I wasn’t sure it would ever actually happen! Although I always saw the logic in his signing and he contributed some occasional moments of brilliance, it has basically been a disastrous signing financially and in terms of output that has ultimately held us back and restricted other business we could ...

I remember when we signed Ashton in a january window, they used the money from the summer budget (£7m) but Pardew recognised at the time he would be an asset and other teams might be after him. Obviously the numbers are different here but if a top player is available and we have a chance then you ha...

While they had a few moments in the last 15 minutes one of the most pleasing aspects was how we closed the game out. Composed, calm and well organised. That’s part of the big team mentality we need to cultivate. Arsenal get goals late in games but we weren’t really threatened by them and an outsider...

Think we have looked good. Antonio defensive weakness is a worry as his positioning has almost been exposed a couple of times, but going forward he gives us a great option from right back if he can link up better with Diangana. Felipe hasn’t been great but he’s still shown moments. Unfortunately pla...

His noises about sighing at some point sound positive but as a club surely if he continues to improve at the rate he is and potentially gets an England call up they are looking at a more expensive contract for him than 30k. My thinking like others is that this isn’t quite as simple as agreeing the t...

There is absolutely no way Rashford would be sold to West Ham or anyway he would consider it. No point when contemplating it as a possibility. If Arnie goes then we need to get the best price we can and it will probably be a bit of a gamble on a player from abroad. Most teams in our position struggl...

Until we invest more in the squad then Antonio is a pretty good squad option for us. He’s not great but he’s capable of causing opposing teams problems with pace and strength on his day. How much would we have to spend to find a decent squad option to replace him? I think Pellegrini rates him, he’s ...

Surprising stat in the guardian today around number of km run per game. Arnie came in 3rd lowest of all Premier league players. I wouldn’t have ever considered him lazy or not working hard so perhaps it’s partly down to him playing with a knock over a number of games. However West Ham came in 19th o...

I was very surprised to see that conversation taking place. Not so much that players would talk to the ref but that he would engage in dialogue rather than just shooing it away, think it’s a bit weird that he did actually. Quite interesting to see some of the behind the scenes stuff as well. Looked ...

Something I think Pellegrini deserves huge credit for is managing his introduction of some of the signings. He didn't throw Yarmolenko or Diop straight in as he didn't feel they were up to speed or quite ready. That patience and the confidence it shows, to not just rush the players in hoping they'd ...

He has received such harsh criticism on this forum and I'm really not sure why people seem to have so much against him. Even when he was successful he was unpredictable and did stupid things but his goals covered up for that a bit. I think he's just lacking a bit of confidence and this is not helped...

What I love about him is his direct approach. He likes to take. players on and full backs aren't always able to cope with his unconventional methods and the fact he does things that academy coached players just don't do. He also has a knack of being in the right place to score goals. Really hope he ...

He's direct. Tries to beat his man at every opportunity, gets a shot away when he can and gets in positions to score goals. He's full of running and works his socks off. Even though his touch sometimes lets him down and he's still lacking a bit of quality he is a player who makes things happen. I li...

Great performance once we got back to 1-1. They were creating so much space with the passing and movement it really was a shame that it had to end! I think for the final goal, Payet could have passed but was probably fed up with the number of chances he'd set up for others that had gone begging and ...

Northern Ireland's achievement is far greater yet they are getting less coverage than Wales. Wales have Ramsey, Bale and Ashley WIlliams, 3 very good players and a smattering of others from the Premier League and probably would have considered it a disappointment had they not got through. Northern I...

And winner of the worst post this weekend.... So you don't think any of the defensive qualities shown by Reid and Tomkins yesterday had a bit of Allardyce influence to them? Parts of the game yesterday reminded me of away draws at Chelsea and Liverpool when we were up against it. What Bilic has add...

This may not be a popular view but I think partial credit for yesterday's defensive performance should go to Sa Allardyce. His defensive organisation did get us a few results during his spell and whilst I think Bilic has contributed to our defensive setup the players were well drilled under Allardyc...

If anyone had any doubt about how tricky European football was, they hopefully will not now. It's situations such as Tomkins found himself in that highlight actually how naive and lacking in quality some of our guys are. Both teams we've played so far have realised that a way to level things up is t...

WHUJohn wrote:£20 on the night.. :shock:

For a public training session, wow.

Yeah but it's £10 for pre-ordering. Great deal.

Just pre-order and then you don't need to worry about it being £20.

I think the more fit Carroll has become the more he has shown that he can play on the ground. Our style has in my opinion become less free-flowing since he has been back but that's not his fault. I think we can play pacey, attacking football with Carroll and Valencia/Sakho in the side but a lot of t...