Since the arrival of Sam Allardyce much has been made of his so called style of football and whether it fits in with the fans demands over the clubs need to return to the premier league. Sam himself acknowledged this when hired back in the summer, alluding to the so called West Ham way, he said "That history that West Ham have I am very well aware of and we will play the West Ham way with the players we have got to achieve the ultimate, and that's winning football matches,he then followed that up with " “What is the West Ham way? Being relegated? No fan wants that.”
But what is the West Ham way, and what are its origins,
Its birth can be traced back to a quote by former manager Ron Greenwood "The crowds at West Ham have never been rewarded by results but they keep turning up because of the good football they see. Other clubs will suffer from the old bugbear that results count more than anything. This has been the ruination of English soccer."
Greenwood took over at West Ham in 1961 and during his time came perhaps West Hams golden period, Bobby Moore,backed up by fellow youth products Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters lifted 3 trophies in succession culminating with the world cup win in 1966. Yet during Greenwood and Moore's time together and with three world cup winners in the team the highest league finish achieved was 6th, scant reward for the tens of thousands of East Londoners that game after game turned up at the Boleyn Ground. What made those fans keep coming back, well the answer is in Greenwoods quote, The good football they saw, which was born out of England's 6-3 defeat to the Puskas inspired Hungarians at Wembley. That single game influenced so many of this countries top coaches, exposing England's staid outdated tactics. One watching was Malcolm Allison, West Ham's captain at the time. He was allowed to organise coaching sessions at the time and set about changing the tactics at the club, he and other players at the time used to sit in a local cafe using salt and pepper pots to plan their new way of playing. Ron Greenwood was able to build on this when he took over and he was fortunate that West Ham youth set up was churning out the stars of the future, educated on the plans first laid out by Allison.
Style over substance, football to be played in a positive attacking way, and here lies part of reason of west Ham's failure to get any where near the top prize of a league title. So busy in playing positive attacking football that it seems the defensive side of the game was neglected, even with the great Bobby Moore at its heart. The season after West Ham's, sorry, England's world cup win, the hammers finished in a lowly 16th spot out of 22, boasting amazingly the 2nd best ranked attack that season averaging 1.9 goals per game, but they were let down by the 20th best ranked defence conceding 2 goals on average per game. If ever a season best exampled "The West Ham way" it could be that one.
All of the above occurred before i was born in West Ham in 1969, being born and brought up in the area there was only one club i could support, i cant even remember my 1st time at the Boleyn as i was a babe in my mothers arms as she stood on the terraces.My Football education increased in 1977 when my uncle secured 2 season tickets for us, and there in that 1st season of regular attendance that i began to discover my own take on the West Ham way, for that year for only the 2nd time in our history we were relegated from the top flight,just 2 years after appearing in an European final.
West Ham stuck by the then manager John Lyall, allowed him to rebuild the team and just 2 years later West Ham were celebrating winning the F.A cup. Celebrating for the 2nd time in 5 years a cup victory the 10 year old me could be forgiven for thinking that this was how it would always be, and in a way it has been, the highs of relative success quickly followed by a low. Lyall built a team that in 1986 came the closest any had done in winning the title, finishing 3rd behind the merseyside duo, Liverpool and Everton. Fast forward 3 years and relegation back to the 2nd tier of English football, paying the price of failing to build on that 86 team and selling off star home grown player Tony Cottee.
This pattern is repeated time and time again, 5th under Redknapp in the Premier league in 2000, 7th under Roeder in 2002, Relegated in 2003. If Carlsburg did relegations that that would be the one. No team has ever gone down from the Premiership with that amount of points,42. Not only that but it is possible thee team that should have been too good to go down. David James, Glen Johnson, Joe Cole, Jermaine Defoe, Trevor Sinclair, Michael Carrick, all current or future England stars, Throw in Di Canio and Freddie Kanoute and i still cant believe that team went down, but then that could be part of the West Ham way as well. Through all this though the fans have never left, still coming back game after game.
Fast forward to 2011 and after another relegation the clubs owners, in chasing a swift return to the top flight, appoint Sam Allardyce. A man whose football style is perhaps alien to what West Hams is supposed to be, he preferring the more direct brand of statistical football reliant on pro zone and not the type pioneered at our club by Allison and Greenwood and carried on by the legend that is Johnny Lyall, of football played for the entertainment of the paying crowd, on the floor passing laced with individual skill. Maybe not delivering the results they should, but give me the unpredictable quality of Paolo Di Canio every day over the goal scoring but often anonymous during the game Kevin Nolan.
I for one cant wait for a return of the West Ham Way.
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