Rewind the clock a few weeks and we were being told by everyone on Talk Sport, pundits, and Match of the Day presenters alike that we â the West Ham supporters who dared to aspire to a better quality of entertainment than DM served up â should think ourselves lucky. Our team was punching way above its weight and DM was the Messiah who wasnât understood. Above all, âwe should be careful what we wished forâ.
Now, I donât for one minute claim to speak for everyone, but from the groans and moans around the LS, online comments, and endless âMoyes Outâ posts, I reckon thereâs a sizeable â probably tens of thousands â group who, like me, breathed a sigh of relief when the Scotosaurus departed.
It’s nothing to do with league position. Yes, we will never forget our first triumph in 43 years, but it was a departure hastened by both awful results in 2024 and by massive shortcomings in âAttitude, Atmosphere, and Ambitionâ.
Suddenly, the club we all love appears to be on a new trajectory. Tim is zipping around in his Jetstream and bringing home the Brazilian bacon, unfettered by dithering Dave who preferred the creaking bones of Harry Maguire apparently, and the vast, costly loan idiocy of an unready Kalvin Phillips. And donât get me started on the sale of Scamacca.
Now we seem to have ambition. Signing one Brazilian wonderkid doesnât signify a revolution, but it fires the starting gun on the Steidten/Lopetegui era. For the first time since last June, Iâm genuinely excited to soak up all things Claret and Blue again. Call me a naĂŻve optimist, I donât care. Iâll take it any day instead of the club colours resembling a hair shirt, which we pulled on for penance, enduring visits to LS to watch nine behind the ball with some of our very talented squad members shackled into defensive duties until panic set in at 75 minutes.
Now we face the prospect of, potentially, an attitude of building possession and â hold me down â attacking, even entertaining football!
Much has been written â quite rightly â about the soaring costs of season tickets and the LS experience (more on that another day). But those of us that travel vast distances to come and breathe the Stratford air now stand a chance of taking pride in our teamâs style, ambition, and performance again, not begrudging the huge costs quite as much. Thereâs potential indeed for âenjoying the occasion whatever the resultâ again, instead of enduring the dull, drab, dreary affairs more akin to âbacks to Hadrianâs Wallâ performances in which Dithering Dave and the iPad failed to excel. (If I remember my history, that crumbling, craggy grey edifice similarly failed to keep out the attacking hordes!)
One swallow doesnât make a summer, and one new teenager in Claret and Blue (plus Brazilian yellow) doesnât ensure a top-six finish. But it sure as hell reassures me that the planning, action, ambition, and desire are there to change our team and our club for the better. So, yes, this is exactly âwhat I wished for.â I can look beyond the expected hype but ultimate failure of the Euros, to the âsummer of rebuildingâ for our club with a fresh sense of enthusiasm. Even if instant success isnât forthcoming in the new season, Iâll enjoy knowing that the Lopetegui-Steidten combination is more forward-looking, sourcing players for the future and nurturing existing talent, rather than numbing us with has-been PL journeymen looking for one more payday.
The jury is still out, but the early signs are refreshingly good. Letâs keep our hammers crossed and see what the summer holds.
Guest post by Martin T
You are so right we now have a chance watch a match and dare I say it even enjoy watching a game and coming out to the mating call of the Westham fans IRONS IRONS IRONS said with joy.đŤ§đŤ§đŤ§âď¸âď¸âď¸
* loving the attitude (well, hopefully living it too đ)
agree with and applaud most of that. i think, though, that we can lay off Moyes now. i too wanted him to go after the trophy but it’s all done. best to concentrate on what’s ahead of us. i’m living the attitude of the scouting and vigour with which we seem to be sourcing potential signings. i’m not young so i don’t expect too many to be signed until we get to nervy time. just the way it goes, i think. my only concern is i have memories of the comments section when Pellegrini came on board đŹ having said that, it’s gonna take time but still pretty excited about what’s to come. it works or it doesn’t…we’re West Ham
đŞâââ
People already slapping themselves on the back after the signing of one teenager should probably remind themselves they are most likely to turn on Looetegui if not Steidten as soon as the honeymoon period is over. Because blaming the manager is what they do. How long before we are hearing and reading Lopetegui out.
ask Moyes back đ
Good start to our new campaign with this lad from Brazil .. unproven yes .. but potential sure âŚ
What a difference from previous seasons .. getting deals done early rather then last minute dot com
Timmy seems happy doing the business this way too
So COYI âď¸âď¸
Agree with virtually all of that, especially the bit about Phillips.
Nobody thought it was a good idea before he arrived and nobody thought it was a good idea when he did sign.
However, I know Scamacca has gone on to better things since he was sold, his record before joining us screamed of a waste of time and probably why he had spent much of his career out on loan.
BUT, we have struggled with strikers for too many years, before Moyes and with Moyes and we are still needing that area to be sorted.
Brilliant , I too was sick of thick ex footballers saying careful what you wish for ? Pricks . Always wish , perchance to dream . C.O.Y.I
I also would like to commend the above article by Martin T. It is a very good read.
Why does optimism for the future always have to be tied in with slagging of Moyes. The bloke did the job he was asked to do when the club was a total mess. Saved us from relegation and built a solid workmanlike team from scratch with the unexpected bonus of Europe and even a trophy! Time for a change, yes, and hopefully Sullivan will give them the funds to build a team that will continue taking us forward
Hopefully won’t be castigated for being optimistic, big stick in the eye for all the “be careful what you wish for Muppets”, life is full of wishes and dreams, it’s good to see the optimism out there for a change, COYI..
Well said mate⌠nice to be (cautiously) optimistic again after the gloom of last season COYI
Cautiously optimistic?
Time to apply for an extension on our trophy cabinetâŚ.. COYI
Martin I could not have put my personal feelings any better myself,( Please stay out of my head in the future) i travel from Taunton, Somerset, take a day off work, and the worst part of the trip was watching 90 minutes of Moyseball. So i simply stopped going, BUT I too am extremely opportunistic for the future and may start my trips up the M4-M5 back to my spiritual home in East London.
Spot on now letâs all embrace this new west ham outlook ! And encourage the team and manager to succeed in our rebuilding. And hopefully we will be picking up some more silverware soon. COYI
oh i say spot on sir the enthusiasm makes my nipples explode with desire
đ You may need and ointment for that Brav.
Who was holding who back.. Has Sulivan been lucky choosing these two? Remember it was he who picked Pelligrino through supporter pressure.. We’ll see if he qualifies for Europe and finishes in the top half of the table… We managed 3 consecutive seasons in Europe……….I just think this guy will be orf once things heat up, we’ll end up like the Spuds “This new manager has been in for 4 weeks and we still ain’t won anything”…quoting Rodney Marsh.
Not sure if he will turn out to be a great manager for us yet, as no games yet, but early, young talent, and a better working harmony, means we are going in the right direction, if this doesn’t produce the results we want then at least the structure of the club and the team will be there
Well done Martin T, an excellent article for all the right reasons. As a WH fan for nearly seven decades I can honestly say this is one of the most exciting preseasons in my memory. We look likely to go from one of the oldest teams to at least the middle of the pack and we are promised ‘entertaining’ football. Yes the signs are looking good despite all the negativety of press and pundits when our coach was originally announced. Just lets give him time before making judgement.
Be careful what you wish for? We wish that our team plays beautiful football like we used to at upton park. And we can occasionally win some trophies! All these pundits/experts donât know shit about west ham,but feel free to tell us supporters that we are deluded ? If moyes is such a great manager then why hasnât anybody employed him ? We are well rid of moyes and his negativity and awful tactics thank god !
I’m actually pleased not to have European competition for a season in the hope we could win a domestic trophy for a change. Couldn’t believe how easy it was for Liverpool to beat us in the quarters with the prospect of home and away semi’s and a Wembley final but alas someone had other ideas! He couldn’t rotate a spud to save his life! Hopefully we’ll have a decent Cup run and at least top six.
Summed up very nicely !!
Finally a decent post on C&H but obviously it had to be written by someone not actually affiliated with the website! Good work Martin.
So it appears that C&H have also now started censoring and editing the comments and replies. What an absolute joke! 90% of my comments relating to the Pellegrini era and the Scamacca transfer have been edited and just deleted. Its funny how the people who run this website are happy to comment and criticise as much as they like, but don’t appear to be able to take any themselves! That so smacks of complete hypocrisy and double standards!
Actually, your post is the only one to be censored within the past month, so there is no general issue, just one with you.
Firstly you’re rude. Not the worst crime in the world of course but we’re hardly likely to let things go if you can’t even be pleasant.
Secondly, you were slagging the website off and couldn’t quite seem able to make your point without being nasty. We don’t have to let you post on here, it’s not a human right. Dad closed the comments section because of the abuse and I have decided to reopen them, but the website is not a punchbag for you to take out your anger. If you don’t like C&H then jog-on a read another because you’re spoilt for choice.
Thirdly, you’re spamming. I honestly have better things to do than moderate your posts.
Lastly, you’re posting external links. Don’t, it’s not allowed. Once again, if you don’t like it then go elsewhere.
You are an anonymous poster on a website, no picture or name and you are a persistent troller. Pack it in or I’ll ban your email and IP address.
Alternatively, why not do what Martin did and actually write something worthy of publishing and send it in?
There’s massive changes. Management, coaching, tactical approach, playing staff. I have no idea what to expect with regard to results come the new season, nothing would surprise me.
Words on optimism are few and far between here recently, so thanks Martin T.
I’ll just go on record now as saying that with the overhaul of the 1st team and the need to build a squad of players, bringing in ‘pearls’ from across the globe, and new coaches implementing new scheme/system and allowing time to gel together (Not to mention the Paqueta issue), I for one will not be expecting West Ham to finish any higher or with more points than this season.
However, IF Loopi is all he’s cracked up to be, and Steidten really does know what a footballer looks like, then 2025/26 season is one to look forward to.
I was just thinking the very same thing this morning isn’t it great to have Steidten and Lopetegui working together in the same direction and not being at loggerheads with every potential transfer being confrontational. Lopetegui’s reputation of developing young players and installing organisation on the field bodes well but until a ball is actually kicked in anger we just don’t know. But so far it’s encouraging and we might get some expansion and exciting football to watch.
Reasons to be cheerful knowing i wonât be doing a Joe Biden watching our games next season.
you mean an orange turd in court
Blimey, i thought one of our staff on here had learned how to write then got to the bottom of the piece to see it’s a guest post.
Nice work Martin
‘Learnt’ đ
Ha ha shot myself in the foot but nice to see an author reply !
Sorry Keith, I’ll try and reply more frequently, just trying to get the site sorted and then we should have more time for interaction mate.
We’ve opened up the comments again following Hughie’s sad passing.
Cheers for posting
I really donât care about be careful what you wish for brigade they are going to have to eat their words things had to change and now itâs looking like there is going to be a very exciting season ahead such a transformation in style and forward thinking along with the new additions and more to come I believe we will really be a force to reckon with COYI
I donât rate Lopetegui we should have kept David moyes it wonât be long before we will need DM to save us from being relegated just as he has done in the past as a manager we won the conference league cup that was a outstanding result
It doesnât matter if we donât win anything or finish top six. They have already started righting some of the wrongs of the previous administration. If they had stayed in place we would have definitely been relegated next season.
Letâs hope we get a few more signings over the line and all or most settle in quickly then I think the future may be bright.
Cracking piece that gonzo… Really good read, totally agree with you on that
Hey Danny, I can’t take credit mate. It was superbly written by Martin but I’m delighted you enjoyed it and I’m sure he’ll read the comments.
Have a good weekend.
Exactly , summed up the missing word entertainment, like the scene in gladiator ,”are you not entertained”?”yes sometimes” “no most of the time” climbing the stairs to my “seat in a million” was becoming a drudge , im optimistic under loopydago that somone might actually shoot , that would be quite entertaining in itself , even deckie at arsenal is beginning to shoot at an alarming rate,and hes stopped sniffing.