West Ham Season Preview #12 Robert Snodgrass - Mr. Unpopular

Last Season

To many Robert Snodgrass, is the most unpopular man in East London. Since his much-heralded arrival from Hull City in the January Transfer Window, the Scotsman has been a wild disappointment.

He was the main source of goals for relegation battling Hull and many expected Snodgrass to continue this for West Ham United.

At the time of his signing Payet was on the way out and the Irons required a creative spark from midfield. Snodgrass failed to provide this and had a mediocre season in claret and blue. He struggled to adapt to a system that wasn’t centered around him and lacked the speed and athleticism to thrive in West Ham’s system.

Snodgrass failed to score a single goal for the Hammers and has been widely dismissed as a waste of money by fans.

Current Team Placement

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Things aren’t looking good for Snodgrass, there have been constant rumours that he will be leaving the club. Brighton, Leeds and Sunderland were reportedly interested in signing the midfielder.

Snodgrass is one of the club’s highest earners, it would be a waste to have such an expensive player rotting away on the bench. It’s likely the Scotsman has lost his place in the first team, especially after the arrival of Marko Arnautović. He’s fulfilled the role we always wanted Snodgrass to have.

Goals for the Season

Snodgrass is unlikely to leave West Ham this summer, meaning that he will have another chance to prove himself. After a full pre-season with the team, offering the chance to gel with the team - we are going to see the best of the Scotland international.

Whether this shows that he is the same player as he was at Hull or surplus to requirements we will learn this season. It’s difficult to judge a player on half a season, no matter how average that period was.

Quotes from Snodgrass back in June reflect a man who knows he has a lot of improvements to make:

“It's not easy moving to a new club in the middle of the season but I chose to join West Ham above other teams because of their great tradition and fanbase and I'm determined to make it a success.

There were some factors that made things difficult last season. I was living away from my family because we didn't want to interrupt schooling but next season I'll have my wife and three kids with me.

I was also asked to play on the left to fill the gap vacated by Dimitri Payet but it's never been my position. I've scored nearly a hundred goals as a mainly right-sided player and I've said to the manager that's where I think I'm most effective.

We've had a very good discussion and hopefully I'll be given a run of games where I'm comfortable. If it doesn't happen right away, I will have to wait for my chance.

I'm really looking forward to meeting up with the West Ham boys for pre-season and starting again.”

Snodgrass will have to prove himself in the 2017/18 season. Can he emerge as a creative force in the team? Or will it be yet more average performances from a man on incresingly unjustifiably unreasonably high wages?

We have to give him a chance in his second season and can only fully evaluate once the Christmas period rolls around.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images