A Stroll in the Park

Well, as I predicted in my last article, the Arsenal match was our last "meaningful" match of the season, unless you count pride being at stake against Leeds to gain the 8th position spot or for losing 5-1 last time, but that was down to that useless referee Harris, not the Yorkshiremen.

But I think if Hammers fans were honest, the dire display against Middlesborough the week before, cost us any chance of getting into Europe. It’s those sort of displays which need to be ironed (excuse the pun) out before next season.

I’ve been having a running argument with a friend of mine, which we found could be looked at in two ways, regarding our inconsistantcy. I suggested that it was partially down to Harry Redknapp to stop the team getting overconfident after good results, whilst he said that Harry Redknapp was doing well in not letting the team go on a long run of defeats. Two ways of looking at the same end result. For instance look at this run of results this season:

Leicester 1 – 3 WHUFC

Southampton 2 – 1 WHUFC

WHUFC 5 – 4 Bradford

WHUFC 0 – 4 Everton

Watford 1 – 2 WHUFC

WHUFC 2 – 0 Southampton

Shef Weds 3 – 1 WHUFC

My argument was that, injuries aside, we should be expecting wins and draws, not defeats, against all of these teams. None are in the top 6, yet apart from Watford, who anybody could beat home and away all season, this sequence ran win-loss, win-loss etc. So, is this down to over confidence or is it a major feat that we didn’t go on a losing run?

I think the former, obviously, but I would hope that most Hammers fans agree that we would hope our team is certainly capable of drawing the matches we lost.

So I would, at least partially, have to go along with Harry Redknapp's assertion that this wasn’t a bad season, it could have been better without all of our injuries, but should he think about whether the teams "mental attitude" could be improved? I think that the Middlesbrough defeat was another prime example of my theory. Running on the back of our 5-0 defeat of Coventry, I don’t think that anyone who was at Upton Park could say we had the attitude of a team who really wanted to get into Europe and, I think, we looked like a team who thought they could "stroll it". Boro are not very good at all but they deserved to win that day.

Well, that’s my theory anyway and I’m sure I’ll get slated for it. However, we shouldn't get on the players or the managers backs because they have been up against ridiculous odds this season, what with our terrible injury list, the refs versus Di Canio, Manny, etc.

At the end of the season you have to look at where we've ended up, and that will be 9th and that is about right for the aforementioned reasons. This gives us an idea of how good our players / team are, so considering the money we have available to spend, then on the whole, we have above average players / team - nothing more, nothing less.

I can't see us buying anyone in particular during the summer. Besides, it will be like having half a new team joining us by getting all our crocks back. If the official side of the game looks in our favour next season, and being as were not in Europe, then I think we should do well next season. But let us please have a serious look at why we can be so inconsistent. I’ll leave you with the thoughts of Harry; (courtesy of Teamtalk)

"It's been a good season, we started very early in the Intertoto Cup and will all be looking forward to a break," said Harry.

"It's another top ten finish for West Ham, and people don't realise that West Ham have only finished in the top ten 14 times in their history in a hundred and odd years. It's also the first time West ham have had three years on the trot finishing inside the top ten.

"So in all it's not been a bad season for us."

"I've got 13 players injured at the moment and I'm not talking about reserve players, I'm talking about players that would be in my team."

* Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.

* Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the highlighted author/s and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy or position of KUMB.com.


More Opinion