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Humiliation is the only word. Humiliation of a coach, a team, humiliation of the whole club in full, painful view of the whole football world.

The defeat at Wolves is more than just embarrassing, it has been described as the worst performance by anyone in Premier League history. A bit strong maybe, but maybe ask the 3,000 away following at Molineux. It was the game that finally broke their hearts and they turned on the team.




What we witnessed at the end of the match, those moments when teams turn to their fans to applaud them, to thank them for their effort, their time and their money, was painfully depressing to say the very least.

Now I’ve been part of West Ham’s remarkably understanding away support for more years, decades, that I can remember, they are the best of us. I’ve never witnessed the anger, fury and yes, personal abuse, that rained down on a team that had just been dismantled by the worst side in the division, a side that in January had still not won a league match. And then they ran into our shambolic side.

And now Wolves have won only two games this season. Both against us. Maybe the alarm bells should have been ringing back in August when West Ham - under the now obviously deluded Graham Potter - lost 3-2 in the Carling Cup at Wolves having been 2-1 ahead with eight minutes left.

That was a shock, but on Saturday at a bitterly cold Molineux the defeat was a disaster that could well see us relegated. And our fans lost it.

The abuse that they aimed at the players meant several turned away and headed for the tunnel, as their coach Nuno Espirito Santo had done long ago. But some stayed, some decided to take it on the chin. Captain Jarrod Bowen was long gone by then.

And in the midst of this chaos Tomas Soucek, a hero of Prague stood motionless, watching and listening. Mateus Fernandes stayed, as did Kyle Walker-Peters, but it was Soucek that stood out. How much this must have hurt a player who has given blood for West Ham.




This really was not his responsibility, not his fault. He’d been sent on at the break to try to stem the Wolves tide that had overwhelmed our young midfield. Freddie Potts and Soungoutou Magassa didn’t make the cut.

Now I know this is not a popular view and like everyone I’ve wanted to see these kids given a run in the side. But this is what happens eventually when you play three - sometimes four - players 22 or under, in the Premier League. And with a 20 year-old, Ollie Scarles at left back.

Potts and Magassa were overrun, Fernandes never stopped wanting the ball but created nothing, Scarles played his heart out and never stopped trying but it was still a trying afternoon.

They need games, but they also need to be taken out of the fray occasionally, to come to terms with their new environment. But with a hopeless squad, gutted of experience several months ago and with inadequate replacement, that’s something we cannot do.

These kids should not take the blame for the shocking transfer dealings of the past couple of years. Between them, these four lads have just 68 first team games for West Ham. There are worse culprits further up the food chain, on and off the pitch, who are responsible for this mess. But some at the ground and on social media have started to doubt them, which is wildly missing the point.

Saturday’s debacle has been a while in the making. The ownership, for appointing the wrong people and sanctioning the transfer mess we are in, should be first in line. The demised of our club has started to shock people. Alan Shearer on Match of the Day said: “They were weak, woeful, pathetic,, useless. All of those things.” Pretty accurate assessment.

The performance was mind-numbingly bad. In that first half it was hard to know where to start. Jermain Defoe made the point, there is a difference between working hard and competing.




He said: “When you are seeing players shooting from the edge of the box and your players are not engaging or making contact, there’s the problem.”

He no doubt meant Dino Mavropanos turning his back away from Mateus Mane, who fired in the third without hindrance. It was like that all the time, Wolves players running through midfield as they liked.

The highlights when I finally got home from the frozen streets of Wolverhampton - no mean feat for someone a bit dodgy on their pins these days - were horrific. Maybe Alphonse Areola could have done better with that shot, but he’s nowhere near the top of the list for blame these days.

Whatever central defensive partnership we put out, it’s a nightmare. Max Kilman looks like he’s playing without any desire, conviction or belief. And it says something that when we switched to three at the back, 18 year-old Ezra Mayers on the left of a three looked our best defender. He was assured and did the simple things properly.

There was no Lucas Paqueta or Jean-Clair Todibo to blame this time but Cry Summerville, who was denied a couple of clear penalties early on, just runs up blind alleys and produces little. Callum Wilson, on for the whole match, was totally ineffective. What must Pablo Felipe have thought, huddled in the cold on the bench? This, he now knows, is not Portugal in the sun.

You could go on and on about the inadequacies of our side, and a coach that does not seem to have a system, tactics of the ability to change a match. But with this squad it’s hard to see where to turn. Four kids on the bench with Igor or Guido Rodriguez the supposed trusted experience. Good luck there, mate.




But it always comes back to David Sullivan. The 'No More BS' red card protest has an increasing take-up. Plenty on show and banners. And getting the right exposure for a change, helped by the way Wolves house the away following. They use the lower tier of the stand opposite the cameras and dug outs, so any protest is constantly seen.

And that of course allows the clickbait fools on Talksport to launch into our fans for protests they claim upset the team. What utter nonsense.

Hammers United/the Fan Advisory Board (FAB) have consistently made it clear that any protest is aimed at the regime and not the team. Maybe Talksport should aim at the real culprits for West Ham’s demise - and that’s the board, Sullivan and Karren Brady. They make the decisions, they are responsible shambles that has followed just two years or so since we won a European trophy.

Sullivan, though, is in a hole. Derided by songs from the terraces at Wolves, he now has a coach with two wins and 11 points from 15 games and no wins in nine. That gets most managers the sack, but now we have Santo and his agent Jorge Mendes seemingly running this transfer window so sacking Nuno needs bravery, a steady hand and a decent replacement.

And I don’t mean Slaven Bilic, who is way past his sell-by date. Michael Carrick, Mark Noble's mate with a strong knowledge of the Championship would be my choice. But then what do I know.

So it’s Nottingham Forest next at home. Sean Dyce will have them fired up - they produced an excellent display before losing to Manchester City recently.

But whatever happens from now on, nobody will forget the nightmare of Molineux, the humiliation and the shame. That’s on you Mr. Sullivan. You have brought this great club to its knees. Shame on you.


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