You wait for ages for a survey and low and behold, two turn up at the same time to gauge your opinion, though the askers couldn’t be more further from each other than what they want to know.
First to announce they were organising survey was Hammers United who spent the time beforehand working the social media circuit to get the word out what they were undertaking.
Now I’m not a believer in coincidence, especially when it comes down to the way West Ham as a club operates, but even they surprised me with the announcement that they had put together a survey themselves for the fan base to take. The email announcing this dropped into my inbox on Friday, while we had prior knowledge of what Hammers United was doing, they were not going live till Sunday.
Imitation is a form of flattery and the fact the club have resorted to this for me shows that they are rattled by the existence and support Hammers United have.
I have taken both surveys and both seem to take you on a path to the answer they want, HU survey did give you the opportunity to be positive about the club, while the club’s survey was more structured in their favour to get the outcome they want. If the club really wanted a true reflection of what the fanbase really think they would have allowed the opportunity for the more negative side to be expressed, aside from the comment box.
Hammers United are hoping for as many fans as possible can take their survey, they are looking outside their membership as well as trying to get their 17,000 members to take part. A good move by them as if they want to be seen as more than just a protest movement that some do see them as then this is a good step for them to take.
What will be interesting as well will be how much of the results we get to see and specifically I’m looking at the clubs survey when I say that, they actually have more to lose in doing theirs than HU do.
See Hammers United website for the survey details and for West Ham survey I’m sure you all got the email.
http://hammersunited.com/our-supporter-survey-is-open/
I see now that West Brom has dispensed with the services of Slaven Billic, they have not had the best start to the season but they are not cut adrift and still could possibly have stayed up. The games in December come thick and fast and the point they gained v Man City looked to be decent but it seems the board had already made their mind up to let him go and not only that, it looks like the replacement was already lined up in another Ex-manager of ours.
I had hoped we had seen the last of him as a football manager his brand of football has no place for me in our so-called forward-looking elite league, but yet he turns up at another club in trouble highlighting the fact that the only club that will hire him, do so out of desperation and not for any footballing style or substance.
Like an oil company watching one of their fields on fire and seeing money literally disappearing up in smoke, the Red Adair of football management comes to possibly resue WBA.
It is said his teams don’t go down and I have always liked WBA but now, I hope they go down.
Talking of going down, while unlikely its still an outside possibility that Londons biggest team could yet be relegated. For as unusual is it that we are sitting high up seeing Arsenal struggling at the bottom brings me joy. In fact, I would absolutely love them to go down.
I don’t dislike Arsenal as a club but seeing the clips of the so-called fans that appear regularly on AFTV and they way they choose to support ( i use that in its loosest form) the team not only brings shame on the club but teh popularity of that form of the show has meant many now see the mental rage breakdown rant whenever the club loses a game is a way to achieve some type of cult celebrity fame.
They have created a genre and sadly it seems to be growing. Football is an emotional game but the bile that spews from those people for me shows they have lost the meaning of what the word supporter is.
Defeats will happen, some teams will lose more than they win, we know that as much as any other fans base, but the personal abuse they throw out at their own players, managers overstep the mark.
If I was an Arsenal player and ever caught site of what they spewed it would make me think twice of wanting to represent them. I certainly hope to never see any West Ham fan behave in that way.
Until we meet again