Football 2010-2011

[Ed209]

In the last six top flight seasons, (including this one so far) Ronaldo has scored 123.

[ampersand]

o'neill not going to west ham afterall. oh dear, what buffoon let that one out?

[TheGayTent]

Oh how I'll laugh when they announce Big Sam as your new manager

[eFestivals]

Really? You have enough time for that - I thought you'd be too busy chortling over Venky's?

If BSA ends up at Upton Park I will not be renewing.

with O'Neill now out of the frame, surely the only option - aside from relegation - is now Sam?

I know there's been stories that he's not interested, but they've been mainly around him not being interested in talking to them while Grant still has the job.

[TheGayTent]

with O'Neill now out of the frame, surely the only option - aside from relegation - is now Sam?

[eFestivals]

I don't agree.

So what other options are you seeing?

[ampersand]

how about gordon strachan? personally i think that would end in relegation but some may disagree.

[Steve P]

So what other options are you seeing?

[TheGayTent]

So what other options are you seeing?

[jump]

Wouldn't be surprised if Stuart Pearce's name was mentioned.

[ampersand]

Besides which, I'd sooner watch West Ham in the 2nd Division than I would watch West Ham play hoof ball in the top flight.

[eFestivals]

I think sticking with Grant is the best option - and will believe that even were we relegated come May. A manager should be given a minimum of two seasons IMO.

Grant inherited a shocking squad with zero confidence. He's had 20 games so far, no money to spend in net terms, injuries to key players, and no support from the boadroom. I don't believe that Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho etc would have done any better in the same circumstances let alone BSA, Strachan, or anyone else people may suggest. Besides which, I'd sooner watch West Ham in the 2nd Division than I would watch West Ham play hoof ball in the top flight.

From one angle I agree with you. From another, I see Grant as too untested to know if he's capable of getting anything better out of a difficult situation - cos it's not like life in the Champs is going to be easier for him than things are now, it's a tougher division than the Prem.

I guess the dithering at the club is because it's a very difficult one to see which is the right way to go. From one angle, Grant has done well to bring WHU back into contention, cos a month or so back they were starting to fall off the bottom of the table. And with things being so tight down there, it's quite possible that staying in the Prem or not will be down to the result in just one game, which Grant looks as capable of delivering as any of those other managers down there at the mo.

But it's also the case that because things are so tight, that getting in another manager who brings just a slight improvement will see you safe - so I can see why it's being considered.

[TheGayTent]

Plus of course there is the fact that sacking Grant will cost the football club a few million pound. That's a few million pound we don't exactly have spare at the moment - and would IMO be better spent in the January transfer market...

[eFestivals]

you've gotta wet yourself at West Ham .... after the options they've clearly been pursuing have dried up, they finally come out with a statement, saying they're "committed to retaining Avram Grant as manager".

[TheGayTent]

you've gotta wet yourself at West Ham .... after the options they've clearly been pursuing have dried up, they finally come out with a statement, saying they're "committed to retaining Avram Grant as manager".

[eFestivals]

Which of course means zilch. No difference to statements G&S made about Zola, no different to previous regime's statements about Pardew, Roeder, or even Lyall...

I wasn't laughing at them backing him while he's in line for the sack - that's pretty normal.

I was laughing at them for FINALLY coming out with a statement backing him only when the alternative options have dried up. It's very very clear via the timings that he'd have had the chop by now if they'd been able to get the alternative managers who were on their radar.

[TheGayTent]

I wasn't laughing at them backing him while he's in line for the sack - that's pretty normal.

I was laughing at them for FINALLY coming out with a statement backing him only when the alternative options have dried up. It's very very clear via the timings that he'd have had the chop by now if they'd been able to get the alternative managers who were on their radar.

[eFestivals]

I don't find it amusing - what G&S have and are doing is no different to the majority if not all other clubs. Which is sad.

The only difference is, their discussions have become public knowledge.

Yep, it's the public knowledge part which makes this so amusing - I agree, it's little different otherwise.

Given the confidence that reporters have had in the various 'Grant to be sacked' stories that have been floating around the last few weeks or so - and particularly with the stories at the weekend - it seems clear that someone senior at the club has been giving them those briefings.

[TheGayTent]

Yep, it's the public knowledge part which makes this so amusing - I agree, it's little different otherwise.

Given the confidence that reporters have had in the various 'Grant to be sacked' stories that have been floating around the last few weeks or so - and particularly with the stories at the weekend - it seems clear that someone senior at the club has been giving them those briefings.

[eFestivals]

Did you know WHU's press office told Sky on the morning of the Arsenal game that O'Neill had not been offered the job. Sky ignored this and continued to run with the story.

Sat where I'm sat, I know better than to by-default believe anything which a press office says - they'll always give the official line, no matter how true or not it is.

But I didn't know that, no. I did tho see early on Saturday that The Guardian were reporting that Grant wouldn't be sacked that day, which I'm now guessing came from the same place.

All the same, I can't think of any other footie story that's been so widely and confidently reported which hasn't come about - so from that, I can only think that all of those various reporters (it was certainly the case that some [if not all] got it separately from other reports of the same) had been briefed by a senior source within the club which they had full belief in the word of.

[TheGayTent]

Sat where I'm sat, I know better than to by-default believe anything which a press office says - they'll always give the official line, no matter how true or not it is.

But I didn't know that, no. I did tho see early on Saturday that The Guardian were reporting that Grant wouldn't be sacked that day, which I'm now guessing came from the same place.

All the same, I can't think of any other footie story that's been so widely and confidently reported which hasn't come about - so from that, I can only think that all of those various reporters (it was certainly the case that some [if not all] got it separately from other reports of the same) had been briefed by a senior source within the club which they had full belief in the word of.

[eFestivals]

The source was a non-WHU player. A player very close to MON, who through a intermediary, was in transfer discussions with WHU and would have joined should MON have become WHU manager.

nah, i can't believe that - reporters don't put that sort of weight behind a story when it's from such a remote source.

That player might have been one of many sources, but the belief that reporters had in the story very strongly suggests to me that they also had a source properly within the club's management.

[ampersand]

The source was a non-WHU player. A player very close to MON, who through a intermediary, was in transfer discussions with WHU and would have joined should MON have become WHU manager.

[jump]

West Ham are trying to get Joe Cole on loan.

[ampersand]

West Ham are trying to get Joe Cole on loan.