Are West Ham fans right to boo their own team?

Sam Allardyce was confused that West Ham fans booed despite a 2-1 win over Hull City that should mean the Hammers stay in the Premier League another year, but should he be that surprised that the fans vented their anger?

No. (That's the simple answer).

And here's why...

Yes, fans pay a lot of money to see the game and want to be entertained. No one really wants to be entertained if their team still loses, but we're willing to accept this every now and then. But ultimately they want to see passion, effort and progress.

West Ham fans have seen none of that this year. Allardyce blamed injuries and suspensions at the start of the season, and to some extent he was proved right when he won Manager of the Month for February after 4 straight wins. But even in those 4 wins, West Ham have played some terrible football all season and really look like they have no idea how to break a team down.

Banging long balls to Andy Carroll or Carlton Cole and hoping Kevin Nolan gets the scraps isn't what West Ham fans want to see - and no it's nothing to do with the Academy, Bobby Moore and winning the World Cup - it's not what any fan wants to see. A full back smashing the ball upfield to a target man is an option if you're trying to mix it up, but it shouldn't be the first option.

West Ham have wingers who can't beat a man and get to the byline, which means they just lump balls into the box when they get a chance hoping for a second chance opportunity. James Collins, James Tomkins and Winston Reid can defend, they just have no idea what to do with the ball when they get it, hence more long straight balls.

And this is why fans boo the team, and especially Allardyce. He recruits players that can only really play this way. He hasn't improved the team he set up to get back into the Premier League. When Ravel Morrison looked like he may provide some spark of creativity, he was shipped off to QPR. Youth team players have no chance under Allardyce as he seems to just bothered about staying up, not improving.

And I think that's why he gets booed. No one wants to just stay up playing the way Allardyce wants West Ham (and Bolton and Newcastle before that) to play.

They want to see exciting players, good football and passion. None of these were evident last night (or any night for the last few seasons) as they struggled to beat 10-man Hull, who frankly deserved all 3 points.

Yes, West Ham should be in the Premier League next year, but unless Big Sam can convince the owners he is making progress they may have a new manager.

Chelsea look to exploit missing Kompany

With our La Liga preview here (ok, so it's an El Clasico preview), we're going to focus on the Premier League matchups, while I continue to ask Tio Pelotas for his MLS preview - he's doing it apparently, but is hungover and needs something greasy in his stomach.

Arsenal and Liverpool will be looking to pick up 3 more points against Crystal Palace and West Brom respectively, and if either are to seriously challenge for the title, then they have to win games like these. I think both have good chances of making the top 4, but that's not good enough for Arsenal, although it may be for Liverpool this year.

The huge game of the weekend is Chelsea against Manchester City. Both are coming off good wins in the Champions League, but City may be a little more fatigues after a trip to Russia, and playing on a pitch that looked like it was from the 1980s.

City are a different team without Vincent Kompany, and I'd expect Chelsea to try and expose Javi Garcia or Joleon Lescott. Pace is huge, and Samuel Eto'o still has plenty of that, even if he is trying to steal the ball off the goalkeeper just to open his account. Fernando Torres may start after his two goals in the week, but reports of him being back are stupid - yes, he's judged on how many goals he scores, but he (and Eto'o) needs a run in the team as the main man. Strikers need confidence, and neither has it in abundance at the moment - maybe they should stand next to Sergio Aguero at the kick-off in teh hope of catching some.

The teams returning from European action need wins too. Spurs will be hoping not to repeat what happened to them last time they played after some Thursday night action, while West Ham will hope Swansea are as generous as Tottenham were.

If Sunderland lose to Newcastle, Poyet will be out. I'm just kidding, but Gus needs a win (or at least not to lose), and a local derby changes everything. Form goes out of the window and passion comes through - I don't care how many 'johnny foreigners' are playing, the crowd will inspire whoever is out there.

Liverpool and Newcastle heading in different directions

It's back, it's back.

No-one cared about those pesky qualifiers, allowing Mexico yet another chance to qualify, or anything like that.

All we wanted was club football back. Ok, that's not technically true as there were some great games, high drama and a few good goals too.

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The Premier League kicks-off with Newcastle v Liverpool - which has some great (relatively) recent history - but now pits too teams who seem to be going in different directions. Liverpool look like a fun, exciting team to watch, with players that will always create chances. Newcastle have Loic Remy,  Hatim Ben Arfa and Yohann Cabaye. That's it. When they don't play well, they look a shocking team. Papiss Cisse seems a shell of the player he was, and I don't expect much after coming back from trying to help Senegal qualify for Brazil 2014.

The drama at Newcastle is not really in the dressing room, but in the board room. Alan Pardew doesn't know if he's coming or going. If someone can explain what Joe Kinnear does, I'd love to know. It's not personal with him, he just doesn't have a place in modern football. He could be the boss of the Crazy Gang, because things were different then. I doubt he knows much about how the game works now, and maybe knows less than the 'confused' Spurs-fan chairman Mike Ashley.

Suarez and Sturridge are firing for Liverpool right now, but I think they miss Coutinho. Creating chances for them isn't a problem, but they need more from Victor Moses, Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson once the fixture list starts piling up.

West Ham v Man City is the other game that stands out to me, but most of my interest will be in whether teams can find some consistency after the International break. Arsenal were playing well, Spurs need a win and Gus Poyet has to get his team going. The next month should be interesting.

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I hope Gareth Bale gets going against Malaga - the pressure isn't on yet, but it will be if he doesn't start producing by Christmas. Barcelona and Atletico are still 100%, with 8 wins from 8 in La Liga. Let's see who falters first.

Roma v Napoli tonight kicks of the weekend nicely, with Porto v Sporting Lisbon an interesting game in Portugal. 

There's so many games on this weekend, that I think the delivery man is going to be kept busy. 

Taylor's red card had nothing on this

Steven Taylor has been sent off for Newcastle against Man City - his team were getting thumped anyway, but the sending off seemed pretty soft.

He raises his arms, but Sergio Aguero runs into him, then goes down like he's been shot.

It's not a red card, and with City already 2-0 up at the time (now 4 and counting after Yaya Toure's fantastic free kick and Nasri's tidy finish), Newcastle are just trying to save face on the opening day. Can't wait for Alan Pardew's assessment of the decision.

Meanwhile, here's a proper red card to keep you entertained!