The West Ham Story- Season One

What can be said about West Ham's first season under new manager Nick Justice? Average? Under-achievers? Well yes, both can be said about the way the Irons performed under the gaffer this season. If not for a superb cup run that took them to the final against Hull City that they eventually lost, some might of said it would've been shambolic! We all here at TFF News know how much it pains the gaffer Justice with him being a Hammer himself, but with a number of changes and distractions in the season, maybe that could've been the downfall for the boys from the London Stadium!

We will be taking a look into the story of the club this season, the gaffer and also the players and how some of the famous Irons of the past and also some of the clubs famous supports thought of the campaign under Justice.

Well it all began on 28th June at the start of the summer when Justice took over from the struggling Slaven Bilic, many had tipped David Moyes or even Roberto Mancini, however the board of David Gold, David Sullivan and Karen Brady opted for young English manager Nick Justice, 23, who himself at such a young age has vast experience within the game of soccer manager and they knew he was the right guy for the club, being that not only was he a fan, but he had a bigger picture for the long term plans of the club and it's illustrious academy, that has produced the likes of Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick.

You could tell that the Hammers boss Nick Justice had the future in mind from the get go when they announced the arrival of Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco. The 18-year-old arrived for a sum of money and showed a signal of intent from the newly appointed gaffer! With a number of 'bigger' clubs vying for his signature, it appeared to be quite the coup from Justice, however after a decent season in an otherwise poor season for West Ham it was apparent that the French international wanted away from the club, and like his countryman Dimirti 'Snake' Payet the year before, requested a move away from the London Stadium. In recent weeks following the request it was announced that he was to head to the Emirates and ply his trade under gaffer Ben Clifford, a good friend of Justice's. The deal however pleased many of the Hammers fans with the arrivals of Alvaro Morata and Davinson Sanchez as part of a trade deal!

We here at TFF News actually caught up with the Spanish forward Alvaro Morata (Pictured at Rush Green, Right) shortly after his switch to West Ham United from the gunners, and this is what he had to say about his first full-season ahead at the London Stadium and working with manager Nick Justice for the first time,

" I'm delighted to be at the club, a big club and one that very much under achieved last season! We got to a cup final and didn't do so well in the league, however with the team we've got here I strongly believe we have enough in our locker both long and short term to cause the 'bigger' clubs damage this season! We've got the likes of Raheem Sterling, Jemerson and more, all capable of being in a team challenging for Europe and that is exactly what the gaffer wants us to do, and he gives us a strong belief that we can indeed achieve that.

Last season I got the chance to play under Ben Clifford a manager that is for sure strong and one well regarded in TFF but I'm looking forward to a new challenge and having trained under my new manager I can certainly see differences between the two and it 's for sure something I like and it feels more like home here.

I'm excited to find out the schedule and our fixtures next season and I simply cannot wait to get stuck into another Premier League campaign and a successful one at that I hope for us here at West Ham!"

So, it appears that the Spanish international is very excited about the year ahead, but before we jump forward to the season forthcoming, let's take a quick scam over the season just past for the Hammers...

They didn't get off to the best start to life under Justice, many said it was down to his heart, that he didn't have it in him to get rid of some of the deadwood in the team, and after many critics hit out at him, it appeared to have worked as he finally got involved in the market more, having already signed Mbappe, Onyekuru, Arrizabalaga and Talisca, he then opted to bring in several more new faces, but with already ten games of the season gone many felt it was far too late and they should of acted faster with adding players into the team and perhaps if Justice has done that then they could've had a very different start and end to the season.

Justice went on to add thirty-two new players to both the Irons first team and youth team in order to try and push for at least a good cup run if nothing else, and that they did as they beat Arsenal on their way to the TFF Cup Final- where they met a very strong Hull City side that triumphed and it was only a runner-up medal for Justice and his side. However the cup run seemed to spark as wave on strong results that saw West Ham rise to as high as 11th before another dip in form so them sit in 14th for sometime.

By the time the final whistle was blown on season one, Nick Justice and his West Ham side found themselves sat in 16th, with a record of nine wins, twelve draws and seventeen losses to their name. Not the start to life at West Ham that many had expected or wanted from their gaffer, in fact we caught up with a couple of former Hammers to hear their thoughts on the season...

Firstly, we spoke with former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp, who had this to say, "It's never easy to manage in the Premier League, and Nick found that out and they didn't achieve quite like many expected before the season, I can only hope with the wheeling and dealing he's done in the post-season, that his could have a stronger second season. Or as we all know, it could be curtains for him next season!"

Some strong words from the Former West Ham, Spurs and Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp! Football is a results game and could he be right, could another poor season mean curtains for Justice?

We also spoke with Trevor Sinclair( Pictured at the London Stadium below), who was very optimistic for the season ahead and the cup run that his former club had last term, here was what Sinclair had to say to TFF TV, " Don't get me wrong the league campaign was a bit stop, start but in a very competitive league it's always going to be tough.

We had a great cup run last season and that I know as a fan myself was fun to watch! We can only hope that next season we can have not only a solid cup run but also a much better league campaign. Nick has added in some real class players, in Alvaro Morata and Leon Goretzka, who could really make the difference next season, compared to this. We've got a much stronger squad this time around for sure!"

So, many of the former Hammers and also some fans we caught up with outside the London Stadium really do have faith that with the changes that the gaffer Nick Justice has made this post-season; that next season really will be much more of a success! We hope that the pundits and the fans are right and that next season the Irons have a much stronger campaign than this.

We'd hate for the West Ham United manager to be one of the casualties of the new season! So, many have said about the new season and the team they have going into it, but shall we take a glance at the stand-out players and the award winners at the club in season 1?

PLAYER OF THE SEASON: MANUEL LANZINI(89)

Manuel Lanzini was voted as the clubs player of the season by the clubs fans at whufc.com

The Argentine International came out on top in a fans vote, shortly followed by defender Nascimento Jamerson, both had individual great campaigns in an otherwise lacklustre season for their side.

Manuel Lanzini more than likely got the vote on popularity than actual statistics, but then again with the poor season, it'd of been hard to pick the player of the season from their squad. But the award had to be won and it was the 24-year-old who walked away with it, hopefully next season he can have a more productive season stats wise.

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON: LEON BAILEY

Leon Bailey, 20, was voted the clubs young player of the year, after a superb run in the Cup for West Ham as they got the final

The Jamaican Leon Bailey, was voted as the clubs young player of the year after a key involvement in his sides cup run to the final earlier in the season, and also during the games he featured in the league, he showed some great promise! Surely a great player that is only improving and that perhaps could play a much bigger part for his side in season two.

Bailey, 20, seemed very grateful for the award as you can see from the picture above when he was seen kissing the trophy! He 100% posses the passion and ability that the Hammers faithful love to see in a player, and perhaps that's why he was given the award by the fans.

So, that is the awards and the way and a quick summary of how thing went down at the London Stadium this season, but what did the manager have to say about it and and the season ahead? Well there has been numerous different media outlets in which Nick Justice has expressed how disappointed at his first season at his beloved West Ham, but we're going to end here with words straight out of the gaffer's mouth about last season and this apparent exciting season to come for all the Hammers fans!

"I have to admit that it didn't go to plan this season and it was overall a very poor display from us and I know that and it's something that has led to me making changes both on the pitch and off the pitch. I sat down with the owners and discussed my five-year plan and they bought into it and have actually made funds available through-out the season and it's something we will hope to see more of next season.

We've also brought in a few new members of the backroom staff for the upcoming campaign too, with Paulo Di Canio and Stuart Pearce both joining me on the bench this campaign- I hope their passion and mine will relay onto our players on the pitch!

We came 16th last season, which is plain and simply not good enough, and as a West Ham fan it hurt me just as much as those sitting at the stadium watching what they had to watch, and also travelling away from home only to see us lose. We're going to make changes this season on the training ground and also hopefully we can bring in a couple more players and start our rise up the league in the upcoming campaign. We're a club that should be in Europe and that will be something I hope to bring to the club next season; we have the players to do it and I will get the very best out of them this season, thats for sure 100%!!!

Yes, we had a great cup run and the fans loved it and so did I, but it ended in heartbreak and it hit me hard, as I had really hoped to bring some much needed silverware back to the London Stadium, as it's been too long! Next season we would really like to get our hands on some kind of silverware and it'll be something I will for sure look to achieve and something I'll put my all into making happen. We've improved in quality in-depth this season ahead and have seen many rating changes for our players, and hopefully in the coming days we shall know what we have to play with in the transfer market.

If we're to compete with the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton and that we simply must keep on adding to the class we've already got. Rest assured next season will go much more smoothly that this season and I will deliver what the fans and I both want! That is success in the short-term but also in the long-term. We're working towards that as we speak!

It's going to be a journey, but a fun one and one I hope the fans will back me on 100%!

COYI!!!"

Some strong words form the gaffer and some great changes, only time will tell if it'll go to plan! We're hoping for a much better season here at TFF News for West Ham...Watch this space!