Player Grade: Robert Snodgrass is a good Championship player

Summary

When Robert Snodgrass joined West Ham United from Hull City on January 26th, Hammer fans could barely hide their excitement. Even David Sullivan’s boy, Jack, tweeted out how this was an incredible signing for value. Value, being the operative word here.

Both Burnley and West Ham were in hot pursuit of the 29 year old midfielder, each submitting a £10m offer. The signing came days after the surprising move to bring in Jose Fonte, and people were starting to believe in David Sullivan’s transfer prowess once again.

Expectations

The expectations for Robert Snodgrass were actually quite simple. Be the man he was for Hull and help West Ham get out of the relegation scare. Some even implied we’ve found a free kick replacement for, then sold, Dimitri Payet. After seeing what Snodgrass could do with the supporting cast at Hull at his side, Hammer fans were understandably excited to see what he could muster at London Stadium.

"This is the sort of Club which speaks for itself, the fans who come here and support week-in week-out and moving to and selling out this new stadium is terrific and I want to be part of it.” Snodgrass told the club in his signing interview.

At the time, you could empathize with the buzzing all around East London. West Ham were desperate for playmakers and individuals with the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. Michail Antonio led the team with just eight goals, so Robert’s seven looked like a welcomed addition.

Performance

If there was an award for largest hype to biggest disappointment - pretty sure Robert Snodgrass would have a unanimous victory. By the start of May, Snodgrass wasn’t even being subbed into matches anymore. He was a constant disappointment and a shadow of the player who once wore the Orange and Black. Funny enough, he still led all Hull City players in scoring by season end.

As my good friend Pete Schlenker put it in his recent article about Snoddy:

Snodgrass doesn’t have the speed or athleticism to play on the wing in a 3-4-3 and the Hammers have a number of better options up front, with Andre Ayew and Manuel Lanzini having cemented their starting places alongside Andy Carroll

Highlights and Lowpoints

This section should be fairly straight forward.

Highlight: The hype from signing up to actually stepping onto the pitch.

Lowpoint: Stepping onto the pitch. Oh and that bit about having an arrest warrant in Scotland for failing to show up to court on a driving charge. (lol yes, it happened)

Really, he was dreadful. Each free kick was worse than the last. Each match seemed to compound more frustration. Eventually he slipped into the abyss known as Bilic’s bench, sitting mostly next to Ashley Fletcher.

Next Season

So even if West Ham United decides to retain Robert for next season, there’s very little chance he sees any significant amount of time on the pitch, even as a late substitute. West Ham would probably be content to break even, or take a bit of a loss just to unload his wages. He would make for a fine Championship footballer for clubs like Fulham, Leeds, or Reading. At 30 years of age, I think we’ve seen the best of Robert Snodgrass and have no interest in a rerun.

Final Grade - D