Wallsendmag

Maybe. Maybe not. All I can go off is what I've seen with my own eyes this season and whilst I agree with what you're saying there, although he's made some other unenforced errors as well, I can see why he's not first choice for Germany.

Agree we were an absolute unit defensively that season and it wasn't solely down the the centre halves but with Thiaw I can only comment on what I've seen of him so far and that is that he's miles off what Botman/Schar were when we looked so commanding at the back.

Burn played Left Back (41 apps in all competitions) and Trippier Right back (43 apps in all competitions).

It's not like Thiaw isn't prone to the odd clanger and the other issue I have with him is that none of our other CBs look all that comfortable playing alongside him, although that's maybe a slightly harsh take as Botman and Schar have had injury problems. When I talk about a defensive blueprint for us I'd always refer back to the 22/23 season. We had the best defensive record in the league that year conceding 33 goals in 38 games. Botman and Schar were incredible as a CB pairing that season, both playing 41 games in all competitions. He hasn't got anywhere near to the level they played at that season so far in his time here.

Not sure how this is Howes fault mind. Surely it's just a simple case of Schlotterbeck and Tah being better players than he is?

Must admit I've never considered our Intertoto Cup (certificate) as a real trophy

3 FA Cups and a Cup Winners Cup were all I could find for West Ham?

I was born in 78 and when I was young and getting into football Spurs were always known as a Cup team. They had some sort of record where they would regularly win the FA Cup when the year ended with a 1 or something like that. For that reason they were pretty much seen as Londons 2nd team despite having won less league titles than the likes of Huddersfield Town, but then the mid/late 90s came, Matthew Harding bought Chelsea, they brought in the likes of Gullit, Vialli, Zola and started winning trophies which nudged them above Spurs. Then Abramovich came in and they left them for dead.

It's not just about that though. There's a lot of teams who've finished above them for 2 years in a row that they'd need to overhaul.

If he gets us CL next season I'll be very happy but then if it's followed by another really poor season like this one then none of the questions or concerns will have been answered or addressed. He needs to prove he can juggle the demands of a European campaign alongside domestic duties which is something he's struggled with so far in terms of his squad management. I've already mentioned the farcical team selection v Qarabag at home as an obvious example. As I've said, the 2 names I've been championing for a while are both in new jobs now and the 3rd one looks like he's about to so I genuinely don't have any idea who could now come in and do a better job so I'll be backing him from August but with doubts in the back of my mind.

Last season was his chance tbf. Ambitious clubs shouldn't tolerate 2 seasons in a row of bottom half finishes*. If next season is more of the same he could have no complaints if he's sacked. *I'd gladly accept another 12th placed finish and winning the FA Cup.

If that's the case (and it wouldn't surprise me) and that's the punishment full and final it opens a huge can of worms and makes a mockery of the rules which others would be able to now break now that it's the known that the punishment isn't much of a deterrent. We should be all over it and looking to exploit this with Nick De Marco on speed dial if the PL try to get funny and treat us differently!

I'm probably around 70/30 in favour of wanting him gone but can still see the argument for giving him next season. It just boils down to whether or not people have the confidence that he's able to turn it around or not. Also the Cup win has an emotional sway on people. Basically I'm 70/30 that I think the decline has set in and he won't be able to turn it around but there's still that part of me who thinks he might which is why I still understand why people want him to stay. Another big factor is that my first 2 choices to replace him would have been Alonso and Iraola but they are now both in new jobs. After those 2 my next choice would have been Glasner and it looks like he's off to Milan so I'm scratching my head now as to who his replacement would be.

Absolute scum of the earth. Storming the Farmers Rest with Stanley knives and attacking and slashing innocent supporters in there will always go down as the biggest liberty any set of visiting fans have took up here.

If we finish 17th next season I'll 100% be calling for the managers sacking!

Hopefully Man City find out their punishment this summer and then attention turns to Chelsea after that.

They were seen as a more fashionable club due to their location. I'm also old enough to remember the Save Stamford Bridge campaign and Ken Bates being able to buy them for a quid. Still think all being equal they were the bigger club. Aside from that, in the 60s, 70s and early/mid 80s they were the only London club who'd would travel up here in big numbers. Even Spurs and Arsenal didnt. I mean a large % were absolute knuckle draggers but they still had the largest away support of any London club by quite a margin.

Pre Abramovich Chelsea had won 3x more major trophies than West Ham and had a bigger fanbase. Historically Chelsea are the UKs 6th best supported club with West Ham in 10th place (in terms of all time average attendance). I'd say trophies won and fanbase are the two biggest factors when ranking the size of a football club. Aside from that Chelsea have played top flight football far more than West Ham have (91 seasons to 68).

They've always been a bigger club than West Ham tbf. Always were Londons 3rd biggest club. Arguably went up to number 1 with the CL wins and PL wins and probably now cemented as Londons 2nd biggest.

Spurs have finished 4th bottom for 2 seasons in a row. When does them being a top 6 team not be seen as a normality? To go from 17th 2 years running to top 6 would take a miraculous turnaround. Chelsea have a very good manager now so they'll undoubtedly move back into top 6. Villa have CL football next season and may well drop out of it.

Yeah I see what you're saying but in a regular season I don't think there's a hope in hells chance of a newly promoted Sunderland finishing 7th on 54 points with a -6 GD as an example.

I just thought the standard and quality of football throughout was poor. Barely watched a game from start to finish that didn't involve us (even switched a few of ours off well before the end) as I found the vast majority of them boring as hell and that's not like me.

Personally I thought the league was of very poor quality last season. Arsenal basically won it on set piece goals, Man City nowhere near consistent enough to put genuine pressure on them, the defending Champions were awful and lost 12 games, Bournemouth finished 6th despite losing their best players and a newly promoted team finished 7th on a negative goal difference. Top 6 has to be the aim next season especially with no European distractions.

Made 4 appearances for us in something like 5 years and the daft cunt is moaning on because we didn't recognise him when he was out and about. In order to recognise someone surely you've got to know what they look like in the first place.

Bournemouth just finished 6th. Sunderland were 7th, Brighton 8th and Brentford 9th. It should absolutely not take a miracle to finish above that lot.