Alan Pardew was always a bit Marmite for fans at most of the clubs he managed, before and after West Ham, but the one thing he did at every club was to make them money in the transfer market, either by astute signings domestically, or by finding new European sources for acquisitions.
A classic example domestically was when he signed three players from Wimbledon who had just been relegated, Nigel Reo-Coker, Adam Nowland and Joel Mc Anuff for a total of £500,000. Mc Anuff was eventually sold for £500,000, Nowland for a similar figure, and Reo-Coker, having played three years for the club was eventually sold to Villa for £8.5 Million!
Pardew's eye for a bargain didn't just end there, after he left West Ham, and particularly when he took over at Newcastle, Pardew began exploring the hitherto untapped French market, which had previously been the sole preserve of Arsene Wenger.
Obviously the Ligue 1 market has been 'over fished', as has the Bundesliga, particularly when it comes to over priced strikers (ouch!), but Hammers forays in to the Czech League have reaped enormous rewards already, and it looks more than likely that the club will be adding to it's current Czech contingent of Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal.
The club's need for a striker, midfielder and additional left back, could all be met via the 'Czech Mates' network already established. For once Hammers have got the jump on ALL the opposition by 'discovering' this new market, whether it was intentional or purely accidental is a matter of some conjecture.
Possibly Hammers paucity of finances drove them to pursue a different direction for recruitment, it matters not, the fact is the club should maximise it's standing within The Czech Republic by utilising it's access via agents and management in place that it already has a direct line to.
Abdallah Sima from Slavia and Adam Hlozek from Sparta, along with Soucek and Coufal's fellow Czech International team mate Alex Kral from Spartak Moscow, could ALL be rocking up at the London Stadium by the beginning of the new Barclays Premier League season.
Why not? Hammers, like most other 'elite' clubs, are pressed for cash, so utilising a tried and tested path for 'bargain' buys is an obvious choice, far better than the old policy of going for a 'billy big bollocks' marquee signing who would arrive with a shed load of excess baggage, usually on an excessive wage, and usually past it and injury prone!
Those clubs and their supporters who were looking down on West Ham for 'going Czech' aren't quite so smug now are they? Long may it continue, and IF the Irons hierarchy can empty the sofa and the biscuit tin in order to support David Moyes in the market, then there is no reason to suggest next season should be filled with trepidation, it could be filled with hope! - Ed
Comments
If souschef
And in particular of late coufal are anything to go by I'll be more than happy for the Czechs to add some of there mates...they work tirelessly,are no nonsense & take pride in wearing the famous claret & blue...rather them at a fraction of the price than duds,that bounce
speaking to my Dad about this
And he said it was the Norm for clubs to go and get players from Scotland more than anywhere else but times change and as long as the club does not let itself get obsessed with one particular source for playing talent it can do no harm
Well Wolves did it with
Well Wolves did it with Portugal, ok, espirito santi, spectacles , testicles, wallet and watch pretty much had a side of Portugeezers.
He had a head start being a Sardine himself. So why cant we build a team of Czechs? I'm sure the pie and mash shops could start selling gherkins on the side...