ClaretandHugh’s associate editor Sean Whetstone is not a bloke who easily gets the hump.
But when the Daily Mail asked him to write a piece on the outrageous lambasting of the Hammers by Sir Alex Ferguson, Sean was quickly out out of the blocks.
Here’s what he had to say!
Sir Alex Ferguson’s mocking of the ‘West Ham way’ is more about selling his book than it is supporting his old mate Sam Allardyce.
He is being controversial for the sake of it to gain free publicity and to support his habit of buying expensive wine for his luxury cellar collection.
Fergie has a very short memory; The West Ham way was beating Manchester United 4-0 on a snowy December night in 2010 when Jonathan Spector and Carlton Cole were the unlikely heroes, scoring two goals apiece.
Sir Alex Ferguson (right) defends Sam Allardyce and says the ‘West Ham way’ is a myth in his book
For me, the ‘West Ham way’ is about attacking football; going out to attack the opposition at all times, trying to score at every opportunity, never sitting back in an attempt to frustrate, but instead going for the jugular regardless of whether you’re home or away.
A fundamental part of the ‘West Ham way’ is central defenders bringing the ball out from the back. That started with Hammers and England legend Bobby Moore, and continued through Alvin Martin, Tony Gale, Slaven Bilic and Rio Ferdinand.
We also had attacking full backs who would overlap and get forward, best exemplified by John Bond, Noel Cantwell, Billy Bonds, Frank Lampard Senior, Julian Dicks and Ray Stewart.
This season many West Ham fans will say the ‘West Ham way’ has returned. New signings Aaron Cresswell, Carl Jenkinson, Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia, Alex Song, Morgan Amalfitano and Cheikhou Kouyate have added a dimension we have lacked in recent seasons under Allardyce.
This new injection of pace, skill and quality, together with excellent form of Stewart Downing and Mark Noble, has made West Ham a joy to watch again and is a major reason why we are fourth in the Premier League.
In both those matches we gave it a go and tried our best. No false nines or 11 men behind the ball – we went for it – and that is what we will expect on Saturday lunchtime as we face second-placed Manchester City at home.
The West Ham way is fundamental to the club’s identity.
Former West Ham and England manager Ron Greenwood eloquently explained the West Ham way in 1977 when he said: ‘The crowds at West Ham haven’t been rewarded by results but keep turning up because of the good football they see.
I am happy to give Fergie an explanation of the West Ham way!
Maybe now he will concentrate more on the mess he left behind at Manchester United when he retired and leave the comments about West Ham and their style of play out of further updates of his book.
It figures that you are judged by the company you keep.The fact that Alex is mates with ignoramous tells you all you need to know!
Well said Sean,hope the bitter man reads it.
I dare you to say something positive about West Ham? C.O.Y.I.
WHAT???
You think he’d have retired happy, bet he hopes van gaal fails as miserably as moyes just to keep his myth alive. Something else about the west ham way most other clubs ignore is promoting from within and changing the very way the game is played, our ’50’s team produced five managers from the same team including bond and Cantwell as already mentioned and Ron Greenwood changed the way football was played after pioneering it at Upton park, why don’t you put the bottle down and pick up a book, that’d tell you all you need to know without the need of someone having to tell you.