Hammer Alvin Martin has told Talksport radio that he doesn’t necessarily believe finishing lower than last season this coming season could be considered a lack of progress. Alvin stressed the importance of the club staying in the Premier League under Slaven Bilic’s, but feels the club can progress even if they finish lower than 12th with fewer than 47 points on the board.
“If he doesn’t and we finish in the same position as under Sam, it doesn’t mean we haven’t moved forward as a club – What he’s got to do is keep us in the Premier League next year, keep us in the top half, we don’t know what the impact of Slaven’s arrival is going to be until the season starts – I’d rather he was just coming in and had a real good run at the Premier League.” said Martin
Dont sound too upbeat then Alv,sounds more like Doc.Martin than Alvin Martin.Cheer up my son,good times ahead.No relegation word needed 😉
Alvin you are starting to sound like Cottee
Try blogging on Wetpants they will give you the stats to back it up,
Wonder how Payet signing messed the stats up ?
ahaha… ““If he doesn’t and we finish in the same position as under Sam…” I understand perfectly that the Genius is without equal, but Alvin, don’t worry, I venture to say we can reach the safety next year…
As supporters it’s our job to be the twelfth man and to believe that we will be unbeatable! As a former professional it’s Alvin’s job to look at things from a professional and common sense point of view. As a West Ham legend and talented former player and captain, reading his views have helped to stop me running away with myself and all said and done we may need to reign in our obvious enthusiasm and expectations a little.
Bilic is a new manager, in a new country, with new players and a new team…. with a club whose supporters that have HIGH expectations!
We may not want to hear it, but it needed to be said!
I aint running away with myself but dont expect to be in a relegation dog fight.I dont doubt Alvins words but just because they are ex-pros doesnt make what they say correct.Just look at some of the sh*t that pours out of ‘expert analysis’ ex-pros on shows week in week out,lol 😉
No it does not need to be said with a far better manager and all ready better players and it looks like more coming,we need to be positive with a very hard start to the premier season fixtures BFS NEVER HAD we don’t need to be cautious,
Go for it Slav away as well as at home,let them be scared of us,let them respect the point
Attack Attack and you will get the points but even more you will get our respect
Expro,s make the worse pundits in my opinion
Sorry but this headline is a bit misleading, I listened to the whole Alvin Martin interview on Talksport and not once did he mention about us fighting for survival, he is a big fan of Bilic and has ways championed him to be manager, even back in February. He was saying that even if we finish 12th we would probably still have progressed because Bilic will be building for the future (The OS move, and probably giving youngsters a lot more of a chance). I don’t care what most ex pro’s say but Alvin talks a lot of sense and the way he speaks its obvious his love for the club is still massive
Totally agree. Relegation isn’t what he meant and as usual words are taken out of context for purposes of lazy headlines. The real point is not to get too carried away, but we’re now heading in the right direction. From someone whose opinion I respect, that makes sense to me.
I think I’ve read it differently from everyone else. I think Alvin is trying to say that even if we finish with less than last year we’re in a transition period and because of the change that’s still progress as we’re moving in the right direction as a club on and off the field. If that’s what he meant I agree with him but if I’ve misread it he’s talking boll*cks and I’m an oaf lol
All he mentioned is that it’s important to stay in the Premiership due to the move to The OS, what he said in the interview which was very interesting was that he thinks with the move and cheaper tickets to watch a game, along with the style of play under Bilic, our fan base will increase massively and we will fill the OS most games easily. I will now be able to afford to take my 3 boys along with me to games a lot more often
I never heard the interview but even from the words above that’s what I assumed so I’m happy cos I like Alvin