Why teams taking an early break are cheating their fans

When Morrissey expressed his dismay at "The Lazy Sunbathers" in 1994, he crooned that they were "too jaded to question stagnation." It was difficult to not see similarities with this attitude as Stoke City and West Ham United flip-flopped to a humdrum 0-0 draw at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday.

For Slaven Bilic, a man whose job security could be rather tenuous following the previous season's heady days challenging for a Champions League berth, you can understand a slight conservativeness in his approach at the end of this term. A few losses could see the Hammers dragged into a late battle for survival - a fate that would surely result in a difficult meeting in front of owners Karren Brady, David Sullivan, and David Gold in the guts of the London Stadium, or at the club's Chadwell Heath training base.

There is no excuse for Mark Hughes. He should be experimenting. The Welshman's clearly trying to play Saido Berahino into form due to the January signing not scoring in a professional outing since February 2016, but the lack of tweaking elsewhere is giving the fans little to get excited about.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Given the propaganda that supporters are fed through matchday programmes and club websites, the Potters' faithful will have been told of the world-beating efforts of teenager Julien Ngoy - a scorer in each of the under-23 side's last four matches who has played 44 Premier League minutes in 2016-17. In many grounds, an academy product is as rapturously received as a famous recruit, so rather than see a first-team regular play when their minds are clearly on an all-inclusive holiday that's booked for the end of the season, why not field a hungry youngster?

The same can be said for Ramadan Sobhi, the flamboyant winger plucked from Egypt's Al Ahly last summer. The 20-year-old's enterprising outings add a welcome air of unpredictability to Hughes' XI, but he hasn't started a match since leading his side in completed dribbles and key passes against Leicester City at the start of April. While he was an unused substitute against West Ham, flagging veterans Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam were granted cameos from the bench. Exciting stuff.

Another club often criticised for throwing in the towel - or, indeed, laying it out for a read and a snooze - when Premier League survival is secured is West Bromwich Albion. The players who started in Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Leicester City were familiar faces aged between 26 and 37, and three teenagers were named on the bench. With a campaign stuttering to mid-table obscurity, the fans would appreciate something a little against the grain, and deploying those homegrown products would've roused The Hawthorns.

Like someone who spends his holidays at the same resort, eating the same food, and visiting the same English-themed pub, which probably displays eerily similar prints of Winston Churchill and British bulldogs, Baggies boss Tony Pulis seems to appreciate following the same annual routine. When looking at the points per game (PPG) record of Pulis' teams, there's a significant slump after reaching the coveted 40-point mark - widely viewed as the required tally to avoid relegation - in six of his nine seasons as a Premier League manager:

*Pulis took over while season was in progress

Although the latest campaign's sample takes in the 34 matches that have been played so far, there's little to suggest that there will be a marked improvement in fortunes for West Brom over the final four games. A tough trip to Burnley's Turf Moor is followed by bouts with Chelsea, Manchester City, and a Swansea City side that has a lot to play for.

If supporters are still debating whether to renew their season tickets, seeing the same middling drivel is going to provide little encouragement of viewing better football in the next conquest. Much like the managers of their clubs, when they're on their own holidays just unaddressed stagnation will tick through their minds.