Wednesday 21 September 2011

Reality Check Two - Look who West Ham have played so far!

People really are getting carried away. Why did we start last season so dreadfully? Well, loads of us predicted it when we saw the fixture list. Villa away, Bolton at home, Chelsea at home, Man Utd away, Stoke away, Tottenham at home. Where were the gimme points in that fixture list?

And what holds true for last season holds true in reverse this. Yes we are in a play off place but, given the easy start we have been given to the season, we should be top and pulling away. What decent sides have we played exactly? Cardiff. And what happened? We lost!

Now look at the rest. Yes we won at Watford but Watford are 7th from bottom. Yes we won at Forest but Forest are third from bottom. Yes we won at Doncaster but Doncaster are rock bottom. Yes we won at home to Portsmouth (courtesy of a sending off) but Pompey are 6th from bottom. Yes we drew at Millwall but Millwall are 9th from bottom. And yes we drew at home to Leeds but Leeds have lost their other two away games, shipping 6 goals in the process without reply.

The table might suggest a goodish start to the season but the truth is that, when tested, we have been found wanting. The big challenges - Southampton, Brighton, Leicester, Blackpool and Middlesborough - lie ahead and form lines suggest we might struggle.

Has Doctor Evil turned us around or is the table a chimera? With level headed posters talking as if Taylor is the English Messi, I think it is time to sound a warning. We have beaten NOBODY of calibre so far this season and we lost at home to the one team we have played in the top ten.

Time for another reality check guys!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

How can you seriously look at the table after 7 games? The squad hasn't even gelled yet.

Forest were third favourites for promotion. Think before you post next time.

Hammersfan said...

Erm, I think that is the point I am making, that we may be in a false position because we haven't played any decent teams yet - except Cardiff who beat us. Think before you reply next time.

Nix said...

Your response to 00.00 makes his point totally valid and you wrong as usual. After 7 games we know nothing. After playing the teams above us we may well be top. What ever your judgement is, I'll back the opposite as you have a long and documented history of being totally wrong on everything football related.

Don't you love the sound of tumbleweed in the morning?

Anonymous said...

I will make a judgement on us after our very tough October fixtures. We are where we are right now and we are only going to get better

I have faith in Sam

Anonymous said...

You can only beat whats in front of you, and so far we ain't doing to bad, results build confidence. When you look at Southampton and Brighton both were on highs from last season. We were on a massive low. We are turning that around, and with every result I expect us to get stronger and stronger.

Anonymous said...

Forest were third favourite for promotion knob head, and Leeds were favourites for a play off place. Just because after 7 games those two teams are not topping the table doesn't suddenly make them shit.

Look at the fucking prem you dickhead, where are Arsenal and spurs eh!

Take a reality check yourself numbnuts and THINK before you post. You've just made yourself look a right idiot again.

Close down this site, you seriously piss people of with your drivel.

Anonymous said...

Who are these "people that are getting carried away" Fanno ?

The only "people" I can make out is the official site which is always full of bullshit spin anyway.

Anybody with a modicum of common sense realises this league is a marathon not a sprint..let's see where we are when the sh1tty weather sets in & teams start getting injuries & suspensions, then the advantage of our squad will hopefully come to fruition.

Jonny Hammer

Jibbles said...

I agree to a certain extent. We have not played the better clubs in this league yet, and they will be the real test. But on the flip side, how many games have we had since the closing of the transfer window with the currently available squad? 2? 3? Lets get that number up to at least 6 before we start looking at whether the team can play as a team and win games. New manager, exodus of players, I'm glad we got a relatively easier start.

whurev said...

Give them a chance to gel I think we wii improve, and I tell you what teams are raising there game when they play us which we will have to cope with. Coyi

T.I.S said...

See but this is where your logic fails. In a previous post you spoke of how Premiership reserve teams were demolishing Championship teams who we eased past or lost to, however Brighton had a spirited performance against a strong Liverpool side last night, and Forest battled hard against Newcastle I believe.
You also can't deny having to beat what is in front of you, and also can't deny that in opening day we looked pedestrian to this league and Cardiff had a fortunate break. Leeds are since without their player of the year last season, and undoubtedly teams are finding another gear when playing us.
I agree the real tests are probably yet to come but I would assume we, like other teams will up our game when up against tougher opposition.

p.s Taylor IS Messi.

Anonymous said...

This is one of those articles HF, that if you're honest with yourself, is a bit shit. Why bother with it?

Firstly, you can only win games against the team you are playing. We perhaps have been fortunate with our fixture list this year, just like we were unlucky last term.

Secondly, you know as well as anybody that a team just relegated can easily start very poorly in the next season. There's no confidence, new players etc.

I would rate our start to this season as good when all factors are taken into account. We haven't lost in the league for ages and the team is generally looking better as time goes on. We were never going to get anything at Millwall....too much of a derby.

Oh and BFS is doing is job well too. I reckon we're going up!

Be a bit more upbeat HF rather than always looking for a scrap....

JC

Anonymous said...

Have you actually watched the games? Winning breads confidence and becomes a habit as did losing under Baron Greenback last season. The games you mention, Cardiff, Leeds & Millwall should have all been won judged on the performance bar one players errors which cost us points in two of them (and his since been replaced). We have the best midfield in the division and more depth than all the other clubs which will start to tell during the winter, a top manager who has got Westham doing some things I never thought possible in the claret and blue like scoring from corners. So why your doom and gloom? Are you really phased that this squad will be intimidated by playing at Southampton, Middlesbrough, Derby or Brighton? Or are you just trying to stir up some debate with a controversial post?

Anonymous said...

YOU STUPID LOOKING C-NT!!!

MRJ Hagland said...

This is beyond a joke, every time i log on i see you slating anyone who has the slightest amount of optimism. Every west ham fan knows we are not playing how we would like but its a damn sight better than last season, the squad needs time to gel, are you sure your not a spurs fan in disguise. Have a little faith and believe that by time we play the teams that are playing beyond there means, particularly Brighton and Southampton who will fall away towards the end of the season, that we will be a lot stronger and will be dishing out severe beatings, like Harry Redknapps distant ancestor dished out Jesus's where abouts.

Hammersfan said...

An amazing response to an innocuous article. But am I surprised? Of course not!

To the "You can only beat what is put in front of you" argument, my response is, "I agree". Trouble is, we didn't beat Cardiff, Leeds and Millwall, the three teams that sit highest in the table of those we have played so far.

If the table is irrelevant, isn't it odd that we have beaten all the teams we have played below Millwall and have failed to beat Millwall and the two teams above them? Amazing coincidence that! And the team that we beat who pushed us closest? That would be Pompey who sit above all the teams we beat!

To the point that Forest were third favourites for promotion, so what? They have been crap. So we beat a crap team. They may get better but when we played them, they were crap, as the table shows. And as for Leeds, they have played three away from home and lost two but they drew with us! So, no matter what the betting at the start of the season, we played a team with a crap away record and failed to beat them.

Anonymous said...

07:03 you have no grace - why do you always take the bait and be personal? rise above it Jedi.