Now I’m not saying we will win one of the two domestic cup competitions and I’m certainly not saying that we’re going to win the Premier League, but what I will say is that I feel the building blocks are in place for us to end our thus far 33 year trophy drought.
Firstly unlike the previous two campaigns in Sam Allardyce’s reign there is no immediate/impeding scenario that requires 100% of the squad’s focus; two seasons ago it was promotion at all costs, last season it was staying up at all costs and as a consequence cup runs were sacrificed for these twin goals which were so important in the immediate future of the club. Now whilst of course the main target this season is to once again stay up; the threat of relegation is not as real as it was last season, we can afford to have other goals and one of these other goals will surely be a cup run.
Secondly the squad is the strongest it’s been for years, now of course I’m not going to use Cork City, Boreham Wood and Bournemouth as any kind of barometer but I will decree that its great as a fan seeing us field two different XI’s during these pre-season games and feeling the overall quality is of a very high standard, not quite on the level of the top 5/6 clubs but certainly stronger in my opinion than the majority of squads not in that elite bracket. A stronger squad will allow us to put more focus and emphasis on the cup competitions without it detracting from our league form too much; we haven’t previously been in this position under Allardyce.
Thirdly, last season Wigan and Swansea both proved that winning a bit of silverware isn’t the exclusive domain of Manchester ‘s United and City as well as Chelsea, last season the Swans and the Lactics proved that if you take the cups seriously and at the right time prioritise them over league games you can reach the latter stages and ultimately win the big prize, now if Swansea and Wigan can do it there is no reason why West Ham United a much bigger club within the world of football cannot do the same.
It’s heartening that Matt Jarvis and Joe Cole have both stated during pre-season that there’s no reason we can’t win something this season, not only because its showing fantastic ambition, the kind of ambition we want to see as fans but because their words ring true, we have a strong squad, a good manager and winning something is certainly within our grasp this season.
Well said Kwame, I totally agree. But for me the biggest satisfaction is in the knowledge and understanding that after all these barren years, we finally have chairmen and a manager of vision and who are determined, know what they are doing and have a plan on how we are going to get there.
Many supporters failed to see the Big Picture & some still do!!!
Year 1 (Meltdown/Ground Zero) – Finances, Quality players leaving, Players still on massive contracts. 28 players OUT, Assortment of Players & freebies in, assimilated & formed into a team. STILL gained promotion.
Year 2 (Retain premiership status at all costs, OS, get quality in on a budget & top quality loans) – Many players stepped up and performed at the higher level under Big Sam’s guidance not forgetting the backroom staff etc.
Year 3 (Retain premiership status, improve squad, improve league position/ Europa league placing, a decent cup run/win trophy) – ……
Kwame I too have looked at our squad and the collection of players we now have with pride.The fear factor that I used to have in the pit of my stomach pre-season isn’t there anymore. The fire fighting that Big Sam & the Chairmen have had to do in the last two years is getting easier & squad upheaval on the scale that happened in year 1 is thankfully a distant memory.
Onwards & Upwards…..COYI
Think we can win something this time,we are a couple of players away from being a side who could upset the” big boys”. With a change in mentality and style in away and cup games the future could be very promising. Some games last year we went in with the wrong idea I.e the villa game away when villa were struggling and our management approach it saying “we don’t want to be goals down early on”. We were awful that day villa should have been beaten but we were before kick off
I hope you’re right. All indications are good and I’m very happy to see us doing business and planning to do more. I hope with the squad options available, Sam will become more tactically diverse.
I haven’t been this optimistic for years…
The Cat I couldn’t agree more with your analysis. The squad we’ve assembled under Allardyce is fantastic and easily one of the best outside of the top 6/7 we now have the quality/strength in depth to have a real go at one of the cups and hopefully with a little luck along the way we can end next season with a bit of silverware.
At this time, the only addition to last season’s first team is a left back and maybe Ravel Morrisson. We’ve lost a decent sub striker and a back-up midfielder. So far, the squad is not substantially stronger. Teams will be better prepared for us this season while the likes of Swansea, Norwich and Southampton have made strides in the transfer market. Looks like we’re bringing in a rookie striker and a midfielder I doubt many of us know much about. So unless you reckon Titus Bramble is going to make a big difference to us, I think this judgment is premature. 0-;