It is nearly 12 hours since the worst West Ham home performance I have ever seen and Zola still hasn't resigned. In Zola we trust? An honourable man? Cobblers. An honourable man would have apologised to the fans, waved goodbye from the touchline and buggered off to Chelsea or Milan to learn how to select a team, determine tactics and motivate his players.
Zola was out thought by Mick McCarthy last night. Wolves were the better team ALL over the pitch. The defeat wasn't down to individual errors as Zola repeatedly claims, those individual errors (like Tomkins' last night) are because we are always stretched, always a man short at the back, in midfield and up front. After 5 minutes I said, "It looks like Wolves have an extra player on the pitch" and I actually found myself counting the players in Gold and Claret and Blue. We had no shape and no organisation; we were shockingly poor.
Zola says the fans should pick on him. No they shouldn't because he should go. He admitted that the performance last night was terrible and he admitted that it was his fault. We did not play well at Chelsea as he claimed. We were embarrassing in the second half against Arsenal's 10 men. We were shocking at home to Bolton. We were dire in the second half at Old Trafford.
The only question I have this morning is "Why hasn't Zola resigned yet?" Come on Zola, show all your supporters that their trust was justified!
Right on the money HF. I have changed my mind entirely after that sham last night, I thought we were better off with Zola until the end of the season.
ReplyDeleteNow I know he's gotta go now, today, certainly before the Stoke game.
All those people saying there are three teams worse than us? At least Hull and Burnley have some organsiation and fight. We have neither. They will pick up points until the end of the season, and we clearly won't.
As bad a night at West Ham as I can ever remember, it really feels like we are going down now.
No positives whatsoever.
JC
Total shambles Zola must go and if he doesnt then we will get what we deserve.
ReplyDeleteI have that same feeling I had when Roeder was in charge and I am once again convinced that the owners want us to go down so that they have an excuse to sell all the talent and employ cheap journeymen convinced we'll win promotion in time and not make the mistakes of the Pardew era after all we learnt from that
ReplyDeleteThe fans will still be there and the expectations not and like Terry Brown before their pockets will be lined with gold
not only is there a business plan there is proof that it is a successful and financially very rewarding plan
do you know what I'm even warming to Duxbury at least he wandered around saying "what do you mean the ship is sinking? no no all part of the plan Look I even have this pocket full of champagne corks to pop in those pesky holes" Capt Sullivan just runs round screaming Oh my God the ship is sinking the ship is sinking Oh but stay on board cos its not my fault it's going down umm could you give me your jewelry please it'll all be fine if it doesn't sink oh my God the ship is sinking
ReplyDeleteHF you've cracked it!
ReplyDeleteZola should of went in january tbh and it's 3 months too late, and we're feeling the effect of this. G&S must act quick and must get in someone with premiership managerial experience to gaurentee 3 points against teams like WOLVES!
Zola is Mr. Nice Guy... and we all know that nice guys finish last. Zola believes he show aggression but i cannot honestly see him laying into the players!
the players need to be kicked up the arse and start playing football, their labourer play was a struggle to watch. i got my ol man shouting in my ear saying mcCarthy is Shit!, had my grandad in my other ear saying Upson has lost his bottle and i was screaming at kovac because he is a naturally born slop of a player.
Diamanti has got to play up front, end of, he was our best player along with parker last night and they had no support to finish a move. stanislas was a poor sub, when your chasing a goal you put a forward on, especially if the opposition are playing DEFENSIVE!
also i am fucked off with zola saying "it's my fault, blame me" clarke done that it's just to take the heat off the players, fuck that, give the players hell, they are the ones who make the tackles, take the shots, produce the passes and win games, it's down to the players more than the manager.
but this is west ham, west ham united and we need to show the players how we fucking feel on saturday and they need to show us that they do want to play for this club.
COYI regardless who is manager and who is playing. we can't change now it's too late, we must base this on hard work!
How about a look at our players guys? Let’s give them a rollicking too. Did any of them deserve to wear that shirt last night? Some of us can do with giving them some.
ReplyDeleteI said it before, our team is just names, and they deserve to be where they are. I'd be surprised if any manager in the world would have gotten more out of them in that game. Why do we expect so much from these names? Wolves were by far the better side and with the better players. Their players clearly displayed much more footballing intelligence.
Did Upson win a single header against Doyle? Doyle, who is a foot shorter than him. Did any of our players get their head onto the numerous crosses Diamanti put in?
Don't get me started on Tomkins. I do blame the manager for being so loyal with him but many of our fans themselves still thinks he's the dog’s proverbials....a reincarnation of the Mark Noble syndrome.
Then there’s our keeper, who in my opinion wouldn’t come in the top 15 of the current Premiership keepers. His awful kicking is clear for people to see. What is not so obvious to many is his positional play. Did Green even look like saving any of those shots yesterday? All of them from a considerable distance and two from a tight angle but he didn’t even get a solid hand to them.
If you still have copies, have a look at Scholes’ goal at Upton Park and Denilson’s at the Emirates recently and you will see what I mean about Green’s positioning. The guy doesn’t even know where his posts are. He is a below average keeper with no presence, self-belief or commanding personality.
And our captain!? What, we had one? If Upson wasn’t wearing the band on his arm, no one would have known he was captain.
So, they can sack Zola but who seriously believes that things will change with these same players? It's a shame you can’t sack the players and bring in new, less pampered ones, the likes of those that make up teams such as Wolves, Bolton, Blackburn, Stoke…..even Portsmouth and Burnley.
Zola may get sacked, but I'd be shocked if I saw an improvement in these players, whoever comes in.
I wouldn't be shocked if I saw a massive improvement, I still think we have a fairly decent squad if only we could get player in behind the oppositions defence!
ReplyDeletePerhaps a few new wingers, or even something as simple as playing player in there best position.
Quick question though, what happened with Cole and a fan at the end of the match??
~Neil
Superb summing up Stani, your analysis is spot on.
ReplyDeleteI heard a Wolves fan on TalkSport this morning saying that instead of getting on their backs we should support our team! I have to say that my support comes in shelling out over £800 each year for my ticket.Loyalty and committment has to be a two way street.
I have been watching the Hammers for nearly 50 years now and had my own ticket for quite a few of those.After this season I think I have a hard decision to make before August.
I love the badge and the ground and the fans but I think my expectations are based on long ago memories.
Not since Alan Pardew did his "Dad dance" in the F.A. cup have I seen anyone in authority at the club show the same passion as I have.
Oh well.All good things must come to an end.
John V P
For the love of god Harriet Fanno - please please please do not go to any more games - we haven't won one since you purchased your mini season ticket - you're a bock sir, a jinx, and a Jonah
ReplyDeletehttp://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/24032010/58/premier-league-cole-clashes-hammers-fan.html this won't help either! THANKS COLE!
ReplyDeleteNeil
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure mate. If an improvement is to be expected from these players with a change of management, then I think we would be seeing glimpses of something in our players now and again. I can't see it. What they do is so depressing and predictable.
As for the Cole incident; I'm not certain what happened but I don't think fans should directly engage with individual players at a ground. Whether what they say is right or wrong, it is a very volatile situation and has the potential for something like what happened yesterday to occur. I know Cole shouldn't have reacted, as a professional, but when you get thrashed by the opposition and booed by fans and are coming off exhausted as one of the few players who cares and someone says something to you, it's difficult to hold yourself back.
John
Thanks mate. I know we spend a lot of money and it hurts. I'm even sure that many of the footballers are heedless to the sacrifices of the fans. But the question we should always ask ourselves whenever we do something is are we helping? I wouldn't boo myself, and I'm not saying other fans shouldn't as it's their right. I just think we should save it for after the final whistle because at that point, the booing will get our point across but will not have the potentially negative effect of dispiriting the players as booing during the game would.
I do get sick of listening to TalkSport, I don't know how you manage it. Some of their presenters' attempts at playing devil's advocate sends people into a rage. They do it to attract calls but they are very careless sometimes. It's probably why a Wolves fan needed to call in and defend West Ham.
There's a lot rhetoric coming from the Chairmen, but maybe we shouldn't expect anything for quite a while now. People talk about Pompey, but I think we have taken far more knocks and over a longer period of time than them.
Yes, I do remember the Pardew Shuffle!
Well im leaving work shortly and it looks like Zola still has a job. The Daily Mail (for what its worth) are reporting that D&D wont be pulling the trigger before the weekend. We've been in worse postitions than this before but ive alway had the belief of that late surge to save us. This time, i just cant see where that is going to come from.
ReplyDeleteDont mean to be a negative nancy but on the back of last night, i think we would do well to pick up 3 points from our remaining 7 games. Then we have got the abuse from the spuds to look forward to and a torrent of articles about our best players leaving for bargain basement prices. I think its probably best to expect the worst at this point to avoid any serious damage at the end of the season. New league, new manager and new squad. So much for the 7 year plan!
You took the words right out of my mouth 15:38.I cannot see us getting any points against STOKE on current form.If the players and ZOLA couldn't get motivated enough against WOLVES,why will playing STOKE be any different.I can see another hammering, based on last nights debacle of a performance.Complete clearout we need at this club,PARKER can stay.What would we get cash wise £50 million if that.
ReplyDeleteHere's a thought. Switch the whole team, incl. GZ and SC for Alex Dyer and the reserves. 2-0 vs the Gooner kids with, apparently, massive workrate, organisation, skill and Terry Dixon on the scoresheet.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm f**king serious!
1843 anythings worth a go at the moment. Some of the reserves would give their left knacker to get into the first team and would certainly put in a shift. It would hopefully make every player on our 'first team' earn his place back into the line up too.
ReplyDeleteGreat result for the reserves. Arsenals kids look awesome in the league cup 9/10 times so we must have played our socks off
watchin today's fixtures, i dont even feel we are one of these premier league clubs.
ReplyDeleteGianfrancoroder
ReplyDeleteLOL Very good but you forgot the e!
ReplyDelete