What West Ham achieves next season will all come down to who we sign this summer. Getting a top 10 finish this season was a great achievement but we can’t expect to progress much further if we don’t recruit better players this summer.
If we can sign 4-6 good players during the transfer window then there is no reason why we can’t achieve even more than what we have this season regarding our league position. We had the same points as Swansea and were only three points behind West Brom.
Now, there is no reason why we can’t finish above both of these teams next season. It has been widely rumoured that Swansea main defender and captain Ashley Williams will leave Swansea this summer. Romelu Lukaku has been West Brom’s main man this season but it has been said that if he was to go out on loan again next season that he would prefer a move to Borussia Dortmund. So looking at it, we could get a top 8 finish next season.
Now we have to look at what we can achieve when it comes to cup competitions. We didn’t have any cup runs this season and we was pretty disappointing when it cam to cup games. We were knocked out of the Capital One Cup in the third round with a 4-1 loss at home to Wigan. We didn’t play our main players that game but losing 4-1 at home to Wigan is still shocking.
In the FA Cup we were unlucky. Getting drawn against Manchester United in the third round of the competition certainly wouldn’t have been what West Ham wanted but nevertheless, we put up a real fight and were only a few minutes away from causing an upset but in the end, we lost in the replay.
I really do think we could go far in one the cup competitions next season though especially in the Capital One Cup where the big sides tend to play a weak team. The FA Cup is a bit different because everyone tries to win that. However, there is no reason why we can’t get to a Quarter-Final or Semi-Final in one of them.
Summing everything up, with some good additions to the squad this summer, we can really kick on and progress as a team. As I said earlier, we could get a top 8 finish next season but another top 10 finish would still be an achievement as we need to make sure we become a regular top 10 side. We can also go further in cup competitions if we have a stronger squad. Next season is certainly one to look forward to.
A safe top 10 position would be fine by me next season rather than the slightly sweaty seat one of this season at times. Then move on bigger and better in the remaining seasons as the OS takes shape. Anything better a real bonus however.
Yep I’d be happy with a top 10 finish, anything more is a bonus! A lot of our fans have moaned about the cups this year but drawing man utd in the early rounds is a nightmare, are we expected to beat the top teams in cup competitions? With the loss in the lcapital 1 cup, sam is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. We want the young players and squad players to get game time, but we also want to win it!
I don’t see Sam or the Two owners there by the time we move to the new stadium. The owners want a safe 3 seasons, that’s why they kept with Sam and that’s why they will improve the squad. The word on every hammers supporters lips is ‘safe’. We know there is a chance of bigger things in the near future, if we manage to stay in the premiership until then. Carroll needs to decide soon, as we may need to look elsewhere and we would want as much time to do that as possible. I’m feeling hopeful, but then I’ve been wrong before with West Ham!
I doubt we’ll make the top half next May. The squad as it stands today would probably just about survive. I can’t see us attracting any creativity over the Summer, Sam has put his cards on the table regarding our style of play for the future, with his open determination to sign Andy Carroll. If that doesn’t come off we could end up with no Plan A let alone a Plan B.
So we made top half this season, have already improved the 1st 11 with old Roland and will likely buy/loan another 3-4 players on top of Carroll that will improve our squad and team, yet you think we’ll barely survive. I don’t really understand your reasoning! Surely everyone knows how Sam plays so why didn’t we get figured out this season!
We need 4/5 decent players to finish in top ten,Carroll is a must,if we don’t get him well struggle because of BFS tactics,away from home is abysmal
Jonny ninja…
I’m a born pessimist when it comes to my beloved Hammers. IF we sign Carroll and IF he stays fit for most of the season we’ll hopefully make top 10 again.
I just think we’re a long way off getting Carroll at the moment. It’s also hard to see where a creative player would fit into a midfield of Nolan + Noble + Diame. I’d love to see us get Carroll and Lukaku but if we did i doubt Sam would play them together. Sorry if i seem gloomy. Hope i’m wrong!
Lets be realistic chaps. Another finish of between 10 and 14 would be acceptable at this stage of our development, and anything better would be a real bonus. The aim at the moment is simply consolidation in one of the worlds most competitive divisions, and , as we slowly add more quality throughout the squad over the next season or two, then we can look forward to becoming what, if we are honest, we have always been, a steady mid to lower table side with aspirations to do better. If reasonable money is spent and wisely, then 8th would perhaps be seen as a decent target….BUT this is West ham we are talking about !!!! COYI !
Totally agree with you Spence55. We’ve been unsteady for sooo long now. 10th to 14th would be fine. I hope we can see 3 yrs of comfy mid-table obscurity, getting too strong to worry about relegation. Then we move to Stratford and hopefully continue the slow steady build, and in three years at our new home, we can truly stand above and beyond our past and compete regularly as a top prem team. To expect this in less than 5-6 yrs is fantasy, but given the time and the stability, it’s a genuine target.
Spot on with this comment. We all love our team, and the fact is Sam has done a brilliant job. Love or hate him to get us where we are today with very little money is a job well done.
Sam’s tactics are predictable, but it’s on record as we become more stable he will develop the style more to the “west ham way”. And agreed that away this season has been just awful, terrible sometimes.
However, with Sam we win games when we need to, keeping out of the bottom 6 all season was brilliant for the first season back and must be the aim again.
I don’t really care where we finish 7-14 th in the league but what I do really care about and most WHU fans I know care about is a good cup run. These must be taken more seriously as this is the only glory we will get.
Whati do feel however is that we support a club that is a sitting duck and ready to lay the golden egg!
There is no other club with a history like ours, a fan base like ours, a new stadium like ours, and the potential like ours to be the Chelsea of the East. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, mine included sometimes, but Chelscum have won how many trophies?, how many semi finals.
We will be bought by someone over the next 2/3 years me thinks. Hold on to your hats!!