Tuesday 20 April 2010

There Is A Cancer In Our Club


Another day, another defeat, this time with the reserves rolling over against Tottenham. Of course, reading Alex Dyer's drivel on the OS, you would struggle to know that Tottenham's kids had rubbed our collective noses in the dirt in a 5-2 hammering.

Tottenham played Jenas, Rose and Bostock, so it was no wonder they thumped us apparently. In fact, Dyer says we only lost because Tottenham "completed their passes or crosses and hit the target with their shots in the final third" more consistently than we did. In other words, they outplayed us as the 5-2 scoreline suggests. The problem is, Tottenham had 10 or 11 first team "reserves" not playing in the game. We struggled to name a substitute's bench against Liverpool and are relying on the likes of Lee, Payne, Edgar, Montano and Abdulla to come through over the next 2 to 3 seasons.

But Dyer, like Zola, saw merit in the boys' "attitude" which he couldn't fault. What a shame that we were lacking in technical ability and quality! Funny, I didn't know that the Academy of Football was based on attitude and effort over flair and technical skill!

From top to bottom, our club stinks at the moment. I don't include Sullivan and Gold in that, although the stench they give off in time may drown out anything we have smelt so far. The problem is the lack of backbone, the lack of honesty and the lack of leadership evident whenever a West Ham team takes the field of play. It doesn't matter if we lose, nobody is ever directly criticised! Of course it may be going on behind closed doors. The withdrawal of Stanislas at half time was a very public slap down for the kid, but the message generally seems to be, "If you run around for 90 minutes, that's ok". Win? Tacky business winning! Play good football? Asking an awful lot! Get into the opposition penalty box? Be fair, it was Anfield!

I am fed up with hearing the excuses for Zola. Since Christmas we have played well just thrice, away to Everton and Villa and at home to Birmingham. Yes we thumped Hull but they were piss poor and ended up with nine players! Yes we beat Sunderland but by no stretch of the imagination did we play well. We were dreadful against Bolton (home and away), Burnley, Wolves, Arsenal and Liverpool. We were poor against Spurs, Stoke, Portsmouth, Man Utd, Blackburn and Chelsea. That isn't unlucky, that is a TERRIBLE record and it is down to rank bad management: poor team selection, poor tactics and poor motivation. We are not a good team but we are not as bad as we look each time we take to the pitch. Zola reckons he sees something on the training pitch; so why don't we see it in a game?

The excuses have run out. Zola is a dead man walking. I just wish he had walked back in August, or had at least threatened to do so when he learned of the proposed sale of Collins. He proved himself a doormat by allowing that to happen and we have never recovered. Zola has got everything wrong and we are where we are, on the brink of relegation, because of his weakness and ineptitude. There is a cancer in our club and it needs to be cut out. Zola must go.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You still have to blame some of the senior players after all if they all played with the same desire as Parker we wouldnt be in this mess. BUT yes Zola the buck stops with him and the way he didnt have us fired up last night was a total and utter disgrace. Who the fuck n the prem uses Zonal marking for set pieces. You pick up your man and mark him noot just mark areas and let them always have a free header and if that disgrace came from Steve "the defensive coach" Clarke then he should be booted out the door as he doesnt know what he is doing. Saying that Upson has looked awful lately and has been shown up by the impresive da Costa who looks like a proper player a bit in the Rio mould but not as good obviously. So yes we have been mismanaged to a piss poor season and Zola must take the blame. Adios Amigo

John said...

Very, Very sadbut I have to agree with everything you have said once again and I am not negative just positive.

T.I.S said...

Zola has discovered route 1, and for some strange reason he likes it I fear. Coming from a man that continuously said "I will never change my philosophy" it seems awfulfully hypocritical. My heart will absoloutely sink if we go down. In the modern day of glory hunters, I really hope West Ham will not lose local young supporters to the bigger clubs, and I hope even more that the frustration of being a hammer will not continue on a consistent basis for the rest of my life lol. Luckily (or not depending on how you look at it) I have a fair few years left.

TBI said...

We gave the Mickeys far too much respect. They were there for the taking and our performance should of been get at them and FIGHT FOR THE CLUB.

Instead they came out looking like 'I couldn't give a toss losers' For the first time this season I switched off telling myself maybe relegation is what we need.

hammalot said...

Yup we are in disarray. Considering our recent history Im not surprised.

Anonymous said...

Remember its Zola's choice not the club's. Is he bigger than West Ham Utd. If he wants to stay he will stay and if he doesn't he will leave. Anyway did you see the smile he give Cole when he came off at the pool, WTF!!! Cole should have kicked him in the nuts. Of course Cole doesn't give a crap, why should he! After every game the players get a pat on back and are never told the cold hard truth about their performance and their lack of skill on the pitch. The problem is Zola's mind set is that of a player and never to critize a fellow pro. I'm so pissed with west ham it makes me sick to my stomach. Really I dont know how the fans who live near and around the east end put up with it week in week out. So depressing for you boys in london. Gosh I'm glad I live in Forida, I try and forget about zola and head to the beach with my cooler full of beer. Sorry lads, I will raise a beer for the long suffering local fans.

Anonymous said...

At last you lot will go down. Its about time and great for fotball. You are bunch of uneducated dickheads and we look forward you meeting Leeds next year and after that Millwall. That where you belong you wet spam retards

Anonymous said...

22.12, I think we know who the retard is. Look in the mirror and read your post back to yourself. Thanks for laugh you clown. A piece of advice, next time use a spell checker and read it before you post it, that way it might make some sense. LOL

Zito said...

The aspect of the game against 'pool I found most disappointing was the lack of commitment to retaining possession. The players were seemingly unable, or unwilling, to make an effort to string even three or four passes together. To my mind this was the greatest contrast between the two sides. We had no idea what to do with the ball when we had it, and it all stemmed from the back. Rob Green never used a short pass to his back four all night, instead opting to hoof the ball downfield and hope that his clearances found one of our players. More often than not they went to a player in a red shirt and we were straight back on the defensive. This has been the pattern from Green for a number of weeks now and the contrast with Reina could not have been more stark. Reina used his defenders, cleared the ball with intelligence, building their attacks right from the back. If Green is still in the reckoning for Capello's squad then England have enormous problems at No 1.

Also, where the hell was Diamanti - the side was sorely in need of some spark of creativity - he can at least provide some of that. Zola has to come clean and tell the fans why Diamanti is being left on the bench. He has been one of the bright spots in the season.

Hammersfan said...

See my thread "What's happened with Diamanti?" Zito.

Zito said...

Thanks, HF, very informative. I would really like to hear the answer from GZ himself though. The answer he gives to that question would be very illuminating as to how 'united' the club is. Frankly they come out with statements attesting how cohesive and happy the squad is, then the next day play like they've only just bloody met. Mystifying.

Hammersfan said...

Yeah I agree. But remember, Zola didn't even visit Davenport in hospital after the knife attack. Nor was he in contact with Ashton (even by phone) during the long injury lay off. Great man manager? I would hate to be treated like that by my manager!

Anonymous said...

Spurs fan here, in peace. Probably not the most popular chap on a West Ham forum, but I promise, I'm not here to gloat.

Whatever our particular stripe, I think the one thing ALL football fans have in common is er... love of football.

Much as I may dislike saying it, but West Ham are not a small club. They're not the biggest club in the world either, of course, but far from small.

Yet, you seem to flirt with relegation a little too often. Again, not all the time, but a fair few times in recent years.

Yes, you may have weakness in squad size and ability. Yes, you may have a dearth of managerial talent. But those are just symptoms of a greater disease.

I think the plight that West Ham are suffering today is indicative of the state of football as a whole.

Whatever else one wants to say about West Ham they have a strong tradition and are a landmark in the East End of London. You have a place in the culture of the area, as Spurs do in North London, for example.

The problem that West Ham face is the running of the Premier League by Richard Scudamore and his ilk. He doesn't care about traditions or club histories or even football, for that matter. All he cares about is money.

That's why you had those ridiculous Icelandic blokes in charge a little while ago. That's why porn-peddlers like Sullivan and Gold can walk in and snap you up. I'm not casting aspersions only on your board - this applies across the League.

Now, I could take great pleasure in Scudamore's rapacious greed causing your Premiership demise, because it was he who forced us to play you a few seasons ago after the dodgy lasagne. Remember that? We lost out on fourth because of it.

But, there is a far more more important thing at stake here - English football as a whole. That is far bigger then the relatively petty rivalries we have. Let's face it, in the grand scheme of things, does it REALLY matter if we're better than you or vice versa?

While the Premier League is continually run as a free-market, the-rich-get-richer-and-the-poor-get-poorer system then clubs such as yours will suffer. The reason you suffer is not because you deserve it, it's because you've been unlucky. Unlucky that your operations didn't adapt in time to ride the crest of the wave the Premier League brought about. That's why we have (or at least had) an established Top 4 of Man U, the Scum (that's Arsenal to you), the Scum Mk II (Chelsea) and Loserpool.

They, because of their size, their quick thinking or their repugnant owners (I'm looking at you Abramovich) were perfectly placed to take part in a system that is inherently flawed and unfair.

It is time that football fans come together not to 'Kick Out Racism' or 'Respect the Ref' (noble and meaningless campaigns respectively), but try to save the game!

Send a message to your boards that you've had enough. Start protesting. Not about the state that your club is in, but the state of English football as a whole!

Anonymous said...

LOL at west ham, crap club for crap fans.

Stani Army said...

HF,
Have you just blamed Zola for a reserve team result? Let me give you a real challenge; that ash cloud, Zola's fault right? How? :)

losing faith said...

Im a 15 year old guy who lives in the midlands. My family has its background in the east end and for as long as i can remember i have been a fan of the hammers.
Lately my interest has really died off as their is nothing i find encouraging enough to keep my faith. I feel like I have ben let down. Its like the players have nothing inside of them. I really think Im going to change my allegiance to another club.

Stani Army said...

"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens"

Don't do it 11:56, you will not feel the same, and you will only come back. It is very easy to support a successful team that is why so many people do it. Only in supporting West Ham could you ever be a real fan because that's where you started. Anything else will just be superficial; it will not be real.

Hammersfan said...

Stani see, that nasty man Zola is now destroying the hopes and dreams of the next generation of West Ham fans. He has to go! I blogged about the ash cloud and said that Gog and Magog were BG and Eggert and the Devil was Satan. But perhaps it is Gilbert and Sullivan!