HAMMER TIME
While precisely nobody else thought to say so at the time, when those West Ham fans who were howling for the head of Tin Pot-winning saviour David Moyes two years ago, Football Daily wondered if – whisper it – they should be careful what they wished for. While the turgid meat-and-potatoes fare served up by Moyes’s Irons was undeniably unpleasant on the eye, arguably the sole benefit of the club’s relocation to the London Stadium was that those fans were now seated in a different postcode from the pitch, meaning they couldn’t actually see what was happening anyway.
At the end of that season, the fans were granted their wish for a “progressive” head coach – a decision so inspired that the club hierarchy has since felt compelled to grant wishes for two more. Less than three seasons after winning Tin Pot and trousering £105m of Declan Rice money, the Hammers faithful now find themselves supporting a collection of misfits currently mired in the relegation zone, dreaming of nothing more exotic than a 17th-place finish and the avoidance of further embarrassment in the FA Cup against QPR.
Following their recent humiliation at Wolves, West Ham went into Tuesday night’s home game against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest primed to answer their most strident critics. And while tens of thousands of their most strident detractors wisely elected to stay at home instead of braving the cold to go and barrack their team and the club’s owners, Nuno Espírito Santo’s side gave a much better account of themselves … but still lost. “It’s not over yet, we will keep on going,” bravefaced Nuno, who could only have looked more forlorn upon seeing his side concede a late penalty if a portly Greek shipping magnate who used to employ him had wandered down from the visiting directors’ box and started flicking the Vs.“We understand the supporters’ sadness and frustration, we are the same. What can we say? Keep helping us. Again today they showed that when the team gives, they give back the support we need. The boys showed today we have fight.”
While Nuno’s boys may have showed a modicum of fight, the fans’ reaction to the latest loss suggests most already seem resigned to their team’s apparently unavoidable fate. West Ham are seven points from safety with almost half a season remaining, and though it’s difficult to see where the next is coming from, at least a potentially restorative visit to the noted physician that is Doctor Tottenham is only 10 days away.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t like to make any major decisions without speaking to Sir Alex” – Darren Fletcher, there, making us wonder (beyond getting help with choosing to take the interim job at Old Trafford) what other kind of guidance he has been given by the legendary manager. Broadband provider? Pensions advice? Sim-only or contract?
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
The year 2026 isn’t even a week old and already it has torpedoed the Premier League ambitions of Ruben Amorim and Enzo Maresca. And, as if his first name wasn’t a big enough clue, Nancy joined the long list of things in Glasgow that are taken away after being deep fried at Celtic. On top of that, poor Gianni Infantino will have to create a new Fifa award celebrating armed exploration for South American oil. Roll on February” – Mark McFadden.
Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. I’m probably missing some clever point about football financing here, but why on earth would Chelsea give Liam Rosenior a contract to 2032? Including interim managers/coaches/whatever else they insist on calling themselves (because, let’s face it, who knows who’s actually interim, and who isn’t, any more), Chelsea have had eight different managers in the previous seven years. Surely they are just setting themselves up for a massive payout when they change managers again in (statistically) no more than 12 months’ time?” – Phil Taverner.
No idea how many (mainly Scottish) pedants will point out that Noble Francis’s claim – that Celtic ‘don’t have to play Hearts again [this season], obviously’ (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) – is false. Because, in fact, Celtic have to play Hearts again in the league at least once (scheduled for 25 January). In addition, since both Hearts and Celtic are almost certain to be in the top half of the Premiership after the split at 33 games, then probably Celtic still have to play Hearts again twice in the current league season. Also, they could end up playing each other at some point in the Scottish Cup” – Dylan Drummond (and 1,056 other mainly Scottish pedants).
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Mark McFadden. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.
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