The last home game I went to was our win against Southampton. I didn’t go today, partly because I was in Norfolk, but mainly because I couldn’t work up any enthusiasm to go. You see, I am falling out of love with going to games. Call me fickle, a fair weather fan, call me what you will, but I just can’t get excited about watching the kind of bilge Sam Allardyce has served up this season.
Even when we win I don’t feel that surge of excitement I used to. If I watch a game on television I don’t leap out of my chair and scream with delight like I used to (and frighten the dogs). I barely crack a smile. This is what that man has done to me. I can hardly believe I am writing this but I am seriously considering not renewing my season ticket, and shutting down this site.
I’m sure that in the end I won’t do either (at least I think I am sure), but that’s the way I feel at the moment. I want my love for West Ham to survive this awful period in our history, but I reckon it’s got some time to go. It’s only in the last few weeks that I have realised I really want Allardyce to leave West Ham at the end of the season. Yes, he has kept us up, but at what cost? Realistically, I know that he won’t be sacked. It would be too risky and cost too much. The owners will stick with him for fear of being relegated before we move to the Olympic Stadium. It is the only business decision they can make. I understand and respect that. I suspect in their shoes I’d do the same. Stick with nurse for fear of worse. Isn’t that the saying? But from a fans’ point of view, it doesn’t get a lot worse than what we have had to endure so far.
It’s all very well Allardyce saying that it’s all very well playing pretty football and losing, and that’s not what he’s about. And it’s true, he has put some much needed steel into the side, But at what cost to our traditions and our flair? I’ve had enough.
Am I alone in feeling this way?