Forum | General Discussion

So now David Moyes has confirmed the appointment of Alan Irvine, Billy McKinlay and Stuart Pearce as his assistants at West Ham United what can fans realistically expect? Initially the least that is expected is for the players to show more commitment than has been on display in this underwhelming season that fans have been forced to endure so far. The long trek to and from the London Stadium has seemed even longer of late and to say the mood has been incredibly toxic would be an understatement!

There is a ground swell of opinion among various West Ham supporters sites that this is a defining moment for the club and one that CAN be positively influenced by the crowd at the London Stadium, of course people want to see winning football, but with the dire straits that the club finds itself in a show of full bloodied commitment would be a start even if the result is a draw or a loss! The manner of the home defeats to both Brighton and Liverpool were totally unacceptable and finally warranted the departure of a 'broken' Slaven Billic, it is inconceivable that Moyes and Co would allow such a lack lustre display, the sight of Moyes' thumping vein at the side of his forehead and the vision of a very angry Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce would surely help motivate a group of players, many of whom require a rocket up their back sides!

IF the West Ham players show they really really mean it then the crowd will get behind the team, of course if the scoreline is 0 - 3 at half time then it would require a greater leap of faith, however Moyes is a driven man and he will have had enough of the Press outlining in graphic detail when, where and how spectacularly he has failed since leaving Everton for Manchester United. Organising his 'Dogs of War', a label he gave his Everton defence, is something the Scot will take great pride in he will be quick to impart the need for his defence to do the basics, ie defend! An art that seems to have been almost entirely forgotten by the team, there are players who are up to the challenge but their fitness levels need to be upped individually and as a collective. Playing in their correct position might also help, as in the past there seemed to be some aversion with selecting players to do the role that they were most used to.

One benefit the new manager and his back room staff has is they owe no particular allegiance to any of the players, they will be selected on merit and not because the management team feel they have to, similarly the team should be selected using the merit method rather than players being played just because they cost plenty of money. One potentially awkward decision has already been made for David Moyes and that is Jose Fonte's position, the ex-Southampton captain has struggled at West Ham and currently has an ankle and foot injury that will make him unavailable for at least a fortnight, his ready made replacement is Declan Rice. Rice has appeared several times for the club but in a midfield position not in his preferred centre back role, surely now is the time to use him, he would also inject pace in to an increasingly ageing Hammers back line.

Moyes has throughout his career not been afraid of using youth players if they are good enough, and at West Ham he is spoiled for choice, don't be surprised if he utilises the likes of Rice and he may even recall Reece Oxford from his loan spell in Germany. There is also Nathan Holland, Quina and Haskerbanovic chomping at the bit to show what they can do, and let's face it they can hardly do any worse than some of the 'senior' players have done this season. Expect Moyes to use a combination of 'wise heads' and young legs to help push the team up the table, the Premier League is all about pace and Moyes will know only too well about the lack of pace that there has been in the team, get some of the young guns to do the running, make the pitch at the London Stadium their friend and turn the crowd in to the positive and massive 12th man that they should be, and not as Martin Keown has recently pointed out, a 12th man for the opposition, something that they have become of late.

At the end of the day what is done is done, there is no chance of returning to the Boleyn so fans need to turn playing at the London Stadium in to a 'home' fixture, rather than the 'Toxic Drome' that visiting teams love to visit, it really is time to get behind the team and the new manager, you can bet your pay packet that things will not be pretty but it is a case of needs must, and grinding out results will be the initial order of the day. - Ed

Will new West Ham United manager have free rein over his goal keeping selection? Rumour has it that part of the deal that brought Joe Hart from all conquering Manchester City to the London Stadium was that he had to play every Premier League match unless he was injured, with the exception of the two matches against his parent club which under archaic FA rules he is not allowed to play. If allowed, which is the subject of some conjecture, does David Moyes have the Cojones to replace Joe Hart with fans favourite Adrian San Miguel?

Keeping clean sheets and 'starting from the back' are age old football euthanisms for players putting in a shift, what they may lack in quality will be forgiven by their loyal and mostly long suffering fans, if the team play as if THEIR entire weekend or next week is destroyed because the team they supported through thick and thin, that they pay good money to see, the side that they bring their kids to see, the side that was promised to be the one that was going to another level, the side that however has so woefully under performed actually didn't try to go that extra yard or two, how would they feel?

If they have decency within them, which most probably do, the West Ham players will be only too aware that they have under performed and let their out going manager down badly, there has been much talk about Slaven's laid back style and easy going routine during training, but surely these 'gozonxiously' over paid professionals would have pride in themselves to a point where they themselves would instigate further training! West Ham legend Paolo Di Canio and Manchester United legend David Beckham were always there at the end of training when every one else had gone off to the bookies or their local lap dance establishments, Beckham and Di Canio weren't content to just be, they wanted to be the best!

David Moyes has the 'mini luxury' of an away game as his first, he can slightly experiment but at least try to ensure his team stop shipping goals, does he give Hart the start or Adrian? Statistically there is little to choose between the two, bur Adrian is adored by the fans, his presence as the starting keeper against Leicester City at the London Stadium would engender a much better atmosphere, even if the ball is past back to him with the same frequency as it has been to Hart of late, it is hard to imagine the home fans booing Adrian to the same extent as they would Hart.

Moyes can start Hart against Watford at Vicarage road in his first game in charge, but should things go awry he would then have the perfect excuse, contracts allowing, to legitimately bring in a player he knows will get the crowd on his side, the paradox being If Adrian is selected and has a total 'mare' then Moyes will be judged on the outcome of his decision, not the theory.

Once he has sorted out his goalkeeping options David Moyes has the unenviable task of sorting out the rest of the most porous defence in the Premier League! (pt1) to be continued) - Ed

It was only to be expected, it comes as no surprise that Spurs lap dog Darren Lewis's paper has begun 'anonymous' unscrupulous reports of West Ham United's woes. The content of today's assault on any form of positivity is summed up with this wonderful piece of journalism about West Ham's potential need to sell it's bright young prospects in order to fund the battle against relegation.
' The club will be reluctant to sell but they are stuck in a relegation battle and may have to cash in now to raise funds for the battle to beat the drop.'
Interesting how the word 'may' is used, if you apply the same logic Everton's recent take over, as is currently being reported, 'may' not have been done correctly. There are many events and actions which 'may' be relevant or not, but what is clear to see is that there is a definite agenda among some news outlets to give Hammers a 'good kicking'!

Look at the Mirror 'football spy' report dated 7th of November:
'Declan Rice, 18, has made a handful of first team appearances and is seen as a big prospect with Arsenal one of several clubs keeping tabs. Republic of Ireland starlet Josh Cullen, 21, and Reece Burke are both impressing out on loan at Bolton. Reece Oxford, 18, is on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach and is regarded as one of England's best defensive prospects. Domingos Quina, 17, was a target for Arsenal and Manchester United before joining West Ham.'

Even while trying to create a negative article the errors are there to see, ironically Republic of Ireland starlet Josh Cullen, 21, and Reece Burke are both 'having a mare' out on loan at Bolton, while Reece Oxford has hardly had a sniff of a game at Borussia Monchengladbach.

West Ham United co-owners David Sullivan & David Gold have made some poor player purchases recently but they are not alone, the Premier League is awash with panic signings that clubs made in order to push for the top but more often in order to avoid the drop! There is not a snow ball's hope in hell that the two Davids would flog off their young players who have real potential, quite frankly retaining them until they have reached some where near their top value will probably be the only way that West Ham can catch up with other clubs financially, but selling early would be ridiculous.

Burke, Cullen, Haksabanovic, Martinez, Oxford, Quina, Rice and Samuelson are all outstanding prospects and represent the future of the club, if they were at a more progressive club when it comes to youth development what would there true value be? Whatever numbers are on offer now they will be a drop in the ocean compared to the players true value later on, if he is clever new manager David Moyes will attempt integrating these younger players in to first squad training to inject a bit of much needed pace sooner rather than later. The youngsters' fitness will be needed because there are liable to be a few injuries as a result of the stricter training regimes that are bound to be put in place in order to get the team up and running instead of up and strolling.

Moyes needs to be given a chance to reinvigorate what on paper is a decent squad, hopefully he will be able to utilise the young players as part of a 'carrot and stick' approach in order to get the best out of 'Slaven's' senior players that he inherited, there should not be a need for massive transfer activity in January and as we all know there are few bargains to be had during the 'January sales'. Last year saw the arrivals of Jose Fonte and Robert Snodgrass for eye watering fees during the January windows, both proved to be abject failures, Font currently out for three months has been hopeless and Snodgrass never played well although to be fair he was never utilised correctly and his game time was mismanaged but he did look, like many of the other first team squad, incredibly unfit! - Ed