When I was a teenager, my friends and I would buy a clapped out car for £50 or £100 . There was no MOT in those does and so, we would be running about in cars with poor brakes, tyres, clutches etc. But at least it served its purpose – a girlmobile.
What we are looking at today is a clapped out football club with no purpose. Everything seems rotten from top to bottom. We fans know it and we’re actually preparing ourselves for Championship football – a real defeatist attitude.
Firstly, the stadium might be relatively new, but it is clapped out. It is an athletics stadium and no amount of purple, fake grass can disguise the fact that the fans are too far from the action to produce a good and intimidating atmosphere . A good atmosphere in a stadium can make the difference for both players and fans. We have the equivalent of an office block which has been turned into a cheap hotel.
The pair of pornographers who are our owners are definitely clap ped out. Sullivan lives in this fantasy world where he is going to sell the club for £600 million. That is his main motivation. He keeps taking shortcuts to reach his target and in recent years, there have been a string of poor decisions. The club gets £120 million a year for TV rights alone and all we get are adverts on the big screen advertising West Ham Christmas jumpers whilst Spurs are scoring. What business gets such largesse and then……. what’s a better phrase than spunks it up the wall (apologies to my grandson when he reads this)
Dame Lady Whatshername. £800,000 a year. Jesus!
The manager is undoubtedly clapped out and probably his staff too. Some of his statements , if you can understand what he is saying( and that might be the problem),are idiotic. Before the Spurs game, he said we need to be better in defence, but then, once again, there was no change in formation. Sometimes, his substitutions are bizarre. He is not the manager he once was. That is now obvious to every fan. He was lauded as the manager who would bring attacking football back to West Ham. It’s a shame most of the attacking is being done by the opposition. He needs to go.
Mario Husillos, the Director of football is clapped out. He’s an old pal of Pellegrini. When appointed Sullivan said that it was a hugely positive step for West Ham and confirmed that the new Director of Football will assume responsibility for all senior player recruitment. Well, it’s time for Mario to assume responsibility and get back to the pampas. Let’s go back to the old days and put Jack Sullivan in charge. It can’t be worse.
Many of the players we have are clapped out. Roberto has now been branded the worst goalkeeper in Premier League history (just saw on MOTD how he missed the ball on the first goal). Zabaletta is rapidly turning into an old nag. Wilshere was clapped out long before he got to West Ham. Carlos Sanchez is definitely due to be put out to pasture. Yarmalenko is off the pace and will never improve. Snodgrass pace is better suited to Championship football. Mark Noble has improved and full marks to him, but his days in the Premiership are numbered. We try and get too many players on the cheap. Cheap stadium and cheap players. No pace.
There is something about our clapped out club that affects the morale of our players. It doesn’t strike me as a coincidence that we had problems with Payet and Arnautovic under different managers. Now you can put Anderson in that category and soon Haller. I thought Rice has a terrific game against Spurs and at times it looked like him against the rest, but he’ll soon be off and who could blame him?
And I am definitely clapped out. My mind wandered in the second half. I didn’t really want to be where I was. I’ve lost that pit in the stomach feeling. Instead, I am a zombie watching the inevitable. It seems incredible that Spurs haven’t won away for ten months. Where do you go when you abandon all hope? It’s Inferno or Hell and that’s followed by Purgatory. Join me on my journey.
One positive note. Antonio showed what can be achieved if you bring effort and enthusiasm onto the pitch.