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Reply | Sell Jon Varane ?
at 16:39 14 Jan 2026
Maybe this thread is getting a bit sociocultural because the answer is fairly simple and we've run out of things to say about it:
If we get an offer for any player that's nearly 6 times what we paid for them then yes - sell. |
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Reply | threadbare squad
at 11:03 13 Jan 2026
Vale isn't quick, granted, but he's got a bit of height about him at least - him and Poku are relative giants out there on the wing.
Who knows how he'll average out, but he had a couple of games for us earlier in the season where I wondered how you wouldn't pick him every week. Then injured, then shit, now gone for a factory reset. |
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Reply | threadbare squad
at 10:08 13 Jan 2026
The only area I'd look at for a loan is up front I think. I'm not sure of Frey's status but regardless if we're sticking with 2 up front I think we need an addition. The tricky part is to not block Kolli's progression by doing it - possibly someone young and raw with an option to buy - another one off the Burrell list.
For the other positions, I think we need to decide we have enough. Field can cover two positions logically - LB and DM (not up front ffs Julie), I'm in a bit of a minority in thinking we should persevere with Esquerdina, and Morgan needs to keep playing to get his confidence back - he seems to come on lately and produce an equally weighted combination of total gaffs and really good stuff.
Vale needs to be dug back up and de-Chelsea-fied because he can be superb if whatever's going on can get sorted, and Bennie or Esquerdina can both play on the wing. (Am not convinced about Bennie up front but I know he's been scoring for the DS.)
Most of that won't fill you with confidence, Wombat, I know! But we don't know that loans would work either - especially sensibly priced ones, if such a thing exists at this point. |
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Reply | threadbare squad
at 09:45 12 Jan 2026
It's a good question but this will be again covered in detail at the fans forum:
A lot of it comes down to science and other complicated big boy trouser stuff, but basically if you factor in the fitness and availability levels of all Academy teams, the ladies team, the pupils at Jack TIzzard, and all children Year 4 and above on the White City Estate we are currently at 94.3% availability, which is higher than its ever been. |
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Reply | love today....
at 09:33 12 Jan 2026
I can understand frustration around West Ham being there for the taking, but injuries aside (a different, darker thread) I thought yesterday was good for that squad and the club.
Hopefully that will be the end of any thought of fielding weakened teams on these occasions because the players, and I'd say the majority of fans, will have left feeling positive.
One bit of quality from Sommerville against our developing cult 'hybrid right back' and a strong finish. Otherwise I think we'd have gone to penalties which would have been interesting.
There was a huge squad huddle on the sideline before extra time that contrasted with how West Ham looked to me, a club in crisis. And that's without even getting into the stadium discussion - e.g. I have very little idea how the ref was because a lot of it was happening in a neighbouring time zone. |
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Reply | Fourth Round Here We Come Match Thread
at 09:03 11 Jan 2026
This is not a complex thought, but I'd love to see Kone have a good game today.
3 in midfield and a focused, aggressive Kone helping things to stick could give us a decent chance I think. |
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Reply | Ronnie Edwards
at 11:20 9 Jan 2026
I'm as titillated as the rest of us to see him signing, but I did think there were a handful of those really poor team performances during the slump where he wasn't really able to affect things, regardless of his hair, teeth and other aspects of dreamboatery.
He'll be a great addition, but not the messiah (obviously) and he wasn't cheap at all.
On a certain level this reminds me of buying myself a pair of very expensive earphones mid December, on the credit card, because I felt I really did need them and they were so much better than the other two pairs I already had..
They are good though and life's too short so fcuk it. |
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Reply | Ronnie Edwards
at 16:59 8 Jan 2026
So we're filling the Edwards sized hole with the actual Edwards? Shit!!! |
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Reply | Daniel Bennie
at 11:44 8 Jan 2026
I think he does have pace and size, workrate seems ok. Some of the other categories who knows, we'll need to see a lot more of him. He's probably a baller, they all are these days.
But IF he were to get in the team ahead of Kolli at this moment it would just scream of internal politics Shirley? |
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Reply | January transfer rumours
at 15:12 7 Jan 2026
They play in blue and white - often with one solitary hoop sadly, but I've got one of their scarfs and it's nicely hooped.
Good loyalty there Eduardo.
(Edit, sorry I'm realising this response is not a rumour either...) [Post edited 7 Jan 15:15]
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Reply | January transfer rumours
at 14:25 7 Jan 2026
Not many rumours on this rumours thread
(That's my learned observation anyway) |
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Reply | The Barry Bannan Master Class Match Thread
at 18:44 4 Jan 2026
Yeah I thought that was one of the stranger 3-0 results I've witnessed.
More than half of our play today was hard to watch, with the exception of maybe 15 mins after the first goal, and bits and bobs in the second half. That Dembele effort where he seemed to take it wide of the goal from a central position and shoot weakly summed up a lot of it.
All that said seeing Kolli going from frustrated to grinning like a Cheshire cat in the space of 10 minutes was great, and underlines the obvious fact that he needs to play a lot more. |
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Reply | Norwich Reflection
at 18:25 1 Jan 2026
All over the place every time we tried to develop something, nothing stuck, no control, nowhere near enough intensity, shit ref, comotose lino, out-thought and beaten far too easily.
Maybe try going all out to win every game in front of us, and rotate the squad as needed, rather than over thinking and overly dicking about with away gsme tactics, effort levels and personnel? |
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Reply | Esquerdinha and his usage
at 11:21 30 Dec 2025
I think that's all fair enough. The main problem I have with how we played though is we actually seemee too focused on the fact that it's 4 games in 9 or 10 days.
Field has height, so if you're playing him up there try and hit him and build from further up the pitch.
Instead it was all about moving forward slowly and deliberately in some sort of crab formation, backwards of square until everyone has got over the halfway line while staying in the green zone on their heart monitors, managing their load and thinking about the 4 games in terms of 12 points rather then what's right in front of them.
Why not have a decent go at them, press high, work at a higher rate and rotate a winning team as needed?
It all looked over thought, other than the lack of thinking where players who were having an off night should've been subbed for their replacements - Saito and Kone seemed the most obvious to me. |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 21:34 29 Dec 2025
What was that Julien was saying over the weekend about not getting anything from games if you're even 10% below your maximum effort? |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 20:35 29 Dec 2025
A turgid, energy conserving stalemate so far. Let's have a bit more effort in the second half. |
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