How much will relegation cost West Ham?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Adam Leventhal. West Ham have been relegated from the Premier League just three years after winning the Europa Conference League. But just how costly will the drop be for the Hammers? Well, with me is The Athletic's senior football news reporter, Matt Slater and West Ham correspondent, Roshane Thomas, who, if you are watching on YouTube, you will see he's outside and he's trying to enjoy the sunshine. Roshane, how are you emotionally after that? That's a very good question.
I don't even know how to answer that question, honestly. It's still down. It's worse than being relegated to the Championship, but we'll get into it. It's definitely deserved for the fact of how poor we've been all season.
The thing that people can't see is that you're actually in a paddling pool full of tears at the moment. That's why you're outside. I jest, of course. There'll be a lot of West Ham fans that are feeling on the ground today on this bank holiday Monday. So after 14 seasons in the Premier League, West Ham are going to be a championship club. You've had a front row seat to the season and you've documented a lot of it in your inside read for The Athletic. It's well worth a read for everyone out there. And we're going to be pulling on a lot of the threads that you deal with in the article. But overall, as a season, how bad has it been?
It's been an awful season, in all honesty. And my main takeaway from the season has been a lack of fighting spirit throughout the whole season. Graham Potter, a very slow start under him. I believe it was one win in the first five league games. And if there's one game that really sticks out in my mind, it was the loss to Chelsea. And this probably was the third or second game of the season. And a young supporter tried to run the pitch in protest. I sure as took him away, right? But an elderly fan felt outraged by that, almost to say, like, how dare you take away this young fan? He had every right to protest. And I thought, wow, we're in August and this is how fans feel already. So it's just been a lack of consistency.
And it's been a lot of tension because there's one cup game against Wolverhampton in August as well. And a fan almost clashed with Jair Bowen. And again, In the years I've been covering West Ham, Jared Bowen is very cool. A very cool guy who rarely ever loses his temper. But he lost his temper in that game and his teammates had to hold him back. So again, this is in August and the signs were there that all this wasn't well at West Ham.
You really sensed it, did you? And the players were sensing it, that this was off-key?
Yeah, massively. And a lot of fans will tell you that after the opening day loss to Sunderland, many were like, yeah, this is the year we go down. this the year we go down because even in pre-season the performances I know pre-season is all about fitness but even that early you could tell the signs were there that this team just doesn't click.
Matt from your point of view that they've got 39 points and they're going down West Ham that's the highest tally to go down since Birmingham and Blackpool 15 years ago but they have pretty much been in the relegation zone from the start of the season they pop their heads above the line maybe six times over the course of the season you can't have sympathy for them can you?
Uh, not really. Look, three teams have got to go down, haven't they? It's very hard to make a case that they don't deserve to be one of those three. You know, I don't have a dog in this fight. It came down to them and Spurs, didn't it? And Spurs did a bit more. You know, the table doesn't lie. Yes, I guess you can look at that historic mark. You know, he always used to say sort of get to 40. They got pretty close. I think they're the team, ironically, that have gone down with the highest total ever. That was 42 points. Which again, I suppose tells a story, right? That this is not West Ham's first rodeo. West Ham get relegated every decade or so. Go back to 80s, 90s, noughties.
How did West Ham's season unravel and when did problems first appear?
This happens.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–3:52
2
How did West Ham's season unravel and when did problems first appear?
3:52–19:28
3
Did managerial changes — Potter to Nuno — accelerate West Ham's decline?
19:28–34:16
4
Which leadership departures and dressing-room voids undermined West Ham's culture?
34:16–39:40
Speakers
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