Stuwhu:
I have let some sort of dust settle from the messages yesterday, now would like to share my point of view....
Personally i know fans can be fickle, but after 2 seasons with Pards in the fizzy pop, he was not very liked, bar a few. After promotion there seemed to be a new load of fans who sang his name a cheered for him like he hadn't done anything wrong.
The football we played was poor, even some of last year last year, the guys on the field had nothing to loose and played with guts. that works for a year, then the egos came out and things fell apart.
in the 3 years with Pards he had 2 seasons where the club and fans had expectations, he failed. When we all thought we would be lucky to stay up he achieved. i think this is a man who is very good at producing something when not expected.
The tactics were never very good; he always had to play a striker on the wing, rather then 3 up front, when we went a goal down. The team played with no game plan and never took a real hold on a game.
The good point was the cup final, a memory we will all treasure. Seeing the game with my father was great, I only wish we would have won the cup as i am sure I wont get that chance again, a moment all father son hammers should have.
TrickyTrev:
Part of me is disappointed by the events of the last few days, whilst the other part is optimistic that as a club, we may be about to embark on our biggest adventure yet.
Pardew had many good points, I liked the guy he was generally honest when he made mistakes and seemed to have a real feeling for the club. However, he clearly got a number of important decisions wrong which ultimately cost him his job.
My main point though is this. I don't think that the new board felt that he was the man to take us forward. In a recent interview before the Chelsea game, Pardew was talking about Mourhino and how he must be a good manager in order to deal with the raging egos of multi million pound world football stars. Interestingly, Pardew admitted that he had a long way to go before he felt able to manage those types of player but that he wanted to learn to be able to manage and handle those types of players.
From the evidence of this season, Pardew clearly is a million miles from being able to manage really top players and sadly, I think he has been found out.
To sum up them, Pardew is an excellent Championship Manager, he has a good eye for a player and clearly knows how to put teams together, but managing a team is a lot harder than putting one together and on that front, evidence would suggest that he has failed.
IMHO if we are going to achieve regular European football as the current owner demands, we are going to have to employ a top European coach who is strong both tactically and in the management of players. I don't think that man is Curbishley.
FlySoHigh:
When Roeder managed to take us out of the premiership I felt that the lovely T. Brown esq had let West Ham down by failure to act... i.e. spend to stay up. Eggy is prepared to spend to chase the European dream and no doubt the profit that will follow. He is not prepared to have Alan Pardew do the spending.
The general consensus of opinion on the board regarding Curbs is rather surprising. I for one would be happy to see a proven Prem manager and ex hammer have a go.
Curbs did well at Charlton, another un-ambitious club. The fact that the new management are interested in entering the European trophy chase must be motivation for Curbishley and this is new ground. We certainly weren't going to get Brown spending to make Europe.
Curbs will listen to what Eggy has to say and decide from there. I for one feel sure that he would not be listening if it were still Brown doing the talking.
Frankly, Pardew has failed to manage the team this season. Seeing 20% of the home crowd leave UP before the end of the Wigan game together with the almost silent home crowd suggested that a change was needed before it is too late.
Thanks Alan Pardew and good luck.
West Ham United 1st not the manager or the captain. The fans deserve better. I want to believe that it is coming soon.
P.S. Tell Santa SWP would be a lovely little present.
Topangahammer:
Alan Pardew's problem will always be he's too nice!!
He came to west ham at a troubled time, with a lot of young players a bit shell shocked from the going on's. He seemed to befriend these players as well as the new he brought in, (half of Wimbledon and palace it seemed) he did make some good purchases at the end of the fizzy pop campaign, Gabbidon and Collins from Cardiff, Benayoun and obviously Ashton half way through the season.
Unfortunately the gamble of buying lots of cheap players at the beginning of this season (three right backs) has not paid off. There were things that were out of his control, like the constant injuries, especially Ashton, but the drastic dip in form of players maybe has to be put at his feet.
Team selection is a very big part of his job, balancing the good of the team against people's feelings, dropping someone (no matter who they are) when they don't perform, something Pardew never seemed to come to terms with.
as far as his tactic's, last year were great to watch, fast swift attacks, that had most teams immediately on the back foot, are defence although not water tight, was a hell of a lot better than in previous years. All that seems to be gone now, Pardew blamed teams knowing how to play us, I put it down to key players not performing, but what ever it is, you don't just give up and rely on just pumping the ball up front, with no contingency plan.
Finally the Argie situation,
I don't think he handled it at all well, I think the damage was already done before they got there, as far as idiots like Reo-Coker thinking there to big for our club (believes his own press), but I feel he should have brought them in more gradually, but permanently and in positions they play in.
overall I think the board made the right call, but saying that, if the takeover had happened earlier in the season, things could have totally different for Pardew.
Jon15u:
Some will only look on the negatives of AP´s management of us while completely ignoring the good he has done.
He came to us with a rag tag team and on a small budget achieved miracles. We spent two seasons under him fighting in the championships, and some will say we got out only through luck. May i take time out to point out to those, that you have to be in the right position to take advantage of such luck anyway.
We then found ourselves once again playing in the Premiership where most, including myself, were expecting us to fail. How wrong we were, Pardew once again produced the goods for us, finishing higher than expected and also reaching the F.A Cup final. Once again we have AP to thank for that.
My opinion of his sacking is that i think after the Bolton match it was inevitable. At half time i could already see his notice being drawn up. IMO his blind loyalty was what finally became his demise, those players whom he picked who performed poorly week in week out. That and his statement prior to the Bolton game.
I can honestly say that i am sorry to see him go, would prefer it to have been those who helped in his demise first. I don't blame Mr Egg, he's a business man who has invested millions in a club he was watching being flushed slowly down the drain. He did the only thing he thought possible to plug it before it was too late. Let us just hope that AP´s sacrifice is worth it.
Hayeshammer:
Two years overdue in my opinion. Assembled a squad that should have been more than capable of winning outright promotion. Instead hobbled into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season. Only a outstanding performance in the Semi 2nd leg against Ipswich. Then hobbled past a average Preston side.
Last season proved to be a 1 season wonder aka Roeder & has been severely found out this season with his tactical naivety. Along with his inability to control the NRC, Ferdinand, Harewood clique. To have 2 players with the god given talent of Tevez & Masherano in the squad & languish in the bottom 3 is disgraceful. Ask yourselves the question if you had invested £100 million + in the club, would you not want to protect your investment!
WHU:
Pardew always did his best for the club. He showed loyalty to players that got the club promoted and had that loyalty abused by young players thinking they were better than they really are. The second season was always the wake-up call and some of the youngsters thought by simply turning up, would suffice. It didn't. The exit of Peter Grant was a massive blow. The real body blow to Pardew was some of the players were clearly at odds with him. Pardew must have started to feel very isolated with growing discontent and less back up.
Pardew is a good, honest man sometimes lacking in tactical nouse but an excellent talker and media player. He earned a lot of respect from many supporters and he will return with another team and get an excellent reception. He was too loyal. He has some personal issues. Key backroom changes at wrong times (not by choice). Add these to takeover issues and it would be tough for anybody. I'd shake the mans hand tomorrow and wish him well. In hindsight, I'm sure he would have been more brutal with so called 'decent players'. They sealed his fate. Best of luck AP.
Orbit:
After the Icelandic consortium invested £83M for a controlling interest in West Ham and committed a further £22M on the clubs debt, I believe the right decision was made in relieving Alan Pardew of his duties.
During Terence Brown's tenure as chairman, the club always appeared to have limited ambition, and I truly believe that Pardew worked minor miracles in getting us promoted in his first full season and by taking us to our first FA cup final in 26 years and achieving a creditable 9th place Premiership finish last season.
This year it's gone from bad to worse for many reasons. The high profile, long protracted shambolic takeover negotiations were truly embarrassing and cause for major distraction and Pardew's mis-placed loyalty to certain players were the main reasons. We also sorely missed Dean Ashton, but hey, we did fine without him this time last year.
Alan Pardew can be proud of his achievement in re-establishing the clubs premiership status in the face of such adversity in the first 18 months of his reign and also for the teams performance in the greatest FA Cup final of modern times.
I will miss AP, but at the dawn of this new Icelandic era, we - the fans, are no longer dependent on him as the club's one and only saviour.