West Ham United: Adrian, Reid, Cresswell, Kouyate, Downing, Noble (c), Jenkinson, Collins, Cole, Song, Valencia
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Jarvis, Nene, O'Brien, Amalfitano, Burke, Lee
Everton: Howard, Jagielka (c), Lukaku, McCarthy, Barry, Barkley, Osman, Coleman, Lennon, Stones, Galloway
Subs: Joel, McGeary, Kone, Mirallas, Naismith, Besic, Garbutt
Live chat to start at half time
Following Sam Allardyce's rather strange press conference where he likened himself to Harry Houdini, there appears to be little doubt that he is a managerial 'dead man walking'. Much has been written about the current West Ham manager's style of play and questionable player recruitment, but the fact is that he has done the job he was asked to do. Ironically the team's early season success is what will probably have been Big Sam's downfall, having seen what the team were capable off, fans and owners alike assumed this was the dawning of a new exciting era, unfortunately the wheels fell off the wagon and a top four place at christmas has plummeted to tenth.
The general consensus is that it is time for a change, although Premier league survival is essential ahead of the move to the Olympic stadium the need for more expansive football has to be managed without it being too expensive!
With David Moyes having ruled himself out, Rafa Benitez is top of the list, and tentative negotiations are apparently underway. Next up is Slaven Bilic, untried at Premier League level, he is a shrewd manager who has had to cope with the rigours and demands of Turkish football and of course International football during his successful tenure as Croatian team manager. Finally out of the 'triple B's, Marcelo Biesla might be the surprise contender, however there are fears that his lack of english could prove to be a stumbling block.
There may be other contenders out there, but a betting man would be concentrating on one of the 'B' boys! -Ed
Not sure what we will see in this game, but expect Martinez to have his players falling all over the place looking for cards. Barkley will spend most of the game sitting on his arse waving his arms at the ref. Hard to read Sam's mind after his weird press conference yesterday, seems he has NOT rejected any offer, or even had any offer, unless he's lying through his teeth, which is not something I would accuse him of. If he has the slightest hope of getting another contract surely he MUST attack, but his self belief that defensive football is always best, along with not wishing to get many cards, may see this game as a damp squib. But we live in hope! COYI!!
I don't seem to hear his name mentioned much. Yet was apparently previously On Liverpool's and Tottenham's shortlists. Highly experienced player, managed Ajax for several years. Speaks better English than most English people! Would anybody like him as our new manager?
The season is ending with a whimper, with us all in a state of uncertainty as to who our manager will be for next season.
One newspaper makes one assertion, based on... well nothing much it would appear. Another newspaper says something quite different, based on... nothing attributable to anyone.
Somebody knows somebody who knows the brother of the girl friend of...
We all buy into whatever we want to hear.
Web sites copy outrageously, sometimes even reproducing spelling mistakes, let alone unprovable "facts."
'Factoids' grow and assume the solidity of proven hard evidence, when frequently they are little more than dim mirages that vanish at the slightest breath of wind.
It seems to me that no bugger knows a damn thing.
no i don't mean we should become a rudderless ship with no one at the helm but with the modern approach being a 'coach' rather than a manager appointed and then those above him buying the players and telling him to make the best out of what he's given sort of thing, is this the way forward for us perhaps? i'm opening this up for debate as there is much to ponder in my opinion such as if so who would fit the bill as a first team coach, picking the team, tactics etc but leaving the rest up to the board and also is our board good enough to buy players alone? allardyce is an old school manager, getting his hands in all the pies so to speak or at least thats the way i believe he wants to manage. pelligrini and even rogers apparently don't decide on players, its up to the board and he in turn is tasked with getting the best out of them. is this even a good approach? does it then undermine the 'coach' or does it free him from some of the stresses he doesnt need? i don't think its worked at liverpool if as i hear thats the case there because rogers has ended up working with players he can't fit into his philosophy. i guess if the man is appointed knowing exactly what the scenario is regarding his role then he can have no complaints down the line. poyet complained about this all the time yet i am sure he was aware when he went into his job no? speaking of poyet what happened to him as a contender? not long ago there was clamour for him to replace sam….
As this post is inspired by his "what happened to this site" post. I risk being outcast as I was when I suggested that Bobby Moore was not the massaiah and just for one week we really should let him rest in peace and try not to ( for one week) try and out do one another in our admiration of him, using progressively longer words, and In some way the more we worship him makes us bigger and better WH supporters, giving heavier weight and credibility in future posts. A ridiculous and pius notion!
InSpired by Turk (see how I am trying to deflect some hatred) I am suggesting to cut a few players. Players that have been whispered in other posts but put front and center in this one. So let's get the blood boiling on this site. I fee like such a turncoat mentioning the players below... I expect loyalty from players so where is my loyalty to them?
Mark Nobel. Is a perm player but not top ten or European player.
Carlton Cole. Loyal, took a pay cut, nice guy, put ego aside to come back. But not fit for Sunday league.
Kevin Nolan. Left the prem to join us, got us back in the prem, and love the chicken! But that chicken dance is as rare as a dodo!
Big Sam. Done everything we have asked him to do in terms of promotion, getting stability, then what looks like a top ten Finnish. But yet feel my loyalty and frustration dropping points in overtime was too frequent.
Ok I kmow I will get some support with most of above but let's hear your thoughts on Nobel !!
One of my main themes last season (before this website did a Burton) was the untapped brilliant potential to be found in the Championship. The pessimistic amongst you would always fire back with "unproven, never experienced the premier league, too risky". My argument always was that the risk between a young hungry British talent, on reasonable wages and a relatively low signing fee was the same or lower than a foreign older mercenary on higher wages also untested in the Premiership. The worse that could happen is that it didn't work, or conversely - that it did, and the player can be sold for more money later.
The chairmen at the start of this season seemed to buy into this and issued statements to the affect that we were going to build a younger squad with potential. I think this policy needs to continue - regardless of who the manager is next season. Indeed, it should be written into the manager's contract that this is what is going to happen and reinforce the West Ham tradition as an academy for young footballers. (Don't you feel pangs of jealousy when you see Southampton, Tottenham and now Aston Villa fielding their youngsters, and it working? I do.)
So anyway, last year I got Aaron Cresswell right (but he was a pretty obvious one if you saw Ipswich beat us 5-0 in the championship). I also got Jordan Rhodes, Tom Ince and Nathan Redmond wrong. Another one I think I did get right - but Sam never plays him - is Diego Poyet. I think he is outstanding. And with only 2 games to go this season and with Song, Noble and Nolan all struggling I just cannot understand what Poyet has done to not get a game. He is potentially better than all of them, seriously!
We already have Reece Burke and Reece Oxford coming through, and I hope that continues. Sad to see Lletget go. He will probably be a massive hit back in the States now. Stephen Hendrie (LB) is joining in the summer from Scotland and he looks good too.
This year, I would urge the Chairmen (or whoever it is buying our players nowadays) to look at the following urgently.
Sam Byram - RB from Leeds. Outstanding potential. Could be as good as Cresswell, and a must if Jenkinson leaves. (Compare his wages to Glenn Johnson!!)
Will Hughes - CAM from Derby. Just missed out on promotion. (We surely all agree we need a replacement for Nolan?)
Lewis Dunk _ CB from Brighton.
If Jamaal Lascelles (CB from Forest) wasn't already on loan from Newcastle I would have him in a instant.
Where the hell did this website go!!???! A year ago I was banging on and on about how we had to sign a young left back from Ipswich called Cresswell and then BOOM...!! End of webpage.
I've just stumbled across the website whilst doing a Google search for something else. Anyway, I'm back and so seems the website, but it all looks very different.
Have I missed anything exciting?
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Premier League
West Ham vs Fulham
15:00
London Stadium
Saturday 27th December 2025
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