Tuesday night saw the Season Ticket Holders’ forum with a Question and Answer session with Manager Sam Allardyce & Captain Kevin Nolan for the first hour and Joint chairman David Gold answering questions for the second hour.
400 season ticket holders filled the legends lounge at the Boleyn to ask questions of the West ham trio.
The crowd were quite subdued at first, Kevin Nolan looked nervous and Sam Allardyce looked like ready for the onslaught from frustrated fans. However, it was a very civil affair with the crowd very well behaved and respectful of the speakers. Sam started the evening explaining the current form and his view of the season so far. He complained about a lack of goals and the impact of injuries.
I was able to ask the second question to Sam ‘What is your realistic league position target at the end of the season and how many points are you targeting for the next four games against Sunderland, Manchester United, Arsenal and West Brom?’ I asked. Answering the second question first Sam said he expected a minimum of 6 points from those four league games. When I pressed him to answer the first part he explained his realistic target was still to finish better than last season.
Sam went on to talk about Matt Jarvis dip in form, why he bought Stewart Downing instead of a striker, signing a striker in January and the current injury crisis.
Kevin Nolan spoke about the injuries this season. He said team morale is still high he has no doubt West Ham will stay up this season.
He confessed his own finishing has been poor and apologised for the red card on Saturday ( The video of his apology can be seen below) He explained the origins of his chicken dance saying it was how one of his mates used to dance..
David Gold called our season “disappointing” and said he had expected us to be mid table by now. He said “We put all our eggs in one basket” with Carroll and Downing but admits no one expected the injuries. Andy Carroll is expected back for the New Year. He also said “We must rely on Sam!”.
David said our “four best players” are injured calling it “bad luck”. He suggested we will see Ravel Morrison played in Kevin Nolan’s role. He admitted in hindsight that we should not purchased a winger rather than a striker. When challenged on Financial Fair Play and the January transfer window, he claimed “budgets change” and explained that half season loans are cheaper. Gold said Sullivan and himself are doing everything to get a striker in January and said that work had already begun.
In a funny moment David Gold said selling one of our fringe players would help with transfer funds in January. “Fringe or French?” Asked a season ticket holder. “Yeah, French” he said laughing. He then went on to answer a number of questions about the Olympic Stadium finishing with his views on Barry Hearn’s challenge to share the Olympic Stadium.
Kevin Nolan Apologises