West Ham started the season in rather downbeat mood as they looked to be heading nowhere after a poor previous season in which they struggled to make much of a progress. Sam Allardyce was not liked by the fans and seemed to have been given instructions by the board to play more proactive football, something that he would not have appreciated. But the Hammers did some decent transfer business and the signing of Enner Valencia, one of the breakthrough World Cup stars, would prove an inspired bit of business. Alex Song was brought on from Barcelona, while Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho had excellent seasons as well, with the squad having a more complete and deep look than the one from last season. It was a mostly mixed start of the campaign but the East London side started to find some very good form from September onwards. They stunned Liverpool for a 3:1 home win and went on a very good run of just a single loss, to Manchester United, in eight games. Another highlight of their season was a superbly gutsy and exciting 2:1 victory over Manchester City in October, a game full of excellent football and some real defensive doggedness by the Hammers late on. Allardyce settled on a slightly different formation in which Stewart Downing was thriving as an attacking player, with Sakho and Valencia in attacking pair. It was proving quite beneficial to the squad and there was genuine feeling of something special tacking place at Upton Park for a first time in quite a while. Results remained quite good as four wins out if five in December kept the Hammers very much in the race for Champions League places. With Andy Carroll also back to fitness, the fans were dreaming of something bid developing in the second half of the season. In contrast, West Ham’s season unravelled quite sadly and disappointingly in the next few weeks and months. The failure to bring more players in January would prove a costly one and the loss of form of some of the big players lead to a poor run of results. The Hammers secure just a single win in a run of 12 games until March and descended quickly into mid-table obscurity. The feeling of disengagement within the team grew and an utterly spineless 4:0 loss at West Brom in the FA Cup seemed to encapsulate the steep decline that took place since the start of 2015. It just seemed like West Ham gave up quickly on their dream of sustaining their top-four challenge. The rest of the season was a formality and very low on any highlights. Allardyce seemed to know that he was leaving by the end of the season and barely put any effort himself. His departure from the club was confirmed just minutes after the last game of the season and brought to an end what was always a marriage of convenience. Now the hopes of the fans are of an exciting new managerial appointment and someone to build on the promise that was shown by the team in the early stages of the this last season.
