Change of Name

I have changed the name of the site and the URL in an effort to get more traffic. Reading Iron was an obscure name that people would never have put into a search engine unless they were looking to read a book about ironing or past iron works!!!  Unlikely eh!  So her we are in it's third incarnation as All Things West ham!

Is sacking Big Sam really the answer?

I want to say at the outset that I have no strong opinion either way on this.I just can't quite understand a few things:

1) Why is it when we go 1 nil up, we through on a lethargic battering ram who is well past his best and a young lad who doesn't really bring the attacking flair that would have killed off the game.  

2) We have two proven goalscorers in Maynard and Baldock and yet play them both out of position whenever they play (Maynard is not the lone forward in a 4-5-1 formation!)

3) Why is Tomkins still in midfield, he's one of the best young centre backs around and needs to play there to continue that development, Collins is good, but he's not Tomkins!

4) Where is our creativity ever going to come from!

5) How did Forest score 7 past Leeds when we struggled with 1?

6) Where has the spirit gone that saw us get 7 out of 9 points with 10 men?

7) What's going on!!!

When you look at the first three of these questions, they can solely be addressed by the gaffer.he sets out the side to play the opposition with the tactics to try and beat them and he is the one that then decides on the right (or wrong) substitutions.

Question 4 is more difficult I think. Is it just a creative player that's needed or do we need to see more creative movement all round.Too often we are so predictable (not always long ball, but definitely direct), the movement off the ball is often poor and there are few people making proper runs into the box.  This has to come down to coaching surely! Or perhaps it is time for Ravel to have a go, he can do no worse than Collison!

Question 5 kind of connects with 4 and 6 - although i guess you could argue that tend to play against us with a siege mentality making hard to break them down.

Question 6 - although you could argue that this lays with the manager and in part it does, you also have to ask the question of the players on the field - why does it take you going down to 10 men to show that you can play?  I would rather look at the players at this point, the gaffer can say what he likes, these guys MUST start playing.Maybe they need to practice more against the sort of formations that are being set out in front of them, but I would say it's time for them to start earning their wages again like we mere mortals ave to!

In general I think that we should keep hold of BS (at least until Paulo is ready or Slaven says yes!), but I would love someone to question what is going on and fast.  Perhaps the David's have had or are planning on having that conversation.

In everything I must remember we are pushing for promotion and not fighting relegation.Our frustration comes from the fact that we have done well this season and are just messing up, by drawing games, not losing them!

A late review

So I got to watch the match on Saturday, albeit on television.  To be fair I thought considering what had gone before, the boys did well.  Crystal Palace came and were determined to get something out of the game.  I was impressed with Wilfred Zaha and indeed was also impressed with him last night for the U21s.

For me the boys looked tired, slower to the ball and lacking in incisiveness up front.  Greeno was outstanding between the sticks and Noble did all he could do boss midfield once more.  Maynard looked like he would work better off of Cole, but it's only his second game so let's see. Vaz Te looked quality and I was surprised he was subbed when he was, would have loved to have seen him play with Maynard off of Cole!  Baldock was great when he came on and but for two great saves would have gone home with 2 goals. The back four stood up to constant pounding, although Faye did look out of position at times.

So we may have dropped to second, but we still have a game in hand.  A tough game against Cardiff on Sunday, again in front of the TV cameras!

COYI