5 Premier League teams who are involved in a battle for relegation

#5 West Ham United

The ownership of David Gold and David Sullivan is bringing bad vibes to West Ham

West Ham currently sits in 14th place, with four sides separating them from the relegation zone. But if any club feels like it’s in trouble now – outside of West Brom of course – then it’s the Hammers.

Their recent record has been poor – they’ve taken just 4 points in their last 5, less than any team not already in the bottom three – and the vibes surrounding the club, in general, appear to be worsening every week.

The Hammers fired a relatively popular boss, Slaven Bilic back in November following a sticky patch, and while new manager David Moyes has masterminded a handful of good results since – a victory over Chelsea in December and a recent victory over Watford for instance – their form has recently slipped again, as they were absolutely dire this past weekend in a 4-1 loss to Swansea.

It’s hard to single out any underperforming players – it feels more like the toxic atmosphere off the pitch has now seeped into the team’s performances on it.

Fan protests are currently being organized against the club owners David Sullivan and David Gold, who promised marquee signings in both of this season's transfer windows but didn’t deliver.

The January loan signing of Euro 2016 winner Joao Mario hasn’t paid off yet, while the same window also saw them sell Andre Ayew – who had scored 3 league goals – and replace him with Jordan Hugill, formerly of Preston.

There was also the nasty business of recruitment chief Tony Henry apparently stating that the club no longer wished to sign African players.

With games against Chelsea, Arsenal and both Manchester teams still to come, don’t expect it to get any easier for them either. Right now they’re out of the drop zone, but they’re certainly in a relegation fight – one it may not be that easy for them to survive.