gdp's Comments

West Ham Till I Die : Match Preview: West Ham v Middlesbrough

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:15:11 +0000

I would mostly agree with that team but have changed my mind about Morrison. I would go with: Green O'Brien, Faye, Collins, McCartney Lansbury, Noble, Nolan, Taylor Cole, Maynard Subs: Henderson, O'Neil, Morrison, Baldock, Carew. I would go 4-4-2 with the idea of getting the crowd onside and attacking from the off. 4-3-3 will not work at home without the pace of Faubert or Vaz Te down the flanks. I would leave out Collison completely as O'Neil may get the chance to come off the bench against his old club which is always an incentive for any player. I would also have Carew on the bench to mix it up a bit if necessary in the latter stages or if anything happened to Cole (Carew was in the 18 for Leeds).

West Ham Till I Die : Purge Your Negative Thoughts & Get Behind the Team!

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:06:41 +0000

What us fans need to consider is: can we affect the style of football we play? Answer = no. Can we affect the atmosphere and therefore, in turn, the players who are playing that style? Answer = yes, get behind them, don't let them get their heads down, create a cauldron of positive noise and don't give the opposition the chance to get our crowd on our own players' backs and grow in confidence as the away team. We can only affect the atmosphere - we can't affect the team selection or style of play. Let's live with it for ten games and pick the bones out of it after we've, hopefully, got promotion. Where is moaning going to get us? Play-offs, disappointment and an even more negative Upton Park for 2012/13. And you never know, maybe if we all got behind the players they might actually show enough confidence themselves to take a risk and play some football and maybe even show a bit of flair too. If you're a nervous player in a nervous stadium and sections of your own crowd are having a go at you, you're only going to want to get rid of the ball as quick as you can.

West Ham Till I Die : Purge Your Negative Thoughts & Get Behind the Team!

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:02:12 +0000

Well said Paul Walker and Iain, couldn't agree more. On a slightly different note, can we remove Blair Turgott from the twitter widget? I believe the modern vernacular would be '#irritating'..?!

West Ham Till I Die : Results: Player Performances v Leeds

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:59:51 +0000

Well said.

West Ham Till I Die : Results: Player Performances v Leeds

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:06:17 +0000

Interestingly I was talking to a Leeds fan before the game - he was shocked when I told him we have been playing Vaz Te on the wing. He said he's the best attacking player they've seen at Elland Road this year and he scored 4 goals in 2 games against them when playing up front, down the middle. For us, he's stuck out on the touchline. He has scored 2 goals in 4 starts (should be 3 after his excellent finish against Doncaster) and could be the nippy type of player we need down the middle who can come short and play in the hole, off of a striker. Maynard and Baldock are way too similar to play together in my opinion, like playing Michael Owen and Tony Cottee in the same team, both want to be on the last shoulder.

West Ham Till I Die : Results: Player Performances v Leeds

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:12:54 +0000

I was at Elland Road on Saturday and, just like at Hull and Coventry, we did not look an attacking threat until Cole came on. The types of passes we play are not conducive to playing Maynard or Baldock on their own up front and we tend to look poor when we play 4-4-2. All of which points to Cole being a key man between now and the season's end. The main problem on Saturday was the total lack of creativity. I don't think we had a single clear-cut chance from open play in the entire game. I am not an advocate of throwing in the untried and the untested at the business end of a season but Collison has been so poor of late, I think it is time to start Morrison on Tuesday. Young Jack looked jaded during the highlights I saw later, and that clip was during the first half! We also desperately lacked pace. Faubert has been missed in recent games and I hope he's fit for Tuesday. I see where Nolan's detractors are coming from but his goals have been worth 20 points to us this season - when we don't create many chances, you'd want him on the end of the few we do.

West Ham Till I Die : Twelve Things We Learned From the Doncaster Game

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:28:37 +0000

Finally, a post with sense. Well done mate. The posts on here are kneejerk and sum up the atmosphere at Upton Park and why the players struggle to perform. This is the time to be getting behind the manager and the team, not ludicrously suggesting we move him aside and bring in Tony Carr as someone suggested earlier - laughable! I'm so glad I go to away games so I can remember what it was like to have supporters that support a team. The expectation that we'll blow teams away is killing our promotion chances. It IS a tough league. We had to fight our way out of it in 2005 and then played football with good results the following season. I don't think this team will struggle next year if we go up as teams won't put 10 men behind the ball and we'll have the underdog atmosphere back at UP, as we did in 2005/06 before the expectation level went up again.

West Ham Till I Die : Home Form: Are We to Blame?

Thu, 8 Mar 2012 22:40:27 +0000

The home crowd is disappointing at best, and a disgrace at worst. In a 5-row radius in the West Stand, right in the South corner, I'm the only person who sings Bubbles when the teams come out, and I sit in an area filled with fellow season-ticket holders. There's only 'noise' briefly in the stadium when we're winning and boos if we're not, even though we're at the top end of the league! I attend the vast majority of away games too and it is clear that the support we take on our travels is so much better, in every conceivable way. If 35,000 West Ham fans got behind the team at Upton Park the way 2/3,000 do away, the place would be the intimidating fortress it once was, rather than the snipey, negative, needlessly mildly aggressive place it currently is.

West Ham Till I Die : Match Preview: West Ham v Watford

Wed, 7 Mar 2012 00:49:17 +0000

I agree with you Iain. We looked much more potent and dangerous with a 4-4-2 in the second half in our last home game against Crystal Palace, when Cole came on. I like Collison but he has been poor in our last two fixtures and maybe needs a rest. I am also a Baldock fan but playing a short'un up front led to no chances at all in the first half against Palace so I can't see him starting with Maynard. I'd start with the following team, in a 4-4-2: Green O'Brien, Faye, Tomkins, McCartney Lansbury, Noble, Nolan, Taylor Cole, Maynard Subs: Boffin, Collison, O'Neil, Vaz Te, Baldock. It switches the team round, which we must do this month, but, in my opinion, does not weaken it. I fancy us for a 3-0 win tomorrow night.

West Ham Till I Die : Vote: Player Performances v Blackpool

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:28:29 +0000

I can't see Boffin starting on Saturday - since his costly error against Sheffield Wednesday, he's been out in the cold, to the extent that even Lansbury is preferred on the bench - it's Peter Kurucz who's on loan at Rochdale. With it being a professional foul, Green will only be suspended for one game so I can't see us getting anyone in on loan, which leaves Stech as the likely starter and we still won't have to pay the add-on fee as he'll still have one game to go before that comes into action.

West Ham Till I Die : In Conversation With David Sullivan (Part 8): "How Paolo Di Canio Could be West Ham Manager"

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:56:43 +0000

Have held fire until the final instalment at the risk of sounding like a broken record each time, but I would like to say a huge thank you and well done to you Iain - the effort and time this must have taken all round is commendable. Thanks too to Mr Sullivan for agreeing to take part. It would be great if this could be set up as an annual end-of-season thing, in a similar way to Gary Firmager's interviews with managers for Over Land And Sea. I found it even more interesting reading an interview with one of the co-chairmen as it covers all aspects of the club. A great read and, once again, thank you and well done.

West Ham Till I Die : An Interesting Evening of Football!

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:03:03 +0000

Taylor started his career as a left-back at Luton and played there for the majority of his time at Portsmouth so I doubt much adapting will be necessary. I agree with you re Lee Clark - perhaps he was pushing for the Leeds job behind the scenes and the chairman had enough? It's not Huddersfield's first season in League 1, mind - a quick bit of research shows they've been stuck there for 8 years, the chairman just wants to push them over the line now they're so close I guess and didn't want any 'bigger club' distractions.

West Ham Till I Die : Monday's Rolling Transfer Rumour Mill

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:23:35 +0000

More info from a different Guardian article here. Sir Trev rates him alongside Gazza and Wilshere. He sounds like a disrespectful, aggressive ignoramus who hangs around with bullies and bank robbers. I'm all for giving young talent a chance and perhaps a move far away from Manchester is what he needs. On the other hand, if we can't turn him around, he may prove a bad influence on any of our own young players who may be easily led. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jul/21/ma...

West Ham Till I Die : Transfer Update - 2 Days Left!!!

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:56:23 +0000

Couldn't agree more. Plus Snodgrass and Rhodes would be my stand-out choices too. Doesn't look like they'll happen though, but they would still be good signings in the summer if we go up I reckon.

West Ham Till I Die : Transfer Update - 2 Days Left!!!

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:28:05 +0000

Bradley, thank you for your updates. However, if the club are savvy they will put all their efforts over the next 48 hours into getting in someone permanent for the long term (Jelavic, Rhodes, Maynard, Sordell, whoever), knowing they still have between 8 February and 24 March to make any Tevez deal happen. West Ham can afford to not put any more effort in to the Tevez deal until after the 11pm January 31 deadline - if AC Milan, Inter, PSG, Liverpool, whoever come in for him we cannot compete anyway. If they don't and he remains at Man City on Feb 1st, we are practically the only viable club who can go in for him - he can't then go abroad, nor can he join another Premier League side, very similar to when we went in for him late September/early October 2011. In a nutshell, there is no need for us to rush anything through for any Tevez deal before 11pm on Tuesday.

West Ham Till I Die : A Decisive Approach Needed on Transfers, as it is Time to Honour a Club Legend!

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:15:46 +0000

Very harsh on McCartney in my opinion. He has played every minute of every league and cup game since his return - to my mind, he's our signing of the season as the alternative, Ilunga, was responsible for at least three dropped points in the four games he played and was a serious weak link. In both his spells at the club, I cannot recall McCartney playing a bad game. Similarly, he isn't a 10/10 performer but he IS Mr Consistent and we will certainly need experienced, but not leg-weary, players of his ilk should we return to the PL. I'd make his loan move permanent now if it was down to me. Faubert has also been harshly treated here - he has been great this season and if he can replicate his form of 2009/10, he can be an asset next year now he is being managed, in all senses of the word, correctly. Re Demel also - does 83 minutes of football in 5 months suggest he is a PL performer? Or another Hitzlsperger/Dyer? This makes the degradation of McCartney even more galling! I do echo your sentiments regarding Ernie Gregory however. A fine club servant, may he rest in peace.

West Ham Till I Die : Is Nikita Jelavic really worth £9m???

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:11:29 +0000

There is absolutely no way on God's earth that he is worth anywhere near £9m and if we pay it, we are complete mugs. If we don't go up this year, we will have to sell him for £4-5m and we would have wasted a lot of cash. Kenny Miller scored shedloads of goals in the SPL - he was a roaring success in the Premier League wasn't he?! And that, after all, is where we hope to be. I would MUCH rather sign Rhodes - his variety of goals really reminds me of Dean Ashton, he is five years younger and so would probably be reasonably happy to stay in the Championship for another season if needed. I have spoken to fellow Hammers fans this evening who would be equally horrified if we paid such a ridiculous fee for Jelavic and would much rather see us spend a chunk, or even the whole amount (with a good amount used for incentives and add-ons) on Rhodes.

West Ham Till I Die : Which 5 Players Should West Ham Sell?

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:41:06 +0000

I thought Faubert had a really good season in 2009/10, possibly second only to Parker that year and culminating in a great display against Hull, creating one for Cole with a great pass and scoring a good'un himself. He wasn't that great last year, but who was (?!) and I'm sure a lot of that was down to the inadequate way he was managed. All we can be bothered about is the here and now though and if he's effective and playing well, which he clearly is, we have to keep him. His performance at Crystal Palace in October is arguably our best individual performance of the season for me and I've seen all but four games home and away in all competitions. All about opinions though Lee. As for the younger players, it's a risk losing players who are playing well in January to replace them with the untried and untested. Hopefully Lee, Moncur and Montano will be the next Carrick, Cole and Defoe but they could quite easily be the next Sears, McNaughton and Hines! We just don't know and, in our position, I'd say it's too much of a risk to take.

West Ham Till I Die : Which 5 Players Should West Ham Sell?

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:34:26 +0000

Why would anyone want to sell Faubert?! He has to be in the top two or three for Hammer of the Year so far, in my opinion. Ilunga would be my first choice but he was not on the list. Carew is my next choice but the word 'release' may be more appropriate to 'sell' and I can't see us doing that unless someone takes his contract on. As much as I have really hoped he'd come good, it just doesn't look like Freddie Sears has got it. I was at Hillsborough yesterday and nothing came off for him as it rarely does since that great start for him against Blackburn in 2008. Piquionne would be my final choice but, if we don't get striking reinforcements in, I'd rather keep him than Carew. It would be interesting to see Piquionne's rate of involvement with goals per games he's played. I can immediately think of his flicks for Baldock against Leicester and Cole against Birmingham, as well as winning the penalty which clinched victory against Derby. I'd happily move both him and Carew on, saving a fair whack in wages, and see that saved money go on bringing in younger, hungrier strikers with a better goals-to-games ratio.

West Ham Till I Die : West Ham Poll: Which Striker Would You Most Like to Sign?

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 16:51:16 +0000

I'd love Bobby back but, thinking realistically and long-term, I've gone for Rhodes. Looking at a fair few of his goals, he reminds me a lot of Dean Ashton, in the way he finishes and in the variety of goals that he scores. I'd like Whittingham too but didn't vote for him as he's a wide midfielder, and has even been playing central midfield for Cardiff of late - never a striker. Either way, with Cardiff on our heels, there is no way they would sell him to us.