mrfahaji

Really? BBC Weather says it's 17 degrees in Hull at the moment.

Lee Mason, haha, who'd have thought it? In fairness I don't think he got many things wrong - except Noble not getting sent off! I haven't seen the replay of the penalty though, even if there was a nudge I'm surprised we got it. If I were a West Ham fan, I might complain about the ref but really I would be taking issue with a silly decision from Zabaleta and an absolutely stupid decision from Arnautovic. Second game in a row where our general play has been decent, we've looked the 'better' (even if that is an ambiguous term) side, but ultimately we struggle to break down a defensive unit and look shaky as h£ll when the other team puts ball into our box. Did we win a single header today?! Ward-Prowse's set pieces and general crossing were a threat, improving his claim for a starting place. But at the same time we didn't actually capitalise on anything, because we are crap in the air. A key moment for me was shortly after coming on, JWP got to the right hand side and looked to whip a low ball across the six yard box - Cresswell blocked for a corner, but it could have been dangerous and we also got something from it. Why don't our full backs put more balls in along the ground? A classic example was Bertrand got clear mid way through the second half, into the box, had time to look up and put a ball in... he stopped, played backwards... minutes later a series of backwards passes ended up with Yoshida clipping a straight, easy ball into the box from deep. What's the point? Plenty of things to improve on, but have to at least be pleased with 4 points from 2 games. Admittedly, neither opposition have looked particularly good, but it's never easy. Reasons to be/stay positive!

My nerves for that second penalty were like if we were in a final day decider, not second game of the season!

Here we go... Austin?

Ha, ok fair enough... but in the second half, what has Redmond done?!

What has Redmond done today? Nothing I recall. He needs to score to make up for an utterly pointless performance.

Pathetic, yet so inevitable. "Defence is the best form of attack" should be team's mantra against us, we are so f**king inept under those circumstances.

Agree, but have seen them given (e.g. At Anfield last season!) Wasn't clear cut.

After last season West Ham must've known that a few shots on goal would result in at least one goal

That was probably Tadic's worst penalty to date!

Wish commentator would stop equating Tadic's and Noble's challenges. How Noble is still on the pitch is beyond me, regardless of whether the ball was "live".

Definite yellow for Tadic, need to be careful with Mason as ref. Wouldn't go as far as saying it was the "worst tackle I've seen for a long time" though, like the co-commentator. Is it Tony Gale? Would explain if so...

Hmmmmmmm. Looks to me like Muslim immigration is high in big cities, which will also be the highest concentration of underprivileged areas (which may or may not be muslim ones), and also have the greatest levels of inequality, factors which would all contribute towards a higher incidence of rape. That doesn't mean there isn't an issue in various muslim communities of course, but it probably gives a better explanation of the 'correlation' you're trying to show.

Alex McCarthy is fit!

We learnt last season how 4 strikers can quickly turn into a lack of options, especially when your best two are out. I wouldn't be averse to another loan deal, as it's better than him not even getting on the bench here, but would prefer it to be a 3/4 month loan with an option to recall.

Edit. Tried to paste a GIF. Didn't work. Don't know how. Sob.

Ok fair enough. I remember him saying 80%/90% and thinking it was good news but then his next sentence seemed to contradict that so thought I must have misheard.

Ah ok, that's good news, thanks. I was thinking that his ability in the air is the key unknown (to me at least!) that would make it a lot more positive.

No, what I believe he said was that transfers are either 0% or 100%, there is no "80% or 90%" complete.

On one hand I'm excited as he looks like a good player, and also shows we're making an effort to improve a slightly dodgy area of the team, bearing in mind van Dijk's situation. Also it makes sense to pre-empt van Dijk leaving, even if his departure isn't till next summer. On the other hand, from what I saw on the video and what I have read from any Lazio fans' critique, I'm a little concerned that we are signing a player who doesn't excel at any of the things Yoshida and Stephens struggle with. If anything, it sounds like he also struggles with them. Hopefully I'm either wrong or it's not important because he's partnering van Dijk for most of the campaign. The pros definitely outweigh the cons though, so hoping we get this over the line.

It may be a positive side effect, but I doubt the club are (and I don't think they should be) basing a £15m investment decision on what might make van Dijk more keen to play for us again. Besides, his agent's greed will take care of that side of things, for better or worse.

Sigurdsson is about to turn 28. He's not old in terms of performance capability - if anything he might be at his peak - but not sure how much money Everton will recoup in a few years time. So essentially their "investment" in Sigurdsson is purely what they'll gain on the pitch in terms of league and cup achievements. He's a good player, but stattos will be quick to point out how much of his success comes from set pieces. Of course, that still counts, it's not like a penalty counts as half a goal, but considering they already have Leighton Baines, I wonder how much marginal difference that will make. (Maybe as Baines ages they want someone to fulfil his role, but doesn't mean any gains, just no drop off from set pieces).

I initially thought you were saying we need to get him back in the team asap, if we are "dropping points" all the time he's not playing...! What's best for the team? That isn't limited to "Starting XI ability", but also factors in squad morale and motivation. I'm not sure it sends out the best message to immediately put him in the team as soon as he says he's ready to play again, but equally we'd be silly to leave him on the bench for months due to him "disrespecting" the club. It would be a bit like, I dunno... voting to leave the EU to "make a point", even though the eventual ramifications will be disastrous.

How is Troy Deeney on his 'third' chance? Sounds like he has made an effort to turn his life around since he went to prison. I understand being sceptical of people who have committed crimes, but such people aren't necessarily innately bad people who can't learn from mistakes or be rehabilitated.

For me it's more about the message it sends out to the rest of the team. "Stephens, Yoshida - you guys have been working hard all summer, and playing well, but you know that guy who has thrown his toys out the pram and said he doesn't want to play with any of you lot any more? Well he's actually quite good, so he's picked instead". Obviously in time he needs to be back playing because he is a great defender and we will be a better team because of his presence, but there may need to be careful handling of the 'reintegration'.