Forum | General Discussion

West Ham United have finally pulled out of signing Scott Hogan from Brentford, the asking price of £15 Million and a late bid from Aston Villa having put the mockers on the deal. It was a lot of money to ask for an injury prone and untried at the top level striker, West Ham are well experience in that area after all! Which inevitably brings up the question of why on transfer day the club are not looking to bolster their striking options? Well having signed a ridiculous amount of strikers (76 at last count) since taking over the club of which very few ever did anything, co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold are obviously wary of 'panic' buying. There is nothing wrong in their stance, however it is a little risky, Andy Carroll has been in imperious form and in today's inflated transfer market looks worth every bit of the £20 Million West Ham paid for him, but Big Andy is always just one mistimed tackle or one attempt too far from a lengthy injury lay off and who would step up to the plate in that instance? Jonathen Callerri? Mmm not so sure. Ashley Fletcher? Very promising but Slaven Billic doesn't seem to convinced, that leaves Diafra Sakho as the only other striker, yet again fitness is a huge issue, having had his back destroyed while on International duty he has the dubious distinction of having played even fewer games than Andy Carroll! If the big geordie can stay fit, and if 'Daffy' can start playing more than the odd cameo game and if Fletcher can be fully integrated in to the first team then the board will have played a blinder, however it represents a hell of a gamble. In a way the owners are between a rock and a hard place, failing a catastrophic loss of form West Ham's position at the top table is safe, so planning for next season is all important but they have to maintain a balance to keep fans on board. Perhaps that is why there has been a leaked 'flurry of interest' in taking Daniel Sturridge on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season?
Hearts want Big Andy to lead the line and keep banging the goals in, heads say he is too fragile! - Ed
PS: We heard a whisper that Sakho and Snake Man had a bit of a falling out at the beginning of the season...

The sordid saga that was of Dimitri Payet and his agent's making has finally and unedifyingly ground to it's inevitable conclusion, make no mistake the £25 Million Marseille have ended up paying for a player they 'tapped' up is an insult, but nowhere near the insult that Payet has inflicted on those who embraced and adored him in their thousands. Perhaps this over paid and currently over weight player might come down from his cloud and think about all the thousands of kids who had a Payet or number 27 shirt printed. You never know, maybe he will offer to re-imburse them all the cost of having the name or number changed on their shirts, even Donald Trump would think that would be reasonable!
Viewing the whole rotten affair with an attempt at pragmatism, Payet was at least naive and probably ill advised, as were the Hammers hierarchy who should have seen the writing on the wall given the amount of times they have 'been round the block'. What would have been best for all parties would have been for West Ham United to have sold Payet following the Euros, but therein arose the problem. Having been seen as a selling club for generations, and rightly so, the co-owners, both avid fans with claret and blue in their veins, were determined to show that things had finally changed and that for once the club did not need to sell their best player. However as Sir 'Extra time' Ferguson will testify, no club is bigger than the player in this modern era, especially his "I won't deal with gangsters" quote just before Cristiano Ronaldo was snatched from United by Real Madrid!
At the end of the day the club had a super star on their books for a while who played brilliantly for one season, and who the club will have earned a few quid on. Time to move on with a few more 'Rosbiefs' rather than 'Escargot', (not fast taxis either!) - Ed