Whatever your view on the players, the manager, the board, the style of play, and even fellow supporters, I am certain that one thing we can all agree on is the fact that the past 10 months or so have provided us Hammers with a real mixture of emotions.
From an unforgettable Premier League and Capital One Cup treble over bitter rivals Spurs, to the dismal, desperate displays when we couldn’t buy a win for love nor money. We, as supporters, have undoubtedly experienced a season that has, at times, left many of us divided with torn opinions.
For me, this campaign has well and truly summed up life as a West Ham fan – numerous lows with the occasional, unforgettable high, and I’m sure for many it has always been that way… perhaps that’s what keeps bringing us back?
Now that our Premier League status has been mathematically secured – following last weekend’s magnificent completion of the league double over Spurs – I’ve decided to take a look at this season month by month, however painful it may be for those reading aswell as me.
2013’s summer transfer window was a fairly quiet one at the Boleyn Ground, with club record £15million transfer Andy Carroll, and Merseyside team-mate Stewart Downing, being the only widely recognised signings completed. Alongside these, the Hammers also secured the signatures of Real Betis goalkeeper, Adrian San Miguel, aswell as Shakhtar Donetsk’s left back, Razvan Rat, both on free transfers.
August:
The opening day saw us welcome Malky Mackay’s Cardiff City to the Boleyn Ground, a game that I am sure like myself, many supporters would have expected three points from to hopefully kick start our season. The Hammers duly delivered, and an early goal from Joe Cole, and a second from Kevin Nolan late on secured us an important three points to begin the campaign.
Following Cardiff, the players ensured we maintained our unbeaten status with a solid 0-0 draw away on Tyneside at St James’ Park, followed by an overall underwhelming 2-1 home defeat of Cheltenham in the League Cup, with the unsettled Ricardo Vaz Te scoring an outstanding free kick on the night.
The arrival of Stoke City to E13 was a prospect not too daunting for Hammers fans, and a game I am sure the majority will have expected at least a point from. However, being at the game myself it’s fair to say the players simply did not turn up that day and ultimately deserved nothing, and a late Jermaine Pennant free kick secured all three points for The Potters as August drew to a close.
September:
Following the first international break of the season, the Hammers travelled to St Marys for our first televised game of the season and brought home a hard earned point in a 0-0 draw against an undoubtedly strong Southampton side.
Two Leighton Baines free kicks alongside a heartbreaker from Romelu Lukaku late on meant that a rejuvenated Everton side under Roberto Martinez took all three points back to Merseyside following their trip to Upton Park. Another game I attended this season, the Everton game would have been from a neutral point of view, a great watch. However our inability to hold onto a lead (twice) that we have become increasingly familiar with over the years was evident again, and made for a depressing journey home. Thankfully, Ricardo Vaz Te was able to restore a bit of faith from the stands after a last minute winner in the cup during Cardiff’s second visit to East London in 2013, whilst an unjust Robbie Brady penalty meant that the Hammers, despite dominating for 90 minutes, somehow managed to leave the KC Stadium empty handed at the tail end of the month.
October:
October certainly provided the best moment of this season by a long distance – the 3-0 victory over bitter rivals, Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. In hindsight, I am absolutely gutted I was not able to get a ticket as I am sure that would have been up there with my best West Ham experiences, and watching a stream on the internet I am sure, did not do the performance justice. Recently voted West Ham’s ‘Goal of the Season’, Ravel Morrison’s exceptional individual effort capped off an unforgettable victory that I’m sure will live long in the memory for some time.
Sadly, the players were not able to replicate that performance at home to Vincent Kompany and co, as the Hammers suffered a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Manchester City with goals from David Silva and a Sergio Aguero brace. October then saw us travel to Wales and the Liberty Stadium to pick up another point, this time away at Swansea City, an improvement on our 3-0 drubbing at the hands of The Swans last time around. Thankfully, we were able to continue our impressive cup run with a hard-fought 2-0 win away at a now promoted, Burnley.
November:
A bore draw at home to Aston Villa was what greeted us in November, followed by an incredibly poor 3-1 defeat away at Norwich City, which may well have been the turning point in many supporters’ minds that Sam Allardyce is not the man to take this club forward.
I, for one, have not seen a more one sided first half performance be so tremendously thrown away after the half-time break. At half-time we were comfortable, settled and in control, but a second half treble courtesy of Gary Hooper, Robert Snodgrass and Leroy Fer completely knocked the stuffing out of the Hammers who had yet again, thrown away a game from a commanding, winning position. Another deflating performance at home to Chelsea greeted us next, with Frank Lampard netting twice, to the dismay of many supporters I am sure, whilst a surprisingly convincing 3-0 home win against fellow strugglers Fulham restored some pride to the Hammers side in the latter part of November.
December:
Six league games in the space of a month undoubtedly took its toll on the squad, as the Hammers picked up just two points from a possible 18. A disappointing away defeat to Crystal Palace in Tony Pulis’ first game in charge was hard to watch, particularly as the goal came courtesy of former Hammers loan flop, Marouane Chamakh – typical, right?
Away defeats to Liverpool and Manchester United were probably expected, but the manner of defeat was beginning to worry much of the Hammers’ faithful, including myself. However, we continued to extended our impressive Capital One Cup run with a second win of the season in North London, with the winning goal coming from Modibo Maiga of all people, as “Can we play you every week?” rung around White Hart Lane. Another defeat, this time from the red side of North London followed the defeat of Spurs, with Arsene Wenger’s side being worthy of all three points on the day, whilst a thoroughly entertaining, yet frustrating 3-3 draw with West Brom rounded off the month.
January:
Strengthening was undoubtedly needed in the mid-season transfer window, and Sam Allardyce secured the acquisition of Italian international, Antonio Nocerino on loan from AC Milan until the end of the season, alongside fellow Italian, Roma striker, Marco Boriello. ‘The relegator’ also signed as crisis seemed to strike our existing centre halves, whilst pacey wing back Pablo Armero was brought in on loan from Napoli for the remainder of the campaign.
Back on the field, January was a fairly abysmal month for the Hammers, as we experienced an embarrassing 5-0 defeat at the hands of Championship side Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, whilst our League Cup run came to an end with a 9-0 aggregate drubbing in the semi-final at the hands of Manchester City. Poor performances at home to Newcastle United and away to Fulham resulted in another two defeats, and had it not been for the 2-0 win away at Cardiff and an outstanding defensive ‘19th Century’ performance at Stamford Bridge, we would have been coming out of January with absolutely nothing to show for ourselves.
February:
The outstanding, resolute defensive performance away at Chelsea was undoubtedly the kick-start to our season that we had been searching all season for. Following the point at Stamford Bridge, the Hammers secured another three clean sheets and four straight wins in the process. Home wins against Norwich, Swansea and Southampton, and a win at Villa Park dragged us out of the relegation places and as high as 10th place, although any realistic Hammer will tell you that the Norwich result was particularly undeserved and merely painted over the cracks that were forming in the relationship between supporters and management. Nonetheless, the impressive form that we picked up throughout February was vital and in hindsight, has ultimately saved us from relegation this year.
March:
Our form as the end of season approached, became a little more unpredictable – two wins and three losses. March began with Everton’s second victory of the campaign over us, and it was again Romelu Lukaku who sunk the Hammers. Why oh why did we not try harder to sign him in the summer?! The 3-1 defeat away at Stoke was typically frustrating, particularly as we had taken the lead so early on through Andy Carroll, whilst a Wayne Rooney wonder goal set Manchester United on their way to yet another league double over the Hammers. Securing three points at home to Hull was an incredible relief, whilst the 2-1 defeat under the lights at the Stadium of Light and a goal for Andy Carroll at the end of March meant that, despite much speculation and unrest surrounding Hammers boss Sam Allardyce, we were nearly there… nearly safe.
April:
A welcoming of potential champions, Liverpool to the Boleyn Ground was an exciting prospect, and the players put in a great gutsy performance, and were unlucky to come away from the game with nothing. Putting the two penalties we conceded aside, I’m sure many will agree we matched Liverpool for the best part of ninety minutes and on another day we may have got something from the game. I travelled to the Emirates for the Arsenal game and it must be said that the squad put in a terrific performance in the first-half and grabbed a deserved goal through Matt Jarvis after some determined work from Antonio Nocerino. Sadly, however, we were, yet again, unable to hold onto our lead and in typical West Ham fashion, we surrendered our lead to two goals from Lukas Podolski and another from Olivier Giroud.
Dire performances against Crystal Palace and West Brom followed, games from which the Hammers took no points, leaving us in an uncertain position come the end of April having picked up no points when the likes of Sunderland and Fulham seemed to be picking up a bit of form at just the right time.
May:
Any fears of a final day relegation dog fight were well and truly put to rest as we secured the unthinkable – three wins in one season over the enemy, Tottenham Hotspur. The atmosphere for our final home game was tremendous, and two goals in the first half ensured that it would be the North Londoners who made the trip home, disgruntled, frustrated and ultimately, embarrassed.
I am writing this article with just Manchester City at the Etihad left to play, and I am glad that we will be able to go there, play without any fear and just relax, and give a good account of ourselves without worrying too much about the result. Whatever the summer brings, whether Allardyce is in charge come August, whoever we are able to secure over the summer transfer window, I am sure next season will be just as up and down, just as unpredictable and just as frustrating but I will look to be optimistic and hopefully, next season will bring better results and a better atmosphere around the place. Come on you Irons.
