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When the subject of prospective new managers comes up a lot of people tend to focus on win %, trophies won, clubs managed, etc. while ignoring the type of football the manager usually employs. For me this should have far more importance and ideally the club should have a philosophy in mind and continue with it through successive managers rather than change back and forth all the time (as we've been doing for years).

So, if you were to choose a style for the club to work towards and stick with, what would it be?

a) Low block, counter attack
b) Mid-high press, possession
c) High press, direct
d) Other
 

I want a versatile tactically astute manager who can switch styles based on opponents and the way plan A is going

He needs to be a good man manager capable of improving players in the team and capable of helping the very promising batch of youngsters from the academy integrate into the squad

No short termism please and don't be cheap Sullivan!

The manager position is the most important position at every club! So be AMBITIOUS!!!!

Anyone who can balance attack and defence.

not naive at the back 

 and not fucking dull 

I just want a style that isn't all about avoiding defeat.

I can swallow playing for a draw away at the big guns, just.

But I want a manager who will have a go against any of the teams in the bottom half of the table.
Someone who has his own philosophy and playing style that asks questions of other teams and expects them to try and deal with us. 

Instead of every fucking game, just trying our best to nulify their threats at all costs and hope to catch some luck going forward.

It doesn't have to be free-flowing, cavalier style football, but at least some of our identify MUST be in the way that we can attack teams, not just how we defend.

That style should be coached at all the youth levels through the club.

The academy should also be the first place we go to fill any gaps in the first team.  We should not be signing average 32+ year olds who won't add any value to the team and will only block the progress of the youth players.  

I don't actually think it's that difficult to come here and do a good job and to get the fans on your side.  

You can spot a team that works hard, tried to play football and wants to win from a mile off.

If you're someone who actually knows what they are doing, yes, you do precisely that. Not effectively forfeiting 6 more points because of your reckless mismanagement of the situation. 

Thick as fucking pigshit. 

Massive Attack" wrote: ↑22 Sep 2025, 12:45 Scorch

Think about it. It's now well documented that Nuno was seen in Theydon Bois holding 'secret' meetings with Sullivan about the job last week and Potter then goes and produces that car crash on the weekend, off the back of the Spurs one at Home as well. If you want him, then clearly now is your chance whilst you still can before fucking Nuno off further delaying the inevitable for yet another 2 games.

The longer he waits, the more disinterested Nuno becomes and wouldn't at all blame him for saying yeah fuck that you midget freak, I'm going somewhere else where there is little turmoil and the Crowd don't also chant for your removal as well as the Managers.. The Board should have acted last week when they had the chance of hiring him at the meeting. It's all classic Dithering Dave though when he does this, no the next 2 games shit.

Scorch

Think about it. It's now well documented that Nuno was seen in Theydon Bois holding 'secret' meetings with Sullivan about the job last week and Potter then goes and produces that car crash on the weekend, off the back of the Spurs one at Home as well. If you want him, then clearly now is your chance whilst you still can before fucking Nuno off further delaying the inevitable for yet another 2 games.

The longer he waits, the more disinterested Nuno becomes and wouldn't at all blame him for saying yeah fuck that you midget freak, I'm going somewhere else where there is little turmoil and the Crowd don't also chant for your removal as well as the Managers.. The Board should have acted last week when they had the chance of hiring him at the meeting. It's all classic Dithering Dave though when he does this, no the next 2 games shit.

Jean-Luc Paul Goddard" wrote: ↑21 Sep 2025, 17:26

El Scorchio" wrote: ↑21 Sep 2025, 16:52

If you don’t think we are in a relegation battle under this manager then I want some of what you’re having. 

Fucking hell! I absolutely do think we are in a relegation battle under THIS manager. I've been arguing that with you for months as you've been one of Potter's biggest supporters on here. 

What I was clearly saying was that once we rid ourselves of the man who is without doubt the worst manager we've ever had then things will almost certainly get better. And if he's sacked this week, as he fucking well should be, then the new manager could have 33 games to get us up the table. That's more than enough.

Surely the answer is to get the best out of the players we have at this time.

There isn't going to be massive (MASSIVE) changes in the next transfer window so we need to get the 40 point target without the ideal way we want to see WH playing.

We perhaps need a manager that can ADAPT.

Unlike Potter.

Direct and purposeful in possession, aggressive out of possession. 

Don't much care if the aggression come from a mid block regroup, or chase the second you lose it...but I'd say you maximise Bowen and Paqueta, and our squad is better when there is space in behind for them to have Bowen running into...so that means winning it back a bit deeper.

So for me it's drop in to shape, get aggressive, win it back and look to get Paqueta playing Bowen in. That should be plan A. Plan B involves Summerville, Diouf, and whoever is up top.

And when we go to win it back, we hunt as a pack....not some token press by the bloke nearest the ball. 

In my view, that's not too far off what Moyes had us doing in his first 18 months (except against the big teams where Moyes was scared) before Irvine left and we went to utter passive shit.

What an utterly fucking pointless thread. We're in survival mode now. Any cսnt that can keep us up using this collection of cunts we jokingly call a squad. What we want is fucking long gone. 

zico wrote: ↑21 Sep 2025, 19:30 Nothing wrong with counter attacking football if it is done right.  Back in 85/86 it was one, two touch passing but plenty of it was hitting teams on the break with balls over the top to Frank and Tony.  It wasn't tiki taka, it was direct with passing to feet or controlled passes over the top, and Alvin and Galey defended deep because they admmitted they didn't have the pace.  Nothing wrong either with a big long kick from a keeper, none of this predicatble, bollocks short passing to defenders who can't pass properly.  Get the ball to the players who can play.  Closest we have had in recent years was the Payet season although that brief period with Lingard it worked because he ran off Antonio, which in turn creates space.  It's easy to mark one striker, not so easy to mark runners beyond him.  We only have pace up front with Summerville and Bowen, so get the bloody thing up to them.  I'd rather lose 5-3 having a go that trying to defend and still losing.

Both Galey and Alvin were good on the ball and could pass through the midfield.

Class acts who also led by example the like of which we could certainly do with at the moment.

 

Nothing wrong with counter attacking football if it is done right.  Back in 85/86 it was one, two touch passing but plenty of it was hitting teams on the break with balls over the top to Frank and Tony.  It wasn't tiki taka, it was direct with passing to feet or controlled passes over the top, and Alvin and Galey defended deep because they admmitted they didn't have the pace.  Nothing wrong either with a big long kick from a keeper, none of this predicatble, bollocks short passing to defenders who can't pass properly.  Get the ball to the players who can play.  Closest we have had in recent years was the Payet season although that brief period with Lingard it worked because he ran off Antonio, which in turn creates space.  It's easy to mark one striker, not so easy to mark runners beyond him.  We only have pace up front with Summerville and Bowen, so get the bloody thing up to them.  I'd rather lose 5-3 having a go that trying to defend and still losing.

I desperately want to look forward to games again, so to see more attacking and a style that's exciting to watch (some of the time, at least). Whether we have the players for that at the moment I'm not sure. We seem to be in this endless cycle of picking the wrong managers, finding ourselves in danger of relegation, and needing someone to get us out of that, however boring the style of play. I really can't remember the last time I was genuinely entertained watching West Ham. 

Over the past three seasons there has been a steady decline in results and performances under three different managers.

The squads assembled on paper should be an upgrade on the one of say four seasons ago (although Rice was a big loss)
but they are not.

Do players come to us and lower their performance levels or drop there standards be because we are a bit of a soft touch and a circus ? 

Is the set up all wrong and does the crowd being so far from the pitch play a part ?

Imagine the stick some of this lot would of got from the old chicken run.

Something is inherently wrong and any new manager coming on will have his work cut out to rectify the situation.

If he can also get us playing stylish attacking football and not conceding many he will of worked a miracle 




 

Someone determined to win instead of a bloke who is frightened of losing will be a great start.

A combination of them all.
Decent teams adjust depending on the situation.
Youbwill fail to try doing only one of them.

someone that cares more about winning, than not losing. who sees values in goals, and a proper striker. that plays to the strength of our best players rather than having them out of position. not obsessing about playing out from the back, and realising the most important function of the goalkeeper is making saves/keeping clean sheets, rather than starting attacks. a manager that trusts his players, and don't over compensate by playing seven/eight defensive players. a manager that sees value in giving experience to the younger players at the club, and in doing so saves money for the occasional top class purchase rather than a regular gamble on sub standard shit. i've never particularly been obsessed with possession stats, just win the ball back as quick as possible and keep on the front foot, be it wide or through the centre. my biggest requirement would be a player good enough to shield the defence on his own, I'm sick of sacrificing a midfielder because of the deficiencies of others and our crap CBs. I'd want a manager happy for the ball to be put in to the box as early as possible, and encourage the attacking players to shoot far more 

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I just think if you pick a style at least do it well!
Thats the biggest issue for me at the moment. No point in any style if you cant execute it properly. Potter cant actually execute his style of football!

Personally I think PSG and Barca play the best football in the world at the moment. But you really need the technical players all over the pitch to do that, so it’s not happening at the mo. I find what Leeds are doing pretty good at the moment and we could do that and have the players / funds to get better players than they have. We just need to be more direct and give forward passing options. I’m tired of the “recycling” of the ball shit. Why not just float a ball in to the area and see what happens instead of turning back because the perfect forward pass isnt on. So much chaos happens when you give the opposition something to answer. 
I really dont see a lot of runs off the ball when we play. I dont see a lot of movement from our forwards.

Also, committing people forward  means you pin back their defenders. So many teams beat us because they can move their defenders higher up and overload our midfield. We should take a chance, Have 2 forwards on the half way line instead of one when we are being attacked. We tend to leave just one or none at all and then we can’t get the ball out.


 

El Scorchio" wrote: ↑21 Sep 2025, 16:52

If you don’t think we are in a relegation battle under this manager then I want some of what you’re having. 

Massive Attack" wrote: ↑21 Sep 2025, 16:58 Attack is the best form of defence, Scorch. Fortunes favour the brave. Chuck the bollocks at it.

Attack is the best form of defence, Scorch. Fortunes favour the brave. Chuck the bollocks at it.

Go on, smash the fuck it button, you know you wanna.. 🖲 

Jean-Luc Paul Goddard" wrote: ↑21 Sep 2025, 16:30 Would be more understandable if we were half way through the season but there's only been 5 games for fuck's sake. Way too early to write off the season as being a dead cert relegation battle unless we bring in a Mourinho type. 

 

The West Ham Way

We aint dead certs but we are in a dangerous position where you can't take it too much for granted even just 5 games in as the Prem in ruthless now more than ever. The absolute best way to deal with it is to keep Potter in post for another 2 games...

I think much of that would be mid-high press direct.
The main thing I want to see is massive effort and commitment to getting the ball when you haven't got it, fast closing down and fighting. You do not have to be super skilful to do that and for me its part of the West Ham way. Then go direct for goal with the ball, not worrying about possession, just about scoring. Cut out most sideway passing and all back passing.
Of all the names being banded about, I wouldn't mind seeing Bilic back, he tried to do the above.