David Moyes' Claret and Blue Army!

[hammer1975]

Nothing will convince me that we didn’t have a few players holding back subconsciously because of the pending World Cup.

Absolutely ludicrous that it was mid-season and hope it never happens again.

[Marky]

You dont think Rice still being here has anything to do with our on pitch success?

Nope

His contract ends in 2025 that’s why he is here and he is a great pro who loves the club

[The Straw]

I reckon those who just don't like Moyes will find plenty of faults with the next manager, and the one after that, and the one after that. Some people just like to moan and can't enjoy the moment. Shame for them.

[westlondonhammer]

Nope

His contract ends in 2025 that’s why he is here and he is a great pro who loves the club

Fair enough

Its all re-engineering the past anyway

Looking forward to the next 2 years of Rice then

[DublinDave]

I reckon those who just don't like Moyes will find plenty of faults with the next manager, and the one after that, and the one after that. Some people just like to moan and can't enjoy the moment. Shame for them.

Possibly...
I can agree with many of their observations though.
To me, being in a European Final & not getting relegated ranks as one of the best seasons ever, yes, the football has been turgid at times, yes Moyes could have got more out of a few players, yes he's slow to change things but even after agreeing with all of the above, I'm thinking, "We're in a European final for the first time in 47 years..!" Good job Mr Moyes, carry on...

[The Straw]

Possibly...
I can agree with many of their observations though.
To me, being in a European Final & not getting relegated ranks as one of the best seasons ever, yes, the football has been turgid at times, yes Moyes could have got more out of a few players, yes he's slow to change things but even after agreeing with all of the above, I'm thinking, "We're in a European final for the first time in 47 years..!" Good job Mr Moyes, carry on...

Definitely, me too. You have to enjoy the journey though, otherwise what's the point? You'll always be unfulfilled. West Ham aren't a club that have played consistently amazing football. And the seasons where we have won silverware, we've often finished bottom half, because we're not a giant. If you wan't it all, the style, the flair, success in the league and cups etc then you'll likely be disappointed because we have never demonstrated that in our history.

[Up the Junction]

Making out people are "constantly griping" is just trying to shout over a debate. Don't like my opinion just ignore it mate .

Thank you for the lesson in how to conduct oneself on a Forum. I shall bear that in mind.

As for ignoring your post/s - no. That's not how it works. If you post on here, your fellow members are likely to comment. And probably more so when your argument is unecessarily negative or without any basis in reality, as is the case here.

[Romford_Iron]

Having flashbacks to making a very drunk and possibly emotional (although I’d prefer passionate) posts a few days back after a few drinks.

I’ve said a few times on here that I’m not necessarily super pro-Moyes. He’s not perfect, he’s human. Even Pep overthinks things from time-to-time.

But one thing I’ve always said this season is that I just want some continuity. We’ve gone through so many managers with completely different styles over the past 10 years that we ended up with a horribly unbalanced squad with players suited for different systems. So I’ve wanted Moyes to stay for a while and build a team that is balanced and can then be improved upon. And I actually don’t think we’re too far from that.

But one thing I’m not sure has been spoken enough about is what losing Noble, Declan and Moyes all within 12 months could do to us. If Dec does leave this summer, I think it’s even more important to retain Moyes. Otherwise everything that has been built over the last few years all goes out the window. We’re also close to losing Oggy, Cresswell and Antonio as well due to old age. We need someone to bridge that gap and that’s not an easy task.

Moyes has his faults, of course he does. We all do. But he is a builder and his record in the transfer market is actually pretty good with us. You guys might laugh at that, given what has happened this season, but most of the players he signed last year are actually starting to come good.

Now that the new lot have settled and will have a full pre-season this year, it’s entirely conceivable that if we add another 4/5 key signings - there will be an uptick in form next year.

Plus if we end up winning this bloody European competition, people and players will stand up and notice. Moyes; for all his faults, has done very well in the cups and especially in Europe. Like if you’re a player choosing between Villa and us, who would you bank on doing better in europe? The newbies, or the team that has been in the semi’s and finals two years running? Moyes hasn’t just been one of our most successful managers in my life (I’m 34) but he’s also raised the profile of the club more than any other manager in my lifetime as well.

He absolutely deserves at least another season.

[Ironing Board]

I guess you know more about it than Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand?

He forgot so much about it he literally NEVER took a session at Man Utd.


Sir Alex Ferguson never once led a training session at Manchester United, reveals Ryan Giggs

Rio Ferdinand has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson never took training sessions

I would say I do. There's a reason Jock Stein had Ferguson leading the Sctoland training sessions while he concentrated on other aspects. Ferguson was taking coaching courses on his honeymoon! Moyes operates in a similar way.

The fact is, all the Man Utd coaches were simply carrying out his instructions. He was always there, observing what was going on. I am pretty sure he could have led a session quite easily if he felt the need.

He did not have an army of coaches at East Sterlingshire, St Mirren or Aberdeen, but that did not stop him having success.

Moyes is a bit more hands on but operates in a similar way.

[S-H]

Surely we can all admit that the majority of performances in the league have been horrendous, regardless of whether you've been fortunate enough to watch us away in Europe this year or not.

Yes Europe has been great this year, and might yet yield our first trophy in 40 odd years, but let's not try and dress up the league campaign as anything other than a huge disappointment, losing 20 out of 38 games is poor.

[mushy]

Old Mile End gets it.

[Albie Beck]

Surely we can all admit that the majority of performances in the league have been horrendous,

There's a lot of words that could be used to describe many of the performances. But "horrendous"? Frankly, no - that's entirely over the top if you're describing "the majority of performances", S-H.

In my opinion we have had two or three performances which could legitimately be called "horrendous" if you want to resort to hyperbole: Brighton, Newcastle, plus a handful of others which were a real letdown like Brentford.

Through much of this season Moyes has had to manage his way through a shitstorm of injuries, fixture congestion, introducing new players unused to the PL and English football, and the most key issue in my view: the coincidental loss of form of several key players: Bowen, Soucek and Antonio principal amongst those.

All to the accompaniment of a Greek Chorus from the sidelines.

That's what has been actually horrendous - so that he has got through it all with the level of relative success achieved should actually be celebrated.

[S-H]

I am celebrating Albie, believe me, but will stand by my horrendous statement, as barring the the odd good performance the majority has been extremely poor at best.

I'm not knocking Moyes, or the club's achievement's this season in any way, I'm as relieved as anyone that Moyes managed to turn things around after a poor start, but I will not pretend that we have not been poor in the majority of our league games this year.

[Rust]

I reckon those who just don't like Moyes will find plenty of faults with the next manager, and the one after that, and the one after that. Some people just like to moan and can't enjoy the moment. Shame for them.

Nice try.

I don't like Moyes but was a fan of Allardyce. And Billic. And Pellegrini.

My logic is pretty simple really:

A manager's job is to optimise his team. Moyes did that in his first 2 seasons, but this season has shown he can't do that with better players.

Negative tactics are fine if you're getting results or the pragmatism is necessary.

[Albie Beck]

"Poor in the majority of games" I wouldn't argue too much about S-H. As I said there are in my view plenty of compelling reasons for that.

I don't accept the histrionics that may people continue to post (not your particular choice of words which is as always more reasonable than many )

[Ironing Board]

Saying we were “extremely poor” in the majority of games is just nonsense unless you speak in hyperbole and don’t understand the meaning of words.

[61dicksey]

I can’t see much changing next season Moyes may have earned a reprieve with the Conference cup final but i for one could not stomach another season playing the way we did this season.
Moyes does not change his management style it is what it is , without Declan and a bit of squad rebuilding i see us struggling again .

Not many can say they enjoyed the league games the past 20 months plus and there is the problem .

[WCpete]

I have a sneaking suspicion he might do a Fergie if we win this cup. He'll retire with honors while the ship is taking on water and let someone else try to fix things. It wouldn't surprise me at all if that hasn't already been arranged, which would in part explain why he's been so relaxed the last few weeks.

[jabbaglob123]

It's been a poor season in the league no doubt. Some of Moyes' man management and squad utilisation has been horrendous this year. But he did turn it around to his credit.

I think should we win the ECL he deserves another season and a contract extension (not good to have a manager in post with a year left).

I think if we fail to win in Prague, it's best to part ways this summer and thank him for his work.

[Romford_Iron]

Sorry, but I just can’t wrap my head around anyone thinking that if he wins the ECL he deserves to stay and/or get a contract extension. Whether we win the ECL or not should have absolutely nothing to do with whether you think he should stay next season. He is either the man to take us forward or not, and that view should be based on his entire time here. Not one game, not the past 6 months, nor the past 18 months, but his entire tenure.

Like if you think the performances over the past 18 months have been terrible, that’s cool. And if you think he can’t work with better players, that’s cool too. I don’t agree, but I can see how people have that opinion. But to do a complete 180 and change your mind based on one game is absolutely ridiculous.