It’s a strange feeling to witness such negativity and anger amongst fellow West Ham fans following a victory that might just be the one that secures our Premier League status for another at least another season.
The boos that echoed around the Boleyn Ground on Wednesday night, after the referee blew time on 2-1 victory over Hull, were unexpected and extremely surreal. How on earth could there be such a reaction after such an important win?
Sam Allardyce’s approach has been criticised by many fans from day dot, but last night’s woeful showing against ten-man Hull appeared to be the last straw for supporters who are parting with their hard earned cash to watch ‘ugly football’ and negative tactics – me included.
There are two sides to the story, though. Two ways you can look at the way Allardyce and his style is being adopted at Upton Park. Would we rather play the way we do under Big Sam and ensure Premier League football, or do we sacrifice our flight status for Championship football and financial insecurity, as well as the potential of playing in a 54,000 Olympic Stadium in the second tier of English football.
Fans will talk about roots and the ‘West Ham way,’ but that’s irrelevent when you consider how much the game has changed since the last time we actually played the ‘West Ham way,’ which has to be well over a decade ago now.
The fans are split in opinion. Some would rather pretty football in the Championship. Others want ugly football in the Premier League. While there are some who are looking at the bigger picture and realising that the Olympic Stadium is our ultimate goal and that Sam Allardyce’s are undoubtedly numbered, leading to a ‘let’s just sit this out for a little while longer’ attitude.
I asked West Ham World’s Twitter followers what they were thinking after what happened after the Hull victory, and here’s there response. There are also opinions from neutrals in there too, which gives you a wider perspective of just how bizarre it looks to everyone else when West Ham fans are seen to be booing a victory…
