Net Cast Far & Wide By M&N But Is Mesh Too Small?

Hammers have been linked with a plethora of players during the last 12 months, the departure of Sebastien Haller being the trigger point for an ever increasing amount of transfer rumours ,way in excess of the already high amount the club usually receives.

Historically the past narrative has been one of smoke and mirrors, that usually clears to reveal an old has been, or a young hopeful who is helplessly out of their depth arriving for a bargain fee. Time and time again the club persisted with the same scatter gun approach which failed miserably on a continuous basis, even when the club DID spend big the money was wasted and the club has been paying the price up until now.

Finishing in the top six of the Premier League not only raised the club's profile, but it also helped fill the coffers AND bring in additional investment in the form of Daniel Kretinky to steady the ship after the impact of the Covid crisis. It is doubtful the Czech investor would have shown as much interest in the club if it had just scraped through yet another relegation scrap, if that was the case and he chose to invest regardless, the price of his stake would have been a lot lower!

So at this point in time Hammers are at a strategic cross roads, the areas that need strengthening in the squad are well known and the club HAVE embarked on a recruitment drive that has yet to show fruition, this is a source of much frustration for fans eager to see new faces brought to the club. The problem is that there is only an 'E' which separates Faces from Faeces, and the same differential can be applied to impending acquisitions, just because a player looks the part and irrespective of how much their agent manipulates the situation, as the saying goes "you cannot polish a turd".

The problem David Moyes and Rob Newman have is, WHERE TO SET THE BAR? Obviously they want to buy or loan the very best players they can, but despite the Kretinsky money simply CANNOT afford to spend great chunks of their budget on only one or two players, paradoxically they simply cannot afford NOT to spend big money on players, because the risk of buying sub standard players who would only be making up the numbers, would manifest itself by damaging the extraordinary team spirit David Moyes and his staff have engendered.

In a way Moyes and Newman are between a rock and a hard place, they need to get at least a couple of players in, they HAVE the money but are NOT spoiled for choice, their task being made all the more difficult due to Newcastle gazumping every which target they are after. Navigating a path between strengthening the squad and keeping fans happy is a thankless and nearly impossible task, but you only have to look at Moyes' former club EVERTON to see just how disastrous signing players with an open cheque book can be!

Hopefully M & N will be able to pull a couple of rabbits out of the hat, they may NOT, but if they do, you can guarantee they will not disappoint, as was more often than not the case when David Sullivan and his cohort of 'favoured' agents were fully involved. It is called progress and Hammers fans had better get used to it, in the words of the indomitable Darren Harry "button up buttercups, it's going to be a helluva ride" get used to praying to the 'Kretin in the Sky!- Ed