Being the bookies, and most pundits, preseason favourites for the Championship title hasn’t ever sat comfortably with West Ham supporters.
After all, we watched first hand as the fragilities of our side were laid bare week by week in the slide downhill that concluded with an exit from the Premier League.
And the very competitiveness of the second tier of English football can swallow up the unwary or the unprepared, as Leicester City amongst many have found out to their cost.
So whilst many observers still see the Hammers’ climb towards ascendency as inevitable in the Championship, former manager Tony Pulis maintains a much more objective stance based on what he’s seen rather than on mere reputation:
““They’ve got that little bit of quality at both ends of the pitch which you need; you need to keep clean sheets, you need to score goals and they are doing that. But have I been absolutely convinced that they are a step above everything and everybody else? I am not so sure at the moment.
This is the toughest league in the world to escape – so any suggestions that it is cut-and-dried for West Ham are misplaced, as Pulis suggests.
“I think hand on heart they will get promoted, but are they that much better than the rest of the Championship teams?” (The managers podcast)
Which will strike a chord and perhaps a note of fear into the heart of more down-to-earth Irons supporters, who still look at the remaining three quarters of the season with a certain unease, knowing it is far from cut and dried that the Hammers will suddenly turn very un-West Ham like and boss the division for the remaining 35 games.
After all, that’s still 100 points up for grabs.
Whilst the likes of Jason Cundy on talkSPORT might seem to think it’s already inevitable that the Irons will top the table, Pulis’ suggestion that a Swansea, Middlesborough, Southampton or Wolves side can easily match – or exceed Nuno’s West Ham’s points total in the remaining seven months certainly adds spice and jeopardy to every encounter. (And remember, Tony Pulis remains a manager who was never relegated during his lengthy career with Bournemouth, Gillingham, Bristol City, Stoke, Crystal Palace, Middlesborough, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield Wednesday.)
However. One thing is certain: It is this very unpredictability of this Championship as a contest which is winning us over as fans, compared with the drab, dull procession of almost Formula 1-like proportions which today’s Premier League competition represents, where only one of perhaps five teams will triumph 19 years out of 20.
After all, who wants to feel like their side will likely lose every week. Been there, done that. This season marks a refreshing change and hopefully something of a renaissance.
Do we have the best squad in the division? Yes. Are we the best equipped team to push for promotion? Probably. Can we last the distance? I hope so. But with the best will in the world, making these sorts of pronouncements after 11 games of a 46 game season is absolutely pointless. After all, we hopefully all remember the 95-96 season when Millwall were top at the start of December, and finished the season by being relegated (forgive me a cruel chuckle). Let’s get past Christmas and see where we are. Then I’ll listen to the pronouncements of the so-called experts.
Yes I think we are the best team in the League. Good enough to survive in the Premier League? Probably not without some personnel changes and a new manager. Does being the best team in the league get us promoted? Paradoxically, it doesn’t since this will depend whether the team demonstrates the stamina to last a 46 game season and handles the pressure that the run-in will inevitably bring. I think our squad depth should provide the stamina, but the pressure is a known unknown.
I’ll make one comment on recent performances. When Man Utd under Alex Ferguson used to play badly and either win or not lose everyone said it was the hallmark of a good side. While West Ham are no Ferguson Man Utd and playing in the Championship I see our recent performances in the same way. We are winning and not losing so as far as I’m concerned that just shows we are a good side at Championship level. If and when we play badly and are losing that is the time to worry.
Most West Ham supporters are down to earth and know how competitive the Championship is. It’s the media which keep on going about how West Ham are going to smash this league and they are only there for this season.
Talking to someone from Middlesbrough last night, the person claimed their fans prefer being in the Championship, rather than going to see a team losing most weeks in the Premiership.
There’s certainly more of a bounce this season at home games, but I for one would rather be in the Premiership fighting for a top half finish, just hope Kretinsky funds a squad capable of doing that, and finds a legal way of establishing the team to play attractive football too.
And yes, a different manager as this one won’t change his tactics. Managing a side with the best squad of Championship players is one thing, taking on the Premiership is another.