dmayne7

Is it a difficult choice? Go to Man City and get better coaches, better players around you and to learn from etc, and most depressingly, more of a chance to break into the first team. Look at Nyoni who was far less hyped than Monga and he played for Liverpool at 16 and has picked up a handful more appearances at 17. Look at Man City's record for giving youngsters a chance. Would love to know where this evidence is for people thinking that these guys are more likely to get a chance with us, because I don't see it anywhere? Logically, they should but we are absolutely atrocious and developing younger players and giving them opportunities here or out on loan. Thomas probably the only 1 who's actually been given a first team chance as a very young player and even that was out of necessity. Unless we change how we operate, there is almost no reason for him to stay here over Man City.

Just got to the point where he's talking about Vichai . Such a shame that Top seems to display so few of these qualities

Don't think he will. At least not until he's retired as he's got too much respect for the club and wouldn't feel like the professional thing to do.

More articulate and thoughtful than 99% of footballers out there. Probably the only footballer who I could listen to and always find it interesting.

Great to see. Hopefully he gets back in the team for the last few games.

I hope you've got kids otherwise you might not be seeing your other half ever again... Well, except maybe in court when she testifies against you

Definitely something like this but this would only benefit teams like us and not teams further down the pyramid, so not to this extent. You'd never get youngsters go and sign for a L1/L2 club as even a championship/lower end PL team would never take a punt on them when you're getting into the £millions, so they would just reject the chance to join those academies/youth setups in hope for a bigger club. That then further reduces the money these clubs can make and would also lead to producing far fewer players of quality in the country.

Na, we blew it. Of course things can change and we could win an FA Cup or even finish top 4 as a one off but other clubs have all raised the bar off the field (or at least mirrored out successful model, or that of a Brighton/Brentford) so your chance of getting a competitive advantage is very limited. Couple that with PSR and it's very hard to ever get to a secure place. We really should have secured ourselves as a PL club for 10+ years if we'd got over the line with top 4 and managed it better.

Yeah and still got relegated. He had his own way so often which was the problem. Well done for being a total narcissist and it shows in his performances when things go wrong. The only sensible outcome was sacking him at the start of the season after that awful run or to be honest, probably when we went out of the Conference League (pathetic that we didn't win that given we were the joint favourites for the Europa League and crashed out at the group stage). Sure we were 17th or 18th in the expected points table that season but somehow finished 8th. That tells you all you need to know; dreadful management being outweighed by excellent individuals.

Absolutely hasn't softened at all. Probably got worse if anything. Everything about him, his decisions and the way he acted (blaming fans for being making the players nervous at Brighton a particular favourite, when we were actually yelling at the players to boot it clear instead of pissing around at the back). I think you need to split his tenure in 2 as his first 18-24 months would put him up there as one of the very best managers we've had but the second half was failure beyond anything else, including the likes of Taylor. We all know the board are crap and it probably would have ended up like this eventually, but if Rodgers hadn't dismantled everything good we did, absolutely bottled CL football again (though I let him off the first time because it wasn't unexpected and injuries to certain players) and wasted all that money on players he didn't use, then our medium term future could have been completely different. We really did have a chance to completely separate ourselves from the other clubs outside the big 6 for at least a 10 year period or so, but look at us now. On the way back to being a yo-yo club at best.

Or, and this is a radical idea, how about you just ignore them? Unless they are genuinely a twat (thinking of Faes for example who is awful and constantly talking about leaving), then just don't say anything positive. You talk about Skipp who's been rubbish but he's 1 of the few that actually does try (even if he could try harder), so feels just as cowardly to go up them in the street and do that. As Mike says, do it in the ground and actually give it the beans

Even though he rightfully got pulled up for the lack of tracking back and he's been disappointing this season, Winks needs to play every game. He's the only one who can actually get his foot on the ball and do something to influence the tempo. Just get Ndidi or Skipp to sit in alongside him and then effectively play with a defensive bank of players, and an offensive 3/4

I read the first bit in Ndidi and almost lost my shit . The amount of times he did that was mind boggling. Justin the particular target after he'd done some good work to give us a chance to clear but then Wilf just gave it back to him where he could then do nothing. He then decided to go an share the love with VK. But the best was with Winks where he somehow overhit a 5 yard pass that Winks somehow managed to get on the stretch, but the ball came straight back to Ndidi and he then misplaced another 5 yard pass and WH were on the break.

I struggle to see how anyone can watch that and think that Justin was the problem. He got hospital pass, after hospital pass tonight. Justin is asked to mark 2-3 players and expected to provide the only attacking width in the team. You talk about him running into space but he barely had a chance to do that and to be fair to him and VK, they're probably absolutely shot because they've done twice as much running as anyone else. He almost always has to pass backwards as there's 2 opposing players in front of him, which you'd think would mean that we have an overload somewhere but we won't because instead the clowns around him will all bunch up and offer no width.

Don't think we did. They looked like it was a training exercise for them in the first half but heard plenty of their fans saying how poor they were. It was an absolutely dreadful game of football and they scored 2 dreadful goals that were gifted to them. It was basically a case of 2 awful teams matching up but one of them saying they will do the basics like pass and move, run off the ball etc, whilst the other team couldn't be bothered to do anything.

The first half against Chelsea was probably the most pathetic/weak performance in terms of application for many a year but I think the first half tonight may have challenged that. It's really not the usual fan hyperbole to claim that they weren't trying because aside from VK and JJ, they genuinely looked like they couldn't be arsed. It was so painfully lacking in any application/desire that I was debating leaving at half time. Much better in the second half but that's not saying much. Disgraceful doesn't cut it.

Think there's a typo here. I'm sure you meant FREE. It's the only way the next generation are going to take an interest in this glorious team

I've just rewatched the goals on my way back and I'm genuinely confused about where he gave a goal away. He made a decent tackle on Bowen for the first goal where Soumare then somehow got spun and burnt for pace by Soucek . Second goal, Vardy just decided to turn his back on the ball and the clowns around him joined in. Mind you, I also heard somebody behind in the queue for the station blaming Justin for the first goal

He absolutely is a massive part of the problem. Performance in the first half was a disgrace. Walking around pointing at people. The one time he actually chased the ball, he won it and gave us a chance. The team is absolutely awful and doesn't give him much of a chance but his application/intensity is not up to scratch. It creates a huge problem for the team. Also sign see him as the leader you need in times like this

You're calling out his tackling when the other 8 (would exclude Justin) just put in that kind of performance. Like Justin, at least he got stuck in. Crap performance from him but he was still one of the best out there today which says how pathetic it was.

I genuinely keep seeing this thread thinking it was somebody offering their ticket for the game, not the other way. I'm going but think I'd have sacked it off if it wasn't a chance to see my old man

At least I won't feel bad about leaving early, especially as last time I was stuck on my lonesome surrounded by thousands of West Ham fans queuing for the station, after we'd lost. That was a fun time

I'm a miserable bastard in general but I do tend to park that for Leicester games. I'll be the kind of fool who's trying to encourage the players after we concede a goal but tonight, I think will be the first time I react really negatively if (when) that happens. These t***s don't deserve that backing if they can't put in the effort required. Seen some reasonable performances at the London Stadium so hope they pull something out of the bag. A fool's hope though

Spot on. Though Ayew doesn't even work hard, or at least he's incapable of doing so

Ooh ya bas... That made me desperately wish for something like that now. Forgot how much I loved that guy