Many feared that West Ham would fade and die during the 2001-2002 season. Former gaffer Harry Redknapp had been sacked in mysterious circumstances and would never again exclaim that a Hammers side is 'down to the bare bones'. Meanwhile, Glenn Roeder - the man who was initially told not even to apply for the job - admitted to feeling like a 100-1 outsider who had won the Grand National upon being handed the job no one else would take. Young England stars Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard had been sold for 30 million and Leeds fans greeted the appearance of the massive new Dr. Martens stand with a refrain of 'Is that the Rio stand?' Furthermore, the bookies had West Ham down as certainties for relegation and there was universal bemusement at West Ham's appointment of a rookie Premiership manager. Pete May has supported the Hammers ever since he heard cries from the Chicken Run of 'Come on Hammers really pep it up and make it mediocre!' and 'Remember goals, West Ham? They were big in the Seventies!' He offers a supporters' view of Glenn Roeder's crucial first season, while also reminiscing about some of the funniest moments in Hammers' history.

Pete May is author of The Lad Done Bad and Sunday Muddy Sunday. He has written about West Ham in The Guardian, Observer, Loaded, Time Out, Midweek, New Statesman, Goal, 90 Minutes and Total Football. He was a founder editor of the award winning fanzine Fortune's Always Hiding and a columnist in West Ham fanzine On a Mission.

- How can the Irons lose 7-1 at Blackburn and then win 1-0 at Old Trafford? - What was defender Hayden Foxe doing hitting the bar and then relieving himself over it at the Hammers drunken Christmas party? - Did Trevor Sinclair really write his transfer request in the language of a Mondeo driving salesman? - Is Christian Dailly the new Franz Beckenbauer? - Will flawed genius Paolo Di Canio ever be transferred to Manchester United and, if so, will he discuss his Mussolini biographies with ex-shop steward Sir Alex Ferguson? - Will Carrick, Cole and Defoe be going too or will the quiet dignity of the studious Roeder pull the Irons out of the mire? Pete May answers these questions and many more as he guides the reader through the tormented and often hilarious world of the West Ham supporter where, too often, fortune is always hiding.>