It’s always been a worry that David Moyes and Sam Allardyce have been big buddy boys for a long time.
There’s a reason why we gravitate towards people and in many cases – indeed most – it’s because they think alike and find it easy to agree with each other.
One of life’s biggest problems is that those who can’t agree eventually row, trade insults and end up defending their egos rather than the matter under discussion.
No such problems with BFS and the man they call Moysie – they are very much peas in a pod when it comes to use a perhaps too grand word footballing, philosophy.
Both BFS and Moyes are managers who put defence at the core of their games and tend to target matches they believe they can win rather than take chances -notably by playing reportedly injured players in others.
I didn’t think we showed great desire or will to win in the last two games and with no striker as such available that’s no real surprise.
And it’s why Wednesday night against Chelsea is a big concern before we enter territory which may be considered more suitable for the Moyes game.
Single points are of little use now despite us still – more through other teams ineptitude rather than our own ability – still being outside the bottom three.
Moyes – as I believe Allardyce would have done – is selecting the games he believes are winnable before putting out the team he believes can give Chelsea a problem or two.
And it’s why I don’t think we will see Haller until the Burnley,, Norwich, Watford and Villa clashes. His absence at Manchester United would not surprise me before what could be the finally crunch game of the season.
I get the argument that Moyes shouldn’t have been appointed again but if we cast our minds back, Pellegrini had to go and there was absolutely nobody else available.
The club are believed to be certain to keep him going next season but personally if there really is half a chance, Sean Dyche would be my choice – as he would have been a couple of years back.
We have chopped and changed too many times of course and that is down to board decisions. But I reckon Dyche is a solid manager and a guy cut out out for a club such as ours.
Few things i disagree with here…
‘Pellegrini had to go and there was absolutely nobody else available.’
Yes i massively agree Pellegrini had to go but saying nobody else was available to replace him is so incorrect. Ancelotti? (Who is doing a great job at Everton + We have previous links to him) Marco Silva? Nico Kovac? Laurent Blanc?
Not to mention you could easily go for a manager and pay the Compensation package like many other clubs do. The board wanted the cheap and easy option. Cheap money – Cheap Results.
Also you saying – ‘I didn’t think we showed great desire or will to win in the last two games and with no striker as such available that’s no real surprise.’
I agree with the first part, but there were 2 strikers on the bench, just because moyes doesn’t fancy them he didn’t play them doesn’t mean there was no striker as such available. Moyes had January to get a striker if he only fancied Haller (Knowing West Hams injury record)
Many things are really worrying with us right now and the blame is aimed one place. The Board.
Hadn’t Ancelotti agreed to go to Everton from where Marco Silva had been sacked? Kovac Blanc, Benitez, Howe – so many names mentioned. Take your pick. The cheap ND EASY OPTION WAS PELLEGRINI AT 10 MILLION IF MEMORY SERVES AND THEY ARE PAYING OFF COMPENSATION AND THE SUGGESTION BEING THEY TAKE ON MORE? I think given Covid and the terrible drain on finance we should be quite pleased that didn’t happen
Yes two strikers on the bench and he chose not to use them. My point! Yes, blame the board if you wish. How far it gets us is quite another question but I guess there must always be a scapegoat. I do understand
Hugh why can’t you deal with criticism of our board. I respect opinions of course but can we all be wrong about them ? 😂 whilst I agree pellegrini had to go , they were silly to appoint him on such a hefty wage after he went to retire In China anyway ( before you say, I was always against his appointment , can look at my Twitter ). Moyes was indeed the cheap option, as isn’t he the lowest paid manager in the premier league ? This once great club is officially down the ****ter and unfortunately there are only 3 people to blame .
I can and have regularly criticised them. It’s just that many don’t read what I have said and follow the Twitter army. The problem is that whilst there are many who don’t support them and want them out there are more who understand that nobody else wants to buy this club and would prefer them to stay. There hasn’t been a single investor in 10 years and that was in the Boleyn years. if you believe it will be a good idea for them to walk away with nobody to take over, fair enough. I don’t. I am not among those who scream out out out when I know there is nobody who wants IN IN In. It makes absolutely no difference to me who runs the football club, nor is it anything to do with me. Your view on MP is yours, many including me believed he was a top appointment. You say we ALL can’t be wrong. You are not ALL and you maybe – as may I. Had they left before Covid and the financial situation we are now facing where would this club be, Screaming out is all well and good but if there is no alternative what do the board’s critics want – NOTHING!
Do you honestly think that the majority of West Ham fans want them to stay and think they are doing a good job? Hand on heart .
No Ancelotti hadn’t, and if the board sacked Pellegrini early instead of waiting he could have been ours.
Pellegrini £10m… who’s fault was that they put him on a huge wage with no way out? Who didn’t have the foresight to take into regard his age, the fact he was failing in china…
Frankly i dont agree, we are in the richest league in the world, for me when they sacked Pellegrini they had a chance to actually sort things at the club that THEY had messed up with regards to infrastructure.
You have your contacts with the club and you want to defend them i get that, my point isn’t to tear into the board (that comes naturally) but to state the facts and you are telling people in this article things that just arnt true.
Mate, they are not a scapegoat… This is not playground politics. They own the club, they make every single decision in the club, nobody else… Its not anyone making them a scapegoat, a lot of fans like myself just want them to take responsibility for what wrongs they have done and actually do the best thing for the club and not go backwards (appointing Moyes) and actually see progression.
The fact of the matter is the buck stops with them. Nobody can blame fans or past or present Managers (wether we like or dislike them) everything comes down to the board as they are the decision makers.
Spot on Jack personally preferred kovac out of those available and Moyes allardyce and dyce you can bin all of them straight away. My complaint is the board need to go thanks but your not in the right business so please sell up and we can get going again with a board that means what it tells the supporters not lies like this goverment does all ths time .
I am sorry but to put all your eggs into one basket is fraught with danger. The teams we are to play before the end of the season are fraught with dangers and we can expect goalless draws at the best.
As for Dyche yes he has done well at Burnley with little money and that was the same as Moyes at Everton, I am weary of employing either.
Until SuGoBra leave we will always be stigmatised with Managers and players becoming useless until they leave, they have the kiss of mediocrity on everyone.
Hugh please start saying what the truth is not this total boll–ks about this club and there are plenty wanting to buy us since this lot bought it . The problem is this lot have a ridiculous price tag on a club they sold to now become one renting the ground and owning only a long lease and the team which should be enough if sensible to sell up asp. Their waiting for another season which is fine but dont say there is nobody wanting to buy the fifteenth richest club in the world at the right price as it’s not the way to mislead the supporters who are now tired of this bunch of pure businessmen and woman who are in the wrong business and out of their depth after doing so well in their original business of making a fortune.
There is nobody out there and never has been and please don’t suggest I may be attempting to be untruthful or gild the lily Razor. Stop believing what you want to believe and refusing to respect an alternative point of view however hard that may be. I see no reason why you should try to win me over to a point of view that I see as dangerous We will see post Covid and possibly relegation whether you are right or wrong about new owners and possibly takeover but at this moment and all those previously you are wrong about buyers. There have never been any. Don’t tell me about THE SUN of all paper’s famous Red Bull nonsense. And where would this club be now had the owners walked away before the virus. You may not like my loyalty to all aspects of this club including the board but I never lie. I support the football club I have followed for over 50 years. And what makes anyone think they are going to walk away because some are angry or frustrated. Some always are in every circumstance of life. I have no problem who owns this club – nor like you or any other fans – do I have any control over events. If some want to organise a posse aimed at getting them out that’s up to them. I don’t join posses. I’ll do what I believe is right and will not join the often murderous “get out ” crowd and help destabilise the club I have loved all my life whether you think GSB are doing so or not. I’ve been there under previous owners and things were no better before, during and after takeovers.You are a top contributor and deserve honesty. That’s what I try to give in all circumstances whether it is accepted or not! I’d also like to know who the “plenty” who want to buy us are so I can record it here. Maybe I have missed these stories.
If we remain in EPL the base exists for a good squad.
Need to get rid of the Serie A players purchased by Pellegrini and build a more rugged squad.
Develop through academy takes time, but is the way to go.
Moyes or another, the players are ultimately responsible for winning.
Unfortunately this thread has taken a detour – I would like to question your assumption Hugh that Moyes will not try to win against Chelsea – I agree that the performance against Wolves (which I watched) was abysmal – but if we cast our minds back to before lockdown there were good performances against Liverpool and Arsenal (and Moyes cant be blamed for players missing sitters) – and Moyes first win the first time around was against Chelsea. There may be similarities between BFS and “the man they call Moysie” (Hugh I remember you actually writing a piece saying that we should call him Moysie in his first spell), but they are not exactly the same. For all of his shortcomings I think that Moyes realises that we need to start getting points on the board (sorry no pun intended)
As for the other board, I believe that criticism is not the same as a Posse calling for their head – we are not aware of what is going on and what the truth is in all situations, but a) if they refused to allow Stuart Pearce to come back with Moyes due to his rather polite and mild mannered criticism then they deserve to be blamed for that and b) if they had seriously negotiated for William Carvallho then perhaps Slav would have turned things around (and I have joked about this before, but perhaps it is serious) – was SLav fired for stating that he found Porto’s comment about the “Dildo Brothers” to be funny
I agree with other posters that it is too late to bring in a third manager this season – after the dust has settled and we know which division we are in then suggestions for next season will make sense
In the mean time let the man that they call Moysie inspire us against Chelsea (and let us hope that they get taken to extra time in the FA cup today)
COYI
The assumption is based on what we know about his style of play a la BFS. I thought I had done so. Happy for people to disagree no prob. Your thoughts on pre-lockdown performances resonate with me and i don’t understand how we have managed to go back to where we were before that particularly as neither Manu or Andderson were in any sort of shape then either. I merely think he may be holding Haller back for winnable gammes as written. They didn’t mind if Pearce came back or not – Moyes chose not to take him and that is the truth. You are relying on reports otherwise to state as a fact. Not defending the board – it’;s frm backroom staff not the board!!!! We do have other and many other contacts Carvalho would have been a great signing and I don’t think the board backed Slav. great shame
Thanks Hugh – interesting to hear that it was Moyes who didn’t want Pearce – I think that is a pity. I wonder how much of a role Moyes actually gives to Nolan, having read Ryan Giggs comments on his time as an apprentice coach under Moyes at ManUtd
Anyway let us see how this season pans out – there are sure to be some downs – hopefully we will experience a few ups as well
Throughout their ownership careers – Birmingham and now West Ham, Messrs Sullivan/Gold (and Brady) have had a habit of doing 2 things : making and employing poor managerial choices (Grant, Pellegrini to name but 2 and the list is a lengthy one) and after an ‘initial incentive pot of money to buy players’ to attract the manager on board fail to follow up with further funds to build on the base they created. The best West Ham Manager we did this to was one Slaven Bilic. For evidence you just have to look at the posts from the managerial records at West Ham on your site from a few days ago posted on this site (perhaps add the ownership dates to the various managers? Perhaps you could add to the analysis by putting alongside the win/loss ratios the amount of net spend?). As a result and after 10 years of their ownership West Ham have gone markedly backwards when compared to the other middle Premier league pack of clubs – miles behind the likes of Wolves, Spurs, Everton, Leicester, Crystal Palace to name a few. And we have lost our iconic stadium. Other clubs seem to unearth managerial talent that get the team playing good attractive and competitive football (Southampton, Everton, Watford even Brighton to name a few) and getting players who then play for the badge. For some reason West Ham do not. There is no other explanation and this must be down to ownership decisions, a failure to identify and recruit that best managerial talent and get them onboard. Now we have Moyes – who we shouldn’t beat about the bush – is taking us down and into the obscurity of Championship football. Rarely have I seen a West Ham team play as poorly and with so little battle in them as in the last 2 games – I am so few up with the excuses being trotted out by Moyes et al. No wonder Brady campaigned for an early end to the season before these latest laughable displays.