Putting the record straight on Moyes
It may be time to put the record straight on the David Moyes issue.
We have thrown plenty of negatives in his direction but essentially we have just two main problems with the West Ham manager:
- O the dreadful brand of football we are watching
- O and a number of very poor signings or none at all
But as one wanders through Twitter and other social media platforms, the hatred becomes intense and everything that goes wrong is put at his door.
The latest incident is the failure to sign winger Ibrahim Osman which frankly had nothing to do with him. We don’t even know he was a Moyes choice.
The teenager has now agreed terms with Brighton and Hove Albion and the reality is that it was Tim Steidten’s job to persuade him into West Ham but instead ultimately found himself negotiating with the wrong agent!
There was a war going on between two representatives and in the end Tim found himself on the wrong end of that. However, it was the manager who was held responsible by many.
We do not HATE the manager or anybody else. We will always be outspoken in our attitude and editorial policies as was the case when telling the board where we stood on the brand of football the manager has been producing.
We believe too this is the wrong time to be making a decision on a new contract for the boss as that could easily be a decision to regret before for the end of the season which is surely the right time to decide .
The board could easily get a big fan reaction on the season ticket front if we are not in Europe so should surely be holding their horses.
We have to be balanced and fair and blaming one man in a manner of hatred is not the right way forward notably when the judgements are being made without any real knowledge of who is and isn’t responsible.
As Jack Nicholson would say: “That’s a load off!”
I’m pleased you have posted this Hugh as it does feel the anti Moyse sentiment has become a ‘blame him’ for everything and increasingly in a venomous way………and this is not aimed at you Hugh but various sites and fellow fans comments as a whole.
As you may guess from my name (or tag, or whatever it’s called) I’m a fan of many decades and (like you) am a disciple of Greenwood and more so the late great John Lyall. I was brought up the West Ham way, whether in the style of football, blooding youngsters, the integrity shown by the two managers in all their dealings with players and other clubs all immediately spring to mind.
So it will be no surprise that the football on show at present is not registering high on the entertainment stakes to say the least. It is not so much the counter attacking style as I appreciate football has moved on a lot since the 1980s and there is more variety in tactics today – it is the execution of how we are playing. Slow, deliberate, methodical, riddled with poor passes as other teams find us easy to press. I have said before, if we played as we did when we finished 6th, when we seemed able to counter attack with speed and flair I would be happy. I remain hopeful this can still happen when we have Paqueta back and even more so if we get a decent left sided player in the summer and miraculously keep our present front three.
The remainder of the moans frequently heard about Moyse I have felt myself at times but in reality I don’t think they are meaningful. He doesn’t give the youngsters much game time but then again what youngster has gone onto greater things either direct from the Academy or after limited first team action? The only two that have done well are Dec and Ben, who both have successfully come through under Moyse. So he will play a youngster if he thinks they are good enough.
Substitutions are another favourite moan but if you look at our record under Moyse it hasn’t exactly hindered us that much. Although I still struggle with how much time Nolan seems to spend on the tablet telling the oncoming player’s job is.
As for transfers, us fans are always moaning., always wanting more…..or sometimes less!…..
Moyse has his fair share of pups, but it is a fair share. It sometimes feels that every good signing is down to Sullivan, Steidten, an agent or anyone else but Moyse. Whilst every bad signing is down to Moyse and him alone, or so it seems.
Even Lyall, who signed and developed some real gems also had failures……McKnight, McQueen, Kelly, Radford come to mind very, very quickly!
Thank you again for your article, it is very balanced. I’m sure if the style off football there would be far fewer moans amongst us all, but being fans we would all have our own gripes……..I’m sure even Man City fans will have a moan or two!
I would like to add David Moyes lack of blooding young Players and bringing them through. If he were in charge early on there would have been no Alvin Martin, no Rio, for example.
The use of old Players beyond their sell by date , they have an awful game often cost us the game, just to make Mr Moyes feel more comfortable.
I don’t hate the Manager either as a person. I just loathe what he is doing to my beloved Hammers.