Time for high fives and handshakes all round at St Mary's.

All very friendly as Ronald Koeman presses the flesh with the opposition bench.

Image source, Getty Images

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman, whose first managerial job was with Vitesse, started the trash talk yesterday.

The Dutchman believes that Chelsea's close relationship with Vitesse - who are owned by Blues' owner Roman Abramovich's close friend Alexander Chigirinsky - is damaging the club.

Chelsea regularly loan youngsters and fringe squad members to Vitesse as part of a partner club arrangement

"In my time, we played in front of 25,000 to 26,000 people every home game and now if they play against Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord, there is 20,000 or 22,000 maximum," said Koeman.

"Maybe the people lost a little bit of the connection, the feeling with the club, because it is not really like before."

He may have been sacked as Southampton boss and replaced by Mauricio Pochettino in January 2013. 

But Nigel Adkins, now manager at Sheffield United, clearly has lost none of his affection for the club.

Image source, .

Around 1,500 Vitesse fans have travelled to Southampton from the Dutch city of Arnhem.

That's pretty impressive for a Europa League qualifier. However, just how many have invested in a half and half scarf is unclear. 

Image source, .

A first West Ham corner is greeted with encouraging cheers from the home fans.

Up roll the big guns from the back as James Collins and Angelo Ogbonna stride forward into the box.

And Dimitri Payet fails to beat the first defender at the near post.

Disappointing.

The first little bit of danger at the West Ham end as William De Amorim's pass almost finds Constatin Budescu in a dangerous position.

Image source, Getty Images

Southampton's last venture into Europe was  in September 2003 when Gordon Strachan led them into the then-Uefa Cup on the back of finishing as FA Cup runners-up behind Arsenal the previous May.

They lost in the first round, going down 2-1 on aggregate to Steaua Bucureșt.

Since then they have taken in a circuitous route back to continental competition. Just over four years ago they were in League One.

Southampton are back in Europe for the first time in 12 seasons and one former long-serving Saints defender is truly excited.

Rod Wallace did a fair bit of damage at Southampton before moving north to Elland Road as well,

West Ham are seeing plenty of the ball in the early stages. Enner Valencia had an opening to run at but the Astra defenders rushed across to shut the door.

We are up and running. West Ham have set up with a diamond in midfield with young Reece Oxford at the defensive base.

The teams are out at Upton Park. This is what we are looking at ...

West Ham:  Adrian, Cresswell, Kouyate, Zarate, Noble (c), O'Brien, Collins, Ogbonna, Payet, Valencia, Oxford. Subs: Spiegel, Nolan, Jarvis, Maiga, Poyet, Burke, Samuelsen.

Astra:  Lung, Alves, Seto, Enache, Budescu, Morais, Boldrin, Gaman, Teixeira, Quieros, De Amorim. Subs: Gavrilas, Florea, Oros, Lovin, Dandea, Alves, Stan.

We can't all be on holiday like Anthony. 

Luckily BBC London 94.9  have live commentary of events at Upton Park.

And you can too. Just hit the live coverage tab on this page and get  Bradley Allen's wise words to accompany your evening.