Well, there you have it! You’ve been coerced into jumping onboard the family jet to fly off to better lands only to reach 10,000ft and the captain of the good ship enterprise to announce that you’re all going to die unless you jump out of the plane immediately! Yes, this is way past squeaky bum time…but it’s about to get a lot worse as you realise that the only parachute left onboard is the tatty one that nobody else wants and is likely to fail. Now that should make for an interesting after dinner speech if you should ever have the chance to deliver it!
If rumours are to be believed now…the muted Director of Football role has been abandoned…nay, was never meant to be…according to the board. It is looking increasingly likely that Mr Moyes will continue in his role as manager of the club and will oversee all comings and goings of players in the traditional sense.
Fans were told to support the team, help the club…there is a plan in place and all will be well in the summer! However, this latest course reversal from the board would make even the most ardent fans wish to tremble in frustration and cower in a corner somewhere mumbling away about blessed times, “Moore, Peters and Hurst” dribble, dribble, “Moore, Peters and Hurst” dribble, dribble, “Holy Trinity We Had…Holy Trin…Hol…Ho” Dribble, Dribble, Dribble
Being a West Ham fan has always been a testing affair but we’re in a period of ever-increasing scrutiny and public opinions would fashion themselves as expert views. All fans are partly to blame for this fervour but there is much reason to be less than cheerful now…and it has nothing really to do with the performances and results anymore.
The claret and blue army were uprooted and planted into the wastelands of a failed legacy and no amount of ambition would make the barren lands bear fruit…for the seeds were never planted. It has been a catalogue of comedic errors and tragic betrayals but the aimless leadership are incapable of delivering what the fans have been looking for and the assured pathway that would make any future journey filled with a sense of excitement as opposed to dread!
Of course going away to Arsenal, just as their manager decides to hang up his coaching boots, should be always be a nervy affair but Moyes would have the attitude of consolidation as opposed to adventure and guile. A manager should be adaptable to each opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and plan for each encounter with a game plan to exploit rather than contain. This is what the fans have to look forward to in the next couple of seasons if indeed Moyes is the man in charge…and no amount of public cries and fan’s revolution is going to change that, well not right away at least!
Fans would get caught up in the chaos right now and collectively iterate that this is the worst it’s ever been. The sub 30yrs old fans would have you believe that every match that is lost is worth going to war over and those of more seniority would shake their heads at the absurd goings on behind the scenes but would remember comparable laments of many years ago. Clearly, there have been some awful decisions made over the last few years and now is the time to find sure footing before the club launches into hyperdrive…but is that even realistic, was it ever going to be and was it ever so?
There have been some fans that would welcome relegation if it would be a catalyst for change and for the owners to finally leave the club. Would any true fan really want that for their club? Surely Not! However, a supporter of a club is not merely a fan of the moment, is not fanatical of a win or a loss, is not concerned with the prestige of the Premier League…but is on sentry duty of an institution that must be protected at all costs. None shall pass if not vetted and none shall remain if not there for the greater good!
Herein is found the malignancy of the West Ham woes that will not be healed by a Moyes chemotherapy for it is not his cure that is needed although it might ease certain pains for a period. He has been given only six months to miraculously turn around the fortunes of the club…and whilst he hasn’t surpassed expectations, he hasn’t failed either. He has battled away with his own squad of demons and has been thwarted by the club’s apathetic transfer policy…club owners who would blame their manager in turn for player choices.
The fans jumped onto this ship in good faith…to reach for the sun and tweak the fascinations of the stars…but nobody expected severe turbulence, engine failure and nobody was drilled in emergency bailout procedures. The club is in a state of rebirth now…and possibly Moyes is the man to hold the door open as we leap to our fates but it’s not going to be a joyous period in our history.
Is it really fair to judge the manager that has not been supported in the transfer window and was only given one job to ensure survival? Surely all fans must see out the summer and place verdict on his signings and how they perform throughout the whole season? However, nobody is prepared to wait for the pounding sound of inevitability. Everyone is assured of their opinions and Moyes will not be able to deliver quality attacking football as it so desperately wanted. However, the fans’ relationship with the club may indeed be in free fall but there is still hope that although now skydiving with the parachute…a safe landing on the ground may yet be achieved…if it were not for the cut cords!
