For a whole seven days I’ll not intentionally read a word about the team, club etc; I suspend my support in disgust. Last year when I read a Bolton blog entitled – ‘Oh Good, it is West Ham time’, I burned with an impotent rage and shame because, living in the North West, I appreciated the sentiment. What I cannot get my head around is the consistent level of failure at the likes of Bolton, Everton, Liverpool, City and United.
OK, you don’t expect much change from City and United these days but the ways the other three have played in the last decade it is not unreasonable to expect the team to appear as at least up for it. What the poor sods who trail up the M6 year in year out to witness these, well, witless performances I can only imagine.
Every team in the league represents a potential pot of six points and in that sense it matters not where they come from, except every manager will look at the fixture list and mentally prepare the team for points in some games or runs of matches, than others.
Could I suggest that preparing the team to go for the kill at least at Goodison, The Reebok (the theatre of pain as I call it) and Anfield would have a beneficial knock-on. I don’t know if Saturday’s debacle was down to Grant’s tactics, individual players or a collective paralysis brought on by the threat of relegation but I’ve had enough. Seven days, definitely- and if I feel better I’ll go for more. In fact I think I could save myself heartache and strife if only I could manage to avoid all news of West Ham and relegation until the fixtures come out in the summer.
Childish perhaps but after 45 years I owe it to myself, my blood pressure and my sanity.
(Contributed by Kevin in Manchester)
16 comments:
I and thousands of others know exactly how you feel Kevin
Well said. My sentiments too.
It is all about having a winning mentality. The Manager should have it and then find a way to instill it on the players.
Nothing else except a win should be the target for every match. But the players understand somehow that no one really expects them to win at these places (because of the history perhaps). And if the players don't believe then it doesn't happen.
Its the mentality that needs to change. But first we should get a manager who understands this and has the ability to pass it on to the players.
as they say in the trade go crack it one
I have felt the same thing. I'm tired of having my mood dictated by this group. I'm tired of feeling optimistic only to have a performance like last week.
This is far more the doing of SuGo in my opinion because they hired Grant, yet when they tried to replace him they made such a mock of the whole thing they ended up losing everything. Including their EPL status it seems.
Wigan is fighting. Blackpool has 3 very winnable home games. And we look useless.
I think it's over.
What is happening with Inter Milan now, and what was happening when Jose Mourinho was there is a clear example of the effect a manager can have on players and teams. Whilst we will probably never have a manager of his caliber at our club in our lifetime, it never the less is a demonstration of how the same team can show such a completely different mentality under different men.
The Bolton game was not only a tactical cock-up but also a motivational one. This has to be recognised, despite HF's beating around the bush and deflection tactics :) I give him credit for effort.
I bet you don't last a week Kevin! :)
"Tottenham begins London Olympics stadium High Court bid"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13069534
There must be something more to this than the obvious. Levy cannot surely believe they will now take the stadium off of us and hand it to them? Has to be another reason for this action.
Well its not the first time I totally agree with USA Dave. So, its not just Stani and me. A lot more contributors seem to have a concensus about what is going on at West Ham. It is time you join us too HF! You are most welcome.
Sav, I appreciate that. I know you and Stani have voiced serious discontent with Grant, and while I have agreed with you to some degree I have also tried to stay open minded and give credit to him when I thought it was due, as has HF in my opinion. He was an open book going into this season. And now I think he should go regardless of our status at the end of the season.
But regardless of whether you think Zola would have done better or worse, and I say he would have done no better, this is the primarily the owners fault. They could have done anything they wanted, yet they were too inept to DO WHAT THEY WANTED!
There is a radio show here hosted by Georgio Chinaglia and a man named Charlie Stillitano. They regularly have Alex Ferguson on for interviews. Serious show. Charlie was talking about AG recently, because he has many friends at Chelsea. He said that for some unknown reason, and despite a rather unremarkable resume, Grant has the ability to cast a spell over people that somehow shadows his shortcomings. At least that is what his friends at Chelsea have said to him.
I now understand what he was talking about.
Just for the record USA Dave, I was not in favour of Zola. It's just that AG is a lot worse. I felt that he was the wrong choice from the start. Unfortunately, his record so far proved me right.
I respect HF's opinion, despite our disagreements. This is why I can't understand why it took him so long to even question AG's ability as a manager.
You are right that the biggest blame for this situation are the owners. He was their choice and they had a chance to do something about it and save the club, but didn't.
Dave,
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Grant has been done favours.
I was pretty much against G&S and Grant from the outset. In both cases, due to their past, and in G&S's case, that first press conference. What followed has just strengthened my original belief.
In regards to Zola, I certainly believe that that last year would have stood him in good stead as manager. I'm not saying he would have been the best in the world, but he would have certainly been better than Grant. I say this because with the money and backing they gave Grant, Zola would have made better purchases because he is a football person. He would also have had a better relationship with the players eg Cole/Grant
As for the owners; all their effort and attention was on the Olympic stadium. It is one of the biggest reasons they bought us over other clubs they were clearly looking at. For the manager, they went for a easy and cheap option who would not really say much. For signings, they tried to get in frees and buy young unproven players they could potentially make money on when selling (Reid, Barrera). Money money money
Sav,
I haven't a clue why HF supports him either. I keep thinking one of these days he's going to post that he was joking all along and just taking us for a ride, that he knows how poor a manager Grant really is.
Sav, it isn't that SuGo didn't do anything. It's far worse. They had the opportunity to an amazing thing, had it set up, and screwed it up in an almost unbelievable manner. It's still astounding to this day. And I'm not sure AG is a lot worse than Zola. I know Stani disagrees, and I respect his opinion. I think they were both lacking in critical areas, but those areas were different. Zola's man management and one-on-one coaching work seemed better. AG in all honesty has showed better lineup choices more often than Zola did, in my opinion.
Stani, at the time SuGo took over I was hoping for Tony Fernandes. But I recall his bid did involve borrowing money, and thus debt. The bank chose SuGo as partial owners because it was all cash. And they DO care about the club. Their heart is in the right place. It's just that they are driving a Rolls Royce in a land of Aston Martins and Ferraris. If they owned a restaurant they would feature Beef Wellington. Not cutting edge food anymore. Do my metaphors make sense? So while I am both sad and furious at what they have done, I am fairly confident it wasn't done with malice.
Furthmore, I am certain they will do whatever they can to gain promotion if we go down.
You guys over there are all asleep, I'm sure. I'm gonna get my little ones into bed and maybe this continues tomorrow.
Cheers
Dave,
I completely agree with you that the Daves cocked up mate but I disagree that they care about the playing/football side of the club. I believe that for them it is pure business. It seems to me that they are happy for the playing side to tick along as long as they can get their money making side of the plan sorted out, putting them in a position to sell the club having already milked it of money but having not progressed the playing side of the club any further at all. This is why the opportunity you mentioned to do something amazing is being missed, because their intentions are different, they are not looking in that direction. It is why we have a mediocre manager. It is why they invest the minimum, both when they bought the club and in the playing squad. Why buy more than you need? The need here being able to take control just enough to milk the cash cow.
I was hoping for Fernandes too. There was a lot of hoohaa around our club not being an attractive proposition for a buyer at the time we were up for sale but I dont believe that. Of the clubs that have been recently sold, none of them had 4 interested buyers (maybe 3 serious) like we did. We were and are clearly more attractive than was being banded about then, and than what G&S have suggested since.
As for Zola/Grant; for Grant to be in football for almost 40 years and be making the mistakes he does is poor. I believe Zola had flaws certainly, but the experience he would have gained, I believe, would have held him in good stead, along with a chance to finally have some money and the chairman's backing. I think Zola's flaws were that he was too loyal with some players mainly because he had a coaching philosophy i.e tried to improve players hence would not drop them whilst they were playing poor. In his defence, I would say that this flaw was not helped by the lack of choice he had because of the financial troubles at our club. It was work with what you have Gianfranco, coach them, bring on the kids and try to improve them. He being in his first job, just got on with it...possible another flaw, but perfectly innocent. Player certain players out of position was also partly due to lack of choice. His other flaw was not getting involved with the buying side, but many Italian managers do work like that. That was Nani's job...so maybe the flaw is more Nani's than his.
I also disagree that Grant shows better line up choices mate. It seems he does because he has a better squad or he is able to have a better squad. But he still makes remarkable blunders like Tomkins at right back, playing a 3 man midfield (with the limited Noble) away from home. Persisting with a 4-3-3 that clearly does not work. His fascination with Piquionne who is largely on the periphery of games. His dropping of Carlton Cole when he was on form and most importantly for Carlton, confident and playing instinctively. His comatose manner pitch side and his inspiring half time team talks...inspiring to the opposition that is :)
The underlying point is that Grant has had a much better opportunity, a better chance than Zola of getting it right, but he is doing worse. That's undeniable. That's why I believe that if you removed Grant from the equation and replaced him with Zola, he'd have done a better job, because he has already proved that he can do a better job with a worse squad last season.
Stani, I certainly see your points and I probably should defer to them since your experience with the club dwarfs mine. The only thing I truly believe is that SuGo do care. Their actions are dysfunctional and utterly misguided, but from every interview I have ever heard their lifelong love of West Ham comes through.
It does not excuse them, and if we go down I will never forgive them for letting it happen. I doubt they will lose sleep over my ranting.
Thanks for a good chat.
Anytime mate
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