Looking back at past glories is always the antidote to the reality of a worrying future. Well that’s how it is in this house.
Last weekend’s tame home draw with Spurs' reserves, that clearly replaced the time-honoured ferocious derby showdown of yesteryear, was an insult to that memory. An apathetic ‘empty white seats’ protest, just about summed up this horrible season.Digging over the ashes of a dreadful season and an appalling derby that used to be so anticipated, has been painful. So an injection of what we used to be was called for.
This past week has seen the usual end of season anniversaries, when we owned our own ground and won things. Last Saturday, 3 May, was the 50th anniversary of our second FA Cup final triumph, the 2-0 win at Wembley over what was then Bobby Moore’s Fulham. Alan Taylor got both goals and only recently sold his signed match day shirt for over £28,000, a remarkable figure.
Monday saw the 49th anniversary of the ‘forgotten’ European Cup Winners Cup final, a 4-2 defeat by Anderlecht in Brussels. A final that saw us score first by the grossly undervalued Pat Holland, the Belgian side go 2-1 up before Keith Robson equalised on 68 minutes. A dodgy penalty and a late break away ended our dreams of another Euro’ triumph.
But it was probably Frank Lampard’s soft back pass and resulting injury that damaged us most that night, allowing Anderlecht back into a game we were bossing.
And let’s not forget the 1980 Cup Final victory over Arsenal, 46 years ago on Saturday. Those were the days. Now we have a coach who seems to have lost interest in winning games, and a squad likewise disinterested and no doubt planning their exits.
Plus an owner and board quite unable to build on the European glory in Prague under David Moyes, who told Tony Cottee recently that "I gave them three years in Europe and they sacked me".
And didn’t Sunday’s pathetic match sum it all up? I do have an apology to make, though, I missed the game. This time thanks to the third world train service which failed to provide a service from Manchester to London, a last minute cancellation left us stranded. Something to do with staffing levels and no driver.
I did get to see the game, thanks to one of what my wife calls ‘ naughty sticks.’ (And I’m not going to discuss this further with those of you giggling at the back). I wore my ’75 Cup Final shirt all day, number four on the back (why that number, said her indoors).
Well it reminded me of a player who played with pride, loved the club, gave 100 per cent and more in every game and personified just what we were about, not so much now it seems. Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Tommy Soucek apart these days.
And the fans are responding to the general malaise. There were empty white seats everywhere - either fans had just run out of patience and not turned up, put their seats on ticket exchange - how many of those were sold on? - or just stayed on the concourse for a beer with their mates.
Apathy all round. Of course the club announced a 62,468 attendance (stop laughing), when it looked 20,000 short of that. And yes I know the club, like most others, announce a figure that includes season tickets. Tickets bought in the distant past when our fan base anticipated a brave new world under Julen Lopetegui, transfer market genius Tim Steidten and £150m spent on new players.
How wrong were. Sunday’s gate was bettered by 12 others this season in the mythical world of attendances.
The saddest bit, I suppose, was seeing Lucas Paqueta in tears and his wife defending her husband on social media. Referee Michael Oliver has made a few of us cry in the past, but seriously, the way the FA have dragged out this ‘betting’ case is scandalous.
Two years, his career in ruins, his life a mess and his mental health seemingly damaged. He’s going to get an answer soon, but nobody deserves this treatment.
Since then the atmosphere around the club has turned even more toxic. Another somewhat disingenuous article online, placed it seems to turn the screw on Graham Potter. Three wins in 16 games does not look good on the CV.
The article claimed there had been more fighting on the training pitch, not unusual anywhere in the country, but much more of this and Eddie Hearn will be considering our squad to fill the under-card of his next promotion.
And there were suggestions Potter is struggling under the pressures of managing West Ham and it was effecting his home life (I can only suggest that West Ham losing with this regularity does nothing for my home life either).
And all this with David Sullivan limbering up for his assault on the summer transfer window now he’s back running the show. It’s been made pretty clear that Sullivan didn’t really want Potter as manager, and was not in favour initially of a two-and-a-half year contract. He took a back seat then and Karren Brady completed the negotiations, the need somewhat desperate as Lopetegui’s tenure started to collapse all around him.
That’s the future. Will Potter have to put up with Sullivan acquisitions, or does he get the money from player sales and his own way on how to rebuild a fractured squad, facing Manchester United on Sunday. Always a trial at Old Trafford.
Is this the blueprint to make West Ham great again? You can understand my concerns on that subject. There’s only so much history to fall back on these days!
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