West Ham are in dire straits at the moment.
The Hammers sit just one point clear of the relegation zone, and if they lose to Southampton this weekend, they could very well be inside the bottom three by the time Christmas rolls around.
West Ham fans were sold the promise of Champions League football when they moved into their new stadium in the summer of 2016.
But that couldn’t look further away from reality at the moment.
Back in the summer of 2016, Paul Merson thought the Hammers were close to sitting at the top table.
He predicted that West Ham would crack the top four by 2019. The former Arsenal man was asked how long he thought it would be before the Hammers finished inside the top four, when speaking on the Sky Sports’ Fantasy Football podcast:
“Within the next three years.”
Obviously those comments could not have been more wrong. West Ham are closer to relegation than they are Champions League football.
The Hammers moved Slaven Bilic on in 2018 in order to try and move to the next level. They appointed Manuel Pellegrini 18 months ago, and that really hasn’t worked out.
It seems like now is the time for the Chilean to be moved on. The problems at West Ham run much deeper than their manager, however.
The board, the training facilities and the stadium all need addressing.
And Champions League football is a long, long way away for the Hammers.
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