No disrespect to trixter as he seems a decent chap, but since lurking and following on westhamfans.org and kumb for a good giggle, I've been hoping that WHU would fall by the wayside - the arrogance and sense of entitlement on these sites, particularly the former is unbelievable. The attitudes displayed are hugely disrespectful to the rest of the league - "we deserve to be in the prem/we are the Man Utd of the Championship/we have the best fans|team|squad/we are everyones cup final/southampton are a small team overachieving/souuthampton will fall away/we are west ham how on earth are we 6 points behind a small team like soton/we will win this league easily/we will be 10 points clear by easter/we are west ham and we will walk this division" etc etc etc I have always loved to see so-called "big clubs" fail. I couldn't care about any clubs past or history - only the present matters, and if WH miss out on autos and fluff the playoffs I will laugh my backside off. I'd like to see either Cardiff or Brighton win the playoffs - still think Poyet is a tosser, but having different names in the Prem seems to me better and more refreshing than the same old underachieving has-beens bouncing up and down. Again, my apologies to trixter as he his banter has always been sporting and displayed none of the above. He deserves to support a better team... Cheers, RLT
Reading, they deserve it for the fantastic run they have been on. Just hope the run is not so good as to pip us to the title.
They went down the following season, could have just gone a year earlier right! ; ) Four awful teams that season, would have stayed up if we could just defend a bit better - Baggies stayed up with a meager 34 points.Maybe next season you'll start to like them a bit more..
Ideally we'd want the worse teams possible/the teams that have the least money to come up with us so our survival is a bit easier. Right now would prefer Reading over West Ham because they dont have as much money to spend, although with Reading getting a new owner that could change...
Reading all the way. Have always had a soft spot for them (and Liverpool & Bournemouth). I can remember being really gutted for them when they lost the (what is now) L1 play-off final under Pardew. Plus I think that McDermott is a top player and appears to be a really decent bloke. Like Adkins, he deserves a crack at the Premiership. Boro, Hull or Cardiff for the play-offs. No affiliation towards any of them, I just want as a weak a team as possible to come through the play-offs, should we secure top 2.
If we get promoted... Based on Manager - Reading. I was driving down to Soton on Friday and caught the Reading-Leeds post match interview on BBC Berkshire (halfway down the M3). I always thought McDermott was a pretty decent manager anyway but he comes across as very sensible and level headed in a full interview. Struck me as being very similar to Nigel in many ways but almost like the "Anti-Adkins" in terms of chirpiness! Big Sam, well.... Based on Fans - West Ham. Although there have been some cocky fans assuming promotion the overall impression I've had is that they haven't been so sure about it and they all hate Big Sam. Plus as someone already said they have been through the mill over the past few years and maybe deserve to get back. And get a new manager at the same time perhaps! Also in the aforementioned BBC Berkshire post match analysis all of the Reading fans were proclaiming that they had won the league and guaranteed promotion. That's coming from the fans that apparently have the second worst away following in the Championship after Doncaster. That wound me up, and that was before Saturday's disappointment. Based on Club/Chairmen, etc- Reading. This is purely based on all of the rubbish that seems to come out of the West Ham Board Room. They paint themselves badly when it comes to public comments, eg Brady column and Gold on Twitter. Aside from Majeski selling shares I don't think I've heard much about the reading board this season. Quiet and reserved, like our lot. Using us as a model for PR maybe?! Based on "Football" - hmmmm.... Tricky one, putting Big Sam aside I think West Ham are the more deserving of getting back into the prem, style of play, support, etc, West Ham are without doubt the "bigger" club in terms of history, but then Reading have done fantastically well this season with fairly limited resources in comparison. On balance though, Reading
This is a choice between crap fans and crap owners. I'll go for Reading as they play nicer football and we tend to have exciting games against them.
Actually I take that back. If Reading are about to be taken over by a Russian tycoon then I hope they fail. No more Man Citys please.
To quote the old film, "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn" I really have no feelings one way or the other. Will be quite happy if either stutters - trust in West Ham when they are at home to blow it. I actually like West Ham and always have, but if their stuttering progress takes the pressure off Saints then great. It is too much to expect that both of our rivals will blow up. As long as one does, I'm happy.
I never had any Bad thoughts about West Ham till 3 months ago. How many strikers does one club need? Big Sam is a plank, they had Demba Ba last year and made him look rubbish. It's not the strikers Mr Allardyce, it's the way you set your team out !!! They have too many big ego's. Plus the fans are a complete bunch of Noobs. The abuse we get off them from other websites is truly shameful. I would actually love to see them struggle in the lower divisions for years now. Reading have done nothing wrong in my book. They don't have an illustrious history so they won't get the fanbase. It's the same here where I currently live in Bristol. Most people follow Rovers or City but don't really seem that bothered because they have no expectations. That's just life. Having said that, I will certainly throw my toys out the pram if Reading beat us on Friday. The first game I have been able to get too in ages! I would take Reading and Brighton up with us!
I think most clubs in the Championship would prefer West Ham to stay down for several reasons. Firstly,WHU have a big away following - likely to take considerably more fans on a Tuesday night to Middlesboro than ourselves or Reading. Given the fact that they are a bigger draw than ourselves or Reading they are likely to help other clubs towards their highest attendance of the season at this level. Secondlt, a trip to London (Tower of London, the National Museum, Camden Market, Brick Lane are places to go before a game) is much more enticing than one to Southampton, although we have our new Sea Museum and attractive parks to enjoy pre-match, or Reading (??) so yeah it is better for the Championship for West Ham to miss out.
My sympathies are more with West Ham, I suppose. Like a lot of people, I have a soft spot for them, and always enjoy a trip to their place, though this might change if they moved to the Olympic Stadium. I certainly don't see them as a big club, they'll always be in the shadow of spurs and arsenal, and for this they match the sentiment expressed in their song, "then like my dreams, they fade and die." I rate their chances in the play-offs. If they met Birmingham in the final that'd be worth watching.
West Ham for sure. I can't stand Reading. Their fans are fake, they have a horrible, soulless ground and all in all it is an awful away day. I like their manager but that's it and I think they have an average team that is way over-achieving.
I was making a point about undeserving/moaning fans - Villa fans are dreadful and constantly force managers out: O'Leary, O'Neill and now McLeish (although the latter is doing a poor job)
