Gabby Agbonlahor warns David Moyes about ‘vicious’ West Ham United fanbase
David Moyes needs to get his West Ham side performing on the pitch because fans don’t want to hear him downplay the situation, says Gabby Agbonlahor.
Following the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal on Boxing Day the Irons boss told talkSPORT: “We’ve done really well for two years, we mustn’t forget that. We’re moving through a spell where we’re not doing as well as we’d like but I’ve got no doubts it’ll change.”
The fourth-consecutive defeat leaves the club just a point outside the relegation zone and Agbonlahor believes the Scot needs to be taking things more seriously or the West Ham faithful will turn on him.
Speaking live on talkSPORT Wednesday morning (28 December, 8.42am) he reacted to Moyes brushing off the Arsenal loss by saying: “Fans don’t want to hear that. Fans will be like, ‘We don’t want to hear that, show us on the pitch.
“Words don’t mean anything. You’ve been poor now for six games, poor against Arsenal, they battered them second half. Fans will be getting frustrated.
“Friday they play Brentford at home. If that isn’t going according to plan and Brentford get the first goal that crowd will turn.
“When they first moved to that stadium the fanbase was still against the team but they’ve had a good couple of years where everyone’s happy and the fans are on side. They can be vicious, that fanbase, when it’s not going right.
“Brentford are not the team you want to be playing at home when you need a result because they looked very good against Spurs.”
Serious
Moyes’ record since he returned to the club has gained him enough credit that the supporters are largely still behind him.
But he must be aware that this is now more than a blip, with close to half the season gone and a relegation battle looking more likely than an assault on the European places.
Perhaps he shouldn’t be on the hot seat after half a campaign that hasn’t lived up to the standards the he has created at the London Stadium, but that is the reality of the situation as patience is reportedly running out behind the scenes.
Moyes has been given the reinforcements that he appeared to need last season to get to the next level and instead the team has regressed two or three back.
There are key games coming up which could change the complexion of the league table quickly if West Ham pick up some positive results.
But Agbonlahor is right that it wasn’t long ago that the club was engulfed in unrest which could easily return should the drop become a genuine concern.