Forum | Non-Football Related

Even before Saturdays lamentable 2-0 defeat at home to Newcastle, the signs of tension surrounding West Ham United's lack of positive transfer activity were palpable with a collective 'fear' regarding the future. Even a blind man can see the urgent need for at least one new full back, preferably two, but it seems the 'obsession' with regards to the proposed signing of James Tarkowski has blinded the necessary vision required for the future.

For sure Tarkowski is an excellent player, but given the paltry transfer funds available to David Moyes the money must be spent wisely, and paying between £30-35 Million for just one player,no matter how good he is, just doesn't make sense in the current climate, furthermore most fans are more than a little suspicious about any deal for the England International centre back. On too many occasions in the past fans have been given the spiel that the club are after this star, then that star, and then another star, the one thing most of these potential signings have in common is that they never actually ended up happening.

The feeling of deja vu won't go away when it comes to the Tarkowski deal, it follows the usual procedure, expensive player, initial incredibly low ball offer which is then followed incrementally with offers that are still too low, and finally the player doesn't end up at the club allowing the owners to say"Well we tried our best to get the deal done but (a) the price went up or (b) we just ran out of time (c) the selling club changed their minds".

Even at this stage fans would still prefer the truth, there is no need for the owners to bullshit about 'huge' player deals in order to sell season tickets, so why on earth not be truthful? It makes no sense to 'spin supporters a yarn' when there is no need. Everyone knows the club is broke as a result of previous mistakes, so why not concentrate of providing fans 'realistic' transfer targets that might actually happen? To that purpose there are still several promising full backs available at decent prices, spend what little money there is to shore up the full back situation and then invest what ever is left for a midfielder/central defender.

Tomas Soucek's old team Slavia Prague have a couple of players available who won't bust the bank one of which is Vladimir Coufal, by trade 27 year old Coufal is a right back but can play at left back and in central defence, and Shakhtar Donetsk defender Mykola Matviyenko is another good option to bring to the London Stadium with a price that is 1/4 of James Tarkowski's.

Surely the club must have learned by now that trying to live beyond it's means always ends up one way, and that is BADLY, so why not just 'suck it up' and buy less spectacular players that fit within the club's 'real' budget? It's not rocket science, it's just pounds and pence! - Ed

Being tolerant of under achieving players is part of the West Ham way, if you want to see 'perfection' go and support Liverpool or whoever tops the Barclays Premier League. If you choose to continue supporting West Ham then you have to accept certain unpleasant characteristics, namely there has never for years been a properly balanced squad either at the Boleyn Ground or at The London Stadium, consequently players are often played out of position resulting in inept performances.

However fans in the past and in the future will forgive ineptitude so long as the player has 'attitude', unfortunately one person who has become inept and has lost his 'attitude' or Mojo, whatever you wish to call it is Aaron Cresswell. It may seem a little unfair to 'pick on' Cresswell following yesterday's tepid team display, but he was truly dreadful, so bad was he, his performance obscured and eclipsed the equally useless Ryan (I've forgotten what to do with the ball) Fredericks!

So uninspiring were their performances in defence and attack viewers found themselves wondering why on earth players were passing the ball to either of them in the first place. Hammers hit the bar a couple of times during the two nil defeat, but in reality Newcastle, complete with Hammers' nemesis Calum Wilson always looked as if they could score more, Wilson and his fellow debutant Jeff Hendrick both scored which would have sent fans rushing to the bar, if there had been any fans inside the ground.

We don't generally like to highlight one player's bad performance on the basis that it won't help the situation, but really, Moyes MUST axe Cresswell, he more than any other first teamer has gone backwards and his decline looks very much as if it is terminal. While Cresswell had a bad day, Fredericks just continued to have a 'poor' day, his decision making sucks and we are of the opinion that he could benefit from counselling to help him overcome his 'fear', nine times out of ten he misplaces his passes or receives the ball only to return it to a player who is being closed down by the opposition, it isn't just the odd occasion, he does it nearly all the time!
James Tarkowski, even if he arrives wouldn't make a blind bit of difference at the moment, because until the full back situation is sorted everything else will be like a pack of cards, and the cards Hammers fans are currently being dealt are rubbish. West Ham United are good at setting bad records, yesterday's defeat meant they became the first club to lose their opening match for the fifth consecutive season, thus setting a Barclays Premier League record!

Yesterday's misery was compounded by the fact that the odious Alan (I despise West Ham) Smith was one of the match commentators. - Ed

West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Ogbonna, Diop, Cresswell, Noble, Rice, Soucek, Fornals, Bowen, Antonio. Subs: Randolph, Balbuena, Yarmolenko, Anderson, Lanzini, Haller, Johnson.
Newcastle: Darlow, Manquillo, Fernandez, Lascelles, Lewis, Shelvey, Hendrick, Hayden, Saint-Maximin, Carroll, Wilson. Subs: Gillespie, Joelinton, Ritchie, Krafth, Fraser, Almirom, S. Longstaff.