A forensic examination of West Ham’s bigger picture was published this morning, in a report which covered the seemingly perpetual state of crisis that has existed since before the migration from Upton Park in 2016.
Whilst media attention focuses on the appointment of a new coach and the feel-good factor which that generates, Johnathan Lieu in the Guardian suggests it will be short lived as the club faces multiple crises:
“A bungled sacking. A fiesta of contradictory leaks and briefings. Chaotic performances on the pitch. A vacuum of leadership and direction. Catastrophic recruitment. An early relegation battle – sounds very West Ham”.
Describing in detail the end of the Potter era and the appointment of his replacement, the report suggests “Nuno is the perfect manager for the current shambles, which is not entirely a compliment. Nuno will sort out the leaky defence, inject some energy in midfield, get the team running as a unit, put some points on the board, turn a diplomatic cheek to the foibles around him and extravagances above him.”
“Nuno Espírito Santo is the perfect manager for the current shambles”
But he won’t sort the bigger picture, of a club run by owners stuck in survival mode and making all of their decisions based on ‘how to stay in the Premier League this season’. Except the ownership has been repeating endlessly the same flawed model ever since they took over from the bankrupt Icelandics.
“Put yourself in Sullivan’s and Gold’s shoes for a moment. You took over a club nursing nine-figure debts, competing in a rapidly overheating league populated by billionaires and nation-states. You are not men of football but men of numbers, and in this landscape all your principles are secondary to the first: you must not, under any circumstances, get relegated next May.
Everything flows from this survival instinct. This is why West Ham have a squad full of short-term fixes, assembled with no real vision or coherent idea”
And indeed, overpay for players simply to get the club out of the short-term crisis in which their very short-termism has placed it. And then repeat. Depressing. But a pretty fair summary.
Too easy to write this drivel. Hardly worthy of the journalism degree that backs it up.
Much rather read your original stuff Martin.
Lieu is an excellent journalist, one of the best out there and his piece was absolutely spot on. However, at the same time, the owner did save us from a potentially horrendous future and shouldn’t be forever castigated. Some bad decisions made over time (anyone else made bad decisions in life?) but also some good ones too. Yes, the football landscape is changing, clubs are owned by wealthier people and it might be time to hand over the reigns but be fair where it’s due; we could be in a lot worse state than we are AND we had Europe 3 years in a row for the first time ever under his ownership
Indeed, 100% agree with the writer.
Alas, in their first full season at the club they appointed a manager who had overseen a relegation campaign, he then repeated his incompetence and relegated Hammers.
They then appoint BFS who took away any semblence of West Ham way football, ditched all the youth players that Zola/ Clarke had begun to try and intergrate, thereafter pragmatic managers have come and gone, only to return and assemble attritional negative teams and playing style.
No fanbase has had their entire identity ripped up, discarded and ridiculed such as we have.
Yet we are labelled as never being satisfied or happy.
I wonder why?
So what comes out of that is the simple fact that nothing is going to change until the current board is put out to pasture and new financial backing starts to make itself felt. It matters who the coach is, but it matters more who is pulling the strings.
And yet they saved us from the debt and bankruptcy and a life in the lower leagues playing in a decrepit stadium and turned us into a valuable club so I guess they’re not all bad.
Very West Ham under Sullivan and Brady.
Their ability to manage expectations is pathetic. Largely due to there inability to grow with the club. Their skill set falls short of their own ambitions. Resign your positions, please!
Here we go again, yet another negative post I presume in an attempt to kick down sand castles. Why? Are you so worried Nuno might actually turn things around? Give the guy a chance! It’s up to all of us to get behind the team and manager. Or do you really want us to get relegated?
It’s lazy journalism to define West Ham as chaos, if true how does he explain our 4 successful seasons under Moyes and the boards injection of £150m in transfers to support Lopetegui. Every club except those ridiculously funded will have a similar story to West Ham
4 managers in 2 years, diabolical recruitment of players, no investment to upgrade archaic training facilities, fans protesting and planning to boycott games and a stadium not fit for purpose.
I’d say this journalist has absolutely nailed it!
The only club to have suffered like us was the Geordies under Mike Ashley! Now look at them since his departure.