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Post by Linx on Sept 2, 2017 7:33:57 GMT
The reason I wonder this is because I have always regarded The Hammers as the club most like us in so many ways: similar sized; English-owned, by boyhood fans of the club; proud of its heritage; national icons as former players in its history; passionate, parochial fanbase without gloryhunters; won a few things, but not a lot; maddeningly inconsistent, always seem to hit a dip in form just as they put a run of results together; will probably end up midtable, despite the dodgy start.
Now okay, Arnie's ill-advised comments aside, are they currently ahead of us or not, and are they likely to overtake us this season? They seemed to spend a lot of money early in the window, and even bought our most creative star player. But are they any stronger than us at the close of the window? No doubt the usual prejudices and pisstakes about Cockneys, Mockneys and Porn Kings will influence much of our thoughts on the matter but, are they in a better place than us to progress to the next level?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 7:42:25 GMT
The reason I wonder this is because I have always regarded The Hammers as the club most like us in so many ways: similar sized; English-owned, by boyhood fans of the club; proud of its heritage; national icons as former players in its history; passionate, parochial fanbase without gloryhunters; won a few things, but not a lot; maddeningly inconsistent, always seem to hit a dip in form just as they put a run of results together; will probably end up midtable, despite the dodgy start. Now okay, Arnie's ill-advised comments aside, are they currently ahead of us or not, and are they likely to overtake us this season? They seemed to spend a lot of money early in the window, and even bought our most creative star player. But are they any stronger than us at the close of the window? No doubt the usual prejudices and pisstakes about Cockneys, Mockneys and Porn Kings will influence much of our thoughts on the matter but, are they in a better place than us to progress to the next level? West Ham are a bigger club than us, not necessarily stronger at this much moment in time though. I can see where you're coming from but if there is a club that is a mirror image of our own, as I've said before it's Middlesborough. |
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Post by burge2u on Sept 2, 2017 7:48:40 GMT
No, West Ham are stronger than us because they are holding up the rest of the league !
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Post by GreaterGlasgowstokie on Sept 2, 2017 7:54:00 GMT
The reason I wonder this is because I have always regarded The Hammers as the club most like us in so many ways: similar sized; English-owned, by boyhood fans of the club; proud of its heritage; national icons as former players in its history; passionate, parochial fanbase without gloryhunters; won a few things, but not a lot; maddeningly inconsistent, always seem to hit a dip in form just as they put a run of results together; will probably end up midtable, despite the dodgy start. Now okay, Arnie's ill-advised comments aside, are they currently ahead of us or not, and are they likely to overtake us this season? They seemed to spend a lot of money early in the window, and even bought our most creative star player. But are they any stronger than us at the close of the window? No doubt the usual prejudices and pisstakes about Cockneys, Mockneys and Porn Kings will influence much of our thoughts on the matter but, are they in a better place than us to progress to the next level? West Ham are a bigger club than us, not necessarily stronger at this much moment in time though. I can see where you're coming from but if there is a club that is a mirror image of our own, as I've said before it's Middlesborough. No such thing as a 'bigger club'. West Ham are however more famous than us, that is what people really mean here. They always will be because they are in London. Yes, we are a big provincial club like middlesborough. BUT, I think west ham are going down and have gained twenty thousand tourist supporters but lost a lot of their identity with that stadium move. Next year they'll be struggling in the championship. I can feel it in my bones. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 7:59:25 GMT
They're in London so will always have one stride on us
I'm hoping, what we lost in skill with Arnie leaving we've gained in strength of team unity and spirit
On saying all that my heart says......At this very moment we are equals
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 8:11:11 GMT
West Ham are a bigger club than us, not necessarily stronger at this much moment in time though. I can see where you're coming from but if there is a club that is a mirror image of our own, as I've said before it's Middlesborough. No such thing as a 'bigger club'. West Ham are however more famous than us, that is what people really mean here. They always will be because they are in London. Yes, we are a big provincial club like middlesborough. BUT, I think west ham are going down and have gained twenty thousand tourist supporters but lost a lot of their identity with that stadium move. Next year they'll be struggling in the championship. I can feel it in my bones. Whenever I'm in the east end and talk to West Ham supporters they all seem disturbed and disgruntled over the new stadium. They've lost a home essentially, as we did two decades ago. However, what was once merely our house has become our home but I'm not sure their stadium has the potential to ever become that. I think West Ham may end up building a new stadium at some point in the future. |
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Post by mattador78 on Sept 2, 2017 8:14:43 GMT
If slogger comes back then yes
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Post by walrus on Sept 2, 2017 8:16:33 GMT
I don't know. But one thing I do know is that I bloody well wish we had Chicharito in our squad.
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Post by mozzer on Sept 2, 2017 8:24:46 GMT
Not 100% sure yet but don't get fooled by the start and write the hammers off yet, they are under a little pressure with their start of their first three results but it means fuck all yet, judge them after 10 games the same as stoke that's when we will see a pattern developing,
Three tough away games against the shit, Hampton and the deluded mags is not the ideal start, agreed they did not look great in any of the games but I think they will improve massively over the next 4 to 5 weeks,
Total speculation and conjecture but I think.........
Brighton
Swansea
Palace
Newcastle
Huddersfield
Westbrom
Bournemouth
Watford
Will all finish below west ham,
can't make my mind up yet about where stoke will finish so going take a view after the 10 game mark, not an horrific start by any stretch, possibly sorted the rear guard to halt the embarrassing 4-0s of late but still struggling to see our cutting edge, time will tell if our forwards will make the mark, still think diouf is the best striker at the club, but feel crouch still has massive role to play, jesse took his goal well and could well be a key to unlock some creativity but not sure he will be a goal machine
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Post by mozzer on Sept 2, 2017 8:28:57 GMT
No such thing as a 'bigger club'. West Ham are however more famous than us, that is what people really mean here. They always will be because they are in London. Yes, we are a big provincial club like middlesborough. BUT, I think west ham are going down and have gained twenty thousand tourist supporters but lost a lot of their identity with that stadium move. Next year they'll be struggling in the championship. I can feel it in my bones. Whenever I'm in the east end and talk to West Ham supporters they all seem disturbed and disgruntled over the new stadium. They've lost a home essentially, as we did two decades ago. However, what was once merely our house has become our home but I'm not sure their stadium has the potential to ever become that. I think West Ham may end up building a new stadium at some point in the future. Totally agree, it is the worst of all the new football stadiums, Walsall and Chester are better stadiums than that one even if they are a 7th of the size, definitely not a football stadium |
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Post by nott1 on Sept 2, 2017 8:45:39 GMT
I think a club with 50k season ticket holders is bigger than one who can't muster 30k fans against Arsenal, however we are better!
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Post by clarkeda on Sept 2, 2017 9:07:43 GMT
They are stronger in the commercial department, especially shifting players out.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2017 10:49:14 GMT
No such thing as a 'bigger club'. West Ham are however more famous than us, that is what people really mean here. They always will be because they are in London. Yes, we are a big provincial club like middlesborough. BUT, I think west ham are going down and have gained twenty thousand tourist supporters but lost a lot of their identity with that stadium move. Next year they'll be struggling in the championship. I can feel it in my bones. Whenever I'm in the east end and talk to West Ham supporters they all seem disturbed and disgruntled over the new stadium. They've lost a home essentially, as we did two decades ago. However, what was once merely our house has become our home but I'm not sure their stadium has the potential to ever become that. I think West Ham may end up building a new stadium at some point in the future. I could see them wanting a new stadium if they got relegated, sadly I don't think that will ever happen. Indeed I expect that Sky will not be happy with their product until it is totally sanitised and all clubs either come from London, Manchester or Merseyside. |
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Post by Gods on Sept 2, 2017 10:56:07 GMT
I think we are far more like a WBA, Middlesboro or Palace.
West Ham have twice as many fans as us and 3 FA Cup Victories and I think a European Cup Winners trophy too.
Having said that I suppose in the new Premier League world where all the mid-table teams get roughly the same money and gate receipts don't matter so much we should at least be able to compete with them.
The converse to that is that clubs like Bournemouth with just 10k fans can also easily compete with us so its swings and roundabouts.
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Post by boskampsflaps on Sept 2, 2017 11:00:58 GMT
I don't know. But one thing I do know is that I bloody well wish we had Chicharito in our squad. Strangely I don't, their last game showed they haven't got a clue what to do with him, he was stuck out on the left for a decent part of it and it just didn't suit him and playing him up top on his own brings the same problem, he'll score a few as he seems to do well with rebounds etc but for the money he cost them I'd want more than that. |
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Post by lordb on Sept 2, 2017 11:06:21 GMT
That stadium is a huge problem for them.
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Post by biglad180 on Sept 2, 2017 11:15:50 GMT
I think we had a decent transfer window but we are at least 2 players short ingurys to players like moting and we can not rely on shaqiri getting loads of game time in will leave our squad short. may as well kept walters and whelen for cover. as I said good window but not enough players in.
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Post by shangamuzo on Sept 2, 2017 12:15:32 GMT
The reason I wonder this is because I have always regarded The Hammers as the club most like us in so many ways: similar sized; English-owned, by boyhood fans of the club; proud of its heritage; national icons as former players in its history; passionate, parochial fanbase without gloryhunters; won a few things, but not a lot; maddeningly inconsistent, always seem to hit a dip in form just as they put a run of results together; will probably end up midtable, despite the dodgy start. Now okay, Arnie's ill-advised comments aside, are they currently ahead of us or not, and are they likely to overtake us this season? They seemed to spend a lot of money early in the window, and even bought our most creative star player. But are they any stronger than us at the close of the window? No doubt the usual prejudices and pisstakes about Cockneys, Mockneys and Porn Kings will influence much of our thoughts on the matter but, are they in a better place than us to progress to the next level? On fundamental,no. They're getting 50 odd thousand fans at home matches. Stoke would struggle to get those kind of numbers if they had the stadium capacity and were playing Real Madrid. |
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Post by Vadiation_Ribe on Sept 2, 2017 13:00:07 GMT
Looking at their first team vs Newcastle, I'd say ours is stronger. I'd only take Cresswell, Hernandez and maybe Zabaleta as possible first-team starters here. I like Antonio and Lanzini too, but I think we have better in those positions. Though I don't watch much of West Ham at all, so I could be completely wrong.
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Post by emmbrook1956 on Sept 2, 2017 17:52:19 GMT
I agree they will be considered a bigger club as they are in London. Also they have a season ticket waiting list of 20000 plus. Also ther attendances are always larger than ours even when at Boleyn.
However what does big mean? The bigger they are the further they fall! I hope that that is the case.
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Post by Staffsoatcake on Sept 2, 2017 18:21:24 GMT
WHU are bigger than us, but it means nowt, there are a few bigger clubs than us, who are not even in the Premiership. So you could say, size doesn't matter, it's what you do with what you have.  |
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Post by SneydGreenStokie on Sept 2, 2017 21:28:00 GMT
WHU are bigger than us, but it means nowt, there are a few bigger clubs than us, who are not even in the Premiership. So you could say, size doesn't matter, it's what you do with what you have. I agree with this. Clubs not in the Premier League bigger than us include: Leeds Villa Sunderland Forest Sheffield Wednesday Similar to us: Brum Boro Wolves Preston Apart from the bleeding obvious, clubs bigger than us in the Premier are: Everton West Ham Newcastle Similar to us in the Prem are: WBA Southampton Leicester We are bigger than the following in the Premier: Burnley Huddersfield Bournemouth Palace Brighton Swansea Watford Huddersfield Considering we are probably the 8-10th b biggest club in the Premier, apart from last year, we punch our weight SGS |
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Post by parsonage1955 on Sept 3, 2017 8:39:26 GMT
Boro, Sheffield Utd, Derby County, West Brom are our closest 'peers', l'd say. WHU have gone well past us. I can't ever see us selling 50K season tickets, let's not kid ourselves.
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Post by FullerMagic on Sept 6, 2017 8:34:42 GMT
Love this...the angry Sporting Lisbon president has issued a statement including the term 'Dildo brothers' |
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Sept 6, 2017 8:58:30 GMT
WHU are bigger than us, but it means nowt, there are a few bigger clubs than us, who are not even in the Premiership. So you could say, size doesn't matter, it's what you do with what you have. I agree with this. Clubs not in the Premier League bigger than us include: Leeds Villa Sunderland Forest Sheffield Wednesday Similar to us: Brum Boro Wolves Preston Apart from the bleeding obvious, clubs bigger than us in the Premier are: Everton West Ham Newcastle Similar to us in the Prem are: WBA Southampton Leicester We are bigger than the following in the Premier: Burnley Huddersfield Bournemouth Palace Brighton Swansea Watford Huddersfield Considering we are probably the 8-10th b biggest club in the Premier, apart from last year, we punch our weight SGS I'd agree with most of that - apart from Huddersfield being included twice, obviously. And I'm not sure Preston are in the same bracket as us - although I can remember the days when they certainly were! |
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Post by burge2u on Sept 6, 2017 9:28:31 GMT
Love this...the angry Sporting Lisbon president has issued a statement including the term 'Dildo brothers' That is fantastic |
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Post by Bera’s Beano on Sept 6, 2017 9:29:18 GMT
WHU are bigger than us, but it means nowt, there are a few bigger clubs than us, who are not even in the Premiership. So you could say, size doesn't matter, it's what you do with what you have. My missus says that but I'm pretty sure she's talking bollocks  |
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Post by cheekymatt71 on Sept 6, 2017 10:27:38 GMT
In terms of strength our team will be around the same level as West Ham this year. But in terms of size of club West Ham are WAY bigger. They have 3rd highest attendance in English football last year. We are 18th BIGGEST club in terms of attendance. I would hope one day we can grow our supporter base on stadium to get near to 40,000 attendance. No reason why we cant with our large catchment area. That would put us in the Top 10. Attachment Deleted |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2017 11:14:14 GMT
I think people are so impressed by what Hernandez can do, they're completely blind to what he can't do. Those 15 goals a season he might score (is he realistically going to beat that playing for West Ham and now half the player he was 5 or so years ago?) are completely negated by the fact you can't get out of your own half for any length of time because he can't hold the ball up for even a few seconds.
It's the same with Defoe for me. Absolutely brilliant back when 2 up front was all the rage, but now on his own his decent goal tally is so valued everybody ignores the fact games become like defence against attack training sessions.
If they had wingers who would run with the ball they might get away with it, but a set for life Arnie and Ayew don't seem too keen to really exert themselves in that way, and they've turned their nose up at Snodgrass.
Sunderland seemingly didn't realise it, and I'm hoping West Ham don't either. Unfortunately with Carroll always managing to get a few games in a season they'll probably win enough to stay out of serious trouble. Probably so blinded by their 'Academy of football' nonsense they don't realise it's soleyly down to Carroll and Antonio being a couple of highly effective battering rams up front
As for us, I think our defence and keeper are so strong right now I'm not really worried at all.
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Post by cheekymatt71 on Sept 6, 2017 12:20:53 GMT
I think people are so impressed by what Hernandez can do, they're completely blind to what he can't do. Those 15 goals a season he might score (is he realistically going to beat that playing for West Ham and now half the player he was 5 or so years ago?) are completely negated by the fact you can't get out of your own half for any length of time because he can't hold the ball up for even a few seconds. It's the same with Defoe for me. Absolutely brilliant back when 2 up front was all the rage, but now on his own his decent goal tally is so valued everybody ignores the fact games become like defence against attack training sessions. If they had wingers who would run with the ball they might get away with it, but a set for life Arnie and Ayew don't seem too keen to really exert themselves in that way, and they've turned their nose up at Snodgrass. Sunderland seemingly didn't realise it, and I'm hoping West Ham don't either. Unfortunately with Carroll always managing to get a few games in a season they'll probably win enough to stay out of serious trouble. Probably so blinded by their 'Academy of football' nonsense they don't realise it's soleyly down to Carroll and Antonio being a couple of highly effective battering rams up front As for us, I think our defence and keeper are so strong right now I'm not really worried at all. Using your description - Berahino sounds like Hernandez but without the goals His general involvement in games is virtually non-existent |
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