Just when you though French sides had decided to numb each other into submission and allow top dogs Lyon to march on as their standard bearer it all came alive last night as match-day three took hold.




Crowds increased as interest rose and those who attended last night saw a bit of fire enter the guts of the sides chasing Lyon…well two of them at least, as Marseille finished their third consecutive away game with a defeat that almost certainly ends their participation in the event in anything other than a run out for the second string in the remaining three home matches.

Marseilles defeat at the Parc des Princes in front of a healthy 11,492 crowd was only remarkable in that it was only 2-0 and not a massacre as the stats suggest…PSG dominated…61% possession and 18 shots on target suggesting that Mandanda had a better game in goal than the meager 4 rating he received from the press corps. Marseille tried to attack down the flanks and were ripped apart down the middle by a PSG side who are slowly starting to show some promise. It was a lesson in football and a harsh one for Marseille to accept but that is what they must now do…one point from nine means little chance now of progression and for some of the fringe players an opportunity must now exist to make a stake in the remaining games for some league starts.

The game was won by half time…strikes by Di Maria in the 20th minute and Luiz in the 37th the deciding factors…Paris St Germain 2…Marseille 0.

In all its inevitability in Paris, what was happening in Lyon was anything but…

Lyon went into the match with Monaco knowing a win would probably see them over the line in the group…but someone hadn’t sent the script to Monaco, or if they did it was ripped up and dispatched to the bin quite quickly. Monaco knew that this was their last chance to get in the mix and after a battle of a first half but no breakthrough the home fans were stunned when Gabi put Monaco ahead in the 49th minute…they spat their wine out in the 61st minute when Moutinho then stepped forward to make it 2-0 and suddenly the inevitable Lyon march was looking a bit ropy. Monaco were adventurous, dominated possession and just would not let Lyon get into the match. The Parc OL hadn’t seen this much pluck in all its years of existence, in fact had it been the site of an annual bird feather plucking tournament one would doubt the finest of pluckers could have matched up to Monaco last night. Wakaso gave the home fans in the 11,652 crowd some hope with a goal back on 75 minutes but too little too late as the side from the principality held on strongly to blow this group wide open now going into the second half of the round.

Lyon still top the group with 6 points but Monaco on 5 and PSG on 4 are all in the mix, Marseille may have three home matches now but it looks like this battle is a straight 3 way fight and right now its hard to predict which way it will go.

Next Wednesday its Marseille at home to Lyon and PSG entertain Monaco…game on in France….

RSC Anderlecht wasted no time this evening in appointing a legend of SM, Mr Prince Michael William as their new manager.

Welcome back for another instalment of Under the Hammer with me Timmy Mallet.

First thing I would like to apologize for the long wait instead of your Sunday slot we got pushed back to Thursday night after Gordon ‘Gino’ Kinnear (Tweety) wrote to Frank asking to put ‘Birds of a Feather’ on instead. I am now sort of worried or confused as his nickname is Tweety and after his latest review on the Churchill Cup he wrote on a pigeon the whole first half. So I am coming to the conclusion that he likes the ‘birds’ and not the FEmale kind, more the FEather kind and I think he is trying to groom Frank a double flight date.


Right back to West Ham related stories. First the FSFA (Frank Stephen Football Association) have given Nicky Thomson a warning and made it his last if it happens again then he will be given a touchline ban. So we go back a week and a half to West Ham against Chievo Verona, who had just signed there new manager Patrick D. So welcome to the frying pan. Well the started a well placed free kick by Naismith. The lead was short lived well two minutes after Gil squared the game up. West ham regained the lead on the half hour mark thanks to Valencia. Then a questionable decision was made by the ref in awarding Chievo a penalty which they capitalized on to square the game back up right before half time. Second half the Hammer never showed up and gave away a free kick and Chievo scored from it and held on to win the game for there new manager. After the game Mr Thomson was enraged by the lack of effort made in the second half. We can report that after the match that Andreas Bjelland had to go to hospital after he broke his nose. We have heard reports that Mr Thomson had kicked a water bottle and Bejelland  had tried to defend the cross coming in and it connected right on his nose causing it to break. When asked why he tried to head it he replied he thought it was Mr Thomson new training technique.

So next up for West Ham was Tottenham in the Churchill Cup. Mr Thomson was glad to get a game away from the league matters. But he was going to use these games as experimental tactics as he saw Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal to finish above us and to scrap it out with Villa for last place. So the game started how many hammer fans thought going behind in the first 8 mins. The surprise was when Payet equalized. Then came the onslaught and somehow were still in the game at half time. Then Icardi showed his scoring credentials, by scoring 2 in the second half and in turn winning it for Tottenham 3-1. Mr Thomson was happy with the performance and showed that they can hang with the big teams and cause problems for them.

Then it was the battle of the West in the East. Where West Ham meet West Bromwich Albion. The game started fast and frantic. The West Ham defence was in a panic and found themselves a goal behind. It took the Hammers right up until half time to get the equalizer thanks to a Valencia free kick taken quickly. Mr Thomson went down the tunnel after this and said to the reporter he was glad that we had scored because “I have no idea what i could do to change the match, because I have tried everything and nothing seems to work. So I am going to try something.” The game restarted and what ever was said in that dressing room worked as the Hammers raced there way to make chances for the goal that they never left an defenders and found our self behind again. So Mr Thomson changed his tic-tacs and 7mins later Obiang found the back of the nets and then Damia scored 10mins later and then held on for a 3-2 victory. Then after the game all that Nicky said was “We’re out the relegation zone”

West Ham next opponent was Espanyol. Who had the out going Nathan Prince going to Galatasaray. Which maybe had Nathan thinking what he would do with Galatasary than Espanyol as they went behind thanks to Winnie scoring a rare goal then Klose had a goal ruled offside. The rest of the game just fizzled out into to a schoolboy game. Mr Thomson said “I would take that score line and scrappy game with that result anytime. A win is a win. No matter how they come. " After the game Mr Thomson caught a flight to Edmonton to take in a ice hockey match. Is he looking to manage over in Canada and in a different sport who knows, but we will keep any eye on this as he has started to turn the West Ham ship around and I can see them wanting to keep hold of there manager.

The following game saw them entertain Arsenal in the Churchill Cup which saw every man for West Ham on the goal line bringing a new form of arming the bus. Is this the new tactics that Nicky was experimenting on? When West Ham did have a break away attack they were able to find the back of the net. Thanks to Cech doing chin ups on the crossbar. So a very surprised victory for West Ham in the cup which gives them hope however small it is of qualifying.

That is all we have time for this week. We will be back to your usual Sunday slot if that ok with Tweety aaahh mean Gino. So thanks for reading this and we will have a new member joining us on Sunday so tune in to meet him

So thanks again Timmy Mallet