saturday's news 4th january includes west ham

An archive of Cockney Hammer's West Ham-related daily news digests from 2009-2015. For the latest daily digests, see the General Discussion Forum.

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Re: saturday's news 4th january includes west ham

Post by cockney hammer »

Verywestham


Dogged Sam Looks to the 'West Ham Way' with Transfer Coup!!!




Of course it’s all Hurst-Moore-Peters when Hammers fans talk about how the 1966 World cup was secured for old Blighty, but as West Ham make a desperate bid to stop the slide towards the bottom of the table, their latest transfer window signing has allowed for a crucial capture that recalls the spirit of their finest hour in 1966.

In an effort to find their lost form of last year, Allardyce has returned to the "West Ham Way" and has looked to the often- forgotten hero of the sixty six campaign by signing the services of none other than ‘Pickles’ the wonderdog who famously found the World Cup trophy after it had been ‘mislaid’ , thus saving a nation’s blushes!

An elated Sam commented “this is just the pickmeup our lads needed, especially Kevin Nolan who has hardly contributed a screed since late November”, and continued, “Pickles will undoubtedly cheer everybody up, even our rubbish defence who have suddenly started giving away silly goals for fun - even to very average sides like Fulham in last week's disappointing and worrying defeat”.



Meanwhile, Johnny Heitinga, the former Dutch International has rejected West Ham's offer to rescue him from Everton's bench as he realises that he would be highly unlikely to retain his place once any of West Ham's regular centre backs become available again.


In the interim, Pickles, who was brought in principally to be a club mascot, may need to fill one of the vacant centre back berths in the leaky Hammer's defence. Meanwhile, up front, the transfer situation remains bleak due to the lack of availability of a backup striker of true Premiership pedigree.
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Re: saturday's news 4th january includes west ham

Post by Adie64 »

Thanks CH, much appreciated. :thup:
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Who's to blame?

Post by cockney hammer »

Image




Who's to blame?


http://westhamworld.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Having enjoyed a relatively successful return to the Premier League last season there was fair amount of optimism amongst the Hammers faithful as we approached the opening day fixture against Cardiff City.

We started the new campaign just as we finished the last one. A convincing home win and a real belief that the future was going to positive and successful. “Bring on the rest of the season,” we thought, another top-ten finish was there for the taking.

But now, three days in to January, we’re all sit here stunned, wondering where it all went wrong as we sit three points a drift of Premier League safety with an injury riddled squad and a shambolic transfer policy.

But who is to blame, exactly? Is it the the owners for not ensuring we brought in a back up striker to Andy Carroll? Is it Sam Allardyce for refusing to play two up front and tinker with tactics that don’t work? Is it captain Kevin Nolan for failing to show any leadership skills or example by needlessly getting himself sent off twice in a month? Or perhaps it’s Chadwell Heath that has been the catalyst for a number of squad crippling injuries to a number of our best players?

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s Carlos Tevez’s fault for just being, you know, Tevez? Let’s have a look at each party and see what role they’ve all played in the current debacle the club finds itself in, and then you can make up your own mind.
The Owners
David Gold, Karren Brady and David Sullivan

Guilty of acting too slow?



First of all, let’s get a few things straight. David Gold and David Sullivan have pumped tens of millions of their own hard earned cash in to the club to ensure we’re all still here supporting London’s greatest club, and that I’m sat here writing this pretty hopeless assessment of the club in turmoil.

We owe them a lot for what they have given the club and they should be shown a great deal of respect for that. But that doesn’t mean to say they cannot be blamed for what’s happening.

Firstly, the failure to acquire a back-up striker in the summer was always going to come back and kick us square in the proverbials. David Gold has publicly admitted that he and Sullivan messed up there but, in his defence, a number of their targets had decided to move to bigger and better clubs or chose to remain at their respective clubs. That’s completely unavoidable.

Of course, there will be fans that won’t accept that as a viable excuse and will believe the club should have tried hard enough. Fair enough. Perhaps that may be the case, but we will probably never know.

Following that summer transfer window failure we ended up bringing back the released Carlton Cole and free-agent Mladen Petric. Oh dear.

Secondly, their reluctance to hand Sam Allardyce his P45 as soon as there was the smallest of signs that our season was slipping away from us, particularly after they admitted making the same mistake with Avram Grant, might well be why we are where we are.

We’ve seen all the teams around us at the bottom of the top-flight change their managers and immediately pick up some kind of success. Some have begun slipping back to where they were before, but on the whole a new manager with new ideas appeared to be exactly what we needed.

But they’re backing him and there’s nothing we can do about it. But is that the right decision?
Sam Allardyce
Sam Allardyce

More Big ‘Sham’ than Big Sam these days?



He did what was asked of him by getting us promoted from the Championship at the first time of asking. He then gave us a 10th place finish in the Premier League the following year. Applause all round.

But now that applause has turned in to boos, and because he’s been found out as the stubborn, tactically limited manager that perhaps he has always been.

The false number nine line-up that saw us thrash Spurs 3-0 at White Hart Lane was a tactical fluke, but the praise he earned from such a result caused him to stick with it for the next five games without any further success. And who was surprised?

And of course there’s the over reliance on Kevin Nolan in midfield, as well as captain. I’ll get on to him in a bit.

But, in his defence, he has had to deal with a number of injuries to his best players. He will not have planned to start the season without record-signing Andy Carroll and he will not have planned to have to field four full-backs in a crucial home fixture against West Brom.

There’s no hiding away from the fact that he’s had to deal with a make-shift squad for half the season so far, but then there is the argument that he’s bought injury-prone players, such as Andy Carroll and Joe Cole.

Allardyce accepts all the blame, which what you would expect, but there have been a number of things that have been way out of his control.
Kevin Nolan
Kevin Nolan - West Ham

Someone give Captain Kev a cuddle.



Once a vital member of our starting line-up, captain Kev is now a loose cannon in what is fast becoming a sinking ship.

He’s a shadow of his former self. A stranger to us now. But how is it possible to go from influential, goal scoring midfielder, to tired, lazy and unreliable pain in the arse.

I’ve seen several fans argue that he’s no good without having his best pal Andy Carroll to feed off up front. But he seemed to be coping well without him while he was banging in 13 goals in the Championship, nor did it appear to be a problem when he was scoring for fun last year while Carroll spent long periods on in the physio room last season. So not having Carroll really isn’t an excuse you or I should really buy in to.

But there is an element of truth somewhere in the above. Not having Carroll to feed off is not the problem, but merely the fact he hasn’t got a good enough striker to be feeding off.

We all know that Nolan has made a career of feeding off a loan striker. He’s scored goals at every single club he’s played at doing the same thing each and every week. But, without a striker, Kevin Nolan’s services to the side are void.

While that’s not his fault, it still doesn’t explain his lacklustre and quite pathetic performances this season.

There’s also something quite mysterious behind his two ‘deliberate’ red cards against Liverpool and Fulham. What’s gotten in to him? Either way, he let us down at Craven Cottage and we may have taken something from the game had he stood up and acted like a captain, encouraging his team mates to respond to Fulham’s equaliser.

I put it down to frustration, but it’s worrying to see a player react in such a way. Maybe he just needs a cuddle from Carroll?
Chadwell Heath
Chadwell Heath - West Ham United's training ground

Time to spend money on improving this place rather than on injury prone 30-somethings?



For years we have been forced to endure lengthy periods throughout a season where a number of our best performers are injured.

The only injury this season that can not potentially be traced back to Chadwell Heath is Stewart Downing’s gashed achilles. Other than that, who’s to say that the injuries to the likes of Winston Reid, Andy Carroll and James Collins were not as direct result of poor training facilities?

Allardyce dismissed this suggestion after the Fulham game, where we all watched in despair as Mark Noble hobbled off in the first-half. He spoke of his post-match discussion with former Hammers boss Alan Curbishley about the training ground. Curbishley claimed Chadwell Heath was the catalyst to many of the injuries his players suffered when in charge at Upton Park.

So for a similar thing to be happening again can’t just be a coincidence, can it?
Carlos Tevez
Carlos Tevez

#BlameTevez



And if all else fails, and you can’t make your mind up on who is to blame for our current troubles, just blame Carlos Tevez.

After all, had it not been for his illegal arrival at Upton Park in 2006, David Gold and David Sullivan may have had a little bit more to spend on some new players (and perhaps enough spare cash lying around to afford Big Sam’s multi-million pound pay-off?).

I joke.

What do you think? Who exactly is to blame for the current problems at our great club?
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by Jedi Al Khalaas »

The Boogie ,thats who I would blame
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by Georgee Paris »

A gypsy curse.
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by Hammer83 »

David Gold and David Sullivan have pumped tens of millions of their own hard earned cash in to the club


I stopped reading after that.They have not pumped their own money in they have loaned money to the club at a high interest rate.
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by bobbymooresbracelet »

The fans.
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by irving boleyn »

1. Fate. Injury to our 3 centre backs could not be insured against. We have Mc Cartney and O'Brien who could fill one place but without the aerial presence of any of the stricken three we are easy meat. And I suggest that no team of our standing would have more than three specialist CB's...I cant remember us ever having had such a luxury.

2. Sam.... Striker ? With Carroll's injury the cupboard wasn't exactly bare...but in not having developed a central midfield attacking system that could support a conventional striker such as Maiga or Vaz Te he has to accept his mantle of,what was the name of that big old bus? ah yes Routeonemaster...
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by Grays »

Hammer83 wrote:David Gold and David Sullivan have pumped tens of millions of their own hard earned cash in to the club


I stopped reading after that.They have not pumped their own money in they have loaned money to the club at a high interest rate.
But this goes under the radar of most, like alot of their decisions.
Have no idea why they are so liked.
Con merchants.
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by westlondonhammer »

Blame? For what...a poor season, jesus

f*** me, this situation is as dramatic as my girlfriends reaction to anything the week before she is on the blob

Anyone would think we are used to some success

Every reason why we think we deserve better every club in the land thinks the same

We are sitting where we have done most of my life...we are having a season I am used to and what I signed up to expect when my old man had me kitted out in west ham crap at birth

This UK blame culture is sickening...I'm glad to be away from it

Sort your expectations out and you'll all be much happier would be my advice

So whoever is sitting there looking for someone to blame for west ham being exactly the same as they have been for 30 years probably need to take a look at themselves in my opinion

All this sensitive over analysis just aint for me
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by upton o'good »

irving boleyn wrote:1. Fate. Injury to our 3 centre backs could not be insured against. We have Mc Cartney and O'Brien who could fill one place but without the aerial presence of any of the stricken three we are easy meat. And I suggest that no team of our standing would have more than three specialist CB's...I cant remember us ever having had such a luxury.

2. Sam.... Striker ? With Carroll's injury the cupboard wasn't exactly bare...but in not having developed a central midfield attacking system that could support a conventional striker such as Maiga or Vaz Te he has to accept his mantle of,what was the name of that big old bus? ah yes Routeonemaster...
But most team do insure against that, by having 4 CBs in their squad. We chose not to (we could have retained Abdouleye Faye last season, even if we signed no-one else, if we could afford him in the squad for the champs youd think we could in the prem). Partly, I suspect on cost grounds - because so many of our players are on old lags on long money whilst contributing little (e.g Cole, Jarvis, - lets not even go there on Caroll). Had we a policy that focussed more on younger players we could probably afford a squad. Sam dont like youngsters though.

Villa, say, have 4: Vlaar, Clarke, Okore, Baker

Had we a fourth real CB, we wd still be playing with one non-specialist playing there now, but that is a lot more doable than none.
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by upton o'good »

irving boleyn wrote:1. Fate. Injury to our 3 centre backs could not be insured against. We have Mc Cartney and O'Brien who could fill one place but without the aerial presence of any of the stricken three we are easy meat. And I suggest that no team of our standing would have more than three specialist CB's...I cant remember us ever having had such a luxury.

2. Sam.... Striker ? With Carroll's injury the cupboard wasn't exactly bare...but in not having developed a central midfield attacking system that could support a conventional striker such as Maiga or Vaz Te he has to accept his mantle of,what was the name of that big old bus? ah yes Routeonemaster...
But most team do insure against that, by having 4 CBs in their squad. We chose not to (we could have retained Abdouleye Faye last season, even if we signed no-one else, if we could afford him in the squad for the champs youd think we could in the prem). Partly, I suspect on cost grounds - because so many of our players are on old lags on long money whilst contributing little (e.g Cole, Jarvis, - lets not even go there on Caroll). Had we a policy that focussed more on younger players we could probably afford a squad. Sam dont like youngsters though.

Villa, say, have 4: Vlaar, Clarke, Okore, Baker

Had we a fourth real CB, we wd still be playing with one non-specialist playing there now, but that is a lot more doable than none.
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by MB »

Relegation followed by being desperate to get promoted and then being desperate to stay up. This has lead to short termist signings which has resulted in a squad lacking balance and the energy/enthusiasm of youth.

It is going to take a few seasons to sort that out and sadly the odds are we'll be relegated again in that period and the whole cycle will start over.

So in short in comes back to the debt and the Icelandic biscuit bastards.
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by JBs Caravan »

1)the Chuckle Bros for having a poor business plan
2)BFS for being so stubborn..and also loyal to his chums
3)Our medical people who could rehabilitate a wilted plant
4)Our PR dept for the constant stream of rubbish feed to our supporters

Let's be honest in this world of multi million pound Premiership football we are a complete
Laughing stock..to top it all off wait till Leyton Orient receive permission to share the OS
They even messed that up
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by hammerdivone »

westlondonhammer wrote:This UK blame culture is sickening...I'm glad to be away from it
I mentioned this in another thread, and completely agree. Why does it always have to be someones fault now?
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by Francoisvander or else »

westlondonhammer wrote: This UK blame culture is sickening...I'm glad to be away from it
Because none of those African Nations have chips on their shoulders or harbour any grudges do they lol
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Re: saturday's news 4th january includes west ham

Post by Maroonmachine »

Ba won't come back, he didn't want to stay with us in the first place.
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by Adam 'The Smudge' »

It ain't the two Dave's fault Lokaku had the chance to go to a better club or Demba Ba wanted to stay at a better club etc.
The Training Ground never gave us many problems last year.
Sams tactics never let us down last year.
Nolan was much the same player last season, he's never been dynamic..
Tevez is long gone.

The difference last year was the fact our tails were up with the first few fixtures being kind. Novelty factor of first season back, nobody expected too much from us.
This year shows how grizzly football can be.
A combination of not having AC and AN Other up top and the Pennant/Baines/Snodgrass free kicks etc have conspired to go against us and now the injuries and loss of confidence have compounded it.
But, hey, as we're doing ***** lets blame someone.

I'm actually glad WHU still exists.
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Re: saturday's news 4th january includes west ham

Post by eastsider »

Whats to blame......

Playing in E13 ..... I am a superstitious type!! :lol:
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Re: Who's to blame?

Post by Ozza »

Adam 'The Smudge' wrote:It ain't the two Dave's fault Lokaku had the chance to go to a better club or Demba Ba wanted to stay at a better club etc.
The Training Ground never gave us many problems last year.
Sams tactics never let us down last year.
Nolan was much the same player last season, he's never been dynamic..
Tevez is long gone.

The difference last year was the fact our tails were up with the first few fixtures being kind. Novelty factor of first season back, nobody expected too much from us.
This year shows how grizzly football can be.
A combination of not having AC and AN Other up top and the Pennant/Baines/Snodgrass free kicks etc have conspired to go against us and now the injuries and loss of confidence have compounded it.
But, hey, as we're doing ***** lets blame someone.

I'm actually glad WHU still exists.
Best post I've read on here for a while, especially the last line, lots of short memories and delusions of grandeur on here
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