Well Winston Reid has now come out and as good as admitted that there is something seriously wrong with the fitness levels of the team. Talking about the dreadfully flat performance on Sunday, Reid said:
"There was a lack of energy and Birmingham took the opportunity when they had it. Why was there a lack of energy? I don't know, it's hard to say. We just couldn't put it in. It's hard because we wanted to win the game and move out of the bottom three."
Can you believe that a memeber of the team is admitting, "We just couldn't put it in", in a vital six pointer, playing at home to the team that dumped us out of the League Cup at the final hurdle before Wembley? If ever there was a game that the players were totally up for, this should have been it. Here was the opportunity to put together back to back wins. Here was the opportunity to climb out of the bottom three. Here was the opportunity to save our Premiership lives. But here is Reid admitting that that there was "a lack of energy" and that Birmingham were fitter, fresher, more up for the game.
What the fcuk is going on? What, I wonder, were our players doing on Saturday night?
Winston Reid should have admitted there's something flawed with our policy of buying players through Barry Silkman!
ReplyDeleteYeah sounds bout right we were pants again, So I think its time for AVRAM to take his lucky scarf and BUGGER off & take his clueless backroom staff with him. They all ruined POMPEY!!!!. NOW they are doing it to this great club!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis has been a long standing issue with WESTHAM.If its not ,the "training is to intense",which is why we get so many injuries ,or the "injury room lacks expertise when it comes to treatment",then it's "why do the players look unfit".I think GRANT along with SULLIVAN and GOLD need to seriously address these issues.Take the case with BENNI McCARTHY ,he was supposed to have lost his excess weight but his fitness levels were appalling.He is an extreme case but I think the players need to take responsibility for this.
ReplyDeleteDear HF
ReplyDeleteIt's the first game we've lost to a team near us. Most of the games [against our rivals] we've taken points from so the match was very important. We could have won the game in the first half but we didn't. We didn't deal well with the set-pieces. They've used Zigic and the tall players very well.
Of course they scored from two corners in the semi-final and they scored here. I'm not happy about this. We need to deal with this. Larsson is good and the delivery is very good but we need to deal better with this. We gave them free–kicks when we know these are their strengths because they couldn't create chances from open play.
We need to think about the next game. We need to look at the positive things that have happened in the last few weeks and look forward because it will be a battle until the end.
The situation is not easy. Also it is not easy to lose players in the warm–up and after 35 minutes like Matthew Upson. But we need to deal with this and take points. We have the quality to do it. If you look at what we've done this season you'll know that after every disappointment we've recovered very well. This is part of the thing we are working on and I hope it will prove to be the case again.
We need to learn from this because we deserve to stay but we need to do it. We cannot lose games like this. You cannot say that time is running out as we've got 12 games until the end of the season and there are not so many points between all the teams that are in the relegation zone. So we have time to do it but we want to do it as quickly as we can.
Thanks again for your support,
Avram Grant
Avram's English aint that good surely?
ReplyDeleteHa! There's an apostrophe in "ain't". Can I come back inside now it's freezing out here!
ReplyDeleteNo there aint. Aint aint a contraction, isn't is. No it isn't. Yes it is! Look out behind you! It's the WHTID boys!
ReplyDeleteYour (snigger) usually right HF, but this time the vote goes to "Titus" Oates. Ain't does have an apology. Kerching! Get in there you beauty! Mind you, with WHTID behind him he won't be Titus for long!
ReplyDeleteOED, what is aint a contraction of?Isn't contracts "is not", so what does "aint" contract? It is regional dialect in my book, and as a word in its own right, does not require an apostrophe. QED
ReplyDeleteOf course it's a bloody contraction - of am not, are not, and is not. In the South-eastern England dialect that later became the standard, it is only found in the construction - aren't I.
ReplyDeleteI suspect these boys are right down your street, so here's a Quotation from 1885 — Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado
"We figure in lively paint -
Our attitude’s queer and quaint —
You’re wrong if you think it ain't, oh!"
LOL. Well I should take your book back, ask for a refund and buy yourself a decent dictionary! It is a colloquialism and a contraction of "are not". Excuse me I think I need to sit down, I think I've got labour pains!
ReplyDeleteA contraction of "Are not"? So where does the i come from? A fallen apostrophe perhaps? Same problem for TurdsOut!'s idea.
ReplyDeleteI can go with a'n't, with apostrophes correctly used in two places for two contractions as "I am not" becomes I a'n't, but the use of a single apostrophe breaks and endorses the same apostrophe rule simultaneously. As such, "ain't" is a self contradiction; either you apply the rule or you ignore the rule, to apply it and ignore it at the same time is illogical and therefore stupid.
The problem remains, of course, of where the I has come from. "Am I not" perhaps? Which should then read a'in't of course.
So how has the "ain't" convention come about? Nobs reproducing regional dialect and trying to appear clever when doing so. But by doing so, they reveal themselves as complete arses because the first of the two requisite apostrophes has been omitted!
So, I can live with a'n't, and I can live with a'in't and I can live with aint; but ain't? Illogical.
It's the English language mate, who said it was supposed to be logical! Still, in your line of work I think you have little choice but to live with the Oxford English Dictionary.
ReplyDeleteNot, aint is the Chav's Language mate, 'er indoors the Palace aint goin' to use it is she?
ReplyDeleteYou work on countdown HF?
ReplyDeletehttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ain%27t
ReplyDeleteThe contraction of negated auxiliary verbs in English is most often achieved by suffixing n't, an abbreviated form of not, to the root of a verb with or without changes to the root. Examples of negated auxiliary verbs in standard English are isn't, aren't, wasn't, weren't (from be), hasn't, haven't, hadn't (from have), won't, wouldn't (from will), shan't, shouldn't (from shall), can't, couldn't (from can), mayn't, mightn't, mustn't (from may). In non-standard or colloquial language, the form ain't has particular prominence, while amn't is found typically in Ireland and Scotland. The forms hain't (from have) and bain't or bean't (from be) appear to have been influenced by ain't (as is cain't, a form of can't), and a historical form which has dropped out of use is an't, apparently deriving from a'n't from either amn't or aren't or both.
ReplyDeleteWon't is the contraction of "will not", note it does not have two apostrophes and where does that "o" come from? Ain't it is then.
ReplyDeleteLOL West Ham fans arguing over the use of the apostrophe! It could only happen on the gamesgonecrazy!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of the way we tired against Birmingham? Who gives a flying fcuk about that, I want to discuss the correct use of the apostrophe for contractions!
Looks like I'm winning the argument though, ain't I!
ReplyDeleteNah mate. Or should that be N'ah? Or N'ah? Or N'a'h? I reckon N'a'h personally, "The apostrophes went in two by two hoorah, hoorah!"
ReplyDeleteIt should be Wo'n't by the way, contracting Would Not. So wo'n't or wont!
LOL! My mate's dying and has been told he's only still alive because of his bloody mindedness. On that basis I reckon you're 'kin immortal!
ReplyDelete