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True, but I must imagine he would be quite useless and unexciting on a team without other halfway decent attackers to support him (i.e: us)

West Ham: Reo-Coker, Ashton, Benayoun, Upson Charlton: Young, maybe Bent (but not for the 32942903482094823094 pounds that charlton will probably demand) Watford: I don't know... Jay Demerit? Might take a punt on Marlon King if he comes cheap

When Martins learns to anticipate and how to use his pace effectively, he will more than likely be in a Chelsea shirt, unfortunately. Still, I'm enjoying him while he lasts. The downfalls in his game are more than made up by the sheer energy and excitement he brings to our side. Can you imagine where we'd be and how unfun we'd be to watch right now if we had say... Kuyt instead of Martins?

Aye, that's the intended effect lol

I'm honestly stunned by how positive the reaction is. I expected "OMGLOLKNEEJERKYOUKNOWNOHTINGABOUTFOOTBALLSCREWOFF" Guess this just shows how much Titus has been contributing lately.

Dare I jinx things by even uttering these words but... The lad has undoubtfully been our best defender since he's come back from injury, and dare I say one of or more consistent field players period. It's been said ad nausem that he "could be class if he puts his head on straight." Well, if he's ever had his head on straight during his career, it's right now. So, how do you see it? Has Bramble turned the corner on the way to being, if not a world beater, at least a productive player for us? ... Or his he just waiting for the right moment to spring the big one?

well, nice to see that the captain took it in a quiet, yet dignified manner. Then again, perhaps Taylor and Bramble are jumping up and down with champagne off camera?

Given the cash and history we have I'd say we're one of the more attractive clubs outside of the top four. Honestly people, if it was you, would you rather go to Aston Villa or Everton over the toon? That said, barring a 10-game losing streak or something to that effect (and there aren't even 10 games left in the campaign) Roeder is just not going to get sacked at the end of the season. Moreover, the jobs of Mourinho and Riijkard are both looking rather shaky at the moment, and he'd probably slot right into either of them if vacancies should arise.

Aye me too Our scout system is shocking and i highly doubt that Roeder have heard about him He will probably go to some big club but at least we should try to sign him especially when he is on free Scary thing is I don't even think that's hyperbole. You'd think Glen would at least get around to watching the WC. Not too confident about that though.

Agree. He might as well have been the only player on the pitch to be honest. Thing is, do we even have an attacking partner to pair him with? Emre's mystery groin injury will probably flair up again... Parker-Pattison!

SIGN HIM Was very good at the WC. Perfect for the English game I think. Of course, Roeder's going to have to scout him a couple dozen times first...

My heart disagrees most painfully whenever Sibbers comes on to the pitch.

As a side note, if we're going to keep going 'Wimbledon' style, we might as well go for Klose.

"World Class" debates all boil down to the fact that different people have different definitions of World Class. For me, the only out-and-out Strikers I would have ahead of Owen would be Eto'o, Drogba, Henry, RVN, Ronaldo, Klose, and Villa. I think a lot of people would have a similar estimation of his skills. For me, that's good enough to be "world class." For others, that might not be.

Miroslav Klose himself started out as a part timer in the German seventh division, so you never know. Not that we should be getting too excited about this, but you should always hope for the best. Who knows, perhaps we'll come out of it with another useful squad forward.

One of them's a thirty-something on his last legs. One of them should really just be playing up front. One of them should really just be playing on the wings. One of them has already been buried six feet under by the mudslinging media, and is probably on his way out the door. And one of them's Scott Parker, who is apparently the second coming of Satan. ...And Tevez isn't a centre midfielder.

I highly doubt Tevez would take kindly to being brought in as third-choice. Just sowing the seeds of dissent tbh. And probably for a fee of at least 7~8 mil.

Beckham is certainly not a fair comparison. Beckham doesn't have an especially high media reputation or supporter reputation. No pundit or footy fan worth his salt would ever claim that Beckham is comparable to Zidane. Only in his reputation among the public, with little or no footy knowledge, is he larger than life. While the media certainly does seem to overrate Jenas now, I don't remember this being the case for Newcastle-era Jenas. Parker differs in that he is actively praised by the pundits, the media, and supporters from other clubs while his own fans call him s***. So no player in any mid-table team is any good by the virtue of the fact that they dont pay for the big four?

That has to be one of the funniest pics I've seen in ages. The presenter's expression juxtaposed with the "just shoot me now" West Ham fans... Classic.

OK, so here's the deal about Parker. <I> I've watched every one of our games this season that have been availible to me (through local television or "evil internet shennanigans"), and I have never, ever seen any commentator have anything but praise to say about Scott Parker. Granted, I'm not saying that commentator's are all reliable experts on football, but these are people that watch several matches a week for a living. You'd think that they would at least have SOME knowledge, perhaps even broader knowledge than most of us fans, who usually only watch the matches of the team we are supporting. This is especially interesting considering that the general consensus among us is that most commentators are biased against NUFC and towards the top 4 or London teams. <2> Parker's average rating on Skysports = 6.8 (tie for best in squad with Dyer, Martins, and Given) Granted, I'm sure we can all agree that ratings are hardly an accurate gauge of a player's preformance. However, considering that these ratings are usualy filed by a different reporter every match, is it not significant that a large group of non-biased people who watch footy for a living generally agree that Parker is doing well? <3> In general, opposing supporters who do have an opinion on Parker seem to be favorable towards him. Most of this just comes from my interaction with supporters of other teams, although I've dug up one thread on another board for reference. http://www.westhamfans.org/forums/west-ham-united/west-ham-rumours/scott-parker-10-million.html (reaction to Parker->West Ham winter transfer rumor. Full of comments to the effect of "he's too good for us," "never get him in a million years.") <4> So, to conclude... Most pundits seem to think Parker is a good player. The media seems to think Parker is a good player. Supporters of other clubs seem to think Parker is a good player. (granted, evidence on the third one is a bit shaky at best.) Is all of this just a result of massive overhype? Is the rest of the footballing world too simple minded to realize the truth that we, the bestest fans in the world have clearly seen? Or are we the ones bending over backwards to slate one of our own players? Discuss.

Who but Paul Robinson?

Given - Nothing to do. Might as well have gone to the pub for a drink. 6 Solano - Smart, intelligent play. Crosses went nowhere though. 6 Oneywu - One of his more Boumsong-esque days. Still finding his feet, I hope. 5 Bramble - About as solid as Titus Bramble gets. 7 Taylor - Did his best to go forward, but things didn't really work out. Definitely looks uncomfortable at full back. 6 Butt - One really good pass, one really good tackle. Must've gone for a smoke after that. 6 Parker - Best player on the pitch today by a mile, although that isn't saying much. Created a lot going forward and made some critical stops. I'd disagree with the majority and say that he's slowly but surely returning to form. 7 Zoggy - Running and Ball Control was wonderful. Forgot we actually had players that could do that. The passing however.... Worst I've ever seen in any sort of Premiership match. Looks like he doesn't remember what his team-mates play like at all. 5 Milner - 973621 crosses. 973620 of them were completely useless. Granted, for what he's done for us this season, he deserves to get off scot-free for a few of these. 5 Martins - Tried hard, but two truly woeful first touches showed that it just wasn't his day. 5 Dyer - Steven Taylor had more influence on our play in the last third than Dyer did. Where was he? 5 Overall, can't believe we somehow didn't win this. Middlesborough gift-wrapped the three points and handed them to us on a platter, but we were to busy jacking off or summat to just take it and run. In a way, even more depressing than our loss at Wigan last week.

Might be a good time for those "Japanese Snipers"

I can't believe I actually uttered the words "West Ham will be challenging for Europe now" when they got Tevez and Mascherano. Worst footy prediction I've ever made in my life.

Also, there's no need to do it yet as we're nigh-on full (at least for league games). I think we would see us following suit if we were in Blackburn's position with attendences dropping - which we might be if we continue how we are on the pitch. Spot on. Blackburn is dropping prices because they absolutely need to. We really don't. I'm all for ticket prices that allow us to remain financially competetive. (Assuming we ever get around to using the money we have with half a brain)