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Westham v Sunderland (Sat 5:30pm kick-off)

Essexhammer's picture
Submitted by Essexhammer on Mon, 16/03/2015 - 21:41

Checking the injury latest ,Cole and Reid should be back Saturday,nobody else.Don't know how Allardyce will set up the side for this game ,but I think he would go with Adrian,Jenkinson,Reid,Collins,Cresswell,Noble,Kouyate,Song,Downing,Sakho,Cole in a 4-3-1-2.Hopefully Downing playing behind the front two where he is most effective rather than stuck out on the wing where he tends to fade.Then again, knowing Sam, he may go 4-5-1 bringing in Jarvis or Nene(who is a winger and specialist free-kick taker) and leave Sakho up front alone,but it would mean playing wingers and having Downing playing out wide.Whatever team is put out, Sunderland will be no pushovers, they will not put on a repeat showing of last Saturday's debacle against Aston Villa.A team that has wounded pride and no manager will be out to prove something,players will be out to show they are worthy of their place for the new manager.Missing Valencia is a big loss, as he and Sakho work well together, with the pace and movement they bring to the team pulling opposition defences all over the place.Only Tomkins missing, other than that from a full strength side,but team confidence won't be great after a poor run of results and fan pressure in the Upton Park cauldron could weigh heavily if they fall behind,so really its no easy call this match.How do you think it will go?

Sunderland job

Burkie 1's picture
Submitted by Burkie 1 on Mon, 16/03/2015 - 19:45

Sam second favorite to get the job wouldn't it be something if he were to get it this week and come back to uppers as their new boss on Saturday

Big Sam Favourite To Replace Gus Poyet

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Mon, 16/03/2015 - 13:57

Hot on the heals of Gus Poyet's sacking by Sunderland, Sam Allardyce has emerged as test placed to takeover as manager. Our gaming partner www.bonuscorner.com have confirmed that the serious money is being placed on the incumbent Hammer's manager replacing Poyet. The timing and sequence of events could prove to be acceptable by most parties involved. Should Big Sam decide to take up the offer of helping Sunderland survive, for which incidentally he would be royally rewarded, the West Ham co owners David Gold and David Sullivan would not have to pay up the rest of his contract, furthermore they might even get a compensation payment from the Mackams!
Now this course of action would meet with the wide approval of most Hammers fans, but who would take over, in what capacity and for how long? Michael Laudrup is the current name in the frame, who despite being the manager of Qatar Stars League club Lekhwiya, could be paid out of his contract with the proceeds of the 'Sam' transfer money. If an interim manager were appointed it would allow time for Slacen Bilic, David Moyes and even Rafa Benitez to be put in the frame. -Ed

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Season Stats So Far

madhammer's picture
Submitted by madhammer on Mon, 16/03/2015 - 11:13

Managed to get hold of some overall stats for the season so far it will be interesting to see how they change between now and the end

Summary
Yellow Cards 50
Red Cards 02
Average Possession 45%
Pass Success % 75%
Aerial Duel won per game 23
Defensive
Shots conceded per game 15.4
Shots blocked per game 4.5
Tackles per game 17.7
Fouls per game 10.9
Interceptions per game 14.2
Offensive
Shots per game 13.1
Shots on target per game 4.2
Dribbles won per game 7.5
Fouls won per game 11.3
Offsides per game 2.4

Forget the heart this is why the head thinks he should go

Submitted by Betty Swollox on Sun, 15/03/2015 - 23:22

Forget your personal emotional views on Allardyce's style of football. Forget whether you like the obvious nepotism that he perpetuates with players all sharing his agent. Forget his mild contempt of us fans and refusal to accept how we want to watch the team play. If he continues to stay I think financially and image wise it will affect us for a long time. If we go to a stadium and fill it by two thirds, the marketing and promotional image will be a laughing stock. We might get some more prawn sandwiches from the city, but who will be there on a Tuesday night to watch us play Burnley? His wages as well are a problem, if he stays he's going to get an increase in wages ( http://www.tsmplay.com/top10/highest-paid-football-managers/ ) just think about who else we could have for that money? Is mid table obscurity with a splash of colour in an otherwise grey season, plus a lacklustre cup run enough, for someone on £3million a year? There's a problem at the club, with the owners' ages too, especially Gold. I expect they feel they haven't got the time to tinker with a new, younger manager with new ideas about the game. They want stability and then a full OS, but I think that's the irony. I know more and more people that have stopped going or go to less games, because of the manager. How do they expect that to change? How do they think that the club can grab optimism by the scruff of the neck again? All we can do this season is be thankful we won't get relegated, is that enough anymore?

Sam

Burkie 1's picture
Submitted by Burkie 1 on Sun, 15/03/2015 - 19:47

its amazing no ones posting in defense of him , not even nt , what makes me sick is all the tv pundits , to a man they almost accuse west ham fans of treachery and not appreciating a good manager, i really like the show on sky Saturdays but on this issue their condescending remarks are offensive, they make out we don't know what we want and should marvel and be eternally grateful for a a top ten Finnish ,even Ian Dowie on Satanta last night was saying we are mad not to have tied him down by now , goes to show you what they really know about us , if you think the media panel's hate west ham now just wait till the end of the season when the taxi pulls up .
I think its only 2 or 3 things that need tweaking right now, the main one is bring Downing back to his role at the tip of the diamond and get rid of that geriatric Nolan , he was a revelation in that position , push Song much further up field , he's much to sluggish to play in front of the back 4,forget about Jarvis , his heart is in the right place but he's a one dimensional player , head down and run like f**k , whats bfs frightened of in bringing on subs whats the point in changing things when were well and truly beaten ," anal " and " Nemo"should be on from the start and forget about one up front , and lastly whats up with taking a risk on some of the younger guy's , was it Burnley or Sunderland yesterday who played a 16 year old and he's not even the youngest ever to play in the top bracket, think he's around the third youngest , makes our lads look like veterans , so sorry to be blunt Sam, thanks but no thanks , and take Nolan with you, your a left over from the seventy's, a dinosaur with outmoded ideas , a massive stubborn streak and the football brain of a Neanderthal

thank goodness for a good start!

Submitted by Chippy Dave on Sun, 15/03/2015 - 11:39

I can't imagine where we'd be languishing in the league now without the fantastic start we had, I know we've had a couple of injuries but this is still our best squad for many a season, we're stronger in every area so no excuses.
I think another problem with our poor form and free fall down the league table will be the disappearance of our 'better' players at the end of the season, Valencia and Sakho have already been linked with Chelsea and Liverpool last January, I would imagine Song will be looking elsewhere, Kouyate looks to have settled into the Premiership quickly so he could be another that teams are looking at, that's why we can't stand still and let the rot continue, it's admirable (and cheaper) that the chairmen stand by their man but we've let a big opportunity slip away this year, we should've been aiming for European football but instead we're just playing out the season

Org Overcomes Gremlins

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Sun, 15/03/2015 - 09:09

Now up and running on it's new server www.westhamfans.org attempted a new chat line facility which worked really well for the Arsenal match, however due to a technical issue that has now been rectified, the normal comment and posting option was rendered inoperative from 8pm on Saturday until 9am on Sunday morning.
All aspects of the Org are now back up and running, which is more than can be said for West Ham United's season, which is lurching from crisis to crisis! -Ed

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A Good Tactician Needed to Replace Allardyce

Essexhammer's picture
Submitted by Essexhammer on Sat, 14/03/2015 - 23:24

I think whoever replaces Allardyce now has a good foundation to work with,a strong first team that can hold its own in the top 6 .Investment in the squad, would obviously be needed to strengthen as Allardyce is finding to his cost .But along with decent investment you must have a modern thinking manager who knows and can implement the modern game ,and that is where Allardyce falls short.Sure ,he knows a lot about the game,has enough experience to put together a decent side that can hold their own in the premiership,but his football has never been something to thrill over ,it's that one ingredient that is missing in his management.He will get his teams playing decent football at times, as we have seen this season, but all too often we see the cracks appear,in his tactical awareness ,his team selection or his substitutions..Its his football philosophy that frustrates me most,as defender in his playing days, that defensive mentality is reflected in his footballing style.A proven modern day football tactician could take the club to the next level,and there are plenty of them out there.Just consider one Marcelo Bielsa,he is an example of a modern day football tactician,manager of Marseille.
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Bielsa's signature formation in his squads, which he made famous and brought to the front of the world's mainstream football scene during his coaching tenures in the Argentina national football team, Chile national football team, Athletic Bilbao and Olympique de Marseille, is the 3-3-3-1 formation.

For this formation, the players are: 3 defenders (1 líbero with 2 stoppers at each side), 3 midfielders (1 central midfielder with 2 lateral-volantes at each side), 3 attacking midfielders (1 enganche and 2 wingers at each side), and 1 centreforward. 3-3-3-1 allows great transitions from defending to attacking, as many of the players used in the formation can perform both defensive and attacking tasks. Moreover, it establishes superiority in numbers in every part of the field, since with this formation his teams could defend with 7 players, attack with 6-7 players, or protect a scoreline by overwhelming the midfield with 6 players. To use 3-3-3-1, all players have to quickly set to attacking positions when the ball is in the team's possession, and all players have to aggressively press and recover the ball when it isn't in possession, so it requires great teamwork and understanding between teammates.

This signature style of Bielsa's had so much influence in the football scene that many present coaches, former players under Bielsa's command, are heavily influenced by the style, like Diego Simeone, Mauricio Pochettino, Matías Almeyda and Marcelo Gallardo

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