Three In To Two Won't Go-Loan Conundrum

The Barclays Premier League’s domestic rules currently only cover the top tier, stating that clubs may not have more than two players on loan at any one time, a total of only four loans in the season and not more than one player from the same club at any given time, there are no restrictions on how many players can be sent out on loan.

This edict especially has an impact on a West Ham squad that is being reshaped bit by bit by current manager David Moyes, Moyes as most people are aware is operating with one hand tied behind his back as he attempts to correct the transfer failures of the past while trying to ensure there is not a repeat of the 'Pellegrini profligacy' in the future.

Well, on one count the situation is set in stone, David Moyes does not have, and will not have even a fraction of the funds that were made available to his predecessor for 'marquee' signings, Moyes will be lucky to end up with a two man tent! However as has been seen by the signings that Moyes has been involved in, there is light at the end of the tunnel, unfortunately the light is only vague and is dependent on 'variables'. None more so than the club's ability to shift players around in order to get the overall best for the club and it's players.

The loan market is an area that Hammers majority shareholder David Sullivan prefers to do his shopping in, and to that effect the signings of Tomas Soucek, Said Benrahma and quite remarkably Craig Dawson have all proved to be superb. Regrettably the restriction on the number of loan players puts David Moyes in an awkward position, he has to somehow shuffle the pack in order to make room for 'fresh blood'. Speaking of blood, the easiest way out of the loan situation would be to turn Dawson's loan in to a permanent deal, he is available for around £1 Million and given how well he has performed in the last few matches would appear to be an adroit purchase, the only problem is the player's propensity for collapsing during the early part of the games he is playing in.

David Moyes rather sheepishly 'fended off' questions about Dawson's tendency to collapse by saying that it was "a blood sugar thing", it is to be hoped that these 'intermissions' are as a result of not having played a full game for months since his arrival on loan from relegated Watford, but the conventional wisdom regarding 'blood sugar issues' is that such things are invariably a portent of impending Diabetes.

Diabetes does not mean a player's career is over, back in the day, Gary mabbut was a high profile sufferer of Diabetes, but managed to play at the top level for years, however given Hammers' atrocious list of 'medical liability signings', there is an obvious note of caution emanating from the club with regards to making Dawson's loan permanent.

Beggars can't be choosers, and currently West Ham are in the beggars camp, there is no point in embarking on the 'blame game', what has happened to West Ham has happened, the club is not alone in making wildly over priced acquisitions, it is just that those mistakes have exponentially affected owners who are incredibly 'poor' compared with the owners of other top flight clubs, the vast majority of which are 'ersatz' vanity projects for despots or whitewash attempts by dictatorial nations.

The only way West Ham will ever be able to compete at the very top is if the current owners sell up, and that is NOT going to happen any time soon. -Ed