Typisch Rapid: „… jetzt alles möglich!“
Durch einen mühsamen 1:0-Heimsieg ohne „Block West“, der aufgrund der Ausschreitungen von Rapid-„Fans“ beim letzten Wiener Derby drei Spiele lang ausgesperrt bleibt, hat man es gerade noch in die „Meistergruppe“ der besten 6 Bundesliga-Mannschaften geschafft… und schon denkt man wieder an alles Mögliche! Die nur noch heuer geltende Punkteteilung nach dem Grunddurchgang macht’s möglich!
Ab der nächsten Saison werden bei sonst gleichbleibendem Modus die Punkte aus dem Grunddurchgang mitgenommen, heuer aber reduziert sich der aktuelle Rückstand von Rapid von fünf Punkten auf drei mit einem Sternchen. Das * bedeutet, dass Rapid bei Punktegleichheit sogar vorgereiht würde, weil von den 33 Punkten der Grün-Weißen nur 16 in die Tabelle der Meistergruppe mitgenommen werden. Wer eine gerade Punktezahl am Konto hat, wie der Tabellenführer Sturm Graz (38 Punkte) darf dagegen genau die Hälfte behalten (sodass Sturm nunmehr 19 Zähler hat).
„Die Spieler haben wirklich alles abgerufen, was nötig war“, sagte Rapid-Trainer Johannes Hoff Thorup nach dem wichtigen Erreichen der Meistergruppe trotz Krise im Herbst und dem schwachen Start nach der Winterpause. Er glaubt an seine Spieler „und an unseren Weg. Durch den abfallenden Druck wird jetzt eine bessere Rapid zu sehen sein“, verspricht der dänische Trainer.
Only for 14 minutes…
For 14 minutes on Wednesday night, Crysencio Summerville’s goal against Fulham had lifted his side out of the relegation zone – at Nottingham Forest’s expense – for the first time since December. But with Nottingham claiming an unlikely 2-2 draw at Man City, the Hammers, now level on points with them, were pegged back because of their worse goal difference and are still 18th in the table.
PS: On Thursday Spurs lost 1-3 at home to Glasner’s Crystal Palace. They remain the only Premier League side without a victory in 2026. Their 11-match winless league run is the club’s longest since 1935, when they went 15 games without winning. With nine matches to go now, they remain one point above the relegation zone and are now fully in the mix with the other teams which are in danger of losing their Premier League status.
According to BBC a supporter said after Spurs‘ defeat that “Nottingham Forest and West Ham have got fight and grit. We don’t have any of that.” Since promotion from the Second Division in 1949-50, Tottenham have spent just one season below the top flight (1977-78).
Last season (2024/25) Tottenham won the Europa League and are therefore playing Champions League this season, but they finished only 17th in the Premier League on 38 points. West Ham with Graham Potter at the helm (as Lopetegui’s successor) were 14th with 43 points at the end of the 2024/25 season.
Item and points lost
The home game against Bournemouth on Saturday was a game in which West Ham could have climbed out of the relegation zone with a win. And you could feel from the kick-off that there was determination in the team and West Ham was trying everything to get this win. Albeit the score on a wet evening at the London Stadium remained 0-0 until the final whistle.
The match started with a shot from new signing Axel Disasi which was cleared from the line in the very first minute, and it ended with a last chance to score midway through six added minutes, but also in this case Bowen‘s attempt from close range was blocked by a Bournemouth defender.
The mood of the crowd leaving the London Stadium quickly and quietly after the final whistle wasn’t anger like it had been sensed in previous games this season, and I hadn’t seen any blatant protest against the board. The crowd supported the team throughout the game, and as it hadn’t been because of a lack of trying there was no reason for the claret and blue army to be angry about the result, just sad. It seemed many of those who silently queued on the way to Stratford possibly were on the verge of already giving up hope that the drop can be avoided this season.
After all, this time it hadn’t been a late equaliser which had deflated the mood like in the last home game against Manchester United when West Ham were denied a win and had to settle with a 1-1 draw due to a goal conceded in the 96th minute. The Hammers had managed to keep a clean sheet (only the third time this season) and according to the BBC they finished with twice as many shots as Bournemouth (20-10), their most in a Premier League game this season. But only three were on target and the hosts had problems to open up the Cherries until the latter stages, with Taty Castellanos trying his luck with an overhead kick which went narrowly wide and Callum Wilson being the biggest threat when he came on with 18 minutes giving the Hammers’ new Argentina striker some company up front.
Well, that’s another two points lost anyway and West Ham’s attempt to climb out of the relegation zone was halted. Now like the crowd being stopped from time to time on the walk to Stratford we have to be patient. And the Hammers still have to be searching desperately for matches which can be won, quite similar to me when I was looking for my blue cap after alighting from the train back to central London after the game.
And with Liverpool, Man City and Fulham being the opponents in the next upcoming games, West Ham’s search for points could be as futile as entering my data into the “lost items form” on the website of c2c rail company. Nottingham Forest (two points ahead of the Irons on Saturday evening with one game in hand) could well be farer away within the next weeks than it was this weekend though also they are playing opponents which are not easy to beat.
However, with one night between me and the match now, and considering the fact that West Ham haven’t been defeated and eventually have gained one more point, why give up hope before the Old Fat Lady has sung? Hope springs eternal, as the saying goes, and there are still eleven games to be played until the end of the season! And after all, Nottingham Forest have lost to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, and the item I lost on the train wasn’t the bag with the new books on West Ham‘s history which I collected from their author Tim Crane before the game.
It had been good to see Tim, meeting up at Sadler’s Well East before the game (pictured above), and it had also been great to have a drink with my friend Barrie near Liverpool Street two days before. He had been so kind to help me get a seat with a brilliant view in the Billy Bonds Stand lower tier. And as he correctly noted, the game was better than the goalless scoreline suggested!
Well, a point is a point … Come on you Irons, we‘re West Ham‘s claret and blue army, forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air! United! United!!!
Seven points …
A winless run which was stretched to ten games by the beginning of the year due to a 0-3 defeat at home to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest resulted in a gap of seven points between Forest in 17th and WHU in 18th. It’s also exactly seven points which West Ham could have added to their tally if they had been able to see out these games:
07.12.25 vs. Brighton (1:1): equaliser conceded 90.+1 minute.
27.12.25 vs. Fulham (0:1): lost because of a goal in the 85th minute.
06.01.26 vs. Nottingham (1:2): Forest scored from the penalty spot in the 89th minute.
31.01.26 vs. Chelsea (2:3): Decisive goal conceded in the 88th minute.
10.02.26 vs. Man Utd: equaliser in the 95th minute (Benjamin Sesko) – a cruel blow for West Ham after having led since the 50th minute courtesy of Tomaš Souček‘s goal. The Hammers were so close to moving level with Nottingham Forest this evening! There hadn’t been an atmosphere like this at London Stadium for a long time.
2nd clean sheet of 2025/26
First-half goals from Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos gave West Ham United a crucial 2-0 Premier League victory at Burnley on Saturday. This was Summerville‘s 5th goal in as many games ⚒️ and it was only the second time this season that West Ham kept a clean sheet, the first one since August against Nottingham Forest (interestingly both coming with Hermansen in goal and Areola on the bench)! 🥅 Well, originally I thought it was the first shutout, but Clemens from the Austrian Irons told me that it wasn’t the first – but it certainly felt like it.
Three massive points won! The Hammers are now only three points behind Nottingham Forest. That’s what the bottom of the Premier League table looks like on Sunday evening:
West Ham‘s Second Anthem
Official music video: ▶️ youtu.be
The line of the song lyrics “Past the Boleyn to the bowl” also highlights the change that took place with the move from the beloved old ground near Upton Park station to the Olympic Stadium at Stratford in 2016.
Now West Ham have a second song alongside well-known “Bubbles”, which has been sung on the terraces since the 1920s.
West Ham’s next fixtures
After West Ham closed the gap from 18th to 17th to two points yesterday, Nottingham Forest responded to make it five again with a massively important 2-0 win at Brentford, and West Ham is again five points from safety. That’s going to be an uphill battle for West Ham and if they survive, this will be very, very close.
Let’s take a look at the Hammers’ upcoming fixtures. Where could the points be coming from?
EXTRA TIME 
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