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http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=762595…
GFZ isn't done just yet!
The guy who sits next to me in the Brooking Stand said at the first home game of the season – 'We're going down with this team you know, they are not good enough!' He's been supporting West Ham for over 60 years so he should know a few things. we had just beaten Wolves away and were playing Spurs at home. I laughed at the time, saying the team will probably hit mid-table at least. Well, here we are, going down it seems. I am not a betting man, but he tends to get the score right too! I knew we would not beat Stoke – just looking at the form of both teams tells you that. I honestly can't see where another point is going to come from but one thing is for sure – there is no way we will ever score again with the team set out as it is at the moment. I liked the team selection, but once they got into position – well, it was clear we will lose. Who can we get in? I fancy Stuart Pearce as he would put players in their right position, set the team up 4-4-2 and kick arse to motivate the team until the end of the season. Not possible though considering his current employment. Whoever comes in, just keep it simple, put players in their correct position and see the difference. Venables and O'Leary – gotta laugh at those suggestions! Long term we need someone who will get us out of the Championship and build a team around those who stay, probably a young squad I guess.
Apart from the ones that Sullivan let go this week.
What a slap in the face for all of us , by this so called bunch of useless B…….s masquerading as the once proud WEST HAM UNITED, have they no shame , and as for the "manager" how he can show his face is beyond me.
It appears that Sullivan and Gold have a massive problem. They have tried at every turn to undermine Zola, end project football and move on the staff who were committed to it.
Now, they have their wish, so they call an emergency board meeting to decide what their options are in hiring a new manager as they finally feel they have enough fan support for a sacking.
Then the bad news hits. McLeish won't come, and Birmingham won't let him either. The other board members will not countenance the idea of Hoddle, Support for O'Leary or Venables is like warm at best. Mark Hughes thinks he can get a better offer and who could argue with that.
They have absolutely stuffed themselves with their attitude towards Gianfranco Zola, and if Zola walks over the issue of who is actually in charge of team affairs the owners are going to look incredibly stupid.
Whatever anyone thinks of Zola's team selection and tactics, would anyone really expect him to take the flack for decisions he is not able to make freely? How can any manager manage with the level of interference that he seems to be suffering. What manager would want to take that problem on in addition to a relegation dogfight?
The fact that they are looking at Hoddle should tell the fans everything about the real position that the club is now in under the new owners. I don't know these guys personally so I won't question their initial motives, but they must change their modus operandi if they are to prosper at West Ham.
lam gutted we have wasted 3 games we should and could of won or drawn,l thought we would do well this season,but its not all down to the new owners,look at the stats Aug 2 wins Sept no wins no draws Oct no wins Dec 6 games 1 win Jan no wins,and that's before the new owners.26 games only 5 wins !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree it has been an awful season, but the previous owners spent nothing in the summer, (quite understandably in their position), but rather than hold onto Collins or at least move to acquire cover for vital positions they did nothing of any note.
At that point, pretty much any manager would have been stuck. Then the new owners buy players that really don't do what the manager needs and now it seems without much consultation. I think that more experienced managers than ours would have suffered similarly, though maybe with more experience the fall might not have been so hard.
We really need stability at the club, whichever manager we have it is impossible for the playing staff to be pulled in more than one direction. One manager for a team is enough, and business between the manager and the chairman should be done in private.
well said.
The constant undermining of this novice manager has only served to knock all confidence and assurance from both manager and team.
Make no mistake these two men are largely responsible for this position
Very true
There is only one choice for manager and its James Corden (Smithy).
Have you not seen how he can motivate an audience and he is a true West Ham fan!!
Its a no brainer!!
Team for championship is still strong….
apart from green cole parker upson behrami cant see many leaving.
spector gabbs tomkins/dacosta ilunga
stanislas noble collison lbm
hines…..nouble/dixon/a preseason mccarthy.
Chris – I thought you were going to stop posting on this blog. . Might be best if you did as your knowledge of football hasn't improved.
The most important point about the next manager regarding his relationship with the owners is that whoever it is he will be appointed by Gold and Sullivan, that means if he fails to deliver for whatever reason the blame will come home to roost.
You can't help but think that had we had any other takeover, we would be nowhere near the bottom 4 now. Zola is largely culpable yes, but the owners have been a disaster.
I suggest that from day one, their undermining of the players and the manager has spread disharmony and unrest. Why would the players want to stick around knowing that tweedle dee and tweedle dum are there to continue to slag them off in the press, and cut their wages.
If I was a West Ham player, I would want out too. As Sullivan taking charge of signings. He is responsible for bringing in McCarthy, Ilan and Mido. Not one of these has been remotely successful. He also moans about the centre back position and the lack of balance on the left wing but did not bring in any players in the window- when we had the chance.
£15 Million spent on Chamakh now would have sealed our place for next year – instead we now have 3 ordinary strikers who are just cluttering up the squad.
I fear that the real rot set in when the Chairmen came.
Now other managers will not want to have anything to do with us, knowing that these two are in charge. What decent manager would want to come into a club knowing that many important managerial duties will be passed to Sullivan. Sullivan has even taken control of future signings. I really fear for us now.
andy, Belly Mccarthy was a panic buy along with Mi-dough nut,total waste of space including the Brazilian.
whats been so shambolic is Zolas failure to recognize Mido and Belly are unplayable,against wolves and stoke Diamanti was a better option.
I think the 2 davids are right in trying to get zola to resign,he needs removing at all costs,if we had money he would of been sacked.
The pair of them made a huge error in not removing him before the wolves game.
Answer me this,why after beating hull and birmingham with a balanced midfield did he change it again?
Hello all…
I been visiting this site since the time of the Gold / Sullivan takeover, looking for some inside info & gossip and i gotta say some of you really know your onions (some dont )
This is the first time i've felt strongly enough on the matter at hand to post my opinion, so here goes
1. We need Zola / Clarke OUT
2. We need a manager with chamionship experience. (next season)
3. We need someone respected by nearly ALL Hammers fans
4. We need someone who would be willing to come and not cost a small fortune to get.
5. We need someone English / British who knows how to set a team up and play the game with commitment & passion
6, We need ALAN PARDEW……..
AGREE 1 TO 5 NO THANKS TO 6
couldn't agree more,u obviously know your football,look forward to your posts,welcome.
I fully agree. Pardew might save us – and if not he has good experience int he championship.
He was also extremely unlucky not to win us the fa cup. Because of Liverpool extreme good fortune we were denied our first cup for 17 years – nobody else came close to that – he also got us up and had a successful season with moderate players
I would go for him too.
I don't know that Mr Pardew would be greeted back with open arms by the players, there was a particular reason often quoted for his departure which I won't mention here, that might not endear him to the playing staff.
That lot are gone Tony.
Mobray is another that knows the division,just a thought.
We now have a Manager who is quite understandably doubting his own ability. We have players that are now wondering if they are good enough.
If you are continually told(by the chairmen) that you are no good you will eventually start believing it.
The fact is, Zola is on his first Managerial position. Would we be in this position if we had a better manager with more experience? No, but he is a novice manager who was showing promise for the future.
The relationship between coaching staff, players and Chairmen can be compared with an abusive relationship.
One partner is continually abused, beaten down until all self esteem and confidence has long since expired. In public, of course the dominant partner espouses the merits of the relationship and how it is as strong and respectful as ever.
A stronger partner with more self-belief would rise to it and confront the other and prove the other wrong.
Unfortunately our manager and players are no longer confident or even willing to stay in this relationship any more. The players and Manager probably lost all will to fight for the cause – they no longer believe in relationship.
Honestly. The likes of Green, Upson, Cole, Parker,Ilunga, Behrami, Collison, Dyer, Faubert, Franco – they all know they will be sold or leaving at the end of the season – why would they want to stay in an abusive environment.
We may get a manager in but I can't see us getting a proper, confident, seasoned pro, who is able to stand up to the chairmen and possibly thrive on the pressure. Who really would want to come to that?
Zola must go but I can't see who will save us now
Possibilities
Bilic – ruled himself out. Got the Euro Qualifying to concentrate on
Hoddle – ruled himself out. Wouldn't want to play under these two
Pardew – Doing well for Southampton. Would he want to come back? Is he strong?
Pearce-Strong personality but intelligent enough not to want the hassle
Hughes – Wants too much money
Curbishley – May come back but would we want him? No
McLaren- Doing great in Holland. He wouldn't want the hassle. Not strong enough
Venables-Only interested in money. may come back
Brooking-Won't want the hassle. Too decent to want anything to do with chairmen
Graham-Strong personality. Experienced. Wouldn't want the hassle
O'Leary-Took a good Leeds team down. Too self-absorbed
Sven Goran Erikkson. Chases the cash.
The only Managers I can think of here that might be possibilities who are strong characters are
1.George Graham – Probably been out too long. Won't suit our style. Outdated but may organize quickly which we need.
2.Pardew. May come back but is he strong enough and will he want the hassle?
3. Brooking. Interim Manager-experienced after taking over from Roeder. I doubt he will want the hassle to deal with the owners.
4. Venables. Most recent management has been a failure. His record with Palace was a disgrace
5. Erikkson. Would demand too much money. Seems to take bizarre appointments when money is waved in front of him. We need more commitment
So – Because of the chairmen, we not only have a busted flush of a manager and terribly disillusioned dispirited players, but no decent manager will want to come in to replace Zola.
Pardew would be my number one but I'm not sure he would want the hassle. Graham might be a good appointment with his record of bringing stability and balance. Would bore us to death with his style though and has been out too long.
I think we all agree though that Zola is the worse option. We must do something now.
If Zola connot develop his leadership style beyond focusing inwardly when our players are out performed he must step down. A good coach and a talented, technically gifted man at the helm is not what football teams need.
We need someone who is hard to please, ruthless. Someone who, when his team are 5-0 up against Burnley, gets pitchside and shows even more hunger , desire and passion, someone motivates his players afterward in preparation for the next game, and faces the media making it clear there is still work to be done.
We don't really need a manager with a high profile. We need a manager who doesn't like to lose and who will put the fear of god into the players if they don't deliver – in the way our boys haven't delivered.
More reasons to be concerned.
Gold and Sullivan's alleged backing for Zola. We are heading down with him.
Considering their reluctance to back Zola and unwillingness to stop undermining him in the press, this stance now does seem absurd. I can only think that their attempts on bringing in other managers have been met with deaf ears. They now know that they are stuck with Zola.
Their short but incredibly unappealing tenure had only managed to repulse every potential manager enough that they wouldn't consider coming to this once great club whilst these two remain in charge.
I'm personally trying to get myself used to the thought of the Championship now, so that when it happens, it will be just that little bit less painful.
Same old west ham – always let you down.
Andy don't worry my friend,the championship is an exciting league and i have no doubt we will come straight back again, probably a stronger unit.
With the parachute paying you get to gamble your chips by keeping your players and hoping for an immediate return a hand we should play.
As for some of these players leaving,apart from Cole and Parker and Green I cant see many more being snapped up,maybe a return to italy for Diamanti.
There are reports that dyer was injured,this is not true,dyer was taken off for tactical reasons.
Zola preferring the narrow midfield.
Sadly though Dyer was not really giving us width. He was tucked in most of the time, probably under orders. The one time he got down the line we got a chance, sadly it fell to Mido's head!
and you would know he is not injured….how??
Speaking for myself let me see, Dyer is fully healthy but is playing too wide, or Dyer is crocked again….which is more likely??
On the bright side, Burnley are losing.
Its the morning after the night before and I am still as low as I was after the game. I fear yesterday could mark the end of my 40 year relationship with WH. I first attended in 1970 and enjoyed many highs – I was at the 1975, 1980 and 1981 Wembley finals and at Cardiff for the Liverpool and Preston games. If we are relegated , which will happen unless there is a minor miracle, I will not renew my season ticket. It costs me £30 just to get to every game and is a 200+ mile round journey and I won't be shelling out for championship games.
We have just played three 'winnable' home games from which I felt realistically we needed four points. In the event we got nothing – I was on holiday for the Bolton game and hoped I had missed a 'one-off' but the two games this week were a disaster. The manager is clearly unable to motivate the team, he does not know his best eleven and has no tactical awareness. Sadly it would be difficult even for Sir Alex to turn things around now – Hull have Burnley at home in an easier run in than us and their confidence is up.
I hope my negativity proves unfounded but, as things stand, its championship here we come.
I think the general consensus is that it is down to us and Hull for the last spot, especially with Burnley currently losing 1-0 to Blackburn at home.
I am now thinking that if it comes down to a straight fight between us and Hull, Hull will be victorious. They have a game in hand on us and the easier fixtures.
At best we will pick up 3 wins – and that is being optimistic in the extreme.
However, look at Wigan. they are 4 points ahead of us with a game in hand. But have a look at these fixtures.
West ham(best case scenario here! 3 wins but 3 losses)
Everton away – 0 points
Sunderland Home – 3 points
Liverpool away – 0 points
Wigan home – 3 points
Fulham away – 3 points
Man City home – 0 points
Hull City(11 points) And that is conservative. they could easily win at stoke and win at birmingham. So possibly they could pick up 16 points. They might even beat Liverpool at home to make it 19 points.
Stoke away – 1 point
Burnley home – 3 points
Birmingham away – 0 points
Aston Villa home – 3 points
Sunderland home – 3 points
Wigan away – 0 points
Liverpool home- 1 point
Wigan
Fulham away – 0 points
Portsmouth home – 3 points
Arsenal home – 0 points
West Ham away – 0 points
Hull – home – 3 points
Chelsea – away – 0 points
So 6 points for Wigan who have the hardest fixtures. They also come to west ham. I think Hull will get out of it and get out of it quite easily in the end. They have Van hesselink up front with Boateng and Bullard in midfield and they are on the up.
That would leave the table like this
Hull 38 points
Wigan 37 points
West ham 36 points
Portsmouth
This for me is a quite conservative and if anything, optimistic outlook for west ham – and we are still going down. If we can get 3 wins from the last 9 – unlikely at best, then we will still go down but within a point of wigan. We must try to somehow get 10 and that way we might stay up on goal difference and send wigan down. That is not going to happen. but really, our nearest contenders for me are wigan. Hull will win quite a few of their easier fixtures and send us down
The only hope is a new manager with real fight – a real bulldog who takes no prisoners and passes on that spirit to the team.
Pearce – pardew?
George Graham is left-field but might be just what we need – he could also organize
I think we could still be good for 10 points. I don't think that Hull will get as many as you think, perhaps 7 points in total. I actually fancy Burnley to go to Hull and get a draw. We need to hope that Fulham get through to the Europa league semi-final. The second leg of the semi game is on 29th April and then we would play them two/ three days later. As you say there is also faint hope that we could catch Wigan. We need to hope that City smash them tomorrow. We're not relegated yet…
They are all talking like zola is past news – speculating about who will come in
I wish that was the case. We all agree though that Zola has to leave or get sacked for us to stand a cat in hells chance. 0 points from 6 games – why would that be different for the last 6?
Come on owners, earn your crust here – this is your second big test and you have to pass it. The first was not getting a right back, centre back, left midfielder and a top drawer striker.
3 duff strikers is just not good enough!
what was their first big test and do you think they passed it?
I Iogged on several times yesterday to post comments but just couldn't bring myself to such was my disappointment.
Going right back to the sale of Ginge, the failure to make signings, the poor balance of the team, the seemingly inflexible and predictable tactics, and the lack of guile I think we all saw this battle with relegation coming.
We are renowned for discovering and developing fresh talent through our academy. However, this season like, the relegation season of 2002, too much has been expected of them too soon. When Hines, Stanislas, Tomkins, Edgar, Nouble, Sears and Deprela came into our side this season it was not because they were ready, it was because we had no better option, no strength in depth.
I know people will argue if your good enough your old enough but these lads have been expected to do a job beyond what would be expected of them at many other clubs.
I think the same is true of Zola. They have all been hurled in at the deep end. The purchase/loans of older players, last year (Tristan, et al), was clearly to help nurse through some of these young lads – it had limited success in the eyes of some because we only finished mid table.
My fear is that we are developing some great players for the future who will go on to leave feeling they have a lot to prove – they will feel more inclined to prove this back at West Ham with future clubs – a la Carrick, Defoe etc.
The policy with bringing in older players, who would ’mentor’ these youngsters on and off the field, can be a good one. It is in danger of backfiring, though, as the core of any squad needs to be both experienced, capable, and time served. The ‘revolving door’ practice gives the imbalance of senior players having fewer games and less time at the club than the players they are mentoring. Obviously the dynamics of the mentoring role are seriously undermined as a result.
I do wonder whether Zola is the right man for management. Not because of the results that leave where we are, but because if you look at successful managers, they are nothing like Zola. He is really nice bloke. A manger, any manager, needs to be a blend of things and ruthless comes first, nice bloke is not on the list.
At least Burnley have just been beaten at home to Blackburn 0-1.
Fell asleep after the first sentence of that essay. Decidied not to attempt reading it again once I awoke. I will hazard a guess that it was along the lines of… "BG is wonderful, Iceland is great, Duxbury I love you. Sullivan is evil , Sullivan bombed our chippy etc"… No doubt, as usual, it also contained a few libelous comments about Sullivan as well. Notice how brave he is by continuously making libelous comments on someone elses blog.
PS. Loved the lie about not going to Upton Park because of the owners.
Dont worry, Iain has my email address and anyone who wants to take legal issue with me about my comments is quite welcome to do so.
Now hurry up and click the thumbs down like a good little muppet!
In the words of me. Fuck off you two bob, armchair watching, non contributing, overseas cunt.
I'm still perplexed as to why we are in this mess. On paper, we could have bagged a position between 9th and 14th this season but obviously paper is not our best surface.
I believe our players fall into three groups.
Those that care and fight for the shirt…
Those that don't give a damn and are out for themselves
Those who are not good enough
Here's how I rate them….
WHO CARES WHO PLAY FOR THEMSELVES NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Parker Green Noble
Behrami Cole Kovac
Faubert Upson Tomkins
Franco McCarthy Mido
Spector
Ilan
Stanislas
Ilunga
As for Diamanti…we he could fit into all three categories, I just don't know.
Good chat about west ham on radio five live.
All three on here seem to be against Zola staying. they think he isn't bringing anything to the table.
They also say that many of the players are lacking fight. Ray parlour who seems a good bloke, is really behind us but is not so optimistic. Sees that we have very good players but not trying hard enough – he is bang on!
They say they cant think of a nice guy manager – not one!
He thinks we must get rid of Zola but zola wont go because of his huge contract. He thinks venables should come in
For me – Pearce, Pardew, venables or Graham. Any one of them has to be better than what we have.
Rather than the sale of Collins, I think our troubles began when we replaced Bellamy with Savio. We lost a proven goalscorer and did not replace him. Cracks were papered over last season but came back to haunt us this year(eg having to play Nouble way ahead of time). Not only did we miss the goalscorer but we lost the money we gained from Bellamy. Following the swap of Savio, effectively we replaced Bellamy with DaCosta!
I see a night of restless sleep has done little to impose some order and rationality on people.
Firstly us getting relegated suits Gollivan to a tee, its carte blanch to sell every single player who attracts interest. Green, Faubert, Upson, Parker, Kovac, Behrami, Noble, Collison, Diamanti, Cole, Dyer and McCarthy are all gone. The excuse will be wages and the old financial armageddon crap they have been spouting. Zola will walk, he is too honourable a man not to take this as a personal failing and they will have to pay him nothing in compo. You can also wave goodbye to any of the highly talented young players we have, the likes of Hall and Vose are gone for a start. Others like LBM, Ilan and Mido will be released
We will begin July with virtually no players what so ever. Having trousered around £40M in transfer fees and another £20M in parachute payments they will spend next to nothing on bringing in staff and players to give us a couple of stagnant seasons in the the championship. They know they have at least 2 seasons of 30,000 or so match day crowds before the numbers drop so after the second season they will announce a few signings and a lot of media crap about this being a pivitol promotional season thereby inticing fans back for another season.
If that team comes up then expect little in the way of signings to keep it up.
The only thing that will change this is if the Olympic stadium plans are dead, that really is the golden goose for these scumbags. Its the big shiny thing that they kept waving at fans to distract them from the fact that the porn pigmy and crap dracula were running the club into the ground. Ask yourselves this, why wasnt an ultimatum put to those in charge of the stadiums usage post Olympics? Britian is in the midst of a severe economic belt tightening. There will be no better time to offer a solution that makes money from the stadium and puts it back into government cofffers? Easy, if they got the nod before we got relegated the fans would react against them.
Sullivan and Gold are supposed to be long term business partners yet not only are they not singing from the same hymn sheet they are not even in the same choir. Sullivan is mouthing off constantly, slagging off the players and more importantly the manager while Gold backs Zola to the hilt. Why? Answer to unsettle the players and ensure we go down while they look like they did their best to keep us up.
For all the talk about our impending doom and the muppets who believed every word that sawn off runt Sullivan bleated about how without them the club would have gone to the wall, for all the bollox and out right lies they tried to tell people about the state of the clubs finances they have done absolutely nothing to change or improve our financial position. They have paid no money off the debts, they have made no offer to do so and have not changed their position on refusing to pay down the debt themselves.
They made some big headline small savings cuts, a car that had been leased by the club was returned? Really wow lads, and with the savings we didnt buy Kaka? Its pathetic how people lapped this up. Like tearing up a car lease was going to save us. I guess the failed to mention there would have been a fee for cancelling the lease and the cost of the car was a write off anyway.
The accounts show a total liability of £95M for the club. Not the £115M or even the £140M that Gollivan claimed. I could personally reduce this to around £60M by ripping up the deal with the blunts, renegotiating terms on part of the loans and reclassifiying some of the debt. Added to the tax write offs from how the debts are repayed the figure could be brought down to somewhere between £50-£60M or around two thirds of our turnover.
In todays premier league thats a pretty damn good figure and even at £95M we had about as much chance of going bust as Bill Gates.
I have been absent from this site a lot lately, primarily because of family matters but to be honest I got a little sick of all the grief I was getting. People were falling over themselves to tel me I was wrong, that without Gollivan we were out of business by tuesday lunch time, that I should shut up and let them get on with running the club. The fact is I havent been to see a game since the takeover and I simply cant bring myself to contribute in anyway shape or form to putting money in their pockets.
I am sure I will get as much stick for this post, from those who cant read anything longer than a Sun headline and those who will say the fact I was not born withing earshot of Bow's Bells but I love this club as much as anyone and far more than my need to say I told you so to all of those who heralded Gollivans arrival as the salvation of the club
yaaaaaaaaaaaawn.
oh haha, you wrote yawn, to make it look like you were bored, wow what a razor sharp wit you have. If you had a friend they would think you were hilarious!
And if you had less weight you could haul your fat backside out of that armchair and change the bloody record. This place was a lovely place to visit while you were on your holiday. It sadly once again has the stench of a fat overseas armchair supporter opening its mouth.
do you have an opinion about the club, how its run, what is happening or does your obsession with me stop you from forming other opinions? if you dont like my posts why do you so slavishly respond to them.
No hurry up and click the thumbs down button, like the lonely obsessed little stalker you are
You will find it's actually just plain old Bow Bells, and not Bow's Bells. But then I wouldn't expect an outsider who has rarely, if ever, ventured to London to know that. Especially one so thick as you.
shouldnt you be loggin in and out to click the thumbs down button.
now do as you're told and click thumbs down.
actually when you think of it, me telling you to click thumbs down and you doing it kind of makes you my bitch!
does it feel good knowing that?
Good change of subject. But the subject was actually about you being a thick, outsider, alien, overseas idiot. I await your next piece of evidence proving your total lack of any knowledge at all of the surrounding area of the team you allege to "support".
its not sexism, its about you only being able to justify your existence through me. Oh you can pedantically pick over every post, or correct my spelling like you were so fond of doing, you can log in and out as much as you like and click the thumbs down button lots of times but at the end of the day its all because of ME! Without me you have no purpose!
I cant imagine being so completely defined by a person I have never met.
Now be a good man and click the thumbs down button.
Isn't there a family crisis you can go and deal with? No fat old gran aboiut to expire? no alcohol poisoned, urine fragranced trout of a mother to bury? alcohol poisoning being the demise of choice among you celts I understand. This place was so much nicer when you were gone.
Well you get my vote, I desperately didn't want these idiots in nad nothing they have done has made me feel i was wrong, As soon as they cam in the have self publicised, in all honesty Sullivan makes my skin crawl, I actually think Gold is a fan but that doesn't mean he knows about club management. I think you're close to the truth here, I peosted earlier that i thought they were assett stripping the club and I everything that I read confirms that. In all honesty I won't be sad to see half these players go0, evn Cole has flattered to decieve but that might be because of the way they've treated Zola. I don't see him staying and I think he is hopelesly out of depth but I don't like to see him being pretty much puclically humiliated by these two. Unfortunately the last few seasons have done nothing to enhance the reputation of West Ham, strting with the signings of Tevez & Mascherino and it will finish with relegation. If I was a supporter of another club, I'd be glad to see the back of us not due to competition but becuase we've turned into footballs version of the Dodgu Soho club and that's what really hurts.
There's always something very worrying about being lectured to by overseas, alien armchair viewers (I hesitate to use the word supporter, as a genuine supporter actually contributes to what they support). I blame TV. Roll on the day when TV bores of football.
by the way you missed a post! if you go to AndyHammers last post, I replied and you forgot to click thumbs down. Come on man, I expected better than this, go back and sort it out and try not to make the same mistake again
Bored now. Heres hoping the celtic twat has someone to bury soon, then we will be rid once again. The less of his kind the better I reckon.
you got mixed up with your logins and forget to change before you posted, rookie mistake, you've been doing this for a couple of years or more you should have known better by now.
Hate to intrude on private grief, but would only wish to say that I for one always read your posts in full Celtic. I find them challenging at times, sometimes hard to swallow but always thought provoking and tinged with controversy – just the sort of stuff a really good blog like this should contain.
For what it's worth mate, we can all see that there is a total plank who does indeed have an obsession with you and I am sure I speak for the majority when i say that we really wish you'd just ignore the prick and carry on doing your thing. Just a thought, mate.
Celtic…I'll trade you one stalker for one grammar-challenged obsessive. Happy to throw in a '75 FA Cup winner's shirt and a signed Harry Redknapp bus ticket.
Headmaster I do usually try and ignore it but its been going on for years. I dont respond to personal crap, for starters I'm not fat, not an armchair fan and certainly not an alien. I can even ignore the rubbish he says about my mother to try and provoke me simply because its laughable but I must admit at times I react just to wind the guy up!
I do get a bit of a laugh at how quick and how obsessively he clicks the thumbs down button though.
I'm still mystified as to how we are in this mess. On paper, our players are generally considered good enough to finish anywhere from 9th to 14th. Obviously, paper is not our preferred surface.
The lack of experience of Zola and Clarke has obviously cost us dear, but it is the players, for me, who have let us down.
They fall into Four categories in my book.
1. Those who would put their lives on the line for the shirt.
2. Those who don't give a damn but are here for their own selfish reasons.
3. Those who are simply not good enough.
4. Those worth keeping.
Group 1 (Parker, Behrami, Faubert, Franco)
Group 2 (Green, Cole, Upson, McCarthy)
Group 3 (Tompkins, Ilunga, Noble, Kovac, Mido, Ilan, Stanislas)
Group 4. Diamanti, DaCosta, Daprella and Dyer.
Interesting post, Lofty. Personally I disagree with you on Tompkins who I think is going to be a really top player in 3 or 4 years time, and also Stanislas who will certainly be able to do a job next year if indeed we are in the CCC, as seems likely.
Headers…I was going to add that both Stanislas and Tompkins could conceivably make my group four, but to be honest I would lose sleep if they both went.
An interesting diversion on this post.
I don't agree regarding the management team. Clarke has years of experience at the top working with high quality big ego players. For some reason they have not got the players working coherently. Not the first time (Roeder and Pardew in the final season had the same problem). Who knows why…maybe it is cliques, maybe resent for the big earners.
Semantic but Ilan is a group 2 for me.
The group 3 is the debate. I agree with the head on Tomkins. He is not really quick but a good footballer. He has been let down by Upson when he has stared but is worth keeping. He needs to develop upper body strength but I tink he is worth keeping. Stanslaus, you may be right, he is not good enough yet. He is doesn't concentrate and is a liability defensively but but has good feet. To make it he needs to get fitter and take players on otherwise he needs to go. The others , yeah probably agree, maybe hard on Ilunga who I don't think ever got over the broken jaw and subsequent downtime at the start f the season.
I wany to be a fan of Diamanto but he is a mentalist and is driving me to distraction so he might be a 3. I'm glad you put da Costa in 4. I think he has done OK when he played. I know he got mugged yesterday for the goal but apart from that did pretty well.
I don't pay much attention to Sullivans comments but I believe he was saying he thought the team weren't fit enough and I think that is true for several players. Do you really think Dyer is worth keeping. If he is even 2 i three fit for 90 he is a must but no evidence. I see him as a 2.
You left out Spector (3), Gabbidon (4).
Whilst things are incredibly bleak I have to be positive and have to believe we can turn it round.
As an aside. I don't think that is a real photo of you. I'm sure I would have recognised you at the ground…maybe you don't wear the hat!
OilDrum…Agree with Specs and Gabbs. Probably right about Ilan, too, but I don't blame him though.
How frustrating is Diamante? Even after 20 odd games, I can't decide whether I want to kill or hug him.
As for Dyer, I honestly can't blame him for his injuries. We have paid 40000 million quid, we might as well stick with it to see what happens.
As for my hat…helps keep me incognito. Don't want to run the risk of bumping into ChrisChris. My ultimate nightmare.
Deleted due to boredom. yaaaaawn.
Yes you should be!
crumbs of comfort, but we'll take it. That's just it when you think about it – yeserday's result at Hull aside – virtually every result has gone for us in the last month. Makes our plight all the more lamentable. In any other season we'd have been dead and buried by now and, unlike chrischris, I actually don't fully accept that is yet the case.
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Let's get back to football for a moment. A number of prior comments mentioned that we just want a manager that will put the same 11 on the pitch and give them confidence. Then he went on to support GFZ. The problem is GFZ has *not* put the same 11 on the pitch. But, moreover, I have watched 32 WHUFC matches this year, all sadly on television as I could not get back to London for a saturday match, but I have nevertheless watched every minute of 32 matches, and I can NOT answer the following questions about our players:
What position does Behrami play? Is he a left wing? (???) A holding midfielder? A right flank player who protects the right back? An attacking midfielder from the middle?
What position does Diamanti play? A left-footed right wing who cuts inside? A play-making offensive midfielder who also takes all set pieces? A left wing who is supposed to track back and help the out-of-position right-back-playing-left-back?
What position does PARKER play? Holding midfielder? Playmaking midfielder?
What is Dyer? A striker? A wing?
What position does Collison play?
What is Noble? [same questions as above]
What is Stanislas? Striker? wing?
I mean, honestly, imagine a great West Ham supporting friend of yours went to Antarctica for a year and he asked you to describe this team. Other than using the word shite, what would you say player-by-player? I couldn't do it.
So what is my wish for the run-in? 6 games. Pick a formation. Pretty much ALL the teams in the world use either 4-4-2 with wings, 4-4-2 diamond, 4-2-3-1 with 2 holding midfielders, 3 attacking midfielders and 2 wingbacks, or some variation of 4-3-3/4-5-1 like United & Chelsea usually do. But pick one.
Then pick 11 preferred players and tell them their positions. It should be obvious to the fans, the commentators, and most importantly the players. Roles should be well defined and crystal clear. Stick with those 11 barring injury or something else outrageous. So it's Tomkins or Da Costa or spector partnering Upson at centre half. Each has made errors. Each has strengths and flaws. But don't keep switching and switching and switching. Pick one; if they keep you up, so be it. If they go down, give the benefit of the doubt to the younger player the gollivans are more likely to keep so at least they get blooded.
For me, I'd probably go with
Green
Spector – Tompkins – Upson – Daprela
____Behrami – Parker (holding, allowing daprela and spector to surge forward)
Faubert – Diamanti – Dyer
_______ Cole
Stanislas is first option off the bench if we need speed and a goal. It's an attacking formation but one that should defend too. I would love to get Collison in the lineup but don't think he's fit. The fatsos would not get a chance to touch a blade of grass for me (Mido/McCarthy) but I might have Ilan/Franco on the bench for Cole, Diamanti or Dyer if I need goals. But they can't play 90 mins.
It's an attacking formation if Daprela and Spector get forward. Diamanti will not damage us as he doesn't have back-tracking responsibilities and he can float free as a withheld striker in a free role. He has quality on free kicks (not in evidence yesterday). Collison could play that role too if Diamanti stinks it up again, but we still haven't seen Diamanti play in his preferred in-the-hole role that we all know he needs to play.
That's what I would do, with GFZ, or if they brought me in as manager.
Thoughts?
Firstly, excellent post.
I agree that is is difficult to describe exactly what position a lot of players are best suited to. I do think that Diamanti is best played in a central position where he can influence the game more and get chances to shoot on goal from Cole's knock downs.
I still dont think Spector is the answer at full back and only looked good yesterday because he wasnt up against anyone with pace. I would leave Faubert at right back and play Stan ahead of him. I think the pace he and Dyer can bring to the wings as well as natural crossing ability could cause teams a lot of problems. I also think DaCosta should be given a run at centre half, he was no more at fault for the goal than Upson. I cant help but feel that his sudden emergence in the media and improved showing yesterday was little more than a case of putting himself in the shop window.
Apart from that I wouldnt change anything with the line up you have but I would bring Dixon on to the bench. We need something special and this guy has it. He offers a Rooney type player who can change things up when brought on.
Sure, Faubert at the right back works, with Stan in right wing. Yes, with Da costa or Tompkins back there, + a weak UPson, we are going to concede some goals. But the goal of my line-up is to *score* goals, something that we really haven't done much of.
But even more important is to have each player playing a role *THEY WANT TO PLAY*. Diamanti has said time and again, he WANTS to play just behind the striker. Behrami & Stan have not looked comfortable on the left, epecially Behrami who wants to use only his right foot. (Stan at least has scored a goal from that side.)
I'd have a first team of 11, I'd try out two new set pieces and really drill them, I'd have fun in practice sessions, and I'd go out and play passing, attacking football. You can't sit back and hope Everton won't score. They will. You have to run with them, spread the game (compact on defense, wide wide wide on offense), and outscore them!
Great post, and certainly echoes my thoughts. The fact that before every game these threads are full of people trying to second guess the team, is a sign that the management team are clueless. No breaking news here, but a team made up of our players should not be in the predicament that we are in.
I have my own thoughts on the 11 to play.
Every centre back pairing that we have tried have failed for one reason or the other, and there have been concerns over our fullbacks and the lack of width going forward. I would therefore be tempted to try 3 at the back to allow Faubert and Daprela/Ilunga to be deployed as wingbacks. I would play Noble behind Behrami and Parker in the middle to provide the engines and then play Diamanti or Dyer behind Cole
………………………..Green…………………………
………Da Costa…..Upson…..Gabbidon……..
Faubert………………………………….Daprela/Ilunga
………………………..Noble………………………
…………….Behrami……….Parker……………………
……………………..Dyer/Diamanti……………………….
………………………….Cole…………………………
I understand why you want 3 centre halves. The problem with your line-up is there are no goals (or too few) in it and we need to win games! There are really 7 or 8 defensive players on the pitch. I think your lineup would be *perfect* if we have 1 game to go and just need a point. In fact, I'd play your line-up AND I'd use Collison to man-mark Tevez. (Why is that never done any more? I would definitely do it against Rooney and don't understand why teams don't!) SO if we need 1 or 2 points *after* we get some wins, then sure, let's play 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 or whatever you want to call it. But until then I'm in the camp that we are definitely going to concede goals, but we *have* to score…
I am amazed there has been no announcement about the departure of GZ
drwmax touched on an interesting point there when he said about practicing set pieces. Before yesterday we had scored more goals from set pieces than any team in the league. How can we be so organised from defensive set pieces and so woeful when defending them?
By the way…Tomkins is quick,his the fastest center we've got,i remember a while back curbs saying he was the fastest defender at the club.
Clarke is not earning his keep (What does Clarke actually do in practice? Remember when we all saw the handwriting on the wall when GFZ said he spent all the practice time with the defense, and Clarke spent all his time with the strikers? And THIS IS THE RESULT!)
I say play Tomkins. So he made a terrible mistake. But he is fighting for his shirt. Tell him he will play the final 6 games, but we expect leadership from the back from him. We expect him to spend this week when he is not on the pitch back in his room watching film of Everton strikers, how they move off the ball. Frankly, he & Upson & da Costa & daprela & faubert should be in a room for 3 hours a day watching film of everton's strikers, and they should have a plan of attack. This is *so easy* to do in today's day and age. Does anyone on this site believe that Zola/Clarke have prepared such video evidence of Everton's last 5 games for Upson and his squad? Or do the players play cards and get massages all day? In American sport, when Kobe Bryant (basketball/Lakers) gets on the plane heading to the next match in another city, an assistant coach hands him an edited DVD of the last 10 games of his opponents. They have it sorted by moves-to-the-left, moves-to-the-right, stops-and-shoots, etc. This is not hard to do! But does one of us believe GFZ has done this. I will do it myself for each of the last 6 games if I had any hope that the coaches will set up time for study.
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Hoddle 2/5 to be next manager. I am not a betting man but they look pretty certain odds to me
Sullivan manager. Gold the coach, that will get them even more in their pockets!
These 2 combined are the wrath of Terry Brown and BG,just go and get your pensions and retire!3 months in charge, you have alienated every player and all the staff plus a hell of a lot of fans, when does the charm offensive start?well done the Gollivans and Stramur ,nice people to do business with,NOT!
I had a right dig at Zola yesterday, post matchitis. Wanted to get the hell out of here. But that is not the way to go. We need some (any) stability. Should we not give him our backing and not shout him down every time. He knows the score, even though he needs to get into his head to play players in their natural positions.
Stick with a set of players and use substitutions as means of injecting pace, goal or strengthning the defence.
Remember, we did tighten up in defence since the arrival of Steve.
What say you, we go for a draw for every game. Will that see us safe? Take a goal scoring opportunity if it comes.
Mate I did that a couple of weeks ago and got plenty of thumbs downers,apparently we are not allowed to change our minds according to some on here.
You guys get a thumbs up from me.
makes sense to me too
What is going to happen to the project? as we seem to be unloading or loaning all our youngsters out?to save money no doubt!
I think we really need to get to the root cause of why we are in this mess this season. It has gone so horribly wrong I'm shocked every time I think about it. This season has been horrible. We have had 6 wins. That is not enjoyable in any way, but we as fans stay behind our team. I am convinced we will be relegated, and I can take that. We've seen it before, but I never expected it this season. Although I think we will go down, our last chance is that we must beat Sunderland, Wigan and Fulham. If we are playing well, this is possible. Last season we won all 3 of these fixtures. We should treat every game as if it will be our last in the Premiership, and enjoy it while it lasts. Certainly if we stay up this year, I am going to be much more appreciative of Premier League football from now on, and be very unexpecting and unappreciative. Certainly, I now appreciate Curbishley, even though I moaned about him at the time.
according to espn,Zola is in Sardinia,Clarke in Scotland and the players report back for training on wednesday as they are 'DRAINED' and need 'FRESHENING UP'nice gig at Butlins if you get it 50 grand a week as well!what about the poor fans?amazing 6 lossess on the spin,what happens if by a miracle you win a game?Las Vegas!
So I'm calling for fun practices, designing a couple of actual set pieces so Diamanti doesn't just sky it over from 30 yards, and intensive video study with 6 remaining games in the Premier League this decade, and Zola decides it's time for him and the players to take a holiday.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
If they are physically drained, get the team together Tuesday evening to get inspired by some terrific football in Germany & France, then get 30 tickets to the Emirates Wednesday night and go as a team to that one. Have the whole team in the video room Monday & Tuesday to watch how Everton plays.
Don't run & hide!
Zola has decided to 'battle on' and fight according to Espn,now the Gollivans will have to sack him and pay up or keep quiet until we go down,all or nothing!
MUG! you are the lucky 7th player in DONUT UNITED FC easy to catch muppet,change your name, been banned by stepmum,12 year old,s cant post this late go to bed MUG!I bet your council flat is lovely,its all in your breeding MUG!
3 days could be a good thing. Let the players think about their preformancees. Maybe they will find the answers by having a long hard look at themselves after 2 poor showings.
I can't believe how nasty this thread has turned. At least 2 vendettas are playing out, amidst personal attacks on our players and disgusting insults aimed at Zola and the owners.
Guys, please read back to yourself what you're writing before you click Submit Comment. I'd like to think that the majority of readers here only want to read constructive critique and humour.
Alan Pardews Claret & Blue Army !!!!