TWO things happened last week which put a smile on every West Ham United supporter’s face.
The first was the convincing 3-1 win over Watford last Friday which 95 per cent secured our status in the Premier League.
It was followed by an outstanding performance at Manchester United, which 100 per cent secured it.
We also celebrated Mark Noble’s 500th senior appearance for West Ham which David Gold and David Sullivan paid tribute to last week.
It is a quite phenomenal achievement in the modern game but then, as we all know, Mark is quite a phenomenal individual.
He became just the tenth West Ham player to reach 500 first team appearances when he led out the Irons.
Noble joins Billy Bonds, Frank Lampard Snr, Bobby Moore, Sir Trevor Brooking, Alvin Martin, Jimmy Ruffell, Steve Potts, Vic Watson and Sir Geoff Hurst in reaching the landmark, becoming the sixth academy graduate to do so.
He also ranks ninth in games played for a single club in Premier League history.
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Yet his influence here at West Ham extends far beyond his commitment on the pitch.
Throughout his long and distinguished career, Mark has always cared deeply about the welfare and needs of this club, and the staff who work so hard behind the scenes.
We are lucky to have such a proficient, professional and dedicated captain. He is a leader in every sense of the word, on and off the pitch.
Since the league recommenced, we have taken 11 points out of a possible 24 and scored 13 goals.
It makes me reflect on what might have been this season if we had not had the dark period during it where we lost our goalkeeper and couldn’t keep a clean sheet.
As this strangest of seasons grinds to a halt tomorrow, I feel sorry for the clubs at the bottom of the table. Of all the years, this is not the year to get relegated.
The EFL appear to be looking to implement wage caps which are virtually impossible for relegated clubs to comply with.
Games will still be played behind closed doors when the new season kicks off on September 12, which impacts the financial stability of all clubs — but those in the EFL rely most heavily on gate money.
CEO of the EFL, Rick Parry, admitted to the select committee it was “difficult to answer” how many might go out of business as a result.
With one having already dropped into administration, it is hard to be in a league which appears to have so much instability.
Parry also stated that “parachute payments are an evil that needs to be eradicated” — even though he invented them and relegated clubs rely on them.
If you get promoted to the Premier League, you owe it to your club to try to retain that status.
That means massive investment which, if it doesn’t pay off, leads to financial disaster if you are relegated.
No-one wants a promoted club to do a Blackpool but you might be forced to if relegation means you go into a league which seems to want to operate for the benefit of the lowest common denominator, not the highest, and will impose impossible conditions and fines which only impact you when you least need it to.
And finally, VAR. The problem is not actually VAR itself but those that operate it.
The Premier League shared with us the results of a fan survey.
Supporters stated their main concerns are the subjectivity of VAR decisions, VAR interrupting goal celebrations, VAR decisions being communicated too slowly and not enough information about decisions that are being reviewed by VAR.
This is about everything that VAR has to do!
Which means the supporters, the players, the managers and the executives of the Premier League all share the same concerns.
When you consider the amazing job the Premier League executive has done to get our football back on after lockdown, what a shame VAR has let football down.
The Premier League now has to decide if we accept VAR as it currently is or do we do away with it completely?
When the 17th Premier League meeting of the season concluded yesterday after a long three hours, it was agreed to have this debate at the summer meeting.
