2010-2011 Football Thread

[XIII]

Oh? B52 want's to quit the club.

I may sound biased but i have yet to see a manager who gives his B-team as many chances to step up/prove themselves as Wenger does. Almost blind faith. Yet these people mostly flop and then go on to moan about it.

Bendtner is a good striker (was immense for us last season) but is not consistent enough to be a top 4 club first team striker. He's been given so many chances but the results are mostly the same; the B52 bomber, 9 times out of 10, misses it's target.

He's not the only one. if it were me i'd send; Diaby, Denilson, Rosicky, Squillaci and Almunia packing this summer. All are squad players that fail to deliver 95% of the time they are called up to supplement.

Bendtner only said those comments when asked specifically about his future, and I don't see anything wrong with what he said. You have a problem when you've got players who are content with sitting on the bench and don't crave for first team football. I hate some of the unfair criticism Bendtner gets - what do you expect when you just throw him on for 20 minutes at the end of a game, or play him wide on the right? He needs a good run of games to see what he's really made of. Unfortunately there is a pecking order, and he is below Robin and presumably Chamakh. He's only 23, still got plenty of time, and if you look at his scoring record over the past few seasons, it's pretty good. He is technically a good footballer (see his Ipswich goal - if Nasri or Fabregas or someone more in favour had scored that, everyone would've gone mad) - I am very happy to have him around, he can do a job, and I think he'll go places.

Squad players are necessary, hence why we have a squad. You can't have a team of full internationals all in perfect condition - they wouldn't all stay, and even if they did, you wouldn't expect them to be in any decent condition as they haven't been played regularly enough. It's a balancing act. I agree Squillaci, Almunia and Denilson aren't good, and I'd rather we had better players, but then if we had Vermaelen fit, how much football would we be expecting Squillaci to get? Not much - behind Koscielny and Djourou. Diaby I think you're wrong about - he's had a very injury plighted career so far, but he has a lot of talent, and offers something we don't have from anyone else.

Interested to see Bendtner play tonight.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I more or less agree. Bendtner may have a very high opinion of himself, but confidence is good in a striker and nobody can blame a footballer for desiring more first-team action.

Bit of a cobbled together England squad, but it's being billed as the Jack Wilshire Show.

The USA-Egypt match was, of course, cancelled. Probably not a good idea to send our best XI over there at the moment...

 

[Fuzzy14]

I'm rather happy at the moment.

Edit:
And I shall remain happy. Defense weren't really tested, and when they were they looked a bit shaky. NI made Scotland look better than they were, but overall I think that was a very useful game. Naismith-Miller-Commons playing well together (Naismith on the form of his life just now at Rangers.) With 7 months until our next qualification game, a positive result in a second tier international was better for us than playing a nothing friendly (looks at England.)

 

[Fizzoid]

a positive result in a second tier international was better for us than playing a nothing friendly (looks at England.)

I was following a thread on the BBC's 606 yesterday discussing the pros & cons of these friendlies. Personally, I do see the value in them, but only if you're going to put out something like a first team, which never seems to happen because of 'injuries'. Look at some of the teams Spain, Brazil, Germany and Italy put out last night, and you'll see they take it far more serious than we do. What's the betting most of the 'injured' players are playing at the weekend? The problem with the friendlies is down to the congested schedule and I really do think we should extend the season. Our next international match is a competetive game I believe, so just when do we get chance to blood the newcomers, or actually play/gel together as a team? England are often criticised for playing like 11 strangers on the pitch, and then criticised for playing 'pointless' friendlies

 

[takao]

the italy vs germany game sure was quite heated at times and sure didn't feel like a friendly

though i have to say italy has a lot of work ahead of them, while their defense is as usual quite competent and their attackers still can make goal chances out of nowhere (inlcuding their goal), every time germany stopped fooling around their midfield ceased to exist

 

[Fuzzy14]

My main point (poorly expressed) was Scotland in the past has played plenty of friendlies where they are asking for £20 to see an unrecognisable team and a silly number of substitutes. The Nations Cup is better because although it's a more competitive match it doesn't have the same pressure as a Euro or WC qualifier, and Scotland needs more competitive matches. I think England perhaps could do with the same, a less pressured international match where they can maybe blood one or two new faces but keep continuity in the team and a recognisable shape, generating confidence.

 

[Fizzoid]

No, you're right, more often than not they are 'nothing friendlies' due to the absence of the majority of the 'big names' for various reasons. Just wanted to see what other people's opinions were

 

[Lord Blackadder]

England are often criticised for playing like 11 strangers on the pitch, and then criticised for playing 'pointless' friendlies

Most pundits seem to feel that friendlies are pointless, but I disagree. I think there's something to be said for putting out an experimental side now and then, in order to evaluate tactics or players, but without the risk of losing a competitive match. It also give the manager, especially on the rare occasion he has a full-strength side, to actually manage his national team on the pitch. National teams don't get to play very often, which must be frustrating for national team managers.

I think most of the hatred towards friendlies stems from the fact that clubs lie, cheat and steal as much as possible to keep their players from international duty, especially in the business end of the season or if a title race is close. So we end up with B-team international sides even though most of the first XI are actually fit. That, and the fact that many fans feel like their's no point to a "non-competitive" match that doesn't count towards anything except FIFA world ranking.

As for England, Bent looked useful again, and Wilshire seems to have held up under the enormous pressure. But England's ability to defend a truly dangerous team like Argentina or Spain is questionable.

the italy vs germany game sure was quite heated at times and sure didn't feel like a friendly.

It sure sounded like a proper match. I'm still weeping that Giuseppe Rossi opted to play for Italy over the USA, but given the same choice, just about every one of us would do the same.

 

[Fuzzy14]

No, you're right, more often than not they are 'nothing friendlies' due to the absence of the majority of the 'big names' for various reasons. Just wanted to see what other people's opinions were

Ok, what I'm really saying is the Nations Cup is a meaningless competition without England!

 

[XIII]

Play all the Euro/WC qualifying games at once in the summer, get them out the way in 3 weeks.. scrap the stupid friendlies.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The more I read about West Ham's Olympic Stadium plan, the less I like it. I've watched a match from a running track-equipped stadium, and it's horrible. Plus, 60,000 seats? Are you kidding?

A white elephant.

 

[Fizzoid]

Ok, what I'm really saying is the Nations Cup is a meaningless competition without England!

Well, we want to give you guys a chance

 

[swiftaw]

Play all the Euro/WC qualifying games at once in the summer, get them out the way in 3 weeks.. scrap the stupid friendlies.

I'm with you except, they should have a friendly or two in the week running up to the qualifying tournament and then have a friendly or two in the run up to the main tournament. That's it.

 

[awmazz]

Play all the Euro/WC qualifying games at once in the summer, get them out the way in 3 weeks.. scrap the stupid friendlies.

Hear, hear. Friendlies to sort out team tactics and selections etc can be played immediately prior like they do in the league. Like Arsenal plays Barnet or a mini-tournament with Ajax/Real, or Man Utd tours the USA or Asia etc.

Can you tell me this week lottery numbers please, I'm somewhat spooked after your Man U v Wolves prediction

Ha ha, no prediction required - some things are just inevitable facts. The Manager of the Month award is a jinx, beyond question!

I think there's even some jinx spillover - lookit who got the the Manager of the Year award last season... now unemployed... initials R.H.

Ok, what I'm really saying is the Nations Cup is a meaningless competition without England!

Invite France in instead - make it the 5 Nations.

The more I read about West Ham's Olympic Stadium plan, the less I like it. I've watched a match from a running track-equipped stadium, and it's horrible. Plus, 60,000 seats? Are you kidding?

A white elephant.

I agree. They'll rue the day.

Sebastian Coe is wanking off about the importance of an athletics track. He has a vested interest in subsidizing his own personal sport so is prepared to sacrifice West Ham United for athletics which nobody watches or cares about anyway outside of the two week carnival every four years. Athletics isn't even the most watched televized event at the Olympics either, soccer is, so I don't know why he even has a say in it. Why not Britain's successful kayakers? Put a kayak water course around West Ham's pitch... it's stupid. Fine if taxpayers subsidize Coe and his sponging ilk, but he's clearly not the person to help decide what's most economically feasible for the stadium, or the new tenants wanting to make it financially viable.

Spurs' bid makes the most sense as it's exactly what we did here for the Sydney Olympic stadium from 2000. The talk about 'demolishing' the London stadium is misleading as it's like the Sydney stadium where costs are cut to stay within budget by building parts to be temporary only anyway so Spurs aren't proposing anything much different to what's planned anyway apart from removing the running track. The less popular athletics would be better having its own separate sports complex anway than looking like losers with a mostly empty stadium at their events.

For the Sydney stadium the two end stands for instance were only temporary and removed immediately after the games. They were never built to last for years, just until the carnival leaves town then down they come. The post-Olympics plan was always to reduce the capacity and remove the track to enable it to be viable for several football codes and clubs (rugby, rugby league, aussie rules) to adopt it as their home ground so the crowd will be both closer to the field as well as a weekend game not struggling to fill a 100,000 seater.

BEFORE -

AFTER -

So it went from this - terrible! - which will be West Ham's new atmosphere, or lack of it. Not only is the track itself a no man's land, the extra part between the track and ends of the pitch because the track is curved is even worse no man's land:

To this, which is much better for football (personally I think the seating is still too shallow, should be more vertical like a wall of people):

 

[Fizzoid]

Well, I thought Chris Hughton would get the job, but it seems Unle Woy is now manager of Rest Brom

Still, there's hope for a Hughton return, isn't Holloway supposed to be resigning?

 

[OllyW]

The more I read about West Ham's Olympic Stadium plan, the less I like it. I've watched a match from a running track-equipped stadium, and it's horrible. Plus, 60,000 seats? Are you kidding?

A white elephant.

Even without a running track, the stands at the Molineux, home of my team Wolves are still too far from the pitch, made worse with the 4 open corners.

Wolves' Chairman Steve Morgan has now announced the go ahead for the redevelopment of the stadium, starting at the end of this season. They are bringing the stands closer to the pitch and filling the corners in which should improve the atmosphere and will increase the capacity from 28,000 to 36,000 at the end of phase 3.

http://www.molineuxpride.co.uk/wt/home

Past

Present

Future

 

[Fizzoid]

Being quite hopefull with future attendance aren't they?

 

[OllyW]

Being quite hopefull with future attendance aren't they?

Most of the Premier League matches have sold out for the home fans this season. We've got a problem finding a home for away fans, they either get a third of the Jack Harris Stand behind the goal or if they're playing a team with a big away following they get the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand on the side.

With over 20,000 season ticket holders it means they have to keep moving some of them around which isn't popular. The away fans will get the new North East corner stand as a permanent home. It will also more than double the current number of executive boxes and corporate facilities.

They won't sell out 36,000 every match but they will fill it for a lot of matches. I've been to quite a few 40-50,000 crowds up there in the 70's and we took nearly 60,000 fans to the Sherpa Van Trophy final at Wembley when we were still in the old 4th Division, so the support in the area is there. We just need to be playing at the highest level.

The Stage 4 redevelopment is still wide open and won't be started for at least another 5 years. They have enough room to go up to 50,000 but that is being very optimistic to say the least.

 

[XIII]

I'm with you except, they should have a friendly or two in the week running up to the qualifying tournament and then have a friendly or two in the run up to the main tournament. That's it.

Hear, hear. Friendlies to sort out team tactics and selections etc can be played immediately prior like they do in the league. Like Arsenal plays Barnet or a mini-tournament with Ajax/Real, or Man Utd tours the USA or Asia etc.

Exactly.

Most of the Premier League matches have sold out for the home fans this season. We've got a problem finding a home for away fans, they either get a third of the Jack Harris Stand behind the goal or if they're playing a team with a big away following they get the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand on the side.

With over 20,000 season ticket holders it means they have to keep moving some of them around which isn't popular. The away fans will get the new North East corner stand as a permanent home. It will also more than double the current number of executive boxes and corporate facilities.

I hate where they put the away fans at Molineux at the moment.. we're always all along the side of the pitch. It's only 10 rows deep, and no cover, so all the noise and atmosphere blows away, as we're all so spread out along the whole pitch. New situation sounds much better! Having said that, I will go again next year... it's close to me, and always quite fun.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Well, I thought Chris Hughton would get the job, but it seems Unle Woy is now manager of Rest Brom

The question is, can Woy wescue the welegation thweatened Thwostles from the dwop?

The Olympic Stadium – we as a country promised there would be an athletics legacy post-Games, so of the two bids it's the preferred one I suppose. But proper thought should have been put in when the stadium was planned. There are grounds that feature retractable seating that can be removed to accommodate a running track, such a solution should have kept all parties happy – a football stadium with the support close to the pitch but which can be converted easily for running, jumping and throwing when the needs arises.

There's also the issue of nearby Leyton Orient, who are potentially going to be hit by floating fans in the area deciding they'd rather watch higher level football than go and watch the O's. This move is potentially a big threat to them, but I don't think the impact it will have on the club has been taken particularly seriously.

Also, I think it's rather interesting that the images West Ham came up with as part of their bid don't actually appear to show a running track in the stadium...

XIII – the best away ground I've been to is definitely Bridlington Town's Queensgate, where you can stand behind the goal and have a chat with the opposition supporters with a pint in your hand.

The worst? Funnily enough, Upton Park would be up there...

 

[OllyW]

I hate where they put the away fans at Molineux at the moment.. we're always all along the side of the pitch. It's only 10 rows deep, and no cover, so all the noise and atmosphere blows away, as we're all so spread out along the whole pitch. New situation sounds much better! Having said that, I will go again next year... it's close to me, and always quite fun.

With the capacity being cut to 24,000 next season with the ground redevelopment, you'll be sitting in the Jack Harris Stand Flank (behind the goal) and will only get around 2,000 tickets.*


* If we manage to stay up.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Even without a running track, the stands at the Molineux, home of my team Wolves are still too far from the pitch, made worse with the 4 open corners.

It's a product of the promotion/relegation system I suppose, but I do find it interesting that a team playing in England's top football league has under 30,000 seats in their stadium. Here in the states, only a few major MLB or NFL stadia to have under 40,000 seats, and none are under 35,000.

Still, there is definitely something to be said for smaller stadiums - Columbus Crew stadium is just over 20,000 capacity, and there are no bad seats in the house.

Well, I thought Chris Hughton would get the job, but it seems Unle Woy is now manager of Rest Brom

The question is, can Woy wescue the welegation thweatened Thwostles from the dwop?

Woy is probably just thrilled to have a job. If the team's half-season trajectory follows that of Hodgson's Liverpool, I don't hold out much hope for them.

 

[OllyW]

Woy is probably just thrilled to have a job. If the team's half-season trajectory follows that of Hodgson's Liverpool, I don't hold out much hope for them.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Quite the match this afternoon as Preston visit the KC. With the opposing team will be arguably the most successful manager in our history (Phil Brown), a very popular former player/manager (Brown's assistant Brian Horton), arguably our greatest ever captain (Ian Ashbee), plus two key defenders in our rise up the leagues (Leon Cort and Wayne Brown).

To mark the occasion I'll be wearing my 2006/7 shirt (the season Brown took over), while our former gaffer will be wearing a bowler hat.



There's but a cigarette paper between me and Phil Brown when it comes to sartorial elegance.

 

[XIII]

With the capacity being cut to 24,000 next season with the ground redevelopment, you'll be sitting in the Jack Harris Stand Flank (behind the goal) and will only get around 2,000 tickets.*


* If we manage to stay up.

Oh god, not that horrible little bit glued onto the side of one of the stands behind the goal?! With no cover over it? Haha!

Jaffa, I quite like Upton Park! Behind the goal, close to the pitch, nice big away end which isn't split over two tiers...