Forum | General Discussion

West Ham take on Watford for the closing match of this Barclays Premier League season, back in the day it would have been a celebration for both clubs to maintain their top flight status, but that was before the TV money really came in, nowadays teams like West Ham and Watford have got serious financial clout but have the advantage of being able to buy players cheaper than the 'top six' clubs.

Again back in the day, there would have been a carnival atmosphere at the game, however mainly thanks to a certain Troy Deaney there is no love lost between the clubs. Now we at the Org are sure that Deaney is a good family man and probably a 'good bloke' away from the pitch, but on the field of play he epitomises everything that is archaic about the game.

Deaney was the player who despised being 'mugged off' by a West Ham team that played some of the best football seen up to that point during the first season at the London Stadium as they raced to a 2-0 lead, the match of course was eventually won 3-2 by the visitors! The fact that Deaney and Co needed to be angered by a master class in beautiful football in order to be motivated sums up why, we at the Org, hope Issa Diop and the General are able to give Deaney a 'lasting memory' of the event.

Sunday's game will also see the last appearance for West Ham for both Javier Hernandez and more surprisingly Lucas Perez, Hernandez's move was sanctioned ages ago, but there was a feeling that Perez would 'come good', the fact that the club are willing to let him go indicates that his replacement has already been lined up. The Maxi Gomez deal seems to have rumbled on forever, but then again so did the deal to bring Felipe Anderson to the London Stadium, but head of recruitment Mario Husillos is a seasoned campaigner who is not above 'sewing' false seeds in order to throw off the opposition while he gets his man.

Who ever does arrive, and there could be up to three new strikers, one thing that is certain is the age delta will be reduced, so talk of players like Dzeko arriving are way off the mark. Manuel Pellegrini was brought in as manager in order to take the club to a higher level, and part of that process was the recruitment of younger players with a potentially high sell on value as opposed to ageing players with little or no sell on value.

Terry Westley is leaving for a lucrative position in the J league, so a new person will have to oversee youth development, did Westley get the 'gig' because of what he has done recently, or did he get the push for not doing enough? Either way the club does have a lot of young talent, and you can bet your house on the fact that the two Davids, Gold and Sullivan, would love to have young players coming through with similar values to that of Declan Rice. The belated upgrading of the Rush Green and Chadwell Heath training facilities is testament to Pellegrini's influence, one day people will look back at the facilities before they were modernised and wonder how on earth the club managed to attract and retain any quality players.

Next season will be exciting, all the hard work in laying the proper foundations instead of the old make and mend way of doing things should come to fruition, but it may require Pellegrini to apply a similar amount pressure he did on his first arrival in order to prise open the purse strings, some say the only reason he went back to Chile shortly after taking over at the London Stadium was to pay off the kidnappers that were used in! - Ed

With several high profile departures on the cards, speculation is looming that some of those scheduled for 'scrutiny' may include Jack Wilshere among others. Andy Carroll's contract runs out in a couple of weeks and of course the club will not be taking up their option to extend his contract, once bitten, twice shy, or in Big Andy's case one hundred times bitten!

Having been through the 'Andy Carroll experience', the club are now very wary of signing players who have the potential to aggravate long term injuries. The signings of Andrily Yarmolenko and Jack Wilshere were both made in an effort to get maximum 'bang for the bucks', Wilshere arrived on a free transfer and Yarmolenko for a relatively knock down £17.5 Million, however the combined cost in wages is most definitely considerable and has prompted the board and the management to reconsider future transfer guide lines.

Primarily while signing a particularly gifted player in his prime is still on the cards, the signing of older players is to be generally avoided, the idea being young home grown players who have a determination to succeed are a far better investment than players looking for a final pay day. In the past West Ham have paid good money in wages, higher than most outside the top four, but to players with little or no sell on value, the reason being the absolute fear of relegation that has permeated the club since the move to the London Stadium from the Boleyn.

The appointment of Manuel Pellegrini did much to appease disgruntled fans, the fact that he was sufficiently bank rolled was a massive bonus, although he would never have taken up the reins had the funding not been in place! In Pellegrini West Ham have finally got a 'proper' manager, one of his prime attributes being his ability to create a team that plays attractive and ultimately successful football with a combination of youth and experience. The club at last has a manager self confident and brave enough to use young players, Pelle has already installed Declan Rice as his 'main man' in the centre of the Park, he has also introduced Diangana, Coventry and Powell to the first team with others ready to follow.

The West Ham team that starts next season will be different, and rumour has it that Hammers may send Jack Wilshere out on loan at the beginning of the season if he is unable to compete for a first team spot, Jack's signing was the only high profile failure by Pellegrini and Mario Husillos, it is to be hoped that they don't make the same mistake as the board did with Andy Carroll and are not 'blinded' by the player's potential as opposed to reality.

Winston Reid has not represented the club at all this season, and his 'injury seems to just add to those he had the season before, he is on good money so getting him off the books won't be easy although there will probably some clubs willing to take a risk. The five year deal he was handed was indicative of the paranoia that surrounded the club at the time, the result of not having a 'proper' manager, if there had been one in place he wouldn't have been bothered about selling Reid so long as he was sold for decent money, no one player is bigger than the club, that is Manuel Pellegrini's ethos, and long may it continue. - Ed

PSG football club is owned by Qatar's Oryx Qatar Sports Investments (QSi) which is chaired by Nasser Al Khelaïfi, but essentially the club is owned by the Qatari royal family. Having pumped nearly £2 Billion in to ensuring PSG became winners of the Champions League, there are more than one or two angry 'royal' investors who need placating. Perhaps it is the ire of those who control the purse strings that is responsible for the recent rumours that have reserged regarding a Qatari bid to take over West Ham United.

Uefa rules forbid two clubs in a European club competition, such as the Champions League or Europa League, being directly or indirectly controlled by the same entity however this would not be a problem if the Qataris used a different vehicle other than QSI. In 2016 a Daily Mail report inferred that West Ham were a target of a 'middle east' based takeover, however rumours were at that time denied with David Sullivan telling Sky Sports “We have zero desire to sell the club unless the king of Saudi Arabia or the Sultan of Brunei come along. We’re not going to sell to an American or Chinese consortium, We might sell a minority shareholding to clear our debts, but in all probability, our kids will take over from us. We love West Ham; we’re not going anywhere.”

Well, correct us if we are wrong, but we are of the opinion that the Qatari's are just as well funded as the king of Saudi Arabia or the Sultan of Brunei, therefore Hammers really could be a potential target. Furthermore the potential suitors from Qatar have the funds and facilities available to buy the London Stadium outright, and to fully convert the Stadium in to one of the best in the World! Daniel Levy would be upset!

Qsi's disillusionment with how things have panned out at PSG is substantial, and their decision to 'explore' purchasing West Ham has been driven by what they see as a lack of return for the stratospheric funds that have outlaid, but they are not the only potential purchasers. That old snake in the grass from MSI, Kia Joorabchian, has been sniffing around, for those who are too young to remember it was Joorabchian who 'planted' Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano with the club during his ill fated attempt to buy it. In the end, the then chairman Terence Brown, non plussed Joorabchian by suddenly changing tack and accepting a better offer from the Icelandic 'biscuit barons'.

The whole Tevez and Mascherano 'affair' ended up costing the club in excess of £30 Million, so why they would deal with Joorabchian again beggars belief, but the QSI interest is not going to go away, if they want to they could make it almost impossible for the current owners of West Ham to resist, such are their resources.

Should the club be taken over some fans will be over joyed, but remember the expression "Be careful what you wish for?" - Ed