West Ham Banter

30 Apr 2026 18:25:37
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new video entitled entitled, C U Next Time - I Wanna Be Like You Edition}

29 Apr 2026 10:24:15
I think if ever Nuno needed a wake up call on how to win football games, PSG and Bayern demonstrated that last night.

Pace and lots of it. Cut out this side to side passing and get the ball forward quickly.

29 Apr 2026 18:06:56
Not sure but I think their players may be an upgrade on what we have, but take your point.

29 Apr 2026 22:27:43
Whilst your principles are right, Mac, those players are on a different planet.

You can only play with what you have. Get the best out of what limited talent there is. That's it.

The brand of football we play is limited by what we have.

30 Apr 2026 18:31:47
We need wins, not draws. If ever a game told you it was the Everton game, 1-0 up and tried to shut up shop and conceded eventually, and basically our next attack we scored when trying to attack. I'm not saying go completely gun ho and leave yourself wide open, but in this league, if you try and defend for 30 mins of any game and your back 4 are basically defending so deep they are nearly in the stands, then you are asking for problems.

⚒️🫧🫧⚒️

28 Apr 2026 18:53:12
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Liverpool v Crystal Palace - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

27 Apr 2026 17:06:37
Just a suggestion, Marlon Harewood was at the game at the weekend, I think he should be blamed for us losing on penalties to Leeds in the cup.

26 Apr 2026 17:21:36
Seems Soucek & Bowen knockers were kept quiet by their performances yesterday, both brilliant. Think Tomas should be given the Captaincy!
Great result but still don’t like the sitting back even though the defence is now so solid, to invite the opposition onto you for that amount of time is stupid imo.
⚒⚒⚒⚒

26 Apr 2026 20:50:08
I've seen a few knocking Soucek (including myself), and they have agreed he's got better, but I haven't seen many knocking Bowen, to be honest.

27 Apr 2026 06:08:42
Got to say, Chelmsford, you are spot on there. And yes, I was also one of those people. He is consistently putting in great performances. I would probably put him down as our best player on Saturday, along with Disasi and maybe Summerville. I've said it before, I'm often wrong, and in situations like this, more than happy to be proved so.

27 Apr 2026 12:16:58
Bowen had a poor game against Palace, and people said so. It was a one off. Apart from his captaincy shortcomings, nobody has been knocking Bowen as a player. All good players have an off day.

Are we not allowed to say so?
As for Soucek, he was bloody awful under Potter, but he's improved lately, and people have said so, including me. Read the posts, not just a selection.

27 Apr 2026 14:53:33
Hammer-D, well done, mate, for at least having the strength of character to change your mind with posts about performances instead of crucifying players constantly undeservingly. ⚒⚒⚒⚒

27 Apr 2026 15:15:39
Redrobbo, well done, mate, for actually reading posts and for your honest response.

25 Apr 2026 17:38:35
What a win, although I never understand why he takes Bowen off. It leaves our right side open. Must get at least a point v Brentford.

25 Apr 2026 18:49:17
Agreed, Brooking. Tough game for Spuds at Villa, but will Villa be looking at saving players for the Europa League second leg?

25 Apr 2026 20:28:56
Feel like the sub of Taty for Potts was a mistake - should of brought Wilson on then or even Traore. I felt we just invited them onto us and it nearly backfired badly. Gotta stop doing that at 1 up.
But what a win that is for us, gotta get something from Brentford next.

25 Apr 2026 22:12:24
Just got back home after going to the match and a couple of post match bevy's. That was almost a disaster-class in management. We were reasonably comfortable once we got the first, but then from around 70 minutes it was obvious the order was sit back and, obviously, the inevitable happened.

I was just surprised we managed to get the winner. I will celebrate them no matter how they come, but we can't get away with that for another 4 games.

26 Apr 2026 06:07:41
This was typical Nuno closing up shop after going one ahead. This bloke hasn't got a clue and he plays with fire every time. If we end up dropping, it will be entirely down to him. If we stay up, I hope he goes so we can progress. 🤞🏻

26 Apr 2026 11:58:40
Totally agree, Nuno's tactics almost cost us that game. The last 20 minutes were a horrific watch! Don't know if my heart can take much more of this...

26 Apr 2026 12:14:54
So true, Dabber. My nerves can't take it. 😩

26 Apr 2026 13:00:58
How on earth would relegation be completely down to Nuno?! You don't think the start under Potter has anything to do with it, no?

Since January, West Ham are 6th in the Prem for points earned in games, only 2 less than Arsenal.

Had he been in charge from the start of the season, it's much more likely that Spurs would already be relegated by this point.



7 points adrift from safety in January. I see your lack of appreciation for what Moyes achieved carries on into Nuno, Tin?

26 Apr 2026 13:27:30
Totally agree Irons87, there is no pleasing that guy.

Everton are where we were, under the manager we had. The maths strikes me as relatively self-explanatory.

Nuno has got us playing, scoring goals and playing, effectively, 4-4-2. We were dead and buried after Forest, but we are now in with a chance.



The fans at the stadium have been wonderful since January, right behind the team from the first whistle to the last. It's only the armchairs who are moaning at the moment because the stadium is fully behind the team from.

26 Apr 2026 14:11:09
We obviously have a squad that can play well and get us out of the crap that Potter had got us into. The opportunity is there, as long as Nuno doesn't keep pulling up the drawbridge like he has been. We need to play more open attacking football, and not go defensive to 'protect' a slim lead.

That's how Nuno can cost us the Premiership. And IronGeez, bloody right, there's no pleasing me if we continue to hide behind a single goal lead and go all defensive. I thought football was about entertainment and scoring goals, mate. (Welcome back - I've missed your perpetual attacking me!)

26 Apr 2026 14:12:29
Couldn't agree more with IronGeez and Irons87. Yes, Nuno has made questionable calls, but if it wasn't for him, we would have been dead and buried long ago.

He's got team spirit back in the team, which is something lacking for a long time.



He got rid of the bad apples, and, given the chance in the summer, I think he will take us forward. Yes we shut up shop, but our defending these days fills me with a lot more confidence these days.

26 Apr 2026 14:22:09
Strange how team spirit and playing better coincided with the arrival of Paco on the coaching staff.

26 Apr 2026 14:29:10
Just look at the Nuno legacy in the Premiership -
Wolves - relegated;
Spurs - hopefully relegated;
Forest - involved in relegation battle;
WHU - involved in relegation battle.
He really does leave his mark, doesn't he?

26 Apr 2026 15:29:46
Bournemouth, Brighton, Man U, Villa, Forest, Chelsea all games we should have got more from. All games we were leading in and didn't finish the job, all games where Nuno bottled it. That's without bottling it at home to Liverpool, when they were in the middle of their worst run ever, and the, quite frankly, bizarre team selections that were never going to result in anything but losses.

With a braver manager we'd probably be safe by now. Potter is a crap manager, but Nuno has to shoulder the blame as well.

26 Apr 2026 15:36:05
Sorry, should have said bizarre team selections against Brentford and Leeds. Let's not forget, as well, he masterminded the 3 nil pumping we got off Wolves with terrible tactics.

26 Apr 2026 18:14:16
Give over, Tin. 😆

None of those clubs have been relegated under Nuno (so far).

He finished 7th twice with Wolves and then 13th (they'd kill for that nowadays).

He finished in a European place with Forest after saving them from relegation the previous season.



But yes, his Prem record is a shocker.

It's not like you to dig your heels in when presented with facts vs opinions after all.

26 Apr 2026 19:07:18
I think even by your ridiculously low standards Tin Legs the comment if relegated it will all be on Nuno, is utterly ridiculous. Only to be followed up by an even more inane comment about how he has been responsible for the demise of spurs, forest, and wolves is down to him too. I'm sure there are some fans at those clubs that don't like him but the vast majority of Forest and wolves fans still have a lot of time for him I know this as I have looked at some of their websites to see what they are saying. You seem to make a rod for your own back with these ridiculously binary comments where it has to be one way or the the other there is no middle ground. You can never admit you are wrong, which you often are and when you are up against it you start crying that people like me are sarcastic towards you. Yet you make plenty of plenty of snide comments about certain individuals. Nuno definitely has to take some responsibility if we drop but to say it's all on him is ridiculous. You are right about Paco having a big impact on but our team but it is also the fact that when he took over we had no functional midfield, no youngsters were given a chance we had a previous that said we didn't need a striker. He took over when the club was in total disarray and has had to deal with all what has been going on in the boardroom, and whilst we are generally happy that KB left this week that could have had a bad impact on the day to day running of the club.

The team spirit is so much better than before and as IronGeez says the difference in the actual ground. Under Moyes, Loppy and Potter the atmosphere was generally absolutely dead and toxic, it hasn't been like that under Nuno although I did miss a lot of games around December and early January that was probably our low point. In the ground yesterday the atmosphere was generally good until about 70 minutes in and virtually everyone could see what was going to happen and that was down to Nuno's poor tactics and he would have been rightly blamed for that but we got the winner and the place exploded. You get a lot of armchair critics like yourself some are even run West Ham websites don't see what we see or experience what we do, and I regard myself as a pretty fair weather fan I'm nowhere near as hardcore as many, but I do at least go. Our fans generally just want each player to put in a shift and give us some entertainment and whilst it's not like watching Brazil it's a vast improvement on what has gone before.

27 Apr 2026 12:00:16
I have to reply to the posts by Hammer-D and Irons87.

Irons,
If you read my post, it was about the "legacy" of Nuno, not his record. My point was that all the Premiership clubs he's been involved with never progressed. They are all currently struggling. Even after a good manager leaves a club, it usually builds on what he has left behind. They are not always successful long term, but it is remarkable that all the Prem clubs Nuno has managed are struggling.

Hammer-D,
Not for the first time you apparently have either not read my posts correctly, or you misunderstand them.
It is obvious that Nuno has control over the tactics for our last few games, and as such, if he gets that wrong, he will be responsible for us going down. "The buck stops here" springs to mind. We all agree that we have the players who can pull off the Great Escape, if they are selected and sent out with the right tactics, i.e. left to play a more open and attacking game. That has been plainly obvious over the last couple of months, coincidentally with the arrival of Paco at the club. Team spirit obviously improves when the players are left to express themselves on the grass. Nuno can change that by his team selection and employing his defensive setup, as he often does. This could result in negative results. Now, may I ask, how is that (to quote you) "ridiculous"? If, as we now have, a good chance of escaping relegation, but Nuno makes the wrong decisions and we drop, how is that not down to Nuno? Now I realise that preceding managers also contributed to our current position, along with our illustrious board, but it's Nuno who has his hands on the controls right now, not Potter, Loppy or Moyes. You seem to agree that Nuno could cause us to drop by your following post on 25 April:
"Just got back home after going to the match and a couple of post match bevy's. That was almost a disaster-class in management. We were reasonably comfortable once we got the first, but then from around 70 minutes it was obvious the order was sit back and, obviously, the inevitable happened.
I was just surprised we managed to get the winner. I will celebrate them no matter how they come, but we can't get away with that for another 4 games."

In answer to this comment you posted "Only to be followed up by an even more inane comment about how he has been responsible for the demise of spurs, forest, and wolves is down to him too." Please see my answer above to Irons87. Where have I said that Nuno is responsible for the demise of these clubs? Simply pointing out a coincidence is not declaring responsibility mate. Inane? If the cap fits .

As for my never admitting I am wrong, please see my post of 22 April:
"On a positive note, the players I think have come on in leaps and bounds are Mavropanos and Soucek. The latter was terrible under Potter, but recently he has proved us doubters wrong, and long may it last."

You did employ sarcasm in response to one of my posts and I admit to also using it as a form of humour. I am outspoken and I'm too long in the tooth to worry about what people think of me, but when someone makes stupid comments I can't help responding. All posts on here are simply opinions, including mine. If I'm wrong, I'll say so. Why on earth wouldn't I? It's only an internet chat forum!

27 Apr 2026 15:12:24
So, the failings of a club is the responsibility of their previous successful manager? Such a clear link, I can't believe I missed it really!

Is it not much more likely that said clubs have made a series of terrible decisions after Nuno left the club? Wolves have been terribly run, selling off all their best assets and not adequately replacing, and hiring poor managers to replace.

Is Leicester's current plight the fault of Ranieri? Man Utd, Fergie's fault? Slots poor season this year the fault of Klopp?

I see you're avoiding addressing the elephant in the room of the facts that West Ham are 6th in the form table, taking only 2 less points than Arsenal in that time.

Or that they found themselves 7 points adrift of safety at that point and now have a genuine hope to stay up which nobody gave them prior to Nuno?

But sure, it'll be completely his fault if relegated.

You obviously care what people think, it's human nature, or you'd have no reason to feel you should defend your baseless statements.

27 Apr 2026 17:04:46
Totally agree, Irons87. This is gold, Moanlegs. In fact, I agree. If we go down this year, I'm blaming Glenn Roeder.

27 Apr 2026 19:26:19
Irons87, do you know the meaning of the words 'legacy', 'coincidence' and 'baseless'?
And, IronGeez, 'Moanlegs'? Is that the best you can do? 🤣

27 Apr 2026 20:03:48
Feel free to continue to duck addressing the facts that don't support your opinions whatsoever, Tin. I'll wait for your response.

27 Apr 2026 23:21:07
I would do, but your questions are based upon something I haven't said! Please indicate exactly where I've said that Wolves', Spurs' and Forest's current situation is Nuno's fault. All I said was that he hasn't a great legacy in the Prem, and that it's a coincidence all his Prem clubs are currently struggling.

I have not said anywhere that it's his fault. 🙄 Is that any clearer for you, or would you prefer it in capital letters?

27 Apr 2026 23:39:58
I won't spend long on this response because we will just keep going round and round in circles. The bottom line is, I, like most people, don't like Nuno's tactic of trying to close a game down from about 70 minutes if we are not losing. It seems to be a pre-made plan of his. I personally don't like it. If the result had gone against us Saturday, it would have been on him, and there have been a few notable games like the ones Robbo pointed out. But what about the games where we were robbed by luck or VAR, I'm not going to bother naming them. Some games we have lost simply because we played a better side; it is not always his tactics. It's over a whole season, and if we get relegated, yes, he has to take a decent share of the blame, but definitely not all on him, as he has done a lot of good stuff.

He inherited a far worse situation than others did. It seems to me, if we win, in your opinion, it has nothing to do with him. Yet if we lose it's all on him, it's his fault. That is total nonsense. As Irons said, our form since Jan has us top 6. How does that make him a dreadful manager? The fact is you don't like him, you never have, and that's all there is to it. As for me being sarcastic, yes, you're right, I am, guilty as charged. I'm sarcastic, sorry, I thought this site was called Banter; maybe they should change it to 'fellows who only wish to make salient points', but it lacks a certain ring to it.

28 Apr 2026 00:12:40
Sorry, Hammer, but I must correct you on one comment. I actually do not dislike Nuno. He's probably a very nice man. I don't like him either. I just think he's not the right manager for WHU, a club I actually love and have done from the age of 12. I don't think he has the necessary skills to make us a successful club, and it's possible he doesn't have the necessary skill to keep us in the Premiership.

Also, it works both ways on luck and VAR. I know there are instances where it's gone our way. That's life.
I've made it clear what I meant when I said Nuno has the controls and he could get it wrong. If he keeps going defensive and we keep losing, then I'm afraid there's no avoiding where the fault lies. The point is, and I think you agree, we shouldn't be in this position in the first place.

28 Apr 2026 00:40:04
Just a thought - Nuno can't control what's already happened, but he does have an element of control over what is yet to happen.

28 Apr 2026 07:23:13
Oh Tin. You're either being intentionally obtuse, or you're a bit dense.

How does the legacy thing carry any weight whatsoever if it's not a dig at his capabilities? If you're saying their current plight is not his fault, what an inane comment it is to make in this argument.

The facts I'm referring to are that he has WHU 6th in form table since Jan, taken only 2 points less than Arsenal and turned things around from a 7 point deficit. These are facts. Your opinion is that " This bloke hasn't got a clue and he plays with fire every time. If we end up dropping, it will be entirely down to him. If we stay up, I hope he goes so we can progress. 🤞🏻"

It's absolutely fine that you don't like his style of football. But trying to express that by saying he doesn't have a clue and having desperate attempts to discredit his good work at other clubs because they're now struggling is what discredits your own opinions.

You did the same with Moyes. I completely understand why you didn't like watching the football under him, but you went too far by downplaying his achievements of 3 seasons in Europe and that the conference league was a Mickey Mouse cup.

28 Apr 2026 09:16:51
For the umpteenth and final time, I have not expressed an opinion that the current woes of these other clubs are the fault of Nuno. You are making an assumption that by my saying he hasn't a great legacy in the current Premiership, I believe he is the cause of their problems. Wrong. My point is not meant to "carry any weight"! This is a bloody internet banter forum, not the UN. You seem to totally ignore my belief that the sudden upturn in playing form and team spirit is more down to the arrival of a decent coach, Paco, than anything Nuno has done. I have heard on the grapevine that Paco has heavily influenced training, and has a positive input on tactics, but Nuno's defensive attitude has overriding influence during team selection and game management.

That is plainly obvious.
I've avoided suggesting you are thick, unlike you, but if the cap fits. And, if you think explaining a point in simple terms is being obtuse, then you need coaching in English grammar. We just differ on what is a good manager. As for Moyes - again we differ on his 'achievements'. You may think he's Mr Wonderful. I don't. I think he's Mr Overrated. And the European Conference League is a third rate competition for also rans in my opinion.

{Ed001's Note - is that Paco Ayesteran? If so, he is a fantastic coach and it was the downfall of Rafa at Liverpool that they fell out and he left. I would love him back working at LFC.}

28 Apr 2026 09:32:19
Paco Jemez. Very highly thought of.

{Ed001's Note - ah ok. Yeah, well liked but never got the breaks as a manager. I missed him joining West Ham sorry.}

28 Apr 2026 10:09:20
All you're throwing around is conjecture, not backed up by facts, Tin.

If you're not saying it's a reflection of his abilities, then I struggle to understand what point it is you're trying to make and why it's relevant to the discussion? It feels like a desperate attempt to double down on your statement that he doesn't have a clue what he's doing, when the stats and facts don't back that up. It's a pretty ridiculous statement to make, in honesty, that clubs failing after he's left are in any way linked to the job he did, when the evidence is he's got a solid Prem record and realistically overachieved at the likes of Forest and Wolves, and is now giving WHU a good chance of staying when they were all but dead and buried.



I don't think Moyes is the best thing since sliced bread, but to say he wasn't successful during his tenure is ridiculous, and you're ignoring facts because you didn't like the style of football. Two things can be true at the same time. His football was defensive and boring, but he did a good job and oversaw the club's most successful period in a good long while.

Very good if you think Paco is responsible more than Nuno. But it's highly convenient that any success is down to Paco, and any relegation is solely down to Nuno.

28 Apr 2026 11:00:15
I'm going on gardening leave .....

28 Apr 2026 22:43:10
Look I'm going to say this about your guys debate which although heated had valid points from both sides. It is no secret that Tinlegs and I rarely see eye to eye but I do appreciate that everything he says is said with a conviction he always stands by. He can be infuriatingly annoying at times but I'm sure he has that view about many of us. For me this site would be an awful lot more boring with him off it than annoying with him on it so stop talking b*ll*cks about garden leave and continue debating.

Personally I think Nuno and Paco make a great team and compliment each other really well. Nuno has made some critical changes that have shored up a leaky defence and Paco made us exciting and threatening moving forward. let's not forget the shower of sh*t Nuno inherited and assume that he made the decision to hire Paco to sort out the offence whilst he sorted out the defence, fair assumption?

Now here are my beliefs as to what has changed for the best in the last 4 months and I welcome being challenged on them:

1) Nuno hired Paco
2) The decision was made to change the goalkeeper for the Southampton game and on that day I posted why I felt that decision should be made prior to the game (I was sat on the toilet in Prague whilst I wrote so have vivid memories of writing it😁) on 24th Jan. In short Areola caused panic in his defence and wasn't comfortable playing out of the back
3) Disasi has been an outstanding acquisition and brought out the best in both Mav and JCT
4) Because of Disasi Kilman has no longer needed to be in the squad let alone the bench
5) Pacqueta left!😁 I made it no secret that this player didn't play for the team and was a luxury we could ill afford. By moving him on Matteus Fernandes has been allowed to flourish and shine. We have been sooo much better without him!
6) Taty has been a good buy. Hard working and a goal threat
7) Summerville has hit form again aided by the fact that Pacqueta is no longer on the team sheet ahead of him
8) Souchek has hit form and formed an incredibly good partnership with the younger Fernandes
9) The group of players seem to have a better "band of brothers" mentality and are fighting for each other and Nuno
10) The home fans have been magnificent rallied by the upturn in performance and effort

I love this club and if we go down I'll be so proud of the effort the players and coaching team have given over the last few months. Yes Nuno playing defensive protecting a 1:0 lead drives me bonkers but at least he has given me hope, something I had very little of after the Forest home game .lets stick together, get behind the lads and send Spurs down. COYI!

29 Apr 2026 17:05:01
Well said, Dabber, I think your points are very well put and thought out.
I think the bottom line is no manager or person is perfect. In all my jobs there were things I was really good at and some things I needed to improve on. It's the same with personalities, from people who like to take risks and can be psychotic, through to the boring, steady-Eddie type who doesn't want to take risks. It is infuriating when Nuno tries to close down games when drawing or winning by a single goal, but that is his downside.

Hopefully he will change, but I doubt it. I feel a lot of the stuff you list there is down to him and Paco, and should be applauded for it. Disasi and Tatty have been great. Pablo is an enigma, that's about all I can say on him, and Adama has proved many of us wrong, as he has been good and should be getting more game time. Brentford won't play low block, so let's hope the boys click and we can get a result.
All I can say is most fans at the ground are equally p-d off by the shut down tactics but are positive about all else.

29 Apr 2026 21:30:39
Appreciate the feedback, HD. Pablo is a bit of an enigma, he works bloody hard and actually holds the ball up well. I just think he might just be a level below in terms of scoring goals. Traore has really pleasantly surprised me, and I agree, he deserves more game time, always in the thick of the goal celebrations too, which I like, seems a proper squad man...

Fingers crossed for Saturday, buddy. 🤞🏻

25 Apr 2026 15:33:22
Not enough urgency for me and it feels like one of those games where Everton nick a goal and then park the bus.

24 Apr 2026 21:42:10
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new player profile about, Andy Robertson