[Football] West Ham …. trophy winners

[Hove Lagoonery]

.... the cup-winners cup isn't it?
Winning that used to be considered a big deal.

Of course, and it was considered superior to the UEFA cup even though a lot of the participants were only runners up.

 

[DJ NOBO]

what is the point of this competition ? Genuine question

 

[Hove Lagoonery]

I've never claimed to support Brighton just because all the players happened to have been born in the Royal Sussex.
I've also never claimed to support West Ham or any other team British or otherwise, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

The issue IS that you view disparagingly teams made up mostly of foreigners, and not the nonsense you wrote in the quote.

 

[Easy 10]

what is the point of this competition ? Genuine question

It potentially offers a gateway to the Europa League for average teams / teams outside of the elite.

I certainly wouldn't have been sniffy about it had we "only" qualified for the Europa Conference this season. In fact if it was offered at the very start of last season then I'd have bit your arm off (and then handed it back of course).

 

[Easy 10]

The issue IS that you view disparagingly teams made up mostly of foreigners.

Thank you for covering this point. I'd forgotten.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

It w
Of course, and it was considered superior to the UEFA cup even though a lot of the participants were only runners up.

I was a little disappointed to see they hadn't repurposed the old Trophy for this competition, as they have with the other two trophies.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

It w
Of course, and it was considered superior to the UEFA cup even though a lot of the participants were only runners up.

In the old days it was far more common for the actual Cup-winners to be represented in the competition of course.
I would imagine only a handful of cup-winners compete in the Conference league.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

The issue IS that you view disparagingly teams made up mostly of foreigners, and not the nonsense you wrote in the quote.

Thank you for covering this point. I'd forgotten.

I've not written anything even approaching that on this thread.
I don't understand why I would automatically be pleased that West Ham or any other British team have won a European trophy.
And I suggested a reason why somebody might have felt that way in the past.
Quite how anybody extrapolates from that to "Sid doesn't like teams with foreigners" escapes me entirely.

 

[Easy 10]

I've not written anything even approaching that on this thread.
I don't understand why I would automatically be pleased that West Ham or any other British team have won a European trophy.
And I suggested a reason why somebody might have felt that way in the past.
Quite how anybody extrapolates from that to "Sid doesn't like teams with foreigners" escapes me entirely.

Well, you said:

"I can see this argument back in the days when 10 out of 11 players were British with the odd Irishman or Norwegian thrown in.
But nowadays? Couldn't care less"

So back in the day when the teams were made up of Brits you'd be happy for them to win in Europe. But now that our teams are mostly comprised of foreigners, you don't care about it any more.

So...from that, given that BHA's squad is now comprised of a large number of foreigners, if we DID win in Europe, then your pleasure in this would be diminished ? Unless I've got the wrong end of the stick, I just can't relate to that.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Well, you said:

"I can see this argument back in the days when 10 out of 11 players were British with the odd Irishman or Norwegian thrown in.
But nowadays? Couldn't care less"

So back in the day when the teams were made up of Brits you'd be happy for them to win in Europe. But now that our teams are mostly comprised of foreigners, you don't care about it any more.

So...from that, given that BHA's squad is now comprised of a large number of foreigners, if we DID win in Europe, then your pleasure in this would be diminished ? Unless I've got the wrong end of the stick, I just can't relate to that.

It's possibly important to point out that I wasn't alive when teams in the top flight of English football were largely made up of English players. I was hypothetically suggesting that I could understand the logic of supporting an English team in European competitions as a sort of proxy for supporting England, when that was the case. I don't know if people used to feel that way.

I don't feel any particular connection to any of the other teams in our league, so I don't get anything out of them doing well in Europe.

I am entirely indifferent to where our players come from, beyond liking the romance of having local lads in the team.

 

[Bold Seagull]

what is the point of this competition ? Genuine question

Non cynical:
Champions League = finding out who the best team in Europe is.
Europa League = finding out who is the best team in Europe outside the elite clubs.
Europa Conference = finding out who is the best underdog in Europe is.

 

[Hove Lagoonery]

I was dismayed the new trophy looked just like the UEFA Cup. What idiot designs a 11kg trophy with no handles?

 

[Easy 10]

It's possibly important to point out that I wasn't alive when teams in the top flight of English football were largely made up of English players. I was hypothetically suggesting that I could understand the logic of supporting an English team in European competitions as a sort of proxy for supporting England, when that was the case. I don't know if people used to feel that way.

I don't feel any particular connection to any of the other teams in our league, so I don't get anything out of them doing well in Europe.

I am entirely indifferent to where our players come from, beyond liking the romance of having local lads in the team.

Fair enough.

Whenever I watch a game not involving BHA, I can usually find a reason to pull for one side over the other. There are several teams in England who I inherently dislike, and glean some level of pleasure in seeing them get beat (I'm a fully paid up member of the ABU club of course). So when I watch them in Europe then naturally I ALWAYS favour their opponents and greatly enjoy (a) seeing them get beat, and (b) savouring the fallout. That defeat in Sevilla was an absolute joy.

But West Ham is not a club I actively dislike, so I wanted them to win and was pleased to see them, as an english club, beat the italians. Had West Ham lost then it wouldn't have ruined my evening though, I'm not that invested in other clubs, I wouldn't have been overly bothered. But on the whole, I like to see the english teams win in Europe, and will be watching City on Saturday hoping they bring back the big one (with an element of holding my nose at the ownership).

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I've thoroughly enjoyed watching the interviews and celebrations of the West Ham players and fans. It clearly means the world to them and they're having a whale of the time. It's very similar to how I think we'd react.

It's refreshing to see, it's not always the case with the big boys.

 

[Stato]

I thought the London Stadium debacle was misusing London council tax money, rather than general tax payers?

More specifically, yes, but I was including the cost of construction for the Olympics which was central government funding.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Was fooled by some clickbait YT video to watch a video of Moyes giving his medal to his 87 year old dad. Such emotional scenes, until you see him take it back and put it on his own neck again, just as camera cuts to something else.
Still, it was very weird seeing him (Moyes) smiling. Didn't know he had it in him.



*Just to be clear I don't begrudge him doing that at all, comment is directed at the tv channel.

He’s not as stylish as Roberto.

 

[Stato]

Whenever I watch a game not involving BHA, I can usually find a reason to pull for one side over the other.

Yes, I can't help myself. Watching as a neutral lacks an edge. My rules used to be, in order of priority (each being trumped by anything higher on the list):

1) Support anyone playing Palace, obviously;
2) Support the team whose victory would most benefit Brighton;
3) Support anyone playing Man Utd;
4) Support anyone playing anyone who I consider to have wronged Brighton in some nebulous way, at any time, ever; (Spurs and Southampton for 1978, Villa for Grealish's last minute equaliser, Leeds for their fans' stupid Ben White internet campaign). There are loads of these, some of which only occur to me after the match has already started.
5) Support anyone playing a team that has cheated FFP (I'm looking at you Bournemourth, Leicester, Sheff Weds etc).
6) Support English teams;
7) Support British teams;
8) Support anybody playing any of Europe's traditionally dominant or newly nation state funded clubs.

(5) has now been overtaken by - (4a) Support anyone playing against any of the European superleague conspirators. As City and Inter were both guilty of this and of (5), I'll be moving on to (6) for the weekend's final.

 

[NorthstandRacoon]

I wasn’t sure if I’d want them to win, but watching the game, I did. A club that aren’t FFP cheats, Declan Rice is decent guy.

@jevs you must be in heaven!

Safe journey home Hammers fans. Italian fans like the odd knife or belt.

This. Plus my Dads best mate who was a Hammers fan passed the other day suddenly, so that was for HIM.

 

[theboybilly]

Brighton can do very well in Europe next season watching this.
Even though its the 3rd division trophy in Europe, it seems to be getting a lot of coverage in the media.

To my mind the ECWC was always the 'third' European trophy but it still had lots of kudos for the winners. All European trophies are worth winning if you've qualified for them and it's only 'Top 6' club or post-1992 supporters that will say differently. I'll be so excited and proud when we kick off our European adventure.

 

[theboybilly]

Yes, I can't help myself. Watching as a neutral misses an edge. My rules used to be, in order of priority (each being trumped by anything higher on the list):

1) Support anyone playing Palace, obviously;
2) Support the team whose victory would most benefit Brighton;
3) Support anyone playing Man Utd;
4) Support anyone playing anyone who I consider to have wronged Brighton in some nebulous way, at any time, ever; (Spurs and Southampton for 1978, Villa for Grealish's last minute equaliser, Leeds for their fans' stupid Ben White internet campaign). There are loads of these, some of which only occur to me after the match has already started.
5) Support anyone playing a team that has cheated FFP (I'm looking at you Bournemourth, Leicester, Sheff Weds etc).
6) Support English teams;
7) Support British teams;
8) Support anybody playing any of Europe's traditionally dominant or newly nation state funded clubs.

(5) has now been overtaken by - (4a) Support anyone playing against any of the European superleague conspirators. As City and Inter were both guilty of this and of (5), I'll be moving on to (6) for the weekend's final.

I think it's been proven that you can remove Leicester City from your FFP-cheat list