May 3rd 1975. I was 6. I don't actually remember the game but I do remember wondering if the West Ham players would be confused because there were TWO blokes named Taylor on the team
I also know that it didn't feel right for my dad to have Bobby Moore on the opposing team. I remember too that my favourite player was Mervyn Day as I loved being in goal and his name sounded a bit like Merlin the Magician. FLASHBACK II
May 10th 1980. Now 11, this was maybe the greatest sporting day of my childhood (other than Torvill & Dean winning Gold). My favourite player scoring the winning goal against Arsenal made my fucking year
I was also filled with hatred for Willie Young for his hack on Paul Allen. I couldn't fucking believe it. I was outraged. My blood was fucking boiling 
Anyway, we won & I was over the park in my kit running around after a football like a deranged kid.FLASHBACK III
March 20th 2006. Now I'm an old bastard of 37 & moving from Fresno to either Vegas or San Diego. On this day I'm doing the 5 hour drive to San Diego to look at houses & arrange to meet SurfCityHammer (from HammersMad days) in LA to watch the game at a sports bar on a big screen. No other cunt was in there
Times have definitely changed now as 'soccerball' is popular. When Ashton scored that goal where he did the little flick through the legs I knew we had a superstar who would take West Ham to the next level.And now back to the present day. We're about to meet a completely different Citeh in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. Their squad cost them approximately half a billion quid & they have strength in depth & the man many considered to be the best manager in the world (until recently anyway).
On the other hand we are coming into the game on the back of two losses & we've only scored from open play in one of our last five games.
We're fucked
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West Ham & Citeh have met 103 times with us winning 37 & drawing 17. We've faced them four times in the FA Cup winning 2-1 in 1998 when goals from Berkovic & Lomas cancelled out a strike from Kinkladze at Maine Road. 8 years later we repeated the result up there when an Ashton brace was enough to hold off a late goal from Musampa.
Then in 2008 we drew 0-0 at home in this same fixture before losing the rematch when Elano got the only goal of the game.
Our most recent cup meeting was in the League Cup semi final when we lost 9-0 over the two legs
Razvan Rat was a sub for us back then in January 2014. I wonder what Razvan Rat is up to nowadays. Our best win in recent years was a 4-1 belter in November 2000 when our team looked like this....
Hislop
Pearce Pearce (Ian & Stuart) Ferdinand (Rio) Winterburn
Sinclair Lampard Carrick Lomas
Di Canio Kanoute
We also beat them 5-1 away on 21st March 1970. I remember that day well as it was the first time I used a potty on my own. How fucking chuffed was I? Our team that day included Moore, Howe, Bonds, Lampard, Boyce, Holland, Hurst and a certain Jimmy Greaves who was making his debut. He grabbed a brace &, not to be outdone, Hurst did the same.
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Back to this week & I expect a few changes from the last few games.
Adrian should be called back & maybe Fernandes will get a start too. We may see the return of Carroll to the starting line up & I'd love to see Fletcher starting alongside him. As someone who was at Man Utd from the age of 13 I'd expect him to have a vented interest in the games & not just as a Hammer.
Kouyate & Ayew are gone which will be a big loss but it's now time for squad members to earn their crust. Hopefully Feghouli has his red card overturned so he can continue his progression.
We'll probably see the same back four that we've seen in the last few games (mainly because there's no other realistic options) so it's midfield where we might see changes. Noble should be back and Bilic has to decide whether to stick with a 4-3-3 or two full on strikers up front.
My personal choice would be....
Adrian
Nordtveit Reid Ogbog Cresswell
Antonio Lanzini Obiang Payet
Carroll Fletcher
But I'd expect a Bilic team to look more like....
Adrian
Nordtveit Reid Ogbog Cresswell
Feghouli Noble Obiang
Antonio Lanzini Payet
Either way a win is within our grasp especially if we can get the crowd geed up like the Chelsea game. Both our previous FA Cup wins were 2-1 & I think we'll do the same again.
