So who are you?

Peter Harrell from hammerstv.com

How long have you supported West Ham United for?

Since birth (so 36 years) – It’s come down through the generations on my Dads side who grew up and lived in Dagenham. When we were younger we used to get to a lot of home games, but I’ve been living in Cyprus for 8 years now so getting to Upton Park is a bit of a trek!! Now it’s my turn to hand it down through my son Kyan who’s nearly 4. I’m hoping to get back for a couple of home games next season so he can experience the Boleyn Ground before the possibility of moving to a new stadium.

What are you expectations for the remainder of the season, and do you think you will stay above the relegation zone?

I think we will be ok, but more because there are other teams around us that are performing just as bad! At the beginning of the season, despite all the off-field problems, I think most of us were looking forward to a decent season under Zola-Clarke – unfortunately it wasn’t to be. I still expect us to stay up, but to be honest I am struggling to see why we are down there in the first place. Ok we are not going to be challenging for the Champions league, but we have enough quality to be sitting comfortably in mid-table. We have 2 hard away games coming up, but it’s our home games against the teams around us like of Wolves & Wigan where we should be able to pick up enough points to stay up.

How do you rate Gianfranco Zola as a coach and would you like to see him at West Ham again next season?

Personally I think the guy has great potential as a Manager and if he had another season with the club in a stable position financially, allowing him to strengthen the squad, then I think he will do well. He looks tactically unaware sometimes but that should improve over time. You have to remember that he has had to work under extremely difficult circumstances, as you can see by his rapidly receding hairline, and a steady ship should make things easier for him. However the only view that really matters is that of our new owners and personally I think they will look to replace him at the end of the season.

Who do you think will be the key players for West Ham in our clash on the weekend?

This is a tough one because against Birmingham & Hull there were some very good performances from a number of players, but against Manu U we folded to easily and against Bolton we were shameful. Carlton Cole has looked badly off the pace since he came back from injury, so we will be hoping that he ups the ante a bit against his old club. I would like to see Mido start up front with Cole to see how that works with Franco on the bench. We need Parker and Bahrami to have a good game in the middle of the park, maybe creating some set pieces around your box for Diamanti to take advantage of. But most of all we need Upson and Tompkins to be up for this one – both were shocking against Bolton and they are going to have their hands full with your lot this weekend. What we really need is a good team performance as that has been lacking the last 2 games. Hammers fans don’t mind loosing, we’re used to it, providing the players sweat blood for the shirt they are wearing.

Your Favorite Chelsea Player?

For me it has to be Frank Lampard. I know he isn’t the most popular figure amongst us Hammers fans, but putting that aside he is one of (if not the) best mid-fielders in the country and very consistent season after season. I’m sure if he was back playing for us tomorrow that ‘most’ West Ham fans would happily starting cheering him again (we’re not fickle you know)!

What do you think about Chelsea’s chances of winning the title?

I think Chelsea are in with a realistic chance, but so are Man U and Arsenal – this is probably one of the hardest years to predict because both you and Man U have dropped some vital points recently allowing Arsenal back into the race. Going on current form you would even go as far as saying that Arsenal are in the strongest position if they can keep their form up. They have certainly livened things up a bit. I would like to see either you or Arsenal get it as I would rather see it go to a London club (unless it was the Spuds of course).

Finally, your prediction for the game?

My brain is telling me we will get hammered and my heart is telling me we’ll go out there fighting and pull off an upset – winning 2-1 (Carlton Cole / Diamanti for us and Lampard for you). But, back on planet earth, if we can grab a point or two from our next couple of games I will be happy, so I’m going for a lively 1-1 draw!