It is starting to feel very much like the last days of Sam Allardyce at West Ham and David Moyes has cupped the ear.
They say all good things come to an end. And David Moyes has indisputably been a good thing for West Ham.
The Scot finds himself under mounting pressure to save his job. That’s despite being on the verge of signing a contract extension a matter of weeks ago as the Hammers ended 2023 on a high by beating Arsenal to consolidate their place in the top six.
No wins in eight games in 2024 so far means West Ham could find themselves in the bottom half in the next 10 days – if the winless run is not brought to an end.
The division among fans over the manager has a toxicity which puzzles West Ham outsiders and will remind many of the Sam Allardyce tenure.
And with good reason.
It’s all starting to feel like the last days of Allardyce at West Ham
Because it feels like the last days of Allardyce at West Ham and Moyes has cupped the ear.
For all his faults and charming but pig-headed nature, Allardyce did a superb job during his four years at West Ham.
Big Sam was the bitter medicine West Ham needed when he got them by the scruff of the neck and into shape to bounce back to the Premier League in 2011/12.
He then helped consolidate the Hammers in the top flight before reaching a point where most felt he could not take the team any further due to his style of play and approach.
That was perhaps best emphasised by Allardyce cupping his ear to West Ham fans who jeered the team off during a turgid victory over Hull.
Sound familiar?
And David Moyes has cupped the ear
Moyes cupped the ear – in a figurative sense – to West Ham fans when he declared after the defeat to Forest that he has delivered the best years the club has had for decades. He’s not wrong of course.
But the striking similarities between the last days of Allardyce and now don’t end there.
After four seasons, Allardyce and West Ham parted company following the end of the 2014/15 campaign which saw the Hammers fade from a superb start – fourth at Christmas – to finish 12th in the Premier League.
When West Ham fans were calling for change back then they were warned by the football media at large – and Allardyce’s remaining backers at the club – to ‘be careful what you wish for’.
But – via some ups and down with Slaven Bilic, Manuel Pellegrini and Moyes – the latter proved there was room for progress, potential to be better. Nobody in the media was telling West Ham fans to be careful what they wished for when Bilic led the club to an unforgettable final season at Upton Park.
And since then Moyes has finished sixth and seventh and won West Ham their first trophy for 43 years. So there was better out there for the Hammers.
Fans were right to call time on stale Allardyce tenure before, so what makes them wrong about Moyes now?
Moyes is a better manager than Allardyce. But, like Big Sam before him, things appear to be going stale.
A ceiling appears to have been reached. Many fans are bored and they should not be chastised for wanting to be entertained and get results.
It is ok to think Moyes has done a marvellous job – which he has – and expect to see progress and a better style of football. If Aston Villa and Spurs can expect both then why not West Ham?
There will be better coaches out there than Moyes in terms of style and approach. Just as Moyes was ultimately an upgrade on Allardyce.
Just because Pellegrini did not work out doesn’t mean West Ham must shackle themselves to the confines of the British Isles.
There are better, more progressive coaches out there – but can Hammers hierarchy be trusted to find them?
Look at Roberto de Zerbi, Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso to name but three. Had any of those been linked as replacements for Moyes at West Ham before their appointments at their current clubs there would have been uproar in the media.
There are other progressive young managers doing great things around Europe too who could surely be lured to West Ham. Ruben Amorim at Sporting, Arne Slot at Feyenoord, Thiago Motta with Bologna, Francesco Farioli at Nice and many more besides.
It is all about identifying the right man, with the right philosophy at the right time.
Those who remain very much Moyes in – understandably – don’t trust the Hammers hierarchy to get that call right.
And that is West Ham’s biggest dilemma at this managerial crossroads.
Moyes does not deserve to be sacked mid-season. Like Allardyce he has earned the right to see out his contract no matter how strongly anyone feels on the matter.
Now it is up to West Ham’s higher ups – and presumably Tim Steidten if he sticks around – to identify a man who can take the club on in ways Moyes can’t.
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