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Three More And That's Your Lot! Originally Four Or Five Now Eleven!

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Sun, 05/08/2018 - 11:40

Shortly after being introduced as the new manager of West Ham United, Manuel Pellegrini announced that he was looking to bring in "four or five" new players to 'freshen' the squad. The arrival of Ryan Fredericks from Fulham on a free transfer was quickly followed by the arrivals of Yarmolenko, Diop, Wilshere, Balbuena, Fabianski and club record signing Felipe Anderson. The seven new signings have since been joined by Xande Silva, and if that wasn't enough Mario Husillos, Hammers' head of recruitment, is actively engaged in attempting to lure free agent Bernard who is available having seen out the last year of his five year contract at Shakhtar Donetsk.

West Ham's initial interest in Bernard cooled due to his exhorbitant £200,000 per week wage demands, however the club are now back in after hearing he is willing to lower them, Milan and Chelsea are understood to be vying for his signature but it was reported on Saturday that Chelsea were losing patience in their pursuit of the gifted winger who is believed to prefer 'joining the exciting project' at the London Stadium as opposed to warming the bench at Stamford Bridge.

Bernard would help fill the void left by Manuel Lanzini who is set to miss a large portion of the season through injury, additionally Husillos is said to be looking at re-signing Joao Mario on loan as a result of Lanzini's absence. The Portugal international playmaker is set to leave Inter Milan again having spent the second half of last season on loan at the London Stadium where he is known to be very happy and has stated that the LS would also be his preferred destination.

If all the above transfer activity is leaving West Ham fans thinking they are in a parallel universe, their psyche will be further transduced with the news that the club are on the verge of completing the signing of Harold Moukoudi from Le Havre for a fee of around £10.7m for the France U-20 international. Moukoudi is a powerful centre back with the physique of a brick outhouse who made his first team debut for Le Havre in 2016, the 20 year old now looks set to join up with compatriot Issa Diop which would give Hammers defence a distinctly Gallic feel.

Signing eleven new players will be seen as a risky strategy by many, Manuel Pellegrini has a good track record of integrating swathes of new players in to 'dowdy' squads but will be only too aware of the 'Everton' effect that played out last season at Goodison Park. While there are some similarities with regards to substantial expenditure, it should be remembered that Everton's recruitment was based on new money that had just come in to the club, it was profligate and unbalanced, so much so that eventually they had to bring big Sam Allardyce in to avoid relegation!

While it is unlikely that Hammers' will suffer a similar fate, it will be interesting to see just how 'El Pel' will manage to (a) utilise all the talent at his disposal and (b) keep what will essentially be two sets of first team players happy. Could be worse though couldn't it? - Ed

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Hammers Transfer Supremo Confirms Usage Of Window Extension

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Fri, 03/08/2018 - 00:47

With the Premier League transfer window closing on the 9th of August there will be a flurry of activity regarding players arriving at 'cash rich' predominately English clubs, however the European window doesn't close until the 31st of August which means that Premier league teams are still able to sell players to non UK based teams until that window closes but they will be unable to buy.

Essentially West Ham United, along with several other clubs but to a greater degree, have decided to 'max out' the first part of the window with inbound purchases while they are able, ahead of sanctioning wholesale departures away from the club to non UK destinations once the domestic window has closed.

Hammers' head of recruitment Mario Husillos has confirmed that the club were going all out to bring in ' a couple' more, but only if they represented an improvement over the players they would be replacing, further more he confirmed that there would be several departures of players from the club ahead of the 9th of August but there would be several more before the 31st.

This statement is supposed to confirm the club's desire to only sell 'high profile ' players to clubs where there is little chance of retribution domestically, Cheikou Kouyate anyone? - Ed

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Turning Portugese-We're Turning Portugese-At Least We Think So!

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 17:48

West Ham United were delighted to confirm the signing of young Portuguese forward Xande Silva earlier today, the 21 year-old who has represented his country at every level from U15 to U20 arrives on an three year contract from Primeira Liga side Vitoria de Guimaraes for an undisclosed fee. Silva is Manuel Pellegrini's eight signing so far since arriving at the London Stadium, however Silva is seen as 'one for the future' and will join up with the U - 23's initially. Hammers' propensity for all things Portugese seems to be gathering at a pace with the club reportedly being interested in bringing in a further THREE Portugese players in the form of Benfica’s Joao Felix, former West Ham United loanee Joao Mario who wants to return to the club this summer if he moves to the Premier League and Porto’s Moussa Marega!

Apart from the above mentioned Portugeeza's West Ham are being linked to several other incredibly high profile players as well, the difference between this season and last is like chalk and cheese with the club actually delivering on their promises, at long blooming last, will be the thoughts of many long suffering fans. Such is the fervent activity of late that now when a 'big name' is linked with the club there is either a real chance of a deal happening or an agent has 'jumped on to the shirt tails' of the West Ham bandwagon in order to 'elevate' his client's standing.

In a way the recent course of events is a massive thumbs up to the club and must have a lot to do with the 'Pellegrin Effect', in a short space of time he (along with a lot of money) has managed to turn West Ham from a club where past their sell by date players looked to earn few quid at the end of their careers in to a club where dynamic players want to be.

You must excuse us if we feel that we are beginning to turn Portugese, at least we think so! - Ed

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Season Tickets

Woolly1's picture
Submitted by Woolly1 on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 08:30

Forums:

Anyone got theirs yet or know when we can expect them ?. I`ve changed seats so last years one won`t work.

Is Selling Kouyaté To Palace The Same Mistake As Tomkins?

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Wed, 01/08/2018 - 17:23

To all accounts and purposes Cheikhou Kouyaté seems to be well and truly on his way out of the London Stadium with Selhurst Park the destination, Palace will pay a fee of around £10 Million for the Senegal midfielder who has been at West Ham four years. It was believed that Hammers would have preferred to sell Kouyaté to a european club, but such is the financial might of the Premier League that other than top four sides there are few in europe that can afford £10 Million for a good, but not spectacular, player.

It is obvious that Manuel Pellegrini has decided Cheikhou Kouyaté is a player who can be replaced with a better option, and that his playing time would be reduced due to the number of high quality players that have been brought in during this transfer window. However one word of caution is that West Ham sold James Tomkins to Palace for a similar fee, a move that came back to bite the club in the proverbial, although it can be argued that this season there will be more strength in depth, but it is worth bearing in mind.

Next time Cheikhou Kouyaté falls over for his usual breather while having 'sustained an injury' it will be West Ham fans whistling and telling him to get up! There are going to be a good few out the door in the next few days, and according to a smitten media Hammers are embarking on a 'second wind' spending spree that could exceed double the original budget that was 'leaked' to the Press ahead of Pellegrini's appointment, we have already covered this 'leak', why on earth would you disclose the depths of your budget to other teams?

We assume the original budget was always substantially higher than that was revealed to the Press and by the looks of things that seems to be the case, but there will have to be more departures than just Cheikhou Kouyaté! - Ed

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Hammers 'Hippyish' New Player Culture Revealed

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Tue, 31/07/2018 - 20:26

West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini is insisting he is not finished in the transfer market yet and Hugo Schekter his new players 'minder' is on red alert to deal with any more new additions. Schekter is the man with a plan when it comes to settling in new players, and he has been rather busy of late!

When asked how he has coped with so many new arrivals he said “I treat the players as people, and I think that’s how you get the best out of them,” he added. “Hopefully they feel that love from the club. It sounds a bit hippyish but, to feel some love back from your employer no matter where you work is really important. “To have a player they come and shake your hand, look you in the eye and say, 'I couldn't have done it without you guys.' “That, to me, is a job well done.”

Well the Hippies did OK this evening, winning the Betway Cup 8 - 7 on penalties having drawn 1-1 after ninety minutes in a match that was played under searing temperatures in excess of 36 Celcius, no injuries, a win and a good work out, what more can you ask from a pre-season friendly?

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Snodgrass Situation Solved Soon Supposedly

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Submitted by nevillenixon on Mon, 30/07/2018 - 11:25

There have been many conflicting reports regarding where Robert Snodgrass will be playing his football this season, the former Leeds United and Norwich City winger made 41 starts and two substitute appearances in the Championship for Villa last season, scoring seven goals and providing 14 assists in the process. Had Aston Villa won their play off final against Fulham Snodgrass would definitely have joined them on a permanent transfer, however due to losing out the club have had to 'cut their cloth' accordingly.

Snodgrass failed to make an impact at West Ham since his move from Hull City in January 2017 for a transfer fee reported to be worth £10.2 million. He has been given a proper chance by new manager in Manuel Pellegrini to show his worth, but Snodgrass who earns £40,000 per week in wages, could still struggle to establish himself in the first team. Things could change now because Villa have new investors and have retained the services of manager Steve Bruce who is a known admirer of Snodgrass, the Scotland international winger’s recent comments about Bruce show just how much he rates him, and they are quite encouraging in the Villans’ reported pursuit of him.

Snodgrass told The Birmingham Mail last week regarding Villa’s decision to keep Bruce as the manager for the 2018-19 campaign: "Obviously the political stuff up above is nothing to do with the players, but I can only touch on every time I’ve worked for him and he’s a top manager. “I saw it at Hull. You can’t question him. He was in line for the England job so how can anybody question him? "He’s a top manager, he’s a top man, he’s a gentleman. It’s great, it’s good news that they’ve decided to keep him on and hopefully they’ll kick on now."

According to C&H Robert Snodgrass told West Ham fan Adam Bailey that he is staying a Hammer this season, he was at the O2 last night for the boxing and was pictured with Angelo Ogbonna, Adam posted on Twitter “Met Snodgrass last night said to me is 100% staying this season” Mark Noble and Jack Wilshere were also pictured at the Boxing sitting next to each other while Declan Rice also commented on social media to say he was there also enjoying the fight.

With only a few days left before the transfer window slams shut and just a week before the Championship season kicks off, if there is to be a move it will need to be soon. Apparently Villa are keen to take 'Snoddie' on loan for another year although Hammers are seeking a permanent deal due to the player's age and the fact that he would be entering in to the last year of his contract at the end of next season and would have virtually no sell on value.

Attempting to read between the lines it appears Hammers' are holding out for a full transfer otherwise they will retain Snodgrass as a squad member due to his relatively low wages, strength in depth has not been a West Ham forte in recent years, in fact last season the squad really was down to the bare bones on several occasions, a scenario that nearly cost the club dear and one which the club's hierarchy will want to avoid this season.

Snodgrass has shown willing in all the friendlies he has played in so far, so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he will remain at the London Stadium, one thing that is for sure is that he will be wearing Claret & Blue next season, it is just a question of which Claret and Blue! - Ed

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