Having suffered as a Hammer for over 50 years now, I can say in all honesty that this is pretty well par for the course folks, and something us seasoned fans have seen so many times over the years; remember even the side containing Mooro, Martin and big Geoff generally huffed and puffed between mid-table obscurity and worse.
So, us poor undeserving fanatics have to deal with promising, exhilarating performances like the 3-0 drubbing of Spurs cruelly interspersed with dire home defeats by Stoke City and mind-blowing collapses like Saturday’s defeat at beleaguered and nervous Norwich City! Come on West Ham, give us a break…PLEASE!
Hammered 7-0 at Manchester City last weekend and looking a total mess, with Chris Hughton one of the bookies favourite for the sack. I can guarantee you that all at Carrow Road would have been more nervous than a turkey checking his calendar, to have been facing a Hammers team with, prior to Saturday, the 8th best away defensive record in….wait for it…Europe !! (I didn’t check but its equally feasible we also had the worst goals-for tally in world football….)
True to form, the good old Irons are not only inconsistent week to week, they can actually do it from half to half, as witnessed in sleepy Norfolk, transforming before our very eyes, from a slick and mobile passing machine to a nervy, backs-to-the-wall shambles…and all after a 15 minute tea break!
Hammers fans are probably as bemused and increasingly angry as I am that under the guise of a “brilliant and innovative” 4-6-0 formation, we are going out simply to survive with a nil-against balance and possibly nick a goal, keeping the ball across the middle, hogging possession, but looking as toothless as the East Ham & District Gurning Champion.
So, we currently have mind-numbingly tedious and uninventive displays, more passes than a lousy Mastermind contestant, a captain who would probably get picked by Sam Allardyce even if he lost a leg in a bizarre trouser-press accident, no recognised strikers (Carlton Cole was out there on Saturday but, hey, no point in putting the boot in any further), a £15M star signing who has spent more time on his PlayStation than on grass, and the possibility that Winston Reid, our rock at the back will be missing for some weeks…and Chelsea on the horizon.
So I repeat…what’s it like being a West ham fan right now ???? Exactly what it was like in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and 20000’s…painful at time, exhilarating at times, worrying, puzzling, annoying…how much time do you have?
Welcome to the wonderful, wacky world of West Ham United…hang on tight because your life-long ride will be more turbulent than any roller coaster known to man! It’s West Ham…and its just what we do!
It’s all pretty frustrating at present. SA is just about hanging on to his credibility at present by master mining the Spurs result. Having supported WHU for 49 years i’ve seen a lot worse.
Losing to Hereford, Mansfield, Shrewsbury, Stockport, Aldershot, Cambridge etc some of which with our mega stars of years ago makes the me realize that the current crop of fans need to show a bit of patience (wearing thin i know)
You can dump the wife/girlfriend when things are not working out,but the team you pick from your younger years,stays with you for life.West ham have been my choice for 47 years,and as always,dreaming of better times.
Whats it like being a west ham fan right now? …. Same as its ever been :-/
This is the worst I’ve felt and after 40 years I won’t be renewing.
Been a West Ham fan for over 40 years and your right same old West Ham. I don’t no why but we have the best fans any club would give there right arm for. The David’s have got to do something come January because if they don’t I with many more can see us fighting relegation. Can you think of what it would be like if we do get relegated and Leyton Orient get promoted. We will be playing them next season for our last season at Upton Park and worse still fighting our way back so the next season after that if we can get promoted back to the prem to play at the Olympic Stadium.
I really cannot see all of that happening as there is so much at stake. The David’s will splash the cash and we will see new players coming in
As for SA I can see him going as he said that he wanted sick note Andy Carroll that has left us in this way.with no CF cover. I cannot understand who spends over £15 million on a sick note that had a injury that no other club would touch except West Ham.
Hit the nail on the head for me…same old story…I really did think that we’d got past all that and we’d entered a phase of stability after last season…What was I thinking? Should have known better at my age. Need a win, haven’t scored all season, want to hit your goal of the season from a free kick worldie in the top corner… then play West Ham. Despite all of that I can honestly say that to sign only one striker and then try to blame our position on everything else is the most shockingly inept decision and spin I have witnessed from a manager at this club. Whats more disappointing is that of all people I wouldnt have expected it from Allardyce, whatever your opinion of him I’m amazed that he allowed this situation to occur.
It certainly ain’t much fun.
I was talking about Saturday’s game with my Brother, who is also a Season Ticket Holder, and we agreed that West Ham lack ‘quality’ – too many of our First Team would struggle to get into other Premiership teams – players like Nolan, Collison, Vaz Te, O’Brien etc etc – until this problem is addressed we will struggle.
All a bit depressing really!
Why did the Football League allow the FA to scrap their English 1st division? Football was more fun when the 1st division had 22 teams with only 2 relegation places, and peoples main concerns were usually just on winning the match on match day and not having to continually check the football ladder in case their team had had a few bad results. Football was also more fun and natural when there were no substitutes. Well just the one 12th man anyway, who clubs rarely ever used unless a player had to be replaced through injury, or if a player was below par he could safely be replaced with no less than 15 minutes remaining in the match. The modern football arena has far too much tension in it, with managers being able to make up to 3 tactical changes if they have got their team selection &/or game plan wrong. In the old days, if you made the wrong team selection &/or had got the game plan wrong, then you paid for it with the wrong result. Now with 3 substitutions being allowed, players are encouraged to throw life and limb at the opposition knowing they are expendable and can be replaced if injured. It is getting to the stage where clubs can no longer afford to employ these huge squads of cannon fodder. In the 1960s & 1970s, when there were no subs, or when subs were hardly ever used, a player was lucky to be on a wage of £100 per week, which is why it was only 5s to stand & watch a game. They say that only 1% of people who attend West Ham & Spurs games live in the local area, whereas back in the 60s & 70s it would have been closer to 90% attendance by local people. The ordinary working man has seen his sport snatched by the same establishment who used to turn their noses up at what they used to class as a lowly working man’s sport. No, cricket, tennis &golf were their games. What a turn around by these people to now price the ordinary working man out of his sport of football. I mean the power and the passion from the ordinary working people that used to be in attendance at those games had to be experienced, and has been lost to today’s young people who can never experience that same atmosphere that used to exist. What a joke it is that people stand in their seating areas trying to bring that atmosphere back. It can never be replaced unless they bring back the terraces and lower the entry prices accordingly, so that everyone can attend and not just the privileged. All these changes have taken the fun out of football, and there is far too much tension because of the sheer weight of money and FA rule changes involved in the game, and the FA can stuff their international breaks as most people, myself included, couldn’t give a damn about international football. Bring back a 22 team 1st tier division with no international breaks, that’s what I say. Hey, and people need to take a note of how people like Dave feel, who after 40 years says this is the worst he’s ever felt and won’t be renewing, as after 50 years, this also the worst I have ever felt, because if nothing changes then it gets to the stage where enough is enough!!!