West Ham have a massive problem regardless of who they bring in as manager be that David Moyes, Chris Hughton, Poch, Wenger, Benitez Uncle Tom Cobley and all plus a bunch of coaches!
And whoever that person is, the problem won’t go away – we need a couple of top class midfielders with serious pace and power.
Without them – or at least one – the problem with West Ham 2019 won’t go away…we will never trouble teams and oppositions will simply continue to waltz through us at will.
And I really can’t see how any manager is going to be able to sort the problems left behind by a man who turned out to be as incompetent as it gets and yes, hands in the air, here I was singing his praises for months.
Manuel Pellegrini has left the sort of mess which it’s gonna take a miracle worker to sort out and whoever marches through the doors of the London Stadium needs to get that midfielder in fast.
No disrespect to Snoddy or Nobes but age is catching up fast and we need young legs and real energy because right now our midfield is lifeless.
I don’t know who that player is but whoever is gonna get the manager’s job better make it clear to the owners he does and that they fork out the dough for him immediately.
For without the right player I fear we will go down regardless of who takes over!
Agreed, midfield the problem and Nobes to long in the tooth, a great servent, but, we need younger players with more lungs.
Allegri (ex-Juventus) would be ideal, but he probably would not be interested in a club like West Ham.
Pochettino would be an interesting option. Erik ten Hag (Ajax) might move if offered a good contract and money for new players.
Eddie Howe surely !
Don’t agree completely with you there Hugh although you have identified a problem .
A different manager with a different style and tactical nouse would get the lethargy out of some of those players and encourage them to play with more purpose and determination . Make them happy again .
Yeah we will still have owners that have never soent more than 7m in central midfield or less on fullbacks
I think the first choice the owners should make is to get a world class Director of Football who can then select the right Manager first & then start on picking up the players required to rebuild our team and in the meantime just get a caretaker Manager in to keep things going until that happens!!
I agree, Neil. But I can’t see the owners having that level of insight.
100% agree with the fact that Noble and Snodgrass are not good enough. They are not the only ones though. You can’t knock their effort, but for me Noble is a very poor captain. I don’t buy into this Mr West Ham tag. He’s been used as a tool by the board to pacify the Hammers fans for too long and the blinkered “He’s one of our own” fans have fallen for it. We can all kiss the badge when we win a game, but there is no real leadership or talent there like we had with Nolan or Scott Parker. It’s time he was moved on and invest his 70k a week elsewhere.
Snoddy is not a premiership player, he never has been, you can put Arron Cresswell in that bracket too.
Who one earth has sanctioned some of these buys over the last few seasons. Roberto and Sanchez are right up there with Joey Beauchamp as the clubs worse buys. Arthur Masauaku is an awful defender. Zabaletta has been class for years but is finished.
I believe Fornels is a very good player and will come good. Lanzini and Anderson are luxuries we can’t afford. Yarmalenko may as well chop his right foot off because he can’t use it. The Balbuena and Diop pairing are a shadow of what they were last season. Ogbonna keeps getting dropped even though he’s probably been our best and most consistent player this season.Haller needs a strike partner. He reminds me of Freddie Kanoute. Great when things are going his way but a temperamental sulking Frenchman when they’re not.
There is so much obviously wrong with the team, lack of quality no2 keeper, poor left backs, 1 average right back, a slow negative midfield and a temperamental striker are the most obvious.
Manuel Pellegrini has lost all credibility in my eyes. To persist with Roberto for so long and to not play another striker with Haller is unforgivable. Some of the substitutions and team selections have been baffling to say the least. The 4 nil humiliation at Oxford tops our usual pathetic cup exits. Husilios has a lot to answer to. The recruitment has been very suspect, it seems to be top heavy with South American, or Spanish/Portuguese speaking players.
If we are to have Moyes back I hope we will start to buy more British players and I hope he’ll blood some of our promising youngsters. He got the best out of Arnie but he also bought Hugill remember. We can’t lay all the blame on the board, they have backed MP more than any other manager, we just need to recruit quality players who are hungry to play. We may have to sell one or two, maybe even Declan (we’d have to give Roberto and Sanchez away) but this club is malfunctioning in a big way and it needs a leader on and off the pitch and at the moment we have neither.
Let’s not think that we’re guaranteed to stay up now MP has gone, the club are on the brink of making their biggest managerial announcement in the clubs history. Get it wrong and it will be a big half empty stadium in the championship.
The problem is not what language players speak, but the quality. Look at Wolves. A Portuguese Manager and 8 Portuguese players and 2 Spaniards. It does not seem to be hurting them. The difference is how the players were chosen. Obviously someone over there knows what he is doing.
Welsh Hammer… Great post, well thought out… Thanks for the thought and effort.!
I’m not sure a permanent appointment is the right way to go but surely Moyes would not come on another short term deal…Houghton not for me unfortunately.
Our under 23 coach has been talked up, I don’t know much about the guy… but it would be brilliant if he was appointed AND HE KEPT US UP… not guaranteed though… but would give us some breathing space until the summer…… Fingers crossed… I feel we shall definitely see a turn around in performance of some of our better, more skillful players..
MP was simply not a man manager imho…
COYI…
Welsh – I agree with quite a lot of your post, except your view on Noble as captain/leader. He has been the catalyst in midfield for some time, last night a prime example of when he’s not there, the midfield was overrun at times and had little direction moving forward with Declan having to push forward and Sanchez unable to pass wind …..
There is easy remedy for the woes on the pitch and it starts with healing the divisions in the dressing room and/or changing the personnel who are unhappy/causing the disharmony.
Although you made a good point Hugh , I can’t completely agree . A new manager ( which is looking more and more likely to be Moyes ) with different ideas , tactics and communication skills would change the body language of the whole team . I think we would see players with more determination and will to play . A different approach to the game and sensible decisions would drive out the lethargic attitude being demonstrated currently by the team .
Yes, a 23 yo Patrick Vieira clone could make a massive difference. But so could simply getting the best out of what we have. With Fab back we have confidence in our keeper. Problems still on central defence, but get the attacking players to start passing properly again (drop the flicks and back heels to nobody), Felipe running at players rather than turning back towards our goal and goals will come. No confidence yet in Ayeti but Foenals slowly coming good so not all doom.
We’ve had supposedly top managers in Bilic, Moyes & now Pellegrini. Maybe might be worth a throw to see what Maresca could do
Yes, Geoff. Maresca should be given 3-4 games to see what he is made of. This would also buy some time to get a proper Director of Football. This person is the one to choose a Manager, not the Board.
Personally I think Moyes did a great job in his years at Everton with a limited budget. I don’t think for one minute Alex Ferguson is a fool and out of every manager possible he felt Moyes was the right choice to succeed him. I think everyone however underestimated the huge task it was to fill his shoes and Man Utd legacy.
Having said that I think West Ham fans want to see an animated type of manager, a Bilic, a DeCanio, a Mourinho, a Klopp, a Duncan Ferguson the type of guy that oozes passion on the sidelines, that stirs the crowd and lives every pass and every goal.
I think Eddie Howe would be the best choice. He plays open football and has young ideas, knows the league, is thoughtful, passionate and could be a great manager for 5 years or more. If Arsenal see the value in Arteta why on earth aren’t we also going for a young manager? I guarantee Arteta will turn Arsenal into champions within 5 years…
Moyes, is safe, unexciting and a plausible replacement but once again you can’t believe one thing these owners say when they talk about making our team Europe contenders when they appoint someone like Moyes…
If Rice stays and plays his role we need a box to box Lampard type midfielder in immediately, we need a no nonsense Billy Bonds fight for everything midfielder, we need a right back and left back.
I know someone intimately involved in scouting who was stunned West Ham bought Haller. He was known as the laziest center forward in Europe and boy were they right, made to look good only because of his strike partner, by himself absolutely useless! Going to have to cut our losses on him, Anderson, Yamenko, Ajeti, Sanchez, Wiltshire. Lanzini never recovered from injury also had to go. There’s more, it’s a complete mess…
Unless there’s a managerial mastermind that can come up with a formula to make this work I doubt we’ll see higher than 15th this season and only won’t go down because Watford, Villa, Norwich and Bournemouth have worst squads if you can believe that…
THANKS HUGH.
I think that the worst indictment of Pelle is looking at how lightweight we were with 7 changes compared to Leicester with 9 changes – their right back was immense – signed from Luton – we must remember that Pelle signed Sanchez, Roberto, Jack Wiltshire and Lucas Perez
I feared for us last night when I saw that we had Fornals, Felipe Anderson and Lanzini in midfield – all skillful players but too lightweight
When Moyes took over from Bilic he commented (while being careful not to blame Bilic directly) that the squad was unbalanced – I think that over the 18 months of Pelle this imbalance has become much worse
Some fans would like to have seen Ancelotti come to West Ham rather than Everton – looking at the two squads I know which I would choose!
Whoever the new manager is let us fans get behind him and achieve objective 1 which is to remain in the Premier League
COYI
Where are the players being given a hard time in this . They done the same to Bilic I.e gave up and stopped playing . They are not professional and need to look at their own attitudes and performances. Anyway Moyes is not the answer and yes we need pace in the tram we’re slow and ponderous . The thing is though will the new manager be given funds to sort it . The board need to back the new man I really hope it’s not Moyes , I know some will disagree but the fans will be moaning when it’s not attacking football. I know midfield and defence need improving , no argument but we need the whole team to assist attack and defence.
I’ve said in a previous post that we lacked pace In the squad, it’s so easy to see. The main reason Leicester are as good as they are is due to that explosive transition from winning the ball back and then putting teams under extreme pressure very quickly.
I personally felt Moyes should have got another season so maybe I’ll get my wish. He will inherit and more talented squad that’s for sure but as the post says there are serious issues. I like noble and his a credit to the club as he knows what it’s like to be a hammer, but his no pirlo and I believe for us to challenge at the top of this division you need a power house next rice in the middle. Every manager that has taken over the squad has put noble in the first team but the team does suffer sometimes due to his lack of pace. The left back in decision by the manager has not helped either player find any consistancy this season which has also hurt us at times. Saying all this there is light in adversity as Haller may now get a striking partner upfront which every westham fan was calling for.
I agree that it is going to be a real challenge to turn this round in the limited time available (thanks to the owners).In an ideal world I would say take a long term view. Appoint a progressive young (British) manager & rebuild the club-with the owners taking a back seat ( a very long way back!). But the risks of not getting back after relegation are enormous. Perhaps that is a move for the future, when there is a hope of the current owners selling up. So, assuming we go short term, there are many examples of basket cases being turned round. My big worry-is there anybody out there who remembers us having a ‘new manager bounce’? I don’t. Pards went weeks without a win. Curbs too I think. Still, at least we can look forward now & hope, now that another mismanaged fiasco is over.
without doubt the two scrooges will take the cheapest way out .
bilic doing ok at west brom, pelle done ok everywhere else his been, its only when they come to our place and meet the two scrooges that they turn into so called bad managers.
moyes no thanks
Some interesting points by passionate fans here. Also some absolute nonsense.
Those calling for British players or a British manager need to understand something. This isn’t the Britain of the Commonwealth era. That was a long time ago and an appalling time in history. Stop with the xenophobic crap. Some of our greatest players of the past 20 years weren’t British. Some of the best players ever to have graced the Premier League weren’t British so park that bulls**t.
As with Bilic, the board have shown themselves to be decent people with a regard for the qualities of a person. They wanted to believe Pelle would turn it around because the squad obviously loved him and he was a good human being. UNFORTUNATELY, that didn’t, as with Bilic, translate into him being a good manager (although Bilic didn’t have the same funds to spend, had to deal with the Payet issue and is showing his talents now at West Brom).
The whole interim managerial appointment only makes sense if there aren’t any top managers out there who would come to us. My top 3 would be Poch, Benitez and Allegri. Only if the top managers won’t come to us does it make sense for an interim appointment. I watched Danny Murphy on MOTD mention Big Fat Sam until the end of the season. Thoughts? I believe him or Moyes would keep us up. Could we be guaranteed that by any other manager out there?
We’re a broken club…… again. It’s time to stick together. We keep hearing about West Ham being a family, well, let’s make sure that like families going through hard times, we do stick together and back the board, the players and whoever comes in so that we can ensure we’re still a Premier League team next season. COYI
I get why they would reemploy Moyes. They probably feel guilty about replacing him with Pellegrini in the first place considering the good job he did. This time, if he comes back he will have better players to work with in theory. Except no arnoutavic this time. Be interesting to see if he rejuvenate the players this time out.
The bottom line here is that this club has tried a whole host of foreign managers, and failed to get anywhere or play consistently good football under any of them( and more often than not, they have madevusca more fractionalised and worse team). I don’t buy into all this clbbering the Commonwealth ideal as spread by liberal politicians over the last 40 years or so; the vast majority of ex-colonial countries are now total basket cases. For West Ham to.move forward with a bit of steel in their team, British is not only best, but a necessity
Tell that to Liverpool, Man City, Wolves, Tottenham, Everton, Arsenal. The last British manager to win a league title in the top division was Howard Wilkinson in 1991-92. Since 1995 only one British manager has won the F.A Cup; Redknapp in 2008.
British is not only best but a necessity? Yep, history sure backs you up with that comment…
Nice one
Try to get the Cowley brothers from Huddersfield.
Saul, are you forgetting Alex Ferguson?