The old saying "the wheels have fallen off" has never been more relevant than when discussing West Ham United's season.

Stoke City’s last-minute equaliser only served to compound the bad feeling around Upton Park in the second half of the season.

It is not just the results which have been responsible for this negative feeling but the dissension towards manager Sam Allardyce, which remains as prevalent as it has done for the majority of his tenure.

No matter whether you are pro or anti Allardyce I don't think anyone can deny his presence at the club causes negative feelings to ooze out and spread through the club like an infection.

With his odious post-match interviews, packed with comments that make you wait to tear your hair out, the whole situation for me needs to be put out of its misery.

I accept injuries and lack of squad depth have played a part in the season's collapse, though no West Ham fan thought a top four place or even a top-six finish was realistic this season, with most of us living in a state of impractical hope.

But even with the players available the form has been diabolical and the performances have fallen miles short of where they were previously at.

Allardyce has recently blamed the summer signings’ lack of experience for the dip in form which is just a bewildering statement to make.

Is he aware that other clubs also signed new players and that this is not an exclusive matter for West Ham United?

To cite lack of Premier League experience for players like Aaron Cresswell and Carl Jenkinson fails to highlight the real issue with both those players which was other teams simply worked out that they were a threat when bombing forward.

Against Stoke City the West Ham side looked lost and Stoke outplayed and out-fought a desperate looking Hammers team.

The technique and guile from midfield is in urgent need of improvement and the lack of pace is a real problem.

We have also seen a dip in form from Stewart Downing who has been playing further out wide, which as we have seen, is not a position he is effective in.

It is a great shame the club are limping towards the season's end because I believe we all caught a glimpse of what this team is capable of earlier in the season.

Allardyce has employed a game plan throughout his career to be direct and ensure his players are winning the majority of second balls.

This tactic has proved successful for most of his managerial career in that even with less technical players his teams would grind out enough results to survive in the league.

This season another way of playing presented itself through demands by the owners and injuries to certain players, namely Andy Carroll.

Once other managers worked out how to play against this instead of looking for some other way to play he reverted back to the original direct approach, which for me just accentuates his glaring limitations.

If you just want survival every season then give Allardyce a ten-year contract.

If you want to try to do something more then maybe it is time to look elsewhere. There is nothing wrong with that.

With the right signings in the summer I remain confident the club can continue to progress but also remain confident Allardyce is not the only manager in the world that can achieve this, despite what some fans and sections of the media would have you believe.