Forum | Non-Football Related

The Queen Elizabeth Park area is becoming something of a satellite state of the Czech Republic, with THREE players currently at West Ham AND of course the new 27% co-owner of the club Daniel Kretinsky all hailing from there. That three might possibly become four if the transfer planets align.

Vladimir Coufal, Alex Kral and Tomas Soucek are already at the club and might possibly be joined by their compatriot, Bayer Leverkusen frontman Patrik Schick. The 25 year old has excelled for club and country, he particularly caught the eye at the Euros in the summer with five goals for the Czech Republic including his ridiculous long range strike against Scotland.

Prior to the 'Kretin in the Sky's' arrival and his investment, Hammers would not even begin to countenance a move for Belotti who won't come cheap, as he is contracted to Leverkusen until 2025! It would take a bid of around £35 Million and a lot of creative accounting to put a deal together, but we understand this is a transfer the club is actively pursuing in addition to other less expensive alternatives from the Championship.

Having had their fingers incinerated by the excessive purchases made during the ill fated Pellegrini era, there will be an obvious reluctance to spend big, during January's window, or even in the summer when it reopens. But to play we with the big boys you have to compete, and that means making judicious acquisitions, NOT vanity signings.

Hammers fans are only too wise to false promises followed by mediocre substitutes for the real thing, but fans are not stupid and recognise Moyes is trying to overhaul the club's recruitment structure in order to avoid the Milo's of this World. As we have mentioned on numerous occasions before, the next striker signed will be the 50th to have joined the club during the Gold and Sullivan era and most of them have been duds or worse! So it is essential that striker number 50 suits the club and will be able to be integrated swiftly in to the fold.

Far from having a negative effect on Michail Antonio, a 'proper' additional striker would relieve Antonio from the constant responsibility he currently has to shoulder ALONE! The Czech factor may well tip the scales towards the Irons, and let's face it, the club is due a bit of good luck! - Ed

Although recent injuries have steered Hammers towards acquiring a centre back and a left back, there is still the matter of bringing in a striker to play alongside or even compete with Mikey Antonio. The list is endless of players 'associated' with a potential move to East London, most of the 'noises' emanating from media outlets are 'agent driven' and should be taken with a rather large grain of salt for the scratched record they are!

Some of the many many names linked to the club do however resurface on a relatively frequent basis, one such player is Andrea Belotti. Hammers have been 'in and out' of discussions regarding the 28-year-old Italian striker who is NOT going to accept the new contract Torino have offered him.

Obviously there is a lot of domestic interest in the player who shone for his nation during their successful Cup campaign, with both Milan and Napoli preparing to make a move.

Belotti has been with Torino since August 2015 and is a fan favourite, but the club is in a perilous state financially and simply CANNOT afford the sort of wages the top teams in Italy and most Premier League teams can afford to offer. Torino's offer of €3m net per season plus add-ons failing far short of what can be offered by West Ham.

If Belotti were to sign a new contract with Torino now, it would have to be for an even lower figures, dropping from €3m net to €2.5m per season plus add-ons in order to fit into the club's enforced rigid pay regime. Belotti will be able to sign a pre-contract with a new club from next week onwards, Torino will HAVE to cash in on their striker during this window or risk losing him for nothing in June.

Would Belotti be a good fit at West Ham? Well, he's fast, he's fit and he's hungry to strut his stuff in the most watched League in the World, he has scored 107 goals in 238 appearances for Torino and in our opinion would light up the Olympic Stadium in East London. - Ed

Hammers descendancy from possible surprise Premier League top four contenders, to mid table mediocrity has left many 'elite' managers with a smile on their faces as those upstarts from the East End see their challenge fall by the wayside. Many fans and fansites were perhaps guilty of 'squad denial' as David Moyes oversaw what seemed like a minor miracle, unfortunately all those hopes appear to have unravelled as the team drops down the Premier League table.

Moyes HAS always said that he will aim for as high as he can, he did however always add the caveat "if we can avoid serious injuries". Well, the situation facing the West Ham manager could best be described as a slow motion car crash in which the occupant is rescued, they are rushed to hospital where they undergo an operation which was a text book success, but the patient died.

This may seem a strange analogy to use, but if you consider the circumstances it does make sense in a weird way. Everyone knew the squad Moyes had to work with was filo pastry thin at the beginning of the season, but no one anticipated the catastrophic sequence of injuries and suspensions that have occurred of late.

Hammers form HAS dropped off the Cliff, David Moyes' teams are ALWAYS based on a really solid tight defensive set up and a dynamic free flowing counter attack, which is what Hammers had at the start of the season. The paucity of the squad has meant that 'top' players have NOT been replaced with players of a similar ability, they simply aren't available.

Watching West Ham at a sparsely filled London Stadium yesterday was a rather sad experience, the team looked devoid of ANY ideas until Michail Antonio came on in the 2nd half. Things weren't helped by Kevin 'Friend of no one' who did his upmost to give every single free kick and decision he possibly could to the visitors, who in turn took their time wasting to a new level, that surpassed EVEN Brentford! As an 'added' bonus, Friend also booked Declan Rice, meaning Decs will have to sit out the impending Watford game having accrued five booking ONE GAME before they were due to be wiped out ....... anyone who knows Friend's address kindly forwrd it and we will send him a donation courtesy of the Battersea dogs home which is nearby, they are only too happy to dispose of the waste shit their charges generate!

Hammers looked a shadow of their former selves and when Yarmolenko came on as sub it triggered a mass exodus from the Stadium. As an added 'non fun' element to what was a thoroughly miserable Boxing Day fixture, the Stewards in their infinite wisdom decided that the Saints fans were so 'ferocious' that home fans were blocked from using the closest exit points, thus necessitating a further half mile walk just to get back to a parallel start point!

Hammers have fallen so far, one win in seven games, that the club needs a bloody parachute. Moyes is going to have his work cut out if Hammers are even to stay in the top six, but realistically at the start of the season if fans had been offered a sixth place finish they would have snapped it up, funny thing is expectation because the anticipation invariably doesn't live up to the final event.

The simple truth is that Hammers successfully gate crashed the top four and IF Moyes had been backed more in the transfer market, that push might well have been sustained. Unfortunately Daniel Kretinsky and his money might have arrived just a little too late, meaning this season's hopes and aspirations might have just faded and died, "just like our dreams"! - Ed

West Ham: Fabiański, Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Masuaku, Rice ©️, Souček, Fornals, Benrahma, Vlašić, Bowen
Subs: Areola (GK), Fredericks, Ashby, Johnson, Lanzini, Noble, Král, Yarmolenko, Antonio

Southampton: Forster, Livramento, Salisu, Bednarek, Walker-Peters, Romeu. Ward-Prowse (c), Redmond, Walcott,Elyounoussi, Broja
Subs: Caballero (GK), Long, A. Armstrong, Adams, Perraud, S. Armstrong, Diallo, Simeu, Valery