I think he intended to fight again. That would have involved getting clean and sober and trying to recapture his old ability to find his fighting fitness from a really low starting point. That was always going to be a tough ask, no matter the reason, with lots of hurdles to overcome. I kind of hope it was physical, rather than mental illness that killed him, but in the end, no matter the cause, it's just very sad for his friends and family. RIP.
Gooooood evening, ladies and gentlemen, RCL-TV is delighted to announce the second episode from season 8 of DH's AwayDays! This week DH takes the short trip over to not one but two of our cockney neighbours' forums with the old faithful KUMB (Knees Up Mother Brown) as well as testing out WHO (West Ham Online - though WHO does seem rather adequate!) for a little jolly up. PRE-MATCH: This'll be my first live game this season. I reckon it'll be your last, too. We have a good first 11 now and a lot of quality on the bench too. Do you? 2500 tickets still available. WEST HAM ARE MASSIVE, EVERYWHERE THEY GO! Not looking forward to this one. I can’t see beyond a 0-3 loss and a return to negativity. Lump on. Think we'll get beat, quite comfortably as well. Where's your optimism?! We're going to smash these *****! That's the spirit! I think we're going to need a Moyes style low block and counter attack to win this. You're gonna need more than that, mate. Get into them from the very first second and do not relent. No mercy. Gotta feeling Soucek may have taken this a bit too seriously. Could Kudus get a red in this? I reckon someone will. Just don't lose. About that... Spare a thought for myself. I’ve not seen us win a game at the London Stadium since early October last season when we beat Ipswich 4-1. Great record, keep it up! Understand why he has included the experience of Soucek and JWP but it could backfire. I think you're onto something here. Tobido probably doesn’t deserve to be on the bench. He has been poor right from the start. Nevertheless, he cost us what he cost us, and he’ll end up being yet another player we’ll take a big loss on. We were strongly linked with him, bullet dodged me thinks! No away team has won in the premier league today. Time for us to go all Spursy then... or something. The Voices are telling me Mavropanos will score. Schizophrenia is an awful illness. FIRST HALF: Xavi Simons has a really annoying face. Love it. Plenty of empty seats against Spurs. Football is not the attraction it was. MASSIVE! Early days but I like watching us. Someone's got to I suppose. *Romero's goal (wrongly) ruled out* Very lucky there. Pathetic attempts to get up for that. And actually there were far worse fouls going on around the box… I won’t complain though I think that goal should have stood. Love it. Karma's waiting round the corner don't you worry. Ward prowse may well the only human being alive slower than me. Jesus he can't be that slow, can he? JWP runs in slow motion. I take it back. KWP cannot handle Romero. Not many can. Our keeper really isnt great on crosses is he. Could've finished that sentence four words earlier. Keeper is shocking, horrendous buy. Told you. Also has to be up there as one of the worst atmospheres I can remember against Spurs. Been absolutely silent. MASSSSIVE! Did we actually look at Hermansen before we bought him? Evidently not, otherwise you wouldn't have signed him. What is our game plan here? Anyone know? Nope. Kilman is shocking. £40m, lol. That Bergval is a typical Tottenham player. What, superb? My goodness, not sure I can put into words how much I hate Alan Smith… One thing we can all agree on. Not many “successful dribbles” from Bowen this season… Poor bloke's back and legs are probably ****ed from carrying ten muppets all the time. SECOND HALF: God, another corner. Wait for ittttt... *Sarr 1-0* Just so obvious wasn’t it? Absolutely dogshit at defending set pieces. Predictable. Another open header. Brutally weak stuff. Yeah that was on the cards. We’re going to set a record for goals conceded from corners this season. Let's hope so! Why all the players at the front post when all Spurs's are at the back post. Because you're West Ham. *Soucek red card* Not intentional but that was a horrible challenge. You can break legs like that. You absolute moron. What a ****ing stupid tackle the big dangly cսnt. Have to sympathise with Tommy there spur of the moment stuff but it’s a red no question. Oh Tommy. When it rains, it pours. I was surprised at the honesty, was expecting at least one knobhead to say something like "never a red". Crap tackle but not a red card. He barely reached him. Oh... never mind. *Bergvall 2-0* Oof. And now a goal. It’s all falling apart. Stunning goal. What a great 11 minutes. Free header... after free header... after free header.......**** off Potter. A thumping at home to these does it for me, ****ing disgrace. Get in, you beautiful Swede. We've had the better chances. Course you have, fella. And JWP stays on because wee need the pace with 10 men. *van de Ven 3-0* Collapsing like a pack of cards at moment. 0-3 Another Heavy defeat at home. 7 home games without a win. Shambles. We're going down. Quite possibly. Making Tottenham look like a good team. Because we ****ing are... I'm in Spain. Close my eyes at 0-0 for a cheeky little siesta, wake and its 0-3 ffs. Buenos Dias, hermano! Not having spent money on a decent centre back, utter madness. Meanwhile we have three Person 1: Please can someone tell me why walker Peters is marking a fella much bigger than him at set pieces? Person 2: Summerville was on Romero earlier too. Cuti's got their CB's so scared that they're throwing the little guys at him, lambs to the slaughter. *Kudus showboating* Spurs just laughing and enjoying themselves. Spurs have taken the piss out of us and not even had to work that hard for it. Someone needs to Soucek Kudus. Now, now. Obviously Spurs have the far more expensive squad, but Frank has completely outmanned Potter. Did you expect anything less? One positive is that with all the people who have left, the 5g reception in the stadium is now running quite smoothly. Silver linings. Bergvall - superb player! Indeed. A good owner would make a huge bid for Iraola. Spurs got Frank. Another big club will go get iraola soon. We are big enough but we have fools running the circus and only get freebies. "We are big enough"... lol. POST MATCH: I fear for our great club. Great? Behave. Relegation looks a strong possibility at this point. At least you're experienced in it. What is the point of West Ham this season? Just this season? I didn’t think we were that bad. I didn't think you were that good. The average number of corner kicks for an away team in the PL is apparently just over 4 - Spurs had 13 yesterday. It's totally in keeping with the Brentfordisation of Spurs. They are simply a more expensive version of Brentford. You say that like it's a bad thing?! They have a high quality manager. We have Cock Piss. Potter's downfall is almost sad to see, almost. Shows you what an organised manager, who knows how to motivate players can do. please log in to view this image
If all of those corner kicks came from "hit and hope" shots from outside the box that deflected off the backsides of your players, then point noted. I suspect the reality yesterday was very different.
Not taking the loss well, then? https://www.whufc.com/news/west-ham-united-launches-suicide-prevention-programme-matchdays
Brilliant DH! There are some absolute knock-outs in there! Mind you, I wouldn't mind getting the Lottery numbers from the guy who forecast 3-0!
Interesting thing I spotted in the extended highlights: their fans are really helping the club's image by cheering when Sarr got clattered in the first half as they couldn't tell him and Kudus apart...
Totally forgot to mention, but that chipped pass from Cuti directly to Bergvall's forehead was remarkably similar to the Alderweireld > Dele pipeline of old
I was thinking the same. Brought back some very fond memories. Dele scored one I think it was an equaliser at Everton where the ball and movement were almost identical, although he took it down on his chest and kicked it in. Bergvall was smart to head it, caught the keeper flat footed.
It probably is, but there are very few CBs (or any player for that matter) who can play those quarterback passes. Toby did it with remarkable consistency. Romero gets it right occasionally, although he has been playing in a relatively weaker team.
The interesting thing is just how much his passing has changed under Frank Under both Conte and Ange he was mainly playing through balls from deep, and while that was a useful weapon in transitioning between defence to attack quickly, but it's also one-dimensional and allows opponents to twig our attacking plans quicker. But now he's adding chipped passes to his repertoire that makes our tactics harder to pin down
