At long last its over, the season is finally at an end. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t enjoyable, but West Ham finished in 13th spot and seven points above the dreaded drop zone. Whether fans like it or not that was the club’s sole ambition when the season kicked off in the August sun of 2013.
With the exception of the top seven clubs in the Premier League the ambition of each and every other side is to merely stay within it, that may not sound exciting or glamorous but this is the true nature of the self confessed ‘greatest league in the world.’ So from that point of view staying amongst the elite of English football was an achievement for the club.
Later this week by all accounts Sam Allardyce’s future will be decided and the common consensus is that Sam could well be given his marching orders, now that could potentially be a dangerous move as without Sam and all of the experience he is steeped in the Hammers could’ve easily slipped out of the league this season. The West Ham side that lost 2-0 at the Etihad on Sunday contained four free transfers and two academy graduates and that’s largely been the make up of the side this season, the quality and depth simply isn’t at the club and unless the powers that be are planning to give a new manager considerable funds any new incumbent would also struggle and toil.
If Sam is to be sacked I for one hope the owners look to appoint a manager with proven Premier League experience. Footballing philosophers it seems are constantly searching for the next Brendan Rodgers or Mauricio Pochettino and whilst both managers have proved incredibly successful in their own right West Ham are simply not in a position to be taking any such gamble.
At the start of the 2016/17 season the club will begin its first season in the Olympic Stadium and the first fixture cannot be a Championship one and for that reason and that reason alone the club needs experience. It needs a manager who won’t panic at the first sign of a losing run, it needs a manager who instantly commands the respect and trust of his players; so if Sam’s services are dispensed with a rookie simply cannot be trusted to step in and keep the club afloat till the day the Hammers move into their new home; such an appointment would simply be too much of a risk.
This season has been a disappointment, the only real highlight being beating a Spurs team lauded by the press/media as title contenders at the start of the season on three separate occasions; each victory truly was funnier and more satisfying than the last. That aside it’s been a forgettable campaign; but when you take into account the amount of free transfers and academy graduates that make up our current team, I’m not sure we could’ve expected much more from this season.
The next campaign needs to be better; whether that’s with or with out Big Sam at the helm, the club cannot continue to flirt so vividly with relegation in other words Messer’s Gold and Sullivan need to get their cheque book out.
IN THE MATCH, MAN CITY V WEST HAM ON 11/05/2014
7 ENGLISHMEN STARTED FOR WEST HAM WITH 3 MORE ON AS SUBS TOTALING 10
NONE OF THESE 10 HAVE A PLACE IN ROY HODGSON’S ENGLAND SQUAD FOR BRAZIL 2014
1 ENGLISHMAN STARTED FOR MAN CITY WITH 1 COMING ON AS A SUB TOTALING 2
BOTH OF THE 2 MAN CITY PLAYERS HAVE A PLACE IN THE ENGLAND SQUAD FOR BRAZIL 2014
THAT SAYS IT ALL. PLUS NOTE, THAT ONLY THE TOP 8 CLUBS HAVE POSITIVE GOAL DIFFERENCES, I.E. THE BOTTOM 12 ARE THE TOP 8’S WHIPPING BOYS! SO IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE A TOP 8 TEAM? YOU ARE GOING TO STRUGGLE.
And I am sure that everyone noticed that at the 1st opportunity he could find, Sam has brought that bloody useless Bolton reject named Joey O’Brien back into the team. Now the man that O’Brien replaced being Guy Demel, is a far better player than O’Brien, AND Guy Demel will be going to Brazil 2014 for Ivory Coast. We only have 2 players in our squad who are going to Brazil 2014 and Sam has stopped playing both of them. The other 1 was Pablo Armero who plays for Columbia, that’s it. Even Roy Hodgson has had to call it a day on AC, who’s only on standby & not in the 23. I’m sorry take a long hard look at this squad & clear virtually the whole lot out, including the current gaffer.
get sam out no good players will come while hes there
just sack him plz & get Bilic in to play football the right way ok he might not get win after win but at least we will be entertained rather that than the dross served up by the dinosaur also take your dummy Nolan with you hes past hes sell by date also a liability to West Ham
It’s certainly a conundrum and one that needs very careful consideration . No time for knee jerk reactions , thankfully thus far the owners seem to be able to hold their nerve when under pressure.Lets hope they come up with the best decision for WHUFC whatever that may be !
i have been torn between keeping sam and sacking him. if the club keep him, i feel the club ‘should’ remain in the premier league and remain a 10th-15th place club, whereas if we sack him, things could get better (challenging for europe) or could get worse, meaning relegation. For the last 2 years i’ve been unable to go to most games so have only been watching the games for free online. I therefore feel that if i had to make a choice, i would keep sam because he will keep us up however as i do not pay huge sums to go to watch every game, it is an easy thing for me to say. Its the fans that go home and away everyweek that have to watch a team play negative tactics that sometimes don’t even have a shot on target and they are paying out big sums over the course of the season to do so. It is only fair that if they are doing this, that they be entertained more. So if i was going everyweek, i would be voting for sam to go and start to get my moneys worth, and pray that its not at the cost of our premier league status
Cant sit and read all comments and not say anything.
What was his remit?
Keep us up!!
He did that without world class players!
Injuries galore! No back up players!
If your boss told you “this is your target” and you reached it and got sacked, how would you feel? Yeah happy!! He done what was asked so lets keep him. If you want someone else, give me names!! And those who are available!!
I’m prepared to meet my own views in the middle. Keep him for the first 10-15 games, see if things have improved and where we are in the league and change if needed. With a transfer window ahead of us, im happy for him to try and improve the team and the style of play himself. if he carries on being negative and we continue to have games at home to teams with 10 men and still get outplayed, then i would say its time to move on.
I’d like Moyes, for the long term. If he can turn us into the type of side Everton are then i’d be happy. Thought it would take a few years at least. Other than him, i’ve got no other choices at this stage so that’s why im happy to keep Sam for a few more months.
Look scott, he either goes now or he stays until we move into the OS. It’s up to the owners & I’d say they’ll keep him. Put it this way, I’ll be very surprised to read a headline saying the owners have sacked him. Playing in a stadium that can house 54,000 will be an attraction for star players to come to West Ham, but untill then, well it’s like how the former Hull manager Phil Brown put it, that, “We have to know who we are & where we are” We are not a big club but we are lucky enough to be in the Premier League under Sam. What frustrates me is that every time West ham get a good player we have to sell him. Now the best player of the lot who we sold is still the best player Roy Hodgson has being Frank Lampard. Now Frank really had no choice but to leave after the club sacked his Uncle Harry, so his dad Frank senior had to go as well, yes we have had some wretched luck, but they say that most of the rich are evil. We are rich in spirit my friends. Look, at the end of the day, a match involves 2 teams, & if the match isn’t drawn then someone has to lose, that’s it, but yes, I admit that 20 losses in a season is more than what should happen. We’ve had luck before in history when Bobby, Geoff & Martin came along. We’ve even had the goal King Jimmy Greaves playing for us, but he couldn’t continue playing for a club who had no killer instinct. He said that. This is a ruthless game & West Ham have to get lucky & ruthless. I mean Bobby Moore & Martin Peters came through the academy. We have half the capitol’s population in East London. Stoke that academy up West Ham & start firing COYI!
Although I’ve said what I’ve said, I have to agree with you.
Agree with Kap, that is.
Is sacking Big Sam the answer ? I don’t think so , let’s look at the pro’s
Never gone down !!! Surely that is a big factor to keep him
And the con’s
Frustrating to watch
Boring at times
I’m a Season Ticket holder, and have seen some awful football this season at Upton Park, however, there have been a few games that have been rather good, Chelsea and Tottenham, to name a couple. We never really have a lot to spend in the transfer market, compared to other teams, but when compared to Swansea, Palace, Stoke, we are in the same sort of League position, for the money we spend
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side !!!
This has been without doubt the worst season of football I have witnessed at west ham in 35 years of unconditional support. It is also the first time that I would rather watch antiques roadshow rather than the hammers on the box and that is down to one man! Allardyce has had more money to spend than any previous manager and has wasted the lot. I wouldn’t even care if they named Rolf Harris as the next manager if it meant an end to Allardyce
Good so I am not the only one who thinks keeping Sam is right!! Yep give him 10 games and then see where we are and decide. You can have millions to spend but if the players aren’t available then what do you buy!! Look at the transfer fees going around. Stupid money for stupid players. Its difficult. Maiga, no comment. Great in France shit over here!! And who is ready for the jump from the academy. Those who have played the game at grass roots and progressed will understand. There are no easy options unless we have 100 million or so. So we should be thankful where we are until the big pennies roll in. And another gripe. The owners are supporters of our famous and favourite club. So why knock them? Lets support everything about the club until and hope not, we are in the bottom 3 and then changes will be needed. And to the lot who want just good football and don’t care if we go down, get real. If you want to go to championship matches, go and support Charlton, or, show your true colours and go to millwall!!
Good players being linked with us, but is it just a ploy to sell season tickets, once sold we end up with Sam two free transfers and a packet of crisps.