This is an article written by @whufcbulletin

Following this afternoon’s 3-0 defeat to Newcastle United, the club finds itself in a minor crisis at the very start of this 2017/2018 Premier League Campaign. As a result of the defeats, many fans, including myself have called for a change, however, the problems at the club span far beyond the three defeats at the beginning of this season. As well as poor management, there are also problems with the club’s training, facilities, ownership, and organisation. All of these problems seem to now be coming to a head and have led to poor results on the pitch for over a year now. As I previously said, the problems at West Ham have been apparent for far longer than this season, as a club, we have been underachieving massively for over a year.

I will first start by talking about the manager, Slaven Bilic. From what I understand, Bilic is seriously considering resigning. I think it would be better for him than prolonging the wait for the inevitable sack. He can go with some reputation still intact rather than suffer the indignation of being told to go. He had a great first season, in our last season at the Boleyn and fans still remember him for that, if he walked out the door, he would come out less tainted than he would if he waited and was sacked. Unfortunately, at least from my point of view, Slaven Bilic has proved that in many ways he is tactically lacking and is simply manipulated by the board room to save his position thus producing some very strange and contradictory decisions. Bilic struggles to set up defences and that has led us to concede ten goals in our first three matches. Furthermore, Bilic’s selection has also become more than questionable. In the game today, he decided to play Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Edimilson Fernandes in midfield ahead of Cheikhou Kouyate, Pedro Obiang and Manuel Lanzini. It is this sort of decision making which makes many fans very wary of him and unsure of his tactics. I don’t want to attack him or be anti-Bilic, he is a great guy and i’m sure he will be a successful manager in the future, however, he has lost his way and made his stay at the club untenable. Furthermore, whatever tactics Bilic is trying to use, they clearly aren’t working. Either he is not delivering them properly or the players aren’t suited to them as the team seems confused and without a gameplan whenever it comes out to play, today’s defeat to Newcastle being the perfect example of this. As a side, we failed to cope with a team which was essentially from the championship. Our defence was all over the place and there was no gameplan whatsoever. It is for this reason especially that I believe Slaven Bilic must be replaced, however, do believe that he may well walk himself in the near future. As I have already said, it’s not just three games, it’s a continuation from last season & the manner of the 3 defeats. There is too much baggage from the season before & there are too many problems still apparent & growing. It’s been clear for a long time that he’s lost the players even the new ones. No one buys into what he’s doing nor do they understand it. The board have to take the blame as they made a decision at the end of last season to stick with him when it was clear a fresh start was needed for both parties.

Furthermore, the Training regime is still poor. The training is permanently set at very low work levels and there is little attention paid to tactics during sessions. Coaches such as Julien Dicks are brought in to make the fans believe that training is successful and efficient, however, I can assure you, Julien Dicks does little more than put out the cones and hand our bibs, he has little to no say in the way the team play. This lack of tactical understanding between the players and the coaching staff leads to yet more confusion on matchday and this is simply more of a reason for why the team is coming out with such horrendous results. This somewhat leads into the next point about facilities. Although some document that Rush Green is an excellent training complex, it misses a number of key features. It is no coincidence that West Ham’s injury list is one of the longest in the league, and it is not just because we play ‘a physical style of football’. The complex misses out key features which help with the fitness of the players, the absence of an ice bath for muscular recovery being an example of this. Players such as Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho must train in an environment where injuries can be dealt with easily and avoided, however at the current complex, this is not so.

Moreover, there are still problems with the ownership too. The new manager that will inevitably come in must be allowed to manage the team with out interference or pressure from the chairman. An appointment of a knowledgeable director of football such as Txiki Begiristain is also important to oversee the development of the club from transfers, the academy to ensuring the training ground has up to date facilities to ensure the proper growth and development of the club, players and stadia.

The club has catapulted in size and stature and the Board must bring in professionals in the right areas, they cannot continue to attempt to micro manage everything if we are to be successful. David Sullivan has always tried to do everything by himself and this has often led to him being overwhelmed. This is the majority of the reason for why Lanzini has not been offered a new contract. Sullivan is so busy working ’22 hours a day’ that he is too involved in the transfers and then doesn’t have time to negotiate new contracts with players. A director of football would deal with these issues and make sure every part of the club is working well.

The club has grown significantly in the past few years and so it is no surprise that it is enduring these problems, however, it is important to solve them and get them out of the way before they turn into long-term issues and we get relegated!

Posted 6 days ago by whufcbulletin here: http://www.whufcbulletin.com/2017/08/the-situation-at-west-ham.html#!/2017/08/the-situation-at-west-ham.html