West Ham United 25/26 relegation thread

[muskie]

Odds slashed from 5/1 to 7/2.

Watch this space.

I think we're fucked.

[stubbo-admin]

Without additional signings except Traore who seems pretty nailed on (and assuming the standard 50% relegation clause which IS typically baked into our contracts), a 'starting point' Championship squad could easily be:

GK:Areola, Hermansen, Herrick
RB: KWP, Battrum
LB: Myers, Scarles
CB: Kilman, Mavropanos, Casey, Golambeckis
CDM: Potts, Magassa, Orford, JWP
ACM: Soucek, Kante, Fearon
FW: Summerville, Earthy, Guilherme, Traore
ST: Marshall, Ajala, Cummings

It's not too far from a squad I'd be open to watching.

At the same time, we could expect to get:

Paqueta: 30m
Fernandes: 50m
Todibo: 20m
Bowen: 50m
Fullkrug: 5m
Alvarez: 10m
AWB: 15m
Diouf: 25m
~£200m in Sales.

Plus ship out Irving, Rodriguez and Wilson on a free.

If with that, we were to go get someone like Carrick through the door as manager, a young hungry squad with a huge academy influence, and a few 'proper' seasoned pro's like Soucek, JWP, KWP, and Kilman to support with worthwhile experience, I could see following that side being a more enjoyable experience than the last few have been.

Add on top a few sensible additions:

Charlie Cresswell (20m), Hayden Hackney (15m), Joe Gelhardt (10m) and Žan Vipotnik (10m)...and youd have a youthful side that could have a real go.
 

[Eerie Decent]

I don't think people are yearning for it Gazza, more resigned to it.

It will be a fucking disaster us going down, but the manager is not trying to win games. We are not going to draw our way out of this mess, I was holding out hope until yesterday, but to not start that game in particular trying to win it, fucking Fulham at home, I think the reality of it has properly kicked in for most now.

Apart from threesixty, who's as chipper as a market trader at Christmas, and ain't worried about us not picking up points. Who needs points, eh?

[Gary Strodders shank]

There seems to be.a yearning amongst some to write this season off already, cash in on our assets in January and start again afresh with a young team in the championship.

I find this not only defeatest but also extremely naive on many fronts.

Playing championship football at Upton park was one thing but we now have a 63k arena that is souless and bereft of atmosphere at the best of times and that is in the premier league.

What kind of average crowd would we expect to get in the second tier should we not hit the ground running?

Stoke or Sunderland on a Tuesday night you are probably looking at a third of the capacity with upper tiers closed.
Opposition teems will enjoy playing us with likely larger than normal away allocations to boost the figures and the sparse home support hardly raising an audible murmur.from the other side of the running track.

There is no chance of creating an intimidating atmosphere or raucous twelfth man type support as the design of the ground just doesn't allow for it and most of the old school vociferous fans have given up the ghost already.

If we go down we will become the team everyone fancies playing against at home and a novelty for visiting fans singing "you sold your soul"

We will struggle to sell on our dead wood such as Kilman 
and attract interest for the decent young players we wish to keep.

The souless and toxic atmosphere will also deter many players from signing for us.

If we go down we will stay down and possibly drop further.

We need to be getting behind the team in the next month regardless of the issues that exist and hoping we.czn string some results together to give ourselves a fighting chance.

As fans we have also become (perhaps understandably to some extent) apathetic.

How many sing chant and watch the whole 90 ?

A lot of disinterest, chat amongst ourselves and people checking their phones to see how their accumulators are doing.

We concede and people are heading to the bar or if second half for the exits 

We moan about the atmosphere and the tourists around us and yes we pay our money and take our choice of what we do of course and there are still enough who care  to raise a decent protest against the owners but overall do the majority really put a shift in at home ?

I will still turn up on a wet Tuesday night in the championship  but how many of those relative newbies who love telling everyone of their exploits on that summer night in Prague will be ?

Resilience hope and a sense of humour are and always have been the prerequisites required to be a West ham fan and all three are certainly needed right now.

We are not dead and buried yet 
 












I

[Tomshardware]

As many have said on here this is about years and years of shambolic aimless decision making.  Plugging holes and making do.  How long was Antonio our main centre forward?  A right winger converted because countless centre forwards we signed were either not good enough or not suited, or not wanted by the manager.

Eventually you will run out of luck and here we are staring down the barrel.

[goose]

Ive no idea it’s true but just feel Sullivan will find a way to protect himself from losses in his shareholder value. 

The most valuable asset the CLUB has is premier league membership. That goes the day we’re relegated.

Every sales after that is an attempt to manage the operating of the business to reflect the reduction in income.

Sullivan doesn’t see a penny of any of this, it’s the clubs money.

[goose]

I heard we are posting s 100 million loss in Jan?

Possibly, possibly not because of the sale of the women’s team.

making a loss of £100m doesn’t mean we owe someone £100m. Its retrospective, its happened already.

[Sir Alf]

Ive no idea its true but just feel Sullivan will find a way to protect himself from losses in his shareholder value. 

[Sir Alf]

I heard we are posting s 100 million loss in Jan?

[goose]

That makes zero sense sorry.
pay off £100m hole in the accounts? to who exactly?
what "shareholder gains" (not sure what that even means) is he getting back?

step #1 you need to understand the separation of Sullivan and the "the club".

[Sir Alf]

Very true Goose but you get the drift. Sullivans priority is gettimg his shareholder gains back afyer they take a hit with relegation.  My point is he will still have no plan for the football club and will pay off the 100 million hole in the accounts first,  finance everything for players through loans after selling Bowen, Paqueta, Magassa, Fernandes, AwB, Diouf, etc for £150 million plus

[goose]

Let it go lads. We aint catching anyone. We’re gone already. It will take a long while for Nuno and then Sullivan to accept but the sooner the planning starts gor the championship the better. Oh no thats more than a few months away, far too long term. Build a team around Magassa, Fernandes, Potts, Earthy, and a couple of other U21s if possible.  But we wont, Sullivsn will sell anything and rverythimg he can. His shareholding vslue may be halved perhaps equating to over 100 million. Other shareholders like  Kretinski and Golds also see their share values in the toilet. The millions from player sales transferred via accountants into the personal wealth of the owners before we then start borrowing from owners with interest to start the next transfer window. Agents, old, slow players or loans and same old process.  Years in championship and even league 1 beckon

Alf you don’t understand accounting son.

[Sir Alf]

Let it go lads. We aint catching anyone. We’re gone already. It will take a long while for Nuno and then Sullivan to accept but the sooner the planning starts gor the championship the better. Oh no thats more than a few months away, far too long term. Build a team around Magassa, Fernandes, Potts, Earthy, and a couple of other U21s if possible.  But we wont, Sullivsn will sell anything and rverythimg he can. His shareholding vslue may be halved perhaps equating to over 100 million. Other shareholders like  Kretinski and Golds also see their share values in the toilet. The millions from player sales transferred via accountants into the personal wealth of the owners before we then start borrowing from owners with interest to start the next transfer window. Agents, old, slow players or loans and same old process.  Years in championship and even league 1 beckon

[onsideman]

Leeds equalise with a stunning goal

 

[Tomshardware]

Yesterday could have gone either way.  We didn't take our chances, they punished our mistake.   I honestly think the Brighton game will be the turning point in our season.  

What's that based on?  Sounds like management talk.

It's based on the poster being a bit simple
He/she/they previously proclaimed we would win yesterday and start our climb up the table

Agreed but also sounds a bit like something ferret would post.

[Sweep]

Sunderland beating Leeds.

[onsideman]

Yesterday could have gone either way.  We didn't take our chances, they punished our mistake.   I honestly think the Brighton game will be the turning point in our season.  

What's that based on?  Sounds like management talk.

It's based on the poster being a bit simple
He/she/they previously proclaimed we would win yesterday and start our climb up the table

[Tomshardware]

Yesterday could have gone either way.  We didn't take our chances, they punished our mistake.   I honestly think the Brighton game will be the turning point in our season.  

What's that based on?  Sounds like management talk.

[onsideman]

Hope to be proved wrong, but having just seen that Sunderland are without 6 afcon players plus Dan Ballard at home against Leeds today I think we'll probably be looking at a 9 point gap to them by close of play

[muskie]

End this thread . We won't be anywhere near the relegation places . The squad age is coming down and we'll massively improve because of it . 

 

 

Pshyco must have lost his meds the day he wrote this.

[David LE]

As said before    Sacking Potter wasn’t the answer to the question of a dysfunctional squad and a Board with little ambition beyond mid table 

Mid table? 17th you mean.

[cup of tea]

I have tickets for the QPR game, originally thought it was Saturday but now its Sunday and travel is fucked I am knocking it on the head and just taking the hit on money I have paid for the tickets.

The thought of sitting in that cesspit with zero atmosphere whilst 9000 QPR fans take the piss isn't my idea of a good use of time

[Far Cough UKunt]

I'm thinking of knocking the Brighton game on the head, i'm so fucking depressed about the whole thing.

I've never missed a home game since we moved to the shithole.

Run by cunts.

Fuck off!

[cup of tea]

QPR are half decent this season. Who would have thought I would be jealous of QPR with a FOOTBALL stadium.

QPR will turn up at the cesspit backed by 9000 fans taking the absolute piss and probably beat us then it really will be season over.

NEXT LEVEL

[Beef&Tomato]

Yesterday could have gone either way.  We didn't take our chances, they punished our mistake.   I honestly think the Brighton game will be the turning point in our season.  

[northbankboy68]

In my opinion, if we get relegated what saves us at that point is our Academy setup. 

The highest profile players in that team as well as the team.collectively when playing in the Cup have shown themselves able to compete below Premier League level.

Casey, Potts, Earthy, Scarles...all clearly capable of playing good level Championship football.

Orford, Kante, Fearon, Herrick, Marshall, Myers...hugely well thought of and you'd expect to adjust seamlessly.

Then there are others....Cummings, Ajala, Golambeckis....that you would expect to come through and would be getting loans next season at that level .

Plus even if we wanted to we won't be able to shift every senior squad members so augment them with a few like KWP, JWP, maybe Guilherme, maybe someone on smaller wages like a Magassa...

...and we have a squad already that won't see us plummet to league one, and that is pretty much ready to go.

IMO we'd compete at the top end of the Championship...the challenge is staying up if you get up...Sunderland look like making a good fist of it but almost none of their squad played Championship football last season. It's a vastly inferior league and a team that smashes the Championship is rarely well enough equipped to survive the Premier League.

So you Yo-Yo a couple seasons....and it's the second relegation that I'd be fearful for.

We will find out on 11th Jan how we are likely to fare in the Championship and how good our academy is!  QPR are having a reasonable season.  If we are going to bounce straight up we should beat them comfortably.  We'll see!