Season over and already the tabloids social media twitter etc etc Linking us with every footballer who has ever played the game of course i realise the sames happening at every club but for gods sake can we please just stop it for two weeks and let everyone catch a breather.
If any of you have any club cash owing to you make sure you use it by May 20th or you lose it
After the events of the past week and the amazing turn arounds that our great game can produce, one thing that stands out for me does not seem to have been mentioned by the media while eulogising over the victories of two English clubs.
Firstly I do not subscribe to the belief that defeat of English clubs is of paramount importance to most of the posters on this site. I can't stand the Spuds or any of their so called fans however the succes of Premiership clubs in Europe means that all eyes are on us at the moment and may possibly lead to player and prospective investors interest. Success breads success and our great club may benefit from the increased attractiveness that four clubs in major Europeen finals could bring. That brings me to my main point, the support that was given to Ajax in Amsterdam by their fans was magnificent and spine tingling, the passion and noise generated in the stadium was amazing and spectacular and I suddenly realised that apart from the dreaded scousers our game has lost this passion. The majority of games now, including the London Stadium (I hate that title) when things are not going our way are soulless and sad. Why has the passion seemingly vanished from our game, is it due to the nature of the so called modern stadiums, look at Palace, with their smaller ground they generate superb passion, which if the owners get permission will be destroyed if a new ground is built. I worry about our game, I accept that the game must adapt and that times change but being a corporate jolly does and will not generate the passion delivered at clubs such as Ajax, Borrussia Dortmond, Atletico Madrid, and Real Betis to name a few. Anybody have any ideas?
Everton have been offered the chance to sign Inter Milan midfielder Joao Mario.
The 26-year-old Portugal international, who had a spell on loan at West Ham last year, is available for around £15million and also has interest from Porto and Monaco.
Mario provided two goals and one assist during 13 Premier League appearances for the Hammers in the second half of their 2017-18 campaign.
Sunday's thoroughly enjoyable victory in the final fixture of this season's Barclays Premier League, against Watford away at Vicarage Road, was marred by the wrongful issuing of a red card to Hornets defender Jose Holebas. The straight red given meant that Holebas would have been unable to appear in the FA Cup final against Manchester City, fortunately the decision has been overturned, meaning the defender is clear to play.
The 34 year old defender was sent off after the referee judged him to have pulled down Michael Antonio 18 yards out from goal, however TV replays showed the contact appeared to be extremely minimal.
Hammers captain Mark Noble told the BBC of his sympathy for the veteran defender ”When the ball goes in behind Antonio he is so quick and strong, I feel bad for the lad because of the FA Cup final, does he miss that? It’s horrible to see that, he worked so hard to get to the final and he can’t play in it.”
The FA, quite rightly come in for a fair bit of stick about many things, but in this instance they acted fairly and quickly in order to ensure a once in a lifetime wish is fulfilled, and good luck to Watford FC, even if we don't like Troy Deeney! - Ed
Had a thread recently about naming the last stand after a westham hero,I think it's glaringly obvious now who it should be named after!!I've never understood the criticism aimed at him by some of our support,is it because the modern day footballer is not worthy of the same accolades of heroes from the past?Mr Westham I salute you
Watford FC: Foster, Cathcart, Femenia, Holebas, Doucoure, Hughes, Kabasele, Capoue, Pereyra, Deulofeu, Deeney. Subs: Gomes, Janmaat, Mariappa, Success, Masina, Chalobah, Gray
West Ham Utd: Fabianski, Balbuena, Diop, Lanzini, Fredericks, Antonio, Noble, Masuaku, Rice, Anderson, Arnautovic. Subs: Adrian, Zabaleta, Snodgrass, Sanchez, Chicharito, Wilshere, Ogbonna
West Ham take on Watford for the closing match of this Barclays Premier League season, back in the day it would have been a celebration for both clubs to maintain their top flight status, but that was before the TV money really came in, nowadays teams like West Ham and Watford have got serious financial clout but have the advantage of being able to buy players cheaper than the 'top six' clubs.
Again back in the day, there would have been a carnival atmosphere at the game, however mainly thanks to a certain Troy Deaney there is no love lost between the clubs. Now we at the Org are sure that Deaney is a good family man and probably a 'good bloke' away from the pitch, but on the field of play he epitomises everything that is archaic about the game.
Deaney was the player who despised being 'mugged off' by a West Ham team that played some of the best football seen up to that point during the first season at the London Stadium as they raced to a 2-0 lead, the match of course was eventually won 3-2 by the visitors! The fact that Deaney and Co needed to be angered by a master class in beautiful football in order to be motivated sums up why, we at the Org, hope Issa Diop and the General are able to give Deaney a 'lasting memory' of the event.
Sunday's game will also see the last appearance for West Ham for both Javier Hernandez and more surprisingly Lucas Perez, Hernandez's move was sanctioned ages ago, but there was a feeling that Perez would 'come good', the fact that the club are willing to let him go indicates that his replacement has already been lined up. The Maxi Gomez deal seems to have rumbled on forever, but then again so did the deal to bring Felipe Anderson to the London Stadium, but head of recruitment Mario Husillos is a seasoned campaigner who is not above 'sewing' false seeds in order to throw off the opposition while he gets his man.
Who ever does arrive, and there could be up to three new strikers, one thing that is certain is the age delta will be reduced, so talk of players like Dzeko arriving are way off the mark. Manuel Pellegrini was brought in as manager in order to take the club to a higher level, and part of that process was the recruitment of younger players with a potentially high sell on value as opposed to ageing players with little or no sell on value.
Terry Westley is leaving for a lucrative position in the J league, so a new person will have to oversee youth development, did Westley get the 'gig' because of what he has done recently, or did he get the push for not doing enough? Either way the club does have a lot of young talent, and you can bet your house on the fact that the two Davids, Gold and Sullivan, would love to have young players coming through with similar values to that of Declan Rice. The belated upgrading of the Rush Green and Chadwell Heath training facilities is testament to Pellegrini's influence, one day people will look back at the facilities before they were modernised and wonder how on earth the club managed to attract and retain any quality players.
Next season will be exciting, all the hard work in laying the proper foundations instead of the old make and mend way of doing things should come to fruition, but it may require Pellegrini to apply a similar amount pressure he did on his first arrival in order to prise open the purse strings, some say the only reason he went back to Chile shortly after taking over at the London Stadium was to pay off the kidnappers that were used in! - Ed
what kind of football do you like? passing for passings sake or a simple pass and movement at pace style where runs in behind the opposition trying to stretch them and nothing wrong with a long ball either as long as it is not played over and over again....styles make football not every player can play like they do in the premier and not every player can play like the do in the spanish or italian leagues so all the nonsense about which leagues are better are irrelevant too my mind.
With several high profile departures on the cards, speculation is looming that some of those scheduled for 'scrutiny' may include Jack Wilshere among others. Andy Carroll's contract runs out in a couple of weeks and of course the club will not be taking up their option to extend his contract, once bitten, twice shy, or in Big Andy's case one hundred times bitten!
Having been through the 'Andy Carroll experience', the club are now very wary of signing players who have the potential to aggravate long term injuries. The signings of Andrily Yarmolenko and Jack Wilshere were both made in an effort to get maximum 'bang for the bucks', Wilshere arrived on a free transfer and Yarmolenko for a relatively knock down £17.5 Million, however the combined cost in wages is most definitely considerable and has prompted the board and the management to reconsider future transfer guide lines.
Primarily while signing a particularly gifted player in his prime is still on the cards, the signing of older players is to be generally avoided, the idea being young home grown players who have a determination to succeed are a far better investment than players looking for a final pay day. In the past West Ham have paid good money in wages, higher than most outside the top four, but to players with little or no sell on value, the reason being the absolute fear of relegation that has permeated the club since the move to the London Stadium from the Boleyn.
The appointment of Manuel Pellegrini did much to appease disgruntled fans, the fact that he was sufficiently bank rolled was a massive bonus, although he would never have taken up the reins had the funding not been in place! In Pellegrini West Ham have finally got a 'proper' manager, one of his prime attributes being his ability to create a team that plays attractive and ultimately successful football with a combination of youth and experience. The club at last has a manager self confident and brave enough to use young players, Pelle has already installed Declan Rice as his 'main man' in the centre of the Park, he has also introduced Diangana, Coventry and Powell to the first team with others ready to follow.
The West Ham team that starts next season will be different, and rumour has it that Hammers may send Jack Wilshere out on loan at the beginning of the season if he is unable to compete for a first team spot, Jack's signing was the only high profile failure by Pellegrini and Mario Husillos, it is to be hoped that they don't make the same mistake as the board did with Andy Carroll and are not 'blinded' by the player's potential as opposed to reality.
Winston Reid has not represented the club at all this season, and his 'injury seems to just add to those he had the season before, he is on good money so getting him off the books won't be easy although there will probably some clubs willing to take a risk. The five year deal he was handed was indicative of the paranoia that surrounded the club at the time, the result of not having a 'proper' manager, if there had been one in place he wouldn't have been bothered about selling Reid so long as he was sold for decent money, no one player is bigger than the club, that is Manuel Pellegrini's ethos, and long may it continue. - Ed
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