Shaun ⚒

West Ham United and FPL enthusiast.

[Shaun ⚒ @SRow91]

@FPL__Raptor

[Shaun ⚒ @SRow91]

@WestHam_Stuff Soucek will make a big difference too, when he returns. Lacking physicality in the side without him and dare I say, Pablo.

[Shaun ⚒ @SRow91]

Don’t like Bowen not pulling rank and taking the penalty. Never felt confident with Taty taking it.

Kilman. Schoolboy stuff.

[Shaun ⚒ @SRow91]

Engels had some decent moments, unfortunately just a bad day to be part of.

[Shaun ⚒ @SRow91]

Players and the club as a whole need a serious reality check. We’re not going to piss this league with a cigar on — it’s going to be hard work. Long way to go, but time to have a good look at ourselves.

Lewis Orford, you’re alright. 👏

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Karren Brady delivered for West Ham United’s shareholders but not for the club’s supporters. In 2013, she promised fans “a world-class stadium with a world-class team”. West Ham currently have neither. They have an athletics arena with a team fighting relegation. Brady has done some good things in her 16 years at West Ham, during which they won a European trophy, but ultimately she will be remembered for letting the fans down. Her departure from West Ham, first reported by the Times and now confirmed by the club, is being celebrated by many fans. Sadly, some cross the line with their offensive comments about Brady.

Supporters are quizzical about West Ham joint-chair Daniel Kretinsky’s statement about Brady leaving. “Her contribution to West Ham United’s growth, such as the long-term contract for the London Stadium, shareholders transition and the British record transfer of Declan Rice, has been absolutely essential and not always fully appreciated.” Much to unpick here...

1) how much growth? West Ham reported a £104.2m loss in their most recent financial figures. A club record. Revenue down. Accounts show a substantial loan taken out from Rights and Media Funding Limited.

2) London Stadium. Great deal for board and for Brady but not for fans, manager or the team. Not for anyone who loves football. Crowd distant from the pitch, players detached from energy of the fans, it's a terrible place to watch football. They’ve gone from a much-loved, intimate, often intimidating family home at Upton Park to a soulless bowl. West Ham had to leave Upton Park to expand commercially, and meet ticket demand, but grabbing the Olympic Stadium was all about the deal and not the feel.

3) British transfer record. Yes, Brady got a good deal for Rice but Kretinsky should know that mention of selling your best player, your captain, your home-grown star and England international at a club that cherishes them, seems a strange way of suggesting achievement and ambition.

4) “not always fully appreciated”? not always fully sensible to have a dig at fans. Maybe appreciate their concerns.

Brady deserves some praise. She’s a pioneer, got things done, drove community initiatives (I hosted an event for her once and her knowledge of the issues and engagement were impressive). She also encouraged entrepreneurship (and not just on TV). Kretinsky, in his statement, adds that Brady is “also very highly appreciated in the Premier League leadership community and was an excellent representative of our club there”.

Many West Ham fans didn’t feel she represented them well enough. Ill-advised comments in 2016 about a desire “to rebrand the club” didn’t go down well. Brady tried to clarify the comments but fans remained concerned about anything that could change their heritage. An attempt to limit ticket concessions triggered further anger.

More widely, Brady’s criticism of the incoming Independent Football Regulator came against a backdrop of fans’ growing distrust of some owners and the leagues’ inability to police them properly. Read the room. Understand the concerns.

The growing disconnect between West Ham fans and Brady and chairman David Sullivan has led to protests against the pair. Brady has now left. Will Sullivan follow? “1-0 up,” came the message from a high-profile West Ham fan. “It’s half-time.” #WHUFC

[A☝🏻 @whualfie_]

Mavropanos vs Man City

[Andy @LetsTalk_FPL]

West Ham winning on xG, that’s the real quiz.

[Paddy Power @paddypower]

Feel like pure sh*t, just want Senegal vs Morocco back.

[E20ZoneTv @E20WHU]

I'm not afraid anymore 😆

[Shaun ⚒ @SRow91]

*ends

[West Ham United @WestHam]

Our FA Cup campaign begins today 📍

[Central @WestHam_Central]

West Ham:

[Jakey Boy @jakeyboy1988]

This might be the best traitors season yet

[Paddy Power @paddypower]

Marinakis currently plotting Deadpool’s demise in true supervillain fashion

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Nuno is a fighter. He’s never hidden. But this looks a fight too far. Seven points is more than a gap. It must feel like a gulf. Nuno is a manager who cares and is clearly hurting but he looks bereft of ideas and hope. And who motivates the motivator? 

Even if Nuno goes, so many problems remain. Poor recruitment. Agents’ influence. Too few top-level players. Too few players with strength of character. Started well but belief is brittle. Forest’s players fought harder for longer. 

Some good things - academy brings hope for the future, Foundation brings hope in the community. But the club is a mess. It’s a badly run club and good people are leaving. Gaps in staff, gaps in the stands. The club should be West Ham United, not Divided. The distance between fans and the board is even bigger than the distance between fans and the pitch.

They are stuck with the stadium, an athletics stadium. Fans were sold a dream which has turned into a nightmare. It’s soulless - the antithesis of Upton Park. At the very least the board could invest more in making the London Stadium more of a football ground. Also more investment in training ground required. 

Protests will continue. Board members can either sell - which most fans seem to want - or acknowledge their many mistakes and actually listen to fans and act on their legitimate concerns, ticket prices, stadium flaws etc, and try and rebuild together. As with survival in the Premier League, it looks too late for that. It’s sad. A good family club torn apart - and much of the damage self-inflicted by an insular board. #WHUFC

[Central @WestHam_Central]

David Sullivan and Karren Brady are the worst owners of a club in the Premier League’

- Andy Goldstein @andygoldstein05

[FPL Marcin @FPLMarcin]

Watching Caicedo do goals and defcons when you paid £9.0m for Bruno

[West Ham Fan Zone @WHUFCFZ]

Right, let’s nip this in the bud now.

I and many others absolutely love Slaven Bilic and have fond memories of him in his previous stint as manager.

Unless he has drastically changed his style and tactics, I struggle to see how he is the answer to our problems.

[Central @WestHam_Central]

"Defeat (vs Palace) and that’s it for Potter."

– a top source to @HammersDotNews

[West Ham Rambles @WestHamRambles]

Think we can all agree that watching our under 21s is much more enjoyable than watching the senior side. 👌🏻⚒️ #WHUFC