Lights, Camera, Action! 

It’s the beginning of the showcase end to another season and the fate of West Ham is still uncertain. For many the fight was lost the day the club stepped foot into the London Stadium, for others it has just been a gradual decline that was reinforced by managerial woes, playing crows and cash strapped hornets and harlots.

“I basically started performing for my mother, going, ‘Love me!’ What drives you to perform is the need for that primal connection. When I was little, my mother was funny with me, and I started to be charming and funny for her, and I learned that by being entertaining, you make a connection with another person.” – Robin Williams

The Premier League is all but won by Pep Guardiola and his merry men of wizards, however the real action and excitement resides in the bottom half of the league where comparable teams fight it out until the three most meagre will sink into the sludge where quality seldom speaks but strength, power and honesty are the dominating voices.

West Ham have become the archetypal team to suffer whist others soldier on! Whilst the band of misfits have stalled in recent games, other teams have regained composure to narrow gaps and close the doors on certainties. Every game featuring the bottom half teams is indeed a must win as each strives to gain those vital points, however in the case of the Hammers…it might be their failings that would be our greatest asset.

The club and owners, it would seem have finally seen the light and possibly will make veracious attempts now to rectify issues and appease much of the fan’s protestations. They have an opportunity to be charitable and act in a manner that would start to build bridges. Instead of handing out life bans to fans who invaded the pitch, why not bestow time limited suspensions…5yrs perhaps?

There is much cause for concern and the daunting realisation has finally come home to roost for the owners who would make renewed efforts to engage with fans and offer apologies. Karren Brady did it in a Sun newspaper article…oh how we wished she simply addressed the fans directly…and there are planned meetings with Sullivan and supporters groups again this week. Is this simply just paying lip service once again and are they merely trying to give the impression they are trying and place themselves in a good light in the eyes of the media and the FA? I would think so given their track record.

Unfortunately there has been too much slurry that has passed beneath our troubled bridge and most fans would never believe the words, certainly not their intentions and would laugh in the face of their demonstrative integrities. They may indeed be sincere, they may have finally acknowledged that they have made glaring mistakes and would like to right all of the wrongs! They may even have wished they had not pursued their business model and would like to change direction…direction that would lead the club into promised lands, higher league places and European adventures…but it’s much too late for all of that now. They must now wait, as we must, for the final bell and to see who is still left standing.

The fan’s greatest weapon has not been in their protests or marches…nor in moronic pitch invasions but rather in the battle to make the media stand up and listen to the concerns of everyday fans. Few would give credence to the hard line support, even fewer would give value to those who would march and fight…but many would listen when ‘Mr & Mrs Average’ supporter would rise up in public condemnation.

This is what the club has feared this whole time. As long as the protestors were made up of those pesky ‘troublemakers’ then the media would be on their side, however as soon as the groundswell of opinion shifted and included all demographics, the club knew they would need to take swift action to fend off the storms heading their way…and it’s not over yet!

As for Moyes and the coaching staff, they can only try as they might be come up with a plan to eek out results, gain points and finish anywhere above the bottom three. I would always lean towards performances as the true gauge of the team. Perform well and the results will come, but for the better part of this season and the last, the performances have been below par whilst some results have been positive but hardly impressive. At the end of ninety minutes, regardless of how frustrating the play might be, no mater how many errors are made and how many begging chances are fluffed…a win is the only importance.

Talk of Directors of Football, new managers, players coming or going can wait until the summer, for now the only game in town is one of survival and to meet each game head on, with purpose and desire, with tactical assurance and attacking potency! All parties now realise that whilst the club must make good on the issues and promises…they hang on the results now which will largely determine which way they are to proceed in the summer and for the next season too.

They cannot claim ignorance anymore and they are fully aware of the club’s precarious predicament made from their actions in the most part. The team has been feeble, however the squad was not reinforced properly, the malaise in the club has not been given the antibiotics to clear the fever and the successive public reactions blunders have alienated everyone from the club and also amongst the supporting masses too.

The club has reached the third and final act! The audience is just about to find out who the greatest villain is, who really ‘dunnit’ and who the heroes really are! The fans have their part to play in this diabolical saga, as do the manager and players…let the show commence, turn on the lights, roll the cameras and snap the clapperboard…it’s time for action!