Hammer of the Year ‘23/24
⚒️ Jarrod Bowen !!!!
The England international goes into the final weekend of the season having been directly involved in no fewer than 30 goals in all competitions, scoring 20 and assisting ten more. Jarrod Bowen’s tally of goals scored in the Premier League is 16 in 34 appearances for the Hammers, which means that he has equalled Paolo Di Canio’s Premier League record for the most Hammers goals in a single season.
Bowen was overwhelmingly voted Hammer of the Year by West Ham supporters, with Ghana attacker Mohamed Kudus capping an impressive debut campaign in east London by finishing in second place.
But Kudus did not go home empty-handed, as the 13-goal winger scooped the Goal of the Season award for his incredible individual 70-yard run and finish in the 5-0 UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg win over SC Freiburg at London Stadium in March.
At the other end of the pitch, goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was presented with the Save of the Season trophy for his fingertip stop to keep out a fiercely-struck volley from Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard in the Premier League visit of the Gunners to E20 in February.
Two promising homegrown players were also recognised, with midfielder George Earthy capping a season in which he made his first-team debut and scored his first goal for the first-team by being named Mark Noble Young Hammer of the Year, and defender Ezra Mayers winning the Dylan Tombides Award for the outstanding Academy of Football scholar.
David Moyes‘s last home game…
…was the reason for a fair tribute written by Axel Steinsberg in 👉🏻The Guardian, and fortunately this last home match turned out a fond farewell for the manager on a sunny afternoon. David Moyes’s four and a half years as West Ham manager (second time around) came to an end with a stirring come-from-behind 3-1 (0-1) victory over Luton Town!
After a dire first half from the Hammers, three second half goals from Ward-Prowse, Soucek and young George Earthy secured a 3-1 win that has all but sent Luton Town down to the EFL Championship.
It was ironic that 19-years-old Earthy (pictured), a youth-team product who came in as a substitute for only his second PL game, scored the last home goal under the Scot who sometimes was criticised for his refusal to give younger players a chance.
The win was a fitting finale for the Scot, who can leave with a smile and his head held high.
A successful relegation battle won, three European campaigns and a UEFA Europa Conference League trophy all won, West Ham’s first silverware in 43 years. It’s been massive. Thank you, David Moyes, for giving us the best time as West Ham supporters for a long time! The “Moysie era” has been the best period for West Ham since the tenure of manager John Lyall!
LC24
What is the Leadership Conference?
The Leadership Conference is an opportunity for leaders in every sphere – across contexts, traditions, generations, and cultures – to gather as one, encounter Jesus, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Christ-centered leadership has the power to change lives and transform the world.
The annual Leadership Conference is organised and hosted by Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, pioneers of Alpha, an introduction to the Christian faith running in churches of all denominations in 140 countries. Nicky Gumbel was Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, a large central London church, for 17 years. Nicky and Pippa now work to support Alpha globally. They are also the authors of a daily Bible commentary BioY.
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These are some of the key questions addressed at the LC24:
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The next Leadership Conference LC25 will be held in London, Royal Albert Hall, on 5–6 May 2025.
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David Moyes Leaves
👉🏻 www.whufc.com (Club statement)
I have watched the manager’s last game before this club announcement (spotted on Match of the Day):
Farewell at Chelsea
“The fans have been great but I feel bad for them,” West Ham manager David Moyes told Sky Sports.
“I don’t normally have teams who get beaten like this but we are lacking some ingredients – mental toughness and leadership to get better results, or at least not get hammered.
“The fans played their part and I can only say I’m really sorry for how it played out.”
Well, these have been massive years for West Ham. But now they need a fresh start next season, with a massive overhaul for an ageing squad.
West Ham 1-0 up at HT
West Ham’s second goal, the equaliser after Liverpool had gone up 2-1 in the second half, has been assisted by Jarrod Bowen and scored by Michail Antonio:
Happy birthday and farewell to David Moyes!
It’s West Ham manager David Moyes‘s 61st birthday today. In an article on the KUMB website Paul Walker writes that the foreseeable conclusion of the Scot’s tenure is “a sad and disrespectful end”.
With only four wins in 2024 and almost certainly losing out on qualifying for Europe it is almost inevitable that West Ham is looking for a fresh start and hence will not renew the manager‘s contract. But parting ways with the most successful Hammers manager since John Lyall, and that is David Moyes without any doubt, should be done in a respectful and dignified way.
Let’s hope the players will recover from the Europa League exit and from the 2-5 drubbing by Crystal Palace last weekend, which meant that West Ham have virtually gone out of Europe twice within the space of one week. I very much hope that the players who have been on an incredible and massive journey with their manager since the beginning of 2020, for four and a half years now, are up for the last games of the season and won’t let the season just peter out. The manager does deserve that!
I will bid my personal farewell to David Moyes by visiting the game against Chelsea away.
Matches left in the PL for West Ham: Liverpool (H), Chelsea (A), Luton (H), Manchester City (A).
Calls for end of Moyes‘s tenure…
… have become so numerous in comments of West Ham fans that it would be a greater miracle if David Moyes was still manager of the club by the end of the season than it was when the Scot succeeded in avoiding relegation twice in 2019/20 and 2017/18.
West Ham failed to produce a miraculous turnaround in the EL semifinal against Leverkusen, and lost twice in the PL, last weekend 2-5 at Glasner’s Crystal Palace, and it now seems almost certain the Hammers will find themselves outside the European places in the Premier League by the end of this campaign.
Hamburg Hammer writes on WHTID that for a manager taking such great pride in solid defensive football, Moyes has now been found out. And he adds: “I don’t see him coming up with a masterplan to turn things around again.”
WHTID columnist Kirk Blows therefore thinks that now is the perfect time to respectfully thank Moyes for his achievements over the past four years and move on.
He argues that the squad needs a huge overhaul – in fact a rebuild given the club has the second-oldest average starting XI in the top flight – and the team is crying out for fresh ideas and new impetus.
That’s perfectly right, and so is another writer for WHTID, Gary Hyams, who lists eight reasons why West Ham should part company with the Scot and concludes that “30 per cent possession is a mad way to play football. This is not the West Ham way.”
Rightly so. Moyes has won West Ham the first trophy in 43 years, but now it’s time to say “thanks, Mr. Moyes, for everything, it has been a massive delight to achieve three consecutive seasons in Europe and win silverware in Prague.” But given the circumstances it is time to move on.
Well, things have got so desperate lately that it could happen that on my next trip to London I will not want to watch West Ham…
In the meantime rumour has it that West Ham could be interested in appointing Ruben Amorim (Sporting Lissabon) as their new manager next season. The Portuguese had a meeting with West Ham chairman David Sullivan.
EXTRA TIME 
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