West Ham ‘privately happy’ with Premier League development as pattern emerges
West Ham United have four fixtures to go before they can start again with a blank canvas for the summer.
In truth, the Hammers will have been preparing for next season for weeks on end now, with their Premier League status long secured but not a lot more.
Supporters have felt let down and as if their club have gone backwards this year, following so much promise indicated by an unprecedented amount of money invested into the squad.
Despite winning just nine of their 34 league matches this season, dispensing with one head coach and one technical director in the process, 17th-placed West Ham still find themselves 15 points clear of the relegation zone.
West Ham delighted with Premier League pattern – expert
The true litmus test for Graham Potter at West Ham will come next season, and if they fail to start well, the pressure will quickly mount.
Many fans at the London Stadium have been far from inspired by what they have seen since Julen Lopetegui was replaced, the Portuguese now set to become the Qatar national team head coach.
TV commentator Ian Darke has commented on the “ever-widening” gap, both financially and consequently in terms of squad depth and talent, which ensures underperforming sides like the Irons and Tottenham Hotspur can safely avoid the dogfight for survival from the Championship.
Ipswich Town’s weekend relegation – which had regardless been inevitable for some time – confirmed that in successive Premier League seasons, the three promoted sides have headed straight back into the second tier.
“The gap is ever-widening, as shown by the past couple of seasons – and it’s something West Ham are probably secretly happy with,” Darke exclusively told West Ham Zone.
“It acts as an insurance policy. Clubs are coming up from the Championship and can hardly get a point; they go back down again and hardly lose a point.
“That gap means West Ham and even Tottenham are excused from a relegation battle by the three promoted teams below them.”
Leeds United among sides returning for another crack
Replacing last year’s promoted trio of Ipswich, Leicester City and Southampton, will be Leeds United, Burnley and the eventual play-off winner.
The Hammers’ bitter rivals Millwall even remain in contention to sneak into the Championship’s top six, but face promoted Burnley on the final day of the EFL campaign this Saturday (3 May).
| POS | Premier League table | PLD | PTS | GD |
| 16 | Tottenham | 34 | 37 | +6 |
| 17 | WEST HAM | 34 | 36 | -19 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 34 | 21 | -41 |
| 19 | Leicester | 34 | 18 | -49 |
| 20 | Southampton | 34 | 11 | -55 |
The likes of Leeds and Burnley – the latter managed by former claret and blue midfielder Scott Parker – know heavy investment is the first prerequisite to surviving these days in the Premier League and bucking the trend.
Perhaps more of a challenge can then be sustained – and 36-point West Ham will be desperate to ensure they are not caught up in it. They’ve got away with one this year, and Potter knows it.