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Moyes melodrama amazes real “experts”

 

 

By CandH’s top blogger Allen Cummings

 

I have no idea how the up-coming game against Leicester City will pan out but as a long-time West Ham supporter I know only too well the ‘U’ in our club initials could just as easily stand for ‘unpredictable’ as it does for United.

At the moment it would appear, amongst the fanbase at least, we are anything but united. That happens when results are not going as well as we’d like, or in some cases feel entitled to expect. Some people with a liking for melodrama are calling the game against the Foxes a must win encounter for David Moyes. It’s not of course.

As Moyes himself pointed out at his presser: “It’s as big as all the others. You get three points for it.” Both teams are on 14 points – so a victory would take us clear of our visitors. Would that then see the threatened transfer the axe hanging over over Brendan Rodgers again , whose start to the season was even worse than ours?

Win, lose or draw tomorrow (Sat) I am certain about Moyes will still be manager of our football club when the up-coming Qatarstrophe World Cup is over and we get back to playing Premier League football at the end of December.

As part of the ‘should he go or should he stay’ debate, and the case against the manager, we have been pointed towards the last 11 games of last season, and the defeats suffered at the hands of Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal – four clubs who finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively in the Premier League. Not an excuse for defeat in those games – but a possible reason for not winning.

We also lost to Brentford and in the final game of the season to Brighton, our perennial nemesis. It should be noted of course if we had beaten the Seagulls we would have emulated the tremendous feat of the previous season and finished in sixth place in the league – earning a second consecutive shot at the Europa League into the bargain.

It shouldn’t be forgotten either at the end of that exhaustive season Moyes was trying to juggle with what everyone recognised as a wafer-thin squad. Despite that, his team recorded stunning away victories in Europe at Lyon and Sevilla – before finally succumbing to eventual Europa Cup winners Eintracht Frankfurt in a close semi-final.

This season has been disappointing for all concerned, as Moyes has sought to integrate what some believed were a number of superb signings in the transfer window – never an easy task for any manager.

Victories over Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bournemouth and Fulham, plus draws against the Spuds and Southampton have been overshadowed by defeats to Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Crystal Palace.

To debate mitigating circumstances and lost points in at least three of those games is futile – but t dubious decisions and bad luck have played a part and that cannot be denied. On the plus side of course we are already assured of our lucrative European adventure continuing in the new year, recording an eight-out-of-eight unprecedented 100% record on the way.

I’m no expert – I don’t need David Moyes to tell me that – and if he did I wouldn’t care because it’s true. But some observers on the outside of our West Ham bubble could certainly be classed as experts. They have played the game at the very highest level so are more likely to have a professional insight into the matter at hand – and they reckon talk of sacking Moyes right now is nothing short of madness.

Debating the Hammers on talkSPORT Alan Brazil and Ally McCoist were both adamant talk of Moyes being outed is way over the top. “Surely not,” declared Brazil. While McCoist added: “No, no chance. He got them to a European semi-final last year, and they are still going strong in Europe. West Ham have been a little bit like Leicester, in the respect that they’ve just not started firing yet.”

There will be others on the outside looking in amazed at what is going on at West Ham at the moment – largely through social media it has to be said. Those of us within the bubble know only too well from previous experience this is very much another version of The West Ham Way.

Personally, I believe Moyes has enough in the bank to warrant more time to kick start our season. Over the past two years he’s done more than enough to earn that – and besides I believe it’s the decent thing to do.

 

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

6 comments on “Moyes melodrama amazes real “experts”

  1. Well said Hugh!
    David Moyes has led us to our best seasons since the days of John Lyall over 40 years ago. Plenty of credit in the bank and he has managed to get our owners to stick to the Boardroom!
    I would add that we have signed several experienced international players but through bad luck most have been injured since arrival so the task of integration into the squad has proved impossible. The gap for the World Cup is a blessing for us so the squad can regroup for the 23 games left in the season.

  2. The man has been been winging it, square pegs in round holes, you don’t need to be an expert to see Moyes hasn’t a clue. Too stubborn to change it, we would have more patience if he was a winner but his methods have won nothing consistently for the last 25 years…… Tuchel, Poch or even the Blackburn manager , just someone with fresh ideas and likes to play on the front foot, we certainly have the squad

  3. That’s a very reasonable argument you’ve laid out as to why Moyes will be given more time. But as I have said before, if he doesn’t start winning games he’ll be sacked. Simple as. If you want to shut up the experts David, win football matches. Something that statistically over your career you’re very average at.

  4. Excuse me. Enough in the bank ! No trophies, a dropping league position. Bad results over a long period. I think that gratitude must now end. Moyes isn’t up to the job. We need to step up to the next level and have a Manager who is capable of doing this.

  5. I’m reading this morning that David Moyes has received the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’ – the informed opinion seems to be that no decision over Moyes future will be taken until West Ham are out of Europe! 🤔

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