Transfers – Under The Hammers

West Ham – thoughts on the Tottenham game and the transfer window

Did you enjoy our excellent performance against a disappointing Tottenham side on Wednesday night? I certainly did. For me it was our best performance of the season by a long way and reminiscent of some of our better games in the last two seasons. There was only one team who were going to win the game in the second half and it wasn’t whingeing Tottenham.

They had taken the lead rather fortuitously in the first half with the own goal but I can barely remember Fabianski being troubled all night, and when he was called upon he showed why he has no intention of relinquishing the number 1 jersey with a commanding display. To be honest I expected a lot more from Tottenham but they resorted to dubious ‘old-fashioned Italian’ tactics, moaning at the referee at every stoppage, and generally they seemed to feel that everything should go their way because they have had a decent start to the season and we haven’t. They believe that they are genuine title challengers but with this display they are a million miles away.

The treatment of Bowen in particular was appalling in the way he was targeted and brought down at every opportunity. He was looking back to his lively self from last season and could perhaps have scored more than once in the closing stages of the game. With a little more composure Fornals should have scored too, as should Paqueta when he and Emerson left the ball for each other when in a great position from Coufal’s cross.

I thought the whole of our team played well with season-best performances all round, especially in the second half, and my man of the match was Antonio. He was unlucky in the first half when his long-range shot hit the post, and his Bergkamp-like flick to set up Soucek’s equalising goal was sublime. And didn’t Soucek take it well! All night Antonio (just like Bowen) was fouled by the Tottenham defenders who were allowed to get away with it by a referee who was too lenient in many respects. I am all for the new code where referees allow the game to continue more freely than before after strong tackles but this was too much.

Conte disappointed me too with his post-match comments about the VAR decision which sent the referee to look at the screen after the ball struck Cresswell’s arm after deflecting off his face. Quite frankly how VAR took almost four minutes before they came to that conclusion was baffling. You only had to look at the replay once to see what had happened. I am a fan of VAR applied properly and in this case justice was done, but why the hesitation? But not according to whingeing Conte.

Some excellent performances all round by our players and the new signings are going to be great additions. Paqueta’s thirty-minute cameo demonstrated what a signing he could become and was especially notable for the fact that he hadn’t trained with the team beforehand. Players are now playing knowing that there are quality players on the bench and the competition for their places is just what is needed. What I particularly liked in comparison to the earlier games this season was our ability to retain the ball and not give it away cheaply. We moved the ball quicker too with more purpose, and the players were finding space to receive the ball too.

I don’t usually give player ratings but I’ll make an exception for this game. Fabianski 7.5, Coufal 7.5, Kehrer 8, Zouma 7.5, Cresswell 7, Rice 8.5, Soucek 8, Fornals 7, Benrahma 7, Bowen 8, Antonio 8.5.

I won’t give a rating for the substitutes but Paqueta, Ogbonna and Emerson, all looked good with their relatively short time on the pitch and we were well on top as the game edged towards a close.

We now move on to Stamford Bridge to face big-spending Chelsea. Another performance like we produced for the Tottenham game, especially in the second half will be fine. We are actually playing a game on a Saturday! When did that last happen? If I’m not mistaken we last played a league game on a Saturday (the traditional day for football!) at the beginning of March when we lost 1-0 at Anfield. And when did we last win a league game on a Saturday? I don’t think it has happened since New Years Day, January 1^st when we beat Palace 3-2 at Selhurst Park. I may be wrong but I don’t think we won a league game on a Saturday at the London Stadium in the whole of last season. Of course the main reasons for this are games shown on TV plus our participation in European competition.

The madness, also known as the transfer window, slammed shut on Thursday evening. (Why does it always slam?). At last an end to the 982 players linked with West Ham over the past few weeks! Sky Sports is whipped into a frenzy on the final day when so many clubs finalise the business that they’ve had weeks to do, and so many transactions take place right up until the 11pm deadline. Time will tell of course, but I reckon that this has been the most successful window for West Ham in years. Spending has certainly exceeded my expectations with the arrival of eight players to replace those that left or who have retired. Seven of the eight are current full international footballers. It’s now down to the manager to mould them into a team that can challenge for honours. I look forward to the rest of the season.

West Ham’s Transfer Tribultions: Your Infrequently Asked Questions

We wonder what is going on as the Hammers embark on yet another haphazard venture through the troubled waters of the transfer window. There’s still plenty of time to do nothing!

Who Is Masterminding West Ham’s Cunning Transfer Plan?

The oft repeated mantra is that it is David Moyes who has full control over transfers. That sounds straightforward enough but is open to interpretation depending on where you believe the boundaries of full control lie. I take it to mean that no player will be signed unless it has Moyes blessing. There are to be no more ‘Sullivan Specials’ signed from a favoured agent and presented to the manager as a surprise birthday gift. Beyond giving that stamp of approval to his targets it is improbable that any manager these days is intimately involved in the complexity of contract negotiations. He may, however, be asked for input on the fees and terms being demanded where this has significant implications on the size of overall budget available.

But Isn’t Dave Moyes Known To Be A Ditherer?

Moyes picked up the ‘Ditherer’ sobriquet during his time at Everton. It was the result of the lengths that he went to in checking out the character as well as the footballing abilities of potential targets. Whether that diligence paid dividends in the long run is impossible to tell, but it allegedly led to opportunities being missed according to Everton fans. Nevertheless, in his ten years at Everton he signed seventy-four players and, despite the occasional duds, there were plenty of success stories, including: Cahill, Jagielka, Arteta, Kilbane, Howard, Baines, Lescott, Yakubu, Saha, Fellaini, Coleman, Distin, Pienaar, and Stones. It has been a difficult reputation for Moyes to shake off and was further reinforced during his brief reign at Old Trafford. The jury is still deliberating as to whether dithering was at play in last January’s debacle.

What About This Rob Newman Fella? What Exactly Does He Do?

There are a variety of views as to what the responsibilities of a Head of Recruitment might be. In the absence of any clarification from the club you can make up your own mind. Ideally the role should be independent from the manager, but with close co-operation. He should be focused on strategic long-term planning and succession as well as finding short term tactical targets. Possibly working something like this: the manager has identified a need for a pacey, left sided central defender so the head of recruitment calls on his extensive scouting knowledge/ network to draw up a shortlist of candidates potentially within the club’s price range. Then its back to the manager to decide.

His true value would be in unearthing up-and-coming talent and those from lower leagues capable of playing at a higher level. West Ham are not a club able to compete for established stars and signing fading ones has not been a rip-roaring success in the past.

Why Do West Ham Complete Deals Inch By Inch? What Happened To The Good Old Fashioned Transfer Swoop?

I remember tuning into the radio on my drive home from work and hearing that Harry Redknapp had signed Eyal Berkovic for West Ham. It was out of the blue and a shock because everyone believed he was on his way to Tottenham after a successful season long loan at Southampton. There had been no weeks of stories about bids being prepared, contact being made, deals hitting the buffers or hijacked by Newcastle. Wham, bam, he was a Hammer. It was different days back then of course. No internet clickbait, just Club Call and Ceefax to keep us informed, or misinformed which is more often the case.

Completing deals at West Ham does appear to be a far more drawn out and complicated process than elsewhere. Or is that just a perception as we don’t typically follow all the chatter from other clubs? Negotiations are the most probable cause of delay and if you have a Chairman who is obsessed by brinkmanship and pulling off the smartest deal, then delay is sadly inevitable. Pay the full asking price and a swoop is still possible, but may not provide the optimum value.

Who Keeps The Keys To The Transfer Kitty War Chest?

Although it is the size of transfer fees and net spends that make all the headlines, for the owners it is a matter of cash flows, budgets, and operating expenses. The totality of a deal includes wages, signing-on fees, agent fees, image rights and add-ons (whatever they might be). While the board will agree overall budgets collectively, it is David Sullivan who is said to lead the final negotiations. And that may well be where most of the problems lie. Sullivan’s art of the deal, with low-ball bids, loans to buy, low deposit, extended repayment terms – as if he’s buying a sofa – have the potential to scupper any negotiation. The type of person who when buying a house comes back with a much reduced offer just as contracts are about to be exchanged.

What Is Needed To Bring The Hammers Mother Hubbard Squad Back To Respectable Levels?

As things stand, the squad comprises seventeen senior players. And that includes several who are for emergency use only. Far too many positions have no cover at all while others have the numbers but lack the quality. On top of that, more variety is needed if Moyes is to address the difficulties seen too often last year in overcoming apparently ‘lesser’ opposition. I make that a minimum net increase of six to eight over what we have today – goalkeeper, left back, centre back, defensive midfield, a truly creative attacking midfielder and two strikers. Each of the other clubs aspiring to challenge for a European place – Leicester, Newcastle, Wolves, Villa – will be busy strengthening. West Ham must be recruiting to improve, not to tread water.

Will Any Players Be Leaving?

The assumption is that neither Declan Rice nor Jarrod Bowen will be leaving this summer. There has been talk of potential leavers featuring Nikola Vlasic, Arthur Masuaku, Issa Diop and Said Benrahma. Not that we couldn’t do with upgrades on each of those but it only further complicates the recruitment requirements. Could we really sign ten players in total if two of those left? We might also be aware of the possibility that Angelo Ogbonna might still be a long way from, or never regain, match fitness. I hope he does, but the best part of a year is a very long lay off for a 34-year-old.

When Will Something Happen?

By all accounts the signing of Nayef Aguerd is as imminent as something can be without actually being finished. The deal for Alphonse Areola is rumoured to be not far behind. It’s a start, I suppose. If Aguerd turns out be as good as his reviews and Youtube reel, then he is just the type of player we should be after, ready to challenge for a starting role from the off. I don’t see the club shelling out BIG money for a left back, not when strikers and attacking midfielders will be making a major dent in the budget.

How Will It All End?

Past performance tells us that we will be underwhelmed and disappointed once the transfer business has been completed. It is 48 days to the start of the Premier League season and 72 days until the transfer window closes. Even at the best of times, integrating a host of new faces into a team in one go is a challenge. Especially when you are team where cohesion and discipline are one of the major strengths. The level of confidence in West Ham completing a significant number of deals in advance of pre-season is low. A maximum of one or two new faces running out against Manchester City on the opening weekend would be my guess. It would come as no surprise if we are still be scraping around for signings in the final hours of deadline day. Ending with a four or five player net increase to the squad, rather than the six to eight required, wouldn’t be a surprise. Perhaps the academy can help out at last, but that should be viewed as a bonus not as a solution to the chronic lack of numbers. Still, there’s always January.

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.

The Gordian Knot Of West Ham’s Transfer Window Indecision

As the ceremonial January window slamming edges ever closer the arrivals lounge at the London Stadium remains conspicuously empty. Who is holding things up?

We will all be familiar with the movie cliché where the hero dives through the rapidly closing door just as they are about to be trapped and abandoned to their fate. That is West Ham’s approach to the transfer window. Whether by accident or design all business will once again be at the last possible minute, a month’s worth of opportunity condensed into the final few hours.

There are contrasting views to the root cause of our transfers inactivity. Is it Dithering Dave or Scrooge Mc’Sullivan to blame? Or is it simply a feature of the January window? After all, relatively little business has been done so far, with the exception of Newcastle, Watford, and Villa.

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Window Slams Shut

There are few clues as to what is really going on. In some respects that is a good thing, although it is also frustrating. Not so long ago, the club had more leaks than a Welsh allotment, but these have all but dried up. What’s left is pure speculation. I’m sure there is activity, but activity is not the same as progress.

An absence of information does nothing to stop the steady stream of bogus transfer stories to be found online. Pundits, reliable journalists and in-the-knows are never short of rumours linking the Hammers to the latest beast, powerhouse, or wonderkid. Internet traffic and advertising revenues must be booming. For the sake of sanity it is best to treat such stories as entertainment rather than information.

No doubt football transfers are a more complex matter than many of us supporters realise. For a simplified view I will consider what may have been going on at West Ham into targets, availability, and finance.

Targets

We all have our own ideas as to what is needed to improve the West Ham squad in preparation for the remaining months of the season. It would be a fair bet that many of our wishlists would include, with varying levels of priority: a striker, left back, centre back and perhaps a more dynamic option in attacking midfield. Three or four new players would seem to the average of the supporters I have spoken to.

It is also probable that David Moyes has similar ideas. When the best options from the bench are Yarmolenko, Fredericks and Masuaku, it does not indicate a squad capable of a credible top four challenge. Hopefully, Moyes will have been working alongside Rob Newman, the clubs head of recruitment, on scouring and scouting the football world to come up with a list of potential and realistically affordable targets.

In an ideal world, Newman would also have an eye on the future. Next generation younger players who can provide continuity and succession for the club. It is a model that Moyes has previously said he would like to follow. Yet it looks out of reach at present when what is needed are players who can contribute immediately, not in six or twelve months’ time. Moyes has had mixed success on that front. Soucek, Coufal, Zouma, Lingard (during his loan) and Bowen mostly hit the ground running. Benrahma, Vlasic and Kral have needed time to settle in or have never finally got there.

Availability

It might be obvious but just because we fancy buying a player doesn’t mean he is will be available. The club may not be prepared to sell, particularly in the middle of the season, or late in the window when finding a replacement is even more difficult. Alternatively, the player might not fancy moving to West Ham, London, or England. Received wisdom is that money is the biggest motivator for footballers, but it is not necessarily the only one. Some will be happy to stay where they are or prefer the guarantee of regular game time.

Budgets and Finance

Nowadays transfer negotiations are the preserve of the Board. In bygone days, managers may have been heavily involved in ‘talks’ but that is no longer the case. Calls for Moyes to ‘sort it out’ are well wide of the mark. He may be fussy about undertaking due diligence on player’s character but it is not his responsibility to seal the deal.

The working assumption is that despite changes to the ownership structure it is still Del Boy Sullivan (and his agents) who lead negotiations, in consultation with the other directors. The success of negotiations are ultimately in his hands and down to how effectively he deals with representatives of the selling clubs and the various agents involved. There is plenty of scope for things to go wrong, and many ways to scupper a deal while looking as though you are trying.

The finer details of transfer fees, the schedule of payments, players wages, contract terms, agent commissions, image rights, and so on, all require agreement. Unless a club is desperate to sell, the closer it gets to the deadline, the more power gravitates towards the seller and player. It feels a huge gamble to leave matters so late.

There is much talk in the media about transfer budgets and war chests – usually linked to the headline transfer fee paid. In reality, with fees paid in instalments and all of the other costly add-ons involved, a specific budget is largely hypothetical. The limitation is more likely to be down to cash flow issues. Net spends make interesting media comparisons but play only a small part in how a club approaches player dealing.

Sullivan has a reputation for submitting low-ball offers – the type that are never going to be accepted – and has recently developed a liking for loans with an option to buy. No surprise that these tactics are not so popular with (and may alienate) selling clubs. The buck really stops with him and his fellow directors. They have said cash is available, they now need to put it where their mouths are and come up with serious offers for the players the manager has identified.

What Might Happen?

Honestly, I haven’t a clue. Probably something will, but most likely we will be disappointed by it. It is an unusual situation that West Ham find themselves in. The right investment could mean a rare and achievable opportunity to earn a Champions League place, either by league position or through the Europa League. But it would come with a hefty price tag, even if bringing in three or four players by Monday night is feasible. It could be a mixture of loans and purchases.

Failure to invest might well lead to the season petering out as injuries and fatigue take their toll. This increases the probability of losing key players (Rice and Bowen) in the summer. January is usually considered a bad time to splash the cash but the consequences of not spending could be significant. For a club in the Premier League not to have cover in key positions (notably, striker and left back) is staggering. If another window goes by without those gaps being filled it would send a clear message on ambition – and would be a clear case of negligence.

What we don’t want to hear is that you tried but couldn’t get any deals over the line. Just do it!

The Fans Are Back, Expectations Are High But West Ham Badly Need Reinforcements

Maintaining momentum in domestic and European competition with a wafer thin squad will be a massive challenge for West Ham. Recruiting wisely in the remainder of the transfer window will be critical to success.

At some point in history ‘News’ evolved from reporting on recent or important events to an entertainment that centred mainly on speculation and opinion. Perhaps transfer news has always existed at the imaginary end of the spectrum, but this year rumours have hit record proportions.

With the transfer window once again extending beyond the start of the season there is little chance of the procession of clickbait headlines disappearing any time soon. Likewise, the anger of fans outraged that the club are considering a bid for whatever is the latest made-up transfer target. Yet, like the stopped clock or infinite number of monkeys some speculation will eventually turn out to be spot on.

It does seem that the club has at last put a stop to conducting transfer business in public with heroic announcements from the Chairman or leaks put out through favoured sources. Now whether no news is good news or whether it is a sign of an unwillingness to spend any money is a matter of opinion. It has unfortunately (for them) left the usual In-The-Knows with something of a dilemma and they must now resort to putting out vague horoscope-like transfer announcements that can be interpreted multiple ways.

I don’t imagine any manager would choose to wait to the last minute to bring in new signings. It is hardly ideal with the pre-season hugely important for preparation as Premier League teams increasingly become well-drilled units. Even a manager as famously cautious in the transfer market as David Moyes would have preferred to give new players time to settle into the team’s style of play.

Looking through the list of completed Premier League deals, there hasn’t been that much activity given the new season is less than a week away. No doubt the impact of Covid has led to a complicated transfer landscape with cash strapped clubs across the continent staring each other out before agreeing on valuations.

I wish I could have more faith in the owners but the idea that they could scupper any deal for a ha’p’orth of tar is firmly fixed in my mind. But equally it would be wrong pay over the odds from what is a finite transfer pot – only Manchester City and Chelsea can do that! The recent experiences of Anderson, Haller, Yarmolenko and Wilshere – absurd wages and ludicrous transfer fees – are painful reminders of the folly of vanity signings. A transfer strategy based on players with no subsequent re-sale value is not sustainable for a club like ours. That’s the reality for all but a handful of clubs and West Ham’s record on smart transfer trading has been abysmal.

As the new season looms, the already thin first team squad is even lighter than at the end of last season following the departures of Fabian Balbuena and Jesse Lingard. With Europa League as well as Premier League campaigns to contend with it is inconceivable that reinforcements are not brought in. How else can it compete on numerous fronts with the inevitable injuries and suspensions that come with it. If I were manager, I would be pushing for five of six new arrivals – centre back, left back, defensive midfield, attacking midfield and at least one striker – while understanding there may be a need to prioritise. Ironically, I would probably have risked not signing a backup keeper until next summer – although the recruitment of Alphonse Areola on loan is a decent move.

The Lingard situation has dominated much of the close season speculation. West Ham looked their best last season when he was in the side, even if he did go off the boil towards the end. He offered an energy, dynamism, and directness in the final third not apparent elsewhere in the squad. It is not clear whether the failure to secure a permanent deal is down to the player or his club, but it is very dangerous to put too many eggs in this basket if it means passing up on other options.

Despite a wide range of speculation, the absence of any striker cover remains the elephant in the room. Michail Antonio has looked outstanding in pre-season and his strength and power must be every defender’s nightmare. But everyone must know that his hamstrings are unlikely to last an entire season without careful management. Bringing in backup and support has to be the topmost priority. Decent strikers don’t come cheap, though, and the Hammers have depressingly poor form for searching for quality in the bargain bucket.

Moyes has so far done well with transfers during his time at the club (Jordan Hugill aside) and all hopes are that sensible and well researched recruitment can continue. Striking a balance between what is acceptable quality and what the board are prepared to pay will not be an easy task. If there was to be an equivalent of a dating app for striker recruitment, then I do hope that the manager will be swiping left when Abraham and Origi appear on screen.

It has been interesting to see the club signing several young players over the summer. The assumption is that these have been made with an eye to the future rather than the upcoming season. But I wonder whether this reflects dissatisfaction with the output from the academy. It really has delivered little in the past ten years or so. I would like to see more of Ben Johnson this season (but not a left wing back) but not sure how many others there are knocking on the first team’s door.

Until all the ins and outs are settled it is difficult to know how optimistic to be about the new season. I have no reason to fear a relegation battle, but a repeat of last season’s top six finish looks a huge stretch as things stand. The two smaller north London clubs will be hoping to bounce back, and Villa, Everton and Leeds will all be looking to progress.

A clutch of inspired new signings could change that perspective and perhaps even greater rewards can await now that the Hammers have two potential routes to Champion’s League qualification. Get those cheque books out!

El Hokey Cokey! All the “Ins” and “Outs” will be good moves by Pellegrini?

With a new season appearing on the horizon, do West Ham have a clear 2020 vision; or will it just continue to muddle along?

Between the finale of the last Premier League season and the start of the new one was a total of 90 days. We have now spent 40 of those days in the wilderness and there are just 50 more before it all kicks off again. In two weeks’ time West Ham return to training and the pre-season preparations build on from there.

The 2019/20 season the Premier League sees the introduction of a mid-season break in the middle of February (although it is staggered over two weekends) and along with 4 international breaks (3 before Christmas) plus those annoying getting knocked out of the cup early breaks, it promises to be another disjointed campaign.

The fixture list was, course, published last week and controversially West Ham yet again have to play each of the other 19 teams home and away. With its sense of the absurd, though, the fixtures computer has come up with a sixth consecutive opening day encounter with a top six side for West Ham – on this occasion completing the full set against reigning champions Manchester City. For a welcome change, however, the Hammers find themselves at home on both the opening and closing weekends – an end of season clash against Aston Villa coming just one week before a long awaited return visit to Wembley for the FA Cup Final, perhaps! Still no sign of a home Boxing Day match though; clashing as it would with the start of the post Christmas sales at Westfield.

With less than 50 shopping days until the slamming of the transfer window, the speculation industry is at full throttle. To date there have been more outs than ins as the Hammers embark on one of their periodic dead-wood clearance sales – the hope this time around is that we don’t then start collecting more! Moore than just a club for one last payday!

I have tried to avoid wasting too much time following transfer news on the basis that the majority is made up nonsense. Rumours have become more of a device for generating internet traffic than sharing credible news. Instead, my time-wasting has been focused on watching old Youtube videos of West Ham greatest goals – an enjoyable claret and blue tinted way of viewing the past. One thing that struck me was the contribution from either Eyal Berkovic or Yossi Benayoun to many of the sweeter attacking moments. Both had only fleeting Hammer’s careers but were the type of player that has been sadly missing for much of the interim period. Now I can build up my hopes that Pablo Fornals will be the player to fill that gap.

The recruitment of Fornals came as something of a surprise as I believed another attacking midfielder would not be top of the club’s priorities. I can only assume that there is a fair bit of business still to be done as we remain very light in attack, short of numbers in holding midfield and lacking a defensively competent left full-back.

Not surprisingly the performances of Declan Rice and Issa Diop have caught the attention of the circling richer clubs – both are young players who put creditable Premier League mileage under their belts last season. As long as West Ham remain a mid-tier club, the best players will always be at risk of big money bids from sides offering European competition. Ultimately, every player has a price but I would like to think that both players will realise that another season (at least) in the Hammers first team is beneficial to their long term development. Even worse than losing either player would be taking any washed up Old Trafford cast-offs in part-exchange. Beyond that, any hope of holding on to players such as Rice and Diop (and potentially Fornals) requires significant progress on the pitch and why further recruitment is so vital – players who will be challenging for a starting position, not as back up.

The pursuit of Maxi Gomez is becoming the summer’s long running blockbuster transfer saga. Past performance suggests that it will eventually fizzle out to nothing – but something needs to be done urgently to supplement the club’s meagre striking options – which otherwise will be down to one gloomy pot-hunting Austrian who may still prefer to take his sulking elsewhere. Talk that Gomez was looking for assurances that he would be first choice would seem to be an odd deal breaker – would any manager give such as assurance? Only performance on the pitch can guarantee selection!

Overall, I feel quietly optimistic over what is happening this close season. Much of the deadwood has been shifted and I would expect/ prefer several more to follow (Obiang, Ogbonna, Sanchez, Hernandez), the Sullivan’s have maintained commendable radio silence and player recruitment looks to be focusing on younger (mainly Hispanic) players. Plenty of opportunity for it to all go horribly wrong but so far so good!

Colossus, Enforcer and Powerhouse Wanted. Apply: London Stadium

With less than six weeks to go to the start of the new Premier League season there is still some way to go in Manuel Pellegrini’s transformation of West Ham.

With just 40 days and 40 nights until the start of the new Premier League season it is time to dust off the Under The Hammers almanac and begin to contemplate what the coming months might have in store for us.

The known knowns are that West Ham have a new manager, director of football, a state of the art backroom team and, at time of writing, three new players. The known unknowns are which of the hundreds of players that have so far been linked with a move to the club are more than just a media or agent’s fantasy; while the unknown unknowns are just how deep will the Board really dig into their pockets in order to freshen up and maintain the quality of the squad. The reality being that squad investment and renewal is a never-ending journey not merely a once in a lifetime spree.

Now that Manuel Pellegrini has named his backroom team there is a very Hispanic feel around El estadio de Londres that promises a new brand of tippy-tapas football for us to feast on and the prospect of David Sullivan swapping his Soviet hat for a sombrero. As the players prepare to embark on the start of pre-season training it will be an education to see how they adapt to the new regime. No doubt there will be a few bumps ahead in the road if transitioning our current crop to a more possession based style of football is to be expected.

The role of Mario Husillos as Director of Football is an intriguing one and it will be enlightening to see how it evolves. Is he just in charge of recruitment or does he have a wider remit to introduce a more consistent footballing culture at all levels of the club and to instil a degree of planning into previously chaotic and haphazard recruitment practices? Revitalising the academy and making it productive once again would be a major breakthrough and essential for future development.

On the playing front there will be at least three new faces at the club when the season gets underway in the form of Ryan Fredericks, Issa Diop and Lucasz Fabianski. All three appear to be decent signings even if, individually, they are unlikely to be game changers. Fredericks will provide useful competition for Pablo Zabaleta’s ageing legs and offer a greater threat going forward; Diop comes highly rated and could either be so good that he will be off to greener pastures within two years or he will be unable to adapt to the English game and return to somewhere warmer; Fabianski may or may not be an upgrade on Adrain.

General consensus is that Pellegrini is looking to sign another four of five players before the transfer window closes. Whether these include any of the many players that have been the subject of consistent speculation in the media remains to be seen. If those involved really are keen to keep their cards close to their chests for a change it would be unlikely that so much information would find its way into the hands of reliable journalists and insiders.

This absence of real news, however, will never dampen the appetite of the online transfer speculation industry. This remains in overdrive during this most productive time of year when punters, desperate for information, will happily click away all day long to drive website traffic and advertising revenue for even the most fanciful stories. Each spurious rumour is able to generate an initial story which can then be followed up by others that summarise the polar extremes of fan twitter reaction, explain how the team might line-up next season with said player in the side, provide in-the-know insights into the ongoing haggling over price and finally the epilogue revealing that the player has now signed for someone else.

When posting a transfer rumour writers will use smoke and mirrors to craft an enticing headline that remains as obscure as possible as to who the target really is while, at the same time, creating the illusion that this is not the same story you have read a dozen times over already. The trick is to never use a name but feature the player’s age, height, expected transfer value, other physical attribute or an reference to a playing style – the most popular this window being: colossus, enforcer and powerhouse. Thus ‘Hammers Linked To 34 Inch Inside Leg World Cup Enforcer – Pellegrini Must Move Quickly With £25m Bid’ would produce a typically seductive link.

Accepting that 90% of what we read is probably nonsense I do have an outstanding concern that little of what is written seeks to address the obvious weakness in the centre of midfield. No amount of colossi (or is it colossuses) at the back will be much use if defensively the midfield offers little resistance to opposition attacks. Introduce as many attack minded flair players as you like but if we continue to rely on Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate as the springboard for rapidly transitioning defence into attack then we are doomed to more disappointment. Perhaps Declan Rice might be considered as a defensive midfield alternative but, great prospect that he is, I’m not convinced he has all the attributes needed for that role – it would be an Eric Dier-ish alternative, competent in dropping back to help the defence but not offering enough offensively. The modern game at its most effective has moved beyond the water-carrier role.

As well as new arrivals there are sure to be further departures. I would be very unhappy at losing Marko Arnautovic (and Rice as an outstanding prospect) but other that I wouldn’t be too disappointed whoever else left if better options were available. The big money modern game leaves no room for sentimentality. According to reports those possibly heading for the departure lounge include Michail Antonio and Angelo Ogbonna. Both have their plus points but both are also not without flaws. With Manuel Lanzini due to miss most or all of the season it leaves an big gap in attacking midfield and I can’t see that Joao Mario is the person to fill it – he only really shone in those few games where West Ham were dominant and I would see little value in making the move permanent.

It would be a surprise to me if Winston Reid and Noble saw much game time in the coming season. Both have been fine servants to the club but their future role is now as squad players as they see out the remainder of their lucrative contracts.

Of course, all this recreational speculation takes place in the shadow of a World Cup that still has some way to run in Russia. With Spain now joining Germany and Argentina back in their respective homes, the list of potential winners is now shortening to one where you might be tempted to include England. While that might still be a stretch it is not entirely impossible – as long as Harry Kane doesn’t score a hat-trick in the final.

Seventy Five Days To Lift The Hammers

With the promise of a bulging war-chest, a stream of new players and a new enterprising style of football what can Manuel Pellegrini realistically achieve in the next seventy five days?

It has been an interesting week down in the East End as for once the club moved with uncharacteristic efficiency to install Manuel Pellegrini as West Ham’s seventeenth manager, and the sixth in the last ten years.

The ink was barely dry on his £5m/ £7m/ £10m per year contract (delete as applicable) before reliable journalists and in-the-knows close to the club were headlining a rag-tag assortment of new recruits for the Chilean to bring to the London Stadium. Typically, these included any player that Pellegrini had previously worked with during his managerial career, as well the usual pick of players that were not good enough to prevent their own team being relegated last season. Of all those names mentioned so far that fit the hill (Toure, Hart, Rondon, Cazorla, Shaqiri) none of them fill me with great excitement.

Pellegrini was initially reported as saying that he wanted to bring four or five new players into the squad (leaving us still at lease three short of a comfortable top ten side) but subsequently extending his shopping list to seven new faces; presumably after watching re-runs of some of last year’s matches.

The change of manager has certainly lifted the mood around the club and it will be fascinating to see how long the positivity lasts once the nature of summer recruitment starts to reveal itself. At least we can draw a veil over the 2017/18 season and pretend it didn’t happen.

There has been a good deal of speculation about the size of Pellegrini’s transfer war chest with a figure of £75m being bandied around, while others are reporting that this could be even higher depending on the proceeds of player sales. One assumes that the new manager has some assurances regarding what he is able to do but it is always a little bit fuzzy on what war chests are meant to include. Is it only for transfer fees paid or does it also include agent fees, signing on fees, loan fees and player wages? It is rare for a club to pay the whole of a transfer fee in one lump sum and wages add a significant extra over the course of a contract. Take Andy Carroll for example who was signed for £15m in May 2013 but has probably been paid somewhere in the region of a further £20m in wages during his time at the club.

David Gold said on Talksport something to the effect that “we will probably spend more than we have ever done during the transfer window.” Now that is a bar that is not set very high and we could have done without the ‘probably’ in there as well. If the club does not better its transfer spend record then there could well be mutiny.

There has been some speculation as to whether the protest at the Burnley game in March spurred the Board into action. Perhaps it had some effect but it was more likely the dwindling season ticket waiting list that set their alarm bells ringing for the two Daves. I have been told that those who were number 22,000 on the list a year ago are now being asked exactly where they would like to sit!

My recollection of transfer windows during the summer of major tournament is that they become a little fragmented as clubs, players and agents hope that a Gary Breen like performance can inflate transfer fees, wages and commissions. There is not too much West Ham interest in this year’s finals although Manuel Lanzini, Cheikhou Kouyate, Javier Hernandez, Edmilson Fernandes and Joao Mario (who I guess is still shown as a Hammer until his loan expires at the end of June) may all play a part. I wonder how many of them will still be with us by August?

A number of backroom staff have cleared out their lockers at Rush Green but I have yet to see confirmation of any new appointments or what that means for the structure of the club going forward; particularly for player recruitment. Although David Sullivan has made noises about keeping his nose out of transfer business it is difficult to believe that he will not be there in the background jealously guarding the only copy of the West Ham United cheque book and seeking to impress players with a tour of his tasteful Essex mansion. I would predict that, in the circumstances, it will take several more weeks for Pellegrini to get settled in London, organise his support team and find a hairdresser to tend that magnificent head of hair before he focuses on bringing in new players.

If, as expected, we are to get a style of football that requires our players to keep the ball more then most of the past five years needs to be unlearned. If that also involves a more athletic and intense approach then it is younger, fit players rather than Manchester City cast-offs that are needed – unless they are prepared to let Aguero, De Bruyne or Fernandinho go.

What would be very disappointing is if we lost either Marko Arnautovic or Lanzini during the summer and I think both players are likley to attract interest. Whether either is of the quality required to be a regular at a top six side is a matter of opinion but they would certainly be useful squad additions for a number of top clubs. I am somewhat ambivalent regarding Hernandez as it is difficult to see where, despite his undoubted goal poaching ability, he fits into a side that is set up to graft for each other. No matter who you are in the Premier League, skill and technique has to be backed up by organisation and hard work. All of the league’s current top scorers offer more than simply hanging around the six yard box.

There are just seventy-five days until the new season’s curtain raisers on August 11. It is a relatively short time in which to overhaul the squad, sort out the coaching staff and instil a new style of play that all of the players can master and understand. It is certainly going to be an interesting summer.

First Class Players Wanted. All Positions.

West Ham once again look set to disappoint as the annual January transfer window frenzy draws to a close. Is the squad strong enough to survive?

When the short lived Thames AFC (who played their games at West Ham Stadium in Custom House) were elected to the Football League in 1930 their Directors placed an advertisement in the newspaper in the hope of attracting players of sufficient quality to preserve their new found status. In the event the ploy was an unsuccessful one and Thames lasted only two seasons in the professional game before being wound up.

With just a few days remaining in this year’s January transfer window and the context of an ever increasing injury list, a wafer thin squad in terms of quality and a long term suspension, then maybe it is time for the current Board to consider a similar approach. Perhaps David Gold could send out an appropriate tweet to set the ball rolling.

If fake news in the political arena is a recent and growing phenomenon, fake transfer news has been with us ever since the introduction of the window system. Media outlets have recognised that the recycling of stories, subsequent denials and supporter outrage create a steady flood of click bait traffic to their sites and enhance advertising revenues. Notwithstanding that the majority of transfer stories are pure fabrication, aspiration or hallucination, the window at West Ham tends to follow a fairly predictable pattern of failing to plan and deliver until last minute panic sets in. The only good piece of incoming January business that immediately springs to mind is Dean Ashton.

With a window that started with the premise that it was more players the club needed, rather than fewer, West Ham have already seen Diafra Sakho depart and (if reports are to be believed) Andre Ayew could soon be following him out of the door. It was clear from Moyes preference to play Michail Antonio or Marko Arnautovic in the striker role that he didn’t really fancy any of the supposed forwards on the books. None of them are really suitable or equipped to play in a style that the majority of also-ran Premier League (including the Hammers) teams now set up for with pressing and rapid counter attack the order of the day. The lone striker needs to fast, strong, athletic and mobile. Arguably Sakho was the closest but he unfortunately lacked that final attribute of sanity.

With less than forty-eight hours remaining for reinforcements and cover to be recruited the names resonating with greatest frequency are Russian captain Fedor Smolov or Graziano Pellè up front and Morgan Schneiderlin, Tom Cairney or Leander Dendoncker in midfield.

I will admit to knowing nothing about Smolov other than his scoring stats look great at first sight. Pellè, on the other hand, would be a panic acquisition pure and simply; this year’s Jose Fonte. Unless I am remembering wrongly he is just another lumbering immobile lump who couldn’t even terrorise vertically challenged Chinese defences.

I was always a big fan of Schneiderlin at Southampton but he is another Saints player who has not travelled well and who now appears to have gone well off the boil. Maybe he is up for another challenge. Cairney and Dendoncker look to be decent signings but one feels that the price may be too high for a club who have short arms and deep pockets when it comes to scraping together transfer funds – a consequence in part to the stupid amounts the club wastes on wages.

The Carvalho saga lingers on for West Ham

As if we didn’t have enough of the William Carvalho saga for the whole of the last month of the transfer window, we find that it continues even though the window has slammed shut.

I dislike the international breaks that disrupt the domestic football season. It is a bit like starting off any activity and then finding that it continually gets interrupted. It wouldn’t seem so bad if the breaks were spread more evenly throughout the season, but no, we have to have a break for World Cup qualifiers (or Euro qualifiers) every year. The first one has arrived (as usual) just as the season has got underway, this time after just three games. We play four more games before the next break, and then a further four prior to the following one. So we will have only played eleven games and had a weekend off three times! At least it might help West Ham’s players to combat the tiredness that was put forward as a lame excuse following the disastrous performance in our last match in Newcastle.

The transfer window itself was seen by many, before a ball had been kicked, as being a relatively successful one for West Ham, although the evidence of the first three games has suggested to quite a few of us that the jury is out on our new recruits, with the possible exception of Chicarito. Lots of theories are put forward as to why we are currently bottom of the table, and the real reason is probably a mixture of all of them.

But one glaring weakness (of many) in the team from where I sit, is the number of goals that we are conceding. Poor defending is just part of that, which may be down to the individuals themselves that occupy those positions, or may be down to the way that they are organised, and the lack of consistent selection which suggests that the manager doesn’t really know his best defence. Of course this was not helped by the injury to Reid, but nevertheless we have a whole range of international defenders at our disposal.

But a modern football team needs to defend as a whole unit, and this means everyone in the side playing their part when we don’t have the ball. And this happens a lot as we have a tendency to give the ball to our opponents more easily than we should. A vital position in most successful teams is that of the central midfielders, and the ideal players in this position are those that can give cover to the defence whilst at the same time being comfortable in possession, and able to launch attacking moves. Last season’s champions, Chelsea, had Kante and Matic fulfilling this important role. They’ve lost Matic, but bought Drinkwater to resume the partnership with Kante that was an integral part of Leicester’s title winning season the year before. This season’s early leaders, Manchester United, have Pogba and Matic. The great Arsenal side of a few seasons ago had the dream pairing of Vieira and Petit.

In my opinion our best two players in this position in the current squad are Obiang and Kouyate. They haven’t yet started a game as the central pairing this season, with Obiang inexplicably only starting one of our three games, and Kouyate playing just twenty minutes as a substitute at St James Park. Incredibly we began the game at Newcastle with Rice and Noble as the partners in the middle. Now I see Rice as a very promising central defender, and Noble has looked a shadow of his previous self for over a year now. Both Obiang and Kouyate were warming the bench. I just didn’t get it myself, but the manager picks the team and stands or falls by his decisions. The way things are going then falling might come sooner rather than later.

According to the multitude of transfer news in the media during the window, our key target for the last month was William Carvalho, an experienced Portuguese international footballer, who would presumably fill one of the two central midfield slots. And from what I’ve seen of him he would be a perfect addition to the team. I would compare him in style of play to Patrick Vieira. Allegedly we continued to make bids for him, never quite reaching the figure that Sporting Lisbon supposedly wanted us to pay. As time went on I could see that it was unlikely that it would happen, and I was genuinely disappointed when we failed to land him as he looked to me just the type of player we needed.

At the last moment, just as it appeared the transfer wouldn’t happen, we apparently switched our target to Gomes from Barcelona, yet another Portuguese international midfielder, who at 24 (a year younger than Carvalho) was another who might satisfy the demands of fans as an exciting new recruit. Now while this may be the case I would question our strategy in the transfer market. Did we really want a (primarily) defensive midfielder (Carvalho), or one who fulfils a more attacking role? Whilst both would have been excellent acquisitions, we seem to be just trying to get good footballers, rather than looking to fill specific positions in the line-up.

Some West Ham fans have taken to social media slamming the board (in particular David Sullivan) for once again failing to bring in another top level signing, and at the same time Sporting Lisbon are now claiming that we didn’t even lodge a bid for Carvalho. Whatever the truth of the matter, it seems destined to fill some pages during the international break, and will continue to do so until the Premier League resumes next weekend and we can once again concentrate on football. The whole saga though just seems to me to be a typical West Ham transfer scenario, and doesn’t shed a good light on the club.

We must move on now, and if rumours are to be believed, then we need to start performing and picking up points very quickly if we are to move away from the bottom, and for the manager to keep his job. Mr. Sullivan issued an unusual statement last week saying that the manager got exactly the players he wanted in the window, and that to me suggested he was preparing to show him the exit door very soon if the results don’t arrive very soon. We shall see.