33 Comments

Tough guy Koeman can turn around hapless Hammers

Ronald-Koeman-2By Sean Whetstone

Everton have parted company with Ronald Koeman today as he became the fall guy for a failed summer transfer policy which left the Toffees side unbalanced for the start of this season.

However, Koeman’s recent failure in the transfer market does not make him a bad manager and in my view, Everton’s loss could well be West Ham’s gain if the board are prepared to pay him what he wants and hire the Dutchman before anyone else does.

Koeman will not claim any long-lasting affection for West Ham, he will not show the passion or the emotion that Bilic shows for the Hammers but he would bring tough love that would bring the club and its squad back into line.

Koeman is a strict disciplinarian who takes no nonsense from players who step out of line or who feel they are bigger than the club.

His training methods are said to be short but intense as he concentrates on developing skills rather than needless hours on a cold training pitch.

It is claimed he could be an ideal good strong man to ruffle feathers after Bilic’s more softer approach to players.   At Southampton, Koeman recorded a win ratio of over 48%, Bilic’s  is currently at 37% with Billy Bonds holding the best win ratio of any West Ham manager at 43%.

If you take the emotional attachment to Bilic out of the equation then Koeman is an upgrade in my opinion.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

33 comments on “Tough guy Koeman can turn around hapless Hammers

  1. Would be a definite upgrade . A surprise manager available . Take advantage now or we will be relegated .

  2. My worry would be the player response. I think the players will be thinking much like fans – they also want somebody with a good record & with respect in the game. Until Everton Koeman would have fitted the bill. Now he is likely to be seen as a reject. Also, after those depressing Match of the Day stats suggesting our players are not training hard enough perhaps what they need IS some hours on a cold training pitch!

  3. No No No this is not the answer, I don’t know what is but I know Koeman is not.

  4. Best to take a chance now than wait for a Manager with a little history at West Ham .

    • There hasn’t been a player in 37 years with any record of winning proper silverware at West Ham we should be looking for managers that have been successful elswhere for most of their careers, so agree Kevin we should take a chance on someone thats for sure.

  5. Koeman has a point to prove . And at West Ham we have a capable squad . We need a Manager to get them playing .

  6. Koeman has had more failures than successes in the different clubs he has managed. He did all right at Southampton, average at Benfica (did not last) but was absolutely hated in Valencia, where he left a mess, a little like he seems to have done at Everton. His only good rolls were at Ajax and Feyenoord. Outside of Holland, where the mentality is different, it has not gone that well.

  7. I’d take Koeman in a heartbeat.
    I thought he would be a good fit for Arsenal but he went to Everton instead.
    Now he is available we should pounce for sure.
    I reckon he would cut out the sentimentality and whip our boys into shape.

  8. You actually cannot make some of this stuff up . . . firstly and Sean knows it, West Ham’s barrow boys are not going to spend 3000000 a year on a Manager, and sorry this is the man who just got sacked for taking Everton into the bottom three after doing 130000000 in new players, something Slaven could only dream of.

    Real hatchet job on SB at present . . . what about his first season then?

    I certainly think he is losing his way and not blind love for him, but also polls about the fans wanting hippo head back are really pushing the envelope . . .

    • Bilic’s first season was saved by Payet almost single handedly papering over the cracks, we had a poor preseason as has every season since under Bilic we were numerous times slow out of the blocks only to come back and score 2 or three goals, we gave away lots of needless goals and had the same excuses as we received this season and last season. I said many of these things at the time but we were getting good results so it didn’t matter, it was also our last season at the Boleyn so all the players gave a bit more, Bilic is a poor coach even if he is a nice guy and a decent man manager.

    • That first season was almost single handedly orchestrated by Payet.The Summer transfer window that followed was a complete disaster from which we have never recovered and its been downhill ever since.Players like Ayew ,Arnoutovic even Snodgrass have turned into shadows of their former selves.Hernandez barely gets a sniff.There is something fundemantally wrong.Suggest you look at MOTD analysis of premier league clubs training regimes with West Ham at the bottom.Something has to change fast and Bilic and his entourage need to go.

      • Do you have a link to that analysis H64 have done some searches and can’t find it so am probably typing it in wrong 🙂

  9. Everyone was saying how good a manager he is at the start of the season. I would give him a go, don’t seem to be any other options till the end of the season and by then we could be relegated.

  10. Koeman’s problem was that he didn’t replace Lukaku and instead went for three number ten’s – it’s not rocket science.

    Everton appointed the guy from Leicester who’s name escapes me, Steve something, as Director of Football as Recruitment Guru – and he didn’t do what he was employed to do and replace Lukaku – he should follow Koeman up the road!

    It’s ironic really, after the first couple of games this Season, Koeman was being touted as the next Barcelona coach, now his reputation is in tatters – but I think the Netherlands is looking for a new National Coach, so that could be his next job if Frank De Boer doesn’t beat him to it!

    • I think we should ask Bergkamp if wants to become our manager, we probably won’t get into Europe anytime soon so with his fear of flying that can be seen as a positive right ?

      Also he could insist we play all our preseasons game in England which would be a novelty haha

  11. Koeman is a good manager and would be a step up on what we’ve got currently. But we are unlikely to pay him enough I fear. And those who judge the £130m he blew at Everton, look at the players he gave opportunities to at Southampton before selling on for an absolute fortune. He gives youth an opportunity, plays decent footy and doesn’t feel the need to cosy up to the players all the time. Sounds like a welcome change.

  12. I’m more concerned at the silence coming out of the club hierarchy, the silence is deafening lol! Do they really believe they can keep stum , ride out the storm !! Amateurs !!! Con artists , liars , big time Charlie’s , gutless , taking us for a ride !!!! They need to make a statement so we know where the club stands on this farce !! They are IMO Hoping a result v the spuds and normal service will resume ? Ffs someone needs to pick that tin can up and make a decision as the supporters deserve respect , not to be put in a cupboard and forgot about !! Were in deep 💩 , how can they do nothing , 😤

    • As bad as it seems right now, they’ve made a decision and are sticking to it. 2 games. By Saturday night/Sunday morning we will know the fate of Slav so until then i don’t see how you can sit there and profusely whine that there is silence from the boardroom.
      IF results don’t go our way and we’ve heard nothing by Monday night, THEN i would back your decision to throw your teddy from the proverbial pram and demand clarity!!

  13. I was listening to a footy podcast, which had a journo on it whose job is mainly reporting on football in the south. He said Saints were not too bothered about losing him. Not highly rated. I have a mate who is a Toffee & he says K was really unpopular. Not so much with the fans, although they were glad to see him go. But really unpopular inside the club. They said he didn’t even try to hide the fact he thought he was too good for them & that he made no effort to buy into the philosophy of the club. Sounds a bit like our last manager. All that stuff about the West Ham Way did not bother me at all, but I know it really got up the noses of a lot of Hammer fans. Just passing that on. May be a pile of xxxx but take what you will from it.

    • This seems to confirm what I mentioned in a post higher up. This lad was absolutely hated in Valencia. He destroyed the team in a few weeks by marginalising several first team players and with his attitude towards the press and the public in general. Was sacked and it brought enormous relief to everyone. Also, the guy was literally unemployed for 18 months or so between 2009 and 2011. Wonder why…

      • He does seem arrogant, we need a manager that will in the short term get all the players on side quickly and send them out at a minimum with some proper tactics and organise the way we play without the ball. longer term they can look at the coaching / training regime to deliver results consistently and move us up to where our squad should be based on their quality.

  14. First it’s Alladyce, now Koeman? Anyone who thinks he’s what we need should read this from someone who played under him: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41726595

    • Just spoke to a friend in Portugal. Says Koeman is not a coach or manager who leaves great memories of his passage, wherever he goes.

  15. Koeman or Frankie DE Boer would do me!
    Good idea Sean!

  16. I.d take keoman could be the man we need .but who knows we have all been wrong before ..

  17. I’m with Laz, silence deafening. When we get beat in the Haribo Cup it will be more of the same cos that doesn’t matter really! There can be only one reason why they’ve not taken decisive action before now, unlike Everton, and that’s because they don’t want to part with their children’s inheritance. And that says it all. All this bull about nobody being available – Read as nobody CHEAP is available. We are doomed I tell you, doomed, without quick and decisive action from the top.

  18. Yes he failed at Everton because he couldn’t work the transfer market and he would be an upgrade on Bilic? You really must be kidding or daft as a brush Mr Whetstone.
    With all due respect Mr Koeman needs time to sort out what went wrong at Everton because his bubble really did burst when he lost and didn’t replace the striker that kept Everton near the top.
    Koeman needs time to get his mind right before he can get another chance at the PL if he ever does…

  19. Koeman not the answer. To keep Bilic what ever happens in the next two games not the answer.
    We have a great stadium. I believe we have very good squad
    of players. And now to complete the jigsaw a top manager is
    required . So Gold and Sullivan need to splash the cash.

  20. I think if we are all honest the reason why there is discord over Slaven’s future is because we all wanted him to succeed. After the big Sam years, who just didn’t connect with the fans at all, Slav came riding out of the mist to save us all from endless boredom respecting the draw. I remember seeing the photos of his first arrival at the Summer camp in Ireland, my he looked a mean git and I thought, ‘he won’t take any sh*t from overpaid nancy boys’. Then we hit the awful EUROPA cup ‘campaign’ and a series of friendlies that were quite frankly dire. I started to worry, then we had the first few league games, losing at home to Bournemouth and Leicester, I was angry, nothing had changed, then Payet stepped up, like it or not he was a revelation and we went on this magical mystery tour of winning in places we have previously feared to tread. Remember singing ‘Barcelona we are coming for you’……but despite those heady results warning signs were there, our defence was porous without Payet we looked vulnerable, the season didn’t end well except for the last glorious game at the Boleyn. The rest is history, very poor summer signings, the Payet affair, another lousy pre season, continued porous defence, playing Ant at the back etc etc, one awful bloody season. Then we hit last summer, better recruitment we all thought, deadwood got rid of but another poor pre season and well we all know what has happened since…..quite frankly despite us all wanting him to succeed he hasn’t really done it at all since he’s been here, he has been swept along on a tide of sheer wanton desire from the fans wanting him to be the special one and a very special player who graced our shirt for all too short a time. He must go now.

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