For those Hammers fans that have been through the yo-yo years supporting West Ham, there was a sense of inevitability about Saturday’s defeat to Newcastle United. A good start wasted, principally because we had run out of ideas, which allowed the visitors to gain a foothold in the game and gave their class midfielders the stage to dictate the pace of the game.
In truth, they were the real difference between the two teams, although not necessarily because their midfielders were any better than Mark Noble, Jack Collison, Ravel Morrison or Mohamed Diame. Instead it was down to the tactics employed by one manager and the lack of them from the other.
Alan Pardew packed his midfield with ball players and told them to dictate play, keep the crowd quiet by keeping possession and pick your way through a shaky defence. Hardly the stuff of genius, it is Pardew after all, but then that’s all you need to get one over Big Sam.
Hit the wings or hit one of the big men up front. That’s the Allardyce way. Beyond that, well, there isn’t is there?
Which must make it incredibly difficult to be one of those middle men. They’re being asked to chase shadows in midfield and play a bit part in attack. It’s hardly surprising Morrison, our most creative player, fell out with Sam.
The win at Cardiff City merely papered over the cracks that are growing wider by the day. Sam’s always prided himself on a disciplined team and set-up a side that’s difficult to beat. Well, his captain Kevin Nolan has been sent off twice and James Tomkins has also seen red, while the clean sheets early season are now a distant memory.
All our hopes remain with Andy Carroll and while he will have an impact, it’s a big ask to turn around our fortunes that really do look like they will fade and die.
West Ham started the transfer window with optimism and promises were made that our business would be done early. Now, I’m not suggesting the club aren’t busting a gut to back Sam and get players in, that’s evidently not the case, but that hasn’t happened. We’re either going for players with injuries or a lack of fitness, or they’re just turning us down flat. That’s got to speak volumes about the manager and his method of football. Hull City recently signed Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic. They’re nowhere near being a club of our size and stature but players are happy to sign for them.
Alarm bells should be ringing. Loud and clear. Question is, will anyone do anything about it and stop this sinking ship?
Remember Don Revie at Leeds Utd all those years ago. An extremely talented group of players, and all was fine for a number of years and the man’s reputation was made for life. Revie is of course now gone and the players all got old together.
Where are Leeds United today. ? Fast forward to Bolton Wanderers a few years ago,and Big Sam with a group of players who were very good together and did some wonderfull things for the Bolton fans.
Thats all it takes to make a reputation. The Fergie’s come along once in a hundred years. Where are Man Utd now, ….Sinking fast. ! The point is, that every where that fat sam has taken his disco, they’ve either gone down or just simply faded away and he has no idea of how to bring them back. He is a person who makes the most of a situation, then is forced to move on. Everwhere he has been, his teams have fallen on stoney ground due to his abject lack of football accumen once someone elses team has lost it’s way. He should have been found out a long time ago. Good luck West Ham.
I’m a Newcastle fan so I know what I’m talking about. He destroyed us and we are only now getting back to somewhere neer what we should have been.
Near
We forgave Alladyce’s lack of tactical knowledge, Nolan’s laziness and lack of pace but this season both have been factors along with a weak squad and bad injuries. Religation although bad, may give us the opportunity to get things right. Only Reid, Tompkins, Ravel and Noble should survive a massive cull and rebuild.
as said before- we won’t attract new players of quality with Sam- strikers know that Nolan and Carrol auto start- only chance therefore is one getting injured- if you want to move for a chance of the World Cup squad you need to be playing- moving to WHU means most likely you won’t and if you do it will be out of position- I reckon we have now been turned down by at least 6 if not more strikers in the last 6 months!
Defoe could have come but perhaps wages the issue
Lambert wont come to play second fiddle to Carroll (his competition) therefore end of January- lots of waffle about how hard they tried- result no new strikers, no new shape or tactics and utter suprise from the Board when we go down (saving 6 million from sacking him now)
They said they learnt the lessons from Grant- clearly not, he actually amassed 2 more points than we presently have at this stage!
The one positive was Cole playing with Carrol not instead- now we just need basics 4-4-2 to survive and then new management next year- like that will happen!!!!
we are already relegated, Big Sam knows it, so do any transfer targets. To be sure of stay ing up we need 42 points – 24 more than we have. We’ve only got 9 games with a chance to get any points – we won’t get anything from the big guns. So we need to win 8 out of 9, including 4 back to back wins. Fat chance of that happening. Fire him now, get harry back, change the tactics and we may be able to sign some strikers.
Why would anyone sign for west ham when they know they will spend 90% of their time on the bench. Our tactics are ridiculously 1 dimensional. I feel sorry for our midfield who have to play bit parts.
SAM’S TURNED OUR CLUB INTO A FLAMING LAUGHING STOCK!
Even to equal Avram Grant’s record low of 33 points, we need 5 wins from the next 16 games, or 4 wins & 3 draws or whatever. How can we be expected to get those when we’ve only won 4 out of the last 22 games. What an absolute joke. We pay 40k per week to 1 man who misses the equaliser & 100k per week to another who misses what should have been the winning goal + why on earth did we let Newcastle go 2 up in the 1st place. Geez, they even threw us a life line & scored a goal for us. Alan Pardew was just waiting for his old club to come back (he must still feel for us), but no, so they just finnished us off with the 3rd, and why shouldn’t they? coz that’s what you do to mugs who can’t even score their own goals!
Relegation – again – looks very likely – and sorry Dave, but sadly none of the players you mention will stay then. Reid, Tomkins and Noble way too good for another season in Division 2( proper football days) – and Ravel has already left in his head, so poor and disinterested was he on Saturday. To be blunt, Collison, Jarvis, Diame and then Morrison were a midfield disgrace – absolutely no interest in 90 mins work, no concept of shutting down a player let alone, God forbid, actually putting a tackle in – lazy, hopeless and not good enough against the fluid Geordie midfield. that will probably be the only time this year that we have 30 mins let alone a whole game of 2 up front – not even when we are 0-6 down ( I hope it doesnt go to extra time, i have to be up early on Wednesday) . What on earth was Taylor, a poor left footed midfield player, doing at right back – to be fair to him at least he gave 100%, a good move for the chance that CC missed hopelessly – but that really shows BFS up, all the more with young Chambers on the bench. We are in a real mess – even Hull can sign halfway decent strikers, men who can play on the floor,all we were out for were two more 6 foot plus guys to hoof the ball at – very sad.
Fat same tactics are simply lump the ball forward and hopefully we will get some one on it. If we do everybody run. He is a 1 club wonder with Bolton. He doesn’t have a clue. He isn’t a motivator. More likely to stick a monitor on a player to see if he’s training properly. I feel for West Ham as a toon fan, because we have been there with that unless lump of fat headed lard. He won’t get you out of it by knowledge and tactics, it will be more luck and Carroll coming back and getting up to speed. I remember watching a game at the toon, and thinking this is the most boring football we have ever played, when he was in charge. There is nothing worse than thinking ya going down without a fight. The sooner he is gone the better, at best he is a pundit or a championship manager. Good luck in the final stages and if there is one space left in the bottom 3 on the last day..just let Sunderland have it as the premiership needs fans like West Hams who turn up and create an atmosphere rather than leaving loads of red faded empty seats as you get in stadium of plight.
Could agree with you more JT and as a Hammer wish the Toon all the best, you deserved the win on Saturday and I thought you were unlucky the previous week; you have some very good creative players.
Sam should coach a grid iron team, because just pumping long balls up to the front or the wings is yankee Grid Iron grid locking of games stuff, because they just lock the mid field up with shut outs, so our mid field doesn’t get a chance to be the engine room, they get bypassed. Gee, I think Sam has really lost the plot along with his buddy Nolan. Get them both out!
The club from top to bottom is in total disarray. Gold and Sullivan are staging a comic opera that Gilbert and Sullivan would be unable to match! I have supported WHam for 59 years, since I was 5, and this is an excruciatingly painful season. The only thing that gives me any comfort is knowing that, should we be relegated, it will hurt Gold and Sullivan where it hurts most. In the pocket!!!
I have been a hammer for 42 years and have seen a lot of managers come and go,apart from the odd one or two,most of them had very good tactical knowledge and could turn a game our way with a substistution at the right timr or change formation when needed,this fat bore ain,t got a clue,get rid double quick and get someone in their with half a brain cell at least,i know I might get slated for saying this but my choice would be glen hoddle,a bloke with great football knowledge and knows how the game of football should be played.
Hoddle has been disconnected from competitive football for years now. I think he has an academy around Malaga and lives a golden comfortable life there. Why would he give up that life to make it more complicated coming to West Ham or any other club on life maintenance machine ?
BFS can’t attract top quality strikers,Remy & Lukaku went up North,Traore chose Everton over us,Lambert doesn’t want to know.It HAS to be because of BFS,we are a big club in terms of history,ground size and our away support the envy of many PL clubs.I fear the porntwins have accepted relegation and are planning for next season in the Championship with a new boss and a squad clear out.I hope not but just saying.
We all know where West Ham go from here….the Championship
Bring back Zola if he will come, he’s the only attainable answer I can see other than possibly Malcom Mckay, he plays attractive attractive attacking football, players adorte him, so not only will they play for him but they will gladly come and sign for us, something BFS cant do among a host of other things is attract players, well Zola can, and before anyone says , well Zola was sacked, yes he was but he wasnt given a fair crap of the whip and just before he was sacked we were playing brilliantly and winning again, I think we have gone down hill since Zola’s sacking and as the our current style of play, let alone tactics, all i have to say to that is , Garbage
There have been so many excuses from Allardyce, I will be honest when I say that I opposed his appointment and I am not a fan of Gold & Sullivan. What is happening now would not be tolerated in any other business. Poor investments in players, refusal to act on the managers poor performance and owners who appear oblivious to the damage being caused by their failure to act
Look, I don’t want to sound negative, but after 22 games under Avram Grant we had 20 pts. I can’t see how we can seriously expect anything from game 23 at Stamford Bridge, but if we don’t win game 24 at home to Swansea then we won’t even equal Avram Grants record of 21 pts from 24 games. West Ham & Avram then went on to win the next game, giving us 24 pts from 25 games. We lost game 26 & drew game 27 to go to 25 pts, but with games 28 & 29 we did something that Sam so far has never done for West Ham, we won back to back games, so before fans continue to say that Avram Grant did a bad job? Well so far this season, Sam is doing far worse than what Avram did in the 2011/12 season, when we got relegated & finished bottom on 33pts! Are we gonna let Sam take us down to the bottom? Because we are only off of that now by goal difference! And what happens when a club is so much under pressure from relegation? Their natural game collapses, they can fall apart & cave in, because Avram picked up 1 pt from game 30, but from the last 8 games of that season we only picked up 1 more pt, e.g. West Ham lost their nerve, lost their bottle, call it what you like but pressure can do strange things to people & we even had the footballer of the year in our side being Scott Parker. Geez we couldn’t even sign Traore, and now Sam has told Maiga he can go. Honestly, the man never ceases to amaze me! I reckon Harry would come back. Have these 2 owners even got the guts to do what we all want want. We don’t want Sam’s way. Sam’s way is not West Ham’s way