West Ham Divided: Hammers heading for Premier League trap door | OneFootball

As the full-time whistle sounded out at the London Stadium on Tuesday night, the audible unrest of the rapidly dispersing home support was clear. West Ham, beaten on home soil by a direct relegation rival, were now seven points from safety.

West Ham's decline has been stark. Less than three years ago, the Irons celebrated one of their greatest nights. Jarrod Bowen's late goal against Fiorentina in Prague secured Europa Conference League success and a first major trophy in 43 years.

Now, after two managerial changes and a plethora of bad decisions from the boardroom,West Ham are on the brink of losing their top-flight status for the first time in 13 years.

This was not how it was supposed to be. The club's move to the London Stadium was designed to take the Hammers to the next level.

Only Manchester United's Old Trafford has a larger capacity thanWest Ham's 62,500-seat stadium among Premier League clubs, but not every house is a home. The London Stadium is everything Upton Park wasn't: a soulless bowl with the fans distant from the pitch.

It's a disconnection that has transmitted right through the club.

Protests against the board are warranted. Little has been done to turn the London Stadium into something that resembles their former home.

On the pitch, the decision to let David Moyes leave has proven costly. Moyes was a divisive figure; his work was perhaps appreciated outside ofWest Ham circles more than it was within them. The Scot can be pragmatic, his football uninspiring. But he's also everything West Ham are not right now - stable.

Under Moyes,West Ham enjoyed three straight seasons of European football, one of which ended with that aforementioned Conference League success. While wealthier clubs may arrogantly dismiss that competition, those who travelled to the Czech capital that night will treasure those memories. And so they should. Football, after all, is about the fans, something the board have negligently forgotten of late.

After the failed experiment of Graham Potter, Nuno Espirito Santo was brought in. A coach in a similar mould to Moyes, his tenure has seen little firefighting to date. Two wins from 16 league games tell the story.West Ham have failed to keep a clean sheet across that period. Nuno is a good coach, but the problems run deeper than him.

Recruitment this month looks desperate. More than £45m has been spent on Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe. One arrives with a modest goal record in Serie A, the other after a brief purple patch in Portugal. Castellanos was poor on debut, while Pablo was given little time to impress. Neither will be written off so soon, but both appear gambles for a club that has famously struggled to sign strikers. Perhaps that is West Ham-coded.

A family club is fragmented with few signs of a turnaround. Already, a seven-point gap to Nottingham Forest looks difficult to bridge.

West Ham pulled off a 'Great Escape' in 2006/07, when seven wins from their final nine games led to an unlikely climb out of the bottom three.

Carlos Tevez inspired that turnaround, but who in the current squad possesses Tevez's talent, or perhaps more worryingly, fighting spirit? Jarrod Bowen has often been head and shoulders above his teammates, but even the club captain's excellence may not save his side this season.

The board must take much of the blame. Few of the regular match-attending fans will be happy until the current chiefs are ousted.

West Ham's famous blowing bubbles anthem tells a tale of dreams fading. Rarely has it been more apt.

A reset and rebuild are needed, regardless of what tier the club find themselves in.