It's Sunderland away to kick-off

Up against a newly-promoted Sunderland side in front of a buoyant crowd on August 16 - what could possibly go wrong? It's not a good time to play the Mackems, though you have to hope that with Tom Watson and Jobe Bellingham sold they'll struggle to replace them. Then it's a chance to tell Chelsea where to place their Blue Flag at the London Stadium followed by a tricky game at Nottingham Forest. September begins with two home games against Thomas Frank's Spurs and Crystal Palace and then it's the Moyes derby at Everton's new stadium. By which time we'll be top of the league (possibly).

Animal farm

In the absence of any transfer activity I've been on a trip to the Lake District with my fellow season-ticket holder Nigel, who was making plans for fellwalking. There was quite a lot of West Ham colour. On the train up we met the mum of ace West Ham illustrator Canning Town Len, while Nigel's faded West Ham cap worn on Catbells saw us greeted by a West Ham fan from Billericay. We used our time constructively, of course, not least in thinking up West Ham players associated with animal kingdom. So far we've come up with Brian Dear, Geoff Pike, Joe Hart, Bernard Lama, Demba Ba, Paul Heffer and Razvan Rat. Any more suggestions gratefully accepted.

End-of-season player ratings

ALPHONSE AREOLA
Generally sound but some clangers away to Spurs and at home to Forest. A great shot stopper but Potter should stop asking him to pass out of defence. 6/10

LUCAS FABIANSKI

Did really well to win his place back at 40 and apart from accidentally punching Havertz in the head to concede a penalty was generally sound. He’ll be missed. 6/10

AARON WAN-BISSAKA
An absolute bargain at £15m. Can play both sides and a revelation going forwards with five assists and two goals. Tended to get caught out of position under Lopotegui but has looked really solid under Potter, playing well with Bowen. Made some brilliant last-ditch interventions. 8/10

VLADIMIR COUFAL

Lost his place and some of his pace but played well in the middle of defence and at right-back when called upon. 6/10

MAX KILMAN

A difficult season and struggled to justify his £40m price tag. At times looked accomplished but big errors against Liverpool and Spurs among others. Not helped by frequently changing partners and systems and needs a leader alongside him. 5/10

DINOS MAVROPANOS

Should have all the attributes of a decent centre back but makes far too many mistakes and gives away free kicks in dangerous positions. Can Potter improve his concentration? 4/10

JEAN-CLAIR TODIBO

Unlucky with injuries and still can't last 90 minutes. Looked half-decent in the win at Arsenal but has struggled at times too. Hopefully his second season will be an improvement now he's signed for £32 million. 5/10

EMERSON

Not his best season and has lost his place to Scarles at times. Did score a fine goal against Arsenal but has been affected by Paqueta's indifferent form. 5/10

OLLIE SCARLES

A breakthrough season as Potter gave him several starts. His inexperience showed against the likes of Mo Salah, but a player of some potential and seeing an Academy product raised the morale of the crowd. 6/10

AARON CRESSWELL

When played in a five-man back line he definitely improved the defence. Aaron's experience was invaluable and he'll be pleased to have made more appearances than anticipated. Good luck at your next club, Cress. 7/10

GUIDO RODRIGUEZ

Not a bad player but always looked too slow for the Premier League at the end of his career. At least he got an assist at Ipswich. 4/10

EDSON ALVAREZ

A couple of indisciplined red cards didn't help and hasn't won the trust of Potter. Again lack of pace and youth is a problem. 5/10

TOMAS SOUCEK

Will never be a great passer but did all that was asked of him in both boxes. His nine goals proved invaluable. 8/10

CARLOS SOLER

A major disappointment after his loan from PSG. Scored against Fulham, sometimes looked neat in possession, but never got going in a West Ham shirt. 4/10

JAMES WARD-PROWSE

Wasted half a season on loan at Nottingham Forest. Needs to play more forward balls but solid enough on his return with a goal at Ipswich an an assist for Fullkrug's goal against Bournemouth. 6/10

LUCAS PAQUETA

His form improved under Potter but was definitely affected by the looming FA betting charges. Made a good fist of playing as an emergency forward but nothing like the player he can be. 5/10

LEWIS ORFORD

Will be pleased to have made his debut though too early to judge fully, but played sensibly in his cameos. 5/10

ANDY IRVING

The cult hero had a decent game at Chelsea and didn't let anyone down when he came on but given few chances. 6/10

LUIS GUILHERME

West Ham overpaid at £20m for an untried youngster. But when he's come on he's troubled defences with his speed and had a few scoring opportunities. He may yet come good. 6/10

JARROD BOWEN

Carried the side at times with his assists and 14 goals. Now he's tied the knot with Dani let's hope he never leaves. Better on the right than as a striker, but gave it everything wherever he played. 9/10

MOHAMMED KUDUS

Never really got going after the five-game ban for his red card at Spurs. Five goals were not enough from a player of his talent, though he did have a really good game at Arsenal and improved towards the end of the season. Potter still has to decide what Mo's best position is. 5/10

CRYSENCIO SUMMERVILLE

Lopetegui didn't trust Jimmy and then he missed half the season with a hamstring injury. Looked exciting when he did appear if a little wayward in front of goal. Scored against Man United and looked promising as a wing-back in Potter's first match. 5/10

MICHAEL ANTONIO

Looked a declining force before his car crash but at least scored against Ipswich. We all hope he'll play again soon but at 35 his days at West Ham are surely over. 5/10

NICLAS FULLKRUG

Very unlucky with injuries but he looked a quality striker towards the end of the season and a real threat in the air. Three goals from not many starts. His rant after the Southampton game was entertaining for us fans but may have alienated Potter. 6/10

EVAN FERGUSON

The loan striker was hardly given a chance but fluffed a big chance at Wolves. Considering how good he was at Brighton two seasons ago he was a big disappointment. 4/10

DANNY INGS

Earned West Ham a point at Fulham and a very dodgy penalty against Man United. Never complained but his best days are gone and he never suited a Moyes side. He'll probably now drop into the Championship at the end of his career. Nice hair transplant. 5/10

Bowen secures 14th place as Irons defeat Tractor Boys

Ipswich Town 1 West Ham 3 

Finally the season is over. In game 38 Fabianski plays at the age of 40 to make his final West Ham appearance. Scarles, Dinos and Fullkrug start with Kudus and Paqueta on the bench. What could possibly go wrong against a relegated side that has lost eight in a row at home?

Ipswich give it a go and Fabianski has to make a great one-handed save to claw away a Broadhead effort. Thankfully the Tractor Boys are still good at self-sabotaging. Morsy plays a weak back pass that is intercepted by Bowen. Jarrod flicks it across goal to James Ward-Prowse who stroke home his first goal for a year.

Can we hold a lead? No, soon after the break Todibo seems to duck out of a tackle and Broadhead fires home a powerful shot into the bottom corner. Thankfully we still have Bowen. Jarrod plays a one-two with Wan-Bissaka cuts inside and hits a sumptuous effort past the despairing Walton. 

Clarke goes close for the home side before our two subs combine for the third. Rodriguez does well to nick the ball off Clarke race forward and set up Mo Kudus for a shot that he curls home. His fifth goal of the season, though such a gifted player should be scoring more.

The win is very welcome as WHU secure 14th place with Spurs getting battered at home and Wolves drawing. As Big Sam says on WhatsApp if we'd have been offered finishing above Man United and Spurs at the start of the season we'd have taken it. Matt counters that we might not have been so happy to finish behind Forest, Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham, Brighton, Palace and Everton.

Still, this was a decent farewell to Fabianski, Cresswell, Coufal and unused sub Danny Ings. Good to see Cressy get such a good reception from both home ands away fans. A summer of rebuilding awaits. Come on you Irons!

West Ham verdict in the Guardian

My verdict on West Ham's season can be found in today's Guardian, though obviously the big prize of 14th place is still up for grabs on Sunday. Gave the season four out of ten on the grounds that we've stayed up and been unlucky with injuries, though also thought about awarding it 3.5 out of ten. Potter has to improve the side next season.

Meanwhile Jarrod Bowen's not in Thomas Tuchel's England squad which is bizarre. He's scored 13 goals in a struggling team this season and at times carried the side. His brilliant volley against Forest alone should have got him in the squad. A shame as Jarrod had apparently moved his Las Vegas stag do to allow for time with the England squad. What could possibly go wrong with a West Ham stag do in Las Vegas particularly with top geezer Danny Dyer there to ensure order? Rumour has it Julian Dicks, Razor Ruddock, Frank McAvennie, Hayden Foxe and John Moncur will also be there to help ensure nothing gets out of hand.

Forest hold out despite late Hammers rally

West Ham 1 Nottingham Forest 2

There's a good turnout in the Best Meze Cafe for the final home match of a largely dismal season. Over chips with varying accompaniments we find Matt, Lisa, Nigel, Michael and his pal Stephen discussing why only journalists refer to Nottingham Forest as the "Tricky Trees" and asking if Palace's Eze belongs to Jesus then does this constitute third-party ownership?

Before the kick-off Aaron Wan-Bissaka receives the Hammer of the Year trophy, a fitting reward for our most successful signing from last summer. Potter has named an unchanged side from the win at Man United, leaving our biggest attacking threats, Paqueta and Fullkrug, on the bench.

West Ham make a great start. Coufal in his final home match, whips in a typical cross and Soucek heads for the top bin only to be thwarted by a great save from Sels. Vladimir Coufal has a shot deflected wide but slowly Forest impose themselves on the game. Gibbs-White controls with his chest and fires in a volley that Areola does well to save.

The Irons' bright start is undone after 11 minutes as Areola tries to play out from the back rather than kick it upfield and his pass goes straight to Gibbs-White who gratefully fires home. If in doubt hoof it. The scorer holding up a tribute shirt to the hospitalised Awonyi.

Areola has to make a decent stop to deny Chris Wood as Forest threaten to score again. Aaron Wan-Bissaka still poses problems on the left but Bowen and Kudus aren't getting anything from Forest's giant centre-backs and at the break it's still one-nil.

VAR TROUBLE

Potter has picked the wrong team and surprisingly doesn't make any changes at half-time. When he does act decisively after 58 minutes, bringing on Paqueta, Fullkrug, Alvarez and Soler, Forest have a free kick on the left. Elanga whips in the dead ball and it's deflected in off Milenkovic's shoulder. There's then a bizarre six-minute VAR stoppage while an offside is debated, with the automated offside lines not working and then a communication breakdown with ref Sam Barrott. After a major time rift in Stratford the goal is given anyway.

At least the VAR debacle gets the home crown going with a chant of "West Ham are massive!" though in truth we've been slightly less than large this season. The side looks a lot better with Fullkrug as a focal point and to the players' credit they keep going. A nice move sees Soler get in a shot that the excellent Sels tips away again.

Suddenly we're back in it after 79 minutes. Paqueta chips into the box and a defensive header falls to Jarrod Bowen who takes a touch with his thigh and swivels to fire an unstoppable volley into the top of the net.

Referee Barrott does his best to keep the atmosphere fervid as he is taken in by a lot of Forest timewasting and lets several blatant fouls go. Todibo, Bowen and Paqueta all lose patience with the ref. Even the Vicar's Son is moved to join in with the chants of "You don't know what you're doing!" and "You're not fit to referee!" 

Guilherme comes on late and troubles Forest with his speed on the left. He gets a shot away but is foiled by a fine block from Williams. At the other end AWB makes a fine block to deny Silva. There's an astonishing 16 minutes of added time as Forest get nervy. At one point the ref completely loses control of the players as there's a big fracas and he's pursued round the pitch like a harassed supply teacher. 

West Ham's final chance comes with a Soler corner and Areola up in the box. Fullkrug rises slightly higher than the Mittal Orbital and gets in a really powerful header, but again Sels punches it away.

So a very solid Forest side hold on and are in with a chance of Champions League football. All that's left is a lap of appreciation from the players as Cressy, Vlad, Fab, Ings and co say goodbye to a half-empty stadium. At least James Ward-Prowse's missus seems good at delivery as Mr and Mrs JWP bring on their four kids.

We head off for a final drink at the Eagle. Matt reveals his extensive knowledge of Highland League football, giving us anecdotes about Stranraer and some team near Banff, leading on to a discussion of Pennan, the setting for Local Hero. The film's theme was written by Mark Knopfler and recently re-recorded with guitar heroes like Brian May and Jeff Beck we learn from Wikipedia, not that any of us are into trivia. Meanwhile Nigel says that he's pleased Halifax haven't made it into the League meaning he's still a member of the 92 Club. Lisa then makes the frankly astonishing suggestion that he should visit a Halifax game for pleasure rather than as a ground to tick off. That will never catch on.

So the home season ends not with a bang but 16 minutes of added time and a VAR timeshift. Clubs like Forest have moved way ahead of WHU and Potter needs to rebuild over the summer and sign some dynamic midfielders, a leader at the back, a young striker and anyone else he can get. Meanwhile we still have to win at relegated Ipswich next week to secure 15th place. Roll on next season.

PLAYER RATINGS: Areola 4; Coufal 6, Kilman 6, Todibo 6, Cresswell 5 (Alvarez 5), Wan-Bissaka 7; Rodriguez 5 (Paqueta 6), Ward-Prowse 5 (Soler 6), Soucek 5 (Fullkrug 6); Bowen 7, Kudus 5 (Guilherme 6).

Fab four leaving West Ham

The first four departures from West Ham have been announced and surely several other players will follow as Graham Potter rebuilds the squad. Lucasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell and Danny Ings are all getting older but have in their own way made valuable contributions to the club.

Vladimir Coufal will be missed. His nickname of RoboCop at his previous club Slavia Prague sums up his playing style. Early on Vlad had Grealish in his pocket at Villa, clattering Jack and his sniper at every opportunity, which certainly endeared him to the faithful. Coufal was great at getting forward and made a lot of goals with his crosses. Lately his speed had started to diminish, but he's still always given everything. And let's not forget his role in leading the lads on a tour of the late-night drinking dens of Prague. David Moyes thought Coufal had it in him to be a manager so you never know we might see him back at the London Stadium one day.

Aaron Cresswell has to be one of the club's best ever value for money signings at £4.5 million from Ipswich. He was there at the Boleyn Ground under Allardyce and has been a great servant. Much of the success under Moyes came from his set-piece delivery and after losing a bit of pace he reinvented himself as a third centre-back. It's significant that in the games where the 35-year-old has started this season the defence has looked much more secure. When Aaron scored his last goal for the club against Freiburg in the Europa League you could feel the appreciation of the crowd at the London Stadium.

Lukasz Fabianski is now 40 so has done really well to displace Areola for a spell this season. He was the best of the Pellegrini signings and in his 215 appearances he very rarely made mistakes. The quietly consistent Polish goalkeeper was also unlucky that Areola was chosen as the Europa Conference League Final goalkeeper when Fab was first choice in the league. He was also pretty good at saving penalties. 

Danny Ings never really fitted the Moyes system not being big or speedy enough to play as a lone striker. But he was a decent finisher and scored some important goals. He bagged a couple of vital goals on his debut at home to Nottingham Forest and one in the draw at Gent in the Europa Conference League. There were also equalisers against Burnley and Fulham, though his appearances were mainly cameos off the bench. Ings also gave us a good laugh by winning a very soft penalty against Man United and getting Ten Hag sacked. Danny's departure will save the club his rumoured £125k a week wages. As a squad player he never complained and you'd think he might still do a job at 32 in a more attacking side where he's the second striker. He's also the first WHU player to have a hair transplant. 

It will be intriguing to see who else is leaving at the end of the season but good luck to Aaron, Lucasz, Danny and Vlad.