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

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General discussion

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?

We need to come flying out of

We need to come flying out of the gates, put the pressure on them and watch them crumble. If we try to be patient and pick our way through with no end product, Sunderland will grow in confidence and we'll struggle due to current form. This is an absolute must win for us and we need to win comfortably in some style to give us confidence for the run in. Play shite and we could drift into obscurity

you know that defoe

Is gonna nick one!Still should win this though,if we lose i think sams number will be up....

Fingers crossed then?

The sooner he goes the better IMO, and why not get someone else in now rather than the end of the season as any good manager would see what needs to be replaced and could look to do that at the end of the season.

I agree mate, now would be

I agree mate, now would be the ideal time for change with us safe in the league and little to play for, it would make sense to me

Personally i would include

Personally i would include Amalfitano in the side, I think his energy, technical ability and an eye for goal give him the edge over some of our regulars, I would rather try Nene up front with Sakho, Cole is no more than a 15 minute sub now imo
I think it'll be a tough game, they'll see this as a chance for points particularly with our current form, I think it'll be a draw

i cant believe Cole has been

i cant believe Cole has been mention twice in this thread

Hopefully Valencia will be OK

Hopefully Valencia will be OK to play, I cant believe a cut on his foot should keep him out for more than a week.

Cole is well passed his best

Cole is well passed his best,but I was selecting a team based on Allardyces' choices,who he tends to go for.I think Amalfitano would do a great job beside Sakho as he has that eye for goal and he has good movement in his game.Zarate would have been another choice but thats a no go.Even using Nene up front as mentioned would be a good call.

there it is again

Love his loyalty but

When was Cole at his best for us?

When Zola was manager Cole

When Zola was manager Cole had a purple patch ,scoring regularly,the system suited him,that was when he got his England call up.

yer he was an England regular

yer he was an England regular after that wasn't he

errr

7 appearances and no goals, not shocked about the lack of goals are we?

Your right about the England call up but

Carlton Palmer also played for England! Carlton managed a total of 11 goals at his best during Zola's reign and 4 of them were in the league cup, with Picquonne scoring one more than Carlton in the Premier League. He's never been outstanding for us but very loyal, I give him that mate.

Ill mention him a third time burkie!

Hes shite!!lol :)

blood some of the young fella

blood some of the young fella's

Revenge!

Play Diego Poyet no better motivation lol

I actually think that's a

I actually think that's a good call Mooro. We need more energy in our midfield too. Sam is far to reluctant to give younger players a chance.

Baffling!

Why diego hasnt been given more of a chance,& zarate sent on loan,both are far better than nolan & carlton imo...

Baffling .

Hammers65 .. Your dead right there .. But as we well know by now sadly Allardyce and any Flair and Young Players don't seem to mix for some unknown reason .. "imo" our Football Dinosaur Allardyce has done nothing but taken the *iss out of our well respected Academy ever since arriving at West Ham !

ant & dec are better players

ant & dec are better players than Nolan & Cole 65

Normally a relegation

Normally a relegation threatened side playing their first game for a new manager would be considered a threat. But it seems plain Advocaat is a stop-gap manager before Sunderland get who they really want in the summer. Don't see the Sunderland players being over concerned with impressing him.

well i see that he wants to

well i see that he wants to fight for a place in the team instead of go out on loan and he's got back on the subs bench at last, i hope he gets rewarded bully