Hughesy

Didn't impact us in 2002/03 when we won every game after Europe. So what? The fact that it didn't affect us ten years has absolutely no bearing on how it might affecting us now. Maybe Pardew should learn something about what we did then. Which was to play the basically his strongest team and formation in Europe and the League. Has football really changed so much? Imo it hasn't. I would say most managers do it. I don't think that somehow we stumbled upon a secret formula is 2002 that no-one else before or since has used.

Didn't impact us in 2002/03 when we won every game after Europe. So what? The fact that it didn't affect us ten years has absolutely no bearing on how it might affecting us now.

No doubt you are right, but I suspect Pardew saw what was achieved with the same methods last year and, up till now, had no reason to fix what wasn't broken. I do agree though that Pardew should have been looking to evolve our style and his methods.

He's full of s***, how can he complain that we are suffering because he is having to field two teams a week then complain that other teams have or use more players? Also, how is playing Maritimo at home then Southampton away any harder than playing Real Madrid at home and then Chelsea away like Man City are doing? Chelsea has played 21 competitive games so far this season if you include the charity shield, we've played 19, he should get somebody to read his script before he puts it into the public domain. He's feeling the pressure and he's using any excuse he can think of to deflect any blame for results away from him, some will fall for it. Might be worth comparing the relative strengths of our squad with Chelsea and Man City? Chelsea's bench against WBA included Ivanovic, Cole, Ramires, Mata, Oscar and Marin. Man City had Zabaleta, Lescott, Kolarov, Sinclair, Garcia and Dzeko. Bit of a difference, given that we had such footballing luminaries as Tavernier, Abeid and Amalfitano on our bench against Swansea. God knows who else didn't even make the squad for Chelsea and Man City in those matches.

People seem to be overlooking that fact, Ian. Quite clearly with the Europa League you have a lot less time to prepare for PL matches.

You can almost see the players trying to play the ball on the ground a bit more I think - Krul seems much more content to play the ball short to our defenders or roll the ball out. The problem is that with certain players in the team, when put under pressure or when a goal down, they revert to type and the ball gets launched. And as somebody has pointed out, it isn't even a good direct ball. It's just aimless.

Maybe people just don't feel the need to repeat the position they made clear last week, dude? A problem has been evident for some time and a concern is becoming a serious worry, but it would still be lunacy to advocate sacking the man at this point. Spot on.

Mike Williamson is a good Championship player, Lovenkrands even. Routledge is fantastic Championship player who's demonstrated he can do a good job in the Prem. I don't think he can do a good job in the Premiership. I don't think he is awful and he may well have been a decent squad player for us - not denying that. But he hasn't proved he can cut it in the Premiership for any of Spurs, Portsmouth, Fulham, Villa, us or Swansea.

Routledge is a good championship player and that's about it.

It was there to be hit.

Seems like we aren't renewing his contract. Get in.

It's a fair point. You could argue that he already has got his chance. He´s been here 2 years now and for what I can tell his gone backwards the last 6 months. That´s not the sign for me that he will turn anything around no matter the reasons to it. I think there is no coming back. Had his chance? Priceless.

That goal was truly exceptional. Watched it again to check how good it really was and it was even better than I remembered. Don't think I have seen a better struck overhead kick.

I'm waiting to see how long it takes someone to mention Hayden Mullins.

Very true. I find the scrutinised and highly detailed stuff like Zonal Marking in turn fascinating and rather annoying in that the game has become some technically analysed to the nth degree. Sometimes I feel I'll scream if I see another chalkboard with 500 lines on it. Some of those chalkboard analyses can be brilliantly informative, but there have quite a few I've seen where the conclusion is somewhat stretched from the actual evidence. Usually to suit some sort of agenda.

Would be nice to hear more songs for individual players that are original. I am always surprised at the lack of originality of most team's songs really.

I feel oddly disengaged from it all this year which I put down a bit too a) the Olympics and b) the disappointing transfer window. I still try and get to as many matches as I can and, if I can't, I will always try and watch the matches on the internet, but I haven't been as excited by it as before. Although, as has been pointed out, it isn't as if we have been fed a diet of regularly exciting football for the last 25 years - so I do wonder if expectations (including my own) rose as a result of last season and the hope that we would kick on.

He scored a winner yesterday and played Carroll through for a 1 on 1. No idea what Cabaye did. Nolan's goals will keep West Ham up. Same as his goals helped them get promoted last year so he's far from "extremely limited". I shouldn't need to say what he did for us. He has a role in lower to mid table team and is a good player at that level. But I'm afraid he is a limited footballer. He is slow, unfit and not that good technically. What he has in his favour is that he is positionally good and is a good finisher. But where do you play him? He can't play in a midfield two. You have to build a team around him and hope that his 10 goals is worth it. If we had a manager who could operate different formations/systems he'd be a very useful player. Most teams rotate their system and certain players for certain games but we either don't or can't. We're as predictable as any team in the league at the minute and our only plan B is bring on Shola. Having a different game plan as a plan B seems like a luxury when it's the norm at most clubs. How many people, without irony or sarcasm, though Nolan would score yesterday? The pre-match thread is full of that and he's still written off despite doing what we all said he'd do. Not sure any club would want to give their 29 year old Plan B a five year contract with wages of 50k a week.

Nolan's just far more suited to that style of play. He's physically superior too. Well - he is stronger and he has a bigger arse. Not sure if that makes him physically superior as I imagine that Cabaye is quicker and fitter.

He scored a winner yesterday and played Carroll through for a 1 on 1. No idea what Cabaye did. Nolan's goals will keep West Ham up. Same as his goals helped them get promoted last year so he's far from "extremely limited". I shouldn't need to say what he did for us. He has a role in lower to mid table team and is a good player at that level. But I'm afraid he is a limited footballer. He is slow, unfit and not that good technically. What he has in his favour is that he is positionally good and is a good finisher. But where do you play him? He can't play in a midfield two. You have to build a team around him and hope that his 10 goals is worth it.

To compare Nolan to Cabaye is embarrassing. We've had this debate before. Nolan is an extremely limited player who will score 10 goals a season. Other than that, he offers little.

So want him and steven taylor to score against the mackems just so the o'brien song has 2 extra verses.

I didn't think he played too badly yesterday. Seems to have been made into a bit of scapegoat at Liverpool. An in-form Jose is a far better LB than Martin Kelly.

My main gripe is that Sterling gets off scot free for his appalling tackle on Cisse and then his lash out at Simpson and Colo gets a straight red.

Spot on. It was a brainless pass from cisse in the first place. He had time and space and no need to play the ball straight back to jonas - who was under far more pressure.