West Ham v Fulham, Saturday 27th December, 15:00

thornburyiron

Define winnable. We don’t look like winning any games at the moment and if Wolves are still without a win when we go there, then we all know how that will work out.

MrsGrey

Sullivan hasn't been reluctant to spend. ( Within the constraints of FFP rules, and obvs not having unlimited oil state funds). But the money has seldom been spent wisely. Whether that's DS, a manager or a Steiden.....

And January is a bad time time to buy.

Best thing we did was Lingard. And that's a rare event.

buffybegood

MrsGrey said:

Sullivan hasn't been reluctant to spend. ( Within the constraints of FFP rules, and obvs not having unlimited oil state funds). But the money has seldom been spent wisely. Whether that's DS, a manager or a Steiden.....

And January is a bad time time to buy.

Best thing we did was Lingard. And that's a rare event.

Well, he's often reluctant to spend in January unless we're in trouble, but unfortunately the rest of what you say is true.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

buffybegood said:

The one thing still in our favour is that we've yet to play Wolves, whereas the other teams around us have. If, and I know it's a big if, we win that then suddenly we're possibly 2 points behind Forest who we then play at home on 6th Jan, so potentially we could be above them even if we don't get anything from the Brighton game.

I know I'm clutching at straws, but with 2 very winnable games coming up it's too soon for me to give up all hope just yet, despite how down I'm feeling after today's game. I do also think Sullivan will make a serious effort to sign a couple of players as relegation hits his pocket the hardest (always a silver lining).

Think Wolves are probably looking forward to playing us twice as its probably the only way they finish on more points than Derby

MrsGrey

Harvey Barnes loan.

alderz

MrsGrey said:

Sullivan hasn't been reluctant to spend. ( Within the constraints of FFP rules, and obvs not having unlimited oil state funds). But the money has seldom been spent wisely. Whether that's DS, a manager or a Steiden.....

And January is a bad time time to buy.

Best thing we did was Lingard. And that's a rare event.

Weren’t Bowen and Soucek January signings too? And Ilan, of course.

ASLEFshrugged

alderz said:

Weren’t Bowen and Soucek January signings too? And Ilan, of course.

They were

Demba Ba was another

ASLEFshrugged

Lukerz said:

Seeing a few fans say relegation will be good as Sullivan & Brady will go.

They won’t.

The club’s value drops by 50% in the Championship & they’ve not been open to selling so far whilst being in the PL at peak value.

Nobody buys it in the Champ & they certainly don’t actively look to sell it.

Fortuneseeker said:

So @Lukerz, What do you genuinely see them doing about ensuring we stay up?

Lukerz didn't say they'd do anything

Just that they won't go if we're relegated

If no one wants to buy the Gold family shares while we're in the Premier League it seems unlikely buyers will be more enthusiastic if we're relegated unless Sullivan is prepared to sell at a huge discount

buffybegood said:

I do also think Sullivan will make a serious effort to sign a couple of players as relegation hits his pocket the hardest (always a silver lining).

Who would want to come? Maybe a couple of loan deals?

MrsGrey

Aslef/alderz- I stand corrected!

BubblesNeverDies

IronHerb said:

Nuno has nailed his flag on the Paqueta mast which makes him reluctant to drop him or hook him.

Paqueta needs dropping.

Lukerz

Difference between Fulham & us - one side has a striker who can poach goals, one side doesn’t. It was a 0-0 game that we just shaded, but neither side players overly well. Scarles makes an error, they have a poacher.

IronHerb

BubblesNeverDies said:

IronHerb said:

Nuno has nailed his flag on the Paqueta mast which makes him reluctant to drop him or hook him.

Paqueta needs dropping.

He needs selling.

OutcastLondoner

Might be in a minority but I thought yesterday was a decent performance. For once we seemed to have a threat. This whole year at home there’s been no energy in the stadium, not even a sigh at a missed opportunity but yesterday it felt like there was a threat there even if it didn’t result in anything. Wilson was wasteful when he was on and Bowen seemed to lack the sharpness at the final moment to get a shot off.

I also thought Scarles played really well until that mistake, which looked a bit like a tired swipe to me.

Lukerz

We were ok, but I think there’s been lots of ‘ok’. I think our best performance under Nuno was the Villa home game. I think we’ve been ‘ok’ in recent games v Fulham, Man Utd, Brighton - but when we are 5 points adrift you need more than that.

claretandbluesky

I know this may not be a popular opinion but I am still in the Nuno camp. I think he has done really well with some pretty poor inherited players and barely any bench to call on.
I do think he has eccentricities, I agree he has a blind spot regard Paqueta (maybe he thinks he is this seasons Tevez and wants to keep him on side) but I feel he is organising and getting more from them than his predecessors.

The main reason is aside from City no one has been really bettering us, where as before everyone was. Fulham was a error by Scarles which was punished and we did have a chance or two to win it despite being without two very influential full backs.

We may go down, and although I am not usually one to get involved with superstition I do wonder if everything is conspiring to send us down as we lose or African players just when we are looking better and to the six point matches, but if we do I don't think it will be down to Nuno but whoever hired Lopetgui and his wasting of our money.

IronHerb

C&B, you're probably in the majority regarding Nuno.
He's picked up a squad, not of his own making, that has been criticised for the past 2 years and has improved it. We're still struggling for sure but, depending on the support he gets in January, all is not lost.

Lukerz

If you asked Nuno when he took the job would he expect us to be on 13 points on the 28th December, he would have honestly said no.

I’m going to try a bit more of the Herb approach as it certainly is miserable having any other outlook, but it wouldn’t half help if the side gave the fans a bit more to be hopeful about.

EXETERHAMMER

We were unlucky yesterday.

That doesn't help matters either.

Lukerz

After 68 minutes at Bournemouth, it was 0-2 to us. We draw 2-2.
After 90 minutes at Brighton, it was 0-1 to us. We draw 1-1.
After 45 minutes against Villa, it was 2-1 to us. We lose 2-3.
After 85 minutes v Fulham, it was 0-0. We lose 0-1.

8 additional points. We are not capable of capitalising in the crucial moments of games that enable us to get the much needed results that pull us out of the bottom three. That points to mentality, fitness & squad depth (subs). Nuno can only change one/two of those.

Fortuneseeker

Nuno can change what he did at Bournemouth which is to try to defend a lead that IMHO was two points lost.

Lukerz

I think that game pointed to a lack of sub options so when he made changes they had to be defensive ones.

claretandbluesky

Lukerz said:

After 68 minutes at Bournemouth, it was 0-2 to us. We draw 2-2.
After 90 minutes at Brighton, it was 0-1 to us. We draw 1-1.
After 45 minutes against Villa, it was 2-1 to us. We lose 2-3.
After 85 minutes v Fulham, it was 0-0. We lose 0-1.

8 additional points. We are not capable of capitalising in the crucial moments of games that enable us to get the much needed results that pull us out of the bottom three. That points to mentality, fitness & squad depth (subs). Nuno can only change one/two of those.

That's what makes me not lose hope just yet as under Potter we would never have got in those positions. Next three games are huge 7 points needed 6 minimum.