West Ham’s board really do divide opinions and cause many an argument online and down the pub. If social media is to be believed, they are a toxic influence at West Ham and need to be removed as soon as possible.
Twitter gives people a platform to be more vocal then they might be in person but the negativity has to stem from somewhere. For me, the biggest transgressions the board have committed are the false promises and spun information.
They have promised a lot but delivered very little over the past few years. We are frequently told we will have an amazing transfer window, only to feel disappointed.
We were promised a world-class stadium with many other perks which for one reason or another never were fulfilled. We have also been given a manager who wouldn’t have been anyone’s top choice (although there didn’t appear to be a great deal of alternative options) and for many fans enough is enough.
I think for some taking the club away from our home to a stadium with many initial problems on the promise of attracting world-class players was a step too far and will never be repaired. We miss the old stadium so much and although I was behind the move at the time, it isn’t what I thought it was going to be.
This said, I am prepared to give the board until the summer to finalise my judgment on whether they can take the club forward. David Moyes has been given a six-month contract on the promise he either does an amazing job or we get a top manager in during the summer.
Whoever is in charge needs to be backed heavily in the transfer market because we cannot continue to have a disappointing season after season because this is not what we were promised when we moved.
Sometimes I also look at other clubs and think I am glad I do not have their chairmen in charge. It is very easy to say you want the board out and for them to be replaced but can we say this will improve us? There are so many “big” clubs who have fallen into the football wilderness through having the wrong people in charge.
In every recent window, we have broken our transfer record and we bought some big-name players this summer including Javier Hernández – the forward that most fans wanted and the manager certainly did. We have a board that do support the club and the fact that we see anything below mid-table in the top division as a disappointment shows we have progressed.
I do believe anyone who was in charge when the London Stadium became available would have taken the opportunity with both hands. Whether they would have handled the sensitivities surrounding our move with more care is the million dollar question, while we will never know if different owners would have spent more in the transfer window.
One thing is for sure – if you are behind them or not – we need to reunite as a fanbase. Regardless of whoever is the manager, the chairman or the tea lady, we need this club with our stadium to remain in the Premier League because relegation could lead to massive problems for the club we all ultimately support.
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