Brentford(H) Monday 20th October 8pm (3pm in USA east coast)

thornburyiron

There are protests against the board but over the past few years we must have spent well over £500M on new players. During that time we’ve had different managers and coaches, different recruitment consultants but are we forgetting that one constant in that time has been our sporting director.
I know we all idolise Noble but I have no idea what he actually does nor whether he has any say in what goes on but if he doesn’t why is here there. If he does, has he had any involvement in who we sign. I hope he hasn’t because I’d hate to think he’s responsible for the dross we’ve spent money on

Lukerz

The squad has been badly assembled over a period of time. This is not something you can sort with a managerial change. Lop - Potter - Nuno. These don’t resolve the issues. They are firefighters as opposed to resolvers. Some of these players were battered under Moyes, battered under Lop & then battered under Potter.

We have spent £115m on our back four - it is pound for pound the worst defence in the PL. How have we managed to get into a situation where 3 of our CM options are Souček, Irving & Rodríguez? Fernandes & Magassa may be promising players with potential, but they are not to be relied upon, consistently, now. How do we still not have a striker, yet two players in their mid 30s? How do we still not have a reliable goalkeeper?

It is a mess of a squad, & beyond Nuno. That 30 minute period yesterday where we could not deal with even a physical challenge at 50%, was among the most disgraceful I have seen. It’s not about ability & quality (which we also don’t have), it is about the basics of football - winning your duals, being strong, wanting to head/tackle/mark/block. We are not doing any of those. But it’s not ‘fine margins’ or whatever other cliche you throw out; we are nowhere near doing any of those things. We are nowhere near competing.

It’s not a simple ‘switch to man for man marking’. It’s not a simple ‘change formation’. It’s not a simple ‘bring in Magassa’. This is an issue in the foundations of our side & a mentality ingrained into these players, add to that the signings we have made - & players we now have - are just not good enough. There is no personality, resilience, bite, aggression, desire or just general competitiveness. I have not known a West Ham side with so little about it. No players worth watching, no players worth liking, no players with magic, no players who take no prisoners. There is nothing about this side & when you add the sedated stadium, it’s just sleepwalking to relegation &, to be honest, I am not sure how far we can fall at this moment.

Giant_Hammer

Thank you Steve and Mrs Grey for your good wishes. I’m doing ok thank you. I was got to hospital very quickly and they were excellent. It made all the difference as it could have been a very different outcome.

Slacker

I didn’t post directly after the match because tbh I couldn’t find the words and I’m still pretty much the same now.
Where do you start after watching that performance? I can only think/ hope that last night was when we hit rock bottom and things will start to improve, at the time of writing I can’t honestly see it and Friday night could be a horror show but surely those players will have had a long look in the mirror and at least roll their sleeves up and fight

buffybegood

The mess we're in, and my goodness it is one hell of a mess, is down to one man, and one man only, Sullivan. I could write a huge long post, about how he's played at being Director of Football for too many years, eventually realised he wasn't up to it because Moyes was letting the squad age and we were slowly inching towards a squad of geriatrics, panicked and brought in Steidten, cheaped out as usual by getting in J-Lo, let both of them waste huge amounts of budget on defenders that just weren't up to it and strikers who were past it, then brought in Potter and then Nuno simply because they wouldn't need buying out of contracts.

We've overpaid for too many players so that there's not enough budget to go around to get the players we've needed; it's not that we've not spent money, we've just spent it so very badly, and with no long term plan. I don't think I've ever, including the Grant season, felt like we're going down this early in a season.

Slacker

I’m no Sullivan apologist, neither do I pay a small fortune to go to games but here’s a thought.
Imagine yourself as a chairman of a football club. Your current manager is out of contract and the former manager of the Spanish national side, Real Madrid and has Premier League experience is available. I think most would employ him wouldn’t they?Then once in position you’d back his judgement in the transfer market based on his experience.
I really don’t think we can blame Sullivan.

OutcastLondoner

Slacker, I think that’s exactly why we could blame Sullivan. It’s reactive action rather than a planned one. The manager who is available might not be the manager who suits the players. We keep rotating players, mangers and coaching staff regardless of the whether they are suited to each other. There’s never any continuity.

alderz

I think it's wrong to pin the blame on any one person / group. The board are massively at fault, the players have been awful for a long term, previous managers and heads of recruitment have been allowed to waste a fortune on players that aren't good enough, and last night Nuno made some absolutely baffling calls. And whilst I understand the sentiment behind the protests and the silence in the stadium, it also doesn't help the situation on the pitch (not a dig at the fans at all).

The entire club is in an absolute state.

IronHerb

thornburyiron said:

2-0. Absolutely disgraceful display. Everyone should hold their heads in shame. Can’t see us winning another game this calendar year.

Hedging your bets there thorn? 😂

thornburyiron

Buffy et al nobody ever seems to mention Noble. He is supposed to be director of football. If he’s not doing the job and Sullivan is, as you suggest, acting in the role then Nobes is getting money under false pretences and should resign. If he is doing the job then he’s not very good at it and should be fired and we get an experienced one in.

thornburyiron

IH the way we’ve been this calendar year we could end up with more managers than wins.

buffybegood

thornburyiron said:

Buffy et al nobody ever seems to mention Noble. He is supposed to be director of football. If he’s not doing the job and Sullivan is, as you suggest, acting in the role then Nobes is getting money under false pretences and should resign. If he is doing the job then he’s not very good at it and should be fired and we get an experienced one in.

Noble has a role, but it's not to guide the whole club in a chosen direction, I think it's more liasing with the different age groups within the club, looking for suitable loans for the players coming through, that sort of thing. He's definitely not been given the sort of power you're suggesting he has, to buy players and bring in managers, as far as I know.

IronHerb

thornburyiron said:

IH the way we’ve been this calendar year we could end up with more managers than wins.

True dat.

OutcastLondoner

thornburyiron said:

Buffy et al nobody ever seems to mention Noble. He is supposed to be director of football. If he’s not doing the job and Sullivan is, as you suggest, acting in the role then Nobes is getting money under false pretences and should resign. If he is doing the job then he’s not very good at it and should be fired and we get an experienced one in.

I think most of us don’t take Noble’s role that seriously. It always felt like more of an ambassador role to keep him involved in the club and to work with the academy, rather than one with much influence on the first team.