OLAS v Stoke

So it seems the rest of the fan base is starting to believe in what I have been saying all season, Sam wont get a new contract, his time at the club like his contract is running out and a new manager will be in the hot seat come August.
Some will still bang on about, this season is an improvement on last, and we should be pleased with top 10, and if you were offered this position at the start you would of taken it, which is all true, the problem is while all those things are true, it totally ignores the way it has been achieved and what preceded it. Basically there is too much in the past to ignore with Allardyce, and much of it goes against him. If this was Sam’s 1st season then I would be pleasantly surprised as for most we have performed well, we are definitely starting games set up to attack more and while he does let himself down with his substitutions, compared with the dross served up this season we have been attacking more.
Against Leicester on Saturday the defeat was hard to take, not just because they were bottom and hadn’t won for 8 games, but you could see that we didn’t settle for the point and did try to win all 3, just bad luck that we didn’t. The funny thing is he now appears to be slaughtered for no matter what he does, on Friday on the Claret & Hugh Website he was criticised for in his press conference he guarded against smashing Leicester off the park, instead he said teams at the bottom of the table around this time in the season put runs together and pull off unlikely victories. “Not good enough” screamed the many, he should be talking up how we are going to beat them not warning us we might lose. Yet BFS was spot on, not only did the foxes bite us late on, but QPR managed to win, Burnley got a point and Sunderland won as well, so all the bottom 4 picked up points against teams higher than themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going soft on my stance of BFS, and to wanting him out, but I don’t believe in kicking a man just for the sake of it. It is as I said earlier though he is tainted by what has come before, this season is an improvement but it does not change the fact that the 3 previous seasons have been some of the worst football wise I can say I’ve seen. Add to the fact he obviously does not care who he upsets off the field with his criticism of fans in the past, he has overstayed his welcome in my eyes and I cant wait for him to go. I doubt if that will end the infighting amongst the fans though, but it may start the healing yet that may depend though on his successor and how he is perceived to be style wise. Moyes seems to be mentioned alot as has Raffa but I still think its too early to 2nd guess what the owners may be thinking. Season ends late this year so the less time to look around on the transfer market, though if I was a betting man, the fact that Dave Sullys special Advisor, Tony Henry, worked with Moyes at Everton could be the way DS is edging to. Moyes is an upgrade on Sam in my book but not by much and is he the man to lead the new club in 2016 upwards into the top 4, I cant see that but then I don’t think WHU can attract the caliber of manager nor players to do that. In the last 10 years only 7 clubs have finished in the top 4 with Arsenal the only team to do it every season, then Chelsea and United with 9 times. Liverpool are next then the new money of City, spurs have done it twice while Everton managed it the once exactly 10 years ago. Currently 6 of those 7 occupy the top 6 spaces, so it shows you what is required to gatecrash not only the top4 but even the top 6. And while our income goes up with the move, it must kill the notion that ticket prices can be reduced at the OS, as there is no way we can fund top 6 on £30 tickets.

Alex Song wants 100 grand a week apparently, too much for us, if the papers are to be believed, his early season form certainly said he was worth it, yet like our season, he has tailed off after Christmas, yet the old adage is, Form is temporary but class is permanent, and Song was/is definitely class, so why did we bulk at paying his demand. West Ham has a problem, the owners with the move to the Olympic Stadium have made claims that this will push us onto the next level, no longer will mid table be good enough, we are aiming for the top 4. Problem is, the top 4 costs hundreds of millions of pounds to achieve, not just in buying of players, but in their wages as well. In Alex Song we have undoubtedly a top class midfielder, one good enough to be signed by Barca after all, paying him his wages he has requested, is not just about retaining a quality player, but it also gives what’s called a statement of intent. Something that tells the fans and the other clubs, this is what we can do, this is what we are looking to achieve. The signings of Sakho & Valencia didn’t do that, but the loan capture of Song did put down a marker & his permanent signing and paying of his wages tells the outside world, we are aimig for the top. Don’t sign him, get in a cheaper option, less well known, a bit of a gamble of a player, and we tell the rest, we are still the same old West Ham, the move changes nothing, we’ve told the fans were aiming top 4 but reality is, along as we don’t go down we are happy.
Think back to when the Arabs bought Man City, they completed their deal with hours to spare of the transfer window and then rushed into the transfer market. They made a statement on intent, it cost them 33million, but the signing of Robinho told the other teams, look at us, this is where we are, this is what we are looking to achieve. In a smaller way, signing Alex Song and paying him his hundred grand a week will do that, Sadly it looks as if we wont find out if Song would sign if we offered him what its rumored he wants, it appears we wont pay him the money, they have the get out that his form post Christmas doesn’t warrant it and they can find someone just as good but cheaper, but the truth is, in football as in life, you only get what you pay for. And as I said earlier,
Form is temporary, Class is permanent.