To many fans the whereabouts and contract details of Hammers keeper Darren Randolph are an absolute mystery, the Republic of shot stopper has occupied a 'unique' role during his second stint at the club which has quite blatantly been the vessel from which David Moyes delivered his transfer 'desires' to the club's hierarchy. For many games Randolph has been named in the match day squad AND on the bench for the first team.
Having three goalkeepers is not totally unknown, but within the industry having three keepers on match day is a clear sign that the manager feels his squad is SO under strength that there are NO other first team members available! Well Moyes CANNOT use that ploy anymore given the huge investment in new players during the summer transfer window, so what has happened to Randolph and where does he stand with the club?
Lukasz Fabianski's injury picked up against Manchester's 2nd team is either serious or just a niggle depending on which news source you refer to, but either way it is clear that Alphonse Areola will be between the sticks for not only the away European Conference dead rubber against FCSB, but also the Premier league fixture against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Moyes could elect to play Randolph, after all it is a dead rubber with Hammers topping their group by a country mile, but the club does have it's own promising youth keepers and it would seem churlish NOT to use one of them who could take to the field of play alongside other youngsters they actually play and train with. Randolph's 'second coming' was a panic buy brought about by the worst keeper in the World Roberto's absolutely dreadful performances and the club have continued to pay a hefty price since.
Play the youth on Thursday, let Areola prepare properly for Palace and move on, WITHOUT Randolph! We are going to do some digging into the EXACT details of Randolph's contract and will publish them later. - Ed
