It’s just a standard season. We’ll finish 11th or 12th like we invariably do. No need to shell out £15m to achieve the same result with some other out-of-work mediocrity.

brothernero wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:45 pm

"We're not going to be relegated "

If I had a quid for every time I read of heard that said during the Roader and Grant season I would be a very rich man.

There's no comparison between the squad (and managerial skill) of the Avram season and now.

I've never thought Pellegrini is the problem – in terms of his managerial ability in any case. His recruitment decisions have been questionable at times. We've had a central midfield that has barely been refreshed in half a decade – unless you call the Matt Taylor-fication of Snodgrass since his ret...

Decisive action from another London rival, meanwhile we throw Pellers under the bus instead of replacing him ASAP - we really do have a **** board Emery has always cut a slightly jarring figure there – none of the Arsenal supporters I know ever took to him. I'm sure that factored almost as much int...

The dystopian world of West Ham supporter-dom.

Early August 2019: ooh I fancy it this year you know
Four months later: Amid the smoking wreckage, your teenaged 4th choice goalkeeper is slated as a possible starter at Stamford Bridge and your reaction is 'yeah I'd be happy with that'.

Put it this way: the Relegator won a league cup with Birmingham, had 4 seasons with Wolves, and yet I guarantee you he's been mentioned in the pub more times by West Ham fans in the past year than by supporters of either of those clubs.

Look at it this way... if you were Martin would you even want to play? Hell yes. It's a free pass. Club legend for a dad, no expectation, everyone knowing he's on about the same coin as a Deliveroo driver (might even *be* on a zero hours contract if Brady structured it). One game where he wasn't di...

Although that will undoubtedly help, I dont think the malaise is exclusively down to that. His absence alone cannot be accountable for the poor displays of the outfield players, poor tactics and team selections You're quite right that it goes beyond that, but changing a manager mid-season is a big ...

I'd rather stick with Pellegrini with Fabianski back in goal than any of the (completely and unsurprisingly lazy) choices hinted at being in the thoughts of the board. If the desire is to shake things up, then seeing if things can improve with a PL-standard goalkeeper between the posts is a wiser fi...

Good for Winston. He's been out so long and is so disassociated from the current managerial reign that it feels a bit like Steve Potts or Alvin Martin coming back. Wonder what the record is for time missed due to a single injury? Seems only right West Ham should own that record. To be fair, he was k...

Hopefully Rice can start replicating his club performances with the national team – he has good moments, but it hasn't quite happened yet in terms of a complete performance. I'm not sure Henderson and Rice is a great pairing as it puts a fair amount of pressure on the third member of Southgate's pre...

Playing complete Devil's Advocate here, Ace, as I agree with you, but that was one season - his other two top flight Spanish seasons he got 2 and 3. Given his current age, he must only have been 19-20 years old for one of those seasons, so I think it's best to give him the benefit of the doubt ther...

If the goal of a formation is maximizing the abilities of the players you have to best eke out one more goal than your opponents on a given day, on the evidence of this season I like the idea of using Yarmolenko up front as an auxillary striker with Haller given their complementary skills. And then ...

You don't pick up 12 assists in a season in a top league without having something about you. It's probably instructive to keep an eye on Ceballos at Arsenal too given the similarities. He's probably even more talented but has also endured a mixed start – good in patches initially, less so lately. Pa...

Wouldn't be sorry to see any of our fullbacks depart – on either side. But this will allow Pellegrini to use the cash to buy another slight, technically capable attacking midfielder in the summer. If Lanzini, Fornals, Diangana, Anderson and Wilshere get injured we'll be looking thin there.

Leaving aside the meat of this thread for a moment, anyone with an interest should appreciate such academically sound Puffology as that above in advancing understanding within the field.

Rather than bringing him back in Jan, I'd not only be avoiding it but also be checking if Slav needs right back cover for the second half of the campaign. Johnson getting minutes at a team fighting at the top end of the table is preferable to trundling out in U-23 games here. I'm sure Slav would app...

fjthegrey wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 09, 2019 11:17 am

All I can tell you about him, is that he almost certainly won't make it with us.

Hey, you're nicking Puff's best lines.

Funny thing is, in those tiny little cameos he had in pre-season he looked no worse and in some cases better than some of our other centre halves.

I've got a whole lot of time for Oggy, but just *imagine* what he'd be playing like in his first game after 18 months out.

Don't condone people throwing "missiles"..come on they more like beers...but reap what you sow n' all that. Behave like a ****, you're going to get treated like one. Think I'm starting to understand what Tottenham supporters are on about when they talk about one-sided rivalries. Jordan Ayew has des...