“Fortune’s always hiding; I’ve looked everywhere.” This statement proved particularly appropriate for West Ham during Saturday’s match against Stoke City, as the crowd belted out their “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” team song. With seconds to go, well past the 90th minute, Marko Anautovic of Stoke City did exactly what I had been expecting the whole match.

This was my first ever West Ham match in person. I flew from Maryland, USA, specifically to see my Hammers play, and took in every second before I flew back. Now on the plane to Dulles Airport in Washington D.C., I reflect, and find annoyance over the game.

The experience itself was amazing. Pre-match, I joined the thousands of other Hammer-faithful in singing “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles”. Post-match, I got autographs on my new kit, purchased for 50% off. I got to see in person my favourite player, Aaron Cresswell (Hammer-of-the-Year in my opinion), and get his autograph. But during the match, sitting at the top of the BetWay stand, a little to the left of the half-way line, I watched a flat Hammers side after an excellent start to the match.

In the 7th minute of the match, a well-run free kick routine by Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell gave the Hammers an early lead. “We worked on the free kick in training and obviously it’s paid off today,” the 25-year old Cresswell said. However, with Sam Allardyce eyeing an important 3 points over 10th place Stoke City, Allardyce laid off the pressure and defended the one goal lead.

As usual, it was the wrong move by Big Sam.

Just like the pretty bubbles rising into the sky, the dream of Sam Allardyce bringing West Ham a consistent Top 6 finish has faded and died. The stadium was out-sung by the Stoke City away supporters, even though West Ham led for almost the whole 90 minutes. I don’t blame the regular fans for not getting excited. It’s hard to be excited when Big Sam sits back and plays 11 behind the ball. It was a flat atmosphere full of groans and knowledge of the inevitable: Stoke City will score late, and now it has happened in 4 of the last 9 matches.

7 points in the last 9 games have been thrown away. Manchester United, Tottenham, and Stoke have grabbed equalizers in the dying moments of the game – crushing the spirits of the now used-to-it West Ham fans. Also, Leicester City scored a late winner last week against us.

As Big Sam wrote in his April 10 column in the Evening Standard, “Yes, performances have been impressive, but that’s not good enough when you are not winning. I’m looking for a combination of the two, results and performances for what remains of this season.” Allardyce must have meant to omit the Stoke City game from “what remains of this season,” because he went purely for a result, and to make matters worse, we did not even earn the three points we sat back for.

Being my first match, and last match for quite some time – I don’t know the next time I will get to London – I can’t pretend to not be annoyed. 80 minutes of staying back on a one-nil lead was boring enough, but when Big Sam promises to continue his attacking minded football, and instead you witness a team reduced to Carlton Cole alone atop the formation, little attacking really gets done, and more anger amongst the fans builds.

As Tweeted post-match by Dave Sullivan, son of co-owner David Sullivan, “Insanity: doing the same thing over again and expecting different results.” It doesn’t take an Einstein to understand who this was meant for: Big Sam. Sam Allardyce is a survival king. He has done his job here at West Ham, but he will never take us to greater heights for he will never truly change his result-based formula.

At the end of this season, I would like to see the back of him, and in with the new. Maybe because I am young I don’t see just how great Allardyce has been here. Maybe because I spent $1400 round trip to see my favourite team play in person and £60 for a ticket to the game, that I am irritated with Big Sam’s tactics. Maybe because I have dreams for this club, and don’t want to see them fade and die year after year with Allardyce in charge. No matter the reason, it’s best for this club and this club’s fans to thank Big Sam at the end of the year for stabilizing West Ham as a mid-table club, and welcome in a new manager to help us into the Top 6.

Whether it be David Moyes or Rafael Benitez leading West Ham into the last season at the Boleyn Ground before the move to Olympic Stadium in 2016, either manager would be welcome. Both have Premier League experience, and even though the name Moyes makes many fans cringe, the current Real Sociedad manager made Everton into a firm Premier League side before his inevitable disaster at Manchester United following the exit of Sir Alex Ferguson. Benitez has a stronger Premier League resume. The current Napoli manager in Serie A led Liverpool to win the Champions League and the FA Cup, and also won the Europa League in his brief spell as Chelsea interim manager. European football is exactly what West Ham will be looking for and Benitez knows what it takes to get there. With proper backing in the transfer market, and if he is allowed to put his own style on the team, he could lead West Ham to great things as we enter Olympic Stadium.

Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore wrote his opinion of Benitez in Bleacher Report, noting how “Benitez is a proven coach and winner, and proven to take a club on.” For the future of West Ham, my club, there needs to be a change. I back our players, but especially players like Aaron Cresswell, who hustle up and down the pitch and stay fit for the majority of matches. Under the right management, Cresswell and company can transform into a Top 6 club, with Benitez being our Top 6 coach, and Olympic Stadium being our worthy Top 6 home ground.

It could be that the dreams I blow when bubbles go are too grand. I could be too ambitious for this club, but there is no reason to settle on mid table when there is more to be had. Let the bubbles fly high, I say. And with those bubbles, my Top 6 dreams will go. It will be up to David Sullivan and David Gold, West Ham’s co-owners, to ensure my bubble doesn’t burst to a last second goal at the hands of Stoke City.