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West Ham’s future is in the balance and the board must make the right decision

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Image for West Ham’s future is in the balance and the board must make the right decision

Let’s be honest about it; the second half of the season has been a complete non-event. The results simply haven’t been there and whilst there have been some good performances and we can count ourselves unlucky in certain games; the brutal reality is that we’ve been as poor in the 2nd half of the season as we were mesmerising in the first.

With Sam’s contract up in a couple of months the renewal he’s been angling for has never seemed further away. In the increasingly fickle world of football his time is running out as the fans demand a man who can take us to the proverbial ‘next level.’ With the move to Stratford and the plush new surroundings of the Olympic Stadium looming the season after next, the club simply cannot afford to employ another Avram.

As depressing and defeatist as it might sound…wouldn’t it be ‘typical West Ham’ to get the keys to one of the finest stadia in Europe…the chance, the opportunity to at last dine at the top table instead of merely scrambling for scraps only to kick off the 16/17 season with a home fixture against… Nottingham Forest. After Sam left Bolton, Blackburn and Newcastle they all eventually slipped through the trapdoor and only the Toon managed to make it back. A stark warning the owners simply must heed.

I’m not saying that the club must stick with Sam as without him relegation is inevitable, what I am saying is that if Sam’s services are dispensed with; the club simply cannot go with the cheap/easy option as they did with Grant because that would in all probability end in disaster. They also couldn’t give it to a relative rookie like Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe; yes he’s doing a fine job and Bournemouth play exceptional footy, but surely such a gamble with what’s at stake would be too much of a risk?

Names like David Moyes and Rafa Benitez who have managed and excelled in the Premier League and would no doubt relish the opportunity to return, should be the first names considered if Sam does leave in the summer which with every passing game is looking increasingly likely.

With seven games to go we’ve only registered a paltry two wins in the 2nd half of the season; it’s simply not good enough. Sam couldn’t afford this sort of form in the final year of his contract and barring a biblical turnaround in fortunes it will cost him his job.

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9 comments

  • jaybs says:

    We just need to move on, Sam has done a job, but as he has shown since Christmas he has lost the plot, the change he delivered under pressure has dried up, think we know 2 reasons, and they need to move on.

    Now David Sullivan has to stand Firm and back his own beliefs, I’m sure many of our good signings are down to him, not Sam. Mr Sullivan needs to find the right manager to take us on, just say thanks to Sam following the last match of the season, he will get another job.

  • essojohn says:

    We have a great club with so much history and whilst I admire our current owners who have obviously got great business brains I do find the way they have left big sam with this constant threat of not renewing his contract worrying and this is probably the reason why our performances have declined with an unsure leadership it will affect most players and staff , I am sure they would not treat one of there business managers in the same fashion because they could could create havoc to there business.

  • Scooter says:

    I amnow 68, have been through the ups and downs of my beloved WHFC since I was 5 years old, I am ashamed to say I cannot take the time to trave and watch them and have not done so since the 1980’s, but they are my team and ever more shall be so. We have had great managers, and makeshift managers, we have had and still develop some of the best young talent in football,yet we allow a WHFC system of football to be put aside to ensure the books are balanced.
    WHFC are a group of football players,they are not a team at present but could become one of the best if we started playing to entertain,but with a defence that has a strong controlling influence. It does not matter if we do not win every game,it does not matter if we do not win the cups, it matters that we build a team that players want to die to be in, and that we have not had for years.
    Get rid of the baggage of half fit players and all the under performers who only make up numbers, give up space to the youngsters who want first class football, start next season with the youngsters learning but not failing, if we end up 16th so be it,but aim for 2018 to win the places in european football, and to get experienced and to get players wanting to come to WHFC
    We have a stadium to die for,we need the players to do the same, and a manager who has the talent and knowledge to develop players not keep a side afloat, we need a coach who can bring out the very best of young players,and work with a first team manager who can get players to use skill rather than brute force to crack an opposition, footballers who can shoot from the halfway line and be on target,not the penalty area and scare the seagulls on the roof. Midfielders who can hold and control the ball, wingers who can go past defences and cross a ball every time, and a defence who socks down stop attacks before they reach the penalty area and run their hearts out, with a sweeper who can mop up loose balls effectively and look as if they are walking everywhere.

    • John says:

      Scooter
      I am 76 and i must say I agree with every sentiment you expressed.
      It’s a pleasure to hear that somebody is also on my wavelength.

      • Scooter says:

        John, I thank you for suggesting I use sense, but your and my wavelength I believe is what we had at different times at the Boleyn. Billy socks down, Sir Bobby-MrCool and so many individual players and managers who loved the club and gave so much to it.
        Football for me as a Hammer supporter has to be about style and fun, and fair play, the DiCanio gesture is one of my favourites; today it is more frustrating than fun, but still they are the Hammers, I just want more fun for the young fans, and those in years to come.

  • Brian b says:

    Scooter, you write sense by the buckets!! One thing you missed tho. We need a manager who doesn’t start giving his excuses for losing or being held to a draw in his pre match interviews

  • Drew says:

    People who talk about Blackburn, Bolton & Newcastle being relegated after Allardyce left also fail to mention the men that he was replaced by. at Bolton that was Sammy Lee, Gary Megson and Owen Coyle – hardly set the pulse racing do they?
    how about at Blackburn? Oh yeah, Steve Kean – really good manager he was, remind me where he is now?
    Newcastle? Kevin Keegan who was forced out of the door, Kinnear who was out of the game for years and Shearer.

    They are all unemployed. they were all useless. that is why they were relegated, because they replaced with WORSE managers – we on the other hand are looking to upgrade and all of the candidates so far are exactly that.

  • sibbo says:

    im 72 ive seen great players grace our club, cant go now living in norfolk,but we need a good manager sam is not good we all know it he needs to go hes stuck in the past

  • Ron says:

    If we are talking age I am 86 and saw my first game Jan 19th 1935 and still a ticket holder. We all would like to have the results to which you refer but easier said than done. Chelsea,Arsenal and Man City would fit nicely into your dream scenario but it would cost you. The hammers have always been what I call an 8 man team,just lacking the resources to complete the jigsaw but my abiding memory over the years is that win or lose we were an attacking team,playing on the ground from defence and always entertaining and with great spirit. The current team do have that commitment and spirit but are carrying a few passengers and this is a league that demands 11 players of the right calibre and again that will cost you so let’s be realistic and hope that the move to Stratford will increase the revenue and transfer budget. Sam is not the man to take us further so let’s rely on David Sullivan to make our dreams come true. Coyi

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