16 Comments

Hammers in a mess amid reports of player rifts

Haller – Reported to be feeling he has been made a scapegoat

West Ham’s dressing room is reportedly in a mess ahead of Saturday’s match against Southampton with Manuel Pellegrini’s approach allegedly causing division and dispute!

It seems impossible that the 66 year old can hold onto his job should the team be beaten at St Mary’s amid alleged player protests at his approach and training ground attitude.

We at ClaretandHugh  have been hearing for weeks that the players are confused by his stereotyped approach tactically and lack lustre attitude on the training ground with the squad finding it a chore given the lack of motivation from the sidelines.

And this morning The Sun has this morning has claimed that striker Seb Haller is among the unhappiest of the players after being dropped to make room for Michail Antonio.

The tabloid reports he feels he has been saddled for the  miserable run of form which has seen him fail to score in two months.

Beyond that – despite the manager concentrating largely on midfield since his arrival – the shocking lack of pace and support for the front players is causing grave issues.

According to The Sun other players are entirely underwhelmed by the Frenchman believing he can’t compare to departed Marko Arnautovic.

There have also been widespread rumours alleging that Pellegrini failed to go into the dressing room following the defeat against Arsenal although that was denied by a source last night when we put the question.

The players – as reported yesterday – were far more impressed when first team coach Enzo Marasca took training before the game against Cheslea and worked out the tactics which saw us record a brilliant 1-0 win.

And that’s a ‘report’ that has been confirmed to CandH by three different sources and which could shoot the coach into a position where he could be considered strongly as an interim boss once Pellegrini’s day is done.

Marasca’s tactics ensured that Frank Lampard’s team were forced to attack wide rather than through the middle making it easier for the defence to deal with crosses rather than rapid forward movement.

However, following that, we understand  the manager immediately oversaw training for the games against Wolves and Arsenal which of course both ended in defeat.

All of this coupled with the Roberto, Jack Wilshere and Albian Ajeti signings has created a mood of deep anxiety in the boardroom where it is accepted that action cannot be much longer delayed unless a miraculous run of wins comes along!

The most worrying feature for any incoming manager however remains the awful lack of pace in midfield with one candidate – who wants to remain anonymous – telling me: ” How on earth do you sort that it – incredibly difficult.”

David Moyes, Chris Hughton and Tony Pulis are all names thought to be in the frame but Enzo Marasca remains a favourite to oversee training should Pelle be gone next week with some assistance from Kevin Keen during matches.

There’s little point left in attempting to hide the troubles inside the squad as Pellegrini looks  to be heading into his last days.

 

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

16 comments on “Hammers in a mess amid reports of player rifts

  1. Dressing room in a mess Really. ..There’s a surprise …not .
    Win or lose Saturday the manager got to go I know this is repetitive from me but I will say again we will be relegated and stay relegated for many seasons waving goodbye to Declan and other youngsters that are progressing and want to play in the premiership

  2. At last the cat is out of the bag. Ive been thinking for a long time now wether the bad form was due to players not getting on board with manager. It needs nipping in the bud quickly before we are cut adrift. HAMMER TILL I DIE

  3. Obviously, Pellegrini has to go but Chris Hughton or Pulis – hopefully that’s a wind up !
    There would be a full scale revolution if that happened……..
    Changing the subject, read an article on Man City website a while ago saying in Pellegrini’s second season the fitness levels dropped off alarmingly.

  4. He should have been gone at least 3 matches ago. more delay and i believe Without a doubt we will be relegated.

  5. If we win Saturday,then lose the next 3,is he given another game to save his job.Could go on indefinitely.
    Why was Marasco in charge of training for the Chelsea game,what happened to MP that week ?.

  6. All sounds very odd. Why would a manager not be involved and let his coach take training before a match that could decide his future? I’d take anything the Sun reports with s pinch of salt. They are just sh1t stirring as we are easy targets.

  7. Well it does appear that Pelle has lost the dressing room. I would also say that the warning signs were there pre-season and then 5-0 hammering by City. If Marasca did take the team for the game against Chelsea, then it appears he has the nouse to get results with this bunch of “losers”. It’s okay saying the players are not putting it in for Pelle, but the players really should be busting their balls for the fans who’ve spent their hard earned money to support the club.

  8. The biggest problem is Pellegrini is so inanimate he would have us believe not much is wrong and it will come right eventually.His BBC press conference today sums it up.”As individuals the players must do better we know that”, is his latest soundbite, sorry but it is what he has said for 2 months now and still no change.The team has crumbled before his very eyes.Agreed they cannot just down tools as a sign of defiance as that insults and riles the fans more than anything.Even if we lose we want blood ,sweat and tears and apart from the Chelsea game they have not shown that.The 1 up top style is a joke and a lot to do with the discourse amongst the players.If we win on Saturday.What next?.The striker dept is weak,midfield is painfully slow and defence leaks goals for fun.Its a big repair job in key positions which takes serious investment.Will the board back him or his successor with some serious money in January is my question.?

  9. What has he done, he is after all the manager and has the ability and responsibility to change things. Yet he changes nothing. Has he tried a different formation, play 2 upfront, a guy supporting haller, like fornals maybe? No he’s done nothing as we slide down the league. He was the wrong guy when he was appointed and he is definitely the wrong guy now and the longer they wait the harder it gets for the next guy.

  10. Wow you can’t really blame Haller the other players never really pass to him to get a chance . Doesn’t matter who the manager is that’s not on if we help him he will score. This actually just shows their attitude is not acceptable and they should play for the fans in any case. Try supporting each other including Haller . As for Masuaku he virtually did nothing to stop shots on our goal and should be dropped and nowhere near the first team no matter who manages us . Why are we waiting to change manager as it appears they won’t play for MP just change it now to at least give us a chance against Southampton . My anger is aimed as much at the players as well as MP they are not even trying which is a disgrace as a professional player .

    • The game against Southampton is in effect a 6 pointer. Marasca should be given control over team preparation. Mark Noble doesn’t tend to get carried away. If he says ‘different class’ that’s good enough for me. Its so depressing seeing two bleary-eyed old men on the bench looking so lost! (I’m older than either of them, so allowed to be ageist! 😉

  11. After all that he is still our manager..lol …dressing room in a mess awful tactics no motivation BUT HE IS STIll OUR MANAGER..😂😂😂😂 pathetic

Comments are closed.