If we look at his transfer dealings, Grant has looked reasonably astute too. Jacobsen has looked our best right back by far and was signed for peanuts, whereas Turds paid £6m for Faubert. Ben Haim has done a reasonable job when fit to play. Piquionne has been one of our best players and Obinna is a favourite of the fans. Reid and Barrera are young and the jury is very much out. They were bought as speculative investments and the hope is that they will adjust to the Prem in time. The key loss is, of course, Hitzlesperger. He captained Germany for pity's sake, suggesting he has huge quality.
Crucially, after a terrible start, he is now edging ahead of Zola when you compare the team's results head to head under the two men. Zola collected 12 points from the comparable fixtures last season, Grant 15. Next game up is Wolves at Upton Park and that marked the nadir for Zola last season. If we play as badly against them this year then we really can give up and accept relegation. And, of course, we are in the semifinal of the Carling Cup into the bargain.
I always maintained that those calling for Grant's head were being too hasty. The guy needs time. Anybody would need time given the mess left behind by Zola, even Jose! The squad is being remodelled within tight budgetary constraints. The results are beginning to pick up. We are in the semifinal of a domestic cup competition. I think it is high time that Grant's critics gave him some credit. This is West Ham, not Tottenham, we back our managers!
56 comments:
What rubbish! Yesterday's game was one of our worst games in terms of performance. We couldn't pass the ball let alone keeping it or creating any chances. The one call AG had to make he made a mess of it causing us the loss of two points. I mean putting Sector as a replacement of Illunga.
And just because we have picked a few points, all of a sudden, you remember to bring back from the dead your silly index. You know, for a scientist, you are very biases. I hope you don't do research the same way HF.
As far as I am concerned, we drew yesterday by riding our luck and by an Everton that was well below par. AG is still worse than Zola in my book.
So Sav, who would you have replaced Ilunga with? Reid? Who else was left?
I said I would revert back to the Index when things changed. If Zola nudges ahead again, I will again refer to it. It aint silly. If Grant doesn't better Zola, we are down so it is fundamental.
Can you remember a team being stripped of 12 players by injury and still getting results? Yesterday's performance was based on containment. Grant picked the only team available to him and came away with a point. Last season we lost to Everton at Upton Park remember.
You may not like it, but results are improving. Personally, as a West Ham fan, I am delighted by that. Stop seeing the negatives and back our manager. What kind of West Ham fan are you exactly? ; }
I am the type of West Ham fan you will never know. The type who is not admiring other clubs. Are you the same person who were advising everyone to accept relegation and sell our players to "save our club" a little while ago? Are you now questionning my allegiance and loyalty? That is really rich coming from you.
Anyway, as far as your question regarding who could have replaced Illunga is concerned, I have already answered that in another post yesterday by saying "just about anyone", "even our second goalkeeper", would have been a better choice. At least, our second goalkeeper doesn't have a long and consistent history of screwing up in that position like Spector has. To be frank, I still don't get how he is still in our books. It might sound cruel, but it is the truth.
And it is because I really care for my club that I say the truth even it hurts some people. The only negative I see is Avram Grant and your blind loyalty to him. I will not look away just because it may offend you.
"If we play as badly against them this year then we really can give up and accept relegation."
HF you HAVE given up and accepted relegation according to your previous articles.
In fact you've even suggested selling ALL of our best players in January on the basis that relegation is inevitable.
Fickle, knee-jerk moron.
HF if you're going to write a positive article for a change (a nice change at that) don't you dare criticise anyone else for picking negatives considering your usual doom and gloom reports.
I am the very model of a model blogger. You didn't get the self deprecating joke at the end obviously. But Sullivan was ever the more insightful one!
But Terry, that was before I appreciated the extent of Avram's managerial genius! With that guy on the bridge, the Titanic might have survived!
Oh dear. I knew this post was coming. In fact, I was going to predict it last night but was too tired to write coherently so went off to bed. Why was I going to predict it? :) Well, it was from your exaggeration two posts ago about Grant having 12 players out! I can see what you're doing HF. It's like Sky News and the Sun newspaper at it's best. You say "but can any team cope with having TWELVE players ruled out all at once? " We didn't have 12 players ruled out at once!
"The most dangerous untruths are truths slightly distorted."
Collison was injured before Grant took over and has been injured since. Cole was on the bench so he was able to start. Grant chose not to start him (strange, why let a confidence striker who is hot, cool off? Niggle or not, he could have started then been taken off. In fact, he has more chance of injury rushing a warm-up off of the bench than a proper pre-game warm-up). Stech is not a first team player so I'm not sure why you included him (really I am sure). Now you will say what if Green got injured in a game? But you criticised me about down-marking Green for something that could have happened but didnt (not wearing a cap in previous game), now you are doing the very same thing in using something that could have happened as back-up for your argument.
Now physioroom's premier league injury table puts us behind Sunderland, Blackpool and Blackburn in terms of number of injuries and all of those teams are above us in the premier league points table. They seem to be doing fine. In fact, let's talk a bit more about Blackpool. Small club that has key players out which in a much worse injury crisis than us but they won 0-2 away from home against Sunderland!!! Not only that, you had them odds on for relegation!
Zola had similar injury problems. And if you consider he had a worse squad...or a "championship squad" in the words of our chairmen, then Zola had it worse.
"We have made the Reich by propaganda."
Paul Joseph Goebbels
Grant's qualities? I asked you this before HF and I didnt see a response so I'll ask you again. What are Grant's qualities HF? "This is West Ham, not Tottenham, we back our managers!" Yeh, like G&S did with Zola.
Sav,
I agree. Personally I would have pushed Boa to left back and allowed Spector to continue in the midfield where he was doing well. BUT, if we have one left back the managers prepare for the possible loss of him but making sure there are adequate replacements on the bench. Grant could have brought in a youngster from the reserves an put him on the bench but he chose to have Spector as back up. This was his choice. He was always going to put Spector at left back had something happened to Ilunga. We've had a left back issue for a long time now but he has still not blooded a youngster.
I'm delighted the results are improving. But if it means that people will suddenly forget how poor a manger Grant is then we are just covering up the cracks and are in for a surprise. If the Chairmen have any sense, they will get rid of Grant, and use this recent run of fortune to attract a real manager AND attract players, who will come if they see we have a chance of escaping relegation, and not use it as an excuse, like HF has, that Grant has any managerial qualities at all.
LOL Stani, I would have thought you would have spotted a tongue in cheek sign off to an article, given the way I went after Zola and Turds! You are losing your mojo mate!
Cole was unfit to start the game, as was widely reported. He was there as an emergency and Piquionne was injured in the game. As was Ilunga, taking the casualties to 14!
I mentioned Stech because we were forced to use Boffin two games ago. I did not mention the other keeper who is our real second choice!
Your point about Collison is silly. It doesn't matter when he was injured, he still wasn't available.
As for the Spector issue, Zola selected him at left back ahead of Daprela! If Grant believed he had a kid ready to play at left back, he would pick him! Clearly he doesn't!
I've listed his qualities. Ask Pompey fans, they will tell you! How have the Chelsea managers faired who have followed him? Difficult man to follow!
The facts speak for themselves. Chelsea improved under Grant in both the Prem and the Champions League compared to the season before under Jose. He is ahead in the Grantazola index despite the terrible injury problems. And he took Pompey to a cup final. We are in the League Cup semifinal. By the way, where's your proof that Zola didn't want McCarthy? Answer my point on the McCarthy thread!
Well I'm not sure of you these days, and when you talk of tongues in cheeks, I'm not even sure which type of cheeks you refer to.
Regardless of the injuries HF, our team was not exactly far from the usual 11 now was it?
His name's Kurucz. Don't be lazy
No, I was making the Collison point because you said we had 12 out all at once. Grant new about Collison so we cannot really say he had no chance to make contingencies.
Well you yourself raised issue about staggered payments and the issue of picking Daprela. You can see why Zola didn't. Daprela was still a kid then but at least Zola blooded him. Grant flippin' sold him! Forget not playing him ahead of Spector, Grant sold Daprela and kept Spector! That's worse! :)
How do you get kids ready then HF? And he should have bloodied a left back by now. Even if it didt work out, he should have tried. He hasnt even tried but just waited for the window. It's told now though.
Difficult man to follow because he's going nowhere!
Which is the McCarthy thread. Give me a minute, I missed the follow up. I'm not avoiding it...I would never avoid an argument with you. You know that. I still have some I'm in the process of getting back to you on. Time is tight though HF. I already do give a lot of my time to try and enlighten you with things :). I bloody spend more time on this blog than my own. Seriously. This has got to stop. People might think I like you.
LOL If you are Zola you blood young left backs by playing them against Arsenal twice and Chelsea! Game againnst Burnley? Nah. Let's see how he copes against two of the best teams in the division!
I was going to write a reply but Stani has covered my points on where we are and how we are really doing ... At Fulham we won by default because the oposition were awful, yesterday I saw the worst Everton side i can ever remmeber .. and we never really threatened them ...
HF, you need to give the GFZ record a rest as there is simply no comparison to the two managerial positions ... Avraam grant has known all along that faubert and Illunga are not good enough .. he has the ineptitude to make at least four changes each game regardless of who is fit and yesterday after bloating on about blooding youth ... where was the youth ? ... Sears, Tomkings and Hine were all blooded by GFZ as well as Collison, Stanislas and many others ... so yesterday we should have seen the two lads from the accademy blooded in a no win situation ...
Avraam's signings are shocking ... Reid is Championship at best and at £4m that is a disgraceful waste of money when you have none .. for me the jury is still out on barrera purely because Avraam continually plays him in a 4-4-2 when he excells in the 4-3-3 set up but TBH on 48k a week is shocking considering how often he is injured ... and Piquionne has shown his true colours by trying to engineer a move to Aston Villa ... which backs up the stories that he never wanted to come to us but we were offering hte best financial package the same is said of TBH ...
Avraam Grant has proven over 14 months that he is an inept one trick pony ... and that is fron die hard Pompeys fans who were saying what were are all saying now .. cup runs are a different matter for some reason Avraam goes for it ... in the league tho he has single handedly cost us more points by poor management and team selection that the whole playing squad put together ...
Great management. Treat 'em like men. None of this kid gloves treatment. (That would be HF speaking...a HF that liked Zola)
But you wrote a reply anyway Tom! How are you? Good Christmas? Have a great New Year mate, made all the better my Grant proving himself a brilliant manager!
Stick to your guns Sav, even though you will shoot yourself in the foot!
Agree Tom. We have been real poor for about 140 minutes of the last two games. Sky say we had no shots on target in he Everton game (presume they dont count Kovac's because of deflection) and Everton had 3. We had no shots on target at home!
Moyes was crazy not play a striker! We were there for the taking. They had a rest, we played a couple of days ago. Does he not know Luis Saha always scores against us? Crazy team selection.
You just reminded me about Piq. I read what he said the other day and it was disrespectful. Cant he see what position we are in and he's showing his bits off in the shop window.
SKY reorting 'pool back in for Carlton " it is understood that Hammers co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan would be prepared to listen to offers between £7m and £9m."
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6622051,00.html
...is Sav taking a bullet for me?
McNulty on BBC saying we're after Shane Long!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2010/12/grant_still_struggles_to_convi.html
Hmmm! If we sign Keane, O'Hara, Duff, Young and Sidwell we will stay up, win the league cu, and suddenly Grant will become a great manager.
Good post...Fanno is that you, though? Seriously, I know how it is. As a fellow West Ham fan, our feelings and logic simply jump from one end of the spectrum to another....that makes us ALL hypocrites (to a certain degree)...so anyone who calls you that is just a moron
Unlike you HF, I am not trying to prove myself to anyone. I write the truth as I see it and I am not afraid to express my opinion even if it hurts some players that don't deserve to be West Ham players or some critics that don't deserve to be calling themselves West Ham fans. Happy New Year HF!
Stani, I have made the same thought about using Boa to fill the position of Illunga and put Spector in an area in the field where he could not cause too much damage. But you and I are only ignorant fans; what do we know about how a great Manager's brain like AG's works. I guess only HF can understand this. I never thought I'd say this, but I am missing Zola!
This is the same Boa who commits a foul virtually every time he tackles? The same Boa who has played about 15 minutes as an emergency left back in his entire career? You guys are having a giraffe!
Dont tell me you're using that argument too HF?!
His hustling and harrying qualities would be ideal at left back.
Boa is not stupid, he obviously knows he cannot be as aggressive at left back as he is in midfield. And anyway, if he picks up a yellow and is on the verge of another, Avram can always bring on Spector!!! :)
And dont worry about HF Sav. He just has this perverse satisfaction at being proven wrong, which is why he never learns from it.
Just pray Grant is not in the job after Jan because then HF will use our improved squad through purchases as reason to say Grant is a better manager than Zola when it has been proved he is not.
Boa? Not stupid? I give you that penalty! How many would he concede if played at left back?
Sounds like you are worried that Grant will prove far more astute in the January transfer window than Gianfranco "Go get me McCarthy and don't worry about full backs because I don't need them, I've got Faubert and Spector" Zola!
Zola didn't buy anyone :)
No, I'm worried about my club and not about one individual like you are HF. I don't want us to be fooled into keeping a clearly inept manager who has no qualities, as you have admitted by not listing them.
Wolves just beat Liverpool at home. We have 'em next. Big, big game. We need to start well. If we give 'em a sniff early, they will be all over us.
"The most dangerous untruths are truths slightly distorted."
Stani - you have now reached legend status!
So, how good was our pathetic draw with Everton as compared to tonight's away win by Wolves at Liverpool HF? And, sadly, on the basis of the two teams performances mid-week who do you think is the most likely winner in Saturday's game at Upton Park?
Avram Grant is back to his familiar position - bottom of the table. It is sad really that we have people like you praising the guy who is almost a sure bet he will take us down if he stays on beyond January.
Are you going to start writing again about "saving our club by selling our best players in January" now HF?
Turds,
It's by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, so no credit to me. But all praise is to God mate, all praise to God. We are but a drop in the ocean.
Though I would say that the thing that makes me more uncomfortable than insult is praise. Boy am I not worthy! And of course, we do live in a time in which we must be more wary of compliment than criticism.
Index, what about the bloody grantzola index - it's the only indicator worth following - it was designed by HF for us and the least we can do it to follow it. BTW how is it going? HF? hello?
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/29122010/58/premier-league-west-ham-looking-15-players.html
15 players?! I knew they'd come through in the end - woooop deee dooo!
Read the bloody article Turds, Grant is ahead in the Grantazola Index!
Comment of the day from that link you gave Tom:
"I hope West Ham stay up but Grant has never pulled up trees anywhere (unless you count Israel)"
00:45 it's the doppelganger - you're going to have to do something about him - I didn't write that!
23:43 Stani
"we live in a time in which we must be more wary of compliment than criticism" I had no idea, that is a slightly strange concept if you don't mind me saying.
I've always believed in the power of positive thought, word and deed... which includes praise and is why I take umbrage in a lot of what HF says, as in my book negativity breeds negativity. I also have what is probably considered a very strange belief that was first put forward by Emoto Masaru a Japanese author who claims that speech or thoughts which are directed at water droplets before they are frozen, images of the resulting water crystals will be "beautiful" or "ugly" depending upon whether the words or thoughts were positive or negative. So the more you say, think or do positive things the more positive your life will be. I believe saying the word love for instance will make you feel, think and project love in all that you do. Weird I know.
He is a twat TurdsOut. I was 98% certain it wasn't you. Apologies.
As a tear drop about to freeze, I am going to take a very ugly shape following your negative comments about me mate!
Personally, I am of the opinion that without Ying, Yang does not exist. If nobody is poor, then nobody is rich. If nobody is ugly, then nobody is beautiful. If nobody is short, nobody is tall. If nobody is miserable, then nobody is happy. If all you do is praise, praise therefore becomes meaningless.
In truth, of course, a water droplet does not know what you think or say, so as poetic as the idea sounds, it has as much integrity as the bullshit published on the Official Site. The Soviets only ever published good news about the domestic situation in Pravda but that didn't remove the hunger from the bellies of the peasants did it? For all the positivity of the OS, we are still bottom of the table aren't we?
I'm a prose man TurdsOut! I like to say it how it is. If you want fiction, stick with the OS - although, of course, the OS will not allow you to share your thoughts with its audience if you disagree!
Have a great New Year mate. Hope our form in 2011 is as impressive as your new job sounds!
Of course I dont mind Turds.
You misunderstood though. I am merely saying we should be more careful in these times when someone says something good about us because from my personal experience, there is usually an ulterior motive. That is not to say I do not trust people, just that I am careful. Neither does it mean this concept is against positive thoughts and actions. All it means is when the positivity of praise comes your way, be sure that it is praise and not something else disguised as praise. Also, the fact that it was not you praising in this case, and someone using your handle, shows that my need to try to be wary is justified.
In regards to your point to you taking umbrage in what HF or anyone else that is negative about our club says; you may see this as negative, but it also can be seen as a positive....a bigger picture positive if you know what I mean. For example, if someone is being critical of the owners now, it's because they want to see a positive change with better, more honest owners so he club goes somewhere in the future. So on the surface it may look like criticising the owners is negative, but it is done through love of the club and a worry that it is going in the wrong direction. All in all, I think it is vital to constructively criticise what is going on otherwise this constant positivity will leave us open to be taken for a ride.........
....Psychological therapies are based on this positive thinking you have mentioned and there's no harm in being positive all the time as long as you don't lose touch with reality.
I read a piece on bbc news a few months ago where they were interviewing people that have reached the grand old age of 100. They asked each person what their eating habits were and every one of them attributed different foods to their good health. There was no one common food. They then put this to a doctor who in turn gave his thoughts on whether the foods are good for us. In general, the foods were good but none of them could be attributed to the reason why these people made it to 100. So what was the one thing they did have in common and that could be put down as the reason they lived so long? The doctor said that despite their generally good eating habits, there was one they that they all had in common, and that was that they never ever took anything too seriously. This is positivity too right, so yes, it works.
I also read an article once about how people of faith live longer and happier lives than those who do not believe in God (may explain why HF is so miserable :)). I did save it so will see if I can dig it up later.
"So the more you say, think or do positive things the more positive your life will be. I believe saying the word love for instance will make you feel, think and project love in all that you do. Weird I know." The power of our subconscious mind is extraordinary. But it also means that even if the effect of something is not better, we will still see it as such just because of our positivity.
You have written a book?
Agreed HF. Despite all Avram's positivity in the emails and interviews, and despite all your praise of Avram's skills, we are still bottom :)
I knew you wasnt being yourself. I told you so previously. You are judging Avram on a different scale to what you have judged everything before.
A water droplet may not know what you say but it may be effected by how you say it.
In the beginning everything was explained by religion and after that everything was proved by science.
The problem we have know that in the quantum world nothing can be proved by science. It's all theory and when we are asked to accept thought concepts such a Schrodinger's Cat where a cat that might be alive or dead, depending on an earlier event in a box. Roughly the theory is that you don't know if the cat is alive or dead and by opening the box the check you are actually changing the outcome of whether the cat is alive or dead. So if you watch an experiment you are actually effecting the outcome!
Recently we are being asked to accept the supposedly real concept of parallel universes that run alongside and interact with our own.
Light can now be made to appear in two different places and at the same time.
There are also experiments where particles are split and then separated by distance but are still capable of interacting with each other over thin air.
The deeper we travel in to the rabbit hole the closer we get to "god" whatever or whoever that may be.
I have absolue faith and I also have a set of morals and rules that I live by, for the me the best part of that is that it has no name.
If you looked at what happened in Germany in WWII you have to consider the idea that individual and group consciousness can influence the material world, how else can a whole country behave in such a way if that were not the case?
Have you also not ever been effect by the presence of another person? have never felt the effect of someone who just sucks the very life / energy out of you just by their presence? By the same token have you never been elevated in spirit by just being near a group of happy people?
What is love and how do you explain the many effects by physiological and psychological?
When we are born we are essentially made of atoms and over the course of our lives these atoms are replaced many times, in fact there is constant steam of new atoms; water / food etc coming in and old used atoms; dead skin / waste etc leaving but we always remain the same person which for me is a perfect illustration that a soul must exist, because how else can we remain the same person if our physical body is completely replaced?
I therefore don't believe that we can say that a water molecule (we are after-all 60% water) is not effected by the vibration / emotion of our speech.
The whole country did not behave in the same way mate. Outside of the Nazi Party and the SS, the Final Solution was a closely guarded secret. Remember, there were opponents to Hitler in Germany and many lost their lives, and were sent to concentration camps themselves, for resisting him and plotting against him. It is unfair to the German people to suggest that they were all Nazis. Many were genuinely ignorant of what was going on, and many were terrified and did not dare voice opposition for fear of the consequences.
The problem I have with your idea is that, as in Nazi Germany, you have to voice dissent sometimes. If everybody shouts "Sieg Heil", the leadership may be happy but the consequences are horrendous. At times, you have sounded like an Obersturmführer yourself, putting absolute faith in the Party because any dissent is disloyal and runs the risk of distorting the water drop. If the water drop is deformed anyway, surely we should say so, otherwise deformity will be the norm!
Obviously, I am playing with metaphors here. I am not calling you a Nazi and would not dream of doing so. But you did bring up Nazi Germany so the metaphor seems fair enough.
hmmm... so no war atrocities either then? I am not just talking about extermination - I'm talking about the idea that it's OK to round people up, smash shops, drive people out of their homes and of course attack all your neighbours and believe that blond and blue eyes was the way forward through an encouraged breeding program. An awful lot of very weird stuff was very much in the public domain - listening to you you almost sound like a holocaust denier.
Anyone HF surprise, surprise you ignore everything else and tune in to your favourite subject - something you seem to think you know rather a lot about - I wonder why that is?
I doubt this is the same TurdsOut! but I will answer it. Of course there were war attrocities, and they were committed by both sides sadly.
To suggest that I am a Holocaust denier is absurd. I have taken my family to Auschwitz and Majdanek to ensure my children understand fully what happened. However, Jews were concentrated in city areas and therefore huge numbers of Germans had no first hand experience of what was going on. Remember, the vast majority of the camps were located in Poland. That was deliberate, to hide what was going on from the German people. The media was very tightly controlled. Remember, the Jews themselves did not know what was happening. They believed the relocation stories themselves. The idea of industrialised extermination was too extreme for many to believe. The notion that an entire country became evil under the Nazis is absurd.
Nazism is your strong suit isn't it HF - you've completely ignored the quantum argument - shame on you!
Turds gives a good account of the quantum world, one that cannot be explained by conventional science and you do your usual - you pick on only one paragraph out of the thirteen because your argument was weakened - so you try your usual tried and tested smoke screen of controversy as a diversion tactic.
I am not a quantum physicist but I am a historian and a mechanical engineer. I know if Zola was manager, he would play me as a quantum physicist, but I prefer to stick to what I know. That said, no quantum physicist believes that a water drop responds to how you talk to it!
hahaha so you're a mechanic!!!! hahahahahha priceless - funny but now you've said I can imagine you stuck under a the bonnet of a Skoda. Local historians are a bloody nuisance and an absolute bore too. hahahahaha
ROCKET MECHANICS MY FRIEND. That said, Skodas are now manufactured by BMW. You do live in the past don't you?
And strangely, Germany is not my back yard.
sorry that wasn't fred - it was anonymous
I know. And you are becoming tedious. So, when fairly sure it is you, I will in future delete your posts if you are stealing another's identity.
Local historians - hahahaha how could you admit to that? that is such a billy no mates thing to do - far worse than even train spotting - you seem them on Who Do You Think You Are - and they are always boring and conceited pricks.
How right you were, absolute genius! We should listen to you more often...
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