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Where do we go from here?

nt_hammer's picture
Submitted by nt_hammer on Thu, 19/02/2015 - 17:28

Well it's been a hell of a season hasn't it? On reflection a much better season than most of us would have even anticipated. We lie in the top half of the table and have some great performances to look back on (as well as a few shoddy ones too!).

But we find ourselves out of both cup competitions and looking at the end of this campaign with a few injuries but expectations enhanced. I think Sam is here for the remainder of the season and I just wonder what us fellow orgers expect for the final run in. Do we think we will finish on a high or will we fade and die (like our dreams!).
There are some quality players in the team and others who have the potential to shine. Some, on the other hand, may well need to up their game or move on. Is there any extra planning needed for the run in? Have we got a squad deep enough to compete or will we be found out? Where do we go from here??
Bullyhammer's picture

With Carroll being our only long term injury, and with many of our rivals in the top half of the PL playing in Europe, and in cups, we absolutely should push on. I expect, at least, to hold onto 8th place, anything less will be a failure, and we should be trying hard to get a higher finish. I expect to see less cautious football, and I expect to see playing time for our younger players. None of this is expecting the Earth, and will set us up for a storming last year at the Boleyn.

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119 users have voted.

I went to the home games v aston villa,swansea & leicester.Should have beaten villa were all over them & very good wins against the other 2!Song was superb,downing was great,sakho & valencia were scoring goals,ginge & tomka & the 2 full backs were solid.Lately the same team is unrecognisable....

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134 users have voted.

I expect us to play with Nolan at every opportunity, Cole, Jarvis and JOB making sub appearances and a top 13 finish. I'd be inclined to have a bet we dont get more than 10 more points for the remainder of the season. They're are some poor teams this year and our early season form without the prodigal sons will save us from a relegation scrap.

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169 users have voted.
Bullyhammer's picture

My Expectations were of the "hope" kind, your expectations of the "fear" kind. If you turn out to be correct then Sam should NOT have his contract renewed.

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172 users have voted.

I know I'm being very negative Bully, but in an article today, Allardyce is asking when was the last time we played that badly against West Brom? Well what about when was the last time we played as well as we did before Xmas? The answer is we haven't since Nolan and Carroll came back. Now he might be so blind that he can't see what everybody else sees? Or he's so pig-headed and egotistical that he's forcing the selections to try and prove us all wrong? That's a dangerous combination, because it really means that he cares more about himself and opinion, than the team and certainly the fans.

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130 users have voted.
Bullyhammer's picture

Hear what you're saying, Betty. For me he has three months to get back to the way we were playing without Carroll and Nolan...

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149 users have voted.

News Year Day so not so long ago! A 1-1 draw at home and a game we would have hoped for 3 points, to be outdone by fast attacking play that Allardyce would never be the instigator of! He should manage the spuds as he is totally dilussional and would fit in nicely!

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144 users have voted.
moore2come's picture

Our fixture list as follows ends reasonably well. If we can weather a bit of a storm over the next 4 games and come away with some good performances and dare I say it good results then we can set ourselves up to finish strongly against teams below us. Up to BFS now as to whether he has the balls to push for it or is happy to keep picking below average players and seeing out his contract.

A v Spuds
H v C Palace
H v Chelsea
A v Arsenal
H v Sunderland
A v Leicester
H v Stoke
A v Man C
A v QPR
H v Burnley
A v A Villa
H v Everton
A v Newcastle
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144 users have voted.

What's Allardyce's next job after us? Cant see him going back to Bolton, now they have Lennon. The England job? I can only see him retiring to then sit in a studio with bezzie mate lineker. That means we've got the rest of the season to endure watching Nolan trying to get his 100th goal.

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161 users have voted.

Unfortunately NT a serious rift has occurred between Big Sam and the Board over his persistence with playing Nolan and using Jarvis Cole OBrien and pushing Downing out wide in almost every game now instead of blooding the younger, fitter, eager players (especially Poyet!!!) has angered not just us fans but nearly came out in the open last week with David Gold and Big Sam agreeing to disagree!
Our results are getting worse and we are in danger of fading rather than maintaining our position. 10th is possibly where we will end up and Big Sam will leave at the end of the season as he will not be given a new contract imo!
They want Slavan Bilic as Moyes is unavailable and I expect they will get him for next season! A much better prospect than keeping Big Sam imo and we will see better football with the quality players we have and the ones who we have not seen yet as the old guard are let go!

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136 users have voted.

A D Bonds

Results getting worse ? Did we not narrowly fail to beat a top 4 side (Mancs) and held our own with another one with 9 men (Saints) ... I'll be glad when Sam's gone ... not because I think he's not right for us, but it will be interesting to see how folk react to being near the lower end under a new manager. Both us and Brentford have shot themselves in the foot over undermining "successful" managers ... until they announced they were looking at another option, Brentford were up there with Bournemouth ... and what exactly is Sam's (or the players) incentive when they know he might well be away in the summer ? I can see this all going tits up, and it'll be because we're trying to do it without Sam. Many of the players that are the mainstay of the team are playing for HIM

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153 users have voted.

Well said bobsheep... the grass is always greener on the otherside

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157 users have voted.

Apart from the next 4 games where I struggle to see more than 4 points, the fixture list after that would suggest we could end the season well!!! It really does depend on finally dropping Nolan and letting the better players take the reins and get some confidence back. I would love to see an end of season run take us to Europe like all the rest of you. I just hope the Board have told Big Sam to do it! (drop Nolan that is!)

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133 users have voted.

A D Bonds

Bullyhammer's picture

4 tough games. Anyone thinking the Palace game will be easier is kidding themselves. We need to start winning again, we have to start believing we CAN beat the Arsenals and Chelseas of the world, we must at least TRY to beat them even if we end up losing. At this point in the season I'd rather see a loss, but one where we really had a go, than a scraped sterile draw.

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131 users have voted.
moore 6 legend's picture

Well we was sure found out good and proper by pulis Nt and hoping that miserable day is out of the players system and quick! seems an age since we where riding on that top 4 crest having the likes of Mourinho praising our achievement before we played the gits in december .I've not been that excited since the mother in law fell down the stairs lol, along with the saints we was the surprise package,but surprise surprise that dream has gone.We must get our confidence back in the side and go for a strong finish giving it our all.falling down the table any further than 8th with the new look west ham we've witnessed will be like throwing it all away

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140 users have voted.
Bullyhammer's picture

One thing for sure: he can't use the "tired" excuse again this season. He needs to motivate the players to up their games again, not sure that's a Sam Allardyce strength... we shall see.

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146 users have voted.
chubbyTURK's picture

Entertaining football is what he has promised recently after being slapped by West Brom. How this will work as if we start winning games with a more attacking style he will look like an idiot but if West Ham start losing games he will be proved right.
The truth is that West Ham or Allardyce cannot turn back time to when Valencia and Sakho were so brilliant and he chose to break up the partnership in favour of Nolan and Carroll, so for me whatever he does will be annoying.

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165 users have voted.
asheshammer's picture

It's not that we have a hard fixture list -- we don't -- but rather that there is very little left to play for from Sam's point of view. I have rarely seen him take the kind of cutthroat attitude to teams above us that would be necessary to improve our current position. In fact, I feel as though he really believes that United, Liverpool, Tottenham and even Southampton are better than we are. What happened that allowed us to play like fire against City earlier in the season? I just don't see that from Sam. But nor will he let us fall too far from where we are now. I predict we will go 3-6-4 for the rest of the season. That's 15 more points, for a total of 53. Good enough, certainly for a top ten finish, and our best since 2005/6 when we made it to the FA CUP final and finished on 55 in 9th place. I think we may finish with a positive goal difference this season, for the first time in I don't know when. But for all that, I will feel like this season saw opportunity squandered for what reason I do not know. We were in the CL spots at Christmas and have played rather poorly since, with far too many draws. It smacks of playing safe, which is not THE WEST HAM WAY.

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231 users have voted.

there certainly is grounds for pessimism but who knows a good result tight shite lane and things could turn around , but if i see Nolan in the tunnel there's goin to be trouble , and if Carlton is behind him well i wont be answerable for the damage to my telly

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149 users have voted.

Burkie 1

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