Calm down boys i'm talking about a football date as in change the start of the season to say start of October that way you get shot of two International breaks before the season starts and only have two disruptions to the premier league until March and finish the season say mid June we can all go away on our hols and not worry till October again.
There was a certain inevitability that sooner or later Hammers lack of forward recruitments was going to 'bite' the club and it has now done so in a 'Massive' way!
Hot on the heels of injuries to Mikey Antonio and Tomy Soucek, JARROD BOWEN HAS NOW JOINED THE 'CROCK' LIST! Should anyone be surprised? "down to the bare bones" was a favourite expression of 'Arry Redknapp, he used it to 'remind' the board of the paucity of his squad and constantly wheeled and dealed in order to be able to put a consistent team out.
Unfortunately there appears to have been NO plan B in place for Hammers current potential emergency. Tim Steidten CAN work wonders, but he is alongside the epitome of a football Luddite in David Moyes. Moves were made but knocked back by Moyes for a plethora of players, NONE were deemed 'good enough' for the 60 year old Scot!
Does Moyes have a 'glass ceiling' that players cannot reach? If so he needs to adjust his criteria by aquiescing to those who are in the know....an accident waiting to happen? You betcha! - Ed
The International break is always a fraught one for domestic managers and this most recent one looks as if it is going to be "MOYES' NEMESIS!' BOTH Mikey Antonio and Tomy Soucek have picked up injuries that will make them unavailable for the next Premier League game against Burnley AND most likely the crucial derby games against Palace, Tottinghmam and Fulham!
There are also important Europa League games against TSC and Freiburg that the duo could well miss, crisis, what crisis? Eventually the lack of cover in the forwards positions was ALWAYS going to come and 'bite Hammers arse' and that is exactly what has happened!
'Uncle' Danny Ings is absolutely a square peg in a round hole when it comes to filling in for Antonio, who despite his poor run of form recently is still far and away a better 'outlet' for a team that plays 'Moyes Ball'. The only vague positivity surrounding the situation is that Divin Mubama might FINALLY get a chance to show what he is made of!
There are those who have been highly critical of Soucek this season, a player who was 'scarificed' last season in order to keep Declan Rice at the club. Big Tom has now returned to being the player he once was, as his goal tally will testify to so far, so losing him even for a few games is going to be a drain on Moyes' self-imposed limited resources.
The need to get involved in the January window has suddenly cranked up. hopefully the 'Steidten' will have a plan in place to rectify past transfer misdemeanours! - Ed
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
Well that's going to open a can of worms.
I'm sure City, Chelsea and even Newcastle have/are getting away with worse. I'm not a great fan of Everton but I think this is unjustifiably harsh.
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
There's a bit of the unstoppable force collides with an unmoveable object regarding the future of West Ham United, majority shareholder David Sullivan took DECISIVE action by bringing in the much sought after Tim Steidten in order to bring some order to the transfer signing chaos that preceded the German's appointment.
It should be remembered that it was pantomime villain Barry Silkman who arranged the final details of the transfers of Tomas Soucek AND Lucas Paqueta, neither of which were David Moyes signings, nor of Rob Newman contrary to public belief!
So having returned to his tried and trusted nice cop nasty cop pal Silkman, Sullivan decided it was finally time to appoint a 'real' professional, but someone who was on the way up, not someone looking for one final pay out as had often been the case in virtually ALL of the club's dealings.
As things stand, the club is financially secure, Sullivan will NOT be selling up his stake anytime soon and things look bright for the future, ONLY if there is a change of guard though! David Moyes has brought unprecedented success to the club which we gladly acknowledge, unfortunately the price that has been paid is a turgid brand of that is painful on the eye, football that frustrates fans and annoys players in equal measure!
People often blame the move from their beloved Boleyn Ground for the lack of atmosphere at home games now, but served up with the 'right' brand of football the as yet unnamed London Stadium can 'shake, rattle and roll' with the best of stadiums in the World! However, that only tends to happen in spite of the manager and not because of him. Football has changed immeasurably since Moyes became a manager and that progress is relentless, managing a club from 'top to bottom' just doesn't happen anymore, at least at the top-level of the game, it is entirely unrealistic for Moyes to want or be given complete control over ALL aspects of the club, a control freak he is!
In the past Moyes has escaped by the skin of his teeth, but this time he needs more than a straight forward visit to the dentists, he need a complete root canal cleanse that he is definitely NOT interested in. Until the arrival of the Steidten Moyes was confident he would be able to 'bully' any new arrival off the block, but in 'Ze German' he has come up against his potential nemesis.
This January's window will give a clear indication as to which way the wind will be blowing, it is to be hoped it carries all the bubbles in the right direction and blows the good ship Mogadon Moyes off course and into a safe harbour AWAY from West Ham.
Moyes deserves credit for much of his work but NOW things have to change otherwise the club will blow its biggest opportunity of joining the 'elite' clubs of Europe, something barely thought possible when the late David Gold claimed it, but something that is CLEARLY achievable with the right man at the helm, working in VONJUNCTION with the RIGHT people, NOT someone who wants conflict in order to get their own way, Move over Moysie its time for the Steidten man to take over, including appointing your successor! - Ed
As the Founder and Editor of this site for over 23 years, I have always avoided straying from authoring non-football-related issues, but i am afraid I cannot in all honesty ignore the Slaughter that is unfolding in front of us in Gaza. I cannot condone the murderous actions of Hamas that was the latest trigger in a long line of conflict, but I CANNOT condone the continuous activities of the `Israeli Defence Force'! There is a particularly horrific numeric 'calculation' used by them in 'retaliation' to anyone who dares stand up against their imposed invasion and occupation of territory they have absolutely no right to be in, that ratio is upwards of 10-1 increasing to 100-1 and more.
This ratio is for the LIVES of defenceless Women and Children and then men! Women and Children makeup for 80% of the casualties! Prime minister Ricki Sunak went from hero to Zero by 'backing' Israel wholeheartedly from the very beginning of this conflict as did the senile Joe Biden of the USA....shame on them, they are recreating the Blair Bush religiously generated genocide that they oversaw in Iraq.
Britain and America have a lot to answer for in the Middle East, especially Palestine1 having let the Arab League down enormously after their unfulfilled promises after the 1st World War, the British then compounded their neglect of the Palestinians by 'allowing' the State of Israel to be put in place under the Ballflor declaration terms!
This is where America comes in and takes full control of the situation by threatening to cut of ALL the monies that Britain depended on from it's supposed ally that it needed to keep going having bankrupted itself to fight the evil of fascism and the genocide of the Nazi regime.
Unfortunately children who are abused when they are young often become abusers them selves, and that is exactly what the Israeli's are doing now, make no mistake they are and have been carrying out systematic genocide for years and years and will continue to do so until the United nations finally grow some balls and make a stand, the reason they have ALWAYS failed to do so over the last 75 years is quite simple....MONEY!
The big banks are still owned by Jewish people who use their enormous wealth to get what they want in America by threatening to bankrupt their own nation, so what chance does any other nation have?
This war will NOT go away, the IDF can and will slaughter every living soul they can in order to 'eradicate' the Palestininas and their entire nation, JUst as the Nazis tried to do with them and ultimately failed! The Isrealis might succeed in the short term but will have stoked the fire of an eternal struggle in which they WILL ultimately fail themselves, because a whole new generation of young men will grow up knowing only hatred in their hearts with their sole reason for existing being the destruction of Israel!
I do NOT claim to have the answers, but it is only by addressing the problems that there can be any chance of a solution....ask the many Jewish friends that I have if I am Anti-semetic before passing judgement on this article and just be thankful that we still live in the 'true land of the free' despite its failings- Ed
Haller/Scamacca neither Mogadons picks so he got shot of them
Jordan Hugill and Danny Ings more to his liking though the latter never a lone striker until mog got hold of him.
So i think we will see very clearly who's fingerprints are on the next striker we get and if it is not Mogs then its pointless as he simply will not play them.
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
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