Chasing The Big Leagues – West Ham United (English Championship)

Tales from Tier Two is a series on Just Football in partnership with @tiertwofooty, in which we assess the promotion chances of the clubs in tier two of Europe’s major leagues at the midway point of 2011/12. We’ve looked at France’s Ligue 2, Germany’s Bundesliga II, Spain’s Segunda Division and Italy’s Serie B. Now, James McMath runs the rule over Championship leaders West Ham United.

West Ham United

Did anyone really ever doubt Big Sam? Well, except for the Venky’s, of course.

Allardyce was shown the door by the Blackburn Rovers owners in December 2010 and spent six months waiting for the chance to prove them wrong. It was afforded him by the Hammers and, half way through his first season, Allardyce is well on his way to making his point.

With 28 games gone, the Irons are sitting pretty at the top of the Championship, three places below Rovers, who face the fight of their lives to stay in the Premier League.

Allardyce’s biggest achievement so far is managing the expectation that surrounded West Ham in the early stages of the season. They were expected to go up. They were expected to do it as champions.

After a sticky start at home (losing the opener, and drawing the subsequent home fixture), observers wondered if they could do it. Would Allardyce’s notoriously pragmatic approach cut it with those season ticket-holders brought up at The Academy Of Football?

Detractors were quite quickly silenced. Steadily, the Hammers cruised into the automatic promotion places, hitting second after 11 games and only briefly dropping to third on New Year’s Eve with a surprise defeat at a resurgent Derby County.

Never mind. Three wins in a row since then has seen Allardyce’s men hit top spot, casting aside new kids on the block Southampton, who have enjoyed a sensational first half of the season after promotion from League One, in the mould of Norwich City.

Can West Ham keep it up? It seems the toughest part of their season is behind them. In overcoming that early-season pressure and showing why they are regarded as the division’s big boys, confidence has snowballed and, despite a recent heavy defeat to Ipswich, promotion is theirs to lose.

The East London club’s squad oozes with pedigree. There was no fire sale upon relegation. Key personnel (and big earners) such as Robert Green, Jack Collison, Mark Noble and Carlton Cole have remained. The loss of Scott Parker and Demba Ba has been counterbalanced with astute recruits such as Kevin Nolan and Sam Baldock. The January transfer window has brought further reinforcements, including the high-profile arrival of former Manchester United starlet Ravel Morrison.

These are players who should see West Ham home and hosed.

If the Hammers complete their feat and make an immediate return to the top flight, then the club’s board, often the target of derision, should be applauded for keeping their heads.

Position: 1st

Points clear of chasing pack: 3

Will last the pace or tire in the race? Squad has quality and experience to stay out in front.

Predicted final position: 1st

Key Man: Mark Noble – Consistently one of the Hammers’ star performers from midfield. Can create, score and deadly from set pieces.

Up next: Southampton and the chasing pack.

(photo credit: diamond geezer on Flickr)

English Championship, Football League, Tier Two Football, West Ham United