Pub Talk: ‘Just like the Christmas decorations, West Ham are going down’

December and January: A Relegation Disaster

What can we take away from our results and performances in December and the start of January against Wolves and Forest?

Meirion Williams: Three points out of a possible 24 tells you something. We are staring down the barrel of relegation and if we don’t get any luck pretty soon, we will be down by Easter. To lose both games against our relegation rivals is tantamount to a disaster. Just like the Christmas decorations, West Ham are going down.

Geoff Hillyer: Well, it’s just been a catastrophe hasn’t it. No wins at all, and the so-called ‘easier’ games against Wolves and Forest ended in defeat. The performance against Forest deserved more than we got, but across this period we just haven’t been good enough.

David Meagher: I think many fans felt that we were simply misfiring and that we would steady with a new manager as clearly the Potter system wasn’t working but by now after recent soulless defeats, I think we realise that it’s one of the poorest squads in the league and we deserve to be where we are. It’s very hard to see a way back as we lack any attacking cohesion and cannot defend to save our lives. January signings only work occasionally and morale right across the board is as low as during the Avram era.

Dawud Marsh: We are going to be relegated. We have lost two very winnable games against Wolves and Forest, but we don’t have enough quality in the team nor a manager who is able and willing to get the team in competitive shape. These results were coming for a while.

The Nuno Verdict: Time to Sack?

What do you think will need to happen for David Sullivan to sack Nuno? Are you Nuno in or out at the moment?

Meirion: Nuno now has a worse record than Avram Grant so that tells you something. Sullivan likes a freebie and there are several managers out there that he might look to as relegation will reduce the value of the club and we all know Sullivan‘s only interested in making a profit. As for my personal opinion on Nuno, I believe he’s coming into an enormous impossible situation and needs to be going a little bit longer at least until we see whether the transfer window has been a dud or not.

Geoff: I don’t think he will. I wouldn’t bin him either. Who would seriously replace him? We’ve changed the manager multiple times in recent years and if anything, things have got worse. There comes a point at which you have to say, maybe our performances – or lack of – aren’t completely the fault of the guy in the dugout.

David: Nuno has his eccentricities for sure but the problem is in quality, general morale, paranoia about the board and the bad luck that comes when relegation destiny is calling. Nuno should stay. The board needs to get back to the kind of business that suits their skillset, which isn’t a football team.

Dawud: Nuno was a huge mistake by Sullivan. How he has treated James Ward Prowse and Callum Wilson is simply shocking. His team selections, subs and in-game management is unsustainable to keep us in the Premier League. The problem is who will come in? We are stuck with Sullivan’s refusal to pay for a decent manager. You have to also question why Nuno was not able to bring in his own back room staff.

January Window: Reality vs. Hopes

What are your hopes for the rest of the January transfer window and what do you think the reality will be?

Geoff: To be honest, I’m almost beyond the point of caring – the team needs major surgery, it won’t all be done in one window, and we’ll most likely be relegated by the time the next one comes around. Having some players that can defend corners might be a start.

Meirion: I’m with Geoff, the club needs a major overhaul and we can only get that by a season or two in the Championship. I’m not sure who could possibly come in to save our season now and it’s clear that Sullivan won’t splash the cash anyway and it will be bargain bucket style players. Once again we have the same old story of we made offers, but the club or player made it impossible for the offer to be completed.

David: The Hartson/Kitson phenomenon is the exception that proves an undeniable rule – January is for offloading damaged goods dressed up like saviour material. I thought the two incoming attackers looked poor – understandably confused, thrown into a new set up but also not at all up to Premier League speed. Maybe if we get a new stunning centre back we might stop the rot, but it feels like our journey is downwards for now. I hope we don’t ruin ourselves financially trying to save the Titanic.

Dawud: We need to sort out our defence. We are making too many mistakes at the back and we are simply too easy to play against, especially from set pieces. Teams know what to do to score against us. That’s our priority and if we get two quality defenders who can slot into the back and hit the ground running we may have a hope to stay up.

The 2026 Outlook: Relegation and Board Hostility

What are your hopes now for the rest of the season? And for West Ham in 2026 as a whole?

Geoff: There isn’t hope. There’s blind optimism that we’ll suddenly change our form which has been dreadful for longer than just this season. It isn’t going to happen. So, two things then: the players leave nothing on the pitch for the remainder of the season, and for the clowns in charge of the club to let more competent people sit in the boardroom.

Meirion: My hope is that we don’t go down without a fight at least. That will give us fans some hope for the future. If we go down with a whimper then it’s going to alienate the fan base even more. Just looking at the stands for the Forest game showed the apathy that is already present in the club.

David: I’ve always been relatively soft on criticising the board – they inherited a relegated mess and promised affordable footy in a new stadium with Premier League security and European action. I think they delivered on that to a large extent but it’s time for them to move on as they have run out of road. I think since David Gold passed that things have gone from uncomfortable to overt hostility.

Dawud: Sullivan has to go. Brady has to go. Sullivan is steering the club towards the rocks and unless someone who knows what they are doing can take over the wheel we will struggle even in the Championship. I want our club back. I want players who are prepared to give everything and are passionate and connect with the fans. I think I’m suffering from delusions.

Tough Fixtures Ahead: Spurs, Sunderland, and Chelsea

We face Spurs, Sunderland and Chelsea during the rest of this month, what are your hopes for these games?

Geoff: Honestly? Not to embarrass ourselves. Hard to see many, if any points among that lot.

Meirion: Our current form shows we will not get a point from any of those three games. And the first time ever, my prediction is for zero points out a possible nine.

David: Can I remind everybody that we are still West Ham. My money is on an unexpected win over Spurs and two resounding defeats against Sunderland and Chelsea. And so the circus moves on.

Dawud: I cannot see us getting anything from those games. Even with new players, we have a manager who is too fixed in his ways. Spurs and Chelsea will be well up for it and Sunderland will know how to play against us. It’s all a bit doom and gloom at the moment. I hope I am wrong on all of this, but after watching us lose to Forest, which I thought would be Nuno’s last game if we lost, I cannot see any positives coming this month.