Slaven had to go – no doubt about that but over recent days both he and the board have taken dog’s abuse over the TEAM’S performance.
Twas ever thus, scapegoats need to be found, people blamed and temper therapy received via a favoured social network system. After all WE all know best don’t we?
Now I accept that the former manager’s tinkering and tactical issues caused problems and that the board carries responsibility for not firing him earlier – see this link https://www.claretandhugh.info/candh-analysis-the-big-verdict-on-boss-board-and-team-as-the-hammers-bid-to-avoid-a-winter-of-disconent/
However, it seems that one group – the most important one of all – generally escape the same sort ferocious outburst – the team itself!
What we have at West Ham right now it seems to me is a possible re-run of events at Leicester City following their Championship year.
I watched horrified on Saturday as many of our squad merely went though the motions and took far more back to the dressing room than they left on the pitch. On various occasions they hid – not wanting or seemingly ready to receive the ball.
They played like a team who wanted rid of their manager -a situation hinted at by stories of training ground discontent at the methods employed, along with the regular changes in team personnel and pattern.
All of this may of course be the stuff of footballing urban legend but one thing is for sure – we are about to find out when the team arrive at Watford, receive Leicester City and travels to Everton.
Everything changed at Leicester City once the good guy, Cludio Ranieri, had left the club where the same stories were doing the rounds notably as far as tinkering with the team was concerned.
If the Hammers do up their performances to the same degree as the Foxes did theirs then those wanting to play the blame game can do so by including the eleven on the pitch.
Yes, there’s blame all round but if we are going to ignore those actually responsible for kicking the ball we may need to reappraise where we are coming from.
Of course it’s far easier to identify and blame one or two or three people rather than 11 isn’t is. The next few weeks will tell us much.
And didn’t Shakespeare have a hand in helping get Ranieri out seem that way & some speculated bc he was there as #2 but players didn’t listen until he was gone. And then same thing happened with Him & Puel came in who looks better then Pellegrino who isn’t attacking much either Puel got 8th and cup final not bad but too defensive so far w Leicester he played Gray moved Mahrez & they look more attacking threat.
Things change quick and managers can learn from mistakes hope Moyes has from is & he does what he did at Everton and plays entertaing attacking football as a team like he said in interview
So whose fault was it at Leicester? The players for getting lazy (view of the pundits) or Ranieri for ‘tinkering’ with a system they understood (view of the Leicester owners)? Once they ditched Ranieri it all changed. Now the pundits blamed the players again & said they should be ashamed for not trying for dear old Claudio. Perhaps it showed that the manager was at fault & Shakespeare succeeded by going back to a system the players understood?
For my money it is not that our players ‘don’t care’ or are not trying. It is that they team have lacked clear direction from the manager. And that the manager has failed at the most basic thing- developing a system that suits the players he has got. But in the end who cares who was to blame? Time to look to the future & if we get to 40 points I won’t be spending much time dividing up the blame for the first ten games…
Agree and sometimes its just time for change Ranieri won title got less time then Bilic and now Ranieri is doing a great job w Nantes.
2015.2016 season was special for us w Boyeln and great season but it was also a one off w Chelsea out of top 6 and Liverpool etc…
Players can be horrible under 1 mgr at one club great elsewhere.
We lack & identity & any sort of organisation fitness is horrible & defense has been bad even in 2015/2016 but we scored more started ok w defense what Sam left but but 2016 part of season shipping plenty of goals Adrian always dealt with an unorganised defense and think Moyes might give him more of a chance.
We are getting a whole new staff but keeping GK coach Woods and Lewin which we needed them gone.
Moyes will be determined and just hope we become a TEAM again with a style and some 1 or 2 formations we stick with. Heard Moyes will most Likely use back 4.
I’m optomistic right now
I think this all points to a single catalyst that took the entire club into a downward spiral from the board down to the players – Payet’s behaviour and departure. That screwed up the best laid plans at the worst time possible, and no one recovered.
It’s far too easy to blame a manager, especially when he’s being undermined at the top of the club. The players see this and react to it. I think Slav was onto a loser from the moment Payet went on strike.
As for Slav always seeming to be on a downer and a poor communicator…have you ever watched a Moyes interview?!?
I’ve said elsewhere, time to get behind the new man – but if he don’t get results fast the owners are going to see a fan revolt they’ve not seen since their Brum days (and fair to say most bluenoses will tell you all about their history for uninspired and cheap management recruitment policy.)
Payet left for two reasons, his wife couldn’t settle and because he knew Bilic and our owners weren’t delivering on their promise of challenging for top four, they didn’t sign a single marquee signing that summer or the January previous when they should have, they weren’t building anything and Bilic tactics mean’t that Payet was left to create magic every match which is fine but you need some support, training lacked intensity and direction, furthermore when Sakho went to Bilic to say he should be starting and Song backed him, that was the end of Song and with it our defensive shield, we started shipping goals left right and centre (literally).
I want to see if he plays noble and Carroll his target man !! That will tell a story we don’t want to hear or see !! Big question mark with defence as well including m/f ??
Its a big factor for me and will let me know immediately how to receive Moyes ? He has no choice but to play defenders available but m/f is our bigger problem ?? Knife through butter as they say ! This team is so unbalanced its tipping over a cliff !! 😉
Yes, spot on – the thing that bothers me is the six-month Contract – if players don’t like what’s going on they can go to their Agent and moan to them about not being picked or whatever – the Agent can say ‘sit it out he’ll be gone in six months’.
I believe that on a personal note, Moyes has something to prove..
If nothing else, he is a very determined man..
Let’s hope he makes a special effort to get to know some of our quieter, understated players, like Diafra Sakho, rather than falling into the ‘play me’ Andy Carroll charm.
In addition, he must, simply must, make better use of our very talented U-23 players; Holland, Martinez, Haksabanovvic, Samuelsen, Quina, Browne, Kemp, Pask, Pike, and Declan Rice (to name just a few). These guys are the future of West Ham if the Brothers make the effort to hang on to them.
like I said in other threads Max. Kevin Sheedy the ex Everton youth coach said in 7 years he never once watched the youth team play and showed no interest in any of them.
the buck stops with the manager. As simple as that. If players are unmotivated then that’s the manager’s fault. Players become disgruntled for a reason. Poor tactics, being played out of position, bad training sessions, not delivering your message etc. I remember Slav working for ITV during the Euros. He’s a poor communicator, nothing he said made much sense. Not to mention he always seems such a downer. I can’t imagine how he motivates the players, the guy always looked depressed. Where’s the enthusiasm?