The relief at Spurs is immeasurable but for West Ham it has been a long time coming, with plenty of blame to be apportioned in relegation.<\/p>\n
Honestly, though. What on Earth were Everton doing?<\/p>\n
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
West Ham\u2019s downfall<\/p>\n
So, Spurs got the inevitable result against Everton and our win was irrelevant. But we weren\u2019t relegated today, it has been a few years in the making and accelerated this season. The culprits as I see them ;<\/p>\n
David Sullivan \u2013 most of the problems come from the top<\/strong><\/a>. Sullivan selling a few jazz mags does not qualify someone to be director of football at a Premier League club, and some of the signing certainly show that to be true. The problem isn\u2019t investment in the playing squad, they\u2019ve actually spent a lot of money, but the recruitment has been terrible with no semblance of a long term plan. If relegation leads to Sullivan following Brady out of the door then I think a lot of West Ham fans will accept that as a fair price.<\/p>\n Graham Potter \u2013 it\u2019s important to remember just how bad we were at the start of the season. We conceded from virtually every corner and he kept picking Max Kilman<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Nuno \u2013 since mid January we\u2019ve been pretty good. Comfortably in mid-table form. But the problem is that Nuno joined in September, for 3 months we just drifted and looked doomed after losing to Wolves & Forest. Fair play for turning it around, but when you\u2019re 7 points from safety its a bit too late.<\/p>\n Lucas Paqueta \u2013 no coincidence that performances and morale drastically improved after he left. Maybe the FA investigation took a toll on him, but his work rate was a disgrace.<\/p>\n London Stadium \u2013 it is possible to get a good atmosphere there, and Upton Park has been mythologised to the point you\u2019d think we never lost, but the stadium move can only be viewed as a failure. Financially it was a no brainier, but it\u2019s probably 10k too big and the gaps between lower and upper tiers means that atmosphere fades and dies too regularly.<\/p>\n Leeds and Sunderland \u2013 it is outrageous that two newly promoted teams were so good. How can mid-ranking PL sides like West Ham coast along in 12th-17th when teams come up and play so well?<\/p>\n West Ham fans \u2013 I don\u2019t think we can be absolved of all blame. If the team performs well, we\u2019re a very supportive bunch, but we\u2019re too quick to get on player\u2019s backs. Booing the team off at HT today was stupid and is symptomatic of the toxic feeling throughout the club.<\/p>\n Aston Villa \u2013 I\u2019ll never forgive them for that \u2018performance\u2019 against Spurs<\/strong><\/a>. Genuinely gutted when they beat Freiburg.<\/p>\n VAR \u2013 hasn\u2019t caused relegation by any means, but if I\u2019m having a good moan I can\u2019t leave out VAR. It needs binning and most match going fans feel the same, there has to be something fans can do to get rid of it.<\/p>\n Off for a few drinks now, and then wake up tomorrow looking forward to Lincoln away, Millwall at home and 44 other great fixtures with the hope that we\u2019ll be back soon. \u00a0<\/p>\n In any other year, West Ham going down would be funny.<\/p>\n Love you all. \u00a0<\/p>\n The end of an era<\/strong><\/p>\n Since the first season of the football league there has \u2013 unless I\u2019ve missed any! \u2013 always been at least one team beginning with W in the top flight.<\/p>\n With West Ham and Wolves playing in the Championship next season, and Ipswich, Coventry and Hull promoted, a streak of some 130 years\u2019 duration comes to an end. \u00a0<\/p>\n Thank you, fixture computer<\/p>\n Can I, on behalf of all Spurs fans, thank the Premier League Super Computer for pulling Everton at home for the last game of the season. \u00a0<\/p>\n In Andrea Pirlo\u2019s Autobiography, he talks about the illustrious AC Milan Trophy room, with all their accolades. He said he always felt there should be a sombre black plaque in there to commemorate AC Milan\u2019s collapse against Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League Final. He felt it should be a mark to remind them never to forget.<\/p>\n Spurs should take heed. Put a black plaque in their own trophy\u00a0room (Yes, haha, there\u2019s plenty of room). A reminder of the sins and near catastrophe of this campaign<\/strong><\/a>. Never again.<\/p>\n As a Spurs fan, there\u2019s little delight, but there\u2019s pure relief at the end of this grueling season. There\u2019s really no saying how bad relegation could\u2019ve been.. Spurs might never have recovered. To survive by the barest of margins on the final day is not ideal.. but that\u2019s enough, and that\u2019ll have to do.<\/p>\n It gives us a chance to recover, to get our squad back healthy, to purge the squad of weak minded and weak skilled players, to build upon the foundations that Roberto De Zerbi has quickly constructed<\/strong><\/a>. He\u2019s done an incredible job with this Great Escape, especially considering how bleak the mood was in the camp when he came in, and the devastating injuries across the squad that he faced. Amazing.<\/p>\n My last mail to this fine forum was on April 13th, after Spurs lost to Sunderland, and lost Romero for the season. My mail barely crept in, through the howling laughter of other fans, F365 writers, Mailboxers, Gary Neville, Sadiq Khan, The entirety of PGMOL and f**k it, probably Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange too. Spurs were going down! The giddy glee had fans from \u2018The Other 14\u2019 clubs frothing at the mouth\u2026 but I warned you:<\/p>\n \u201c6 games left and people are salivating over Spurs demise. But I\u2019m sorry to tell you, like they\u2019ve done for us fans for so long: Spurs will disappoint you.<\/p>\n Salvation seems miles from us for now\u2026 but one win can change everything. De Zerbi will make more progress. Xavi Simons, Bergvall, Van de Ven, Porro, Tel will step up. Maddison might even return.<\/p>\n Spurs will stay up\u2026 and I can\u2019t wait to be back here when they do!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Rumours of Spurs\u2019 demise have been greatly exaggerated, my friends.<\/p>\n Despite *everything*. All the injuries, all the negativity, all the bad luck, the dodgy VAR decisions, the zero penalties, the other fans wishing for their own teams to lose to send Spurs down\u2026 despite it all, Spurs fought their way out of hell.. and Spurs are staying right where they belong!<\/p>\n See you next season!<\/p>\n COYS, \u00a0<\/p>\n Perhaps Tottenham ought to unveil new front-of-shirt sponsors in Viagra (or Cialis) for next season, marketing around staying up and being such hard men that they are in so doing. \u00a0<\/p>\n Am sure you\u2019ll get loads of these\u2026..yes Spurs have been shocking (and need a huge reset), but RDZ has managed to do something\u2026\u2026however, more importantly, it must be infuriating for Chris Sutton, Alan Smith and others that Spurs stay up. \u00a0<\/p>\n Is De Zerbi the new Sam Allardyce? \u00a0<\/p>\n Deafening Moyes<\/strong><\/p>\n Hello ed,<\/p>\n Insipid, hopeless, benign. These are now the adjectives of performances to which we aspire.<\/p>\n Moyes probably loving the fact West Ham went down<\/strong><\/a>, makes him look loads better by comparison. Also distracts from His mismanagement of the squad, substitutes and clueless in game adjustment.<\/p>\n I could go on and on, but he\u2019s already on the hot seat for next season, he\u2019s sodding off to do commentary for talksport, at least Roberto Martinez went to a World Cup he got ESPN and some sort of tiki hut on\u00a0Copacabana beach, that fills me with dread already. 3 points from 21! 1 more point than Sean Dyche\u2019s point deduction season Eesh. \u00a0<\/p>\n Never go full John Terry<\/p>\n It was good to see Saliba, Raya, Trossard, \u00a0White and Timber didn\u2019t go full \u2018John Terry\u2019 and opted for just wearing the jersey for the photo op. \u00a0<\/p>\n I spoke too soon\u2026 \u00a0<\/p>\n Sun loungers<\/strong><\/p>\n When was the last time a promoted team qualified for Europe?<\/strong><\/a> Fair play to Sunderland for that achievement. My team of season. And they finished five places above Newcastle. I wonder if there\u2019ll be more beheadings than usual next week in Saudi Arabia off the back of that. \u00a0<\/p>\n Honour among thieves<\/strong><\/p>\n Finally, the final week of the season is over. A week that has seen the British Press fall over themselves to laud Guardiolas time at City. We all know he wouldn\u2019t have been there without the oil money and nor would the vast majority of the players.<\/p>\n Just when you thought it couldn\u2019t get any \u00a0more cringeworthy you have the game being stopped for Guards Of Honour for Bernardo Silva & John Stones. Even more pathetic was Villa joining them.<\/p>\n Thank god for the League Of Ireland to keep me sane<\/p>\n Yours \u00a0<\/p>\n Clutch? Professional<\/p>\n Thoroughly enjoyed the piece on \u201cMikel Arteta transfer decisions that made angry Arsenal fans look stupid<\/strong><\/a>\u201d just as I\u2019ve enjoyed the myriad of sports journalism that complimented the efforts of Arsenal and Arteta since Jorge Graham took charge.<\/p>\n With regards to Trossard, I did have to look up what a clutch player is. And by extension, what a clutch goal may be.<\/p>\n So, strap yourselves in fellow old men and prepare to shake your hands vigorously at the clouds, because apparently a clutch player is an athlete or competitor who consistently\u00a0 performs exceptionally well under high pressure, especially during critical, game deciding moments.<\/p>\n In other words, a diligent, talented and focused professional.<\/p>\n A clutch is type of handbag, pedal or to grip tightly, not a footballer. \u00a0<\/p>\n Pep for England<\/strong><\/p>\n So I saw an article in The Guardian, headlined \u2018Pep Guardiola will not rule out possibility of managing England\u2019 written by, of course, Jamie Jackson.<\/p>\n Apparently Pep was asked by someone (by some unidentified tw*t, we\u2019ll assume with the initials JJ) at a presser \u2018if the\u00a0England\u00a0role would be of interest\u2019.<\/p>\n Pep replied \u2018I don\u2019t have any absolute plan about my future\u2019 amongst other stuff about wanting a break etc, but Jamie interprets this as \u2018Pep Guardiola has left open the possibility of managing England in the future\u2019.<\/p>\n But he makes this interpretation, despite also including this \u2018Asked if this was not a no, Guardiola said: \u201cYeah \u2013 [but] nobody cares\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n I\u2019m not a journalist, but I would take that to read that \u2018Is that a no\u2019 followed by \u2018Yes, that is a no\u2019!<\/p>\n So basically Jamie seems to have deliberately misinterpreted an answer from Guardiola to concoct a nonsense story, just before England go to the World Cup with a manager who has recently signed a contract extension!<\/p>\n Can you lovely people at F365 explain this to me, I\u2019m confused! READ MORE<\/strong>: What will Pep Guardiola do next? Five options for the departing Man City boss<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Andy the hammer (relegation isn\u2019t the ideal way to get rid of VAR, but I\u2019ll take that small win)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Finlay x<\/strong><\/p>\n
Michael C, a Spurs fan whose only interest in yesterday\u2019s matches was alphabetical, honest\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n
Jim \u2013 Spurs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
Andy, Eire<\/strong><\/p>\n
Eric, Los Angeles \u00a0CA \u00a0(Two from the last 12 points on offer to grab fifth place with aplomb, hooray.)<\/strong><\/p>\n
Dan, Hornchurch (Although begrudgingly, I expect Alan Smith is pretty happy)<\/strong><\/p>\n
Robert, Birmingham\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
EFCraig (there\u2019s going to be 3 worse teams next year\u2026 right?)<\/strong><\/p>\n
Seamus, Sweden<\/strong><\/p>\n
Seamus, Sweden<\/strong><\/p>\n
Danny, Brighton<\/strong><\/p>\n
Se\u00e1n, St Patrick\u2019s Athletic, Inchicores Finest, Dublin\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Eoin (Is it me who is out of touch? No, it is the children who are wrong) Ireland\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
A, LFC, Montreal.<\/strong><\/p>\n