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An irrational hatred of Snodgrass

Robert Snodgrass had a tough act to follow after being bought in Slaven Bilic to replace Dimitri Payet. Paying £10.2m to Hull City he was never going to live up to Dimi’s reputation and it was perhaps very unfair to compare him at the time.

He started just eight games for West Ham with a further seven substitute appearances with no goals but was often played out of position by the manager.

Alarm bells started ringing from his very first West Ham game as Bilic prepared to introduce Snodgrass from the bench against Manchester City just days after his big-money move from Hull.

Snodgrass explained last summer to the press: “I was coming on against City and he said ‘Where do you want to play, on the left or right? I thought ‘You have just signed me and I have played on the right or behind the striker at Hull City all season’ That was my debut and alarm bells were ringing right away. I found it very strange and I realised from the off that it wasn’t going to happen. Every time I played I was on the left. I don’t know why he did it. I joined as Dimitri Payet left and maybe it was a case of ‘you can play there. But I’d only filled in on the left on a couple of occasions. I hate that position but when you are Scottish you are brought up to play anywhere.

It’s fine to play for one or two games but you need to play in your right position, especially on the back of scoring nine goals for Hull. At that stage nobody had scored more goals for Hull or West Ham. The manager was under a lot of pressure and I later said that out of respect I didn’t want to go in and see him during that period. But when I eventually did speak to him I said I thought he would have known I wasn’t a left-midfielder and that he must have watched me after signing me for that type of money.

Things went from bad to worst for Snodgrass when David Sullivan told the Guardian “The manager said he wanted Fonte from Southampton and Snodgrass from Hull, my kids begged me not to sign them.”

At the time Snodgrass laughed it off and sarcastically replied on Twitter “Thanks for your support  MR CHAIRMAN”

Then came Snodgrass’s loan to Aston Villa. He was an instant fan’s favourite in the Midlands starting 38 games and repaying their faith in him with 7 goals and 14 assists to get in a Playoff final.

West Ham was set for a £1m promotion bonus if Villa had won the play-off final and they had an option to buy him for £12m which they planned to exercise but it was not meant to be.

Snodgrass has returned pre-season with no grudges under a new manager with a clean slate. He seems to have proved himself so far in pre-season and he recently told a fan at a boxing event he would be staying at West Ham to fight for his place.

I think it is time we gave Snodgrass the benefit of the doubt too and wiped the slate clean from a fan’s point of view.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

8 comments on “An irrational hatred of Snodgrass

  1. Well said Sean – I can understand fans hating players who turn on the club (e.g. Payet) – though I think its sad for adults to have so much hatred

    But what I can’t understand is fans hating players who give their all for the club – even if it is not very good, as long as they are trying why hate them and why boo them

    Noble comes to mind – and lately I’ve been saddened by the bile shown to Kouyate – even when he was not playing well he would be the first to celebrate with a team mate who scored

    Snoddy could come good and hopefully Sully will be man enough to admit that he was wrong (though I will not hold my breath)

    Also I believe that though Fonte was never at his best, his performance in the victories over Swansea and Spurs was critical in helping us to avoid relegation – that alone was worth the money we paid for him

    • We all see things differently. I took Sullivan’s comments at face value – ‘my kids begged me not to sign them’. I read that as ‘I ignored my kids, backed my manager and signed these two players’. I accept that he shouldn’t have said anything but some people just have the knack of either saying the wrong thing or other people just take it the wrong way.

  2. I remember watching his last game against us for Hull. He was fantastic and a player I thought then that he would be a great signing for us. I have a friend who is a life-long Hull fan and season ticket holder – He was as devastated when we bought Robert in from Hull as I was happy. However, the Snodgrass we saw play for us was not the same man who played for Hull – out of position in a dysfunctional set-up. That he still wears a West Ham shirt is a near miracle, and I think we should thank our lucky stars.

  3. I wouldn’t say I was overwhelmed when we signed Snoddgrass but thought based on his appearances for Hull he would do a good job for us, played out of position or otherwise he was poor, he has looked decent so far in pre-season but lets see how he does when the heat is on, wish him well COYI !!!

  4. Totally agree. I think a lot of our fans find it difficult to understand how tough the PL is . Gone are the days of 11 + 1sub. All clubs need a squad, and that means that you have to have decent quality , reliable players often warming the bench but can put in a shift when required. This is when a manager earns his corn in keeping all the big ego’s happy , and I think we have that man.
    Last season Chelsea , as an example , struggled badly in the PL after romping it the previous season, why ?? Champions League, even with their multi million pound spends over the years they like most PL clubs struggle to combine both in one season.
    Personally I hope that we can be a club that can take the points in games we should and frighten the big boys and winning some in the process. European football would be nice however I think it is a bit of a “poisoned chalice”. Be careful what you wish for and lets enjoy what could be a very interesting season hopefully with snoddy on board.

  5. I have no axe to grind with Robert Snodgrass, but from the moment he signed for WHU,, I’ve never felt he was good enough for the team. It was no surprise to me that Robert did well for Aston Villa in the Championship last season as IMO, that’s his level. I’d love to be proved wrong and see Robert do well for us this season, but he’s going to have to perform better than Yarmolenko, Anderson and Antonio to stay in the team, should he be given a chance. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Robert back in the Championship between now and the close of the January window. I wish him well, wherever he is.

  6. I’ve never disliked Snodgrass. I just never understood why he wasnt played on the right where he’s great at getting outside or inside or up to the byline and crossing balls back in. There are a minority of fans who jump on the popular or unpopular bandwagon from the start with certain players and copy cat their opinions. Some players can do nothing right in some people’s eyes. We see it with noble. Kouyate is the latest victim of it but seems like he has sensed its time to move on as did Snodgrass. When the crowd turns its hard to come back. I can already sense the anti Snodgrass crowd from last year are starting to aim their venom at wilshire. Wilshire hasnt even played a full game for us yet and is still working on his preseason fitness but I’m already sensing certain individuals are ready to turn on him probably because they didn’t want us to sign him in the first place him due to his fitness record. I believe all new players should be played in their best position and given a full season to prove themselves personally.

  7. Was he really hated?? I don’t think so. He was pretty stitched up and not really given the chance to prove himself and I think most understood that and were happy for him to go out on loan to get some confidence back after firstly Bilic and then our wonderful owner showed very little faith in him.

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