David Moyes might have just had his ‘Sam Allardyce’ moment as manager of West Ham United football club.
The Hammers are in real trouble at the moment.
Moyes’s men have begun their Premier League campaign in woeful form, and are currently sitting just two points clear of the relegation zone.
The Europa Conference League form has kind of been papering over the cracks.
And Sunday’s defeat to Crystal Palace led to a lot of Moyes’s most staunch supporters calling for a change in management.
It was his reaction after the match that really got under the skin of so many Hammers fans though.
The Scot mocked the West Ham fans with his ‘there are a lot of experts in the stands’ comments. It was totally unacceptable from Moyes, and gave me a serious case of Déjà vu…
David Moyes just had his ‘Sam Allardyce’ moment in charge of West Ham
Big Sam was West Ham manager for four years from 2011-2015.
There were actually some good times throughout that period, none more so than our promotion to the Premier league in 2012.
In 2015 though, things began to turn toxic, with Allardyce’s boring, negative brand of football failing to get fans up off their seats.
When you come in and the team are struggling, those kind of hard-working, defensive displays are acceptable. There comes a time when the team need to make real progress though and it’s just not good enough any more.
Things came to a head for Allardyce at Upton Park during a 2-1 win over Hull City. The Hammers fans booed him and the team after the game for what they perceived to be a poor performance, despite the win.
Allardyce responded by cupping his ear with his hand in the direction of the fans and then criticising them in his post-match press conference.
The 68-year-old’s relationship with the fans never recovered. Things turned toxic and is was a really slippery slope from that point onwards.
There are huge similarities between Allardyce’s behaviour and Moyes’s sly dig at the West Ham fans.
David Moyes’ ‘lot of experts out there’ comments really was his Sam Allardyce moment at West Ham.
Moyes needs to learn that West Ham fans don’t take kindly to being spoken down to. And if he is to remain in his role at the London Stadium, he needs to start accepting some criticism from the outside. Then he might be ready to make the much-needed changes on the pitch.
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