It’s all change at West Ham at the moment. A new manager, a bunch of new signings and, pretty soon, a brand spanking new stadium to call home.
Sam Allardyce’s departure – just minutes after the final ball of last season had been kicked – was met with nationwide criticism. How dare West Ham dream of being better than a mid-table club that occasionally flirts with relegation. How dare they show ambition. In fact, how dare they do anything other than put up with Sam Allardyce’s long ball tactics. The cheek of it!
Such criticism means Slaven Bilic’s job at West Ham will be under an even bigger spot light than normal. Get off to a dodgy start and it’ll be “see, you should’ve stuck with Fat Sam” and the Hammers faithful will be bombarded with atrocious memes of Allardyce laughing on Twitter. Get off to a flyer and you’ll every Hammer on earth saying “I told you so.”
Thankfully for West Ham fans, Bilic appears to have gotten off to a good start. Ok, so their Europa League qualifiers have been a bit dodgy so far, and they’ve not exactly been overly convincing in their friendlies, but some of the signings the Hammers have made have been pretty inspiring and are a reflection of the club’s ambition post Allardyce.
Dimitri Payet, Angelo Ogbonna, Pedro Obiang and Manuel Lanzini are all solid additions, and they’ve also brought Carl Jenkinson back for a second spell on loan from Arsenal.
Just a quick peek on Twitter will tell you all you need to know about the current feeling in the West Ham camp. The fans are excited, confident and genuinely looking forward to a new era in east London. But West Ham supporters will be the first to tell you that supporting the east London club is never an easy ride, and never really know what’s around the corner.
So what are their predictions? We collared three of the club’s most influential Twitter accounts and independent websites and asked them for their expert opinion on the coming season.
Here’s what they think will happen…
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James Jones, WestHamWorld.co.uk
James Jones is the founder and editor of www.westhamworld.co.uk, which is the fastest growing independently run West Ham site on the web. James has been a season ticket holder for 18 years, so he knows a thing or to about what to expect from the Hammers…
What the fans expect: This season happens to be the most important in the club’s recent history, so the fans are perhaps expecting a bit more than normal.
It’s our last ever season at the Boleyn Ground before moving to the Olympic Stadium so even the slightest hint of flirting with relegation and/or negativity will not go down well with the fans. At the very least we expect a top ten finish and a decent cup run – all we’re asking for is a good platform to push on from as we move home and in to an exciting new era at the club.
Anything less than that will undoubtedly be classed as a disappointment.
What they’ll actually get: Any West Ham fan that claims they’re optimistic in public will deep down be extremely worried about another disappointing season. Us Hammers have been brought up to expect the worst each week.
We’ll probably start off well again but end up mid-table once Europa League football takes its toll and several of our best players are ruled out through injury. We’ll finish 12th and crash out of all the cups at the early stages – because that’s West Ham all over.
The fact we’ve got a new manager and a load of exciting new players means the expectation level has increased tenfold, which ewually means the disappointment will be even higher when it inevitably goes wrong after Christmas.
One to watch: Dimitri Payet – it’s still a mystery as to how we managed to sign him. The Frenchman was Ligue 1’s highest assist provider last season and we only paid £12m+ for him, which already seems like a steal.
On his debut in a friendly against Southend he scored two and assisted the other in a 3-2 win, and Southend boss Phil Brown actually asked Bilic to take him off to make it a more even contest.
The rest of the squad have been raving about him in interviews, which already suggests he’s going to be a huge player for us.
Predictions: We’ll start well but the Europa League will take its toll and we’ll end up dropping off in the bottom of the table again.
We’ll crash out of the Capital One Cup to a League One side in the third round and then draw Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup to all but end our hopes of waving goodbye to the Boleyn Ground with silverware in our hands. If it doesn’t end up like that then I’ll be extremely surprised. I want to be more confident, but it’s hard to be when you’re a West Ham fan.
That said, the highlight of the season is always going to be that final ever game at the Boleyn Ground. So as long as we’re still a Premier League club by that point then I think no one will really care about what happened throughout the season.
One thing is for sure – we won’t be getting relegated.
Follow @WestHamWorld on Twitter and be sure to visit their website, here.
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Matt Bourne, ForeverWestHam.com
Matt Bourne is the editor of www.foreverwestham.com and is well versed on everything West Ham United. Here’s what he reckons will happen at the Boleyn Ground this season…
What the fans expect: The fans will want Slaven Bilic to bring back the West Ham Way and his signings so far suggest that good football is something that may be easily achievable this season.
If the Hammers continue to progress in the Europa League, fans won’t be too disappointed if Bilic secures a mid-table finish in the Premier League.
What they’ll actually get: It’ll probably take a while for Bilic to get West Ham ticking the way he wants them to and that may leave some eager fans frustrated.
The Europa League can really dislodge your season and if West Ham do progress in it their league form will suffer dramatically as the squad won’t be able to handle so many games in a short space of time. A realistic season will see West Ham finishing around 10th with the Hammers exiting the Europa League in the group stages.
One to watch: Dimitri Payet. The French playmaker has looked good in pre-season and was one of the most influential attacking midfielders in Europe last season. If West Ham can utilise him properly, he can become a huge player for the Hammers.
Predictions: Payet will prosper as the focal point of West Ham’s new attacking style and Bilic will become one of the most popular managers in the Premier League due to his outlandish style.
West Ham’s season may improve in the latter half due to the squad gelling under Bilic and the fact that they may be out of the Europa League by then could be a blessing in disguise.
Make sure you follow @Forever_WestHam on Twitter and check out their website, here.
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Calvin, westham-news.com
Calvin runs the oldest independently run Hammers Twitter account @WHUFC_News and recently launched www.westham-news.com. Given his experience in chatting with hundreds of Hammers fans on Twitter on a daily basis, he’s got a pretty good idea of what they’re expecting this season…
What the fans expect: A top-half Premier League finish and a decent Europa League campaign. In terms of transfers – a striker and a winger.
What they’ll actually get: Alex Song looks very close to joining on a free which is excellent business. The club have been looking to sign another central midfielder and I believe a striker and winger will also be joining before the close of the transfer window.
One to watch: Dimitri Payet – 21 assists last season and the most chances created in Europe. He will be a key player.
Predictions: We’re in a transition phase, it all depends on how quickly the players adapt to Bilic’s style of play. With the right signings, I predict a comfortable mid-table finish and for us to get past the group stages of the Europa League.
Make sure you follow @WHUFC_News on Twitter, and check out their new site, here.
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