Relive every moment of every first team game since the beginning of the 2005/06 season. Our archive of matchday threads originally posted in the General Discussion Forum.
Sloop John B wrote:
Can't understand why so many are claiming the "season's over" ... Can't fathom just what it is people are expecting out of a West ham team. Saturdays result means we're bang on for the race for 8th place and the possibility of playing in Europe next year, chance of 50+ points, 50+ goals and a + goal difference. Plenty to play for.
Am I missing something?
Other than Fair Play League how will 8th place qualify for Europe?
5th is Europa League place
Now 6th as Chelsea won League Cup
Possibly 7th if FA Cup final between Arsenal & Liverpool
Gep wrote:
What was all that scrap outside the ground 15min before KO all about?? Few blokes wearing hard hats with West Ham crests on them. I thought it was amongst Sunderland supporters on first thought, then realised it was our own. It later continued after the game by the front gates as hundreds of us couldn't get through the gates due to the continuing rushing and people stopping to watch.
Happened right in front of us on the way to the ground. All of them were West Ham, one of the blokes in the hard hats was trying to calm it all down when a chap ran over and clouted him. One very brave copper dived in.
brownout wrote:Am I missing something?
Other than Fair Play League how will 8th place qualify for Europe?
Nope you spotted it... sneak in via the Fair Play League... like I said "the possibility of Europe"... It's right there... someone will get that spot why not us... Can you imagine winning the Europa League (or just getting QF/SF) in our last season at the Boleyn 50 years after winning the CWC.
Am I right in reading this to mean that finishing 8th is irrelevant and to qualify we have to stay top of the English fair play league and hope that England stays in the top 3 places?
If so I'd settle for losing the last eight games but in a thoroughly sporting way and look forward to some late summer trips to Europe.
From the Fair Play regulations about awarding points:
2. Positive play
Maximum score = 10
Minimum score = 1
This is designed to encourage attractive play that will increase the enjoyment of spectators and the following areas are taken into consideration:
Positive
- Using attacking tactics, not defensive
- Speeding up the game
- Efforts to gain time (e.g. bringing the ball back into play quickly even if the team is in a winning position)
- Continuing to push for goals when in a winning position
Negative
- Slowing down the game
- Time wasting
- Tactics based on foul play
- Play-acting (simulation)
With 222 points in this category, we are the highest placed team. So much for the negative style so many accuse Allardyce of playing.