Do you still think Slaven Bilic is still the right man to take West Ham forward?
James Jones: I’ve always felt as though Bilic is absolutely the right man to take us forward, but the defeat to Hull has me wondering whether he’s got it in him to turn things around. Too many tactical errors have cost us too many times this season and it’s getting ridiculous. I hope he can do it but I’m beginning to lose faith.
David Bowden: Last summer, in Split, a local told my father “Bilic is a hero to us, a good coach and very passionate, but whilst he is at your club you will win nothing, his teams lack spine and heart.†We laughed it off at first, but it seems he’s bang on. Tactically he looks suspect too, I love him as a man, but we cannot afford to be teetering around the bottom three in the London Stadium.
Emily Pulham: I still back Bilic, but his team selections and substitutions are frustrating me. The Hull game was screaming out for Mark Noble and yet it was as though we’d rather lose the game than bring him on.
Greg Richardson: I do, but I’m finding that opinion harder to justify. He has had a tough season what with the stadium move, losing Payet and a number of injuries. He’s also not been helped by massive loss of form from key players – Noble and Cresswell in particular. The big issue is lack of motivation and tactics and in the end, he’s the man that needs to get the boys fired up and organised – which he’s not doing.
Are you worried about getting relegated this season? How many points do you think will be needed to stay up?
JJ: Despite our recent form I still don’t think we’ll be relegated. Two or three more wins will do it but where are they coming from? My only worry is the teams below us are hitting form, but I still think we’ll be ok.
DB: Hull was a massive, massive game. After the Leicester game, I tweeted that if we beat Hull we’d be safe, lose it and we’re bang in trouble. We are right in the mire now. We need six points I believe to survive, where they are going to come from though is anyone’s guess given our form.
EP: I’m very worried. The entire season I’ve been calm as I thought there were three teams drastically worse than us but now I can only think of two. We’ve got a difficult run-in at the end of the season and other teams don’t. At the time of writing we are fourteenth – it shouldn’t be time to panic, but I’m not sure we’ll win again this season, which gives me strong reason to pull the emergency cord.
GR: We’re on a really poor run of form and others below us are picking up points. On top of that, the players don’t seem to be playing with the urgency and desire of a side that know they’re in a scrap. I think we need another six to nine points and have a few teams we can beat but we could have picked those points up before now but haven’t so it’ll be tight.
What do you think the main problems at the club are, and how can they be changed?
JJ: Where do I start? Poor investment in the last two windows is the main reason we’ve struggled this season. Settling in to a new home hasn’t helped either but the main thing needed is the board to do better with recruitment in the summer.
DB: Defensively we are all over the shop. The loss of Reid and Ogbonna has hit us hard and I am still staggered that we didn’t accept Rio Ferdinand’s offer of help. People overlook we were poor defensively last season too. We need to find that desire and never-say-die attitude we had last year otherwise we will continue to sleep walk into the Championship.
EP: The owners should take the blame. They’ve promised us the moon and delivered us Gokhan Tore. It’s not really acceptable, is it? They need to put their money where their mouths are, or respectfully move on.
GR: Honestly don’t know. The board didn’t deliver enough quality in the summer. The players haven’t really turned up this season (with the exception of Reid, Antonio, Lanzini and Obiang) and Slav seems unable to motivate and organise them effectively. With lost the fight we showed last season – I think that’s the key. Not sure how to solve that though!
Which players would you like to see leave the club this summer?
JJ: I don’t see much of a future for Feghouli, despite flashes of brilliance. The same goes for Nordtveit, who has been very disappointing. Other than that I think we have some good players, they just need to be managed and utilised better
DB: There is so much deadwood in this squad I don’t even know where to start. This all stems from the board over buying last summer due to their Europa League hopes, which went up in flames. A lot of those summer buys last year should and probably will go. In my opinion, with the exception of Fernandes, Masuaku and Fletcher, the rest wouldn’t be missed.
EP: I’m more concerned with who comes in rath – er than who leaves. The players we have aren’t awful, but there’s no depth in the squad. We need to strengthen.
GR: Like Emily, I’m more concerned about us adding some genuine quality to the squad. I think I’d get Tore and Calleri back to their parent clubs, maybe shift Sakho and Collins to make room for Oxford and Burke and then invest in a quality striker and a right back.
West Ham face Swansea, Sunderland and Everton this month. How many points do you think we will pick up from these games?
JJ: At this rate, none. But I’m still an optimist, so I’ll say four. Five max.
DB: I am always overly optimistic! I predicted six points from Leicester and Bournemouth last month and we got none. We never beat Everton so that’s a write off already, Swansea won’t be easy as they’re battling for their lives. So I’ll say two points, two draws from Swansea and Sunderland.
EP: Please let us beat Sunderland. I’ll sacrifice a goat or something. Four points though – what can I say, I’m an optimist.
GR: We need four to six points from those games. Swansea and Sunderland are two of the most winnable games we have got left so we need to win one of those and not lose the other at least! Everton are our bogey side and Lukaku always scores against us so I’m not holding out much hope for that one.
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