Forum | Non-Football Related

With all the outside media coverage there is, what is it like for the players? Here's a quick little vid that includes contributions from Angelo Ogbonna and Lukasz Fabianski as well as action from Vlad 'the impaler' Coufal. Click here.

We have a more personal interview with Angelo Ogbonna coming up tomorrow. - Ed

Yarmo Bumps Up His Value

Andriy Yarmolenko scored another goal and made another assist in the Ukraine's nervous 2-1 win over Northern Macedonia, he is currently joint top scorer in the competition and has already scored one of the goals of the tournament.

The more exposure 'Yarmo' gets, the more his value potentially rises, before the competition's start his value had plummeted to around only £3.5 Million, that figure looks certain to rise in the coming weeks, if he remains free of injury! If a team comes in with a 'reasonable' offer, Hammers must do everything they can to accommodate the purchaser, and now is the time to strike while the Iron is hot.

Forget the drivel that you may have read with regards to Hammers signing Roman Yaremchuk in order for him to 'link up' with Yarmolenko at the London Stadium, nothing could be further form David Moyes' thoughts. While Moyes may have a certain interest in Roman Yaremchuk, he has an interest in about forty strikers if you believe all that you read, so any move for Yaremchuk would be independent of Yarmolenko's destiny, it's only because they are both from the Ukraine that the match has been made.

It is to be hoped Yarmo can be moved on sooner rather than later, he is obviously still very talented, but his languid style of play is entirely unsuited to the hustle and bustle of the Barclays Premier League, he would be far more suited to the Eredivise or some other league where the pace is not so extreme. With a bit of luck the club could receive as much as £7.5 Million if he keeps up his goal scoring exploits, and have the added bonus of being relieved of his staggering £115,000 per week wages bill.

The same cannot be said for another of Pellegrin's other 'follies', if Yarmo's value has plummeted, then Felipe Anderson's has nose dived in to the centre of the planet! The impending £10-12 Million loss the club will experience on the Yarmolenko transfer, is absolutely dwarfed by the potential hit the club will have to take on Anderson. The £34 Million transfer fee to bring him from Lazio, now looks to be much more ludicrous than Yarmo's deal, and his value has dropped by as much as 70%!

To put that in perspective, £34 Million down to less than £10 Million, it s an astonishing fall from grace, Hammers would have done better to hold on to him rather than having sent home out on loan to Porto, where he hardly featured at all and was 'alienated' from their manager due to his poor work ethos...sounds familiar?

The club may have recouped around £4 Million in wages while Anderson was out on loan, but that figure is probably only a fraction of how much the player's value dropped while he was out in Portugal, but then again, hindsight is a wonderful thing...if you can go back in time!

But if the club could go back in time, it would never have employed Manuel Pellegrini would it? The estimates vary wildly as to exactly how much Pellegrini cost the club, but we reckon around a deficit of approximately £116 Million that the club lost in wages and fees for Yarmo, Haller, Wheelchair, Anderson and of course Roberto! - Ed

Costings for Pellegrini's profligacies: Wheelchair loss of £12 Million in wages and pay off. Haller £25 Million and £7.5 Million in wages. Anderson £24 Million and £8 Million in wages. Yarmolenko £10 Million and a staggering £22.5 Million in wages. Roberto £3 Million and £4 Million in wages.

The new Barclays Premier League fixture list will have been well received by Hammers fans, because for once the club hasn't been handed a run of fixtures against the top six teams to start the campaign with, partly due to the fact that West Ham ARE in the top six themselves!

Not only has the fixture computer been 'kind' by not handing out a punishing initial schedule, with that dubious honor going to newly promoted Norwich City, but also Hammers have been handed a home fixture for Boxing Day. Of course the fixture could be rescheduled in order to avoid overloading the Westfield shopping centre at Stratford on what is traditionally a very busy day, although that should not be so much of an issue with many people now electing to do their Boxing day 'bargain hunting' on line instead.

All in all, there doesn't appear to be a particularly galling sequence of fixtures, so for once the 'super computer' has done the club proud, although it should be noted that many of the fixtures could be rescheduled due to Hammers' 'European commitments', now how good does that sound? - Ed

See, and if possible try before you buy, are the back bone of David Moyes' acquisitions mantra, no longer is the club suffering from 'Hammers Hubris', as it has moved from an amateur dramatic approach to a sleek 'Hollywood' style of attainment.

Yesterday’s Czech Republic v Scotland game was a case in point, where 'supposed' target, Spartak Moscow’s Alex Kral, had a poor game which saw him subbed well before the conclusion of the match. Another 'supposed' Hammers target Adam Hlozek came on but was barely involved.

Bayer Leverkusen star Patrik Schick did perform brilliantly, but is way out of West Ham's transfer budget restrictions, as he only signed for Leverkusen last September for nearly £25 Million on a five-year deal. Bearing in mind Hammers recent 'painful' striker from Germany experience, it is unlikely that the club would move for another forward plying their trade in the Bundesliga, because with a few exceptions they don't tend to do well in the hustle and bustle of the Barclays Premier League.

Rather amusingly, David Sullivan's 'pet' website C&H, reported that David Sullivan and David Moyes were in attendance together watching the Czechs v Scots game at WEMBLEY! Now that is pretty special isn't it? It's not just a typo error though, it is what occurs when you seek information that is tainted before it is even released.

Whether Sullivan was in Scotland or not is rather irrelevant, because it appears that David Moyes really IS in control of transfers, and long may it last! - Ed