gdp's Comments

West Ham Till I Die : The Triumph of Substance ....

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:21:04 +0000

I've seen enough of Allaredyce and heard enough to make a judgement. You think that he is solid, a hard man and all the rest of it, I don't and there's no evidence to support it, He's always banging on about stats and when you look at them you find nothing to back up his opinion of himself. Especially in the case of Arsenal. You show me where he is backed up by facts and I might concede a point. As for the cup half empty, the barrels empty mate. And to denigrate Hughtons achievement, with very little support from the owner actually is disingenuous. Compared to our situation, he saw it as imperative to keep the seasoned professionals, all we've seen is people leaving.

West Ham Till I Die : The Triumph of Substance ....

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:51:42 +0000

I made no judgement on those players, but maybe you should take off your Allardyce tinted specs and tell me who the starting 11 are going to be? There are no players for most of the positions, and plenty still to leave. Contrast that to Hughton who persuaded the players to stay at Newcastle. The coffee smells like this - we have no team and a manager that has never thrown youth into anything, and his only record is to scrape a narrow win in the play offs at the second attempt. Yes Nolan is good, but 1 player ain't going to take us up. This season ain't gonna be straightforward, and won't necessarily result in us coming up. Blind faith and idol worship ain't gonna replace building a team. And I want to see some evidence that it is happening.

West Ham Till I Die : The Triumph of Substance ....

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:03:53 +0000

His record is average unless you measure it by his own stats that he makes up. Example, he has a good record against Arsenal and they always had problems with Bolton. Facts - Allardyce 4 wins, Wenger/Arsenal 9 wins, 7 draws. Of course you think he'll definitely get us up - but when has he done it directly before. Once with Notts County, failed with Blackpool and was sacked, and Bolton had 2 attempts before scraping through in the play offs. Win ratios don't support him as 'the best manager in the world' either. His best was at Blackpool funnily enough 43%, then 38% at Notts County and 41% at Bolton and more worryingly the last couple were 33% and 35 % at Newcastle and Blackburn. Only slightly higher than Avram Grant at 31%. Overrated, lacks intelligence, loudmouth. Talk is cheap and the joke is set to continue.

West Ham Till I Die : The Triumph of Substance ....

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:55:35 +0000

Hey, this just spells it out whats gone and whats come in. There's loads of speculation and nothing material. And that is all we have heard from G+S all along speculation with no substance in the transfer market. As for Allardyce, wrong man for the job. There are so many problems with him its hard to know where to start but you carry on believing his own publicity if it makes you feel safe.

West Ham Till I Die : The Triumph of Substance ....

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:48:33 +0000

CMS has gone to Leicester. We have lost: Kieron Dyer: Danny Gabbidon: Jonathan Spector: Matthew Upson: Lars Jacobsen: Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson: Victor Obinna; Wayne Bridge: Robbie Keane: Thomas Hitzlsperger: Demba Ba: Radoslav Kovac: Manuel Da Costa: And are still likely to lose Parker and Green. We have brought in Faye (who played 16 games last year) and Nolan. I am not optimistic. I have more concerns about our manager than about the OS. His abilities are over hyped mostly by himself, his reputation as a 'hard' man doesn't bear scrutiny and his record is not good, yet there is an almost obsessive faith amongst some of our support. I think he will do more harm than good, but even if he were right, he won't be here long enough for all the money that Sullivan has thrown at him. This time next year could be worse ....

West Ham Till I Die : The Big Guns Cherry Pick to Maintain the PL Status Quo!

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:48:23 +0000

We won't be able to compete with Chelsea, Man U, Real Madrid, etc in 'hoovering' up those players. That would be another short term and ultimately unsuccessful exercise. How are we going to pay an army of scouts travelling in Europe? We're not and we'll end up relying on the likes of Silkman. We need to develop our own, and we need the investment and brains behind transitioning the players - training facilities, methods, competitions, skills, everything. However, our owners are looking for a short term manager who will compile success. By looking for a messiah manager our owners will spend more money and get less and less reward. Allardyce is simply the latest installment, and even if he agreed with this he's not here long enough. We're in for a hard lesson but whether they'll learn it or not is another question.

West Ham Till I Die : The Big Guns Cherry Pick to Maintain the PL Status Quo!

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:33:37 +0000

That was 4 wins out of 20. 9 wins for Arsenal with 7 draws. But according to the mouth on a stick he is the greatest manager ever and Arsenal have 'trouble' with his teams. He ain't and they don't. But going back to your previous posting about Manu Utd in the 90s, that is what I am saying we should be doing. Allardyce won't be doing it as he thinks its a waste of time and money (there are plenty of soundbites from him on this) and he won't be here long enough. BTW it was Pop Robson who developed those players.

West Ham Till I Die : The Big Guns Cherry Pick to Maintain the PL Status Quo!

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:33:01 +0000

The only plans they've got is a manager who thinks its all peripheral. They've got no one. There are plenty of ex West Ham out there making sure that other teams are successful. G+S should have reached out to those people to bring them here and turn back the years of neglect of the backroom. If they'd done this last year, and said it would take some time then it wouldn't be so bad. Instead they went for big names and showboating about the money and they've ended up wasting more money. Allardyce will be just the same.

West Ham Till I Die : The Big Guns Cherry Pick to Maintain the PL Status Quo!

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:18:39 +0000

That's where we are though. And this is about the soul of the club. Tony Carr does teach it like that and does it well. The problem is transitioning the players and developing them in between youth and first team. If it was me that owned the club then the first thing I would have done is go and study what they are doing abroad. And then invest in this area and get a manager who had a vision. It started being neglected under Redknapp and has never recovered (with a brief respite under Pards). There are no short cuts - you can't compete with the money, the only way is to develop your own. And the only way to develop your own is to develop the skills and passing, and shooting. Tony Carr has practically kept all of those rich clubs and England going with the players he's churned out. Its more cost effective and its what we used to do. But G+S seem to think they need to get a sticking plaster manager with a whole expensive entourage to ship in, cause chaos and then leave again and Allardyce is just one more of those. I am not optimistic.

West Ham Till I Die : The Big Guns Cherry Pick to Maintain the PL Status Quo!

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:04:03 +0000

Its all very well giving it out large and talking positive and upping ourselves, but the facts are he only went up by winning the play offs. He has no real record of taking teams up in the Championship. My real concern is that in attempting to 'leave his mark' he will decimate the youth team and Tony Carr will retire, yet he will rely on those young players to get us up. And then we'll be in the position of being in the PL with no infrastructure at all, and our shipped in manager disappearing into the sunset to manage England with his whole entourage. It'll be 1 step forwards and 5 steps back.

West Ham Till I Die : The Big Guns Cherry Pick to Maintain the PL Status Quo!

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:02:29 +0000

Do you honestly think that Nolan, Faye and Smith/Davies/whoever can replace Ba, Obinna, Parker, Green, Upson, and any number of others? Allardyce's mouth is so big that some of you have swallowed his bs. He's only the greatest manager ever according to his own stats. The Arsenal record says it all - 4 wins against 9 for Arsenal with 7 draws, not even challenging (maybe special needs). The only thing he has won is the League of Ireland. But in spite of my opinions on his abilities, what really worries me is that he is short term. 2 years and we go up, he gets the England job - we don't and he's out taking with him his whole circus entourage. He won't be building anything - he is a shipped in chequebook manager with no vision (only software), much the same as the last bloke.

West Ham Till I Die : The Big Guns Cherry Pick to Maintain the PL Status Quo!

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:59:33 +0000

SJ You outline exactly why football in England is dire as its based on corruption (the big 4 syphoning off the funds for themselves) yet you simply just want to follow the rat race, and the logical conclusion is as others said we need a) a billionaire owner or b) Allardyce to play dour football. The problem is the sea is about to change direction. The new rules on squad size, and fairness are about to take effect, and Sky has a monopoly which means that they will start grinding down the money. And at the same time, Barcelona have shown that traditional values, a tight club based on local people, youth development and transitioning your own players can be not just successful but the best team in the whole world. By getting the upper hand against the cynical Real Madrid, and absolutely destroying Man Utd they have shown that another way is possible. And we end up with Allardyce.

West Ham Till I Die : It's Going to be a Long, Long Summer

Sun, 5 Jun 2011 22:04:21 +0000

Thats the whole point. G+S and a lot of our fans seem to think that a 'name' manager can make up for years of neglect. And that is the way Allardyce is being sold - a tough guy who is going to sort out the team. He ain't gonna sort out the training ground or the backroom as he brings his own entourage that will FO when he leaves. Also, what exactly do you think he's going to change? There's a lot of nonsense spoken about him and how 'good' he is. But what exactly does he do? He relies on zonal marking and rigid formations - just the same as Grant. He practically picks the team using prozone and he has limited ability otherwise. Its also a system that's had its day and is now found out, hence in part Barcelona's dissection of Manchester Utd. There is only one way to rebuild - invest in the infrastructure, and develop our own players - and this is what we should be: http://www.soccer-tricks.net/2010/04/27/the-ajax-... Not a bloody plastic Bolton with a semi literate moron for a manager. There are no quick fix managers and no quick fix systems. If he's only around for 2 years we'll be back in the same boat when he leaves, and that's not to say that I think he's going to be successful, because I think he'll struggle.

West Ham Till I Die : It's Going to be a Long, Long Summer

Sun, 5 Jun 2011 16:54:32 +0000

When do West Ham stop being the club you've supported over the years? Macari was a disgrace, Redknapp stitching Billy up was shameful, Zola was treated abysmally. We've had crap players and crap managers playing crap football. And now the answer seems to be a man who specializes in 'organizing' crap football. He's got his own version of statistics where he's the greatest manager that ever lived and some West Ham fans are beginning to 'believe' his bullshit. This will be a disaster - he has limited ability and won't be much different to Grant. In the process a man who is on record has having complete disdain for youth teams will be allowed to rip the heart out of what's left of West Ham. And what about our owners - seems like they wanted a 'mini Arsenal' under Grant and now they want a 'mini Bolton'. So instead of re-establishing the Academy and investing in the backroom infrastructure to develop our own players, we have yet another ship in name manager in a frantic bid to get back on the gravy train. And he hasn't got any money - hence the renewal already of Boa Morte's contract. Its going to be a disaster, and I'd rather watch free games on Wanstead Flats. The quality will be better.

West Ham Till I Die : Grant's Future: Time to Put Up Or Shut Up

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 19:28:05 +0000

Everything G+S do persuades me that they are managing the assets down so CB Holdings get a return on investment more than the money they're owed. I think that is what they offered over Fernandes who would have wiped the debt and they would have come out even. And they sold it on the basis that they were local boys and could bring the fans along. Everything is smoke and mirrors - the Henri and Beckham rumours, the financial apocalypse stories and now this. I think they went with Grant because they thought he would be steady and operate on a no transfers basis (happy to be corrected but they are all loans are they not?). Instead he's been a disaster as he knows as much about football as a 5 year old. And now the fans are staying away. That and the OS bid coming is proving their undoing. With selling the Boleyn and renting the OS they would have delivered massive returns but this is now looking dodgy.

West Ham Till I Die : O'Neill In & Grant Out By the End of Today

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:27:55 +0000

Grant is not a class act in any way shape or form. He got the Chelsea job through nepotism, his reputation is only based on this. He did nothing at all and still his mate gave him the boot. He is a stupid man without any intelligence as he learns nothing week in week out. At Portsmouth his record was rubbish and the team never had any shape. He's continued in this way with us and its only the players intervention that have won games. The team have not improved one bit. The Newcastle game was the final straw - 4 central defenders across the back and a packed midfield with players out of position - this sums his footballing skills up to me. It was an invitation that even the worst team couldn't refuse and we made a rubbish Newcastle team look like Brazil 1970. His character is such that he thinks going to the local brothel is acceptable behaviour. To quote, 'Asked if he knew it was a brothel, the former Chelsea manager smiled and said: “Yes".' That's class for you.

West Ham Till I Die : The Friday Transfer Rumours

Sat, 1 Jan 2011 14:20:58 +0000

Keane - knees crocked and past it - last competitive game last winter Beckham - past it, only good for free kicks Yakubu - see Keane above G+S came in saying they'd saved the club from disaster, they needed to get rid of the deadwood and run the club like a proper company. So what do they do - they stop £600 season tickets for a handful of people that served the club through generations and got rid of a couple of groundsmen saving all of @5p per week. Then they keep McCarthy and give LBM and Kovacs contracts. We have a manager who says we need more midfield players, and a manager waiting in the wings who believes in 'big man up front, packed midfield of limited technical ability, lunk defenders' and a piece of software that 'does it all for you'. This is not the club I started supporting. On the 'saving the club from disaster' front and in the light of the 'we are WH' so we're going for route one managers and players, you need to question G+S. Its only on their sayso that they saved the club. And if this was the case, why didn't they buy the whole club (as they're worth a combined £700m) rather than onbly buying 50%. That left 50% still in the hands of Straumur who still retain a big stake. The question you have to ask yourselves is - Why did Straumur go for G+S when there were 2 bids for the full amount of debt (so they would have come out even). When a group goes bust they asset strip the subsidiaries even if they close them down or sell them off. With us they couldn't do they without fear or reprisal as we have the most passionate fans with a history of acting on that passion. So how do they dismantle WH? Get 2 so called fans to do it for them. Welcome to the new WH - route 1 football, braindead managers, no youth setup and a rented stadium.