After a disappointing 17 games in the 2010/11 campaign, the Irons sit bottom of the Barclays Premier League.
West Ham have two wins, six draws and a whopping nine defeats, I can only pull two positives out – the wins against Tottenham and relegation rivals Wigan Athletic. But right now, beating rivals is the least of my worries.Sitting five points from 17th, with the league’s equal worst goal difference has many fans calling out for a change of management within the club, although the players have something to say too. Striker Carlton Cole reportedly said
“It was diabolical” after the 3-0 crushing defeat at Liverpool last month.
“…We didn’t even turn up for this game.”
Cole attacked Grant’s tactics saying he was left isolated up front. “I think I had just one cross,” he said. “Apart from that I had nothing and as a striker, that’s starvation, that’s famine.”
Grant has come under fire due to lack of points and goals since his appointment last June. The team lacks firepower up front and have a dismal 15 goals to show for it. A cracking Goal of the Season contender from midfielder and star Hammer Scott Parker (who I believe is looking at yet another Hammer of the Year award) against West Brom is by far the best thing I’ve seen from the club (attacking-wise) since Carlton Cole’s strike last season against Tottenham.
Cole’s goal was almost certainly influenced by the management of Gianfranco Zola who was still the best player on the practice field and a fan and player favourite - but not a favourite of incoming joint chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan, just because he wasn’t their choice. It was a stupid decision to fire him. But could Sullivan and Gold now look at an alternative to Avram Grant?
Ex-Irons Paolo Di Canio and Steve Lomas have been touted as potential replacements for Zeljko Petrovic as the Irons’ number two to Avram Grant, and I believe they would be huge crowd pleasers at the Boleyn. If Grant were to be sacked (a possibility if West Ham were to lose to mid-to-low table sitters Blackburn at Ewood Park this weekend) you wonder whether Di Canio or Lomas could even become the new manager at Upton Park.
As former players, you can imagine the support the club would get from the East London locals and you also have to wonder whether the attacking sense of Di Canio would lift the likes of Victor Obinna, Frederic Piquionne, Cole and even perhaps Pablo Barrera etc, who currently look like they’d struggle to even score in a bar.
Di Canio’s fiery figure, which earned him that famous 11-match ban whilst playing for Sheffield Wednesday, could also help with securing some better refereeing decisions.
West Ham currently look to be getting worse and worse calls from referees, and its worth wondering what if Grant were to pick up his sack and have a really good (educated and productive) go at the referees (like Tony Pulis has recently done on the back of bad decisions for Stoke) then they might stop getting penalised for stupid incidents and may also get more penalties going their way.
Grant has plenty to say about the refereeing decisions, but he fails to just speak up about it - and West Ham is falling because of it.
I have been unable to find any quotes from Di Canio regarding any possible appointment at the Boleyn, but as it stands it seems fairly unlikely. The appointment of first team coach Wally Downes is yet to have an impact, but here’s hoping that the firing of Petrovic (which was always coming) helps.
Petrovic, who had been plotting an escape for the last few weeks had his commitment to the club highly questioned - especially at the Stoke game when the Hammers went into the half time break with a 1-0 lead and he failed to provide any half-time encouragement or advice, much to the players’ shock, concentrating instead on cutting his fingernails.
He also then failed to instruct or encourage the team when Stoke equalised. This of course was the game that occurred on the same day as the Jewish holy day, Yom Kippur.
The West Ham fans’ ‘Bubbles’ appear to be fading and dying for Grant. Who will provide the answer for the Irons? Di Canio, who changed his career at West Ham when he received the Fair Play award? Can he return the favour for The Irons and turn their season around? Or Steve Lomas? Or will their fate remain in the hands of Avram Grant?
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