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West Ham United v Bolton Wanderers Sunday 5th October 2008 K.O 13:30 hrs at The Boleyn Ground |
Eggy's 5 Year Plan Ripped Up!Submitted by Themanfromdelmonte on 29 June, 2008 - 17:27.
A 60,000 stadium and Champs League footy by 2012 was Eggy's mission statement and that raised expectations to an unprecedented sky high level. I'm afraid it's back down to earth with a big bump as Eggy's 5 year plan is now about as likely as Steve Potts coming out of retirement and scoring another goal. The top 4 are untouchable and will be for sometime. They have the financial clout and the pulling power to sign the best players and fight off the threat of Everton and Villa. S***s, City and even Pompey have more realistic ambition and money to spend than us and significantly have much better managers. Newcastle after their upheavals are also poised to go for it, while West Ham will be forced to sell off assets to raise cash. Thanks to Eggy's madness we have the 5th highest wage bill in the Prem with Neill, LBM, Upson, Dyer, Bellamy, Parker & Ljungberg on ludicrous wages between £55k to £75k per week. The majority of these signings are ageing, prone to injury and have little or no sell on value so we are lumbered for a quite a few years which means its' back to the drawing board with consolidation and cutbacks now on our revised agenda. Meanwhile our manger will do what he specialises at, containing tactics before exciting football and a mid-table finish, which ironically is a position we averaged under Brown when we had no real money to spend. At least in those days we knew where we stood and remained true to West Ham's friendly family club traditions and played entertaining football in a much better atmosphere!
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"At least in those
"At least in those days"......."The Brown era" are things really that bad Del, that you would harp back to those days fondly? I don't think so. Any talent we produce we should be able to keep. We have been looking up for so long Eggy let us believe we could be there. I thought it was about time we had ambition. What's realistic ambition anyway? Lets us consolidate a Uefa Cup place? Is aiming for anything other than Champions League(the top) selling ourselveas short as a profressional(win at all costs outfit). Does any child playing dream of playing in the Inter Toto cup/Euro vase? No they dream of Champions Leagues and World Cups. Eggy had the ambition, I wish some of our players showed half as much as his.
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Are you saying that Egghead took the biscuit? LMAO! c'mon guys that is slightly funny.CJ
Just thought I'd stick my oar in and stick up for Eggy, Delmonte. Sorry, but you persistantly slag off and give misinformation about Eggy and certainly in the case of wages you don't back it up. Heres a little snippet of reading to refresh our memories. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/aug/07/newsstory.westhamunited At the end of the day I don't think he realised what he was taking on and much murkiness was hidden. As far as I'm concerned he wore his heart on his sleeve, saw us hurtling into oblivion and put his money where his mouth was. That he was misguided in whom he bought is not solely down to him and maybe he was misguided in his sacking of Pardew, we will never know. What is certainly obvious, with hindsight is that something was very rotten at West Ham and doubtless we all have our opinions, be it who is shagging who, or who fighting in nightclubs or whatever. Like you I dislike Curbs but he did a job and fair play he's stuck it out even with all the stick he's taken. So did Eggy but he got the push. With a 5% holding all Eggy ever was was a figurehead. And they always get the blame don't they? If you want my opinion Del , I think there is still a smell around Upton Park and Eggy ain't there anymore. Kia is tho. Rock on Eggy. I don't blame you for it all.
Dave you know I respect you even though on the quiet you're one of the best ironic wind up merchant around so I am going to play it straight with you! Yes I have confessed that I was bored and as nothing was happening on this site so I posted something to spark lively debate. I loved Eggy's passion and his rapport with the fans, but he didn't leave for no reason after going out of his way to share his 5 year plan and long terms goals for the club. There are loads of links that covered the story, but the bottom line is BG was not happy with the way Eggy handled finances ..see this BBC link as it's probably the most credible source: http://westhamfc.blogspot.com/2008/05/bbc-say-west-ham-to-cut-costs.html The wage bill last May was around £50m on a circa £59m turnover and evidently that's the 5th biggest and is the highest ratio to turnover in the Prem but that's now gone up to £52m with Ashton's rise. The official site financial report reveals that wages in 2005/6 were £31.2m and in 2006/7 £44.2m. The huge increase is down to LBM, Neill & Upson joining on a reported £55k per week which accounts for around £9m per year and that Bellamy, Parker, Dyer & Ljungberg joined including everything ( image rights/bonuses/signing on fees not just basic) on around circa £70k per week each ( lets face it they were on top dollar already and wouldn't have taken a pay cut to join us..they joined because of the extra dosh Eggy was offering, even Lucas Neill asked for a rise to achieve parity) and that accounts for a further £14.6m making an outlay of £23.6m+ on these 7 Eggy signings. I know this caused major resentment and divisions in the dressing room with these players on 3 fold what Ashton, Green etc were on and it came as no surprise that because of a lack of spirit the team could get up for Man U & Pool but not for Wigan & Reading at home. Despite being very short of bodies, BG was not even prepared to finance loan signings last January and has made it clear that any new signings have to be be self-financed from sales. This is of course a far cry from Pards rejecting high wage demands from Melbranque as he didn't want to disturb the status quo at the time. Have I now backed up matters for you Dave and do you honestly think Eggy bought well given our colossal unsustainable on going wage bill?
Cheers C. My respect for you is mutual, both on the realistic and the wind up debates you bring up. I dispute your reputable source as it is not from the BBC but is from a blog which is edited by the author, so therefore has as much credibility as mine or even Fannys blog. At least mine is straight from a reputable newspaper ( Or as reputable as its ever going to be). I admit to being astonished that Ashtons wages were as low as the £13000 pw scale but, for me only adds crediblity to the claims that no player is on more than 55k at Upton Park. I also feel you are unkind to put all the blame by saying they are Eggy signings. I know you don't mean it, but by saying that, you are implying that Curbs had no input. Irrespective of the fact that hardly any of them had anything to do with us staying up, I feel that it was Curbs who decided that these were the players we needed to keep us in the Prem, and Eggy, as good chairmen do, backed his manager up with deeds not words. Strange indeed then that Eggy has gone, Curbs is still here, football is crap, and we now have another season of similar to look forward to. Lets hope (results wise) its similar to the first half of last seasonwe can follow and not the second half eh?
Sure we have a hefty wage bill. We have one of the biggest squads in the Prem. With hindsight, after last seasons injuries it was just as well. No?
Dave I saw the same story from an official BBC link and hasn't been edited just lifted and you have only to see the financial reports on he official site that £44.2m was the wage bill 2006/7 a leap of £13m from the previous season. That is fact and not speculation and that is before last summers signings kicked in but minus the Argies, Harewoods, Yossi's, NRC's wages. You know from all my Curbs bashing over the last year that I do blame him, but as Eggy sanctioned them the buck stopped with him. I do know the dressing room is split so it would be interesting to see whether Bellamy, Dyer and co can improve us and that Curbs deploys a more expansive brand of football and that we get off to a good start. I still think he kept his job because of the injuries and that he is not capable of taking us to the next level and will be history by Xmas.
Have you just realized Eggys plans gone, he's what say 3 years in? And we are still no clocer to glory than where Pards took us. (That said, he did take us to the FA cup final, facking scousers :@)
Looked through your post Del and have read the thread with interest.
Well written sensible post as always B. I am sure you're right re: new stadium but it may not be as high as a 60,000 capacity and may take longer to find a site for if the Parcel Force & Olympic stadium ones are non-runners. BG bought the club as an investment and saw us as a sleeping giant so we need a bigger stadium to reach the next level. I have no doubt that EM was shown the door for trying to run before he could walk and for turning us into Chelsea in disguise with a "money no object" approach which made a rod for our backs when we went in for players both in terms of inflated wages and transfer fees. Someone more experienced would have followed the Arsene Wenger model keeping everything hush hush and buying hungry athletic players at the right age and price with a sell on value. Villa & S***s have also adopted the Wenger approach but also invested in British. I think it will take us a few years to recover from Eggy's madness as many of his signings are on long term contracts making them impossible to move on and asI have said before have no or limited sell on value. Therefore Champs league footy by 2012 is a tall order, but as always I have everything crossed for a miracle. Meanwhile BG has succeeded by losing our " money no object " tag, but that has resulted in his ambition being brought into question and has left us all frustrated with his lack of activity, but my take is that he knows what he is doing. Patience is the name of the game! COYI
Morning Del, thanks for the citation: As you know Del we regularly fill our ground now week-in and out even for the ‘lesser’ games, 36k ain’t we? I think we could go best way to filling 50k right now. If the space and the seats that fill that space in the proposed new building was along the lines of the Emirates, in that they can be ripped out made slightly smaller hence up the capacity. At the time of building 45 to 50k on completion with the option of 60k in say 10 years in the same building don’t seem too fantastic. New stadia by 2012 definitely regular UEFA cup place by then schooling us for regular champion’s league say 2/3 years after that. I think you’re right too in that a bigger stadium sees revenue sky rocket almost over night. BG brought in EM because as the ‘new’ owner he had no footballing knowledge or background so sold a token 5% (which he very quickly bought back) to Eggy for his “expertise” – yeah I know what bleeding expertise? That rod will leave a few scars on the back before it’s finally snapped up & thrown in the fire. In 'quiet periods' I know the devil can make work for idle hands and whilst we get very little ‘real’ info these days directly from the club (in TB's days the world and his ladder knew what was going on, "all pals together" all chatting at the black tie do's) the lull tends to create that down-side to things. Me I reckon (reading between the lines) the under-lying trend is positive. They’ve made mistakes learned and are putting them right, still on track if a little bumpy
we cannot say its torn up yet. It is only two years down the line. The first year was saving us from relegation, the second, consolidating in the premier. Stadium can not begin until later this year. Land is not avaiable til then, construction would take two years so it could still all fall into place, but the credit crunch can put a spoke in all plans, just as it can for the ordinairy fan thinking of how to pay for his match tickets.
delmonte - you have it spot on although the club has publically stated no player earns over the 55k mark which i think is fair and thus all this quotes of 75k and 90k for Dyer and Ljumberg is total crap although you can bet your bottom dollar freddy has an image deal with the club store.... As far as im concerned - and in my view - the demand from us as the fans is success and of course we all want it quickly but until we change the manager and put some ambition in the club we are going nowhere but backwards, look at spuds (modric , dos santos , gomes) harry at pompey declaring interest in exciting players all over the shop (crouch , SWP etc) and whats Curbishley been interested in Harper (who by the way isnt that bad but lets be honest hes not gonna make a huge change and Kightly from the championship who once heard curbs was interested promptly signed a new contract) the man is a clown , he has no player pull and can you imagine him speaking to the likes of huntelaar , crouch, SWP, arshavin etc and any others players who are available and wanting moves - i mean would you sign for curbs? what has he won? does he speak well and sound ambitious and enthusiastic? no he sounds like a man who hasnt got a clue and is out of his league - quite simply i want the BEST for west ham they are my team and a part of my life but with the current clown in charge Eggys dream wont be happening in the next 10 years let alone 3-5 ......COYI
Sorry mate but i am gonna have to disagree here - realistically, are the likes of Huntelaar, Arshavin, Di Natale, Toni, Uncle Tom Cobleigh and Co gonna want to come to West Ham when clubs like Arsenal/Chelsea/Manure are knocking on their door?? Of course not - even Bilic wouldn't be able to pull them in at this point me thinks...The top players from Euro 2008 are going to be snapped up, if they haven't been already, by the top 10 sides in Europe...clubs that can offer Champs League football - they wouldn't even look at West Ham regardless of who was manager at this point in time...get real!! Before you go into a frenzy of slgging Curbs off again, what have 3/4 of the managers in the EPL won - *** all that's what, but does that make them any better or worse than Curbs or anybody else? Finally, yes i would sign for Curbs becuase I AM A WEST HAM SUPPORTER - if you genuinely want the best for West Ham then support as well...
Paulo, I think that players on the periphery of greatness might want to come to us to 'show-case' themselves, remember we are still a London club. If we got 1 or 2, 2.5 seasons out of them and we did well because of their 'stay' it might just take us up another rung and thereby a little closer to Europe and those that would want to stay fulltime for the right reasons. I see that as a very plausible process
Read all this before Mr Monte. 'Re-Heated Scrambled Eggy' might have been a better title. Last year the club stated that no player earned more than 55k and that includes Ljungberg, not sure where 75k/week comes from? Also, I think that we had a massive wage bill under Harry (somewhere between 5th & 7th in prem I believe in the later days). I have always thought moving house was a bad idea and I think it is massivley draining. If Arsenal can't afford it on regular C.League $$$$$ then I don't see how we are gonna do it? I agree Eggy went a bit nuts but a lot of the panic signings did the job and saved us potentially hundreds of millions. Also, i have to say that Brown indulged Harry's constant buying and selling - remember that each one would have received a chunky signing on fee. E.g. Christian Bassila cost roughly 700,000per match in wages, signing on fee etc and he was on loan! Mad spending in football and at West Ham is nothin new and will ALWAYS go on.
Den I just wanted to start up a lively debate and it seems to have worked. Loved the re-scrambled Egg reference. BTW the £55k per week applied to Neill, LBM & Upson. So called bigger stars such as Parker, Bellamy, Dyer & Ljungberg all came to West Ham because they were offered more money than what they were already on ( that's why they joined) and this was in excess of £55k per week which has taken the total wage bill to £52m and is the highest ratio to turnover around £57 to £60m in the Prem..just wait for the financial results to come out..it will make frightening reading..hence no real money to spend now. In terms of turnover and wages during Arry's days after the new stand was opened we enjoyed 6th or 7th in the Prem pecking order so having the 6th highest wage bill under him was correct, but was in keeping with income, but it is way way out of sinc and control now.
So the days of Brown were better than what we have now then. Your kidding right? Also, this contempt for everything West Ham post Pardew is getting to the point were you have to wonder why you are bothering posting this sh*t at all. Whats your point? I know, Eggy came in and bought a bunch of injury prone has beens and paid them too much because he was trying to f**k the club up, thats it, cant believe i didnt see this before. In fact Eggy didnt do anything good for West Ham at all, the whole Tevez affair that he was left to deal with was a piece of cake. Unbelievably some of us have some respect for Eggert and realize that he was dealt a bum hand. Considering the magnitude of how bad West Hams situation was when he took over (both on and off the pitch) and how he handled it I think he should be shown some respect.
Jason I am West Ham through and through but was bored so I thought I post a provocative post to start a lively debate and low and behold the usual suspects took the bait hook line and sinker. On a totally serious note I hated Brown and loved Eggy's passion. The facts are though, he was shown the door because he sanctioned injury prone ageing signings and put them on ridiculous wages resulting in West Ham having the highest wages to turnover in the Prem and forcing BG to put a halt to more spending.
Didnt realize life got that boring. Anyway, the fact is nobody knows why Eggy was shown the door and the other fact is that is if we would have got relegated in 06 or 07 it could have cost us 100m+. Worth some panic buys to make sure that didnt happen if you ask me.
Jason get real my friend. The only player that was signed in the January 07 window that played in the 7 out of 9 winning run was Lucas Neil all the rest were Pards players. I thought everyone new that!
Del, c'mon mate, you sounded a bit thick now, little bit like your mate Fanno actually. What i said was that Eggy knew relegation could cost us 100m+ so it was worth him making some panic buys. But what you're saying is that with hind sight not many of his Jan buys played any part in the run in so he was wrong to buy them. Thats good, any chance in you letting me know who wins the national this year?
Hi Jace, hows the crack? Good to see your still in very good form astride yer white charger, West Ham lance firmly under arm, armour clanking. Love this debate (you & Del, I can hear the hooves thunder as the two of you stance the jousting rail) that's why I didn't interject at the sharp end, didn't want to be disrespectful and butt in without invitation as it were. Jace you haven't responded to my post in "Unrelated Forum" it's my response to your request for my opinion on OUR helmsman - It's entitled "Solo mi opinion" anyone else wanna respond too, feel free, I'll welcome the subsequent dispute. How's it in the U-S of A and are you getting to any games this season? Irons Germany is in the hat for tottscum at home and I'm gonna try to get him a couple of tickets if I can (anyone else can [Petey] he'd be grateful I'm sure), it'd be great if you could make that one Jace, IG has promised me a ruby after. I think that DavefKing would be up for that one too (dependant on tickets of course) Aycliffe, Old Skoolie (incognito) Bully, Barking Mad (where's he been of late anyone know, Steve where are you?) Denbighammer, don't know if you get to home games these days? 'A Hammer' Aylesbury one, be good to put a face to a name. Any ex-pats or antipodeans and anyone else for that matter and I really do mean ANYONE, all the girls, the 2 Clare's Mrs I'm-blinded-by-Lucas-Neill LOL, the kids on here everyone, they'll be 36 thousand of us; bless 'em all, bless 'em all the long and the short & the tall....... we could meet-up with themanfromdelmonte at the bar/drinks counter in the ground, the drinks are on him coz he's holding the 6 million difference, wages/turnover BG has asked him to hold onto it for the time being, until he's a little short, some of it is going on Curbishleys planning application plans. You need a lot of money in that area Jace it's stockbroker belt LOL - COYletssticktogetheryoufuckingIrons
WHTID, how's it going mate, didnt see your response to my earlier question, will read it now. As for my debate with cuddly Derek, its all in the context of being West Ham fans, theres inherent respect there. Not sure what games i will get to this year but it will be my usual four or five. When is the pathetic pathetics game? Wont need to worry about tickets for me, i'm still connected if you know what i mean. LOL.
Hello WHTiD, in response to your question I don't often go to home games much these days unfortunately. The cost is enormous, unfortunately I am feeling the 'credit crunch'...and its crunching me in all the wrong places! I'm definately gonna try for as many Northern aways as possible. I'm pretty lucky - Everton, Liverpool, Man C, Man U, Wigan, Bolton are within about 50/60 miles and the midlands isn't too much of a trek. I'll pick em' and choose em' carefully. I'd like to go to Anfield, I've never seen West Ham play there and maybe WBA cos' i reckon their fans will generate a good atmos. We'll see how things go, would be nice to put a few names to a few faces.
Jason everything about Eggy at the time was driven by panic, sacking Pards appointing Curbs, signing LBM, Upson & Neill with escape clauses and putting them on ludicrous money. The facts are only Neill played a significant part in the run in, so despite the change of manager and panic buys it was mainly down to Pards team that pulled us through. So my point is although Eggy splashed obscene amount of money around that is not always the answer and proven by the fact that only Upson & Parker consistently shone out of all the players that he purchased. Because of injuries the jury is still out, but Dyer & Bellamy are injury prone and come with a lot of baggage.Eggy spent £45m+ on new signings and we are now mortgaged to the hilt in terms of lengths of contracts and OTT wages...hence spending freeze. Have we had value for money? Do any of these have a sell on value, are they better than the side that reached the FA cup final..I think not. The players that really done well last season were Green, McCartney & Cole and they cost peanuts and are on modest wages.Jason honestly pal you could start an argument in a room on your own and lose. It is your prerogative if you want to call me thick, but if I am thick you must be boarding on being a half wit yourself!
Look, the statement I made was that Eggy had to make some summer signings considering what was at stake (100m+ potentially). LBM, Upson and Neill were about as good as we were gonna get at the time. Neill was being courted by Liverpool for f**k sake. You then proceeded to be condesending and tell me that only Neill was part of the run in, "everybody knew that". So what? That had nothing to do with my statement. All of your views are with hindsight mate, becuase only Neill played a part in the run in does that mean we would have been able to do it without him? Therefore if Eggy buys six players for 20m and one turns out to be the catalyst to save us then surely it was worth carpet bombing the market, wasnt it? No of course, you would have just bought Neill cos you now know thats all we needed. Fact is if the salary of those players he bought in the summer amounts to 50m we still win, no panic, simple math. Wether you are just a wind up merchant to get reactions from the "usual suspects" or not, this is sh*t you are spouting on the web representing a West Ham supporter. Hopefully Eggy doesnt read this site and think we are all ungrateful twats.
Jason chill fella, you have taken all this out of context. Of course my post was meant to be provocative so as to start a lively debate as it was dead on here. Eggy of course had to do something in the January 07 window no one is disputing that. He & Curbs also spent a further £28m last summer ( having recouped £23m from outgoing sales) but in the opinion of many not just mine we may not be better off quality wise despite shelling out a total of £45m on players many of whom have no sell on value and now have a wage bill of £52m on a turnover of circa £58m. That is not a healthy state of affairs and we have a freeze on expenditure and are dependent on injury prone players coming good. For a more positive and balanced insight see my post " BG Does Know what He Is Doing" PS With regard to Eggy he ended up with egg on his face.
LOL Pulp Fiction! The fact is nobody knows why Rocky Whatisface was thrown out of that seven storey window...Was Eggy giving Turds a foot massage?
If everyone cares to remember when Eggy and the new board came and took over our club there were a few people on here that said it was far too good to be true and as is similar to now most people told them to stop being negative and finding fault in the new guys, Well as you say Del and in the cold light of day those few people were spot on. As a set of supporters we were well and truly led up the garden path by Eggy and his promises and the fallout from that is as you rightly mention above a squad full of over-paid, over-priced has beens and a manager who is as incompetent as they come. The blokes never had money to spend at Charlton so why the hell they let him come and go out shopping with an open cheque book is beyond me, for so called professional business men the new owners leave a lot to be desired. The signing of players is the biggest disappointment and upset for me because although Eggy might have bank rolled them it was Curbs who picked them in the first place and with the exception of Upson, Solano and Neill (just about) all have been major let downs. All curbs done was play it safe he picked players that he’d seen in the premiership and knew what they were capable of and prayed. The fact that most of them come with baggage (severe amounts in some cases) makes it even more laughable. I really don’t know how people can come on here and defend the bloke. Who pays £900 to see consolidation football? Its ludicrous. The notion that we’re building for the future and rome wasn’t built in a day and all that crap is just as ludicrous also. People can mock the tottenhams, evertons, pompeys, man citys for just going out and spending money but while thy’re out building for here and now we’ll be falling further and further behind. Whats the point of doing it ‘properly’ and setting the foundations if we’re going to end up near the bottom of the prem or even worse playing in the lower divisions. Its happened to leeds, forest, Leicester, Southampton and many others and although in totally different circumstances West Ham have no god given right to be playing top flight football. You can only play survival football for so long and then your luck runs out. Theres no point having a chairman who wants to tighten his belt when all other chairman are loosening theirs at an alarming rate. I’m looking at the sports pages and sky sports news etc and seeing teams like sunderland in the chase for Guiza, Tottenham sniffing around anything that looks like its got a bit of quality, harry attempting to work his usual magic and nothing whatsoever about West Ham apart from possibly selling yet another one of our best youngsters in Anton. Before you know all those players with a bit about them are snapped up and we’ll be left with the dregs which as per usual curbs will more than likely happily snap up. Another thing is people on here saying it’ll be ok this year he’ll have a fully fit squad to choose from….yeah ok so dyers gonna come back and play injury free is he? Gabbidon, ethrington, Zamora, Collins, bellamy, bowyer, ashton, I take it there all going to go a whole season with no recurring soft tissue injuries. At least we can be safe in the knowledge that Parker and Upson never get injured…….oh no sorry forgot about them too…Over half of our squad have recurring problems that for some reason some people think a miracle cure has been supplied. Training techniques from the 1970’s coupled with a medical team that seem to know about as much when it comes to injury prevention and treatment as zippy george and bungle does not bode well and how people expect us supporters to think positive at times is a question not even Steven Hawking could answer. Theres far too much expectation being placed on the likes of sears, Tomkins, collision and even noble. There not going to win you games week after week in the premiership and as per usual they’ll probably be flogged to death and end up either burnt out half way through the season or just added to the ever growing casualty list. Since Curbishley and the new board took over there has not been the slightest attempt to build a squad for the future. Whats the average age of all of Curbishley’s signings? Our club at the minute is brinking on becoming farcical and if the stories of dressing room unrest are true the wheels are certainly very sure to be falling of the wagon sooner rather than later.
I agree with you bas, the board have not done any of what they said they would do. 5yr plan more like 15yr plan that way some of the 3-4 year olds will get blooded by then and we can burn them out aswell. Maybe then we will buy Anton back as he would be the correct age for this team. Far too young at the moment for this side he needs to win things at other clubs before coming back for one last pay day. Maybe Curbs would give him a fair crack then, oh yeah he will still be here as he keeps us between 10th and 15th each season which suits the board fine. By then of course the season ticket prices will be around £2000 mark and we will still pay for that crap "year in year out". I said in another post sometime ago that we should be giving Curbs until Xmas but i really don't want too, i think instead of being a commentator he should have been at the office trying to prise some money out of the iceman and talking with Nani about who we are going to at least try and get this summer. Useless twot. I know that i have just pissed a few people off, tough sh1t this is my oppinion, i'm getting fed up with people saying he is our manager and we should support him, i do give my money to the club each year. Yes it is my choice and i can walk away at any time, but my heart pumps claret & blue and while it still pumps every day i will love what WHU was, not what it is at the moment. F8ck Curbs off if we want to retain/reclaim our soul. The devil in a red shirt must go along with his satan spawn MD.
Why do we always have topics which are full of doom and gloom, lets be bloody optimistic. We are building a team for the future, already spent lots on getting first teamers last season and this summer we are looking to Nani to buy wonderkids for the future. Gudmansson is apparently in talks about the Olympic stadium again. We have a Manager who loves the club and will give everything to see them succeed. We are building and that five year plan may not stick to five years, it may stretch to 7 or 8, but by the looks of the structure of the club and what they are doing we have a brilliant bright future. For me it is our fans letting us down at the moment, we are so passionate but last season i didn't feel it as much, with booing of players etc. We need to get behind West Ham, the staff and players because we have so much potential to be a bloody good team and maybe in the future challenge those at the top. Come On You Irons.
I agree with you Rob, the only thing the post said which I agree with, is that the football has been boring since curbs took over but maybe this coming season we will see more entertaining stuff with a fully fit squad, if we don't then I hope we get another manager, I do agree with you that the foundation for the club does look sound and believe this is exciting times for West Ham even with last seasons set backs and that we need to get behind the team and stop all this booing.
I agree Rob the biggest let down at the moment is us fans!! I dont ever remember us being this bad! Its not worth going thro all the nitty gritty because its a multide of things! But its safe to say alot of fans seem to resent supporting the hammers! Well they have a choice but they must realise its through thick and thin!
Can you resent supporting your own team?? I certainly did not enjoy the previous season, was actually put to sleep a couple of times watching the drivel that was served up to me in the early hours of the morning, but I always come back for more. That's what we West Ham fans do, but we expect more for our money that your average Spud, manc or Chelscum supporter. They're happy with a boring, drab, un-inspiring, easy 1-0 win. We on the other hand want our football to be passionate, fast, free-flowing and pleasing to the eye. If it results in a 1-0 win great, even if it's a entertaining 0-0 draw we'll accept it, but we won't accept the sh*t that's been played out to us and not vent our frustrations at it. It's up to Curbs to get us back on side by playing the brand of football we shell out our hard-earned for, otherwise he's in for another tough season. It's not hard to do!!!
Unfair mate. United and Tottenham have always played the game the right way - I cannot remember a United side or a Tottenham side set up to win 1-0 (that's why George Graham was unwelcome at White Hart Lane). Chelsea also have a tradition for playing open, attacking football. Now, if you had picked on Leeds, the old Arsenal, Charlton or Blackburn, fair enough. West Ham are not the only team who, by tradition, try to play the game the right way.
I'm sure next season will be better, and otherwise the Chairman isn't going to accept it. But to start of with we have to give Curbs our support, no excuses no more, he needs to live up to expectations. We are passionate fans and we all want a lot. I am hoping next season Curbs will.
Exactly Red Neck we have had bad times before but i feel it is going to be better, the future is bright and we need to be optimistic and i don't think topic after topic being negative helps. Eggy is in the past lets look to the future.
I love your passion Rob, but you need to get real. We have the 5th highest wage bill in the Prem and are the highest payers in ratio to turnover so we need to make severe cutbacks. The injury and temperament records of the ex-Newcastle players isn't great and did not help the Toon to success whilst they were there. Ljungberg's injury and goal scoring record over the past 2 seasons is poor and he was let go by Wenger who apart from Bentley gets it right when he allows players to leave.LBM is crap, Neil is slow and prone to mistakes. LBM, Upson, Dyer, Neil, Bellamy, Ljungberg are in the 29 to 31 age bracket and millions have have been spent on them with no sell on value to recoup. Face facts these players are too old to build a future team around. The younger talent has gone to S***s, Villa & Pompey. The quality of football and atmosphere at UP has been poor. The manager has formed no rapport with either the home or our phenomenal away fans who in turn never chant his name. All in all there has been no feel good factor or belief in the manager due to questionable signings, tactics, lack of entertainment/passion and poor media communication skills. In the light of our injury record (the worse in the history of football) dumping Pards crack team of sports scientists and fitness guru's was a major mistake and needed independent experts to assess the root causes. The owner has thrown away the key to his war chest and to raise money we have no choice but to sell assets like Anton Ferdinand. So we can't build a team if we have to sell can we? I have renewed my season ticket for the 30th season on the trot in the hope that we can realise our full potential, but I am realistic to know that under our current manager and squad the best we can achieve is mid-table. Keeping it real the positives are Deano coming back to fitness and form, the emergence of Noble, the form of Green, Parker,Upson and McCartney and the number of promising kids coming through. It that a balanced and optimistic view for you?
But why are you saying so much negative stuff, when there is a lot of positive. We have a secure owner who isn't going to go mad spending putting us into horrible financial troubles. We have a good youth system with a strong group of youngsters coming through, look at last season Collison, Noble, Sears and Tompkins all made their mark on our first team. We have brought in Nani to make it stronger still. Next season we will have other youngsters coming through Stech, Junior Stanislis and maybe the Icelandic bloke ready to make their names known. I know S***s, Pompey and the rest are spending big and pushing forward, but we are doing it slowly, Rome wasn't built in a day is said a lot, but it really sums our club up at the moment. Injury is not the fault of the club, i know he has bought injury prone players but the extent of their injuries were very very unlucky. However next season we will have them back, and im sure we will push on. The negative that surrounds every forum is really down to frustration, because we are a sleeping giant so to speak. We have so much potential and not showing it yet. Also frustration we haven't signed anyone yet, but we need to be patient mate, look to the future and be positive. We don't always have to speak about the doom and gloom of the past lets look to next season and be optimistic. I respect your opinion, but i am a passionate man and i hate pessimistic views of our great club.
Rob I tell it how it is. You are missing the point because you are blinded by your love for West Ham. I don't know you but I reckon you don't seem to have grasped what has happened. During season 2005/6 we played high tempo football with our fast and powerful team, some of which was sold for £23m last summer representing a fantastic profit. We adopted the Barcelona training module and avoided soft tissue injuries and with a small squad reached the final of the FA Cup and had to play a lot more games in the process. However, Pards crack backroom team which kept non impact injuries to a mininum was disbanded to make way for Curbs old Valley mates. The flair that was sold was never replaced and the £23m that was raised through the sales of NRC £7.5m Yossi £6.0m, Tevez £2.0m, Konchesky £2.5m, Mears £1.0m, Harewood £4.0m was to a large extent squandered by the injury prone signings made by Eggy & Curbs. £10m was also wasted in January 07 £5m on LBM, £3.5m on Davenport and £1.5m on Quashie. £49m gross has been spent on new players with only Upson & Parker coming up trumps thus far. No manager in West Ham's history has had so much money to spend. The jury is still out on Faubert. Ljungberg I have covered, Bellamy & Dyer come with a lot of baggage, but like you I have everything crossed that they come good. The facts are most of Curbs signings have not come up trumps and we might have to sell some of our younger players to raise cash. This is because CURBS & EGGY screwed up big time!!!!!!!! Eggy has been shown the door and Nani has been brought in to oversee our training methods and future transfers...so everything in the garden wasn't rosy and we are now paying the price. It will take a few years to recover, clear the decks and start again so Champs League footy by 2012 is a tall order, but I'm praying for a miracle!
Right, i have supported West Ham for 60 years and i am probably one of the oldest people on this site. I go to every West Ham game home and away, so i would prefer us to debate like adults without your patronising words please. Let the players and club prove to you their worth, that is the problem we don't give them enough time before putting them down, which frustrates me. You are obviously against Curbs and won't settle until he is out of our club, give him time, give the team time. They will prove their worth, and probably make you eat your words.
I am sorry if you found my post patronising. I truly respect all West Ham fans so I can't apologise enough to you. I am not too far behind you age wise having supported West Ham since the early 60's and have hardly missed a home match in 35 years. I live in the same village as Curbs and know him personally and would like nothing more than to see him become a success as that means West Ham are successful. I know from impeccable sources that the dressing room is divided and that his training methods are dated. Certainly the quality of football has not been of a high standard that we do not have a feel good factor or a vibrant atmosphere at home matches. This is down to the way Curbs plays. To make matters worse he hasn't attempted to form a rapport with the crowd, shows little passion or even bothers to shake the hand of players he substitutes. Frankly Rob, I do hope I am wrong, but I believe he is out of his depth at West Ham and by the way, so do thousands of other West Ham fans.
Ok i understand what you say and respect it all and if you do have sources well you know more than i do. But although he may be out of hsi depth he should be given a chance and will by the Owner, however i don't think it will be long before he does change manager. Anyway with your sources do you know anything else which would bring some positive conversation? We really do need something. By the way i just found it patronising you assuming my age by my opinion and passionate response. If the dressing room is divided like you say it is surely there would be more people going out by now and more people complaining in the press. If the dressing room is in bad shape it is something that is desperatly in need of sorting out, as it enables us to push forward. To be honest i just think we should all look forward to next season and be optimistic, it has helped in the past and let is help us now.
Rob, check my post again I edited any reference to age,having noticed your favourite manager like me was Ron Greenwood. I didn't mean to post my first draft so I now realise why you reacted to my original comments. My close source is on holiday so I haven't been able to get any news positive or negative, but like you I am looking forward to any injury free and more exiting brand of football in the new season.
Oh right sorry mate i only saw the first draft. So when he is back then do you reckon we will have some information of signings coming in or out?
Alternatively, the wheels are coming off at the Emirates, with three key players departing. What if Fabregas decides he wants out too? Arsenal are vulnerable. Liverpool, meanwhile, remain a fractured club. With co owners in conflict and a manager unsure of the Board's support, it may only take a shaky start to trigger catastrophe. Chelsea have a new manager who has proved to be no great shakes in his time as Portugal mananger. If Drogba packs his bags, they have nobody to lead the line. I can see lots of low scoring draws in Chelsea games in the coming season. Take out Ronaldo's 38 goals and how many games would United have won last season. Will he still be at Old Trafford? Does it really matter? If they force him to remain, the desire will no longer be there. Haven't Villa just lost the cornerstone of their defence? Barry is also on his way. Watching O'Neill on the BBC, I think he could be in a straightjacket in a padded cell by Christmas. Tottenham? Well if Berbatov goes, half the side will disapppear with him. If Woodgate breaks down - IF? - when Woodgate breaks down, they will be vulnerable at the back. How many vaunted Eastern Europeans have failed to deliver in England? Who is to say their latest recruit won't be operating by the name of Moderateitch by the end of September? City? Ronaldhinio isn't joining. They are punting £18million on an unknown entity just because he is Brazilian. They shipped eight goals in their last game away to Boro and were nearly as bad as us from Christmas onwards. If the results go the wrong way early doors, Hughes will be under severe pressure, not least because he is a United legend. We have the nucleus of a pretty good team meanwhile. If Dyer, Faubert, Ashton and Bellache can stay fit, there should be plenty of chances created. Defensively, for most of last season, we looked tighter than I can ever remember a West Ham side looking. In Green we have an England keeper of the future. The fixture list invites us to get off to a flier. Imagine, 5 games played, 13 points in the bank. This could be our year, three years before Eggy forecast!
Through my life already i know that rich people are the tightest people ive ever met and they dont get where they are by giving money away.I really thought that when BG and Magnusson took over that it would be a more exciting time for our club but at the minute it doesn't look like it will be,thou if we hadn't spent when we did and didnt buy the likes of Neil and Upson we most certainly in my view would have gone down.On the subject of Brown i couldnt stand him and im pleased that he is no longer at the helm,and have you not thought that Brown sold the club too BG and all he was looking for was a great deal for himself,if he loved Wh so much then why sell? or why not sell to a more ambitious/rich consortium?.It remains t be seen what ambitions the board now have, but signs coming out of the press at the min arnt good.CJ
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