Forum | General Discussion

It has always gnarled many fans that apart from having a technically anonymously named Stadium, that West Ham United have carried a betting company's logo on their shirts for an awful long time! However, just like waiting for buses or Policemen, suddenly TWO bits of outstanding news are potentially on the horizon with German Financial giants Allianz showing an active interest in the naming rights of the Queen Elizabeth Park Stadium AND more pertinently a 'direct' shirt sponsorship deal with the club.

For those who have witnessed the devastating effect gambling can have on homes and communities this news cannot come too soon, Betting sponsorship is due to be outlawed for Premier League clubs in the not too distant future, unfortunately the same ruling will NOT currently apply to those clubs in the Championship and lower leagues who are looked on as being in danger of going out of business without betting sponsorship, but there is ABSOLUTELY NOEXCUSEfor 'elite' clubs to carry betting sponsorship in any way shape or form due to the huge revenue streams now being generated by global and domestic media coverage.

Lets face it, over the years Hammers have had some truly dreadful sponsors. Probably the last one which had any kudos was the much lamented Dr Martens deal! There have been a series of disastrous names associated with the club that always gave the impression of 'Authur Daily' deals done on the back of a fag packet in a service station!

How refreshing will it be to have a 'proper' sponsor in place, the club has had more an more exposure having been ever present in Europe for the last three seasons and has amassed a huge following abroad with the likes of Lucas Paqueta, Tomy Soucek and more recently Mo kudus and Edson Alvarez attracting a massive following from their home countries' supporters!

Hammers fans love to sing "West Ham are massive, everywhere we go" at an unnamed stadium with a dodgy sponsor's name on their shirts....what an upgrade it would be to play at the Allianz Stadium with their branding on the club's shirts! It can't happen soon enough- LN

When players are away on International duty they tend to gravitate towards familiar faces to 'pal up' during their time, Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen have plenty in common and have spent many hours together at 'work, rest and play' as the old Mars bar ads used to punt.

It appears that England manager Gareth Southgate most definitely has his 'favourites' and then a list of players he feels almost obligated to call up in order to keep people off his back! Bowen's recent inclusion seems much more 'stat' driven than a genuine placement by the manager. In Bowen's last appearance he was almost totally ignored by players like Trent Alexander who looked to all intents and purposes to show case their own skills to the detriment of the actual team and it SHOWED!

Some observers were left thinking what might have been had Bowen featured alongside his ex-team mate and friend Declan Rice, one thing that is for sure is that Declan would have had eyes for the perfect crossfield ball for the left winger which would have enabled Bowen to shine.

Hopefully Bowen and Rice WILL have a chance to share the same stage and show what a good playing relationship and understanding they have. It should be remembered that when Rice first started playing for England he was largely ignored by the 'senior' players and spent much of his game time calling for the ball only to see passes that should have gone to him going elsewhere.

Perhaps Southgate might think about it when he is not too busy 'salvaging' Harry Maguire's career? - Ed

Sunday's game resulted in three VERY needed points, but for different reasons. For West Ham as a team the points were essential in order to go into yet another pointless International break in the top half of the table, for West Ham as a club it threw up another conundrum, namely what to do with a 'problem' like Moyesauro?

The points earned form the narrow victory over Forest and the win against Olympiakos on Thursday virtually guaranteed David Moyes' managerial tenure at the club until the end of the season! Realistically it was always going to be this way, majority shareholder David Sullivan is ALWAYS reluctant to 'pull the trigger' on managers who are in situ, some say it is because of the compensation pay outs required, which is a bit harsh because it is probably a little of that but more the fact that he is actually quite LOYAL to the person he has entrusted the club's playing fortunes in the hands of.

It is pretty much a given that Moyes will NOT be offered a new contract nor an extension to his existing one at the end of the season, his reluctance to accept anyway other than his way has seemingly come home to roost. His widely reported 'spat' with Tim Steidten who was directly appointed by Sullivan was the final nail in the coffin for Moyes.

He hopefully will be remembered for being the manager who brought much needed stability to the club and by avoiding relegation twice when it seemed the club could actually go down, he of course also navigated the winning of the club's first major trophy in over 50 years AND got the club into Europe THREE years on the spin!

This achievement, as Moyes himself admitted, was the highpoint of his long career and one that he is incredibly proud of, but this was his zenith, the azimuth of his progress which can only be followed with a slow but steady decline. Can Hammers afford to be the platform for his eventual fall from grace?

The answer is obviously NO, but fans hoping for an early managerial change will be disappointed to hear that Steidten was overheard stating that new managerial targets WERE being investigated and that it IS part of his remit to seek out Moyes' replacement.

The fact that Steidten was spotted chatting to a certain Mr Will Still started a raft of speculation, but Self is not the only name on Tim's list, far from it! However, if you were a betting person you may wish to have a punt on Still becoming the next Iron's manager. - Ed