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An Empty Feeling!

Submitted by Gary Steer on Fri, 31/03/2017 - 18:52

Are David Gold and David Sullivan REALLY West Ham fans? REALLY??
Before I begin writing this article I just want to say that West Ham fans are brilliant! I am not too sure about the two above though. Are they really interested in what the fans want? I know football is a business Blah Blah Blah! These two guys are businessmen but they are not very good football Club owners.
I have written previous articles and been slated for having an opinion but we are all entitled to have a say. I listen to TalkSport and like most people I believe Jayson Cundy doesn’t speak much sense! But the other night he said “Bilic should walk” and I totally agree with him on this.
Slaven has been treated abysmally by the board but why should anyone be surprised? What a pile of crap they recruited in the summer! There’s no point moaning at the players. If another company offered you better money to do a job you knew you weren’t good enough for would you still take the job? You cannot blame Bilic because his hands were tied. There is no way on earth he would’ve wanted the likes of Feghouli and Nortvedt. Building a team around Andy Carroll again is suicidal! The owners must be brain dead to not be able to see he’s a liability. Yes on his day great but injured every other month. Yet they continue to make him the focal point! I believe the club is in complete disarray!
I’m not surprised Payet left he is far too good a player and he was poorly let down. Had they gone out and spent 50-60million on new players to compliment him then we may have seen a different story. I’m sick of even looking at that stadium I absolutely hate it. Pathetic design 50 feet away from the pitch! Mark Noble has suffered becoming so exposed on such a huge surface and he is so often the scapegoat. It’s hardly ever full so what’s the point of attempting to increase the capacity when you can’t even fill it as it is?! Too much of the last year has been spent talking bull**** by the owners! The digital wrap to go around the stadium and the promise of top 4 football! Come on! seriously who are you trying to fool!? No player with any ounce of self respect would want to join such an amateur circus!
The manager should’ve been backed in the Summer and was promised a 30m striker. I know fans will say oh we did try but nobody wants to go there. Did they really try that hard? I don’t believe they did. They are so tight with the cash it’s unbelievable. They are duplicitous and always trying to cut corners. The Fans treated like dirt, fed lie after lie and I refuse now to be part of it.
'Well you’re not a real fan!’ I hear you groan. And I should stick with my team through thick and thin. Well, for all these new fans who have become keyboard warriors slating the team during a match and then waxing lyrical about the same player ten minutes later, I have attended games for thirty years and travelled 6 hours there and 6 hours back, so before anyone moans, I used to be one of the most loyal fans you could ever meet. And like most Hammers it is was as much a joy watching them play as it was to stand in that fiery atmosphere.
I had heroes whilst growing up, Di Canio, Lampard, Joe Cole, even though the latter two are roughly my age I loved them and idolised them. However, I look around now and see absolutely nothing at all that inspires me. I’m not going to waffle on about how hard life can be and we have all had our bad times but when you experience life changing traumas it makes you realise these footballers are nothing. They are pampered, over priced and overpaid pre Madonnas. They are not heroes they are clueless about life with not even an ounce of resolve. They don’t even have to think for themselves. I do not get excited or breathless about the thought of watching West Ham players running out onto a pitch anymore. In fact, you could offer me a free season ticket and I would happily sell it. (like a lot of ‘fans’ selling their final Upton Park match ticket - remember?)
Enough is enough and I have voted with my feet. I’m no longer going to attend games, moan about what’s going on but still purchase merchandise and continue to increase the owner’s bank balance and ego’s. I asked myself ‘Why do I even bother?’ on hundreds of occasions. If something isn’t right change it don’t moan!
For 5 years from 2011-2015 I was an official partner of the club and my poetry was sold on merchandise. In that time I was always paid late, my emails were never replied to until I’d sent ten and called ten times! It used to be a family club where you could pick up the phone and call but now you sit on a premium rate phone line and half the time you don’t get through and get charged £40 for the joy of it!
The unprofessionalism is unbelievable. You have Gold trying to justify their decisions on Twitter, Sullivan just spouting lie after lie with Small Man syndrome! And Sullivan Junior speaking rubbish all the time. Not surprising as he been fed with a silver spoon and has nothing better to do. Before anyone says this is harsh do you honestly believe these ‘animals’ give a dam about you? They wouldn’t even urinate on you if you were on fire!
Why would a club be like this and why would you want to join it as a player or manager? I wasn’t a big fan of Big Sam but he was treated like crap, Zola too and keeping the trend, now with Bilic too. The less said about Avram Grant the better. The board potentially could’ve got Martin O’neill back then but as usual their big mouths got in the way! They are idiots!
The fans are fantastic but my previous ‘love' for West Ham United has just died. I understand fans will say I’m this and that but I refuse to be part of this anymore. I used to hear people say "Oh I love West Ham even though I don’t support them." You just don’t hear this anymore because they’ve just become a laughing stock in every single department. Other fans and teams have no respect for the club. It is a below average club with World class fans though unfortunately these fans are always sold down the river.
I have been blinkered for so so many years but the club are light years behind and stadium will not catapult them into the top 4. Some fans slate me for being honest but you can’t help the way you feel. Some people can accept being kept in the dark and live a lie. West Ham United FC died and became history when the club left Upton Park. It’s now a soulless commercial Enterprise and although I still look out for results and want to see them do well, I’m no longer a die hard fan!

Very honest opinon,& i agree with a lot of your post....
Ive been a season ticket holder in the past (the old north bank),& in recent years since my children were very young we used to go on average 10 times a season at home with the odd away game thrown in...thats what we did,even as they got older that was our day out- a trip to see the hammers, win lose or draw it didnt matter...now,well weve been 3 times this season to the new place & try as hard as we can its not the same & imo it wont ever be....the club that ive supported for 50 years i hate to say is unrecognisable now....Sad!!

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160 users have voted.

The board deserve some stick yes but jesus. Bilic should walk? You having a laugh. If he walks it should be over how dreadfully hes managed the team over the last 18 months not because of the board. All this the board recruited crap, most of this summers signings were bilics!

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180 users have voted.
Deluded Hammer's picture

Agree with everything there you say except, I didn't sell my Final Upton Park ticket and as for Bilic, he should never have been bought in in the first place. It's my belief that had we stuck with Sam, we would possibly be looking forward to European football now.

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151 users have voted.
Deluded Hammer's picture

But I checked Sams record on that so called infamous Christmas run and do you know what? From Christmas to the first week in April he got 11 points. Which is exactly what Bilic hss amassed so far since Christmas. Two points to note. We never went down with Sam and we also never lost 5 on the bounce under him either.

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215 users have voted.
harrythehammers's picture

Bilic picks the team and the positions those team members play in. He has not been treated poorly he has been kept on when many clubs would have sacked him months ago. As far as the board being west ham fans then gold most definately. Sullivan - a business man but not a die hard hammers fan. Brady - a business woman doing a job. Transfers then the manager must have been involved and we know he wanted Tore dont we. This is nothing new anyway remember joey beauchamp and marco boogers etc. Laughing stock - then how many years have supporters been saying that. We all remember west ham are like the Christmas decorations - they always come down after christmas.We will never replace Upton Park but then im sure southampton,leicester,city,arsenal fans all said the same when they moved to new stadiums. Im sure if we were wining on the pitch, with players playing in their correct positions then a lot of fans would feel happier and be less critical of the stadium. The Board are criticised in anything they do mainly due to the fact the everything they say and do appears on social media these days. Are they worse than the brown,storie,magnusson boards - I dont think so. I for one have a good moan at the board ,the manager ,the players but thats no different to the previous 54 years i have suported them. Am i west ham through and through - YES do i bleed claret and blue blood -YES Am i west ham till i die with all the passion i had when i was supporting them as a kid 50 plus years ago - YES .

Health Warning : These are my views alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of all west ham supporters. Supporting West Ham can become addictive and anyone of nervous disposition should think twice before swearing an undying allegience to the greatest club that has ever graced this planet since the game of association football was born. God bless you all. COYIrons ...!!!!

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156 users have voted.

You can't blame bilic? Do you really believe that? I'm beginning to think the board have gone as far as they can go but to say bilic is blameless is totally blinkered. He has made so many errors it's no longer funny. As for a lot of your opinions I feel very much the same as you. I'm fed up with sullivans lies and I hate the rebranding.

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190 users have voted.

Payet left because he got a girl pregnant and his wife gave him an ultimatum, allegedly. Don't go feeling sorry for him, he screwed everyone literally.

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135 users have voted.
TungstenHammer's picture

I was never one of those who were calling for Bilic to be our manager. After nearly 2 seasons I am sure now that he cannot be a successful manager in the Premier League. To my mind he is reckless and can't set up a team to defend properly.
In his first season as our manager he took advantage of the defense he inherited from Sam and brought in Payet, Lanzini and Antonio to give the team more creativity going forward and more pace and variety in attack.
This season was lost during the Summer when we recruited so many midfield players but failed to recruit experienced players at LB and RB. The injury to Cresswell in a pre-season friendly was a body blow. Our inability to keep a clean sheet has affected the whole team's confidence.
If we lose and ship 4 or 5 against Arsenal I think that will be Bilic's last game in charge. The problem about sacking the manager with so few games remaining is whether there is someone better available to come in and lift the confidence of our squad. My choice for a replacement would be Brendan Rodgers. He has already won the Premier League with Celtic and only has the FA Cup semi-final left to contest so he could perhaps be tempted to come to London. Otherwise I would make a strong effort to recruit him in the Summer (assuming we will be in the Premier League again next season).

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199 users have voted.
Deluded Hammer's picture

If Championship to stabilised Premier League isnt progress, I dont know what is. At the moment all that work and grief is hurtling back down there.

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192 users have voted.
La Vida Hammer's picture

he would have gone if there was someone decent to take his place. Agree with all you said Gary and if they were paid 2k a week (which I still think is too much) i would be inclined to support them financial (paying to see or watch them) if I could not have done this for free over the past 10 years or so, they would have lost me years ago

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126 users have voted.

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