Saturday sees West Ham take on Sheffield United for the first time in the Premier League since they famously found themselves heading for the courts in 2007. The tale all started on transfer deadline day in August 2006, when the Londoners, who had finished ninth in their first season back in the top flight following two seasons in the second tier, sprung a significant surprise with two South American signings.
Both Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano had been linked with big-money moves to Europe after impressing for Argentina at the 2006 World Cup but somehow wound their way to Upton Park.
The method by which the Londoners pulled off the coup involved delving into the murky world of third-party ownership, with agent Kia Joorabchian the major mover in engineering their arrival in the East End from Brazilian club Corinthians.
Despite the controversy, Tevez and Mascherano’s registrations passed and they were both set to play a big part in Alan Pardew’s plans – or so it seemed.
Strangely enough for two players brought in from sunny Sao Paulo, seemingly even to their own surprise, they struggled to adapt to life in London and Mascherano would leave for Liverpool in January where he soon found his feet.
Tevez stayed put but it took until the same month for him to make his first start and by that time Pardew had been sacked following the club’s worst run of results for over 70 years and former player Alan Curbishley was installed as his replacement.
Curbishley started slowly and with nine games to go, the Hammers were rock bottom of the table, four points from safety, but 11 adrift of Sheffield United.
United looked safe but lost form at the wrong time, picking up just seven points from their remaining games, three of which came in a 3-0 win over the Hammers.
In contrast, West Ham collected 21 from a possible 27, with victories over Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Arsenal, Everton, Wigan, Bolton and, on the final day, champions Manchester United. At the same time, the South Yorkshire side were losing 2-1 at home to Wigan and with the Hammers making up the most points of any team to survive who had been bottom of the table with nine games remaining, it was Neil Warnock’s men who went down.
Tevez is still a cult hero at his former club after scoring seven times in the last 10 games, goals which left Warnock and the Blades hierarchy furious. Things were hardly made worse when in April 2007, the Londoners had pleaded guilty to breaking third-party ownership rules. However, rather than being docked points, they were controversially fined £5.5m.
Later on they agreed to £20m in compensation but the bad blood between the clubs still remained in the aftermath.
West Ham fans to wear Carlos Tevez masks for this weekend’s game against Sheffield United.https://t.co/vqE9lF2wKt
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) October 25, 2019
Fast forward over a decade and just to add an extra bit of spice, the rumour doing the rounds on social media is that sections of the home fans will wear Tevez masks in an attempt to further antagonise the away supporters.
The truth is, plenty has happened to both clubs in the 12 years since they last clashed in the Premier League, and Blades boss Chris Wilder himself has described the affair as “water under the bridge” ahead of Saturday’s game.
This season they have both been entertaining to watch, with West Ham inconsistent at both ends of the field. Meanwhile, Wilder’s innovative 3-5-2 formation has seen Sheffield United take the Premier League by storm and they beat Arsenal 1-0 on Monday.
Saturday’s clash promises to be an open and exciting affair and, come 5pm, the smoke and mirrors which clouded the end of the 2006-07 season should hopefully be forgotten.
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