West Ham’s Transfer Window Of Shame And Betrayal

It was the perfect time to back up performances on the pitch with further investment in the squad. True to form the owners have failed to deliver yet again.

Well, I wasn’t expecting that. I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed by West Ham’s eventual January window signings. But it never occurred to me that there would be no incomings at all. Why would a club with one of the thinnest squads in the Premier League – with a reasonable chance of Champions League qualification (on two fronts) and a shot at an FA Cup run – decide not to improve its playing strength?

Media reports have suggested that West Ham fans will be frustrated and scratching their heads at the lack of activity. I would say it is far worse than that given the potential implications. Most are furious that a glorious opportunity to push on from a position of strength has been negligently squandered. A statement of intent was what we wanted but once again it never came. So, who is to blame?

As I said in a previous article, my assumption is that the part played by David Moyes and Rob Newman in the recruitment process is to come up with a list of potential targets that would complement and improve the current squad. It would be based on their assessment of key priorities, the type of player required and (I would imagine) would some take account of affordability. Ideally, they would also be taking both a short and a medium-term view, but for the January window it would focus primarily on immediate needs. Players able to make a telling contribution during what is left of the season. If for some reason they weren’t unable to identify any targets, then they should be rightly criticised. But that seems to be a highly unlikely scenario.

Some supporters suggest Moyes is complicit in the club’s transfer shortcomings because he is too much of a ‘Yes’ man. That seems a rather unfair observation to me. His character is the type to want a good working relationship with the owners, rather than ranting and raving about them in public, but what else can he do? His only other option would be to resign. Would you do that?

I don’t know the precise responsibilities in Newman’s job description, but I am confident that it doesn’t involve negotiating transfer fees and contracts. None of us can know what input he had made or whether he has earned his salary until signings have been made. Negotiation of those deals are handled by the Board and through their representatives (agents). In West Ham’s case it is under the direct supervision of David Sullivan, facilitated by the various agents he works with.

In hindsight, a rat should have been smelled on what we were up to immediately the spurious, unrealistic bids for unavailable players started to hit the headlines. What club is going to sell their best players in the final days of the window when there is little or no chance of finding replacements anyway. It was a typical Sullivan tactic. The grand gesture designed to give the impression of ambition but, lacking any foundation or expectation of success. Does he think we are stupid and have forgotten all the previous distractions? Or does he simply hold supporters in contempt? Any softening of attitudes towards Gold and Sullivan that had taken place due to improvements on the pitch will have hardened back to rock solid animosity once again. I wonder what Kretinsky makes of it all, or what role he played in the process?

I was left wondering whether there was ever any intention of making new signings right from the start. What groundwork had been made during the first thirty days to get deals over the line. Which players did we actually miss out on? You don’t just pick players names out of a hat on the final day.

As I have also written before, deals are complex affairs and include agreements of transfer fees, payment terms, player’s contracts, image rights, agent fees and so on. It is the easiest thing in the world to engineer a snag or sticking point if you don’t want to make it happen. There must be 50 ways to leave a transfer – Just bid a low fee, Lee; Or ask for loan, Joan.

Sullivan’s fixation with loan to buy agreements will likely scupper many deals. It stems from previous signings who have failed to settle into English football at great cost to the club. A try before you buy might be attractive for the buyer but offers little value to the selling club. No wonder they are so frequently rejected. Continuing to insist on these deals in the future will only lead to further pain. Even if they did get their fingers burned by backing Pellegrini’s poor recruitment in the past, they shouldn’t be placing that mistrust onto the shoulders of Moyes and Newman in the future.

Several West Ham websites with close links to the owners had started dropping hints about Dithering Dave (Moyes) in the final few days of the window. A classic attempt to distract from the Board failings in my view. Did Moyes turn down suggestions for the odd Sullivan special picks that have featured prominently in past transfer windows?  Should Moyes have lowered his standards for the purpose of expediency? Would an erratic backup striker (such as Origi or Benteke) have been better than no backup at all? It is all very unsatisfactory!

The transfer furore will slowly die down as the games start up again. The extent to which that is allowed to happen will depend on events on the pitch. The same key players will now be expected to see out the rest of the season with precious little chance of a rest. And that is without injuries and suspensions in a squad that is severely exposed at key positions including centre back, left back and striker. A squad where the game changing options from the bench are Yarmolenko and Masuaku.  Where we could have been flying high, it now feels like a season of great promise that will simply fade and die.

The transfer window was an opportunity sadly and inexplicably lost. It sends out a terrible message to those players in the squad with ambition who might have believed something special could be built at West Ham. Finishing top four or winning the Europa League might have convinced those admired by the bigger clubs to stick around for a little bit longer. Such dreams have suddenly become far less attainable.

26 thoughts on “West Ham’s Transfer Window Of Shame And Betrayal”

  1. What truth… Thankfully for me I was convinced all the way we wouldn’t sign anyone at all …full of derisory bids with no real interest in signing a player. zero ambition Declan will go in the summer for sure, there is no way they will sell the club next year without cashing in on him, that money 150 million🤔? will go straight into their pockets..Moyes will probably say we couldn’t find the right player to add to the thin squad but WE should all know the truth … Depressing

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    1. Great article, sums up exactly how everyone feels. One point not mentioned and this in no way excuses GSB, there are a lot of good players out of contract this summer and its surely typical that our board will try and cherry pick a few players without a transfer fee. Again, agree can only see Dec leaving in the summer and if he goes to Manchester United after they blocked Linguard leaving I will have to seriously think about not renewing my season ticket.

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      1. It’s a great point that transfer strategy isn’t just about one window and summer is usually the most productive time to recruit. But given our situation a few additions in areas where we have been exposed for some time would have made the world of difference. It would be rubbing salt in the wounds if Declan ended up at Old Trafford

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    2. A few people I spoke to during the window were convinced we wouldn’t sign anybody. I had persuaded myself we wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to make at least a couple of additions. The deceit that they were trying was the worst thing. I should have learned by now.

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  2. Excellent article which really sums up the disappointment of a badly missed opportunity. If ever there was a time for wise investment it was now. Speculate to accumulate??? I can only see a downwards spiral now. Can we not identify targets between September & December so be ready to have them sign early January? All this last minute stuff is plainly bull designed to appease fans with the old “we tried” line again. I despair but then again, this is the West Ham way after all ☹️

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  3. well, this is extremely frustrating. hopefully, this will get better if kretinsky goes through with the complete takeover. i still have faith in moyes. for all the people talking about dithering dave, he did sign 74 players in his 11 years at everton, and i mainly blame gsb for this abysmal transfer window. whatever is really the case, it seems to me that pl2/academy players has to step up to give relief to the main squad now. perkins looked promising in his europa league debut. when antonio is having those days when he’s just a ghost on the pitch, why not let him have a go instead of subbing on the ukranian ghost? baptiste, ekwah and ashby could perhaps feature in FA cup matches and even in some PL matches. i don’t know, but i would like to see some youngsters getting some game time in the coming months.

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    1. I am a big fan of what Moyes has achieved. I would like to see him give the occasional runout to some of the academy players, if only from the bench. It must be good for their development and it can’t be a worse move than continuing to use Yarmo and Arthur.

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  5. Well said Geoff, I couldn’t have put it any better. Exactly what I said to my boys yesterday, bids in for players that Leeds would be crazy to sell, and Sullivan knows it. Our problem is that Sullivan thinks he’s a shrewd football man, but has proved time and time again that he’s nowhere near it. We’ve needed a striker for a year now, and are still totally reliant on Antonio, who would not get in to any of the potential top six sides, except maybe Arsenal. He’s just not consistent enough. Like many others, I suspect, I still think Moyes is the man for the job, but my biggest fear is that come the summer, given our total lack of ambition, it’s goodbye Rice and Bowen. Also, Moyes has now proved that he is not a spent force, so the right offer may well tempt him away as well. I am so frustrated at the lack of any incoming players, and not relishing playing the likes of Newcastle, Everton and Villa, who have all strengthened their squads significantly. We are not massive, passive maybe, but not massive. It may well be time to use players from the younger sides, we may not have a choice.

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    1. Can’t disagree with any of that Len. Antonio made a fantastic start to the season but has faded since then, certainly as far as goals are concerned. It is a travesty to have to rely so heavily on him. The odds of Rice and Bowen leaving in the summer must now be shorter. The club needs to show ambition to keep its best players.

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  6. Moyes made it clear what he needed and GSB let him down. He has recently looked angry and frustrated when interviewed about transfers. The ‘bids’ were window dressing, set up to fail. Absurdly so. I believe they didn’t spend because they plan to sell when the tax liability soon expires. My biggest worry now is losing Moyes. I hope he and Kretinsky are talking…

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    1. I thought I had read that Kretinski had an option to buy the rest of the club for an agreed price. If that is correct, Gold and Sullivan have no incentive for further investment. It would put us in a sort of limbo for the next 18 months.

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  7. I completely agree with everything you have said. When we went into the window we were sitting 4th, so attracting players was never going to be the issue, just the lack of ambition rearing it’s ugly head again. I really need to understand where the issues lie, as again surely Newman & Moyes would have identified targets well in advance of transfer deadline day, but what bids had been placed prior to getting there ? We have just got a new investor on board, who surely has ambitions to help grow the club, so surely there would have been money available, but someone from the club needs to come out & be honest about what has gone on ? We submit a bid for a young striker, who is already playing for a top club, knowing full well it would never get accepted, as they wouldn’t have enough time to replace him, but if we had submitted the bid 2 weeks ago, then surely there would have been a better chance of getting that player, although I just get the feeling it was done to show the fans that they were there. Declan & Jared will probably both be gone in the summer, after we inevitably finish mid table & get knocked out of both cup competitions. If Moyes was convinced that youth was the answer, then surely he would stop brining on Yarmolenko & Masuaku, as players like Oko-Flex are surely better options & would bring more energy to the team. If it transpires that we do end up qualifying for Europe again, it will be more from luck, than having owners that are really invested in this team, so just go now & hand the baton to someone, who really wants to drive this great club forward.

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    1. Absolutely, it is staggering that we had all through January to line up deals and yet no progress was made. Unless the club continues to build the better players – Rice and Bowen in the summer, Soucek and Zouma after that – will simply walk away. West Ham will forever be attempting catch up to replace the departed

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  8. I arrived home last night and my wife asked me how my day had been. I said I felt sad, and that I didn’t know why and didn’t want to talk about it. This morning, that feeling remains, but is manifesting as irritation, bordering on anger.

    5th in the league, a realistic chance in two cup competitions, a threadbare squad, a star player who needs to see ambition, a manager we trust, an experienced Head of Recruitment and a new billionaire investor…

    And we sign nobody.

    This was a once in a generation chance, and we blew it. Absolutely bewildering, but indeed the West Ham Way… 😦

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    1. I still find it difficult to accept, or understand. It feels like a self harming strategy. I know we shouldn’t get angry about things we can’t change but isn’t it just so irritating.

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  9. I think the point everyone is missing is that David (Misser) Moyes has a contract with a clause stating that he and he alone has the final say in all transfers.
    This is also the first transfer window of the much heralded Recruitment Director was in operation, if this is what it’s going to be like let us quickly return to David Sullivan.
    Also the notation that good deals only happen on the last day of the transfer window, is poppy-cock, I thought that the new recruitment director would be lining up suitable addition throughout the window and advising David Moyes.
    The Board agreed to support the team with additional funds, however I believe David Moyes actually thinks that it is his personal money.
    if the money was available from the board, why have we been negotiating so long for a loan to buys, when clearly opposing club are not interested.
    I would like to see David Moyes and his Recruitment Director and the Board receive the supporters feeling in full.

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    1. It’s an interesting perspective. Not one I totally with but no less valid. It is only right that the manager has final say on every transfer. I would much rather Moyes and Newman pick the targets than Sullivan & co. But it is not Moyes who negotiates the deals. So he can only tell the Board which players he wants and which he doesn’t. I agree its a mystery as to what happens in the rest of the transfer window. You would think that all the groundwork was in place well in advance of the final day panic

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      1. hi geoff, i wondered if its a conspiracy. kretinsky came in bought 27 pc whilst agreeing to buy further shares after 2023, when gsb avoid taxes, this is already a agreed price, we was all so happy, thinking our club would now move forward.
        but, gsb are still the majority share holders that hold the purse strings, so why would they, if they want out in 2023, spend huge amounts now, as buisness men no one would do this, certainly not gsb.
        if you were selling a house to a buyer, and that buyer pays you 27 pc now, with a promise to pay the rest in 2023, and your roof of your house is scruffy, but it will do for now, but needs updating, are you updating it for your buyer or not.
        so i think moyes is manager till end of 2023, when, if he under performs he will be sacked, making way for a new manager in line with a new majority owner, which is kretinsky, and bidding for philips tested the water for rice to leave in the summer.
        i think now we will have a further 2 bad transfer windows, before gsb sell more shares to kretinsky, as i stated why would they now spend more money, moyes may have been told this, hence the dithering on transfer statements.
        is he being made a scape goat, we may never know, but hes stated he tried again very hard, for unrealistic players in my opinion, a cover up for something more sinister perhaps, so i expect no, or minimal spending on signings in next 2 windows.
        maybe they are saving money to spend on squaring off the stadium, or buying it outright, more money for them in the long run with bums on seats.
        time will tell geoff.
        take care, be safe.
        paul garner

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      2. Great comment, Paul. I made the same point in a reply to one of the comments below the article where I said:

        “I thought I had read that Kretinski had an option to buy the rest of the club for an agreed price. If that is correct, Gold and Sullivan have no incentive for further investment. It would put us in a sort of limbo for the next 18 months.”

        To be honest, I wasn’t totally sure whether that agreement had been confirmed or was just media speculation.

        The only return G&S would get from success on the pitch in those circumstances is increased revenues, which of course would not be guaranteed whatever they spent. With the major motivation for owning a football club being asset appreciation, they would have no further incentive to invest, as you say.

        Cheers, Geoff.

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