With supporter ire clear thanks to protests against the board which have, to date, included marches and a boycott of the match against Brentford, East London really isn't the most pleasant place to be at the moment.
Time for West Ham's players to stand up and be counted
It's in precisely these sorts of critical moments that players have to stick their heads above the parapet. To stand up and be counted. To batten down the hatches and exercise the siege mentality that gets their club out of the mire.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going and all that.
That's the point when fans really do understand which of their players are willing to get into the trenches and put in a shift week in and week out, and who, if any, are ready to turn their backs and run for the hills.
They certainly know now that Lucas Paqueta, arguably the most skilful player in the squad, is cut from the latter cloth.
A player that the club backed to the hilt when he was accused of illegal betting practices and who, apparently, wants a move away from the club in January.
Paqueta isn't up for the fight
With the Hammers already involved in a relegation battle of sorts, these next few weeks and months are vital to them remaining in the English top-flight.
If they're unable to get any sort of traction in terms of wins to ease them out of the bottom three, the likelihood is that it's going to be a long, hard season for the East Londoners. Therefore, passengers are most definitely not allowed.
It's clear that Paqueta isn't up for the fight, so the question is can the Irons afford to let him leave?
A fee of around £60m has been mooted, which would be expensive for a January acquisition in any event, and with only three goals and no assists in all competitions this season, that's a price tag difficult to justify at this point in time.
The Brazilian has never been the most prolific player, however, scoring 17 goals (seven of which were penalties) and assisting for 14 more in the entire time he's been at the club, which has encompassed 121 games, 107 of which he's started.
Never more than four goals a season for the Brazilian
Paqueta has never scored more than four goals in a Premier League season which, for someone with his evident talent, is a criminal waste, but can probably be explained by his shooting accuracy over the past two seasons of 29.7% and 22.2%, as well as a shot conversion rate of just 9.5% and 9.8%.
Clearly joga bonito is more preferable to Paqueta than the more physical aspects of the game too, so it's no real surprise to find that the 28-year-old has lost significantly more one-on-one duels than he's won, both on the ground and aerially.
611 ball recoveries during his time at the club hints at his capabilities in a defensive sense, as does the winning of 172 of his 261 attempted tackles, but the sporadic nature of those involvements tells a different story.
Even if one accepts that Paqueta's game is more centred around the ability to draw players in before popping off passes to Jarrod Bowen and others, his accuracy - for a Brazilian - isn't that great either.
Posting completion stats of the mid to upper 70s in terms of percentages is, frankly, average, and again speaks of a player that tends to coast through games rather than grabbing them by the scruff of the neck and becoming the protagonist.
Given the Hammers' current plight, supporters and management would be well within their rights to expect much more from such a senior player.
Hammers need to move Paqueta on
Between now and January, if Paqueta is adamant his future lies elsewhere then he has to put in a few 'shop window' performances to tempt clubs into eyeing his permanent transfer.
By so doing, one would expect that to help West Ham in the interim and, regardless of whether that's the case or not, if the club can maximise his sale value then there will be a 'win win' situation for all concerned.
Assuming that Nuno hasn't managed to turn the corner by then, Paqueta's sale becomes more of a necessity in any event and, as such, the player could leave for significantly less than his market value.
That would certainly be in keeping with how the club have been run of late, and will provide further justification to the long-suffering East London faithful that changes aren't just needed on the pitch but also in the boardroom.
