The net effect of all this is a high bar to survive this year. Even if results run to par for the rest of the season, 38 points will not secure safety. In fact, our record of relegation despite accumulating 42 points might be under threat. I don't know if the bookies are offering odds on how many points the club fourth from bottom will achieve, but I reckon it will be a minimum of 40. So tell me, where the hell are we going to harvest 28 points from?
There are games that we can write off immediately. Chelsea away? Even in mid wobble they will beat us. Tottenham away? Under 'Arry? In our dreams! Man Utd at home? Only if they play their stiffs! Man City away? Yeah if the entire first team squad go on strike! Liverpool at home? Bloody hell, we couldn't even get a result against Fulham with Hughton in charge and the bogey team label is on the opposite boot when the Scousers are involved!
So we come down to a narrow band of games.
28 points from 21 games? That's 8 wins and 4 draws! Find me eight wins! Wolves, Birmingham, Blackburn, Sunderland, Villa, Stoke at home. That's six if we take everything we can!
So we now need two wins AWAY from home! Hmmmm. Fulham? Wigan? Blackpool? West Brom? Blackburn? Two of those five. There's our eight wins. Not much margin of error is there?
Let's turn three of those into draws shall we? We still need a home draw. Liverpool? Everton? Arsenal? Man Utd? Or an away draw at Newcastle, Everton, Tottenham, Chelsea, Man City or Bolton? What are the chances of that?
It's possible to make it to 40 points but is it probable? A chance in ten thousand I'd say! So that's why we have to start PLANNING for the probable and stop whining about Grant! Bloody Mourinho would struggle to keep this shower of shit the right side of the U bend!
33 comments:
If it's weird and teams have been taking points at places they shouldn't, why haven't we?
Is Grant's record 1 win in the last 11? A single figure win % HF.
We have. We beat Tottenham!
I'll have a tenner with you at 10,000/1
I genuinely wonder what Grant's skills as a PL manager are as I haven't seen evidence of any.
Beating spuds isn't actually like winning at arsenal and drawing at man utd like west brom have done is it.
Beating any team managed by 'Arry is like climbing Everest in a wheel chair for us!
We were at home HF.
Spot on 17:54. Tell us HF, what skills does Grant have? I'm serious. You support him so what's good about him? And please use his proficiencies rather than someone else's deficiencies as proof.
And bear in mind that he did no better at Chelsea than Mourinho, no better at Portsmouth than Paul Hart, and no better at West Ham than Zola. Now there is an end to argument if I ever saw one.
I quote you: "he did no better at Chelsea than Mourinho". Well, I'll leave it at that then, he did no better, nor worse, than the guy presently rated the BEST in football!
By Jove - a rogue Headmaster is amongst us. Posting regularly too, HF. Hmmn.
I did notice. Boys will be boys as they say. Needs a cane across his buttocks mate.
You haven't answered the question HF. He didn't do better than Mourinho. It is well known it was Mourinho's team. Grant brought nothing. Nothing to Chelsea, nothing to Pompey and nothing to West Ham. THAT is the point.
Don't run away HF. Defend your man. What are Grant's skills? Grant's merits? Why was he hired?
Admit defeat HF and let's move on. Come on, you can do it.
Well bless me it was Mourinho's team what won it then, Mourinho did nothing! Bugger me, why do they rate the guy? And hang on, part of that team came to West Ham to assist Zola and look what happened! It wasn't Zola's fault everybody, it was Mourinho's team! You do make yourself look like an arse sometimes Stani!
And how well did Scolari do with Mourinho's team exactly? So, let's get this straight, in his brief time at Chelsea with Mourinho's team, Grant did nothing whilst Mourinho's team reached a Champions League Final that Mourinho's team couldn't reach whilst Mourinho was in charge (and only lost it on penalties), and also did nothing whilst Mourinho's team did better in the league than Mourinho's team were able to do under a man who had won the World Cup. But then, Mourinho's team had be shorn of the fantastic motivational, tactical and organisational skills of Clarke by then, as he was busy making Zola look like the best manager in the World at Upton Park!
So explain. Grant deserves no credit for what Chelsea achieved whilst he was there because he was in charge for such a short time and inherited a great team, but is completely to blame at West Ham even though he has been in charge for just four months of competitive playing time although he inherited a complete mess left behind by the guy who preceeded him. How is that consistent exactly?
Team as in players HF.
You say Grant inherited a crap team from Zola then surely the same logic says Grant inherited a top team from Mourinho?
If Grant is doing bad because of Zola's poor team then he did well at Chelsea because of Mourinho's top team.
Now who is looking the arse?
Once again; what are Grant's skills? Grant's merits? Why was he hired? Why do you support him?
HF your saying you cant see us getting 40 points. do you remember a few years ago when we lost 4-3 at home to the spuds. we was 10 points adrift of safety with 9 games to go and we won 7 of them against the likes of bolton ( our bogey team ) man utd away ( no one wins their ) arsenal away ( same as man utd ) everton ( another bogey team ) middlesbrough, wigan, backburn. and lost to chelsea and sheff utd. so never say never because no one give us a chance that season and we done it. so who's to say we cant do it this time because this season ain't nowhere near as hard as it was that season. coyi
21:32,
That's true, it's not all over yet, but we did have a Tevez then. Now we have T...T...Tal Ben Haim.
Oh, players Stani! You mean players play a part? You mean it isn't all down to the manager? You mean if you have great players you win games? And if you have crap players you are...still expected to win games?
Now, did Grant take over a successful team at Chelsea and preside over its break up and decline? Or did that team reach a Champions League final, to largely outplay Man Utd but lose on penalties?
The season before Grant took over, Chelsea finished second in the Premiership under Mourinho, six points behind Manchester United. Chelsea under Grant finished just two points behind Ferguson's men. Grant's Chelsea also reached the final of the League Cup and final of the Champions League. So, Grant's Chelsea outperformed Mourinho's Chelsea in BOTH the Premier League and the Champions League - and Jose is widely regarded as the best manager in the game. You try stepping into the shoes of a god and outperforming him! In your words, it was Jose's team. The loyalties were to Jose. The anger was turned on Grant. The players didn't want him. the fans didn't want him. But despite everything, Chelsea were MORE successful under Grant in the two major competitions and reached another final into the bargain. Interesting. Why did that happen then?
At Portsmouth, he took over a club with two feet in the grave. Yes they went down, but they were always going down. But strangely, this incompetent manager somehow managed to mismanage them through to an FA Cup Final, defeating a vastly superior Tottenham team, managed by that useless mug 'Arry Redknapp, in the semifinal. Amazing that a useless manager had the luck to see another team through to another Cup Final. Lucky bastard aint he? That's, what, THREE finals in major competitions in less than two full seasons. What a useless tosser this guy is! All the motivational and organisational skills of a used condom obviously!
And here we are at West Ham, in the semifinal of the League Cup. Hmmm. Spent next to nothing. Took over a terrible shambles from Zola. Victim of a less than kind draw which has seen us drawn against three Premiership teams, including the leaders of the Prem, unbeaten in 9 months and holders of the Cup, and yet that incompetent, useless Zionist bastard has, by incredible good fortune, made it through to ANOTHER semifinal. Clearly the guy was born with a four leafed clover birthmark on his arse!
So, improved on Mourinho, three Cup Finals in two seasons, four cup semifinals in two and a half seasons...no idea obviously. Hopeless obviously. It's all luck apparently.
20:21 stani point well made
22@44 fanno smoke screen
2132, If we get Tevez back we will survive. Resigning Collins and a fit Zamora would help too. Oh, and Etherington, you know that guy with a LEFT FOOT who plays on the LEFT WING and crosses the ball into the box. We could also do with a blind linesman who awards a goal when the ball has been stopped on the line by one of our team who is offside at the time! Chuck in an injury to Everton's top striker fifteen minutes into the game, the resignation of the Bolton manager in the week of the game, Arsenal failing to score from 35 shots on goal, Man Utd playing a virtual reserve team having won the Premiership and enjoyed a bloody good piss up in the week of the game...Yeah with Tevez in the team and Lady Luck lying open legged and asking us to shaft her every Saturday afternoon...yeah we can survive! So where are we going to find the £40million to buy Tevez and the £256,000 a week to pay his wages?
2249 So facts are smoke screens these days are they? Welcome to Blair's Britain!
HF the season we stayed up. it worked out we had to win them 7 games out of our last 9 otherwise we would have gone down. even if we drew the last game against man utd we would have gone down on goal difference. yes you do need luck in football but im one of them people who thinks you make your own luck. ask man utd. but what im saying is if we can stay up being ten points adrift and having to win 7 games out of our last 9. then why cant we stay up being only 4 points adrift with 21 games to go. still gonna be hard dont get me wrong. but looking at it. it seems a hell of a lot easier then last time. their is still plenty of time for us to get out of this mess were in.
Luck and Tevez, Beauty and the Beast mate. Shaft Lady Luck as much as you like, but without Tevez reality will bugger you regardless. Having a shit team is a pain in the arse!
I think you're a closet and I don't mean you're a spurs fan
No hope, no faith, no guts.
And I'm not talking about West Ham I'm talking about HF.
Always taking the easy path. If you don't expect anything, then it's a nice surprise if we do actually achieve something.
This is a cowards way of supporting a football club.
If we actually achieve something then you don't deserve to be sharing any glory with the fans that support the club in the bad times and show some faith.
You make a great Spurs fan.
Stani Army said...
21:32,
That's true, it's not all over yet, but we did have a Tevez then. Now we have T...T...Tal Ben Haim.
---
What a terrible comparison to make your point.
Picking a world class player that basically kept us up with an average player in a completely different position, who isn't even our best defender and has only played about 3 league games.
But I suppose your point would lose some it's punch if you compared Tevez to either Parker or Obinna wouldn't it?
So just to recap here, what exactly are Grant's skills as a PL manager?
Asking HF a direct question is like asking Tony Blair about weapons of mass destruction.
What a pointless debate. We're in dire trouble, rooted to the bottom of the league and HF is arguing that Grant is a good manager. Seriously???
I really don't care what Grant did or didn't do anywhere else. All I KNOW for a fact is the following...
1) We have been awful so far this season.
2) Grant doesn't inspire me with any confidence.
3) Grant doesn't seem to even publicly acknowledge the desperation of our situation.
4) We have nothing to gain by sticking with Grant as the results are getting worse (if that was possible) and the players aren't responding to him.
5) We have nothing to lose by sacking him and getting a new manager. In comparison to the cost of relegation, £4m to pay off his contract is well worth it to at least give us yet another new start and even the slightest change of survival.
A rogue? how dare you! at least I didn't go back to Iain with my tail between my legs - by the way where is that new blog you and your best chum Matthew promised?
Thanks 22:49 :)
Comical Ali, that assumes replacing him results in us staying up. If it doesn't, it costs us £4million and we still go down! We also have not been awful this season. Our resultds have been poor but most agree that we have performed better. We are also in the semifinal of the League Cup!
Justin, I have faith in Grant. I have the guts to say it how it is. I have hope that we will go down and come back stronger if we accept the inevitable and plan accordingly. You, on the other hand, do not have the courage to recognise what is going to happen. You are like the apocryphal ostrich burying your head in the sand, your arse sticking up in the air waiting for any passing stranger to shaft you.
We retain Parker, how much do we get for him in the summer when we go down? Same with Behrami. Same with Cole. And so on. Sell in January, save on the wages, and we limit the damage, pretend it aint going to happen and the club really could face annihilation!
22:57 more smoke screens - it's not blairs Britain!!!
HF - I've been to every WH game so far this season (and believe me it hurts to have experienced them all) and my personal belief is that we've played very poorly. Possibly worse than last season but if not, certainly just as bad.
Either way, it's results that count and that issue certainly isn't up for debate. We've been awful. Sorry but the CC will mean nothing to me if we're relegated.
Grant hasn't moved the team or the club forward in anyway. The only player that has had any consistency in their form under his 'guidance' is Parker and he's played well for every WH manager he's played for.
There's a fine line between being realistic and giving up. Yes we should have a plan for relegation as it is a very real possibility but now is certainly not the time to give up.
You're the only WH fan I know that is talking like this. It's not 'realism' until we're relegated, what you're talking about is defeatism.
There's over 60 points still to play for but I don't believe that the team have any respect or belief in Grant. We need new leadership now to kickstart at least an attempt to stay up.
HF why has that man got his hand down your throat.
"This is a cowards way of supporting a football club....." reply to the man HF - he posted at 0900.
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