Those three words: Four Four Two

As the rain poured down at Stamford Bridge, I couldn’t help but feel Avram Grant should have been holding a brolly. Bad things come in threes, including formations. Only Grant would deem it a good idea for the league’s bottom team to line up at the ground of the league’s most in-form team with three forwards (four by the end of the game).

There were many positive comments from Hammers fans after the Chelsea game, citing several good goal-scoring opportunities. But who did those opportunities fall to? Jonathan Spector. Manu Da Costa. Defensive players. Why did they not fall to Demba Ba? Answer: He was stuck out on the left wing.

It is easy to forget that Chelsea had several good chances themselves: Luiz hit the bar; Gabbidon cleared off the line; Carlton cleared off the line; Malouda hit the side netting when it looked easier to score.

Of course, there is a reason why Grant is increasingly likely to keep playing three forwards. We have lots of them. We don’t have many midfielders. And in Grant’s defence, the signing of Steve Sidwell was vetoed by Karren Brady. How she must regret announcing that in her Sun column.

Given that Scott Parker, Gary O’Neil and Mark Noble are all injured, you can expect to see that formation every game between now and the end of the season. But surely the formation comes first? What next – another midfield injury and we switch to 4-2-4?

Luis Boa Morte may not be everyone’s cup of tea - this blogger included - but he is undoubtedly a fighter, a commodity we are sadly lacking in. The man who played a key part in 2007’s great escape would give much-needed protection to one of the full backs. In recent games, this role has been left to the likes of Victor Obinna, Zavon Hines and Ba. To everyone but Grant, the consequences were obvious.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I’m not sure Grant has been right once all season. He certainly shouldn’t look to ‘the wally with the brolly’ for inspiration. But if there is another former England manager from whom he could learn a thing or two, it’s Mike Bassett. Even he eventually realised the merits of 4-4-2.

Sweet FA

“U know what, fuck the lot of you, u will never get another tweet from me again, you just don't get it do you. Bye bye.” It’s not exactly what I expect to wake up to when I check my phone on a Sunday morning. Danny Gabbidon has now been charged for his Twitter outburst and can probably expect a punishment similar to Carlton Cole’s £20k fine.

I suspect that an article by Hammers fan Mark Segal in the next edition of When Saturday Comes will articulate the FA’s impossible task of policing footballers on Twitter better than I ever could, so I will avoid getting too sanctimonious.

Gabbidon’s Twitter account was closed later that day. Before it was, I had a look at some of the moronic comments that had been posted on his page. My reaction to Gabbidon’s tweet - having watched the team’s lackluster display the previous day - was, a) finally, a bit of passion, b) why did he endure this mindless abuse for so long?

I have less sympathy for Carlton, whose tweet was pretty braindead and humourless, albeit not particularly offensive. But should the FA really be paying people to police this? These followers are free to stop following these offenders at anytime. As I say, the next edition of When Saturday Comes (25 years old this month) is, as always, worth a read.