I for one do not blame Chico for leaving, he never was and never will be a lone front man and most of all he knows that himself.
He is a poacher, and a darned good one at that who needs someone alongside him to feed off.
We never really played him to his strengths, that was our choice not his and it should hardly be surprising that he wanted out, I never heard of him being disruptive and wish him well.
I understand the merits of the discussion is whether or not we should have let him leave, my take on it is if we had changed our system and accommodated him, he probably would still be with us and frankly, I would have loved to have seen him and Haller up top.
One notable omission from your list was Adrian. Whether it was he who actually wanted to leave (rather than us let him go) he still left
Adrian rejected three new contracts before we signed Fabianski, my guess is that after he was dropped for Joe Hart he'd had enough of working for Sullivan and Gold.
I work opposite a Bournemouth fan. He wasn't too complimentary about Howe this morning.
Remember when we were banging our heads against the wall when Pellegrini put Zaba up against Saint-Maxime? Well Howe put Simon Francis, comfortably Bournemouth's slowest player, against Zaha last night and that drew a lot of criticism from the Bournemouth contingent.
There's also been some grumbling about the Solanke signing, too. A lot of money for very little output (see Fornals), so there's an argument that maybe Howe isn't necessarily an upgrade on Pellegrini.
It’s often been said that Howe needs to go to a club and test himself with a bigger budget etc etc. Well arguably his budget has been swelled in recent times and he has managed to spend it on the likes of Ibe, etc. Mousset is an interesting one. Howe failed to get the best out of him, and he is now doing much better now he has moved.
I would honestly take Wilder above Howe. His makes his teams hard to beat, yet still manages to play a reasonably attractive brand of football considering the resources he has available.
Seriously though, he's showing some innovative nous, has a mix of players that aren't primadonnas and seems to have bought well on a limited budget (if McBurnie is ignored which is hard with a name like that. He may come good though). I'd take him over Howe and Benitez. That said I didn't want either anyway
I think Howe will be to management what Le Tissier was to players, plenty of interest from bigger clubs but no desire to leave a club that would struggle to attract anyone of his level.
i agree but not much choice in who we can get. also need to spend a bit in January. i want people who have passion, can run (fast), head the ball, pass to a team mate and stay fit - not much to ask is it?
Time of reckoning for Sully. It is pretty obvious that we are going to have to go into the transfer market for at least a couple of players In Jan. Is he prepared to allow the clueless duo to make those choices given how stunningly well their transfers have gone thus far?
If the owners are fair and consistent they should remove Pelle (Plus partner in crime) immediately IMO. I take myself back to slav. Firstly he had delivered one of the finest seasons in recent memory. Pelle hasn’t. He delivered some memorable cup performances. Pelle has given us humiliation on that front. Pelle has been given two £40m players plus other expensive acquisitions. Slav was given Eminike and Calleri
Don’t get me wrong, we were in free fall and in a parlous state when Slav went. But even amongst those first 11 games of season 17/18 there were games where we showed heart and still lost points where we possibly merited more. The injury time pen v southampton, Antonio’s brain fade V palace, playing three quarters of the game with 10 men and only conceding a late equaliser v Burnley.
This season, not only have we been on a sorry run points wise, but we have looked completely lost and devoid of ideas, and not been deserving of any more points then we have. Like Ranieri at Leicester, Slav at least had in his “bank” a previous track record of delivery at the club at his time of dismissal. Pelle has nothing.
If the owners are fair and consistent they should remove Pelle (Plus partner in crime) immediately IMO. I take myself back to slav. Firstly he had delivered one of the finest seasons in recent memory. Pelle hasn’t. He delivered some memorable cup performances. Pelle has given us humiliation on that front. Pelle has been given two £40m players plus other expensive acquisitions. Slav was given Eminike and Calleri
Don’t get me wrong, we were in free fall and in a parlous state when Slav went. But even amongst those first 11 games of season 17/18 there were games where we showed heart and still lost points where we possibly merited more. The injury time pen v southampton, Antonio’s brain fade V palace, playing three quarters of the game with 10 men and only conceding a late equaliser v Burnley.
This season, not only have we been on a sorry run points wise, but we have looked completely lost and devoid of ideas, and not been deserving of any more points then we have. Like Ranieri at Leicester, Slav at least had in his “bank” a previous track record of delivery at the club at his time of dismissal. Pelle has nothing.
The thing for me is West Ham are not enjoyable to watch most the time , the slow build up , sideways backwards passes etc. We lack pace without Antonio (Diagana on loan) players don't seem to be on board with what Pellegrini wants, The same players do the same thing week after week with the same result (Chelsea aside). As a season ticket holder games almost feel like a chore (especially with bus replacement most weeks) I go to see my mates and have a beer the football usually turns out to be the worst part of the day. The club needs a lift as a whole, wether that be a new manager/ new players but it feels like we are sleepwalking to a relegation battle at the moment .
Comments about yesterday's performance moved to relevant match thread. This none is for discussing the manager/sack/replacement and ranges more widely than a single match :ok:
Comments
He is a poacher, and a darned good one at that who needs someone alongside him to feed off.
We never really played him to his strengths, that was our choice not his and it should hardly be surprising that he wanted out, I never heard of him being disruptive and wish him well.
I understand the merits of the discussion is whether or not we should have let him leave, my take on it is if we had changed our system and accommodated him, he probably would still be with us and frankly, I would have loved to have seen him and Haller up top.
One notable omission from your list was Adrian. Whether it was he who actually wanted to leave (rather than us let him go) he still left
Bournemouth. Won 4. Drawn 4. lost 6.
West Ham. Won 4. Drawn 4. Lost 6.
Remember when we were banging our heads against the wall when Pellegrini put Zaba up against Saint-Maxime? Well Howe put Simon Francis, comfortably Bournemouth's slowest player, against Zaha last night and that drew a lot of criticism from the Bournemouth contingent.
There's also been some grumbling about the Solanke signing, too. A lot of money for very little output (see Fornals), so there's an argument that maybe Howe isn't necessarily an upgrade on Pellegrini.
I would honestly take Wilder above Howe. His makes his teams hard to beat, yet still manages to play a reasonably attractive brand of football considering the resources he has available.
He also won't sack them.
He is 100% trusting to luck that there will be three worse teams than us come May, IMO.
Don’t get me wrong, we were in free fall and in a parlous state when Slav went. But even amongst those first 11 games of season 17/18 there were games where we showed heart and still lost points where we possibly merited more. The injury time pen v southampton, Antonio’s brain fade V palace, playing three quarters of the game with 10 men and only conceding a late equaliser v Burnley.
This season, not only have we been on a sorry run points wise, but we have looked completely lost and devoid of ideas, and not been deserving of any more points then we have. Like Ranieri at Leicester, Slav at least had in his “bank” a previous track record of delivery at the club at his time of dismissal. Pelle has nothing.