sides have been in pretty impressive form with West Ham unbeaten in eight (six wins, two draws) and Blackpool unbeaten in nine (five wins, four draws). In short, it's impossible to call. The Championship play-off final wouldn't have it any other way.
The teams have been named and there is one big piece of breaking team-news – the Blackpool striker Gary Taylor-Fletcher is out and so 109-year-old Kevin Phillips plays but presumably will not last the 90 minutes, West Ham are as expected.
Blackpool: Gilks; Baptiste, Evatt, Eardley, Crainey; Ferguson, Martinez; Ince, Dobbie, M.Phillips; K.Phillips.
Subs: Southern, Sylvestre, Cathcart, Dicko, Bednar
West Ham: Green; Demel, Reid, Tomkins, Taylor; Noble, Nolan, O'Neil; Collison, Cole, Vaz Te.
Subs: Henderson, Faubert, McCartney, Lansbury, Maynard
Referee/Scapegoat: Howard Webb
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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