Brighton 3 West Ham 1
After the week we've had it's not really a surprise to lose this. Murray sprung West Ham's offside trap too easily to get behind Collins for the first. Credit to the Hammers for a first-half comeback though, with Hernandez scoring a great goal after a dribble across the box. Byram even missed a good headed chance to put West Ham ahead.
But the Irons looked jaded after the break. It took world-class shot from the corner of the box from Isquierdo to beat Adrian in the top corner for the second. The third originated with a poor pass out of defence from Collins, but was again a great shot. Brighton had chances to get a fourth as Adrian saved well from March, while Moyes waited too long to bring on Hugill. This was a game where could have used the new defensive midfielder the club failed to sign.
However, I'm not sure the "sack the board!" chants while we're still drawing will help the team, even if it has been a shambolic week and the way the club does transfer business has to change. Sullivan and Gold could leave tomorrow, but we still can't bring back the Boleyn and there's no guarantee our new owner might not be someone like Mike Ashley or a Russian oligarch or US investors who see it as a franchise. Sullivan and Gold are unlikely to resign so let's see how much they spend in the summer — or indeed if they sell up.
We can expect the odd away defeat between now and the end of the season. Defeat here ends a six game unbeaten run. If West Ham can go on a similar spell things will be ok — if not then we could yet plunge into the drop zone. The good thing is that after the Watford game there's a two week rest. Fonte, Reid and Antonio are back in the squad while we should be boosted by Arnautovic after the break, followed by Lanzini and Masuaku returning. We have seven home games out of the remaining 12, so if we do go down we'll deserve to if we can't get at least three wins out of them. Watford now becomes yet another vital game we need to win.
5 comments:
Sound article in terms of insights and judgments; well-written, balanced and all the better for being measured and considered. Cheers.
First up, the desultory transfer window. Our Club clearly does not have a transfer strategy. My take on that is highly suspicious: the co-owners don't want a strategy. They simply want to make ad hoc signings to appease the fans, and at the lowest cost. Strategy implies a long term vision and commitment. These owners have no intention to build and nurture a future-proof club. Now I'm sadly resigned to believing the worst - the Dildo twins, aided by the Love-daughter of Cruella Thatcher, simply want to treat the club as their personal 'cash cow'. Rinse, mug off, and rinse again amid a heap of neoliberal post-truth statements.
Second, we do have a positive outlook if Antonio, Reid, Lanzini and Arnautovic return from injury, stay fit, and return to form. Fonte is a no-hoper and an irresponsible spend at £9million. If Reid, Ogbonna and Rice click across the central defensive positions, staying injury free, we could be pretty sound at the back.
Finally, with Hammers in my heart, and blood, I agree there is one hope left to us now. That the toxic trio decide to sell up to a decent international owner, not another seedy British 'back street' yob. Our brand collateral and geographic presence as the footballing 'poor relatives' of East London, a genuinely progressive outfit could slum it and take a punt on us, and seriously commit to nurturing our brand collateral. Hopefully, any prospective owner would have a romantic sense of legacy with respect for our history. Anyone willing to sell off the 'fans jewels' of the Boleyn without providing an alternative 'proper' home venue does not deserve the fans respect or support. 'Sack the board'' is a touch naive when the co-owners are the Board to all intents no purposes.
Good article - thanks.
COYI
As you say, the transfer strategy does indeed to be very reactive without any long-term strategy. We've veered from buying young players to buying old players, from buying in bulk to buying established PL performers and from imports to Championship prospects. Some of that is down to Bilic, but also the board too. Could be some hope with new owners but we would have to hope they have a feel for the club as you say, someone who sees it as a love as well as an investment; though these days we're more likely to get a global consortium or dodgy oligarch bidding. We must have a billionaire fan somewhere...
Trouble is, how do you know? Look at the club's who've been properly rinsed and relegated by new owners...the fit and proper test obviously doesn't give any protection
A balanced article Pete. If you only read Twitter you would think all out revolution was about to take place at West Ham. Twitter tends to be a vehicle for instant reactions by angry people and not necessarily a true reflection of many fans. At the beginning of the season I genuinely thought the owners and Bilic had put together a squad with more depth than we are used to and would easily finish in the top ten. If we could have kept players fit (I really don’t understand why we have so many injuries) we would be winning more games than we were losing and the fans would be happy. After all, it’s never been any better than that. A top four finish is out of reach for most clubs anyway. Upton Park has been levelled and the London Stadium is a fine. I’m very nostalgic too but let’s move on. The owners aren’t going anywhere. Put your placards away, support the team, roll your eyes at every dreadful performance and go crazy when we do the unexpected. You are a West Ham fan after all.
Good point about twitter Richard - everyone is always very very angry about something. We're never going to reach the next level so let's try and enjoy it anyway. Chaos is West Ham's natural state…
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