So as I sit here on a rather dull, cold and frankly depressing Monday morning I have had a day and a bit to digest the surrender to Chelsea on Saturday night.
Now due to financial constraints I am sharing a season ticket this season with two of my mates and as such I was not in attendance Saturday evening (lucky me), so my mate battled the travelling elements, C2C, restricted service and District Line, suspended, always a winner that hey!
So ahead of the Fulham game, which I will be attending, I have some general observations about our current plight to make.
No striker
Nothing new here, Niall Quinn (who made Saturday even more painful) seems to think that all our strikers are injured, wrong; we had two on the bench. Granted both are not very good, but surely when you are playing at home against a local rival you MUST start with a striker?!
I do not understand why Carlton Cole has been brought back, and I’m sure Carlton is now thinking the same. The Spurs result was a freak result and it’s time Allardyce stopped dining off it!
Andy Carroll
Nothing against the bloke, but what a disaster this has now become! Nobody is being honest about the situation and I personally do not think we will see him this season! Somebody needs to be made accountable for this transfer.
Kevin Nolan
Fairly obvious he is not playing well, I do not agree with the booing, never have with any player, however, it happens and he gets paid enough to deal with it! I would leave him out and play Joe Cole in his favoured position, can’t see that happening though.
Joe Cole
Anyone else got the feeling Allardyce simply does not fancy him? Granted he had injury problems and is clearly not the player he once was, but a run in central midfield would surely be beneficial.
James Collins
I don’t dislike Collins but he is clearly a liability, every mistake he makes we get punished for! On Saturday why did he feel the need to leave Oscar for the first goal, he followed the ball and Chelsea did the rest, 0-1 down! The Winston Reid injury is a disaster of typical West Ham proportions!
Sam Allardyce
Testing my patience to breaking point. He got it tactically wrong Saturday, but he will not admit that will he? While it was clear something needed to be done, hauling off Cole and Collision 5 minutes before half time, while brave, I feel will undermine both players and destroy their confidence! Again is clear he doesn’t fancy either of them. Easy to blame the players Sam, how about you take a look at your shortcomings for once?!
Fulham & Crystal Palace
Fulham is a must win and while Carlton has his limitations he must start! Me being the sad stato I am have noted that his scoring record against Fulham is reasonably good, well good by Carlton standards!
Palace now have Tony Pulis, so this game already more difficult than what it would have been a couple of weeks, I demand a win, but do not expect it!
January Transfer Window
Well we know what we need, so the board and manager best get it correct, if not we will go down and can plan a local derby with Leyton Orient next season!
I agree with every word you say. Will we get our way? No.
I agree Sam does not seem to like the stated players. but appears to like Collins. He is a liability Money i doubt will be spent as to acquire the OS Stadium (Which i do not want to go to) they have to have no debts and have used the fair play rule which i am told does not come into being until next year (Not sure on this) as an excuse. I am expecting us to go down so i will not be disappointed if it happens, This board have only ever been interested in selling Upton Park and making our beloved club have no home IT IS ALL ABOUT MONEY SINCE THEY TOOK OVER.
I agree with every word, I am sad and disappointed.
Sam is showing every sign of being tactically exhausted and desperate.
The board need to be aware of this and think about the future before sticking to the wrong formula until its too late as we did with Avram Grant
You are right about Joe Cole. Nobody gets capped as much as he has if he isn’t any good. He’s not past it yet, bloody well play him Sam. Yeah Collins needs the back up from Reid, so if Reid ain’t there then leave Collins out for a while, maybe his last season anyway, and start Jarvis, leaving Nolan on the bench. Nolan can be brought on later in games till his form returns. As I have already said on this site, that after 50 Premier League games in charge of the Hammers, Sam has never achieved back to back wins & the only team not to do so last season. If Sam can’t do his 1st double against lowly Fulham & Crystal Palace, who we play next, then I’d say a change of manager is inevitable! Sam’s 4-6-0 formation is not working. Games cannot be won if the 1st & only strike on target does not occur until just before the final whistle. Sam has put all of his eggs in one basket, being the man who isn’t there – Andy Carroll. Drastic changes are needed. Don’t wait till January. The team needs to bring in around 4 players on loan now!
If West Ham are sitting on 25 pts after round 20 at Fulham? Then they might just survive by getting another 15 pts & the 40 pts required for survival from the next 18 games. Just take a look at West Ham’s remaining 18 fixtures of the season. I could barely pick out 15 points that can be won with this current team, but if West Ham don’t have 25 pts after round 20 & need say a further 20 pts to reach the 40 point mark, then I’d say we are gone. Yes, already, at this stage, being after round 12 in the season, we are once again just talking Premier League survival, let alone win anything!