Forum | General Discussion

Hammers have, according to the media, tabled a plethora of bids for defenders from across Europe during the last few days, the club having apparently tabled enough bids to open an outdoor restaurant! It really has become a case of journalists looking at who is vaguely available and then associating them with a club that is desperate to make signings, it makes for easy copy.

The PAI(n) public spat, has inadvertently taken the focus off the club's need for new players, by focusing the attention of disenfranchised fans on the club's need for new owners! Here's a list of SOME of the players David Moyes has at his disposal that he could deploy.

Conor Coventry cdm
West Ham have pulled the plug on Conor Coventry leaving on loan this season, Peterborough United made a move to sign the 21-year-old and David Moyes was willing to let him go ahead of the new Championship season, however the Hammers manager has rightly changed his mind and decided to retain Coventry to bulk up a midfield that relies solely on Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek remaining injury free, the only other back up being veteran Mark Noble.

Emmanuel Longelo. l/b

That’s after the highly-rated left full-back scored two exquisite, top-corner free-kicks for West Ham’s Under 23s in a 3-0 win over Birmingham on Friday. Longelo, who has been converted into a left-back cum left wingback from a striker in West Ham’s academy, stole the show.
Coventry and Longelo could join

Frederik Alves c/b

Ben Johnson r/l/b

Both of whom have already been promoted to the 1st team squad, and they could be joined by players from the Youth team, including

Aji Alese, c/d

Jamal Baptiste cdm

Armstrong Okoflex. winger

Thierry Nevers forward

Of course there is still a massive need for a couple of 'experienced' players to be added, but the club do have an exceptional crop of youngsters coming through, in fact there are some people close to the club suggesting this is the best crop of youngsters since Joe Cole and Frank Lampard Jnr! - Ed

PAI's interest in buying West Ham owners out of the club has garnered more than a few headlines in the last few days, most of them 'divisive', there is nothing the media and opposition fans love more than to see a club in conflict, especially just ahead of a new season, especially if the club is West Ham!

The club has always received a disproportionate amount of media coverage, but the PAI(n)ful headlines currently doing the rounds don't seem to be doing either party a whole lot of good. On the one hand, David Sullivan emerges as a greedy dog in the manger who will retain his holding no matter what, irrespective of the consequences, whereas PAI have emerged as an outfit lacking gravitas and credibility.

The fact that the 'battle' is being fought out in full view of the media is unusual, these type of negotiations are generally held behind closed doors, at least until there is something tangible to announce. Perhaps this is David Sullivan's 'exposure hit'?, the Hammers majority share holder has been forced to keep in the back ground by David Moyes, as has David Gold, and up until this recent 'spat' they were relatively anonymous, especially compared to when they were on full chaff, with David Gold tweeting like there no budgies left!

Well, Mr Sullivan is bang in the media's cross-hairs now, as are PAI, but neither in our opinion has emerged 'smelling of Roses'. Sullivan appears even more recalcitrant and PAI look like a quickly thrown together outfit that lacks depth and historical accountability, especially with regards to the take over of one of the 'biggest clubs' in world football, yes really!

One has to question the timing of the proposed take over bid, it was too late to affect the club's player acquisitions for the impending Barclays Premier League season and too early to gain from the season's momentum if there is any, which is currently doubtful.

Playing the situation out in public is akin to washing your dirty laundry in full view, some might like doing so, they are called EXHIBITIONIST'S! It appears that is the one thing the hierarchy of both outfits have in common, the need for attention.

With the club in the hands of Exhibitionists AND Narcissists, how can it possibly go wrong? PAI's bid for West Ham is in the right place, but at the wrong time and can only serve to exasperate the club's current problems. - Ed

Just when you thought things couldn't get much worse for West Ham's transfer aspirations, another unwelcome competitor for the club's targets have just been handed enough money to 'blow any Hammers' bids clean out the water. Barclays Premier League rivals Aston Villa's sale of Jack Grealish for an eye watering British record £100 Million to Manchester City, has put them firmly in the driving seat for any transfer target they wish to aim for.

Of course it's not all doom and gloom for David Moyes, you would expect any club that has received such a windfall to go out and spend, spend, spend! If West Ham had sold their prized asset, Declan Rice, then the East Londoners would go on a similar 'splurge', much like dear old 'Arrry' Redknapp did with the proceeds from the Rio Ferdinand to Leeds sale.

When Redknapp was suddenly given a whole load of money to spend, he did so unwisely, such 'luminaries as Rigobert Song, Florin Raducioiu, Davor Šuker and Titi Camara arrived at the Boleyn, all on massive wages and all totally useless! 'H' had been used to a 'cash lite' budget, when he could suddenly afford to dine at the top table he was like a fish out of water!

Dean Smith comes across as a very 'stable' manager, but he will also experience 'cash richness' for the first time in his managerial career.The old expression says "any fool can spend money, only a wise man knows how to keep it", however while that applies in 'normal' life, it does NOT apply to the world of professional football!

It should be remembered that Villa have just 'sold the family silver, and as such their fans will have a 'blood-lust' for new signings, irrespective of who they are! It is human nature, so having seen West Ham miss out on the Champions League by just 2 points it is human nature to expect the club to push on'

Of course there is still plenty of time to go before the transfer window shuts, the fact that the domestic season will have started before the window closes is counter-intuitive, but it is what it is. IF Hammers manage to retain Declan Rice's services, as it appears to have done, then the club can move forward, a couple of astute signings would 'silence the natives' and the club can move forward from a position of strength, as opposed to rebuilding to attain a position of strength.

The only real negative regarding Villa's sudden cash influx is that targets like Jesse Lingard and Tammy Abraham are more likely to end up at Villa Park than at the Bowl of London, however there are only a certain amount of players Smith can sign without destabilising the unit he has in place.

This is Villa's moment in the Sun, (not the crap red top) so they would expect to push on to greater things, they are about to find out how difficult it is to actually spend money, wisely. Everyone and his Aunt will know that Villa have bulging pockets as a result of the Grealish sale, and will hike their prices accordingly.

Spend to mend will be the Birmingham based club's motto, after all, they are about to face their '2nd season syndrome' in the top flight, so lofty aspirations may well give way to pragmatic survival hopes! - Ed

If you can't join them, beat them seems to be the order of the day for potential West Ham buy out group PAI. Having had their 1st offer firmly rebuffed by David Sullivan, the investment group vowed not to give up in their pursuit and have just fired their 2nd shot across the bows by doing a bit of a 'switcheroo'. A term usually associated with Formula 1 driving, but one that ideally describes PAI's actions by going public with the next part of their PR exercise, one that shows a complete change of tack.

By 'going behind the club's back', the suitors have been able to beat a clear path to the LLDC, an organisation that is incredibly desperate to get rid of their embarrassing White Elephant and would negotiate with Beelzebub himself in order to get shot of their financial millstone.

By negotiating with the LLDC, the PAI group hope to short circuit the situation by offering live money for dead assets, an accountants dream! In doing so they hope to put Hammers current owners on to the back foot, but they must be aware that the 'rental deal' done by Lady Brady is pretty airtight and as such cannot be undone.

By providing what is known as 'value added' in accountancy terms to the LLDC, they will hope to garner favour for their redevelopment proposals, some of which include upmarket real estate developments which we be an essential part of their business plan.

Below is a cut and paste of their statement, one point a reader just mentioned to us is "what are PAI going to do with the massive great beach ball that the LLDC have approved, a structure that will blight the skyline and dwarf all the other buildings?" It could be one of the many questions they will have to field if their bid is to progress further, it will be a rocky road.

You can guarantee that PAI's statement will be dissected by the West Ham PR machine, they will say there is no real substance to the statement and dismiss it as no more than people trying to take a financial punt claiming to be fans, sounds familiar? - Ed