Sliding Through the Transfer Window

How much is that Froggie in the Window? Transfer strategies and big mouth Garth Crooks.

Transfer WindowIf you are a 7 out of 10 kind of a guy at a party and you channel all your efforts in an attempt to move in on a 9 or 10 out of 10 girl then chances are you will go home disappointed. This pretty much sums up the pitfalls of the West Ham transfer strategy. By the time you realise that you have wasted your energy in pursuit of the unattainable, all of the 7 or 8 out of 10’s are already spoken for. In the very rare circumstance where you actually strike out with that perfect 10 then more than likely they will come with high maintenance ‘issues’ especially when the good time that you promised turns out to be a night at the bingo; this pretty much sums up the Dimitri Payet situation.

The Transfer Window has now creaked forward to Day 18 and there has been little movement to date either at West Ham or elsewhere. This hasn’t impeded the rumour mill industry, though, which moves on apace with teasing click-bait headlines reaching new levels of imagination to tempt the eager reader to stories about Marcus Browne signing a new contract or where next for itinerant South American, Jonathan Calleri.

The ‘maybe there is no smoke without fire’ links continue to focus on such familiar names as Scott Hogan and Robert Snodgrass but with recently added noise of Chris Woods from Leeds, old man Jose Fonte of Southampton and Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea. Earlier speculation regarding a return to West Ham for Jermaine Defoe has gone seemingly quiet once it was revealed we were offering a subscription to Sunday Sport online and an Ann Summers voucher in return for his signature . Of the names mentioned I would be happy with Hogan (a gamble but this is the pond that we are fishing in) and Sigurdsson but I doubt the Icelander, excellent player that he is, will leave Swansea until the summer.

With the win over Palace at the weekend putting daylight between the Hammers and the relegation favourites (plus the sense that Feghouli may have something to offer after all) I am hoping that there can be an objective, level-headed reappraisal of transfer window requirements.  The panic mode sensor can be set down several notches. An additional striker and right back remain priorities and any available funds should be invested in quality replacements not simple emergency gap fillers. I am convinced the board would like to bring in someone new to boost their own ratings.  Then, unless something special comes up, I would then leave the squad alone with a view to strengthening under our own terms in the summer. It will be no comfort come July to hear that we borrowed out of the war chest to bring in some 30+ year old backup players when there are a number of youngsters who could do just as good a job.

It will be interesting to see how the Payet situation pans out. If he is truly only interested in a return to France (as his PR now claims) then this would appear to put a severe limitation on available options unless he considers Arsenal as an overseas French protectorate. When the story first broke there was fairly widespread condemnation of Payet’s petulance but in recent days there have been a few in the media coming to his defence; accusing football fans of being deluded by expecting loyalty from players. Now I am aware that modern day journalism is more about attention seeking and generating a reaction but these articles tend to adopt a very black and white perspective of what has happened to suit their purpose. Yes, we know very well that players come and go all the time (after all we had wheeler dealer extraordinaire Harry Redknapp as manager at one point) but there is a world of difference between a player who continues to act in a professional manner while negotiating a move away and one who takes his ball home and refuses to play again. Secretly, I would like to see Payet left in limbo for the rest of the season but, in the end, it will be a commercial decision for the owners to take once someone comes along with a sensible offer.

Finally, away from transfers I ventured onto the BBC website the other day to check out third rate pundit Garth Crook’s team of the week which on this occasion included Andy Carroll (but not Michail Antonio as it would have meant one less Spurs player). Crooks is, of course, entitled in his feature to put forward views on player performance but I felt it entirely inappropriate for him to jump on the London Stadium knocking bandwagon (see quote below). How these guys manage to keep their jobs for life in the BBC Sport is beyond me; it has become a nursing home for dreary incompetents.

“Playing at home in London Stadium can’t be much fun when your fans are so far away they feel as though they are watching the game from the car park. Nevertheless, the Hammers did actually manage to muster some atmosphere in this makeshift football graveyard thanks to an outstanding performance from, unlike Payet, the totally committed Carroll.”

– Garth Crooks in his BBC Team of the Week Feature

This Week in Hammer’s History

Scraping the ice from the windows of history to review how the Hammers have fared in the week 16 – 22 January.

This Week Hammers HistoryAs I peruse the results from the week 16 – 22 January in Hammer’s History (and I am only looking at games played since our promotion to Division 1 in 1958) my impression is that this has been a generally bad week for West Ham.  On further inspection it is not really the case with the 59 games played ending in 19 victories, 25 defeats and 15 draws.  The reality is that it is a week with very few matches that stand-out; particularly those that ended in our favour.

On two occasions this week has witnessed dreams of League Cup glory being dashed in two unsuccessful semi-final appearances.  One being of the contractual obligation variety in 2014 where, already losing 6-0 from the first leg, we went on to gift Manchester City a 9-0 aggregate win.  The other, in 1967, was a repeat of the previous year’s League Cup final with the Hammers up against West Bromwich Albion.  The final of the 1966/67 tournament would be the first to be played in a one-off match at Wembley but it was to be a dreadful night at The Hawthorns with Albion romping to a 4-0 first leg lead.

In FA Cup action West Ham did record a thumping 6-1 victory against 4th Division Aldershot – but only after a replay.  Aldershot had given up home advantage after the draw was made and both games were played at Upton Park.  The initial tie ending in a 0-0 stalemate but the replay was a routine affair with goals from Morley (2), Slater, Parris, Bishop and Quinn doing the damage for West Ham with Aldershot’s reply courtesy of a rare Miklosko blooper.

Miklosko, Breacker, Parris, Gale, Robson (Bishop), Hughton, Keen, Slater, Quinn, Potts, Morley

Not nearly as impressive was FA Cup replay exit at the hands of Wrexham in 1981 as we defended the trophy won the previous May.  This was not really a giant killing act as both teams were competing in Division 2 at the time but it still came as a surprise given our overall performances that season.  Defeat eventually coming in extra time of the second replay at the Racecourse Ground following two earlier drawn games.

A league game that sticks in the memory was one from the 1971/72 season which saw West Ham entertain Brian Clough’s Derby County side.  Derby would finish the season as champions in one of the closest title races that I can recall with four teams separated by a single point.  In the run-in Derby had completed their fixtures while both dirty Leeds (going for the double) and Liverpool could be crowned champions if either won their remaining game.  In the event, Liverpool drew and Leeds lost (at Wolverhampton) amid claims that manager Don Revie had tried to bribe the Wolves players.

When they visited Upton Park in January 1972 Derby were in 4th place and West Ham in 12th and there was plenty of entertainment for the 31,000 crowd.  Derby opened the scoring taking advantage of a Tommy Taylor slip before a Frank Lampard pile-driver evened things up at half-time.  Pop Robson struck to give the Hammers the lead after the break only for Derby to scramble an equalizer of their own with the ball appearing to go in through Bobby Moore’s legs.  A fine Trevor Brooking goal looked like it would be enough to secure all (two) points but Derby were not to be denied and the game ended all square at 3-3.  A nice comedy moment in the game when two teenage girls ran onto the pitch to mob Harry Redknapp instigating a chase by the local plod that ended with one of their number toppling into the crowd.

Ferguson, McDowell, Lampard, Bonds, Taylor, Moore, Redknapp, Best, Hurst, Brooking, Robson

This Week’s birthdays:

16 January   Bobby Zamora (36)
18 January   Steve Lomas (43)
19 January   Robert Green (37)

West Ham 3 v 0 Palace

What constitutes a great goal?

Embed from Getty Images

When I wrote my book, Goodbye Upton Park, Hello Stratford, I posed this very question in Chapter 23, where I wrote about my 60 favourite West Ham goals. Goals can be scored in a variety of ways. A spectacular volley, a long range screamer, a team goal scored as a culmination of a number of passes, a deflection, an element of luck, a tap in, a goal which requires superb technique. These are just some of the ways that a goal can be scored. A goal can seem greater, and hence remembered more, if it is a critical goal in a close match, as opposed to say, one of the goals scored in a one-sided game. But however it is scored doesn’t really matter because in the final analysis, every one counts as a goal; you don’t get anything extra based on the degree of difficulty.

I think that my colleague, and co-weblogger, Geoff, is particularly fond of team goals, and I like those too, although my absolute favourites tend to be those that require great technique. My favourite goal of all time was scored by Martin Peters against Leicester in November 1968. This was a team move that went from one end of the pitch to the other, culminating in Peters’ superb technique in hitting a volley from a ball that came over his shoulder, and his thunderous shot that almost decapitated Shilton in the opposition goal as it sped into the roof of the North Bank net.

My second favourite (in 2001) came from a corner taken by Schemmel, who played the ball in the air to Joe Cole who was standing near the corner of the penalty area. With a couple of touches and masterful ball control, without the ball touching the ground, Joe volleyed the ball to the opposite side, where Trevor Sinclair took off, and with an acrobatic scissor kick blasted the ball into the corner of the Derby net.

Number 3 was a volley scored by Harry Redknapp of all people, the winning goal in a 4-3 victory over QPR. Once again this was a great team move ending in a stunning volley from Harry. This goal had almost everything, a superb build up, pin-point cross, brilliant finish, and winning goal, all in one.

On Saturday we were treated to another goal that will live long in the memory from Andy Carroll. A good move was ended when Antonio’s cross, perhaps a couple of yards behind where he was aiming, was met by a stunning overhead scissor kick, with great technique, and unstoppable power. The goal put us two ahead, which was an important time in the match. It reminded me, for both technique and power, of a stunning goal scored by Trevor Sinclair before he joined us, for QPR against Barnsley which was goal of the season in 1997, although I only saw it on TV.

Our first goal wasn’t bad either. Antonio, when put through rounded the keeper, who did a good impression of Adrian (or David James, perhaps) in coming out for a ball when he shouldn’t have, and his ball across the goal (probably an attempt to score) was finished off by Feghouli. The first goal in a game is always important, and this came at a time when our improved second half performance needed a goal.

And our third goal which finally sealed the victory was another counter attack, a length of the pitch move, with a perfectly released ball from Antonio that still left Lanzini which half of the pitch to cover, before once again, excellent technique in dinking the ball over the keeper who left his goal to narrow the angle.

All in all, a very satisfying victory over our old manager who, incredibly seemed to suggest that his team were better than us. After the week of being in the news, thanks to a Frenchman (who has scored some excellent goals himself for us in the past year) who apparently doesn’t want to play for us any more, it was an excellent second half performance (the first half was certainly forgettable). Andy Carroll summed it up nicely when he declared in his post-match interview that no individual is more important than the club, and the support from the stands for the manager was noisy and emotional.

The win took us up to twelfth in the table, nine points clear of the relegation zone, and just one win away from the top half of the table. In my pre-match preview I expressed the hope that the events of the past week would have a galvanising effect on the team, and that was most certainly the case. Some excellent individual performances from Byram, on as a second half substitute, Reid, Obiang (as always), Antonio, and Carroll were important, but the spirit of the team as a whole shone through, even though some of our players have not been at their best this season.

I’m not sure when “assists” started to be recorded, but I wonder when was the last time one of our players contributed with three assists in a game? Great credit to Antonio, who apparently spent all day Friday in bed with the flu, but still insisted that he was fit enough to play the next day. His attitude and commitment put a certain French footballer to shame.

5 Observations from the Palace

The stereotypical game of two halves as West Ham react to dismiss Fat Sam’s Palace

5 Things WHUFirst Half Drab…..

Before our game kicked off I had watched that team from north London demolish a shell-shocked West Bromwich Albion with a scintillating and clinical brand of stylish football.  At half time in our own game I was imagining writing a downbeat review of how far behind our near neighbours we had fallen.  If we are ever to drag ourselves away from the also-ran pack then they are the team we need to target, being the next significant step up on the money ladder from us.  It is distressing to see them performing so well but it would be churlish not to admire their style, organisation and effort.  The sooner that someone comes in to poach Pochettino the better or there is a real danger that they could actually win something and how insufferable would that be?  The first half of the West Ham v Palace game was totally forgettable in comparison.  A smart volley just over from Andy Carroll at one end and a glaring James Tomkins miss at the other after Michail Antonio had gone to sleep (Ogbonna style) were about as interesting as it got.  West Ham were lacking in confidence and ideas and Fat Sam was too busy respecting the point to capitalise.

Second Half Fab!

The game changed completely at half time and it was no coincidence that the introduction of a proper right back and changing to a back four was the catalyst.  Antonio was released from his wasted wing back berth to play up with (or just behind) Carroll and the team looked more balanced and threatening as a result.  Fat Sam claimed that his side were the better team for 70 minutes and defeat was the result of gifting West Ham all 3 goals but that is nonsense.  The reason Palace lost was that they lacked the enterprise to take advantage of a vulnerable West Ham side in the first half and were then totally outplayed in the second.  Apart from a little late flurry they were never at the races.  In the end a lot of credit to the players, fans and coaching staff for putting the distractions of the week behind them and putting some swagger back into their play.  As predicted the most name checked player on the TV commentary was Dimitri Payet although the emphasis changed from bemoaning the absence of his creative assist generating genius in the first half to praising the response of the team to his absence in the second.  Time to take this new found togetherness and build on it at Middlesbrough next weekend.

Right Back Where We Started From

I was hoping that we would see Sam Byram feature at some stage during the game but it still came as a (positive) surprise that he was introduced as early as half time and that it was Angelo Ogbonna who was replaced.  James Collins has his flaws but you cannot fault his commitment and he is as good as anyone when up against a lump such as Benteke.  I didn’t hear any suggestion that Ogbonna was injured so assume it was just a very good decision; or else Ogbonna had fallen asleep in the dressing room during the interval.  Having Byram back from injury is a major boost and I believe he is certainly good enough to be trusted as a regular starter.  He defends robustly but also gets forward well and provides a far better option than a converted winger or centre back in that position.  Backup is still required during the transfer window, however, as with Byram there is always the danger of another injury (given his record) and the certainty of a suspension (given his record).  In 9 starts and 5 substitute appearances since moving to West Ham he has accumulated an impressive 8 yellow cards.  Elsewhere in defence there were steady performances from Winston Reid and Collins with Aaron Cresswell rather subdued once more.

The Middle Men

The change of formation at half time theoretically gave Palace a numerical advantage in midfield but you would never have known it as West Ham dominated the second period of the game.  It was encouraging, in fact, to note that there was a less obvious separation between midfield and strikers than we normally see with both Carroll and Antonio dropping back to provide extra bodies in the middle and Manuel Lanzini and Sofiane Feghouli pushing further forward when required.  Mark Noble had an uneven game and was guilty of giving the ball away cheaply on many occasions and yet did extremely well to create our only chance of the first half and in putting Antonio through in the lead up to our first goal. There are still far too many backwards triangles with Noble particularly involving Collins which are often pointless and serve to limit momentum.  Lanzini showed his usual enthusiasm and was always available and willing to run with the ball.  It was great to see him maintain his goal-scoring record against Palace, with his final kick of the game, and it was a great reaction from Fernandes who was waiting to come on as his replacement.  My personal jury is still out regarding Feghouli.  Fantastic that he scored his first goal and that appeared to give him a massive lift; but I would still need to be convinced about his strength, speed and stamina to perform at this level.  He has earned the right to prove that he can do it and looks a better option at the moment than Ayew.  It will be interesting to know whether the stories about him leaving during the transfer window have any substance.

Men of the Match

The two stand-out performers in the game were Carroll and Antonio.  Touching as much wood as I can lay my hands on it looks like Andy could be on a decent injury free streak and he certainly looks to be full of energy and commitment at the moment.  My reservation with Carroll is not so much about his own abilities but that having someone in the team whose main attribute is strength in the air tends to have too great an influence on the way the team plays overall.  This didn’t happen yesterday and Carroll showed several neat touches with the ball at his feet.  His goal was nothing less than spectacular and featured a strike that requires tremendous technique to execute.  You could argue that the defending was poor but ironically I believe that Antonio’s cross was slightly misplaced; the intended target being Carroll’s head.  This is what everyone was expecting and it is to Carroll’s great credit that he was able to react, adjust and connect in the way that he did.  Antonio ended the day with 3 assist and for someone who had been ill in bed the day before with flu (OK so it may only have been man flu) he performed exceptionally well.  Now that’s what I call commitment, Dimi!  The wonder of the Carroll strike overshadowed another delightful goal rounded off by Lanzini’s run and dink over the keeper from Antonio’s pass.  Overall a most satisfactory outcome to the afternoon’s entertainment.

Ratings: Randolph (6), Collins (6), Reid (7), Ogbonna (5), Antonio (8), Noble (6), Obiang (7), Feghouli (6), Lanzini (7),  Cresswell (6), Carroll (8).  Subs: Byram (7)  

Matchday: Hammers versus Eagles

The “Careful What You Wish For” derby sees Sam Allardyce return to West Ham.

West Ham PalaceTo start with an apology for previously giving the impression that Dimitri Payet was one of the most skillful players ever to wear the claret and blue of West Ham, that he was the undisputed master of the assist, the team talisman without whom we never win and a veritable sorcerer when it came to the sublime or sumptuous set-piece. We can now reveal that the petulant, perfidious Payet is in fact the quintessential cowardly, overweight, backstabbing, surrender monkey who would barely make the top 10 famous people from Reunion Island were it not for the stage presented to him by West Ham.

There has been a lot of negative comment on Payet’s behaviour in the media from pundits (even sober ones), managers and players alike although that will not prevent clubs carefully putting any principles to one side and queuing  up to offer him a lucrative contract. In an ideal world he could be left to stew but, as today’s visiting manager has demonstrated, you would need to have committed a particular heinous crime such as biting the heads of babies (or being compromised by a Russian hooker) to become unemployable in an industry as morally bankrupt as modern football.

“We haven’t got a big squad now left, we just have the players for this game. But we have enough players to put a strong team out and have good players on the bench. It is the team that I am managing. Many times clubs have lost quality players but gained a team.”

– Slaven Bilic on his small but good squad

So it is that the shamed but unrepentant ex-England manager who brings his latest long-ball charges to face the Payet-less Hammers at the London Stadium this afternoon. Both clubs would have started the season with hopes and dreams that didn’t involve a potential relegation battle but as events have panned out we find ourselves with a four-and-a-half pointer if not a fully fledged six-pointer on our hands. Expect the Fat One to set up in respect the point mode to see how the West Ham team react to their new reality.

Head to Head

Depending where you look West Ham have played Crystal Palace anywhere between 31 and 76 times. The following stats exclude long ago Southern League and war-time cup competitions which makes encounters between the two clubs a rather recent rivalry that West Ham have largely bossed. Palace have won only one of the last 5 meetings but the Hammers haven’t beaten them at home (even at fortress Upton Park) since 2003.

 

P

W

D

L

F

A

Sequence

Home

17

10

5

2

22

13

DLLDWW

Away

18

 6

7

5

29

18

WWWLDL

 

35

16

12

7

51

31

 

Team News

Whatever the West Ham lineup all the talk in the build-up, during the game and in the post match analysis will be about Dimitri Payet. The final straw for Payet apparently was when they let Cresswell take a free kick at Leicester – I knew no good would come of it!  Sam Byram and Reece Oxford are now both fit but “lack match fitness”; I would like to see both involved at some point so that they can actually work on that fitness. Ayew and Kouyate, of course, are away on international duties and Michail Antonio was reported as being ill (hopefully not with a bout of Chelsea flu!). From what has been said the manager expects Manuel Lanzini to step up to create all of our chances; so no pressure there Manuel. I would like to believe that we will put out a team full of pace, passion, movement and with not too many players played out of position.  It is only hope that keeps us going so let’s see what happens.

“If there are any fears left in their players because of the new stadium then we need to try to take advantage of it. If we can put pressure on them and try to score the first goal then that will be very important.  I had four happy years at West Ham and one of the reasons I am at Palace is because of London. I enjoyed living here.”

– Fat Sam

I am always nervous when former players and managers make a return to face West Ham and today we have two for the price of one in Fat Sam and James Tomkins. On the plus side Palace have their best (albeit very unpredictable) player, Wilfred Zaha, away at the ACON. Benteke has a shoulder injury but should be fit and Townsend will be excited at playing against a team without a proper right back.

I have my fingers crossed for a Payexit bounce and a 2-0 home win.

Man in the Middle

We are joined in the middle this afternoon by Neil Swarbrick from Lancashire. This is his second visit to the London Stadium after being in charge of the Middlesbrough game in October last year (some French player scored our goal if I remember correctly). In all competitions this season Swarbrick has featured 20 times furnishing 75 Yellows but only 2 Red cards.

I Wouldn’t Bet On It 27

It’s back to square one with the betting kitty but can smell success today.

Fancy A Bet

We lost our stake of 15 points on the Manchester City game. We are now back to where we started on 100 points.

I am confident that we will beat Palace to complete the double over them, so my bets this week will be:

20 points on a West Ham victory @6/5 (44)
1 point on a West Ham 3-1 victory @14/1 (15)
2 points on a West Ham 2-1 victory @ 15/2 (17)
1 point on West Ham to win and Obiang to score anytime @22/1 (23)
1 point on West Ham to win and Antonio to score anytime @6/1 (7)

After placing these bets our balance is down to 75 points. Potential returns if correct in brackets.

What are the chances?

Palace Preview

The return of Big Sam (again) and James Tompkins, as we look for three points to further cement our mid-table position and pull further away from the relegation zone

Pardew Allardyce

He has only been gone for a season and a half, but our previous manager is back for the second time. Last season Big Sam did the Red Adair job at Sunderland, and now he has been employed in the same capacity by Palace to try to turn their season around. In between he managed England for a game, before a newspaper sting caught him out and forced him out of a role that he had coveted for his whole career.

His start has not been an auspicious one, and in their last game they lost at home to Swansea. That meant that Swansea did the double over them, winning 5-4 in an extraordinary game at the end of November, before a late goal gave them a 2-1 victory at Selhurst Park.

Now we have the chance to complete our first double of the season (we only did the double over one team in the Premier League last season – Liverpool). A first half Lanzini goal was enough to take the spoils at Palace, although the day was marred slightly by another ridiculous sending off when Cresswell was dismissed by Martin Atkinson, after picking up two yellow cards within a minute. The first was for a dive that wasn’t a dive, the second was for a foul that was barely a foul!

Palace actually started the season well and by the end of September were seven points ahead of us. As they now trail us by six points, and we haven’t had the best of seasons, it goes to show what an alarming slump they have had. Of course that resulted in the sack for another of our old managers, Alan Pardew, who once again demonstrated that he can have have a good effect at a club for a while, and then everything goes wrong. He’d done it before for us, and at Newcastle.

After picking up just one point in their opening three fixtures, three wins on the bounce with a convincing 4-1 victory at home to Stoke sandwiched between away victories in the North-East over Middlesbrough and Sunderland, left them in the top half of the table. But they have only won once since, a 3-0 victory at home to Southampton early in December. They now sit just one point and one place above the drop zone in seventeenth place.

They made three big signings in the summer with Bentecke, Townsend, and our own James Tompkins costing them around £50 million. Their net spend wasn’t so big though, as they recouped around £43 million with the sales of Bolasie, Gayle, McCarthy and Jedinak. Speaking to some Palace supporters, they are not too impressed with Tompkins, although you can’t help thinking he would have got a decent amount of playing time had he remained with us, especially after we fell into the three at the back system. He would have been ideally suited to play on the right side of that. Many fans could not understand why we let him go, but I’m not sure he is good enough to take us to the next level. But supporters often have a greater affinity with “one of our own”.

Palace is one of those fixtures where we must look for three points to cement our mid-table position and hopefully push on in the remainder of the season. The major talking point surrounding the game will be the Payet revelation that he doesn’t want to play for us anymore. I am hoping for a galvanising effect on the team as a whole, and as a result I fully expect us to win, but I feel like that for most games. Perhaps 2-1?

The Lawro Challenge – Week 21

Preeminent pundit and BBC prediction pro continues his steady fightback in our Lawro challenge.

Lawro Crystal BallTwenty rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 200 matches.

In Week 20, Rich scored 5 points, Geoff 5 points, and Lawro 8 points, enabling him to close the gap at the top still further.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now march on to week 21.

 

Rich

Geoff

Lawro

Total after 19 weeks

162

120

153

Score in week 20

5

5

8

Total after 19 weeks

167

125

161

 

 

 

 

Predictions – Week 21

 

 

 

 

Rich

Geoff

Lawro

Saturday

 

 

 

Tottenham v WBA

2-0

3-1

2-0

Burnley v Southampton

1-1

1-0

1-1

Hull v Bournemouth

2-1

1-1

1-2

Sunderland v Stoke

1-1

2-3

1-1

Swansea v Arsenal

1-2

1-3

0-2

Watford v Middlesbrough

1-1

0-0

1-1

West Ham v Palace

2-1

2-0

1-1

Leicester v Chelsea

1-2

2-2

2-1

Sunday

 

 

 

Everton v Man City

1-2

1-1

1-2

Man United v Liverpool

1-0

0-1

1-1

 

 

 

 

Dimitri Payet

The news of Dimitri Payet’s statement that he doesn’t want to play for us anymore comes through just as I am midway through writing a piece on the transfer window!

Payet

We are now virtually half way through the transfer window, but as we have come to realise, nothing much often happens until the mad panic on deadline day. Why is that I often wonder? Selling clubs, especially if they don’t really want to sell, wait until as late as possible, hoping that buying clubs get desperate and up their offers, or alternatively just go away. Buying clubs, on the other hand, often feel that they are in a better position, and try to leave it until the last minute with the hope of reducing the price if they feel that the player really wants the move, especially if they could move for free in the next window when their contract runs out. But problems can occur if clubs sell at the last minute but do not have sufficient time to line up replacements.

It seems that the transfer window has been with us forever, especially with the heightened expectations often created by the media, who love all the speculation, especially the frenzy of the last day which fills inordinate amounts of airtime and column inches. But in fact the present system has only been with us since 2002. Before then, players could be traded throughout the season up until 31 March. Beyond that it was felt that transfers could undermine the integrity of competitions at the late stages, and clubs could buy titles, or avert relegation with late money.

The window was introduced as part of an agreement with the European commission to preserve contractual stability for clubs and players, whilst still allowing movement at prescribed times. The economics of football works in a different way to most other industries.

At the time of writing we have been linked with numerous players, Batshuayi, Niang, Hogan, Dembele, Defoe, Hernandez, Hart, Begovich, Snodgrass, Cuco Martina, Johnson, Jenkinson, Evra, and a host of others, too many to mention. Fans on social media are getting restless and wonder why we haven’t tied up players to improve the team. I can think of one who I would like who never seems to be mentioned, and that is Sigurdsson of Swansea. Now there is a player who would improve the team. We definitely need a natural goalscorer and a right back as priorities, but wonder if any will arrive by the time the window slams shut. Sigurdsson always looks a real talent every time I see him, and just the type of creative midfielder who scores goals that would be invaluable.

Conversely, speculation surrounds us losing players, too, and I wonder if any of Antonio, Feghouli, Fletcher, Adrian, or any of the fringe players who we would definitely like to see the back of, will no longer be with us in a couple of weeks. Perhaps, between writing this piece and the Palace game, there will have been some definite action, but I won’t hold my breath.

And then just as I write these words, news comes through on the radio of the Bilic press conference where he states that Payet doesn’t want to play for us anymore. No doubt there will be thousands airing their views on social media, and I bet the majority will be telling him to f— off, I’ll drive him to the airport etc.

Much as I admired him as one of the best players I’ve seen at Upton Park when he starred for us last season, I’m afraid this season just hasn’t been the same. Apart from the wonder goal against Middlesbrough, and a smattering of assists, I don’t think that it took a body language expert to realise that his heart wasn’t really in it. Failing to celebrate goals was just one indicator, and his general demeanour was one of someone who didn’t really look like they wanted to be here.

I guess that the thing that surprises me is that so many people appear to be shocked by the initial news breaking through. He has previous I think, and despite his wonderful talents, I for one will not be disappointed to see him leave based upon this season’s performances. I’m afraid that too many talked him up all the time as being our best player, and we became too reliant on him turning it on. Of course last season he did on frequent occasions, but perhaps we need to try to play without our luxury player, and perhaps the team as a whole will be the better for it.

I’ve heard over the past month or so various pundits suggesting that we mustn’t let him go; we’ll be relegated without him etc. That to me is definitely too much reliance on one player. And whilst I am happy to see talented players who want to be here do the business for us, I’m very much in the “let anyone go who doesn’t want to be here” camp.

Perhaps the thing that surprised me was the fact that Bilic said we will not sell him. I don’t go along with that I’m afraid; take the money and invest it wisely – not an easy thing based on our summer experience of transfer dealings! I’m sure Bilic, by making the statement as he did, will have the majority of support of the fans. I’d just like to see him prove that he has a strategy for a way of playing that all our players are comfortable with. You never know, without Payet that may be easier to achieve. I fully expect Lanzini to step up in his absence and impose himself more on games, and I hope he can take them by the scruff of the neck and inject greater pace and movement into our attacking play. I also expect to see more of the promising Fernandes.

No doubt this will be a major West Ham talking point in the days to come, and many more column inches, tweets, and a lot of airtime will be given to discussing the future of Payet. For me, now that he has said he wants to leave I don’t think that there is any way back. Some people will say just let him rot out of the team, but that just wouldn’t make financial sense.

Watching Paint Dry on the Transfer Window

Two weeks into the transfer window and it is awfully quiet out there.

Transfer WindowWe are probably 40% of the way through the January transfer window and despite endless speculation nothing of note has so far materialised.  It would be intriguing to know what goes on behind the scenes with transfers particularly in the mid-season window as it is unthinkable that every deal is struck in the last few hours.  One players transfer is often dependent on another going the opposite way through the revolving door and then there is the complication of last minute medicals to consider.  To the casual observer it has the appearance of disorganised brinkmanship.

As far as West Ham transfers are concerned the same names are still being banded about as incoming targets (Defoe, Snodgrass, Hogan, Batshuay) while the popular recurring outgoing story is Michail Antonio to Chelsea.  It is much quieter on the Dimitri Payet front with many self-appointed in-the-knows now proclaiming that he is “definitely off in the summer”.  There have also been noises about Joe Hart which is fine provided that it is not at the expense of a right back or striker.

It is impossible to know which of the stories that you read about have any foundation and which are totally fabricated.  I am convinced that a rumour of a bid can surface, be denied, rejected, ridiculed by fans and reported as having hit the rocks without there being any substance in it at all.  I often wonder if it is the same with other clubs or whether the more public profile of our board makes West Ham an exception.  As I don’t actively follow transfer speculation of other clubs the first mention of a deal can invariably be when you read of Everton, Spurs or Chelsea swooping to secure the services of their particular target.  With West Ham it would seem that no swooping is involved with deals the result of a long drawn out chase of attrition.

The apparent public negotiating stance of the West Ham board is not something I am keen on and am puzzled why this happens repeatedly when frustration is the inevitable outcome.  I can remember a Birmingham supporter telling me that the same happened when they were in charge at St Andrews.  That the window would open with ambitious claims of top signings only to end with uninspiring itinerants and short term loans.  After the disappointment of the summer window it would have been nice to see a measure of organisation, discretion and dynamism in our transfer activity.

In defence of the board I believe that the claim that they have not made resources available to the incumbent managers to be rather unfair.  Looking at the numbers over the last 5 years (courtesy of the Transfer League site) West Ham sit in 5th place as far as Net Spend is concerned, behind the two Manchester clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea.  In Net Spend terms we have shelled out more than Liverpool, Spurs, Everton and Southampton during that period.  The difference is that we have had few players leave with any remaining transfer value (we are no longer a selling club because we have had no-one worth selling) and looking at the same data for Gross Spend we fall down to 9th place.

The table below shows gross and net transfer spend over the past 5 years by each Premier League club.  If only that money had been spent wisely.

                               Gross Spend                              Net Spend
1 Manchester City £565,650,000 1 Manchester City £402,550,000
2 Manchester United £528,800,000 2 Manchester United £392,650,000
3 Chelsea £507,459,000 4 Arsenal £205,850,000
4 Liverpool £365,600,000 3 Chelsea £192,309,000
5 Tottenham £315,450,000 5 West Ham £125,300,000
6 Arsenal £298,300,000 6 Liverpool £125,270,000
7 Southampton £221,100,000 7 Leicester £88,400,000
8 Everton £167,300,000 8 Sunderland £73,430,000
9 West Ham £151,300,000 9 Stoke City £62,300,000
10 Leicester £129,700,000 14 Watford £59,600,000
11 Crystal Palace £125,535,000 10 West Bromwich Albion £59,141,000
12 Sunderland £124,480,000 11 Crystal Palace £56,635,000
13 Swansea £109,875,000 15 AFC Bournemouth £52,100,000
14 Hull City £92,625,000 12 Everton £50,984,000
15 West Bromwich Albion £89,350,000 15 Hull City £46,925,000
16 Watford £88,400,000 16 Middlesbrough £38,550,000
17 Stoke City £86,300,000 17 Southampton £33,250,000
18 AFC Bournemouth £76,850,000 18 Burnley £23,450,000
19 Middlesbrough £53,725,000 19 Tottenham £5,500,000
20 Burnley £46,900,000 20 Swansea -£9,685,000