When B&S see all these empty seats tonight they might start realising that people aren't going to spend their hard earned cash watching a team with no forwards- and no future if they don't put their hands in their very deep pockets they are going to find it difficult to attract the fans so all this talk about about putting up the prices could be absolutely crucial in the attendance figures next season,
We have no money we are poor have to be careful of FFP and yet just heard we have bid £40million for Duran again.
Silly Question but as we would not go that final push and bid exactly that in the summer because that is overpriced what is the difference now? i know Villa have said no and clearly with them trying to strike a deal for another striker themselves they clearly will sell but the price has gone up as they know we are desperate.
So where has Sullivan found the money? worried we could be pulled into a relegation dogfight and his bank balance could take a serious hit so he magics money out of the pot that apparently we don't have to piss in.
Personally i would look elsewhere as we also have urgent need in other areas of the squad so if we do have funds and the cats out the bag now i would not be going back with a further bid to Villa.
From Southampton to Villa, all we have come across are injuries.
From what has already been a dismal season, it only ends up getting worse for the Hammers. The news was broke yesterday that Fullkrug had sustained an injury that would keep him out for three months, being one of now many people added to the long-term injury list.
He now joins the likes of Antonio, Bowen and Todibo. Antonio's estimated return is unknown, but most likely, he won't be back until next season. Bowen probably will be back for the end of February, and Todibo has seemingly gone under the radar, with Potter saying he's still doing work with the physios.
Summerville will also take a miss for the Fulham game due to the injury he picked up at Villa Park, but looks to make a return to the pitch hopefully against Crystal Palace or conveniently the Aston Villa game on the 26th of February.
The overwhelming amount of injuries don't just make the Potters opening Premier League fixtures harder, but they also force his hands to use the academy players. We've already seen this with the likes of Scarles due to the fact Emerson was injured, with Emerson returning, we could see him back in the starting eleven, which is extremely harsh as Scarles did indeed have a MOTM esc performance on Friday night.
I would be keeping my eyes on the striker force as Potter hinted today during his pre-match press conference that he could look to use Mohammed Kudus or Lucas Paqueta in the number 9 role due to the loss of Fullkrug. Other options, apart from Ings, would be to perhaps look at Guilherme, which could be trusted with a starting spot for the first time, or look to the academy with Lewis Orford.
Potter doesn't have too many options, with the look of signing a striker this window seems more narrow by the day, we will most likely just have to put up with what we've got. Not to mention, the rumours of Sullivan taking over transfers appears to be true, as the latest of rumours are that we've had a 50 Million bid rejected for Jhon Duran, meaning one thing and one thing only... the phantom bids are back! It makes no logical sense to do this, why submit a bid so high if we're supposedly 'struggling with PSR'?
With no transfers in sight and social media scattered with these ridiculous rumours, it seems to be that the youth academy and Potters' belief in them will have to save the remainder of our season.
18 days remaining of the window... tick tock
Ward prowse and aguerd. Both good players who could improve us imo. Call em back?
A defeat on the pitch but a visual win is what we saw on Friday night against Aston Villa.
I've never seen such a dramatic change in playstyle in such a short period of time; it is utterly staggering to me that within two hours and one training session, Potter has managed to transform the team from what looked like headless chickens running around, to a controlled tempo and the players have an actual idea of where to pass the ball.
We were very unlucky to come away with being out of the cup, for the first half, we had total control, and the game was in free flow.
A counter-attack saw Fullkrug pull his hamstring, and to make things worse, Summerville was injured in the 35th minute, suffering an injury from a defensive tackle he made. Both players were crucial to the style of football Potter plays, but Summerville was mesmerising to watch. For the period before he'd gotten injured, he was causing havoc to Villa, and without the injuries, the game could've been a different outcome.
It is a shame that once those injuries were sustained, we were ultimately forced to use Ings and Coufal, now, if that doesn't scream the need for squad depth and signings, then I don't know what does.
Fullkrug and Summerville both received scans today for their injuries, the extent of the injuries should be released tomorrow.
The game was pretty much dead and buried in the second half due to the injuries and the referee. It was criminal to give that as a corner, one of the worst decisions I've seen in recent times, and not only did they score it, but they also had an offside player involved.
Due to that goal and our lacklustre replacement striker, the momentum swing went Villa's way, who quickly grabbed a second, sealing the game and sending us back home but with positive signs.
Despite the result, you have to say that the performance held identity and passion. We ran out of gas in the 70th minute or so, but considering the 'style' of football that we had been playing previously, that wasn't too much of a surprise to me. These players haven't been fighting under Lopetegui because they had no clue what they were doing, but under Potter, we saw a fight which we didn't give up on.
If this is what Potter can provide to the team within one training session, I look forward to seeing what he can implement in the future with many more. You do just have to sit here and wonder what Lopetegui was doing in the training ground. These players look completely different than what they have in the past weeks, and I'm honestly all for it. New manager, new energy.
Now we have the nervous wait till tomorrow to see the extent of the injuries sustained.
Okay everyone knows that we have to rectify this problem with our Gk's and that will probably be in the summer but who is out there? Fab sadly is now to old for the Prem yes he has some good games more so than Areola but father time is catching him so if we replace him and Areola not the answer then how about these two.
Caoimhín Kelleher from the bindippers and Ramsdale from Saints both young and upgrades on Areola for sure.....i shall put the tin hat on for one of those that no doubt will lead to WTF are you smoking!.
KWP get him from Saints now Sell Emerson and get a Striker in pension off Ings and get Aguered sold as well.... until we get a fit frontman i think we may be looking at playing a false 9.
Aston Villa: Olsen, Cash, Mings ©, Konsa, Maatsen, Tielemans, Barkley, Rogers, Bailey, Kamara, Watkins
Subs: Gauci (GK), Digne, Bogarde, Ramsey, Nedeljkovic, Onana, Jimoh, Burrowes, Buendía
West Ham United: Fabiański, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles, Álvarez, Souček ©, Paquetá, Kudus, Summerville, Füllkrug
Subs: Foderingham (GK), Coufal, Cresswell, Casey, Rodríguez, Irving, Soler, Luis Guilherme, Ings
Being cast as a villain and Potter warned to sleep with one eye open as this man is a backstabbing S.O.B. Well that is the story playing out in the media and pushed i have no doubt by Sullivans Cohorts.
He was brought in with Sullivan not wanting him but for once Kretinsky flexed his muscle and so he was hired Moyes hated his power being diminished and did everything he could to obstruct any signings made and refused to play most that he had no say in... he left and as has been mentioned Tim advised the board as in Sullivan that Loppy was not the man for the job but of course that was ignored it was a total disaster and again any players not of his choosing spent time on the bench or had a punch up at training with! And now that Sullivan was forced into taking action that he did not want to these rumours about Tim start again and he's next for the chopping block well that is very short sighted indeed and now we will see the truth as he has a manager who is used to working with a director of football and proper conversations can be had as to playing staff.
This will not be a quick fix but a manager who can work this way and have input into signings will be a much healthier relationship than those with Moyes and Loppy.
The conversation should really be what do we have to spend Potter told and he can then say i would like this player if affordable by the club and Tim can then say we probably can't afford but will try making a deal and if not here are some other options that may work...no parachuting of players in the manager has not had a clue were coming etc...just sensible conversations all round by adults and as for Sullivan just let the people the club employ to do a job do it and you just continue to shop in Red Square for more fashion tips!
Imo the best choice from the possibilities. Mark Noble played a big part in sorting it. Time will tell of course, but I believe given time Potter will prove a good appointment. Lop was never going to work, he was just the cheap option by sullivan and co.
Potter has a decent squad to work with. Hopefully his style of play will bring the best out of kudus paqueta and summer ville and convince them the club is going forward.
Excited and optimistic with this.
For Advertising & Site Enquiries Contact: editorialteam@westhamfans.org
Send In Your Thoughts To Our NEW Twitter Account @westhamfans0
Tweet to @WesthamfansO
Useful Hammers Links:
Our original twitter account has changed from @whfdotorg to @westhamfans0
SPONSORS:
We don't have any issues with other media outlets copying and pasting elements of our articles, but do the decent thing and at least give the Org credit it deserves when doing so!
Premier League
Saturday 16th August
Kick Off: TBD
Twitter @westhamfans0 Tweet to @WesthamfansO
Morph Corner
There are currently 3 users online.
