How Irons time flies when you’re having fun

By CandH’s top blogger|Allen Cummings

Nineteen  games gone – my how times flies when you’re having fun!

Seems only yesterday David Moyes, fresh from saving the club for a second time, embarked on a mission to build a new West Ham team from the ashes left behind from the dismal reign of Manuel Pellegrini.

Schools might not be operating as normal right now, but we can still post a ‘Half Term Report’ on how Moyes and his ‘pupils’ are doing.

Where to start? We currently sit in seventh place in the Premier League – with a haul of 32 points – that’s just seven points short of the 39 we collected in the whole of last season.

The record shows nine wins, five draws and five defeats – two of which came in the opening two games of this campaign.

The prophets of doom, and we have plenty of them, were already embarking on their usual negativity aimed at the club, the manager and the players. Since then of course our fortunes, far from always hiding, are right out there blazing in light.

Moyes is in the process of building a team of genuine character, a team that performs with commendable efficiency to a plan and a system laid down by the manager. Everyone knows their job, what’s expected of them within the team framework.

There is a resolve about the players that has too often been missing from West Ham teams of the past. When the going gets tough – this team gets tougher!

They are prepared to stick it out, work together and play for each other. It might not suit some of the purists who continue to preach about playing the West Ham Way.

But it’s unlikely they will ever be satisfied. Right now we are playing the Moyes Way – and it’s working!

We are, of course, in the middle of a transfer window and as usual the West Ham shopping list grows longer every day – if you believe all you read. Moyes is open about his desire to make additions to his squad – but he’s also honest in the difficulties he’s facing in securing the right players on the right terms. Chucking money at all and sundry isn’t the answer. As assistant Stuart Pearce told talkSPORT: “It’s got to be the right player and the right money. They have got to be the right people and the right characters…” Character and ‘fit’ isn’t something some of our fanbase appear to consider.

It shouldn’t be forgotten either when Leicester City won the Premier League in the 2015-16 season, Claudio Ranieri used a total of just 18 players throughout the season. The Tinkerman did the opposite of what it said on his tin – he left well alone  – and it worked perfectly for him. No-one is suggesting we’re on course to do a Leicester – but they certainly proved what’s achievable on limited resources. We’d all like to see some new faces – but we might just have to live with how it is!

Saturday sees the FA Cup take centre stage with the visit of Doncaster Rovers – a half-term break of sorts – before it’s back to the main event and Crystal Palace on Tuesday. If the second half of the season comes anywhere close to the first – the manager and his team will be certain of a Gold Star Plus come the end of term!