Forum | General Discussion
Vlasic Deal Scrutinised
Nikola Vlasic's underwhelming first season with West Ham has had many fans questioning why the club paid CSK Moscow just shy of £30 Million for the player, well the fact of the matter is that Hammers HAVE NOT paid anywhere near that amount, in fact Hammers have paid less than £5 Million so far and are currently under NO obligation to pay anymore until Russian forces withdraw from the Ukraine!
The player himself is quoted as being 'very happy' at the club and is looking forward to next season when he hopes to be deployed more by David Moyes, the manager has adopted the same intergration policy for Vlasic that he successfully adopted for both Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma, namely a softly softly approach.
Vlasic has done himself no favours with the time he has spent on the pitch and so the jury is still out as to whether the club should persist with his services or 'bounce him' during the transfer window that is shortly due to open. Either way the club is NOT going to lose out massively from a financial point of view and will be able to make it's decision on purely footballing terms. - LN
Andrea Belotti
Whenever a decent striker comes on the market West Ham are somehow temporarily 'linked' with the player, until they make a big money move to another club. This has been the case for a litany of transfer targets in recent windows, but that might be all about to change!
According to Italian newspaper La Stampa, Belotti is facing an uncertain next few days on his future due to his unwillingness to sign the new contract he has on offer from his present club Torino, in fact he has been given only until the end of the weekend to make his mind up.
He has a contract at the club till the end of the season but has intimated he feels it is time to move on, David Moyes is 'keen' on Belotti in fact he has actively pursued the signing of Belotti or some time, perhaps this time things will come to fruition? - Ed
19/5/2012 what a day
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Ten years on you can say we've seen a few changes and on that day i had to get over my fear of heights ffs thank god theey had escalators i'd never of made it!
Nobody 'Nobes' What Next?-Even Player Himself!
Mark 'Mr West Ham' Noble's illustrious playing career will come to a close next week at the Amex Stadium in the game against Brighton, having already experienced his 'going away party' in Stratford on Sunday fans can expect more sanguine Noble as the reality kicks in that he will no longer be able to don the claret & blue and strut his stuff for the club that has been central to virtually his entire life.
There has been much talk of 'Nobes' joining the club in an advisory role, player development or recruitment possibly? However it should be remembered that he HAS spent most of his life representing the club and that his wife and young family might well have other ideas.
Few would begrudge Noble a well earned TOTAL break from the game for an extended period, although that said many ex-pro's say they couldn't bare to miss all the banter and relative order of regular training sessions, Mark Noble comes across as a slightly different kettle of fish however.
The Piscatorial reference runs true in that Mark Noble is a keen angler and regularly used to recharge his batteries by doing a spot of night fishing when scheduling allowed, it isn't hard to imagine he might well be availing himself of his overnight tent a lot more in the future.
Noble might also wish to take his family away for an elongated holiday, one in which he CAN play football with his son and eat a bit more than he should! But when the 'fairy tale' of bonus time starts to wane he WILL start to consider his options.
One element that is quite clear is he WON'T return to the club in order to become a mouthpiece for the Board, far from it, rather he would position himself as a 'Guardian' of the club's values lest greed and avarice come calling. Either way we are merely speculating as to the great servants thoughts, as he has already intimated he has absolutely NO concrete idea as to what role, if any, he is going to take up with his boyhood club until he has had a lengthy break with just his family, free of media intrusion and speculation, you know what?
He deserves it, he really does!- LN
what changes would you make for next season?
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Unlike a lot of people on here i for one would not sell Soucek or Coufal for starters yes they have not played as well as they can at times but Vlad had hernia op and then after 5/6 weeks try to play elite level football come on as for Soucek he IMO was forced to stay back so Dec could become more Prominent in the middle of the park a mistake? well when it takes away a players impact throughout the season then for me yes it was.
Fab and Areola clearly keep both but swap there roles for next season and make Areola our starter......Dawson/Ogbonna keep and rotate Diop needs to liven up a bit there is a decent player in there he just needs to have a bit better self belief and of course kittygate Zouma to me he did not look fit but has played to help the side he is our main man at the back now.
Moyes the wonderful job he has done with our club cannot be questioned but he does need to learn to rotate the players a bit better otherwise we will see the players legs go again during the season....and use some of the younger players dont just sit them on the bench and not make use if only for the last5/10 mins of a match.
Upfront well it has to be Toney his play and style similar to Antonio so Moyes would not need to do much to fit him into the jigsaw.
the middle of the park is a problem..Soucek/Rice the main men but for me Lanzini great as he has been for us needs to move on and Vlasic has to be seen for the mistake that he clearly was a late window panic buy if you will.....will Coventry be given a chance plus another experienced prem midfielder like Maddison who hammergirl mentioned in her posting.
Now is the time for the club to stop saying we are a big club and start acting like one and flex our muscles a bit.....the barcodes will be splashing the cash on all and sundry next season well let them let the statue and progress of our club speak against that show them that we really are Massive.
So lets get out in the market show we mean business and get the players we want no pussyfooting around with lowball bids if the player at the top of Moyes list is available and is interested in the move then get him before others get a chance.
COYI
Ref Had Blue Moon Ring Tone
When Riyad Mahrez's penalty kick was saved by Lukasz Fabianski towards the end of the game against Manchester City, it seemed to all and sundry that the referee Anthony Taylor was going to ask for the kick to be retaken and that if that kick was missed that he would take the next one himself, such was his bias towards City.
This is not a westhamaphobic observation, fans from other clubs have got in touch to ridicule the referee's supposed neutrality, every single occasion there was a 50/50 decision the award went the way of the visitors. Michail Antonio was 'hacked down' on two definite instances, neither were punished by Taylor who MUST have Blue Moon as the ring tone on his phone!
If you were at the Stadium, watching on Sky or watch this evening on the BBC, nothing will deter from the fact that Taylor was myopically biased to the Sky Blues who huffed and puffed but needed the woodwork and the Ref in order to exit the Stratford Stadium with a point. Racing into a two goal lead with a Jarrod Bowen brace was dreamsville, unfortunately Jack Grealish scored early doors 2nd half and Vladimir Coufal headed in to his own net to give the visitors the goal they needed to level things up.
In a game of could haves and would haves, Hammers had their chances t win the game, as did the visitors, but with a different referee City would have been left pointless. The away team DID applaud Mark Noble onto the pitch as part of his 'going away' ceremony and Pep Guardiola ALSO SHOWED full respect.
They don't make 'em like Marky anymore, there was a tremendous atmosphere generated this afternoon in a Stadium that might not be fully fit for purpose, but didn't half get close to the real deal today! - Ed
PS: And you know where Taylor can stick HIS blue flag!
European football again
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To qualify for European football two seasons in a row through our league position is a marvelous achievement and the players and the manager and coaches deserve a round of applause.
Now we have to push on and as i have mentioned forget the foreign market please David go get Toney get Broja on loan thats the front line sorted then for me i would cheekily bid for Maddison from Leicester and again go to Chelski and Loan Gallagher if they are open to such a deal then its just a left back and another centreback and i think we will be in fine fettle for next season.
COYI
Live West Ham v Man City Line Ups
West Ham: Fabiański, Coufal, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Rice ©, Souček, Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals, Antonio
Subs: Areola (GK), Johnson, Fredericks, Král, Noble, Masuaku, Okoflex, Vlašić, Yarmolenko
Man City: Ederson, João Cancelo, Laporte, Fernandinho ©, Zinchenko, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Grealish, Gabriel Jesus
Subs: Steffen (GK), Aké, Egan-Riley, Mbete, Gündoğan, Lavia, Sterling, Foden, Palmer
City Don't Even NEED Centre Backs!
Ahead of Hammers penultimate game of the season, much has been made of visitors to the game Manchester City's centre back woes, with apparently only one fit to play for the fixture. However before getting too excited home fans must appreciate that City play at such a level that they hardly need centre backs!
Yes they will be exposed defensively, but realistically City play a style of 'total' football similar in a way to the great Ajax team of the seventies, so any hopes and thoughts of over running them should be tempered with the knowledge of just how good they are in attack.
The way City carved open Wolves the other night should be a salient lesson for David Moyes and his staff as they prepare their players to try and deal with such an explosive forward line, trying to outplay the visitors will only result in the type of scoreline that occurred when the Irons were managed by Manuel Pellegrini, ie: FIVE goal drubbings.
There WILL be a 'carnival' atmosphere as it will be Marky Noble's last chance to say goodbye to a packed Olympic Stadium, however IF the players go gung-ho they will surely have their arses kicked, so Moyes and his 'boys' will expect t6he payers to show caution especially early on, not easy when there will be roared on by the crowd!
A draw would be more than a decent result, but City will have other ideas knowing that a win will guarantee them yet another Premier League title over rivals Liverpool. So long as the West Ham players put a shift in and don't embarrass themselves it will be a great afternoon, you never know Hammers just might spring a surprise, highly unlikely but stranger things have happened. - Ed
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