en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/669546 Comments by Wavid http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/03/20/vote-player-performances-v-middlesbrough-2/#IDComment320918324 10 things we still know after last nights game: 1. The atmosphere at UP is getting progressively hostile towards our own team - one minute the crowd are cheering then booing their own team. You could see it affect the team. Some were even singing for Di Canio but we are still third in the league. 2. Cole is sorely mis-used as a target man. He cant jump - but put the ball at his feet and he is more comfortable. 3. We play narrow when chasing the ball and narrow when in possession. No one makes the effort to create space or fill the gaps when we have the ball. How often did players cut inside rather than use the wings - but then we didnt often have anyone wide. Boro did and used that quite well. 4. We can defend quite well but prone to lapses of concentration - Boro had nothing to offer and were just shooting on sight but their goal came from a lack of closing down outside the box. 5. The quality of refereeing is very poor in this league and it wont be long before it costs us a game. 6. We have creativity on the bench but Sam refuses to use it - the game was crying out for Morrison, but the subs Sam made baffled again. Sam left it too late with the subs and at 1-0 up we need to change it and go for another goal. 7. Tomkins in front of the back four doesnt work and with a busy midfield Cole was left up by himself. 8. There is a serious problem with our strikers not scoring - another game where our goal comes from a defender. 9. We are not getting thrashed like some other teams are but we are looking very shaky coming into the final run in of games and we may find getting promoted through the play offs proves too difficult, especially as we have to play one of the legs at home 10 We are still third and some results have gone our way so we can still gain promotion automatically! Wed, 21 Mar 2012 05:56:48 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/03/20/vote-player-performances-v-middlesbrough-2/#IDComment320918324 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/25/twenty-things-we-learned-from-the-draw-with-palace/#IDComment302221814 Soldier_Tom, agree with you about Tomkins, I don't think is works and Saturday showed that very clearly. But if we can see that it doesnt work, why would the manager not see it? Its not as if he doesn't have options for midfield! Sun, 26 Feb 2012 20:13:29 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/25/twenty-things-we-learned-from-the-draw-with-palace/#IDComment302221814 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/25/twenty-things-we-learned-from-the-draw-with-palace/#IDComment302220805 Make you right there, the team seem to stroll when a quick throw or pass would see us take the advantage. Not just this season, for some time I would say! Sun, 26 Feb 2012 20:11:17 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/25/twenty-things-we-learned-from-the-draw-with-palace/#IDComment302220805 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/25/twenty-things-we-learned-from-the-draw-with-palace/#IDComment301499515 Oh, and don't agree with booing the team - but nothing wrong with keeping in touch with your mates via phone during the game, good bit of banter via text, facebook and tweeting! Love it! Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:56:55 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/25/twenty-things-we-learned-from-the-draw-with-palace/#IDComment301499515 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/25/twenty-things-we-learned-from-the-draw-with-palace/#IDComment301498207 Very disappointing afternoon - Palace had nothing to offer and I think Sam had the team set up wrong. Cole should have started for sure, with Baldock as he looked very dangerous when he came on. 1st half we had nothing to offer up front - the rest of the team were playing as if Cole was up front - have to blame Sam for the team selection. Disagree about Vaz Te - he was awful! Along with Reid who looked as if he was going to gift Palace a chance to score! Collison should have not come out after half time. Green needs to be more creative with his distribution and goal kicks. Faye was solid and Tomkins needs to go back to CB. We have a few options in the team, but played flat. Cole added a real urgency when he came on and he could have scored if he had started. For me it should have been a simple 442 and then mix it up second half. One thing we learnt from today? We play much better with ten men! Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:54:22 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/25/twenty-things-we-learned-from-the-draw-with-palace/#IDComment301498207 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/15/an-interesting-evening-of-football/#IDComment294562644 Looking at the highlights of Tuesday night's game - Taylor was clearly pushed by Sharp. So why was only taylor punished? I think the use of video replay would have given the ref a clear view of what happened in an incident that defined the game and result. If they can have people in the crowd reviewing the referee, why can't they have someone checking the monitor to reply any incident to make sure the right decision is made? Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:14:53 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/15/an-interesting-evening-of-football/#IDComment294562644 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/14/vote-player-performances-v-southampton-2/#IDComment292845016 A word about the ref, Lee Probert. He was a disgrace to his profession. He made several very poor decisions, gifting Southampton one free kick after another and succumbing to their falling over at every light touch! Cole was telling the ref how the Southampton keeper was kicking him and pushing him, but he gave the free kick against him! He missed hand balls by Southampton, a stone wall penalty for us and shockingly, when everyone was asking 'Who's the w***** in the black?' he was pointing to himself! A player would surely have been reprimanded for that sort of behaviour! We have seen so many very poor refereeing at home this season I would like to know how their performances are reviewed and what quality assurance there is because the performance last night could have easily cost us the game. Shocking! Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:38:59 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/14/vote-player-performances-v-southampton-2/#IDComment292845016 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/14/vote-player-performances-v-southampton-2/#IDComment292839167 Last nights performance showed clearly that when the chips are down, the team really battle for a result. Other than the sending off, very few negatives - playing most of the game with 10 men in a pacey match against a team like Southampton and ending up with a draw is a terrific result. But we should have won! Sam needs to sort out the discipline in the team, whatever Sharp said to Taylor he should have ignored as we had a penalty and were about to go 1-0 in a massive game for us! The best way to get your own back on a player is to win the game and then show them how much it means to win! Anyway, I was very disappointed with the starting line up with Tomkins in front of the back four again and Cole up front on his own. I think too much is expected of Cole - he is asked to be several different strikers all at once and he deserved a standing ovation for his sheer hard work. Faubert - fantastic performance and was a constant threat - shame he didnt score as that would have silenced some of his critics. Green, amazing! several world class saves to keep us in the game, but Southampton didnt have much up front to threaten - we were tired and the extra man counted in the end. Noble - excellent performance again - deserved man of the match. I think it is very hard to play most of the game with 10 men and there are bound to be errors and tiredness will set in. But, we had some wonderful passages of play, good possession at times and lots of wide play and opportunities to win the match - with only 10 men! I think many of those around me last night who shout nothing but criticism at the players every week, yesterday included, fail to see what a good performance last night really was. Huge performance and shows the team are strong and tight. I would have started with a clear 4-4-2 and tried Maynard and Buldock up front with Tomkins in defence instead of Faye and Faubert and Vaz Te in midfield. But with the new players we should be looking to start securing our promotion to the Prem, providing we get the tactics right. Time for Sam to show his quality - he has the players to get us out of this league without doubt, he just needs to make the right decisions. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:28:38 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/14/vote-player-performances-v-southampton-2/#IDComment292839167 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/09/scruples-whos-the-baddie/#IDComment288540088 Capello's management of players is shown to be suspect when it comes to incidents that have come to light. John Terry clearly makes a racist comment to Anton - it is caught on video and you don't have to be a lip reader to see what he says. In my mind, the manager should have withdrawn him from the England team from the word go. Professional players have a role to perform that is - at times - very public. Some cope very well with this, others find it hard and need managing. Terry was the England captain and this role has great responsibility attached to it. But, I would think that the FA should have said to Capello - either sort it out - ie remove him from the England squad until the situation is resolved, or we will. The other thing is that why do we have to wait so long for the hearing? If the date was moved then this could have been resolved a lot earlier. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:29:38 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/02/09/scruples-whos-the-baddie/#IDComment288540088 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/29/the-positive-psychological-aspect-of-transfers-and-the-need-for-machiavellian-regeneration/#IDComment277559215 Who does want him right now? I think Tevez coming to us works on so many levels, not so far fetched as others would make it out to be as no one else seems to be wanting to take Tevez. Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:23:53 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/29/the-positive-psychological-aspect-of-transfers-and-the-need-for-machiavellian-regeneration/#IDComment277559215 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/29/the-positive-psychological-aspect-of-transfers-and-the-need-for-machiavellian-regeneration/#IDComment277552845 Why on earth would City want Carroll? Cant see that happening at all! Sun, 29 Jan 2012 09:12:30 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/29/the-positive-psychological-aspect-of-transfers-and-the-need-for-machiavellian-regeneration/#IDComment277552845 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/29/the-positive-psychological-aspect-of-transfers-and-the-need-for-machiavellian-regeneration/#IDComment277530489 Football is, as we know, a results business and it is important that players are at the top of their game. One element to that is a competition for places, which having someone like Tevez in the team, would create. Our last few goals have come from penalties and we need strikers scoring goals to make sure we win our games and stay clear at the top. Players should be able to deal with the pressure that competition for places creates, otherwise their shouldn't be in competitive sports. Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:29:25 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/29/the-positive-psychological-aspect-of-transfers-and-the-need-for-machiavellian-regeneration/#IDComment277530489 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/29/the-positive-psychological-aspect-of-transfers-and-the-need-for-machiavellian-regeneration/#IDComment277527970 I agree with you about Kia - he represents some of what is bad about football at the moment! Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:24:11 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/29/the-positive-psychological-aspect-of-transfers-and-the-need-for-machiavellian-regeneration/#IDComment277527970 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/parish-notice-9/#IDComment277188217 Welcome back SJ - looking forward to your 'long-winded' posts - there is always plenty of points to discuss from them. As for your comments above, spot on and well timed! As for the vitriol and personal insults from the minority of posters - go somewhere else - no one deserves it, why should we grow thicker skins so that others can just spurt their abuse via the keyboard? Now, lets put all things West Ham and football related back onto the menu, eh? Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:06:08 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/parish-notice-9/#IDComment277188217 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277090315 My thought is that if we are promoted into the Premiership, we will be re-building the team anyway and will be more attractive to potential new buys. If we do not return to the prem, then we will find it hard to attract the kind of players who can see us back into the top flight and we may lose those quality players we have already. Therefore, seems to be a good move in terms of our long term future and development. Besides, I think other players will have the chance to learn something from a world class player. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:22:24 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277090315 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277088191 I think Tevez's problem is Kia Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:18:52 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277088191 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277087266 Surely, they will be paying his wages anyway if, as seems likely, he is going nowhere. It could improve or retain his stock with regular playing time. Just a thought. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:17:37 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277087266 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277080926 Well said! I can't understand the vitriol of some people! Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:06:51 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277080926 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277078662 There is a fantastic opportunity for a modern day legend to re-join our club and most people are still harping on about Braderz! For goodness sake, give it a rest! Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:03:15 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/28/carlitos-coming-home/#IDComment277078662 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/02/match-preview-west-ham-v-coventry-city/#IDComment252762891 Very disappointed with the Derby result, but considering the team available the team selection, what did we expect? Coventry are on the back of a decent win against Brighton, but having not won away all season could be another disappointment for us unless we have some players stepping up to the plate today. Key will be the two up front - has to be Cole and Baldock and the rest of the team should pick itself with some of our promising youngsters on the bench. I expect a win, but a nervy one! Mon, 2 Jan 2012 11:27:32 +0000 http://www.westhamtillidie.com/2012/01/02/match-preview-west-ham-v-coventry-city/#IDComment252762891