Nobody ever thought is would come to this yet the blame game started weeks ago.
West Ham face two hugely difficult games against Chelsea and Wolves; Pellegrini is tipped heavily for the boot; David Moyes is apparently the favoured replacement with Sean Dyche and Chris Hughton also in the frame.
Eddie Howe has been the name on most lips for months or years but even during all the long months since Slaven was eventually appointed he has shown absolutely no desire to go anywhere.
That however is not a satisfactory response for many – they believe the board should do all they can to get him despite the fact that apart from a spell at Burnley his entire playing and managing career has been spent on the south coast.
He loves the place and even Arsenal couldn’t tempt him away. It’s one of the best known situations in football despite him being reputed as one of the best young bosses of his generation.
I’m too long in the tooth to write anything off completely and there’s always a chance of anything happening but it would be a surprise should he decide to leave.
The anger, frustration and bloody-mindedness seen on the forums and social media would be infinitely more understandable were there not have been such widespread satisfaction with the Pellegrini appointment at the time it was made.
To expect a top line replacement to be lined up in a matter of a few days – and beyond Eddie Howe – former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochetinno was the name on most lips – is optimistic in the extreme.
He’s on his way to a Real, Man United, Juventus or wherever!
As far as Pellegrini is concerned the choice of Roberto as a No 2 goalkeeper was a sacking offence all by itself – as was the his decision to give Jack Wilshere a three year deal or to pay £8 million for Ajeti.
After all Jordan Hugill did for Moyes to some extent I’m sure.
The reality is of course that Pellegrini never really had to buy anyone at Real Madrid or Manchester City and when it came time to do so at our place it showed his lack of knowledge or judgement- Fornals was another bad buy and Yarmolenko not the best.
At £35 m Anderson may be the most frustrating player I may ever have watched.
Who is or was to blame, should he be gone by the time you read this? Well, the manager and his director of football in my view whose recruitment was dreadful and it’s that by which you live and die.
Many will blame or want to blame the board, others the players but sadly the fact remains we are now the same old West Ham as we have ever been and I’v e given up trying to second guess what happens from here.
What I do know however, is that in the critical match against Spurs it was Nobes, Antonio, Rice, and Snoddy who were the stars.
They are linked by one common factor – all Brits with Hammers in their hearts – maybe there’s a clue to our future there.
COYI
Put the young uns in return those from out on loan and take out the overpaid players we have in the team get some pride back
Spot on article, Hugh – all I would say is I hope correct decisions are made as Irons fans are some of the best in the world and it’s time they had a club / team to be proud of.
After all – it’s what Sully promised when we left the Boleyn, but looks like a fairy story at the moment.
This Eddie Howe thing is getting very wearing – been talking about him since before Slaven. Has he gone anywhere NO!
Has anyone looked at Bournemouth’s last six games and there results? And there points tally ? They are 3 points above our 13 and have only won one game in 6? No one at Bournemouth are after sacking him? He’s safe in his world at Bournemouth ? If he was at West ham some supporters would be calling for his head on Bournemouth’s current run ? That’s pressure! I’m sure a step he tried at Burnley burned his fingers so he’s not coming folks he’s safe in his own little world.
Time to bring the young players in just can’t understand the reluctance give them shake things up if we can all see it fans of many years though thick and thin Why can’t Pelle and his gangster see it players with spirt are worth more than so called technical players with no balls start with that goalkeeper can’t even say his name we have a. Great under 23 keeper give him ago ⚒⚒⚒
Er I think I would take more notice of someone who actually knows Howe is interested in going to a bigger club than comfy Bournemouth 10k stadium and never going any further than surviving . Been there for too long now and wants to test himself . And he wasn’t considered for arsenal job either only art and emery were the choices .
Your call
Who are we talking about and what evidence has been given for his interest cos if so good as I’m a Howe fan. If people don’t believe the club would have checked it out then they are perhaps talking about what they want rather than what is real.
Here’s a thought! perhaps the board are waiting for Everton to sack Silva ? So they can hire him, he’s young he’s got younger ideas and he likes entertaining football ( going forward) and they ( the board) would have no compensation payments to make???😂😂😂 (just a thought to throw in to the mix)
Go get Dyche… We NEED a no nonsense manager who gets his teams to battle for 90 minutes… Unfortunately he would be stuck with too many of these pathetic losers we have now who don’t have the decency, the honor or commitment to put in a 90 minute spell. I don’t mind losing but to see players not moving, not making unselfish runs, not supporting team mates, not attacking or defending in numbers is a DISGRACE!!
Get the F out of our club if your not going to graft!!
There’s so many teams in the Premier league that put out a team each week that run their hearts out…
We have a bunch of fancy shmancy do nothings bought by a manager and his support staff that don’t have a clue of the modern game!!!
MP is a disaster, got lucky last season, true colors of his lack of ability for all to see this season. His decisions against Oxford are all you need to know about how poor his thought process and understanding is…
Chelsea are going to knock easily 4 in against us and we’ll lose against a battling Wolves!!!
Why are we waiting?
Agreed, agreed, agreed………….!
The owners must be aware that this will be their last chance to get it right and, whoever, they hire must be to the benefit of the club’s foreseeable future, rather than the recent fire-fighting and current short-term appointments,
Apart from the owners, we should all “return to earth”; stop debating as though we are something we are clearly not; return to the reality of what are achievable aspirations and expectations for OUR GREAT CLUB…………
As for replacing Pellegrini; as with Levy hiring Mourinho, DS is not so naive (?) not to have included a range of ‘incompetence’ clauses, or the equivalent. The idea that any coaches contract would have to be fully paid-up is pretty unlikely.
The rubbish players in our team are making Noble and Snodgrass look good
Neither of these players would get in any other premier league team
Its time to put in the young players as chelsea have done
They can do no worse than the current crop
Here’s a lone voice view…..what if the problem at West Ham is not the manager, not his team, not the players, not the stadium, not the board ……..what if it is the fans who are to blame? For never backing the team when times are hard, for never giving a manager time to build a successful long term team, to never give the board any credit for what they do for the club, for always expecting us to be a top 6 team, for not understanding that players are human beings and they can lack confidence and suffer mentally just as we fans do. By comparison look how Manchester United have fallen from the glory years…..and yet I was at Old Trafford last year when then went 0-2 down to a Newcastle side near the bottom of the table (sound familiar…..) but instead of booing the manager and their own goalkeeper, instead of all leaving for an early half time pint to drown their sorrows……..the fans ALL got behind their team, any fan who tried to put the a player or the manager down was instantly shouted down by many fans around them telling them to get behind the team. The sang louder and cheered even more every success. And that support and enthusiasm galvanised the players to respond and raise there game. They won 3-2 with a late goal from Alexi Sanchez …..a player who most United fans hated for his lack of contribution and success despite clear talent (sound like Anderson perhaps). All the moaning and groaning that takes place at the London Stadium only helps to drag the players down further. This club is in the best shape for many many years and we are as close to being serious contenders for a top 6 place than ever. Even now after this appalling run we still only a handful of points of where we all want to be. Let’s get behind the manager, the team the board and give them that extra nudge to get the results that will see them climb the table. Roberto is of course a liability at the moment but as bad as he has played, of all the goals he has conceded, a couple of saves in the right place could have given us an extra 6 points and in 6th place in the league……would the fans all then be all calling for the manager to be sacked and the board to be outed. We are playing awful football at the moment and we have the right to be seriously disappointed with that….but the second half against Norwich was one of the most exciting play I have seen from the team in many a year and there is time to get this right if we only get behind the manager and the team and give them the help and support they need to recover their form and play the style of football we all want to see…..The West Ham Way!
I doubt my comments will be popular and I expect to get a lot of abuse for backing lame ducks……but just stop and think about where we are and where we came from and be careful of what you wish for…..or we could be back watching the dour style of Moyes or god forbid Big Sam.
John, I just want to ask why supporters should be grateful to Sullivan and gold for anything,, They have bit by bit ruined what the club was and it’s identity. Ground, badge, etc. The lies in the move and promises were all bull..I didnt believe all this top 6 crap at the time and I don’t now. The club is a shambles. They can’t be trusted and are disliked by many supporters including me, someone else would have bought us if not them. I’d would rather have gone into admin and bounced back under different owners,,They are taking there payments back with interest as well..To blame supporters for Sullivan and gold and the handling of the club is a joke..they had a good manager in Moyes and we needn’t a period of calm. They went and sacked him and brought pellegrini from China on 8 million. You couldn’t make it up..
I think it sets a dangerous precedent for people to keep banging on about the British players in our team showing the way for the others and that we should use them as an example as to what nationality of player the club should be looking to buy. Sounds xenophobic to me. Was Di Canio British? Miklosko? Liam Brady? It’s not the nationality that’s relevant, it’s the person, British or otherwise
i’m a big fan of this WH site – and not many others – but to suggest we should only employ british players must surely be a joke, and a racist one at that. all the best clubs in england are stacked with foreign players and they are winning!! not teams loaded with brits. disappointed with this post, just sounds old – a bit like Alf Garnett talking here.
having said that, i do agree that they were our best players on the day. that they were all brits is a coincidence. and only 2 and 1/2 are english 😁
Didn’t suggest should only employ Brits just that they showed a lot of passion and that at this point in our history I reckon we need to go back to a Brit core. It was also talked of as a clue nothing more, certainly NOT that we shouldn’t have foreigners in the team altho some may have to used to fewer after Brexit sadly I ham a huge admirer of Slaven and was of Pelle;I’m also a fan of Johnny Speight’s mocking of racists. Maybe u over analysed. I will give u the benefit of doubt
Hugh, we definitely need more British players. No doubt about it. A British manager would be nice as well. Hopefully a West Ham connection to bring some identify back to the club, however all the candidates such as Parker, bowyer and cowley brothers all lack the experience. Only Chris hughton has that connection and experience out of anyone I can think of. Not sure whether he’s the man than. However I would prefer him over a foreign coach and would give him a chance.
Hugh, it’s because there was such widespread satisfaction when Pellegrini was appointed that there is such disappointment now. After an all too brief honeymoon period, the whole club seems to have gone backwards under his leadership. Players such as Anderson and Haller, decent footballers, have actually become worse under our current management and coaching staff.
I think John above makes a very valid point to be fair. It’s a point that Noble himself has subtlety raised in the past. West Ham fans are in general great but are we guilty of only signing when we’re winning? Digging out players, managers and each other when things aren’t going our way does go on far too often.
A good example of this is some of the stick some of the new players are getting, Fornals in particular. Did anyone see him the the U21 Euro’s in the summer? He was class, a stand out performer and the British pundits were salivating over the prospect of watching him in the premier league and were unanimous that West Ham had done incredibly well to snap him up. He get nothing but stick on this site. A young player with huge potential in his first premier league season. Anyone remember Mo Salah or Kevin De Bruyne in their early days at Chelsea. They were written off but many experts in the game at the time and look at them both now. These youngers players could do with a bit more support before being singled out.
No one can deny that we are in dire straights at the moment which in reality is a combination of poor player form and confidence, a manager struggling to get his team to put into practice what he probably sees them do with ease in training and a pretty awful atmosphere around the club and in the ground.
These players do not turn bad overnight and neither does the manager.
Yes it is Pelle’s job to pick them up and get them fighting and this for us definitely an area where he cannot deflect criticism away from himself. The stats show that West Ham are bottom of the running table in the league and every opponent we have faced have outrun us. This was blatantly obvious against Spurs on Saturday particularly with Haller who looked unfit and leggy.
That is something Pelle needs to sort now and there’s no excuse for. It’s either work a lot harder or continuing to get bullied and beaten
You have certainly changed your tune, Hugh. Gone are the sycophantic comments about Pellegrini & in come strong criticism of several of his signings & a general agreement that he should be sacked. The signing of some players being sackable offences in themselves. And yet, you find that the frustration, anger & bloody-mindedness of many fans would have been more understandable had there not been such satisfaction of his original appointment. But it was you who helped stoke up that positive sentiment, Hugh. The , apparent, truth is that the man is like a rabbit caught in the headlights a la Avram Grant. He has to go ASAP. Take a good read of John’s article. He neatly puts his finger on West Ham’s problems. I would say that it boils down to expecting too much too soon.
I have changed my tune based on the evidence of my eyes. I took a good look at John’s response and posted it in its own right on the site. I understand what you re saying and yes I was excited by the appointment. I have to accept I was wrong! If that is a weakness I apologise but I don’t believe it is.
Thank you, Hugh. Very gracious reply & I respect you for it. These are very troubling times.