West Ham fans have had to ensure a tough season at the London Stadium so far. Far from being a new era of success for the club that many expected, Slaven Bilic's side have failed to follow up the progress shown last year with a meaningful step along the path this season.

At points, it has looked like they may slip into a relegation fight but have managed to hoist themselves up beyond that mess and currently sit seven points clear of the bottom three.

Those are slim margins though and there's no room for complacency in the second half of the season. A sustained string of decent results should see them clear of any danger, though.

European qualification through the league will be a step beyond this season so an FA Cup run wouldn't go amiss either.

If Bilic can have a strong transfer window and add some quality into key areas, the season may not end up being a bust and they could find that forward momentum once again.

Here are TEN photos that sum up the Hammers' season so far...

New season, new home

West Ham settled into their new home in perfect fashion with a win in Europe. After a shock defeat away to Slovenian side NK Domzale in the first leg, the Irons blew their visitors away at the London Stadium to progress on a 4-2 aggregate score.

The Premier league season hadn't kicked off yet but the feeling was good heading into the new campaign.

Could West Ham build on last season's success?

Tough start

In hindsight, West Ham's start to the Premier League season couldn't have been tougher. At the time, though, Hammers fans would have fancied their chances of an upset up against new Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.

They did run the Blues close and Chelsea required a very late Diego Costa goal to secure the three points - that only came after the striker was lucky not to be sent off for a second yellow offence.

A tough start and an opening defeat. It wasn't ideal but it was about to get worse.

European humiliation

West Ham were knocked out of Europe before even reaching the Europa League draw, succumbing to Romanian champions Astra Giurgiu at the London Stadium. It was 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate and meant that their hard work to gain European football in the season prior was wasted.

This was the first real sign that the Irons could struggle this season. Astra, while champions of their nation, have resources well adrift of West Ham's and they were a team that really should have been brushed aside with ease.

As if it wasn't bad enough, they were also the team to dump the Irons out of Europe in the season prior.

From bad to worse

Performances didn't get any prettier in the wake of the Astra defeat. A loss to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium followed, but that could have been expected.

It was when Watford came to the London Stadium and thrashed the Hammers that fans really started to worry.

2-0 up, it looked to be going so well for Bilic's men, who were outplaying the visitors and gained a cushion. They weren't expecting a four goal blitz that exposed the frailties of the West Ham team, though.

Also suffering a 4-2 defeat in the next fixture away to West Brom, things were looking very grim indeed.

A win at last

West Ham went five Premier League games without a win, failing to pick up a single point in September, before a Manuel Lanzini goal gave the Irons a massive victory away to Crystal Palace.

It was a win that saw them climb out of the relegation zone and swim against the deluge of bad results and criticism that was rushing their way.

Bilic's boys rode their luck in the match with Christian Benteke missing a penalty and hitting the post but despite being reduced to ten men, they held on for what may be their biggest win of the season in the context of that terrible run of results.

Cup success

West Ham's renewed confidence showed when they saw off Chelsea in the Fourth Round of the EFL Cup. The Blues admittedly did field a weakened team, but the Hammers still had to produce a big performance and sent their fans home delighted with a London derby victory.

The win was their third in a row in all competitions, the first time they'd managed that all season. Supporters were hoping it was the start of their season proper after such a disappointing beginning.

White Hart Lane heartache

In what was becoming a hallmark of their season, West Ham suffered another collapse from a winning position when they visited White Hart Lane in November.

The Irons were 2-1 up heading into the final minutes in the game but a Harry Kane double in the 89th minute and in stoppage team saw Bilic's side slip to a 3-2 defeat.

It would have been a win that pushed them up to 12th in the table but the collapse meant they remained in 17th, just one point ahead of the relegation positions.

Another slump

In their heaviest defeat of the season, Arsenal humiliated the Irons at the London Stadium to kick-off December. Sanchez scored a sensational hat-trick as part of a massive 5-1 win for the Gunners.

The only positive was the return of Andy Carroll from injury, who came off the bench to score a consolation. Carroll on the pitch was a much welcomed sight given that up to this point, West Ham's strikers had only scored one goal between them.

Bilic's summer signings hadn't worked out and it only got more noticeable as the season rolled on.

Fighting back

With Liverpool in rampant form and West Ham coming off that Arsenal defeat, no-one gave the Hammers much hope of picking up a result against the Reds at Anfield.

But Bilic's side surprised everyone with their fighting spirit and desire to win, coming from behind to gain a 2-1 lead before succumbing to Liverpool's attacking threat for a 2-2 draw.

Still, it showed that there was plenty of quality and determination in this side and that if they did get drawn into a relegation fight, they weren't going to go down easily. Liverpool threw everything at them in the second half looking for a win but the Hammers held strong, showing a defensive resilience that hadn't been apparent prior.

On their way again

The positives from the result at Anfield sparked a three game winning run in the Premier League that has put daylight between them and the relegation zone.

A 4-1 win away to Swansea gave Bilic's team their biggest win of the season as they showed signs that they could be the team of last season once again.

The three game winning run has since come to an end but West Ham are on their way again and head into 2017 with plenty of hope that they can stay clear of danger and build towards next season.