Are we going down? & Is it all bad news?

As a West Ham fan this season has been a tough one and like many previous, dissapointing. Four defeats in our first five games more or less set the mood for the season, survival. Following impressive wins again Sunderland in the league cup and Tottenham in the Premier League things looked to be on the up as two draws followed however in typical West Ham fashion failure to win in the six games following we appeared to of fallen back off the beaten track and into no-man's land not knowing where our next win was coming from and that appears to be the case with five PL games left to go; Chelsea, Man City, Blackburn, Wigan and Sunderland. Realistically we aren't going to beat Chelsea or Man City however I (always being the optimisitc West Ham fan) feel that it's certainly possible to pick up nine points from the remaining three games but will that be enough? Dropping points at Everton twice, Blackpool at home, West Brom and Birmingham all appear to of cost us big time. Looking at it from both points of view if those games had of been losses instead of draws we'd be on 28 points and staring relegation in the face however if we had won those games we'd be on 44 points and sitting a comfortable 8th in the table. Oh the irony.

There is no denying the financial costs to a club that follows relegation. On average relegation costs a club at least £30 million. Added onto the massive debt that West Ham have it does not paint a pretty picture in the slightest. However, I feel that relegation would provide the Hammers with a chance to start again and a new lease of life. If we are relegated we will loose our top players: Green, Parker, Upson, Cole to name but a few. In truth this would provide us with a chance to raise capital for transfer funds and sign players who will be commited to promote West Ham back up to the top flight.  Not only that, but it would provide us with a chance to sell a fair few players who have failed to impress this season: Barerra, Illunga, Jacobsen and Piquionne in my point of view all fit into this category. All signed for the first team but as the season drew on, found themselves warming up the subs bench. A different kind of player however is required for the Championship rather than the Premier League, a player who is willing to fight to get him team promoted rather than a player who only cares about picking up the wage packet at the end of the month. The Championship would be the perfect stage for some of West Ham's younger players: Collison, Hines, Stanislas, Nouble and Tomkins. A summer clear-out would provide them with the perfect oppoutunity to impress in pre-season and cement themselves a first team place for next season and as a West Ham fan that is what I'd like to see. West Ham born and bred players who are determined to see thier team back in the top flight again. One thing I do feel however that is vital is that if we are relegated we do a Newcastle and bounce straight back up the following season.

It's almost inevitable that at the end of the season Avram Grant will be leaving the club. Rumoured to be on his way out earlier on in the season the board stuck by thier man. However, as a Hammers fan you have to ask yourself, what if? Now, I'm not saying that it's Grant's fault that we are staring down the abyss but his track record is poor. Portsmouth under Grant's leadership were relegated the season before and it would appear that it was his time with Chelsea and him leading Pompey to an FA Cup final that won him the job at Upton Park. However, how is a man susposed to make something great if he only has poor materials to work with? I along with probable large number of West Ham fans would love to see Paolo Di Canio back at Upton Park but is it too much to ask of the legendary No 10? I'll leave lists of rumoured managers to the Press but I bet a dollar on it that he'll be mentioned.

Anyway, all of this is hypothetical and by some miracle we do stay up, totally irrelevant. All I can say is Come On You Irons and prove me wrong!

Is Wenger on borrowed time?

No trophy for five years and with it looking unlikely that Manchester United will drop six points between now and the end of the season soon to be six for Wengers men. Now don't get me wrong, I think that he is a fantastic manager who throughout the years has signed some equally fantastic players; Henry, Pires, Fabregas and Van Persie to name but few. However failure to win trophies normally leads to the board of directors/chairman wielding the axe as is rumoured that Ancelotti at Chelsea is on "borrowed time" and will be leaving Stamford Bridge at the end of the season simply because of his failure to bring sucess to Chelsea this season who look on course to be equalling thier worst ever season under the ownership of Abramovich.

I cannot help but feel that if this dry trophyless barren continues, Wenger will eventually be asked to leave. What I feel Arsenal need are a couple of proven quality players that will provide them with that extra competitive edge next season. Rather than invest in youth prospects for the future I feel that Wenger should look to now. As seen time and time again this season, Arsenal have relied to heavily on Fabregas, Nasri and Van Persie (who has scored an astonishing 21 goals in his last 22 starts for Arsenal) and when they have not been present performances have been frustrating to say the least.  One youth player however who has been outstanding this season is Jack Wilshere who more than throughly deserved the PFA Young Player of the Year award which he recieved last night. Another who I look forward to hopefully watching next season is Aaron Ramsey who had a fantastic loan spell at Cardiff and now looks likely to break into the first team next season. Another youth player who I feel should of been given more of a chance this season is Kieran Gibbs. Widely touted as the "new" Ashely Cole on the few appearances i've seen of him this season he has impressed. Gael Clichy on the other hand has had a below par season and could see himself shown the door at the end of it.

Reported in the Sun a few weeks ago, were a list of players who Wenger, himself, had apparently listed a group of players who he felt no longer fitted into his plans. A list of which I agreed with; Bendtner (who has been largely ineffective this season) Arshavin who again has been dissapointing along with Rosicky. Also rumoured to be up for the chop are: Eboue, Denilson, Almunia and Diaby. It would appear that Wenger himself has lost patience with the youth that he invested in and has decided that he should invest in experienced players. However, too little too late for the frenchman?


Dissapointing results at West Brom, Newcastle, Wigan, Sunderland and Blackburn (all games which you would expect Arsenal to win with relative ease) have all resulted in either loss or a dissapointing draw. Wenger himself blaming the result on either poor refereeing or the fact that his players simply didn't turn up. However even Arsenal fans themselves are questioning Wenger as to weather it's poor tactics and lack of motivation rather than "poor" refereeing etc. So another poor season trophy wise for Arsenal even though league performance suggests otherwise. Wenger declared himself happy with this season's league performance and suggested that he'd be happy with finishing second for the next ten years. Not exactly what you want to hear from your manager is it?

I give it another season, if trophyless, Wenger will be looking for a new job. If a trophy is delievered, then I expect him to stay for a little while yet. I mean who knows, he may just deliever the Premier League this season.