Looking back to August, what were your expectations for this season in the league?
Dawud Marsh: At the start of every season, I have the same expectations and that is to finish within the top half of the table and have a decent cup run. The low ambitions of the owners makes it hard to expect anything else. This season, I really wanted Lopetegui to do well and thought that with some careful buys in the transfer market we could move on, even if it was to steady the club as mid-table for now. Cup runs breed confidence and give us fans something to look forward to and celebrate. But it’s been another disappointing season and those who said we will be fighting to stay in the league were not that far wrong. I wasn’t expecting us to be just above the relegation zone, that’s for sure.
Paul Brand: My expectations were fairly low; Mid-table but developing a more entertaining brand of football. As ever, I hoped for better but should have expected worse.
David Meagher: I am a natural optimist. I dreamed of open attacking football with Bowen, Kudus and Paqueta wowing the Premier League with our German international striker Fullkrug as the fulcrum to a rampant incisive attack. A lively transfer window added to that expectation. Instead we got disorganised dirge and we never really found a new pattern or discernible system. Possibly our least exciting campaign as despite our haplessness, the bottom three were so poor that even the terror of a relegation battle was impossible. I only attended seven games which is my lowest since we moved to the new stadium!
Marcus Johns: I think my expectations were fairly low, but boy did it go worse than expected. Whilst I was fully in the belief that David Moyes had run his course, the next appointment was always going to be difficult and it was an odd one. I assumed the new style of play would cause a step back, and expected 10th-12th but with the latter stages of the season seeing it all kick in and set up next season well.
Was there any part of you that thought we’d win the League Cup or FA Cup at the start of the campaign?
Dawud: No. We have no chance of winning either with the owners we have. They are holding the club back and make it difficult for any manager, however good they may be, to make any progress with the team. Thank goodness this season we said goodbye to Tim Steidten who clearly wasted a lot of money on maintaining a team that lacks pace in midfield and shockingly no new goalkeeper.
Paul: FA Cup triumph, or League Cup, I’m not fussy, is the eternal hope and Palace have proven it’s not a forlorn one.
David: Oh yes, of course a romantic cup run seemed a reasonable likelihood but even the draw was against us.
Marcus: With every cup competition, I start the season with hopeful optimism born from the little chance of romantic adventure you crave as a West Ham fan. But these things are always hope rather than expectation.
What were your highlights of the season?
Dawud: Beating Arsenal. Wan Bissaka has been excellent for us and deserved HOTY, Bowen scoring four games in a row at the end of the season. Beating Man Utd and Newcastle away. There really isn’t much from the season to highlight in a positive way.
Paul: Slim pickings but probably same as Dawud. Newcastle, Arsenal and Man United away. Shame we couldn’t produce some more memorable home performances.
David: I came away from our thumping of Ipswich early in the season with a warm sense that we were starting to click but alas it was a false dawn. I enjoyed our criminally fortunate win over Man Utd and was behind the goal for Dalot’s spectacular miss from two yards which caused sustained mirth in the stands. Oh, and ruining Arsenal’s title hopes at their patch was delicious but otherwise it was a drag of a season.
Marcus: My six year old son becoming interested in it, taking him to his first games and living the excitement through him – as there’s been very little else to grab the attention. On the field, Newcastle away was a great performance, as was derailing Arsenal at their place. AWB has been a positive signing, Bowen just being outstanding and a completely misplaced and emotional love of Tomas Soucek. But not much else.
What would you consider a successful transfer window this summer?
Dawud: We need a decent goalkeeper and it’s shocking we didn’t resolve this for this season. Our midfield lacks pace and we are easy to play against as we give the ball away and are soft out of possession. We need to resolve this. At the back we need some quality in central defence and we need an out-and-out striker with Premier League experience who will put away many of the opportunities we have squandered this season. So many times we have needed someone in the box who can bury a shot or get on the end of a ball. Also, sell Paqueta and Kudus.
Paul: Getting some money back on squad players, such as Mavropanos and Rodriguez, and investing wisely in areas of need, most notably injecting some energy into midfield.
David: We need a completely new squad if we are to realise ‘Potterball’. I hope Kudus stays but otherwise I think that apart from Bowen and Wan Bissaka, everyone else is dispensable. I’d like to see Dan Potts return as I believe he may be at the standard. I hope Summerville gets fit as he looked decent in the few games he appeared.
Marcus: We signed some technically very good players last year, but not necessarily suited for the Premier League. I’d like to see a powerful, domineering, box-to-box midfielder – think Kouyate in 2014 – who can both protect the defence and support the attack. Bit of bite about him would be a bonus. I like Areola, but if we want to play out from the back, we need someone more comfortable with the ball then he is, and probably a new centre half too. Oh, and a striker.
What are your hopes for next season – and also longer term for West Ham?
Dawud: That the owners see the light and let someone take over who knows what they are doing. The shocking way they have treated those fans who rely on concession rates for their season tickets continues to leave a foul taste. They don’t have the interest of fans in their minds and I can only see it getting worse. I really hope Potter can turn it around for us and steer us on a course to be a competitive team in the league. At the moment teams know how to play against us and we have nothing to offer. Sullivan won’t have patience if we start the season badly and it’s a make or break summer for us. If Potter gets it wrong, we will be in a relegation battle early on in the season.
Paul: My basic hope is probably the same as it was for this season; to give the fans at the London Stadium greater entertainment and something to cheer on a regular basis. Given the commercial direction football has been taking for decades, the idea of philanthropic owners is probably wishful thinking but I long for a shift that makes the club feel united again.
David: I think we are back to the drawing board again and need to establish a system that works. It’s going to be a season of transition again but maybe this time we can emerge with a sense of identity and purpose. My sense is that the two priority areas are that we need defenders who are slicker at passing out of defence and a midfield with tons more energy. It’s a long way from where we are currently at to competing for European football, but that must be the hope.
Marcus: Like Dawud, I think of an ownership model who invests in the team, the infrastructure and the stadium. Or if not, at least one who doesn’t interfere with transfer knowledge based on old copies of Football Manager. I do genuinely believe that Potter, with a summer and a transfer window, will do good things for us. A couple of key signings, Potts, Orford and Casey integrated more, Bowen to continue what he does, us not to sell Soucek, a bit more freedom in possession, and a top half finish. Cup run too, if that’s not asking for too much?
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