Harry Fitzpatrick > With the ‘magic’ 40-point mark reached on Monday, there was a collective sigh of relief in East London. Moyes had achieved his pre-season target of survival in mid-February, something even the most optimistic fans wouldn’t have predicted at the start of the season. This does not mean we can down tools. Moyes built his career on consistent top half finishes at Everton, regularly pushing European football and occasionally breaking into the Champions League places. This is something he will want to replicate at West Ham and, in his second stint in charge, he has us well placed to do so.

The most important thing in football is often said to be consistency. For too long we have enjoyed a sporadic but promising top half finish only to follow it up with a relegation battle. This has led to the 40-point mark being widely celebrated regardless of when it arrives. For us to reach the standard of the Everton of old, we must simply see 40 as another number, not a reason to celebrate. Will Arsenal be so jubilant at the 40-points mark when they reach it? As long as we see this as an achievement, I fear that our progress will be held back. 

Granted, this season had exceptionally low expectations heading into it, and many did not see how we would survive again. However, with the exceptional standards we have set so far, who’s to say we can’t have some away days on the continent later this year. The positivity at the club has not been so good in years and we have all the pieces in place for this to last for a few years yet.

The real challenge will be maintaining those pieces. Keeping Rice and growing the squad with more gems will not be simple, but we are in a much better position than countless other teams in this league to keep pushing forwards. Moyes has expressed his desire to only buy the right man and has vowed to stop adding to our long list of transfer failures from the last decade. Whether he manages to achieve this only time will tell, but his transfer record over the last 12 months has been impeccable. With the money brought in by a good finish this season, Moyes will have a bigger budget to bring in some more fan favourites and add vital depth to a currently thin squad. To help him achieve this goal, the manager has requested improvements to the scouting network and demanded final say on transfers, something which his predecessors have been unable to do.

With these improvements to the club, we can forget the ‘magic mark’ of 40 points and be looking nearer the 55-60 region more consistently to truly crack into the ‘big six’. With Leicester looking likely to be competing on the continent for consecutive seasons next year the top six is already fragile, not to mention the state Arsenal and Tottenham find themselves in this year. There will not be a better opportunity for a long time to stake our claim to join these clubs and force our way into the conversation around them. If there is a manager in the league I would back to do it, it is David Moyes.