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West Ham have by far the worst stadium in the Premier League… David Moyes’ success just made fans forget it
Scot is set to take charge of his final home match at London Stadium this Saturday
HOPEFULLY Julen Lopetegui has not been bold enough to have a sneaky tour of his new East London workplace yet.
With David Moyes still in the death throes of his four and a half remarkable years as West Ham manager, even the Spaniard with a habit of going behind people’s backs surely wouldn’t have done that?
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Because if he has, then he might not be quite so keen to replace the man who ended the club’s 43 year wait for a trophy and by and large removed the soft underbelly of the so-called Irons.
Moyes should receive a rousing send off in his final home game against Luton.
More than 60,000 claret and blue Cockneys will for once channel entirely positive emotion towards a coach who has perennially struggled to convince the purists he is the right man for the job.
Love will pour down from the sweeping curve of the London Stadium. Of course, Moyes might not hear it because most fans are so far away from the dugout they need Ukraine weapons-grade binoculars to point him out in the distance.
That has been forgotten for a large part of the past three seasons in particular as West Ham enjoyed successive and successful European campaigns.
Winning the trophy that enables cocky West Ham fans to sing of being ‘champions of Europe’, those intoxicating European nights, the general feeling that the team would no longer rollover at home for the visits of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, has helped them forget.
Moyes made them forget that they have by far the worst home ground in the entire Premier League. A stadium totally unfit for the purpose of staging regular football matches.
One that can work on big European nights when the fans have electrified their voices in the nearby Carpenters Arms pub before kick off, but one which drains your soul during routine home games against the likes of Burnley or Everton.
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A home ground where giant trampolines separate supporters from the action. Temporary seating and scaffolding trying to bring the players and crowd closer.
When West Ham are playing badly but winning, issues with the rented stadium are pushed aside.
David Moyes reveals why Declan Rice is behind West Ham's horror run of form
If they are playing badly and losing, the whole festering sore surfaces and the frustration will be aimed once more at chairman David Sullivan and his vice-chair Karren Brady.
It wasn’t that long ago that fans were invading the pitch, that 8,000 turned out in protest against the owners, that Sullivan was hit in the eye by a coin thrown from the crowd.
Moyes has been an effective human shield with his consistent if not entirely pretty brand of success.
This is what Lopetegui has to contend with. West Ham are facing a season minus the giddying effect of European football. It’s the Carabao Cup second round for the new man next term.
For a former manager of Real Madrid, it’s a sobering proposition.
Club staff have done sterling work to get the party atmosphere going when West Ham are up against Continental opposition. Particularly in the knockout stages.
Fireworks and booming DJs to kick start the crowd like a defibrillator. And it has worked on occasion.
The new manager won't have those heady evenings to ride the wave with the supporters the way Moyes has been able to.
No ground is a cauldron every week and fans should play their part too. But at the London Stadium it is an uphill battle.
Moyes knew what West Ham needed even if it wasn’t always what the fans wanted. He hasn’t been perfect but those managers are few and far between.
This season in particular there have been some horrendous results, Chelsea last Sunday springs to mind, as does Arsenal and Crystal Palace in the recent past. His regime has been slowly disintegrating for months.
Signings haven’t come off. To date he hasn’t cracked it with the centre forward his team badly needs to take over in time from Michail Antonio. That is countered by the acquisition of Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez.
There have also been some great results: Spurs and Arsenal away; Manchester United at home.
Amid recent wobbles a crust of reliability has been constructed, unlike before. Lopetegui needs that new manager bounce. But not on one of those trampolines.
JIM'S GOT IT WRONG
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HONOURED while avoiding tax, now laying down the law to ordinary staff at Manchester United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s recent diktats to rank-and-file workers at the club come straight from the Tory textbook of how not to manage people.
Page one being pick on those at the bottom of the food chain, not the multi-millionaire manager or players who are the ones really letting United down.
Lecturing the IT geeks about untidiness in their office is a dangerous game. Graham from the helpdesk will save everybody’s life at some point.
And there is a simple solution to claims the Under-18 and U21 dressing rooms are in a state — give them a dustpan and brush.
Apart from the fact United have not had a decent sweeper for years, it will ingrain a sense of humility and cleanliness in mind and body that may just pay off in a few years.
SHAUN SPOT ON
SHAUN MURPHY was right in a TV debate on whether snooker should quit its famous Crucible home.
Having listened to veiled threats the World Championship will move to China or Saudi Arabia if Sheffield does not upgrade its iconic theatre, or find an alternative venue in the city, former world champ
The Magician asked one simple question: “So just where are these supposed offers?”
He is right as snooker’s bosses should come out and put on public display any concrete bids to host the tournament elsewhere.
That’s if they really want to be taken seriously.
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PREM GREENS UP
A DETAILED report this week maps the green credentials of all 20 Premier League teams.
Sport Positive’s exhaustive work got clubs to reveal what they are doing to reduce the considerable carbon footprint made by the richest league in the world.
It’s easy to bash Manchester City, who will no doubt continue flying to Dubai for pre-season and warm-weather training.
But, while they could all do more, the biggest clubs in the country are slowly starting to grasp the idea of climate change.
As you would expect, switched-on Brighton are leading the way, with free travel for fans inside a designated zone around the Amex Stadium on production of a match ticket.
However, seven clubs have sustainable transport policies in place, six have net zero targets — and that’s nothing to do with scoring goals.
All have vegan food options on their menus, which, if the resultant wind power can be harnessed, could power the floodlights, too!
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POST HASTE
ANGE POSTECOGLOU faces ‘Hobson’s choice’ next week.
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Spurs really need a win but beating Manchester City at home could hand hated rivals Arsenal the Prem title.
No way the Tottenham boss will want to chuck it in but their fans in the boozer might not see it that way.
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