‘If Netflix ever wanted to do a series about the Premier League’s most dysfunctional football club, they should base themselves at West Ham United for a couple of weeks,’ one insider explains, without a hint of sarcasm. ‘It would be must-watch TV.’
On Saturday, the Premier League’s most dysfunctional football club take on Tottenham Hotspur (no laughing, please) in a match which could prove pivotal, not only to their season but their history.
West Ham are a mess. They go into the derby seven points from safety, staring an unthinkable relegation in the face. Unrest among the fanbase is rife. To put it simply, they have had enough of the regime of David Sullivan and his lieutenant Karren Brady. They have had enough of duff managerial appointments and duff signings and they would appear to have a point.
After David Moyes came Julen Lopetegui, a flop. Then came Graham Potter, another flop. Now it is Nuno Espirito Santo. Should he go the same way – and the initial signs are not great – it will, in all likelihood, be three strikes and out. Lincoln City, rather than Liverpool, could be visiting the 60,000-capacity London Stadium next season. Let that sink in.
At the recent, important clash with fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest, a deflating home 2-1 defeat, fans took to holding red cards emblazoned with ‘No more BS’. It was a more polite form of protest than some of the songs now regularly being sung about the two chiefs. Nonetheless, the message was clear.
Recent activity has failed to move the dial. While the jury remains out, the two signings of Pablo Felipe from Portuguese club Gil Vicente and Lazio’s Taty Castellanos, at a combined cost of up to £47million, have caused further concern.
West Ham are in dire straits and the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo as manager has done nothing to stop their slide towards relegation
At the recent home defeat by Nottingham Forest, fans took to holding red cards emblazoned with ‘No more BS’ in anger at how the club is being run
Neither have played in the Premier League. Felipe happens to be a client of Jorge Mendes… as is Nuno. The fear is that Sullivan is making the same mistakes. Showing blind faith in a manager and an agent. Others coin it in while the Hammers are left to pick up the pieces.
There are also grave fears from those in claret and blue over what relegation, a first since 2011, would mean. This is meant to be the club with the highest valuation outside the Big Six. But…