What did we learn about West Ham in 2013?

After the great first season back in the Premier League, where we finished an impressive 10th, and after some marquee signings for a club of our relative size in Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing, lets not forget two England internationals, the omens for season 2013/14 looked good.

Surely the club was at long last founded upon far more solid foundations than recent years, and the manager and owners were making all the right noises. I can recall fans talking about 6th place, even Europe, as big Andy, ably fed by Downing and Matt Jarvis would surely bag goals by the truck load as we established ourselves as an upper mid-table side.

Now call me cynical and a bit of a pessimist when it comes to me old Hammers, but history shows all too clearly that we never know from one season to the next what is in store for us. The golden rule as a Hammer is forget what happened last season and just keep your fingers crossed that the upcoming season will see us maintain Prem status. Anything over and above that is a real bonus, and, if we stay up playing some good old one-touch, pacey and inventive West Ham style football, then happy days!

So, true to form, it’s the year end and we face yet another battle to keep our top flight status as 2014 promises to be nerve wracking at best, and devastating at worst. So what have we learnt from 2013 ? For me, the main lesson has been a stark and worrying one. Gearing a team to play one-way and having no plan B was plain foolish and amateurish. Andy’s injury left us with no quality cover, and two expensive wingers who were effectively rendered unemployed. “There is no one in the box for us to hit boss” would have been a common refrain from the two frustrated wide men as week in week out the opposition box looked like it had been cordoned off by the police as a no-go area.

I learnt that every team worth its salt MUST have some creativity, at least a couple of players able to do more than just pass to feet and work hard. We had Joe Cole at the end of his career and a young maverick in Ravel Morrision. That was it.

I also learnt that Sam ‘statistics’ Allardyce didn’t worry about the inclusion of skill and pace and guile because the idea was always to get the ball forward as early as possible, and to enforce this almost pre-historic method by filling the team with big units who’s game was based on power and size rather than skill and intelligence. Easy to read, easy to combat, and even easier to triumph over with no one to trouble opposition defences. No wonder the results nose-dived.

We learnt that Kevin Nolan was way, way past his best and was being picked on past reputation; what other explanation can you give us Sam? That Mohamed Diame had somehow turned from midfield beast to disinterested spectator, mainly famed for his ability to lose possession in deep areas and being unable to hit the bovine creatures backside with the small country & western stringed instrument!! We learnt that Mark Noble was doing the work of several underperforming teammates and was turning in sound, classy performances week in week out. We also perhaps learnt that having West Ham in your blood DID make a difference to how much you cared and how much it meant to perform at a high level game by game.

We learnt that from being a looming snarling presence on the touchline, our pressured manager had morphed into a slumped, gum chewing, chair based onlooker, pointing the odd finger here, but almost looking too worn and battered to care anymore. His technical area chair had become his safe zone, his sanctuary, away from the glaring spotlight and for him, a million miles from the fans fury that was raging all around him on match days. The change has been both startling and telling.

We learnt that sometimes the fickle finger of fate can hurt you badly just when you least wanted it to. The loss of Winston Reid, James Collins and James Tomkins, our three tough guys at the back almost beggars belief and has left us shoring up a back line with full backs. Whether these can stem the flood of goals before the big boys return remains to be seen.

We learnt that fans, no matter how committed and as deeply loyal to West Ham, eventually have a tipping point, and after months of sterile, defensive minded, and largely losing performances, many have decided that a change is a must if we are to have any chance of climbing out of the hole we are firmly in.

If ever the two Davids were charged with making an important and almost future-defining decision about our club, then the managerial position is that one. Stick or twist? Get it right and we collectively breathe a huge sigh of relief; get it wrong and the ugly and almost unbelievable spectre of Championship football will begin to pervade our thoughts as we watch the seasons finale being played out once again in a series of do-or-die clashes that will shred our nerves and make us question our sanity.

Perhaps above all, I have learnt after so, so many years of being put through the West Ham emotional roller coaster that some things simply never change. If ever a club’s anthem was more apt than Bubbles, and ”fortunes always hiding” than let me know!

Happy New Year to all my fellow Hammers, and whatever views you hold, just keep in mind we ALL have the same hopes & wishes for West Ham. The coming weeks and months will test your patience and support to the very limit so hold tight, dig in, and lets just hope we have the mental strength and ability to pull clear of the drop. The countdown starts now…