SHARE

BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks believes that West Ham United are fortunate to stay up.

The Hammers confirmed their place in next season’s Premier League campaign with an impressive 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium on Friday night.

In Garth Crooks’ BBC Sport feature, the goal scorer and West Ham hero Manuel Lanzini was named in the Premier League team of the week.

Crooks had a sly dig at the owners in his blurb on Lanzini, saying:

 

“It’s official: West Ham are safe and they can look forward to next season in the Premier League.

“There will be fans who expect much more than mid-table mediocrity from the Hammers, some of whom spend most of their time sitting in the directors’ box.”

 

Crooks went on to claim that the Irons are lucky to have survived in the top flight this season, citing reasons such as losing Dimitri Payet and moving to the London Stadium.

The football pundit added that without Slaven Bilic and Manuel Lanzini, West Ham may well be staring relegation in the face at the moment.

Garth Crooks added:

 

“However, they [those hoping for a higher place finish] are deluding themselves.

“West Ham have gone through a tremendous upheaval this season and in my opinion they are lucky to have survived.

“In fact, without Slaven Bilic and Manuel Lanzini I doubt whether they would have.

“Bilic has been the man given the responsibility of managing the transition of moving to a new stadium and the departure of Dimitri Payet – a wonderful player but a disruptive influence.”

 

West Ham now have an unassailable lead over Hull, who occupy the final relegation spot, going into the final two games of the season.

It is time to breathe easy and start looking ahead to (hopefully) a better campaign next season.