Dean Ashton delivered his verdict on West Ham’s season and summed it up in two-words by simply saying bang average.
The former Hammers player was asked by Ray Parlour how he thought Manuel Pellegrini’s side had fared this season and questioned whether they should be higher in the Premier League.
“It has been bang average, the type of season I’m pretty sure West Ham fans wouldn’t have wanted,” answered Ashton on talkSPORT (Monday April 22nd, 9:43am).
Ashton then moved on to moan about the bad luck Pellegrini has had with key players suffering injuries before cheekily claiming it would have been a better season if they had nine or ten more Mark Nobles and Declan Rices to call upon.
“If they had y’know nine or ten more Mark Nobles or Declan Rices then they would be fine,” added the former Hammers player.
OPINION
Imagine the value of the current West Ham team if they had ten players just like Rice. David Gold and David Sullivan wouldn’t be able to believe their luck as they would have pound signs in their eyes. However a team of Nobles may not be as marketable nor appealing for fans. While Hammers fans do adore Noble as he is Mr.West Ham, they’d probably be bored to death if there were ten on him playing as who would burst down the wing and get goals? However while Ashton happily made a light-hearted remark about the Hammers’ current first-choice midfield pairing, he was rather harsh on the club’s season. While recent results haven’t been great and the Hammers have been frustratingly inconsistent all season, to call their campaign bang average is rather harsh as there has been some quite wonderful moments. Just think of the amazing display against Manchester United earlier in the season or the performance against Liverpool, not exactly a bang average season.