Guest post by Rugby Irons
It’s two weeks since the assorted opinions of over two thousand fans were split over whether Sam should stay or go. I asked then, with Sam assuming we were safe enough, whether he was a good enough manager to use the last six games to show us if he had enough in his locker to change the 50% who want him gone. Well two games gone , slightly improved performances, fewer shots on target, two goals for and five against and most importantly no points, and now not quite safe enough.
So has the mood changed? Are fans prepared to accept that if Sam did as he did against Liverpool in that we were a little more entertaining but overall we only had one shot on target and a dodgy goal. It’s alright to argue the Liverpool goals were no better but the fact is they counted. Against Arsenal we started well but failed to make it count . For me the manager should have got off his comfy Emirates seat and forced the game further. Mo and Matty had them retreating down the left and so what did the team do after twenty minutes? Yep they started to switch the play to the ineffectual right hand side. Sam should have recognised this. Everyone around me did! He should have told his midfield to stay left and let Mo and Matty force them back and take at least one of the chances that went begging.
It was also noted that Andy Carroll completely outjumped the German for five times running and yet we didn’t get onto the end of any of them . Five flick-ons and nothing, which begs the question what and how does Sam coach his players to play off Carroll? Do they not practice knock downs and third man running, which has been a feature of West Ham play for decades? It was even more galling when Arsenal managed to do it simply with their third a simple knock down, finish and game over. Considering Sam’s knowledge of the game said they were ‘weaker’ and would fade and yet they won at a canter. Genius. Which now begs the question, are we going to lose our next four matches too, as looks very likely.
All this rubbish from Cardiff about Palace knowing the team won’t matter tomorrow and whoever he plays it’s the same style and no end result. WBA is a banana skin, Spuds may still be laughably chasing something and Citeh are hardly going to have to get out of second gear are they? So the question is as it was two weeks ago, are the 50% still on favour of Sam and what he brings, or are the other 50% right to want him out? Simple enough question.