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Ex West Ham Man Key To Leeds Utd Renaissance

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Thu, 28/09/2017 - 10:43

Italian businessman Andrea Radrizzani made his fortune in global sports media and completed his takeover of Leeds in May ending the sometimes bizarre three year reign of Massimo Cellino who had a series of disputes, two bans from running the club by the Football League and a ban and a fine from the FA for breaching agent rules.

Appointing Thomas Christiansen as manager is now looking to be a clever move, along with the arrival of Victor Orta from Middlesbrough as director of football. However the 'missing link' and key to the administrative stability of the club culminating in it's resurgence and genuine possibility of returning the the cash cow that is the Barclays Premier League, was the appointment of Angus Kinnear who came from West Ham as managing director.

While the arrival of these people has been crucial, the most symbolic investment has been in bricks and mortar as Radrizzani bought back Elland Road 13 years after the club sold the ground to reduce debts, progress is already being made with a few some key cosmetic changes, banners around the ground celebrating past successes and a club history timeline running along Elland Road are part of the 're-Leedsivation' of the once proud club as they search to regain their identity.

"Buying back the ground was a seminal moment," said Adam Pope, who commentates on their games for BBC Radio Leeds and has covered every twist and turn since 2005-06. "Owners have come and gone saying they would buy the ancestral home back but only Radrizzani has delivered. "The emotional attachment to Elland Road is immense to Leeds fans and by buying it back for what is believed to be around £20m, investing and developing it, you can see Radrizzani means business."

Angus Kinnear was known to have extreme reservations about West Ham United's, move from the Boleyn Ground to the London Stadium despite being brought in to oversee the transition. Kinnear, who had previously been Arsenal's go to marketing man, thought the purchase of properties adjacent and surrounding 'Upton Park' ahead of the proposed increase of capacity from 35,000 to 48,000 to have been very shrewd, however it now transpires that the 'improvements' outlined for the Boleyn were never going to be agreed by Messrs Gold & Sullivan, moving to the London Stadium was viewed as paramount to their plans for the club.

There were worries about transport infrastructure etc, but the real reason that the Boleyn wasn't refurbished and expanded was because the numbers just didn't add up. The capital investment required did not justify the relatively small increase in capacity and would have taken years to pay for itself, so all the talk about 'moving to another level' was slightly disingenuous, the reality is that dear old Scott Duxberry had begged, borrowed and mortgaged season ticket sales years in advance in a desperate effort to keep the club afloat following the melt down of the icelandic economy (excuse pun) ahead of the arrival of the two Davids.

Perhaps Kinnnear's initial vision for the Boleyn was actually a better choice, it would definitely have been so in the short term. This brings us to the need for 'upscaling', Chelsea are, as are Tottenham, but there are a host of teams doing rather well in the Premier League who don't need massive gates. This is because of the obscene amount of TV revenue all top flight clubs now receive, the need for a vast capacity is actually a thing of the past if you look at the co-efficient between gate receipts and income. With the advent of increased on-line purchasing, merchandising does not rely on huge numbers at the club shop, rather on a massive social media and International media presence, that is where the big money is!

"You sold you're soul for this sh*t ho*e" was a constant chant of away fans visiting the London Stadium during Hammer's first season of tenancy, and maybe they were right, but there is no point crying about a situation that is irrevocable as we are stuck with the London Stadium and are going to try and make the most of it, but it won't truly be able to be called home for another 25 years until it is possible to buy the ground outright. There will then be a need for someone of the same ilk as Angus Kinnear to rediscover the club's identity won't there? - Ed

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West Ham And Tottenham Charged After Stadium Melee

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Wed, 27/09/2017 - 10:56

West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have been charged by the Football Association with failing to control their players in Saturday's derby at the London Stadium. A statement from the FA said: "It is alleged that in or around the 95th minute of the game, both clubs failed to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion."

Five players were cautioned by referee Michael Oliver in stoppage time including Andy Carroll, Winston Reid and Andre Ayew for West Ham, with Eric Dier and Fernando Llorente being booked for Spurs.

Everything appeared to kick off after a retaliatory 'incident' involving Andy Carroll which brought angry reactions from both sides and saw four players booked straight away, Ayew's caution for a foul came earlier in stoppage time. The visitors had already been reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Serge Aurier received a second yellow card for a nasty foul in what was a particularly spiteful match, there were many niggley challenges and achilles draggings that went unnoticed by the match officials who to be fair had their hands full keeping up with the pace and intensity of the hotly disputed London Derby.

Both clubs have until 18:00 BST on Thursday to respond to the charge.

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Funny quotes you have heard about anything West Ham

Submitted by Red Neck Iron on Wed, 27/09/2017 - 09:50

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Glad to see the fans sense of humour is still alive and kicking. Read a couple of decent quotes today. "Bilic manages like a 14 year old trying to undo his first birds bra" and " kouyate runs like Forrest Gump and passes like he is wearing callipers". Made me chuckle anyway. Anyone else got any, from past or present?

Betway Better Watch Out Because Here Comes Corbyn's Mob!

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Tue, 26/09/2017 - 10:51

Labour says it would ban gambling firms from advertising on football shirts if it came to power, the party's deputy leader Tom Watson said football had to "play its part in tackling Britain's hidden epidemic of gambling addiction". Nine English Premier League clubs including West Ham have kits sponsored by betting companies. Hammer's exposure to possible new legislation is more acute than others because Betway are the main source of the club's sponsorship funding due to the lack of naming rights accorded to the London Stadium, that in itself is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently but is lurching from broken promise to broken promises.

With gambling on football worth a record £1.4bn to bookmakers last year there is clearly cause for concern, there are high roads in certain areas where the only new businesses are bookies, the bookies on-line presence is enormous as is their media presence. This high profile saturation is obviously going to bring the situation to the fore, the problem is, and it is a big IF, Labour do somehow contrive to get elected they will set about 'dismantling' the betting networks without due diligence and end up causing massive problems.

Mr Watson, who is also Labour's shadow culture secretary, said the shirt sponsorship deals gave gambling companies "massive exposure". "Shirt sponsorship sends out a message that football clubs don't take problem gambling among their own fans seriously enough," he said. "It puts gambling brands in front of fans of all ages, not just at matches but on broadcasts and highlights packages on both commercial television and the BBC."

Labour said rules banning gambling adverts on under-18s teams' shirts should be extended to all sides under the Football Association's remit, It said it would work with the FA to achieve this before considering legislation. The FA has already announced the end of it's deal with Ladbrokes which has clearly set the tone, and pressure will mount on club's to disassociate themselves with bookmaking sponsors whichever Party rules in future Governments.

Rumour has it that Ray Winstone is going to start a petition against any proposed change in legislation, after all Bet 365 pays him the money that enables him to have a box at the ground of his Betway sponsored club!

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Identity

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 26/09/2017 - 09:14

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it was mentioned by me before that our style of play has no real foundation. people argued but then which clubs do? but to me i look at managers who have been in their positions a while now, pulis, poch, mourinho, conte, klopp, hughes, hughton, wagner, benitez, howe, dyche….and you can see what it is they have built in terms of squad and style. all these managers set up basically the same way for all their games, only tweaking slightly if opposition is a worry. for example dyche will revert to 5 in mid, howe likes to put 5 at the back in big games. on the whole you can see what each manager wants to achieve on the pitch come match day. i was watching brighton v newcastle and it was clear as day that newcastle were the usual difficult to beat, solid set up and brighton were 4-4-2 with flying, energetic wide players. both managers had a plan, the players had been drilled in this setup not just for a week or so, but ever since the manager took over. the result is they look like they know what they are doing. players know where to find their teammates runs, where the striker will be for a cross, what the plan is in terms of trying to create chances etc etc. hughes sets his stoke side up with the emphasis on a well drilled defence, 3 sitting behind a striker……dyche drills his side to death making sure each player knows his role in the side, howe wants his side to pass it short and break with pace…..klopp wants his team to press and press up the field…each system has flaws but they know what they want to achieve…..and then i look at our side from game to game and i have no clue whatsoever as to what the setup is or the plan. its hard to believe that we have a manager who doesnt know after 3 seasons how he wants to play. evidence of this is the constant changing we've had back 3, back 4, back 5….3 up front, 1 up front, strikers playing wide, midfielders playing in defence….is it me or is this bewildering? I've hear of tweaking your line up but this is plain ridiculous now. we buy players each window without a clue of line up, only after we sign them do we start going through formations to see what works? what we've ended up with is a club that has a manager with no style, no basic managerial style. you appoint allardyce, you know whats coming, you know what sort of players he will need….we are a complete muddle. If only bilic had stuck to his counter attack style of season 1. he would then have been buying players to fit into that system and by now we'd have been established as a counter attacking, pacey side with a back 4. its like every two games we start over again with Bilic deciding something else will do. anyone else noticed?

Billic To Be Sacked In The Morning

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Mon, 25/09/2017 - 12:39

When West Ham United went 3-0 down at home to hated rivals Tottenham at the London Stadium, large parts of the crowd in the 'home' end were chanting "you're getting sacked in the morning", and they weren't referring to the away manager! Two goals and a stirring fight back later on changed things, but fundamentally the malaise that is West Ham at the moment goes a lot deeper.

Ahead of the Tottenham game 'Baroness Ga Ga' was saying they were the best team in the land, Hammers manager Slaven Billic stated that Spurs were the most attractive team to watch in the Premier League and blah blah. After the match we have Mr West Ham, Marky Noble, saying that 'Kaneo' is worth at least £100 Million and some!

Maybe they think the average fan is stupid? Oh, completely forgot that Captain Noble already has previous for saying that fans don't understand the game, admitedly not quite the same as calling them stupid but somewhere within that realm. For such high profile 'mouth pieces' of the club to come out with such Tottenham concentric comments before and after the match seems to show a complete lack of understanding of the 'normal' fan who has supported the club since childhood.

Many 'normal fans' cannot afford to go to a flash restaurant after the match because they have already spent their 'hard earned' paying to take their kids to watch the game at the London Stadium, with it's commensurately appallingly high priced food, drinks and just about everything, and don't even go near the price of crisps! (£1.75p)

Would Billic have been sacked if the score had remained at 0-3? Some think so, having never got on Slaven's back here at the Org even we are beginning to question what is going on. Substituting Mikael Antonio with Andy Carroll instead of the totally more obvious choice of Andre Ayew was bewildering and possibly the act of a manager who is to all intents and purposes is a 'dead man walking', it does indeed look as if the amiable Croat's time is up, he has the demeanor of a rabbit caught in the head lights, far removed from the buccaneering warrior that rocked up at the Boleyn when he began his tenure as manager.

David Sullivan and David Gold have an excellent record when it comes to retaining their managers, whether that relates to not paying compensation is a matter of conjecture, but they are not stupid and will definitely have already got a plan B in place should they have to pull the trigger sooner than they would wish, Slaven Billic is in the last year of a contract that is extremely unlikely to be renewed so potential replacements will already be lined up, but who in their right mind would want to come?

Well the answer is plenty, there are many who would eye taking over at the London Stadium as an attractive proposition, especially as it would put them in to the shop window and enable them to move on to a 'bigger' team. If the previous statement annoys you then it should, but as a club we are what we are at the moment and no amount of Claret & Blue tinted spectacles will change it in the short term. Consolidation and avoiding relegation is the order of the day, it's not nice but it is realistic. - Ed

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four games

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Submitted by mcbikeman on Sun, 24/09/2017 - 18:04

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swansea/burnley/brighton/palace.....thats the next four league games we have.....and i am going to be real hard here and say we have to win them all and with our squad we bloody well should do....if we dont and say only win one then i would be fearing for our prem status.....so now is the time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and man up and win.....

Mind the gap

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 24/09/2017 - 15:42

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looking at how city are putting 5 or 6 past each opponent, to me theres a greater gulf between the top now than ever. im afraid that unless you have a billionaire behind you, you're going to be left behind. for me the rest have to now up their games. if you cant compete with man city's four squads of stars, you have to compete in other areas - energy, tactics and strength. if you dont get your players to play above themselves each game, if they dont out work or outrun the likes of city, manure, arsenal, chelsea then its going to be a tonking. I dont include spurs coz for me if you take kane out, theres not much else. I think ali is being overhyped. its becoming a bore, watching palace v city or saints v man ure, neither side had a chance and offered no tactical masterplan. in short the prem league has become a playground for the big sides and their fans. leicester did it, but it was a miracle and hasnt lasted. even in the cups these sides have 20 mill pound players who are nowhere near the first squad. like it or not, this league is all about money. you dont just need players and managers who can compete, you need owners who can. this season the league looks even more of a bore to me. watford are well managed, vicarage road should be tough to go to so to see them stuffed 6-0 by city and it could have been 9, makes it worrying in terms of competitiveness. we're heading to a spanish la liga with a few elite sides that romp victories each week.

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