Run Like A Circus 

Dawud reflects on the revolving door of one crisis to another as Nunes enters the Hammers Circus tent

Why do we follow West Ham Utd? What is it that makes us find time during the season to either come to home games or travel to away matches or switch on our screens to watch another insipid performance by a team poorly managed at a club run like a circus?

Let’s be honest, it wasn’t always like this, was it? The modern era of our club, Europa Conference League trophy aside, is one of year on year frustration and disappointment. Think about what a decent manager could have done with the team after our famous win in Prague with the Declan Rice money and a few well chosen ins and outs for the 23/24 season? Not someone who was clutching their P45 from another failed project, but someone who was prised away from an existing job where we had to pay handsome compensation to get the deal done because we would secure the services of a top manager? One of the e most important roles at the club, given the right amount of investment to ensure we have a manager who can not only build a team that wins more than it loses, but lay the foundations for the future of the club?

Many of us have historical connections with the club from when we were kids, where our dad or uncle would take us to games, it was a family thing. Or we moved to London and looking for a team to follow, we were drawn to the rich history of West Ham Utd and after visiting the Boleyn Ground we’re hooked and didn’t look back. There are thousands of stories for the millions of fans who follow the Hammers around the world, but once it gets in your blood, you bleed claret and blue forever, even as you pass the baton on to your family, children and friends.

But, sadly it’s becoming more of an effort and try as I might, the enthusiasm is starting to fade and it’s harder to get myself ready to head off to the stadium with a spring in my step with my boys to often watch the team put in another poor performance and lose, with empty seats during the game and even more empty seats as the match draws to a close because people just can’t stomach anymore.

The match day experience is nothing like it used to be. When we were at the Boleyn Ground, me and my boys would file out of Upton Park station, the crowd singing as we walked down Green Street, first to the excellent Queen’s Fish Bar for a bag of chips, then we would walk on the left side of the road to stop and look at the old programmes and memorabilia in boxes precariously balanced on the front garden walls of the houses that lead us to the stadium. 

The badge stall guy would always chat to us about the previous game and what the score will be, showing us his newest badges, then we’d glance at the scarfs/ hats and t-shirts reflecting the West Ham players from the past, before catching up with Gary Firminger on his step ladder selling copies of OLAS and have a good chinwag about all things West Ham, before queuing to get into the ground. If we were early enough we’d often see one or two visiting ex-players in the car park chatting to fans and signing autographs.

You felt connected, you felt part of it and you had that hope we could win against one of the top clubs, or the players would leave everything on the pitch trying. The stadium was full, loud, electric and for that 90mins we were entertained. For 90mins we would feel the roller coaster of emotions, the highs of a goal scored, the despair of conceding and the frustration of another decision going against us. 

We have at time had this at the bowl, those European nights that set the pulse racing, had us focused throughout the matches, all standing and often singing and chanting the team to a victory.

Saying though, there is no denying the old ground was far from perfect, but we were close to the pitch, nearer the action and there nothing like seeing the team come out before the start of the match, us fans standing and singing and chanting. 

We never sat down, not even at half time, and you felt part of the action, the atmosphere at times electric as you felt every tackle, played every pass and placed every header into the net.

What has happened to us? As fans and the club? Why are we almost hobbling from one crisis to another, more money wasted on players and not enough spent on securing the services of a top manager? If you don’t get the team right, then we are going to struggle. If you bring in the wrong manager, which often we have done, you’re going to struggle. If you don’t develop the youth players, you’re going to struggle. All of which we do so well. 

And if you don’t make the match day experience good, fans will eventually decide not to come. It’s not just about beer and expensive food – that’s all we see when we go to the stadium, beer and food stalls, nothing apart from resident DJs, that makes any attempt at creating an atmosphere. 

The stadium sits on an island that has been cut off from any connection with the community. The park is lovely, but it’s not a scene setter for football.

For me the defeat against Crystal Palace, who are now second in the league after beating Liverpool, was just a backdrop to the pre match protest by fans, justified in the anger we all feel about how the club is run and what it’s doing to the West Ham family. 

I came to the ground by myself hoping to get some decent shots of the protest before the game, I stood in the crowd chanting and singing with everyone else and hoping it will make a difference. 

Sully and Brady would have arrived much earlier to avoid the protesting fans, and it certainly would have turned nasty if they were spotted. Rumour had it they came in black cars with tinted windows. There were some speeches to highlight why we had gathered before the game, with banners providing expression on main issues that has caused such a gathering outside the London Stadium.

Speakers from Hammers United and Crossed Hammers, the main organisers of the pre-match march and the “No More BS” campaign spoke about our discontent with the London Stadium, the poor match day experience, including issues with ticketing and the lack of atmosphere.

Failures to build on the success of winning Europa Conference League, interference in football matter by Sully and Brady’s lack of commitment to the club. Anger that boiled over near the end of the match as the team struggled to get back in the game whilst trailing 1-2 to the visitors.

The biggest cheer was for the team buses as they arrived, with the gathered crowd singing and chanting. During the speeches it was made clear we should not be targeting our anger at the players themselves, but at the owners who have made our dreams fade and die.

I finally made my way into the stadium after meeting the boys at security and we grabbed some crisps and a coffee before heading onto the stands.

And despite some stubbornness on our part, our weakness at set pieces, particularly corners, means it is only a matter of time before our opposition put the ball into tieback of the net.

It’s the inevitability of it that drains the joy out going to games. Once the first goal is scored against us, you can see the players head start to drop. 

But to be fair, there were pockets of the stadium that continued to chant and sing, urging the players to get back into the games.

Half time couldn’t have come sooner and it was a relief to not to be watching another defeat unfold in front of us.

Seats were empty, more so that during the match, but it seems that fans increasingly take time to return to their seats after the restart of the matches.

But we had a reason to cheer and to sense hope that perhaps this time we could get a result. I had predicted 2-1 to us before the game, so I could be good for my prediction as Bowen equalised from an El Hadji Malick Diouf’s corner.

Diouf has been a rare light since he joined the club in the Summer, and I have enjoyed watching his serging runs down the left wing searching for an opportunity to cross the ball into the oppositions penalty area.

But frustrations continued to spill over after the eagles regain the lead and we were heading for yet another defeat at the bowl. Potter’s attempts to provide any way for the team to get back into the game again failed and the sense of belief in the players seems to be lacking.

“I understand we’re in a tough situation,” Potter said after the match, during which chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” and “you’re getting sacked in the morning” were directed at him from the home crowd.

You sensed that this match had more significance than the result, with Nuno Esipirito Santo spotted the day before near Sully’s house. Potter’s time at the club was coming to and end.

Paqueta’s theatrics were not needed as the foul in him outside the visitors box was clear cut, but it was just another opportunity wasted as the game crawled to its conclusion in an emptying stadium.

As some of the players clapped those fans who remained, I noticed this young guy holding up a poster for Jarrod, our goal scorer, but the players were heading for the tunnel.

I was heading to Stratford Station, caught in the crowd, after the match as I was going to meet my wife and boys at her sisters house to celebrate their eldest son’s birthday. 

The clubs statement in response to the vote of no confidence shows Sully and Brady are not prepared to listen to the fans and take on board the reason we are so angry with how they are running the club.

We had an away game on the following Monday against Everton and it would have been ironic for that to have been Potter’s final game against Moyes. But as it was, Nuno had already had time with the team we had a new manager ‘bounce’ of sorts that helped us get a result – a respectable draw.

So, why do we follow West Ham Utd? I know people who have given up their season tickets with no plan to return. But for me, I cannot pull myself away from the hope that we will see those pretty bubbles in the air, flying so high to reach the sky. 

Take care everyone and COYI!

Dawud