Forum | Non-Football Related

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?

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?

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