For West Ham, this is an existential crisis. The club cannot turn backwards to their old home at Upton Park, they cannot move forward at the London Stadium with so much resentment and rancour dragging them down.
And so they remain, stranded, helpless, stuck in limbo unless they fall, unloved, out of the Premier League into a wilderness of their own making.
If West Ham drop there is no guarantee the club return quickly. Not in their present frame of mind. The divisions are too great, even between those purportedly on the same side.