On Monday morning, it was still unknown if the Moyes Out banner in the away end was the same one that appeared in the midst of a relegation battle at Fulham last season. It makes sense that, after the redemptive Euro win in Prague, the first might have been transferred to a base cabinet, the conviction that it was probably not going to be required once more..
the Moyes Out banner hung in the away end was the same one that popped up in the midst of a relegation battle at Fulham last season was, on Monday morning, still unconfirmed.
It stands to reason that, after the redemptive Euro triumph in Prague, the original may have been consigned to a bottom drawer, the belief that it was unlikely to be needed again.
But here it was, and here we are, West Ham back in crisis and David Moyes, once again, under siege. A 2-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest continued a barren run that has seen the Hammers go winless since the turn of the year, plunged Moyes’s future beyond the end of the season into fresh doubt and now dropped his team to ninth, six points adrift of the top six.
The scenario is not as bleak as 12 months ago, when Premier League survival was on the line, and unlike then Moyes’s job is not under immediate, mid-season threat, but many of the frustrations are unchanged. Headline among them is the conservative brand of football that has gone seven hours without yielding a goal from open play.
In defence, Moyes came out swinging, talking up the substance of his second tenure over its style, a familiar refrain delivered on this occasion with a little more zest.
“Maybe they’ve had managers who excite them more,” Moyes said. “But the one who’s sitting here wins more.”
Without a victory in eight games, the choice of words was naturally ripe for ridicule. Moyes’s point, though, is that he has the highest win percentage of any permanent Hammers boss and, more pertinently, is the only one in the last 43 years to have lifted a trophy.In its own way, that must make the criticism all the more concerning; Moyes’s relations with a section of the support is so fractured that some are adamant he is no longer the best man for the job even having experienced what has, objectively, been one of the most successful periods in the club’s history.Another of Moyes’s regular ripostes to those in that camp runs that rival supporters would look at West Ham’s place in the table, not to mention their cup success, and wonder what all the fuss is about. The rebuttal is that fans of other clubs do not pay to watch his team every week.
The London Stadium has often been a venue prime for turning, its toxic early days setting the tone and now apathy perhaps its most potent force, as an evacuation during the drubbing by Arsenal this month showed.
The travelling contingent, though, is usually made up of those who have lived the highs of Moyes’s reign in their purest form, the same fans who have conquered Europe with the club they followed through the travails of relegation not so long ago.
Speak to them on these away ventures and there is universal appreciation and gratitude for Moyes’s work. There is nuance in the discussion and even a reluctance in much of the argument over his fate. Calls for change do not always leave the lips quite as freely as social media, or one banner, might make it seem.
But while there have, of course, been days and nights where even staunch reservations have been temporarily parked, the debate is by now more or less perennial. Even if Moyes signs a new contract, it will not be settled.Every fanbase has its fissures and every manager their sceptics, but where West Ham and Moyes are concerned, things only ever feel one poor run from turning sour Every fanbase has its fissures and every manager their sceptics, but where West Ham and Moyes are concerned, things only ever feel one poor run from turning sour. Before deciding on the Scot’s future, West Ham’s bHatred, however, runs profound and any sign it is prepared to reemerge could frighten an order careful about a re-visitation of a cruel spotlight: should Moyes stay on and afterward droop, the people who endorsed an expansion won’t be saved examination all things considered.oard must decide whether that is a sustainable state of affairs.
A second banner here called for those tasked with making the call to join Moyes in tracking for the exit door, a development that could easily prove bad news for the manager, too.
The clamorous hostility directed at GSB, which stands for the three of the late David Gold, David Sullivan, and Karren Brady, reached its zenith during the relocation to the London Stadium and has since subsided. The expectation that the move would result in European football has materialized, and significant investments in the playing roster have been made in each of the following summer transfer windows.
Resentment, though, runs deep and any sign it is primed to resurface could spook a hierarchy wary of a return to a harsh spotlight: should Moyes stay on and then slump, those who sanctioned an extension will not be spared scrutiny either.
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