At the risk of falling into that internet trap where a transfer rumour has been made up only to spawns a torrent of outraged responses I would just like to say how disappointed it would be if West Ham really were interested in bringing Marouane Fellaini to the east London.
As in any transfer window there will be a glut rumours linking the Hammers with all sorts of players and only a few of them will have legs (the rumours that is not the players – although given recent dealings it may not be that obvious).
Noises coming out of the boardroom on Twitter are suggesting that we are mainly in the market for loan players and given the rather precarious position towards the bottom of the table it will give free rein to speculation on all manner of cast-offs from other teams. Experience unfortunately suggests that seeking reinforcements for a struggling team in the January window is rarely productive and often leads to panic signings. Fellaini is very much on the fringe at Old Trafford and after his cameo contribution at he weekend is likely to be even further away from any serious action. What to do with such an expensive flop? Why, send him to West Ham.
I would like to think that the club would have a good chuckle about the speculations and that would be the end of it. That Fellaini would be seen as the type of player that Fat Sam may have coveted but is one that is at odds with the modern style of Premier League football where pace, mobility, agility and finesse are the defining qualities.
When Slaven Bilic came into the club I thought, at last, we were getting a progressive manager. One who was in tune with current methods of fitness, organisation, tactics and formation; and for much of last season that is how it looked. Now I am not so sure and bringing in a player like Fellaini would be a further worying sign (after the summer transfer debacle) that Bilic is not really offering anything new.
There may be an argument that we need grit as well as skill to get out of the hole we have made for ourselves but that needn’t mean that all footballing principles should be abandoned.
Under The Hammers 