Forum | Non-Football Related

West Ham have always featured prominently in the headlines during the transfer window, usually for all the WRONG reasons! It seems this season is no exception as the usual B/S about Declan Rice has been augmented with ludicrous tales regarding Jarrod Bowen being 'keen' to do a Hammers 360 and join the Klopp heads!

However, this season is unique in that Newcastle United have become the 'cause celebre´' of the media, which is GOOD. Unfortunately virtually EVERY single player Hammers have shown an interest in, has seen the Toon jump in and offer treble the price and triple the wages.

Therefore, rather reluctantly David Moyes has admitted that "January is always a difficult time to buy players, especially when a 'newly wealthy' club comes into the mix". The reality is that Newcastle are this year's PSG, Man City or whichever club you choose from the more traditional big spenders like Real Madrid, who like City and PSG are 'state sponsored'.

Hammers simply CANNOT compete with the Toon when it comes to deals offered to players, despite having Daniel Kretinsky on board the club are unwilling to engage in 'bidding wars' with ANY club, especially one that can blow ANY other club out of the water financially.

A case in hand is the Toon's pursuit of long time Hammers target Jesse Lingard, according to the red tops Newcastle have offered Ronaldo United £3 Million to sign Jesse? In other words 6 months of Andriy Yarmolenko's wages! Of course Hammers can match that figure, but that is just the base figure, IF Hammers joined in a bidding war there can only be ONE winner and that WON'T be West Ham!

The reality is that David Moyes will have to LET Newcastle have 'first dibs' when it comes to player acquisitions, the only mitigating factors being that (a) Newcastle can only sign players up to £80 Million in order to comply with FFP and (b) Hammers are a FAR more attractive proposition than Newcastle currently are.

The weather is better in London, the shopping facilities are good enough to keep even the most demanding of W>A>G>S happy and it is the culture centre of the UK and possibly most of Europe, Newcastle is most definitely NOT! Hammers are also one of the most attractive sides in European football and a club who's upward trajectory is second to none.

West Ham WILL miss out on targets that would have been accessible had it not been for the Toon's new found wealth, but they cannot buy everybody! IF players like Jesse Lingard want to go to St James' Park and earn an absolute fortune then so be it, fair play to them. David Moyes DOESN'T want players who JUST want a fat pay check, they would destabilise the tight ship he runs.

Hammers need quality NOT quantity, let the Toon's management and owners take over the transfer chaos baton from West Ham, its about time someone else's activities looked totally inept and stupid!-LN

Perhaps it is sheer ignorance on our part, but recent postponements and requests for postponements seem to have been judged with no rhyme or reason. Those who actually decide are masked by anonymity, but their decisions can have a far reaching impact which can decide a club's fortunes, possibly for years.

It may sound a bit conspiracy theorist, but it DOES seem that the 'septic six' ALL seem to get the decisions found in their favour. The fact that injuries to players is being factored in to the equation, IN ADDITION to those who are unavailable due to AFCON commitments, is an anathema to the 'code' clubs are supposed to adhere to.

Clubs knew only too well that players eligible for AFCON would be unavailable when they purchased them, so why on earth should they be given a dispensation when the players are unavailable, the original purchase price factored in the player's unavailability which was reflected in the final fee paid.

There is absolutely NO WAY injuries and International commitments should be allowed to postpone Premier League fixtures, they should ONLY be postponed as a result of Covid infection or isolation. This GAME is being played to the hilt by Arsenal, closely followed by Liverpool, it is of NO surprise that they were BOTH part of the 'septic six' who wanted to send the Premier League down the river.

We know where we think they should stick their oars, the sheer arrogance of these clubs as they attempt to manipulate the rules is matched only by the ineptitude of those who are supposed to oversee the process, without BIAS! Pull the other one! - LN

Whenever a transfer window is open before it 'slams' shut, strange how it never closes but slams, rumours are rife regarding players making the headlines. None more so than Hammers' Jarrod 'Jimbo' Bowen, hitting top form right in the middle of the window only served to accentuate the front man's credentials.

Liverpool began the process of TAPPING UP Bowen ages ago, their spin machine reaches far and wide, their eventual acquisition of Virgil Van Dikj from Southampton being a classic example of how successful a media drip feed campaign can be. Liverpool eventually got their man AND escaped ANY censure, despite Southampton complaining vociferously about the tapping up.

It is not just Liverpool, ALL of the 'sick six' who attempted the ill fated breakaway to form a European Super League are at it! It appears none of the 'lesser' teams are safe from the predatory and border line legality of the traditional 'top six', indeed it certainly seems that way for West Ham at the moment, which is why the club have set internal 'club realistic' values for it's prized assets.

Aston Villa thought that putting a £100 Million release clause in Jack Grealish's contract would deter bidders, but that didn't work did it? Burnley have just suffered a similar fate, as Newcastle activated Chris Wood's £25 Million release clause. Ironically Declan Rice's Dad may have done Hammers a MASSIVE favour by refusing to accept a new contract that contains a release clause, had he done so the club might have put a £150 Million buy out clause in his new contract IF it had been negotiated 12 months ago.

Given how prominent Declan's rise to becoming the best central midfielder in the Premier League, some say in Europe AND beyond, clubs like Man City and PSG as well as the slightly poorer Man Utd would have met the buy out price and Declan would have been gone!

By constantly upping Rice's price, the club has managed to fend of ALL suitors and has used that time to forge a team capable of challenging for the top slots in the Premier League, as well as having European aspirations THIS season in the Europa League Cup.

Hammers are now applying the same principal with regards to interest in Jarrod Bowen, INSTEAD of trying to tie the player up to a deal that has a high release clause, the club is instead relying on the player actually WANTING to stay at the club, knowing that it s doing everything in it's power to move forward. Bowen's value has gone from £25 Million to £60 Million in the past year, Hammers have therefore let it be known that offers of less than £100 Million will not even be discussed.

Without release clauses, Hammers are able to constantly raise the price bar if another club comes 'sniffing around' for one of it's players. New board member Daniel Kretinsky is dead set on making a 'statement' during this transfer window, but that doesn't necessarily mean bringing players in, just retaining the club's best players despite potentially massive offers, is in itself a huge achievement, something that the club has been unable to do for over HALF A CENTURY!

These are indeed exciting times to be a Hammer, it is strange that David Moyes, a dour Scot should lead an East London team to possibly it's highest ever heights, but he is a great fit. Moyes' redemption from his Manchester days is nearly complete, if he can have his Hammers team finish above the Mancs, even he will be tempted into a wry smile.

Part of the process of usurping United involves being in a situation where you retain your best players and have absolutely NO pressure to sell them, apart from when the biscuit barons 'false money' was available, no other West Ham manager has been in such a strong position, even the 'spendaholic' Pellegrini HAD to sell IF the bid was big enough. "To be a big club, you have to think big" so said Pelegrini on his arrival, he was right, only he didn't know how to make it happen, Moyes HAS!

£25 Million-£60 Million, so what? If someone wants to prise 'Jimbo' Bowen from West Ham, why not ask for ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY? - Ed

For those who spend an unhealthy amount of time studying statistics, particularly those of West Ham United, which in itself can be unhealthy if you are a supporter, there are certain points gained and lost anomalies that on the face of it have no explanation.

For example Hammers can beat Chelsea, Liverpool AND Tottingham at the London Bowl and yet can lose to Brentford and Southampton at the same venue! However there IS an explanation, we are fortunate to have an Org member who is a financial and statistical analyst who is an expert at applying algorithms to sporting enterprises.

One of his findings is that Hammers 'plateau' every time the club reaches the 10 point mark in the season, early this season the club raced to 8 points, but then lost the Martin Atkinson driven game against Ronaldo United. The next plateau David Moyes's boys reached of near 20 points they were beaten by Wolves and City, which was followed by a bruising draw to Brighton.

As Hammers approached the magic 30 mark, the old Algo kicked in as the club lost the next two games in a row to The Gooners AND Southampton! After the 30 point marker was reached, Hammers put their noses to the grindstone culminating with the victories over Watford Palace AND Norwich.

So, the game against Leeds this Sunday afternoon, will be the ultimate test as to whether Hammers can overcome their 10 point Algorithmic voodoo. Another 3 points and at least the club will have passed the magic 40 point mark and be safe from relegation, Oh No we were forgetting the 2002/3 season when the team containing Paulo DiCanio, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson, Frank Lampard and Jermaine Defoe, defied AL logic by getting relegated on 42 points, the highest EVER for a relegated team!

Hopefully Hammers can navigate the 'frightening forties' this weekend against Leeds, but it will be a far trickier fixture than last week's FA Cup tie, as Leeds are finally getting SOME of their injured players back. A draw or a defeat will undo ALL of the good work of the last fortnight, it is these 'crunch' games that Hammers HAVE to win in order to maintain the club's push for Europe. - LN