Forum | General Discussion
'Deadly Dave' Statement From West Ham United Boardroom
There was more than a whiff of the 'deadly Doug Ellis' about West Ham United co-owner and chief share holder David Sullivan's boardroom statement released earlier today, although not to the extent of Massimo Cellino of Leeds United!
"Before the deadline day on Wednesday we had an unbalanced squad and we needed to change a few things around. The decision has now been made that Michail Antonio will play as a winger after originally starting the season as a right back, as a result we had to move out a winger, getting a £1.5m loan fee plus wages covered on Enner Valencia, and have brought in a full back to compete with and help Sam Byram." Mr Sullivan continued, referencing the signing of Alvaro Arbeloa who is an accatips top bet to excel in the Barclays Premier League, "We explored all avenues and managed to secure the signature of one of the more experienced full backs in the world and one with Premier League experience. He is ideally a few weeks away from playing in a game as he has not trained with a team since May and needs more game time."
For those too young or others who don't remember, Doug Ellis was the owner of Aston Villa football club, he ruled it with an iron fist for many years and oversaw a financially secure and well run balanced if not spectacular football club, Villa fans claimed he was aloof and disinterested in investing in order to 'push on to the next level'. Ellis did have a propensity for 'influencing' managerial decisions, and those who disagreed invariably found themselves out on their ear!
We are not suggesting David Sullivan is as bad as 'Deadly Doug', in fact the 'Antonio' statement merely confirmed what just about every West Ham fan with a pulse had thought for the last few weeks, so in that way Mr Sullivan IS the man of the people, but the problem is where and how far is the 'tipping point' when it comes to influencing the manager? It is a bit of a tight rope act for the co-owners and the manager, but it is worth remembering that Doug Ellis finally succumbed to fan pressure and in a true 'be careful of what you wish for moment' sold the once stable club to American, Randy Learner, and the rest as they say is history. - Ed
The Cups
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don't know about the rest but i really do hope this season we go all out in both domestic cups. we can't use the excuse that our squad is not big enough or that we have too much football (no europa). i do not expect to see the reserve side put out at any point in the cup this season. we can turn the europa loss into something of a positive and channel that energy into the league and fa cups. there are some big sides that will also be eying the domestics like chelsea and man u but its time we took the league cup seriously for once.
Now the nonsense is over
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How do you guys feel about our signings? 11 in all including Lanzini, which could be one of our most important ones. With what we already had and only losing Valencia and Tomkins from the first team squad, I feel like we have a good sized squad and good competition across the board. There will always be, the "ones that got away" but that is yet to be seen if we missed out or not. So now the nonsense of yellow and black is finished. Are you happy with the 11 players in and the two major ones out? Also what is you're line up now if all are fit?
Valencia Move From West Ham To Everton Mutually Beneficial
Enner Valencia has joined Everton on transfer deadline day in a season-long loan deal with an eventual option to buy for £14.5 Million. Valencia never managed to recreate his international goal scoring exploits for ecuador wearing claret and blue, however his talents seem to be appreciated by Ronald Koeman, and the move seems to suit all parties.
The Ecuador striker joined from Mexican club Pachuca for £12million in 2014 and has made nearly 70 appearances for the Irons, but the 26-year-old has slipped down Slaven Billic's pecking order following the summer arrivals of Simone Zaza, Ashley Fletcher and Jonathan Calleri.
Everton confirmed the deal late on deadline day on Twitter, announcing that the deal includes the option for the Toffees to sign Valencia permanently, but without specifying the fee. Valencia will link up with Ronald Koeman's squad following international duty with Ecuador.
It will be a fresh start for Valencia, and of course due to loan legislation he will NOT be able to score against his old club!- Ed
Arbeloa Signing Bargain Basement Or Wise Cover?
After becoming a free agent following many years as a Real Madrid player, Alvaro Arbeloa is heading back to the Premier League with West Ham. The 33-year-old parted company with Real Madrid in June, Arbeloa has immense pedigree both with Real Madrid and Spain, having won the World Cup in 2010. He was an understudy to Sergio Ramos but featured in the group stage and has amassed 56 caps for his country. Arbeloa started his career with Los Blancos but made his name at Liverpool having signed from Deportivo La Coruna. He cost the Pool £2.6million back in 2007 and played 95 times before moving back to his childhood club of Real Madrid in 2009 for £3.5m.
A cheap fix or a clever mentor for Sam Byram? The jury is out , but he has proven premier league experience and might be a perfect short term solution at right back.- Ed
Smoke & Mirrors 24 Hours To Go Before Window Closes
Roll up roll up, the Sky sports wall to wall coverage of the 'final countdown' begins. Very few media events receive as much attention in the great scheme of things, but the remaining hours make for compelling viewing even if not initially wanted or desired. Last summer West Ham United did immensely well, and will be hard pushed to get the incredible bargains they managed, this year with the Barclays Premier League awash with the new TV money deals similar to last year will be almost impossible to find. Wilfred Bony on loan from Manchester City before he moves to the Chinese League in January looks a goer, but apart from that fans shouldn't expect any incoming transfers especially given the Zaza deal, the focus will more likely be on players leaving, with Enner Valencia being close to the top of the pile. Various moves for the Ecuadorian have failed, but sources at the club have confirmed that a move has been given the green light since 'gabor's' arrival. Although little more inbound activity is expected, Hammers co-owner David Sullivan does love a last minute deal if the numbers add up, remember a certain Michail Antonio turning up at the last minute, out of the blue a few windows back? There is always a huge amount of posturing during the window, a lot of smoke and mirrors and a lot of gamesmanship, that's why people love it!
We will try to post what we hear from our AP news feed during the remaining hours, and please don't mention Payet! - Ed
Antonio
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sorry but if i see antonio playing right back ever again i going to seriously consider having a lie down. i just could not believe it when i saw bilic put him out there as a right wing back this time. whats with this stubbornness? he admitted himself it doesnt work after the chelsea disaster then he goes and tries it again. its almost like, 'I'm right about this and i'll prove it'. i feel most sorry for antonio as he clearly doesnt want to be a right back but he gets on with it. the issue for me is not only does he panic in the box when a player gets away but that he provides so much when he plays in attack. every time he's at right back we've lost a goal threat straight away. defenders can't stop him, his awesome in the air…please Bilic please end this experiment and never go back to it. why we didnt just buy a seasoned right back with the money we spent on tore i don't know. no disrespect to him but antonio is better than him.
do not loan this player!!
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jack Wilshire is being put up for loan..big west ham fan and a very good footballer but way way way to injury prone please mr chairpeople do not be tempted treatment rooms full as it is
Despondency
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There seem s to be a little bit of feeling on the negative due i think to our early exit from euro cup and a couple of defeats in the prem ,our aspirations seemed to be sky high ,to me there are only three clubs that you could call massive manua , shity and and them fukers in blue who name is blasphemy, to them a normal transfer is in the region of 20 million ,they dont give 20 million a second thought and as the Pogba deal shows no player is out of reach ,poor old pooh have had aspirations of being a BIG CLUB for years but it never comes off ,from what i can see totalscum seemed to be knocking on the door in the last couple of years but may have missed their opportunity with last years surrender, so its going to take years for us to achieve that status ,as i said our record signing for 20 million is pissup money to the big boys ,not only the fee but the wage demands is way out for us ,patient's is going to be the big thing ,that and holding our nerve the one thing that will do more damage tha anything for this great club is a religation dogfight
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