Wham v Albion teamnews/matchthread

[stripes39]

I think there's a few things that have happened collectively which is why we are in the position we are in. I guess the brunt of the blame has to fall at Pulis' door. He has had 3 seasons (6 windows?) and so this squad is his. Having said that, its not a bad squad, we are defensively sound. But we've been let down by certain players, Livermore should not be in the first XI. McClean has been the catalyst for giving points away with poor passing or giving a stupid free kick away late in games. I like Rondon, but he has been poor this season. HRK doesn't have the quality to be a premiership striker. The attacking side of our team has let us down.

We've also been a but niave and blown a lot of points this season, last minute goals conceded to Watford and Newcastle after being 2-0 up against both, Stoke at home when we gifted them a goal. Those 6 points alone would lift us up to about 14th in the table. Then there was last night v West Ham. I don't know the answers for the future but I know we have contributed our own downfall.

One win though could rejuvenate them, Lets hope Exeter don't do us and we get a bit of confidence going into the Brighton game. We need to win games now...

Some good points 123. Another day and we could have had an extra 10 points on the board were it not for the self inflicted damage late in games. I wonder if it is all down to TP though? Why would he not want (say) Defoe or Benteke up front as opposed to HRK? My guess would be the board not sanctioning the wages of this type of player as they are deemed too expensive so lets take a flyer on a promising Championship player or a freebie. Truth is, events have conspired against our philosophy and ID as a club. As Whicka's stats show, we don't have the quality in several positions so when lady luck deserts us we're f****d. In our quest to retain our Prem status every season (stand still) others are moving past us. They do say you cannot stand still in life, only move forwards or backwards.

[wbaliquidator]

Loads of analysis and we all want to find a solution.
But let’s face facts West Ham have a much better squad than us. Worryingly most teams are simply better than us. All this talk of best squad etc that’s fine but our main competitors have strengthened even more so. Yes we have some key players out, but that only emphasises the issue, so have other teams and our collective squad is poor.
Our back 4 and keeper are very decent, but we don’t have one really dangerous player that the opposition actually fear. In comparison Arnautovic, Lanzini, and Carroll can all cause any team problems.
I bet Moyes pre match talk said, don’t worry guys the only problem we face tonight is of our own making or bad luck. That proved to be the case, poor defending and an unfortunate deflection.
I would wager that 9/10 times if Arnautovic, Lanzini, or Carrol had been presented with the same opportunity that Olive Burke had they would have all scored.
Still nothing that £60 Million wont fix.

[Whicka_Mon]

Very interesting stats, I expected more from the Pole. Livermore should have been dropped weeks/months ago. McClean works hard but has limited quality IMO. The only one you could forgive/understand is Yacob, whose job it is to break up play and sit, rather than to score or create. It's fair to say the quality of our recruitment has reduced since Ashworth left for England.

In terms of the Pardew/Pulis debate, I think most fans knew Pulis' time was up. When he came in we were in a situation not too dissimilar to where we are now and I was for his 'points at all costs' type of pragmatic football. But after 3 seasons of it, I want to watch something a bit better on the eye. We haven't won under Pardew but I'm happy to watch us try to win a game now rather than try not to lose. And I do agree that we aren't a worse team than many above us but we have blown a lot of points from winning positions this season. That will end up being our downfall.

Unfortunately if we go down, we go down. We'll have to regroup and try to bounceback as quickly as possible. One thing I will say is that we've had a good run, 8 years in the premiership, top 10 finishes and a fair few upsets of the big 6. Lets give it our all from now on in and hope above hope its enough.

Good points
Looking at Livermore's career stats it begs the question on what grounds was the reason to sign him in the first place ?

[Whicka_Mon]

I don't think anyone is debating between Pardew/Pulis, except Al, who's trying to deflect the jibes (when he stuck up for Pulis, and criticised any idiot who didn't agree with what his mates had told him).
Everyone can see that Pardew has unfortunately inherited a bunch of runners, and the only flair players are cruelly injured - all at the same time. With some attack-minded players back in the XI we've got a chance. And if we can bring in something in January (without even considering defensive midfielders) who knows?
My only gripe at all with Pardew is that Sam Field hasn't been given more of a chance when he could have been. Whicka's stats are not just stats, they're totally eye-opening.

One of my main gripes with The Anti Coach was we had in effect 10 dead rubbers at the end of last season in which to try players like Leko, Roberts etc. Which could have saved us money. But he didn't. He stuck with something that wasn't working anyway and surrendered two league positions. Of course he let the players take the blame about being already on the beach.
The Stats aren't mine mate they are the official Premier League ones. I reckon Guadiola would struggle to get them players to perform . Even though some think Pardew clearly should be able to.

[Whicka_Mon]

Has anyone seen Kieran Gibbs?

Went missing just before the end of the game last night.

I'm thinking of printing some posters.

WANTED, at the far post.

Rumours that he is holding up Holmleigh's fence are just that, rumours.

Unless Chris provides us with photographic evidence of course, otherwise it hasn't happened ?

He's hiding under Rondon's first touch

[TipperaryBaggie]

I know people are criticising Burke last night for not taking the two chaces that he had and quite rightly so. He should have got his name on the scoresheet, however, I still remain optimistic that he could be a good signing for us with his pace and would like to see him given a start on Saturday to see what he could do for 90 minutes.

[stoneybloke]

I know people are criticising Burke last night for not taking the two chaces that he had and quite rightly so. He should have got his name on the scoresheet, however, I still remain optimistic that he could be a good signing for us with his pace and would like to see him given a start on Saturday to see what he could do for 90 minutes.

Burke joined us because he wasn't getting game time in Germany. I think he is a great prospect, but how will he improve if he never gets to make an appearance. It's typical of many clubs in the twilight zone of relegation avoidance. Afraid to take risks and just play it safe.

[Whicka_Mon]

The stats are damning
Last nights midfield
Premier League career stats
Livermore 165 games, 5 goals, 8 assists
McClean 147 games 11 goals 9 assists
Yacob 154 games 1 goal 1 assist
Greg 15 games 0 goals 1 assist
So in 481 games that's 17 goals between them. Pretty compelling evidence of why we are struggling. It is also worth noting they have played for various managers and some at more than one club. So contrary to some views displayed on this thread it is not only Pardew that cannot get them performing.

The above is not an opinion. It is fact.

Just thought i'd add this to the above. Admittedly it's a bit selective but still. No point signing someone who was no better than what we'd got he said. I ay looked at Garner's yet
Stephane Sessagnon
Games 166
Goals 25
Assists 21

[Albionic68]

Mon, those figures include his Sunderland stats.

Ed: Sorry chap, misread the thread while speed reading.

Didn't realise you were including other clubs in the totals .

[Whicka_Mon]

Mon, those figures include his Sunderland stats.

Ed: Sorry chap, misread the thread while speed reading.

Didn't realise you were including other clubs in the totals .

Yes mate.
What drew me towards it was people suddenly expecting Pardew to make them perform when nobody else has. We of course selected the midfield players against WHU to win the game when their career history tells me it was never going to happen as none of the four offer anything.
Livermores is abysmal. Why did we buy him? I think his stats for us are 0 goals and 1 assist