Premier League
Blow Bubbles, Not Our Hopes
Ambition is a characteristic every team must possess if it is to be successful. Very often, the ambition of a football club originates from its backbone, the fans; and it is up to the chairman to match these ambitions by spending their many millions on the best talent available. However, with ambition comes another trait, called greed, which is ambiguous in terms of usefulness – it can push those involved to achieve as much as possible, but can also be detrimental if personal greed comes in the way.
The latter could often be brought on by over-ambition, in football terms thinking that the club is bigger than it actually is. Perhaps this applies to West Ham United, where most of the fans consider the club a sleeping giant. There is no doubting the club’s potential; it has a huge fan base and tickets are regularly sold out at Upton Park. The stadium itself, though in need of development, rivals most in terms of its size, and the noise generated by the fans is always electric as soon as “Bubbles” rings across the ground. There is no question that in a few years time, West Ham United could become a global name.
However, in recent times there seems to be a distinct unease amongst some Hammers fans in the ground. For instance, at the Wigan game, while most were as noisy and as rowdy as ever, a growing minority of fans found it in themselves to complain rather than chant, to moan rather than sing, to boo rather than cheer.
There were three incidents in particular during the 1-1 draw. First was the jeering at Alan Curbishley to bring on Dean Ashton right from the start. Despite Ashton’s patent ability, surely it cannot help the on-field players if a large chunk of the noise is directed towards one who is running up and down the sidelines. The fans weren’t considering the impact it was having on the players filling the forward positions, in particular Bobby Zamora, who clearly looked affected by this and endured a relatively poor game. We forget that Zamora was one of our best players towards the end of last season, finishing our top goal scorer, so perhaps we should get behind him rather than encouraging the manager to take him off. Curbishley himself might even feel under more pressure than is necessary as a result. He is the manager, the fans are not – so let him do his job.
Some fans are under the illusion that the club should be challenging for Europe, seemingly disregarding the recent past
The second was the reaction before the introduction of Lee Bowyer and more noticeably Luis Boa Morte. Both were booed before they had even touched the ball, which was ridiculous. Granted they both played poorly in the first game of the season against Manchester City, but the league spans over ten months and 38 matches. Boa Morte was another player to pick up his game in last season’s grand finale, and in fact scored against Wigan last year. Moreover, both substitutions were inevitable – Bellamy was injured while Bowyer is more of an attacking player than Mullins is, and they both had the last laugh with Boa Morte providing the assist for Bowyer’s equalising goal.
Thirdly, the number of people who left following Wigan’s goal was astounding, especially bearing in mind there were still 15 minutes remaining. Up to that stage, West Ham were dominating, and leaving after conceding a goal cannot help the team’s cause.
These factors all seem to suggest over-ambition at the club. Last year West Ham narrowly survived, and were lucky to escape a points deduction. Three years ago the club clinched promotion from the Championship. Now some fans are under the illusion that the club should be challenging for Europe and are upset about the lack of big-name signings, seemingly disregarding the recent past.
As a chorus of boos echoes across Upton Park, confidence diminishes and negativity surrounds the team, hindering rather than helping the club’s strive for success. Let us have realistic ambitions, and let a chorus of bubbles burst the pessimism.
Are West Ham’s fans unrealistic in their hopes? Share your views by leaving a comment below.
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To be honest the hopes and dreams of all hammers is obvious, we wear our hearts on our sleeves and thta is our problem. the Wigam game was just the sort of two bob passive footbal that got us into trouble last year. That is why the fans were upset not becaus we are not in the top four. We can do better, we should do better, we WILL do better.
Total rubbish. We West Ham fans have never considered the club a sleeping giant, just a club with a loyal fan base and a prediliction for playing watchable football. Yes the fans should have waited before chanting for Ashton but neither Boa Morte or Bowyer were booed when they appeared.
I agree with this write up. I am a die hard hammers fan and live in Bristol, so it is a long trip to Upton Park to support my team, I was at the Wigan game and wasn’t impressed by certain “so called fans” abusing our own players. This needs to stop the season is still very young and we need to make Upton Park a place that the players can’t wait to play on as they will pushed forward with cheers of support. We know we have a great fan base so lets all do the up most to prove it. Come on you Irons
Idiot - If you want to see fickle fans go to White Hart Lane !!!!
I do agree that you never ever should boo your own players - and Hammers usually don’t. So it’s bad and odd, and I dislike it a lot. Leaving the ground is for fans at Wigan and others, not West Ham fans. So “me no like” at all. But I must say that it is not the fans that has called West Ham “a sleeping giant”. It is actually our chairman, Mr Eggert himself. So maybe fans are expecting a lot after his entrance and after what he has said. He actually said that we should buy 2-3 worldclass players, well we did not manage to do that (well, maybe you can say Ljungberg is, or has been) and expecting a UEFAspot, as he has told us to do, this year is maybe also a bit over the hill. But anyhow we all learn, don’t we? Good luck to the team, Mr Eggert and the fans - always support the team and players!
Nice article, well balanced and unbiased.
I have been attending matches since the early 80’s when with terraces and affordable tickets the noise was deafening at times and I can rarely remember home players ever being jeered whether we aere winning or losing as such the visiting teams really felt intimidated and Upton Park was a fortress.
In the last 10 years the demographic of our support has changed a lot, this is verified by research carried out by Eggert and Bjorn our new owners. It transpires that the average season ticket has an annual income of 60k which is the second highest in London behind Chelsea. The ground and the crowd maybe less hostile and partisan than it was but is this due to the attending fanbase, I do not earn 60K a year but would imagine that to do so you would need to be ambitious and goal orientated and is this infact why these people have so little patience ? They are trying to impose the standards they set for themselves against the team and management ? I don’t know if it is the case but I have thought that with these new fans that mostly work in the city according to the research and value every minute highly, it is perhaps natural to assume that this could coincide with their views opposed to the core of traditional support ?
I agree with certain aspects of your article, and put this down to a new generation of football fan,derived from a new consumer based society where everybody wants everything including the most successful team.
I just want the best football team in the world, regardless of results and I’ve got that with West Ham !……although a little something would be nice !
Ps Boo boys go support Man U or Spurs
Spot on. For the meantime, we need to have faith in the manager and players, and support them with our voices. I’m not saying that neither manager nor players should be criticised, but booing at games is not the way to go. If the fans didnt boo Christian Dailly then why, all of a suddent, are they booing bowyer and boa morte?
I cant believe some fans are denying that Bowyer and LBM were booed, I was there to see and hear it. I have to admit whilst the vast majority of Hammer fans are amongst the best in the world you are right , there is an increasing amount of people that dont get behind the team and are more than happy to sit all game moaning and whining. As for the boo boys what can you say, they are the fans that we have always despised in other teams and now they are with us, I listen to their weak minded excuses day in day out on fan forums, the most common is I have paid for the ticket so I have the right to boo, well no they dont, if they dont like what they see just stop comming to the games let real supporters have their tickets. You can see from the results our players are more comfortable playing away from home rather than at the Boleyn because of the atmosphere that used to intimidate traveling teams and fans is now turned against its own players. The biggest problem is these t0ssers will just not listen, they just do not understand what they are doing is killing the team, and the majority of fans are getting sick of them. Oh by the way West Ham will be a huge force in Europe in the years to come I just hope we have the fans that we deserve after so many years in the wilderness, I want to see that ground rocking like it used to, not full of moany tw@ts like it is now
I agree too. I’ve heard a lot more booing and abuse in recent years and (as I’ve been supporting since the early 70’s) our haphazard performances and regular disappointments are hardly new.
In a nutshell, I believe in public praise and private bollockings. When things are bad, that’s the time to give our best support. Booing and jeering only undermines our own players’ confidence and boosts our opponents’.
I think there’s an element of the chicken and egg situation, brought about by the change in football across the board since the start of the Premier League. What came first, glory hunting fans demanding success, or the extensive TV coverage of teams in the top flight?
West Ham fans have never traditionally been glory hunters, nor were we the sort of club who would attract the glory hunting fans. Since the Premier League started, there seems to be a massive increase in this type of fan across the board. That is a fan who doesn’t support his team because of personal ties to the club, but a fan who chooses his club in the belief that club will be successful (and therefore, on the TV a lot).
Long term Hammers are some of the most down to earth, knowledgable and realistic fans around. Certainly of the top flight clubs. Yet on my last visit to the Boleyn, there was a noticeable change away from that.
It seems there are a new generation of football fans who care little about the history of their club, aren’t prepared to sit through 9 average seasons hoping the next will be the one out of 10 where we exceed expectations and cause real excitement, which has been the way of West Ham in my lifetime.
They get their information from the massive amount of TV coverage, and as such the ignorance of these people is shown by the unrealistic demands for success.
Sure it’s great to finally have a chairman who has ambition and is running the club very well (after what we’ve been used to in recent years), and that does create real optimism. But some of the misguided, yet vocally expressed opinions, are very un-West Ham, and can be put down, in part, to the new wave of fans who demand success, yet don’t understand the blood, sweat and tears needed to compete at the top level
I fully endorse the article … none more so than reading the websites on friday night slating the lack of big name signings … speak to alot of other teams from around the country and they would love to have Bellamy, Parker, Dyer and Lundburg. How many other managers would have snapped up Lucas Neil or Matty Upson had we been relegated …. I have been to all the games except the opener and I’m sorry but during the Wigan game we destroyed the confidence of Zamora … and as for the booing of Bowyer and LBM some fans have short memories of LBM throwing his body all over Old Trafford on the last day of last season last season. Finally, did Deano look fully fit against Reading or was he off the pace …. Curbishly achieved on a shoe string at Charlton, and at West Ham he will deliver us to the doors of the top four ….
To plymouth hammer. I do agree with not booing your team but it happens, so get over it. These guys have as much a right to be there, home or away, than you or me if they have paid the money. Anyone that invests £600 to £800 for a season ticket year after year is a real fan, booing or not. Whilst I don’t like booing, it is preferable to the terrace fighting that blighted the grounds for years until all seaters were built and policing improved. I have supported West Ham for almost 50 years and we are what we are, an average Premiership team that because of new investment, are unlikely to struggle with relegation again. I do believe that in a couple of years we will challenge the top 6, but not the top 4 and with a bit of luck will do Ok in the UEFA cup. I am both realistic and optimistic but it will take time. This isn’t sport anymore, it is business in which the PL teams are dictated to by Sky, providers of a good proportion of our income. Finally, if booing a particular player does affect his game, then he shouldn’t be playing. If I was paid £10K to £40K a week, quite frankly, they could boo as much as they liked.
Trevor, that is typical of the attitude that is making us a club with fans that “only sing when they are winning” the sort of fans we used to despise and most of us still do ! if you dont like what you see sell the bloody ticket to a real fan ! football is a team effort between the management, the players on the park and the fans, we all have our part to play and these idiots who would have us be a new Leeds would be better off supporting a team like chelski I think they would suit them better, I follow West Ham because of a commitment to playing the game the way it should be played, no cheating or diving and sitting with REAL fans that will sing and back their team no matter what ! not a bunch of whingeing, moany muppets who must be spud fans in disguise with what they are doing to our club! and for your information the salary means fvck all if your confidence is being knocked week in and week out and a REAL FAN is not someone that shells out cash its one that is their in full voice week in week out, good or bad wether its at the game or in front of the TV, you sunshine are not a real fan and it would be better if you let one have your ticket
to plymouth hammer. Aren’t you just a bit over the top because my opinion is different to yours? Not once did I question whether you are a real fan or not but although I attend over 30 matches a year, both home and away and have done so for many years, you question my suitability as a fan. I don’t criticise Leeds, Chelsea or Tottenham, their fans follow their teams like you and me and many other people in this country. I like good football and that is why I follow West Ham. I regard myself as a True Fan who has always followed them through thick and thin and only missed 5 away games last year, although we looked doomed from Christmas As for this me being typical of “you only sing when you are winning” please justify this. You won’t be able to. I want the best for West Ham, I want to win trophies, I sing along week in and week out with the best of them, I travel the country supporting West Ham but on occasions I will point out if I don’t think a player is pulling his weight or is not good enough for the team. I am fortunate that I can afford to follow West Ham, home and away, many can’t. Please don’t lecture me mate on my suitability to be a West Ham because you haven’t got a clue. I like good, enterprising, attacking football and West Ham have played, or tried to play in this way for many years. Whatever your opinion of fans and whether they whinge or not, they wouldn’t spend the money at todays prices if they didn’t want to, or they didn’t support West Ham. And yes, whether you like it or not - and I don’t particularly - if they have a ticket and they don’t like what they see, they will moan. I trust by your rhetoric that you are a True Fan and I certainly won’t question it. But you need to get in the real world and not a world where people believe that there are still fairies at the bottom of the garden and that this great game is not driven by greed.
As a season ticket holder of over 20 years I can fully appreciate the sentiment of this article but have to say that I find it a little naive to say say the least.
Someone has posted that the average WH fan now earns about £60k and that probably means that they’re more ambititious and perhaps less patient than the fans of yesteryear. Well I fall into all of those categories and am guilty as charged. I am ambitious for ‘our’ club and do feel that as well as cheering the team on when we do well, we, the fans, have a right, if not a duty to show our discontent if certain players or elements of the team are underperforming.
The players are professional sportsmen and just like the rest of us are paid to perform and achieve to a certain level in their job.
I am both a manager of people and in turn, managed by someone else. I wish that my manager or colleagues would offer me unswerving support and encouragement when I’m underperforming or make mistakes but unfortunately I work in the ‘real’ world and occasionally I need a kick up the backside to get me back on track - its part of human nature.
So yes, lets keep the negativity to a minimum but to expect blind support whatever happens is just naive. Perhaps that why we’ve waited so long for a trophy??? I will always give my all in terms of support for the team but to ask me not to criticise, I don’t think so.
To PaulHammer, well said mate. I should know better than get into a row with plymouth hammer over a difference of opinion. The majority at Upton Park do care passionately for the team. We contribute to the wages of the players, without us there would be no players or club. To suggest, as some do, that we mustn’t show our dissatisfaction with under-performing players is as you say naive. We have the right backing now but it will take time. Lets just hope that the underperformers are moved on when there are better players to replace them. Anything above 12th this season would be good and challenge the top 10 next season.
Completely agree TrevorH. I’m not expecting miracles or even UEFA (yet) but some of these posters online today shouldn’t expect ‘real’ hammers fans to turn up week in week out to simply appreciate “playing the game the way it should be played” (which I fully condone BTW!) without striving for something more.
There’s no shame in ambition and no shame in voicing your opinion. I can assure you that Man U and Arsenal fans regularly let their feelings be known at home games if they feel their team is underachieving - its a massively important part of what drives teams on. COYI we need strength in support not apathy!!!
To plymouth hammer. As you never bothered responding to my post its obvious that if you read it, you couldn’t help but agree with my comments but didn’t have the good grace to say so. I am tempted to leave it at that but in all my years of supporting West Ham I have never been accused of not being a Real Fan by some jumped up person who thinks he knows everything and can preach to all and sundry. It would be amusing if it wasn’t so pathetic. I buy a season ticket, I support West Ham, I am a fan, get over it sunshine. Whilst you may be a True Fan, and I won’t dispute that, judging by what you have written on this forum you are just another jumped up t*sser who thinks he know everything but in fact knows f*ck all. Get a life sunshine and keep your bigoted criticisms to yourself. If you don’t want to hear criticism of your team then don’t go. It is very simple