Nice touch

Relieved Swansea only got a point today. The question being who will go down to join Sunderland and Boro? Mathematically we are still not safe though Swansea would have to win 3 games but I don't see that. Hull can win one of theirs and possibly get at least one draw. Palace might struggle to get many points. We will have to get one or 2 points to make sure we stay up. I fancy a draw against Poo and Burnley. Spurs I don't see anything although we will be up for it no doubt. Anything can happen in this league but it is in our hands. COYI.

I guess like many of you on here this question has come to mind more than once this season so what is the answer? I like sackho but his strops and falling out with management leads me to believe he will be sold this summer so that leads us onto the enigma that is carroll when fit he does a tremendous job for us but that is to little to often so if we were offered £7/8/9 million for him I personally would take that so that leaves calleri and well he just not seem up to it so he should be released asap young fletcher not given a chance and with our options limited I would of liked to of seen more of him but apparently bilic seemed to of preferred Snodgrass as a striker at stoke yesterday so that's not going to be good for the boys psyche I am sure so I guess slav is going to have to decide keep him and add to development squad or release him as well which brings us round to Valencia due back from everton at the end of the season unless they decide to take up the option of £13million for him and I am not so sure they will and he has mentioned he does not want to come back and play for us so just what are we going to do? the frontline and g/k are the two areas in need of major investment this summer but when you hear that we want Hart then read we are looking at fleetwoods keeper and another dodgy guy from turkey you just roll the eyes into the back of your head and think here we go again. on a personal note I see many here would love to have defoe back and now sunderland have gone down he will be available for free well not for me thank you its nothing to do as to his behaviour when he was a young kid I just think at 34 its a lot to ask for him to lead our line give me a brash young player from the championship who has something to prove there are some rough diamonds down there you just need to be brave and take a punt afterall its what we did with Antonio.

So the intrepid explorers made our way from the west of Scotland all the way to Stoke for what we knew would be a tough encounter, in the corner next to the tunnel and the home "support". to be honest as this is not a happy hunting ground we did not expect too much and were there as true Hammers and more in hope than expectation. The end result a 0-0 draw seemed probably fair on reflection and the pleasing side was 3 fold... a valuable away point, a clean sheet and a solid defensive display coupled with confidence and good communication between Adrian and his back line. Shaqri for Stoke was a constant threat and at times we made Joe Allen look like the Welsh Messi.
Lanzini was again on good form, Calleri though lame in front goal did chase everything and did well to play others in and at times held the ball up well. Masuaku was excellent going forward but seemed slow getting back and despite a lack of game time did well as Mas' replacement in the second half bar one stray pass. Ayew did a lot of moaning but had good reason and he seemed a tad sluggush in his play. Adrian and Butland both pulled off some excellent saves. Fonte , Reid and Collins were all solid in a back 3, Fonte has come onto his game and playing in a back 3 suits him. Nordveit had an excellent game and Fernandes is looking a real find. Noble and Snodgrass did ok when they came on and Kouyate gave us a scare late on when he went down heavily and he looked lively throughout, it has to be said that it was poor sportsmanship from Stoke as Kouyate lay prostrate continued play instead of the customary putting the ball out of play. One big surprise was how few yellow cards Stoke got.
The downside of this encounter was we lacked that cutting edge, a clear and decisive finisher! A few times Lanzini maybe took a touch too many instead of shooting but in fairness either side could have scored yet neither did. It was an entertaining encounter not at all drab and I am sure we are all hoping we don't rue missed chances come the end of a disappointing campaign.

Carroll out, so the same old story. I dread to think how much he has cost the club over the years for non playing time. Seriously think he needs to go or do we keep him as a squad player to come off the bench and not first choice striker. When does his contract end?

people say carroll slows our play down. fair enough he's not the fast, poacher in the box type. with this in mind and knowing that carroll does have his uses. if he can stay fit who thinks 4-4-2 is the way forward? with two up front, one being caroll the other sakho if he stays. we then need two similar players to these to stand in when one or other is out. even negredo can do a similar job to carroll. the point is we need a structure, a clear way of going about our games. a two man combo up front with strength and pace combined will always cause problems to the opposition. one up front gets isolated especially against good sides. i say drop all this 5 man midfield or 3 man defence and get about it the old fashioned way. if so, we need to go out and buy players for the system and not the other way round.

Darren, not Physio Room related but would love your imaginative detailed account of this morning's goings on at OS.

this season has been …well boring to watch. i know we've struggled and not reached the heights of last season. but why the change in style? oddly we seem to be so slow and ponderous with the ball compared to the slick fast moving counter attack of last year. the only differences i can see is that payet is gone and sakho has been out. I'm not convinced its all to do with carroll but i do think we've lost our way in terms of game plan and strategy. not sure about everyone else but we look like we're a bit all over the place in terms of setup. hindered by injuries yes, but did bilic cock it up by changing our approach? should he have stuck to what we did last year and found way to replace payet with some pace?

with my sister and her husband having no interest in football and with there son showing a growing interest in it Aunty hammergirl was drafted in to take him to a game little knowing that it was not the local football team who play in the combined counties I would take him to see but to the hammers against everton,he was so excited you could not help but smile and his mum and dad looked on in amazement when I came to pick him up and out of the blue he started singing bubbles that was a surprise to me but he had listened to the song on youtube(goodness knows what else he picked up watching those posts!)anyway he loved the train ride decked out in the west ham shirt I had got for him and telling all the passengers he was off to see his first football match with his aunty(at 28 that has to be banned being called that)bit of friendly banter with some rival fans about the life of misery I would be leading him into following west ham!.we got to the stadium and of course into the club shop to buy him some extras and then something to eat before taking our seats a rather large chap and his mate were in front of us and blocking our view somewhat but they very kindly swapped seats(don't tell the stewards!!!) and so we waited for the teams to emerge the music sounded the bubbles machines in full flow and with lungs bursting he again sang out the bubbles song with the rest of us with a great big beaming smile across his face.the game was not the best but he loved every moment of it shouting cheering and booing which he thought was fun(booing at the everton players I will point out).the game finished we sat in our seats as the ground emptied plenty of selfies for him to have memories of the day and slowly we made our way home...he hugged me and thanked me for the best day ever and he thought west ham were the greatest team in the world and so a new hammer has taken up the banner and I felt a sense of pride in his first steps into fandom.COYI

What a breath of fresh air this young charismatic Manager is. When he came to Hull FC earlier in the season it was Marco who????? Never heard of him, but he's never head of me either so what. Turns out he is the find of the season. Easy comparisons to a young Jose with the Portuguese connection. But in my opinion with the exception to MoPo when he first came to Southampton to replace Nigel Adkins. Before going onto Spurs and surely only a step away from Barca, R/Madrid or Bayern. Silva is more in the Pochettino mould. Although we re in a shambles arguably we should be safe but there needs to be a shake up somewhere. Slav has had a lot on his plate this season, some of it his own making? Who knows? I'm still in his corner. But if the ejector seat button is pushed. I wouldn't mind Silva, as one thing is for sure he won't be at Hull much longer and like MoPo before him leaving Saints for the Spuds his stock will continue to rise......................