West Ham Online

"Free agency started last night and was pretty crazy some huge money being spent. Osweiler getting £18m a year for the Texans, leaving the Broncos without a QB, Giants have spent a fortune on good but not great players, Oliver Vernon has more guaranteed money than JJ Watt. lots more deals but cant be bothered to list them all."

"SB, we have quite a few good skins fan channels on youtube and possibly the best is by a fella called louie tee. this is his take on the gase appointment https://youtu.be/xRl1cvqK1cE"

"Saw your tight end has been arrested Southbank, shame he was looking like a pretty good prospect last year, may be facing a suspension"

"Isaac, Yep, I think you've summed it up perfectly - that's very much the impression I get from others I know who follow the Fins. Gase just never seemed to move you on, despite looking like he should: for years! Naturally, I hope he somehow finds a way to do it in New York, but I'm not holding my breath. McCarthy should have got the job, no doubt about it in my mind. TM - Snyder is toxic. His name also makes him sound like a pantomime villain. But somebody's got to get a grip in Washington, because the Eagles will have Wentz for years (they will have to release Foles after this season for $ reasons), the Cowgirls are looking solid, and the Giants have the best running back in the entire league. Barkley is a one-man wrecking machine. If the Giants find a decent QB to replace Eli's ageing knees, then that''s three strong sides in the NFC East. It'll start to look a lot like the 1980s again."

Brave new world of offense = Bubble screens and HB draws on 3rd & 12!

"I can only hope that the Jets go out and appoint a top DC, who gives Gase at least a chance of success with a tight defence built around Jamal Adams. But it hardly feels like the brave new world of offense that we were promised."

"Southbank, my condolences at landing Gase. Having watched all of his press conferences and post games for the past couple of years, I should be well positioned to give some insights, but he is still a bit of a mystery to me. He seems to say all of the right things, and he clearly had a direction - rid the team of disruptive influences, foster a spirit of togetherness, no-one bigger than the team etc. In reality he seems to have just traded away all of our talent, and kept us treading water. Then he gets the boot and another 2-4 year project begins with us in the same place as we were at the beginning of his reign. Despite everything I am still fond of Gase; from a Dolphins perspective I hope he gets to continue calling offensive plays for you for seasons to come!"

"SB, in regard to the value of the franchise, he bought it for less than a billion and it's now reportedly worth three times that but what does that matter of the footballing decisions are so bad. they lost our special teams coach yesterday, arguably one of our better coaches to the falcons and fired defensive backs coach who's had very little talent to work with, and even less after the sacking of swearinger"

"McCarthy has now withdrawn his name from all other NFL vacancies - and plans to sit out 2019 and return in 2020. This is typical of the Jets. A respected, experienced, super bowl-winning coach with a top track record - and he was begging to do the Jets job. It was the only job he wanted, and he interviewed for it. And Johnson et al instead chose a failed Dolphins HC! You couldn't make this up. For the uninitiated, this is the equivalent of choosing Glenn Roeder above John Lyall."

"Jeez - that is some reduction in attendances, TM. 90k is an extremely healthy turn-out for an NFL franchise. 70k? That's just plain average, especially for a franchise as potentially big as the Skins. I really hope Snyder does not try to move them. It pains me to see franchises up sticks and go elsewhere. No loyalty to the fan base that has helped build the club. And it is 'Washington' - it needs a team."

"Personally, I think Mike McCarthy should have been a shoo-in for the Jets job. Super Bowl winning coach, history of building a team up, history of dealing with potential A-grade QB (although his relationship with Rodgers suffered due to the latter being hard work!). More than that, though, he really wanted the job and looked/sounded properly motivated to do well for the Jets. I think that combination of characteristics should have made his appointment inevitable. But then again, this is the Jets. In real football terms, they could be presented with an open goal in the last minute of the cup final, the ball on the goaline and all 11 opponents down injured - and somehow contrive not to win. Welcome to Gotham."

"southbank, I'm now convinced Snyder's end plan is to relocate and sell the franchise. there can be no other reason for the constant braindead decisions. we had one of the best average attendances in the league at just under 90k, it's now well under 70k with most of those taken up by away fans. he's destroyed the club"

"TM, Yeah, the Skins should have gone a bit harder after Todd Bowles. He is a really solid defensive co-ordinator. He was just a bit clueless as head coach, because he lacked any offensive nous and experience. He's also a very dignified man who brings that to the sport/his franchise. He's a good appointment as DC for Tampa Bay. He would have been for the Skins, too. Like with the Jets, it's hard to know what you guys are going to do to turn this around. It seems like we're just fecking cursed!"

"hahaha, good luck it shows what scumbag people we have running the Redskins that they've been interviewing/talking to defensive coordinators while one, Manusky, is still in the job. I'm not surprised Todd Bowles looks to be set for Tampa Bay and one of Arian's assistants rather than work for Snyder. the best they could do now if they're determined to make a change is bring back Gregg Williams."

"Un-fucking-believable. Adam Gase. Adam Gase? The new Jets head coach is Adam fucking Gase. A failed Dolphins coach. The New York Jets' ability to shoot themselves in the foot far outweighs that of any other club or franchise in sport. Including West Ham. We had (with Cleveland) arguably the most attractive head coaching vacancy in the NFL this winter: a superb young quarterback, a #3 draft pick, a selection of other high-round draft picks through past trades, $100m of salary cap space, and the ability to wipe the slate clean and pick an entire new coaching staff if necessary. With Tom Brady on the cusp of retirement, the AFC East may open up for the first time since he and Belichick effectively locked it down. And who do the Jets pick to lead Gotham into this bright new dawn - one of the few occasions in its history when it has a chance to turn things around? Adam fucking Gase. This is the head coaching equivalent of the infamous Sanchez 'Butt Fumble'. Still, he's our hopless idiot now...long live the king, eh?!"

"yeah the Chargers didn't look great yesterday but that Ravens defence is much much better than the patriots' especially upfront. Melvin Gordon's fitness could prove huge, as the Pats have struggled to stop the run and will not want to dedicate an extra man in the box to stop him. they are quite strong on the backend though and could double team Allen while leaving Gilmore to take away Mike Williams. Im sure Belichick and McDaniels will have come up with game plan already, would expect to see a lot of Burkehead and White in the passing game for the Patriots as they exploited the linebackers in coverage last year when they mathed up."

"Fancy your mob Burnsy. You were looking jaded and carrying some niggling injuries, so I reckon the extra rest will have worked wonders."

Chiefs -5.5 Chargers +4.0 (I think the Chargers will win) Rams -6.5 Saints -8.5 12/1

"crystal falace 1:18 Mon Jan 7 Don't really know the AFC but the Chargers kept giving chances to, from what I saw (in one game to be fair) was an extremely poor offence and quarterback, again on the day. Against an even decent one? I generally agree about the Cowboys, Goff has looked like rookie/sophomore Goff at times lately. Would like the Cowboys to win and then Saints beat them, for the confidence. Eagles have a lot of momentum and experience but the Saints are not shy on the latter and I am just going with the better team. (easy for me to say) The Bears looked a bit overawed and I like the Saints kicking game more than most (always important in the playoffs.)"

Elliott is a worry for me. I'm worried he'll run all over the Rams porous defence. I can see us losing this unfortunately.

"I had the Bears to beat the Eagles. But fair play to Foles - he just gets it done. I see the Cowgirls are still lurking in the NFC hunt. Let's hope that does not happen. In the meantime, my Jets need to get a frickin move on and appoint the best available head coach (most likely McCarthy) - or some other firm is going to move in first."

"Obviously the 4 home teams will be favourites but it wouldn't surprise me if a couple of them lose. The colts have an offense that can keep up with the chiefs and also have a decent defence. Chargers are probably a more talented team than the Patriots if they can hold themselves together they could easily have enough. Cowboys will ned to basically do exactly what they did to beat the saints, run the ball control the clock and play good defence, they have exceptional linebackers so if they can limit Gurley and force Goff to beat them on his own they have a chance. No idea about the Eagles but something always seems to go their way, Nick Foles will not lose in the playoffs."

"I'll no doubt be very wrong, but I can't see any of the teams who had the bye's this week struggling against whoever they get. Would fancy the Chargers, but while Gordon isn't fully fit their running game is a bit shit. I'll no doubt be proved very wrong!"

Bye bye Bears :-)

ChicagLOL Bears

Weird play and lucky for the Eagles.