How Are We Feeling Heading Into LCFC?

We are starting a new feature here at Brace the Hammer where we are going to get an understanding of how the writers are feeling going into a match weekend. Published the day before the Match Predictions, we want this to be an open discussion about the club in general. Are you excited about the team’s form? How’s the (new) manager doing? Are there encouraging signs? What about some of the younger players? As we get into transfer season, we can even talk about targets and signings.

I held off on this until the week after David Moyes’ first match in charge, but that may have been a mistake given what’s gone on this week. Anyway, with that out of the way, here is how some of the writers are feeling heading into the game against LCFC tomorrow:

Chad Hoy: Look it's no secret that I haven't been a huge fan of the board for, like, the last year or so, but the hiring of David Moyes has really put me over edge. Why in the world would this board hire a man whose last team was relegated and who has failed the two clubs before that as well? Regardless of whether any "big name"s wanted the job, there were plenty of options to choose from. Moyes is a tactical dinosaur and his tactics looked no better than Slaven's in our most recent 2-0 loss at the hands of an inferior squad. If this club goes down, it is absolutely at the fault of the board, and they know it. They're too busy worrying about money to care, though. Of course, it's not all on the board. This team just doesn't believe in themselves anymore. Hiring a manager like Moyes isn't going to inspire them much more. The club may not go down, but the season is over. If they finish above 18th I'll consider it a good season.

Jack Kavanagh: After the first game of the David Moyes era I am hopeful that West Ham will turn the corner and start winning some games. I am less hopeful about the organisation of the club, things feel toxic at West Ham currently and I fear that this will hinder results. The co-owners have made a lot of money from their investment, selling the ground and getting a fancy new free stadium in Stratford. People have had enough and can’t wait to get rid of Gold and Sullivan.

I don’t like the [owners] but I know there are far worse owners out there, look at what the Venkys did to Blackburn Rovers for an example of awful ownership. It could be a lot worse!

Jackson Schmidtke: My mood on the club is the sky isn’t falling yet but it’s cracking. I think the change in manager will pay off and we should survive comfortably. However if there hasn’t been improvement come February I’ll be ready to jump on the sky is falling bandwagon.

Me (Trevor Criswell): We have a shot to make it a decent season and while the Watford game was a poor showing, I think there is a certain amount of professional pride (from both the players and the manager) that will begin to shine through (hopefully). We will be in and out of relegation talk for a while, but I think we have an opportunity to be safe by March. The Board is getting crushed right now, and rightfully so, and hopefully that leads to investment in the side this January. (Let’s be honest here, other than Payet and Lanzini and a season of Kouyate, there haven’t been too many impact signings over the last few seasons.) The bottom line is this: there is too much talent on this team for us to park the bus, but that is what we are going to have to get used to. The rest of the season is going to be scrappy with really, really unsexy football, but if that’s what we need to survive this season and build into the next, then so be it.

What about you? How are you feeling about the club going into the weekend?