West Ham had a pretty confident and impressive season since promotion and can look back on a job well down given their mid-table finish. The Hammers were always favourites to stay up given the vast amount of Premier League experience in the team and the shrewdness of a manager like Sam Allardyce. He was off to a decent start albeit a miserable loss at Swansea on the second round of the season and the overdrawn signing of Andy Carroll on loan just before the end of the transfer window completed the last piece of the Hammers jigsaw. Carroll had a stunning debut where he terrorised Fulham for a brilliant 3:0 but got injured in that game and overall spent most of the first half of the season sitting on the sidelines and contributing only a single goal. Yet, the rest of the team was working hard and compensating for him and especially in midfield summer signing Mohammed Diamme was brilliantly complementing Mark Noble and Kevin Nolan. West Ham were not really spectacular or superb but were getting some solid wins and staying well clear of the drop zone. Thus, the usual level of chaos or disharmony surrounding Upton Park was not present this season and the players were left to do their job in relatively serene conditions with the fans more than understanding and supportive. One of the major results of the season came just at the start of December when the Hammers came back from a goal down to beat bitter rivals Chelsea 3:1 at home in what was a brilliantly spirited and valiant display. The result finally seemed to gain Allardyce the acceptance of the Upton Park crowd. Yet, what followed was not that stellar as three defeats in the next four games brought the Hammers a bit closer to the lower regions of the table. They actually lost nine of their next 13 games and became to look a bit wobbly and uncertain. However, there were some good wins as well with West Brom and Swansea being beaten at home and a big result away at Stoke lifting the pressure of a relegation struggle. Indeed, a win over Wigan basically made sure of survival with something to spare and the Hammers were able to see the rest of the season with a minimum of fuss. At the end, it was a very solid and overall satisfying season and Allardyce will hope that his team have more of a say in the upper half of the table next year with some reinforcements.
