(Submitted by Stani)
Pompey old boys Piquionne and Ben Haim can only be said to have been bought on merit if our ambition is to buy average players with no potential. There's more nepotism than ambition here!
Mind you, Grant's appointment hardly screams ambition does it? Anyone could have guided Jose Mourinho's team to the Champion's League final. Staff at Chelsea said that Grant's coaching techniques were '25 years behind the times'. This is from an unnamed Chelsea player:
"Chelsea deserve a bigger coach than him. Grant does not have the quality to coach a team like this. When we play big opponents we will suffer because of him." http://tinyurl.com/572t96
Now he clearly knows better than you and me, having worked under Grant. Even Grant's friend, Mr Abramovich, had to eventually get rid of him. As for the FA Cup final, its just a cup competition. Cardiff got there in 2008 under Dave Jones, would he merit being a West Ham manager? A cup run proves nothing.
Piquionne has a poor goalscoring record and we have given him a 3 year deal on 40k a week apparently - to a striker who will be 32 in December. Tell me, does that make sense? We will be paying him a salary of over £2m when he is 35!
As for Ben Haim, like Piquionne, he played in a side that was relegated last season. It has been argued that our relegated players were also purchased by clubs when we went down but ours were young with potential. I do not see the potential in a 28 year old defender who is currently not very good. Believe me, when I say he makes more mistakes than Tomkins! We will now see this at first hand, unfortunately. He dithers and is consistently bullied off the ball.
Barrera will bring quality but his signing was cleverly delayed to soften the blow of Piquionne and Ben Haim. I disagree that Hitzlsperger is one of our better players by a mile. He is a solid, reliable type and we should not make him out to be more than he is.
Grant knows Piquionne and Ben Haim from previous clubs, and since I've dismissed the merit argument above, their signings must be down to cronyism or nepotism. I have said nothing of a master plan, but you tell me why Grant was appointed without any other manager being interviewed?...or why Ben Ham seems to follow Grant EVEN when he speaks against him. The bond of 'blood is thicker than water' is not broken by a few critical words.
Big money signings? I never expected them, but I hate in when our great fans are taken for fools! Neymar, Beckham, Remy, Cole, Henry...we end up with Piquionne and Bellend Haim!
I'm not claiming to be clever here. I leave that kind of gloating to HF (who is also responsible for adulterating this piece and inserting a crude nickname!). All I am saying is that the new era reeks of nepotism and mediocrity, not meritocracy and ambition!
38 comments:
Get real - you lot only just escaped relegation last season. Just be thankful that you have a manager of the calibre of Avram Grant. Why not try to get behind him and your squad, eh?
is this a comedy piece? because it amuses me no end. if it is serious then i suggest 40 valium and a bottle of vodka, put yourself out of your misery
The club is 110 MILLION is debt - what were you expecting Messi, Iniesta and David Villa.
Get real and give them a chance.
ye 2 players from a pompey team we drew 1-1 with with piquionne and ben haim in tht tea mtht day and pompe ymay have bee nrelgated but they if they didnt get tht 9 point deduction it cudve been us
As a Pompey supporter; Piquionne is a player who is capable of disappearing from a game or winning it. He scored at a very reasonable rate considering the very poor side he was in. he can run the channels, sometimes beat a man with the ball, is pretty quick and strong. His heading is inconsistent but some of his finishes were sublime. All told, he is a good signing for you but probably only for next season. A 3 year contract is a but strong.
Ben Haim is injury prone and a bit of a headcase. He is simply too short to be a centre half and gets bullied but at left back he played three or four fine games for us. He never began to justify the wages we paid him and was the wrong sort of player for a scrap, too inconsistent - you need solid players for a struggle.
The criticism of Avram Grant is lazy and ill thought through. He took over a desperate team at Pompey with no chance whatsoever. He had to cope with not being able to play key players most of the season because of contract clauses, we lost a bunch of key players to the ACN and most of the players we had were injury prone.
Then there was the points deduction which effectively killed us off as we began to show signs of life. All in all Pompey fans who understood what he was dealing with have nothing but praise for him.
We were a far better team with him and if he had been able to play the first team more than four or five times we would have had a chance.
HF, behave!
Phil,
Of what calibre is he?
Hugh,
So why did Sullivan say we're in for Cole, Henry, Beckham, Neymar?
I certainly don't expect that class of player but I expect better than Ben Haim and Piquionne, who seem desperate buys. With the wages we're giving both, around 83k a week, we could have signed Sol Campbell. A much better buy.
Fred,
Insignificant mate. They're two average payers at best. We've lost and drawn to worst teams with worse players. You cannot use the result from one game to justify your argument.
I.Schmelloratt,
Piquionne works hard and makes good runs but his finishing is poor as reflected by his goal record. I'd rather give Frank Nouble his place as he'll do just as good a job if not better. With his age and the money we're paying him taken into consideration, we should never have bought him even if he can do a job.
The author of this article displays all that is wrong with a lot of our fans today. Many of us have become completely deluded like Spurs fans have been for years.
We've been run very poorly for years, we've been ripped off by some of our 'crown jewel' players who let their contracts run down so that we received a pittance for thom (Cole, Carrick, Defoe etc) yet they are regarded as heroes, and we were hung out to dry by the Premier League over the Tevez affair when the first couple of rulings were in our favour - all of this means we're skint and we'll have to suffer for years in regards to playing staff.
If you're to thick to understand the state that our club is in then please support some other team because West Ham doesn't need or want you.
What do you expect from a club that almost went into liquidation and is 90 million in debt? If we do get Remy I will be absolutely delighted if not, then I will understand, and accept we didn't have enough dosh!
Anonymous2055,
Ripped off by our players but it's ok to be ripped off by the chairman and not say anything then? What pleasure do you gain out off suggesting you're a better fan then the next person or someone should go support another team? It simply shows you have no argument. And there were two authors to the article....both deluded as each other I suppose.
John,
'If we do get Remy'? How? We don't have any money do we?
Maybe someone is investing a few million in the club Perhaps the D's will cough up some more of their personal wealth,some players may be sold. I'm not running the club I don't know where the money could come from, I don't expect any to come from anywhere, the clubs broke, but if it does I will be delighted and the D's will have done well
Hang on Stani mate, I'm not having that! I did NOT co-author the article, I just tweaked it a little so it would stand alone rather than as a reply inside comments! Me, I have 100% faith in the Davids and everything they do! Diamind geezers the both of them, salt of the earth West Ham fans with claret and blue blood pumping through their veins! ; ]
"Anyone could have guided Jose Mourinho's team to the Champions League final".
Jose Mourinho didn't. Idiot (as per usual)
PS, how's the wife?
Stani, who wrote the article, isn't married!
My wife still laughs about the size of your dick!
Everything they do HF? Outside football too? :)
Anonymous 00:42,
That's because Mourinho wasn't there!!!
The Champions League competition is different every year.
Had Mourinho been there that season, may be they would have won it.
Now who's the idiot?
And I'm not sure whose wife you've been messing around with....or if it is even a woman. You did check didn't you?
A thoroughly disgusting article, the pair of you should hang you heads in shame, you yellow livered traitors! you both sicken me to the core of my being.
Anonymous 10:49,
Traitors? Why?
There's something very wrong with the pair of you, it's obscene and disturbing...... West Ham deserve so much better than you two low life's. I truly believe that evil lives in your hearts.
11.14 Somebody is evil because he has a different opinion from yours? That must be close to the definition of evil itself! That's what gives rise to genocide, persecution, racism and suicide bombings!
I disagree with Stani myself. This is his article, not mine. I think he is wrong but he may be right. He was wrong about Zola, and I kept telling him so, but he was entitled to express his support for Zola on this site.
Evil is intolerance. Look in the mirror mate!
It's got nothing to do with whether I agree with want you perverts say or not. It's just the despicable and horrible way that you both take pleasure in being so awful and negative. Evil is intolerance and it is also the killer of dreams..... if you think SUGO are paddlers of filth then they have nothing on you two scum bags - and why are you know trying to distance yourself from this article = stani has admitted you that you dirtied your hands on it as well - why lie?
Me negative? Did you hear that HF? Have you even been following me on here? Last season? Go back, read up and do some homework.
Evil lives in my heart? Get to know me and you will be utterly embarrassed by that comment. If I'm evil, God help you all as I cannot imagine what others must be.
1255 I "Dirtied my hands" by making a few alterations so it made sense in stand alone form rather than as a reply in comments. I disagree with what Stani is saying here. Read MY articles, S&G have to show their hand and Now let's judge Avram against Zola and see if you can spot the differences.
I bet you S&G have very similar opinions about Zola, Nani and Duxbury as those I was expressing. Does that make them evil? Do they delight in the misfortunes of our club? You are a sheep and feel the need to bleat support come what may, I have a mind of my own and speak from the head as well as the heart, or in your case the arse!
14:18 I have followed you all the way which is why is saddens me much to read this dross - you Ba'al Zəvûv!
And which part saddens you? Be specific, let's talk about it. It's not good to keep things pent up.
Negativity breeds depression and gloom, which in turn leads to darkness.... to write off an era before it's even started and before the transfer window has even closed and to also further suggest weakness is a good indication that optimism, cheerfulness and light are not states of mind that you are familiar with. I believe you have been contaminated and soiled by the words of HF.
Write off an era? Me? I know we will do well BUT not as well as we can because of the sly people we have running the club. This is what angers me. They well 'get by' as long as their pockets are lined. They know that they can get away with finishing 9th to 13th for the next few years in which period, with the new ground, they will be making plenty of dosh.
As for general optimism, cheerfulness, please look around the world and tell me what is there to be optimistic about? Are you kidding me? If you seriously think the world is a wonderful place, you must not have any idea of what is going on. I tell you why I'm not cheerful, because in this world, people like Heston Blumenthal can abuse food on tv and treat it like sh*t when there are people dying in the world who do not have water to drink....just as one example. Do you have any idea the kind of world we are leaving our chidren's children? But in a way, I hope you don't realise because it can be hard knowing what's going on, real hard.
Anyhoo, as for my negativity about West Ham. Please go back before and you will see it is not the case. I simply have the view that G&S are miking us and I don't like them. This does not mean I am always negative.
You are over exaggerating. You have formed an opinion (conclusion) of me and now are looking for reasons, which do not exist, to support it. That is the wrong order to form an argument. It's funny though because when I was defending the team last season saying that we deserve to be where we are and we shouldn't expect too much, I was accused of lacking ambition! But it just shows that some people will always think what they like. Even when they can see the truth clearly in front of them, they will rummage around in their pockets reaching for their tinted glasses. It's as if putting them on brings them comfort, puts them at ease as if they're saying to themselves 'yes, I knew I was right'.
You must remember Anonymous (you really should give yourself an unique ID...even a full-stop at the beginning of your comment would suffice), that I can say that we deserve to be 10th without lacking ambition, and I can be critical without being abelled as always negative. You say HF has influenced me, but I think his approach has influenced you. How? Because you have taken just a fraction of my comments and used them to say that I have turned into him. You see?
And just finally, criticism, or negativity as you called it, highlights problems and gets people doing something about it. We cannot always be cheerful and ignore things as fans because that would be the definition of heaven in G&S's dictionary....swindling heaven.
The heading is "....... The Avram Era begins badly" surely that's a write off before it's even started?
The world has always been like this and it always will be. Glass half full or glass half empty, the choice is yours. Let love and light in to your heart and the world will indeed look and more importantly be a more beautiful place. Was Gandhi depressive and negative - I think not. I think you should wait until at least the transfer window is closed before such criticism.
"Do you have any idea the kind of world we are leaving our children's children?" They've been saying that every decade since Greek times, you read the Daily Mail and The Sun too much - it's all designed to make you fearful, stop you thinking for yourself and to keep you firmly in your place.
There's been no Aids epidemic, No bird flu massacre and swine flu killed less than the common cold for the same period from the year before..... don't believe the hype because it's all a tool for holding you back.
1731, I wrote the headline because Stani submitted the article via comments and I considered it worthy of posting as an article in its own right. The key word in that headline that you seem to have overlooked is "begins". Stani is not writing off the entire era, his article suggests that it has not started very auspiciously.
There is an AIDS epidemic in Africa mate. God knows how many die from it every year!
I can vouch for Stani as a positive person. His so called "negativity" is honesty.
That said Stani, the world is a better place now than it has been at any other time in history. Yes there is a huge divide between rich and poor but the poor are no worse off now than they ever were. The economy is an engine and the most efficient engine is based upon the difference between the hot tank and the cold tank. In an economic engine, that is the difference between the rich and the poor. The bigger the gap, the more efficient the engine sadly!
The Aids epidemic if you can remember was supposed to effect one in 10 of us in Europe before the year 2000 - it didn't happen.
I thought you had nothing to do with the post? I wish you'd make your mind up!
Wikipedia: Era - An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in social history, eras may for example denote a period of some monarch's reign.
In colloquial language, eras denote longer spans of time, before and after which the practices or fashions change to a significant degree.
You therefore wrote off a long span of time before it even started - shame on you!
All I have to say on the matter is that if we adopted the negativity of HF and his cronies in WWII where would we be now? under the thumb of Nuremberg that's where.... thank fcuk for stiff upper lips that's all I can say, if you haven't got one HF how about trying to buy one?
This is not directed at anyone in particular, but can I suggest you take a step away from football if it depresses you and becomes a chore for you to support a club. If positivity in every situation is your approach so be it, I personally support that and for anyone to be labeled 'delusional' because you want to see good in everything if unfair in my opinion. To those who dislike HF, can I also suggest you don't respond in anger, he clearly craves the hatred and must have a deviating opinion which he probably doesn't agree with himself most the time.
Anonymous,
As HF has said, the heading was not mine. Which proves my point that you have mixed me with HF. I posted it as a comment and not an article, but HF posted it, which is his right...probably because he agrees with most of it, yet he changed bits. Now I could have thrown a hissy-fit over this as he has mislead you guys to thinking certain bits were mine, but I'm a cool customer and I had hoped you would notice which parts were mine and which not. Did I give you too much credit?
It's not about waiting before the transfer window has closed. We're allowed to be critical of the here and now. If Sullivan comes out blabbering about Cole, Beckham, Henry, then I'm allowed to be critical.
I read the Daily Mail and The Sun? You're right, but only to see what the latest Muslim hatred they're indoctrinating the zombies with.
I am well aware of the tools used when it comes to those out-breaks you mentioned. One thing you can tell me is what is "Ba'al Zəvûv!"
HF,
I don't accept the world is a better place. Where have all our discoveries gotten us? We haven't even eradicated world poverty which is something POSSIBLE. The world leaders can get together tomorrow to start this but they don't. The world could hardly be worse. The divide between rich and poor is bigger. This cannot be considered a better situation. The economy is all capitalism and what good is there in capitalism?
Beelzebub, a name derived from Ba‘al Zebûb, Ba‘al Zəbûb or Ba‘al Zəvûv (Hebrew בעל זבוב; Greek: βεελζεβούβ; literally "Lord of the Flies"), with numerous variants, which was a Semitic deity worshipped in the Philistine city of Ekron.
In later Christian and biblical sources he appears as a demon and the name of one of the seven princes of Hell.
Trust me the Daily Mail and The Sun indoctrinate all in to becoming zombies in fact that's the sole purpose of ALL newspapers and TV news - pack them in and you'll be much better mentally and spiritually for it. You'll also develop a broader world view too.... books are much better for the soul and not a complete waste of time like the daily news, which if you compare is the same sh!t just on a different day.
You can also watch PressTV on Sky 515. It also carries George Galloway's 'Comment' show on Thursday evenings.
Being unfair there Stani. I had to think of a title and I think it sums up your article well. The changes were cosmetic in nature, necessary so the article could stand alone outside of comments.
It doesn't matter if the gap between the rich and poor is wider, what matters is that the poor are now on or above subsistence, whereas in the past, this was not the case. Are the poorer wealthier now than in the past? Yes. Is life expectancy higher around the world? Yes. Are less children dying in infancy? Yes. Are there more "civilised" societies where laws are codified? Yes. The World is a better place for humans than it has ever been. Why would Allah permit it to be otherwise Stani?
HF,
I don't understand, unfair how? By misled I don't mean you deliberately misled them, I meant they were misled because they did not spot the changes that I assumed they would, as I said above. Had I had an issue with what you did, I would have taken it up with you initially but had no problem.
I always try to be fair, I find it difficult being otherwise.
Which 'poor' are we talking about here HF? The child in Africa or a homeless chap on the London streets?
God gave man free will.
both liars from where I'm standing
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