Statistically West Ham United should be 'hunkering down' for what will be a rocky ride from now until the end of a season that promised so much, but has delivered far too little.
In fact many supporters are of the opinion that surviving relegation itself will be an achievement given the strengthening other teams have made of their squads during the recently closed transfer window.
It is very tight at the bottom and Hammers do NOT have any easy fixtures any time soon, starting with the tricky Toon fixture, once kindred spirits of disillusionment and despair, the Geordies are now 'considerably wealthier than thou' and don't breathe the same polluted air as East London's homeless!
It is not just the amount of money that Newcastle have, it is the way that they have gone about spending it, they have made a couple of rash purchases and paid over the odds here and there, but all in all they have got good value and are now serious top four contenders, as Tommy Cooper used to say, "just like that!"
In a way the club are stuck between a rock and a hard place, having backed their manager both in the transfer market AND as a manager when the club have been enduring an atrocious run of form, they have few options available in fact only TWO!
Stick or twist, either the club closes ranks and backs Moyes irrespective of which League the club ends up in, or they pull the trigger and bring in what? another David Moyes?
Whatever the outcome fans will back the club through thick and thin, it's what they do, but we've got a bad bad feeling there is going to be a lot of darkness before the light! Trip Smith has emerged as a bit of a power broker now that his 10% of the club could be used for 'leverage' purposes. - Ed