West Ham: Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Cresswell, Emerson, Alvarez, Rodriguez, Soucek, Kudus, Paqueta
Subs: Areola, Soler, Coufal, Guilherme, Ings, Irving, Casey, Scarles, Orford.
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Guehi, Lacroix, Richards, Mitchell, Kamada, Hughes, Munoz; Eze, Sarr, Mateta
Subs: Turner, Nketiah, Schlupp, Clyne, Doucoure, Riad, Rodney, Devenny, Kporha.
What are the chances of the Moyesiah bring his son into Everton as his new Fellaini??
Tomas come to daddy, Tomas I luv you so Tomas!! Daddy miss Tomas sooo much!!!
PMSL
It’s not a hidden secret amongst Hammers fans that our striker curse has yet to be solved. Many strikers have come through that have either been simply shocking or injury-prone.
Unfortunately, it appears Sully wants to add to that list. With the latest report being that West Ham United are ‘seriously interested’ in RB Leipzig striker Andre Silva.
The twenty-nine-year-old Portuguese international has currently struggled to find form in recent years. This season Silva has 1 goal and 3 assists in 15 appearances and currently is struggling to find game time for Leipzig.
RB Leipzig signed Silva from Frankfurt for €23,000,000, in which Frankfurt had bought him for just €2,000,000 from AC Milan who’d paid €38,000,000 from Porto back in 2017/18.
Back in 2020, he scored 29 goals and got 10 assists throughout the entire season, a great return which subsequently led to him being recognised as a top striker in Europe.
However, despite this top recognition, he didn’t continue his form as he had just managed 14 goals in the last 3 seasons combined.
Not a pretty site…
But what a surprise, the history of a player doesn’t matter for one man… Poor injury record? Poor form? Not to worry! David Sullivan will always have a place welcome for you, as long as you’re fairly cheap and have two working feet, oh and not to mention, it’s always a bonus if you’re from a popular nation!
If you weren't appealed by the site of Andre Silva, you could always peer your eyes towards the £30,000,000 rated Nottingham Forest striker in Taiwo Awoniyi... who West Ham are also interested in.
The twenty seven year old Nigerian international started his Premier League stint back in 2022 when Nottingham Forest signed him from Union Berlin. His first season saw him score 11 goals in all competitions, and he was the starting striker week in and week out, he guided a seemingly underwhelming Forrest side to safety. Yet, it would all come crashing down once he sustained two long-term injuries in quick succession.
A damaging groin injury at the start of the season saw him out for 18 games, with a further 14 coming later on due to it reoccurring, subsequently banishing him out of THIRTY TWO matches.
Unfortunately for Taiwo, he's now been shoved out of the starting team, with Chris Wood taking his starting position.
To Taiwo's dismay, it's Sully's hooray! An injury-prone striker who earns £50,000 per week, which to be honest, seems a bargain compared to Ings-sauros who's on £125,000 per week, in case you forgot.
Nottingham Forest has made it clear to West Ham that they're only willing to accept a loan with an obligation to buy or a straight purchase in the region of £30,000,000 for Awoniyi.
As much as the club may like the profile of Taiwo, it seems that the price point that they're asking for is a bit steep for the club's liking, so at the moment, other options are being assessed, but Silva currently takes the crown due to the simplicity of the deal and his eagerness to achieve his 'dream of playing in the Premier League'.
Another day of classic 'board' targets, the only difference this time round is that neither of them are Salthouse Clients!
It has just been announced by the FA that Lucas Paqueta's 'Bet hearing' has been postponed until the summer, which, to the delight of Potter and Paqueta himself, allows him to play for the club freely until the remainder of this season.
The hearing with the FA was expected to happen late this January, yet it was delayed until March due to unknown reasons and has now been rescheduled to the end of the season! It seems all a bit too convenient!
Back in October, Lucas Paqueta had decided that he'd had enough of the media attention after some key confidential details were released about the case, such as the alleged bets that had been placed and the amount of money they were for.
It is currently understood that the FA are investigating 60 people who placed bets on Paqueta to receive a yellow card, with the prices ranging from £7-£400.
With the details released in the public domain, good ol' Paqueta back in October decided to go on social media and criticise the FA for deliberately leaking details of the case, as well as claiming that "Some of that information is entirely false and appears designed to undermine my position".
Paqueta then informed the media that he'd also asked his lawyers to write to the FA to request that they conduct a thorough investigation into how it found its way into the public domain, the FA has yet to reply to this.
The persistent delays from the FA can be taken in numerous ways, is the glass half full or half empty? This is the way the case seems currently. You could say, on the one hand, that the delays perhaps mean that they don't have enough evidence to charge him, and they're just trying to buy time. Or, you could see it as a negative and that they're evidently not going to give up until they have him bang to rights, which currently, from what we know, they don't have at all.
It is utterly pathetic for the FA to conduct the investigation of how they've done so, if the alleged leaking details to the media are true, then it goes to show what levels they're willing to go to in order to take down the Brazilian international.
With the clock ticking for the FA, there are only so many times the hearing is delayed. Eventually, their clock will run out, and it'll all be over.
They expected it to be as easy as Sandro Tonali's case, in which he was banned and suspended from Football for a 10-month period, which had been confirmed within a month of the initial allegation coming out.
So as the constant raft of strikers we are being linked with grows each day let me ask you lot what would you do? get a loan in with no option to buy and wait until the summer to set about a sensible rebuild.... Or do you want us to dive in at the deep end empty the coffers now for a striker? and if so who might that be?.
As is clear the squad is woefully thin and needs serious work i really think we have to keep our powder dry to an extent and so i come down on the loan side but not an injury prone striker like the always linked Callum Wilson kind.
In the Summer and again it all depends on what kind of striker Potter likes a big bustling hardman who knocks defenders about for fun or a slick pacey little git who defenders cannot get near and i honestly am unsure as to what he prefers.
If i were given the money and this is just my own personal like and whilst i have seen all the good in that raw kid Delap that boogers and others like i just see there being to much competition for his signature and then the price goes up to much so that's why i would not get involved but another player in a relegation dogfight that i would like to see is Jorgen Strand Larsen of Wolves....now they got him in the summer but the deals not 100% safe as certain targets have to be made or Wolves can say no and send him back.....He is big strong manoeuvrable and has been unlucky in front of goal but i just see him being a great fit with Bowen on the right Jimmy on the left getting balls into the box and i think we can snatch him of Wolves go down and do a deal.
Not a great goalscoring record i hear the cry we need a 15/20 goal a season striker well that would be wonderful but they are as rare as hens teeth and would cost money in the region of £100million easy. So like the majority of clubs you have to be creative and look away from the bright shiny objects for one hidden in plain sight but nobody notices.
Last night's result showed the fans what we are all in for: playing against Fulham, who have been an excellent side this season and had only lost one in their last thirteen before playing us!
Five major players were out for the Irons, and when looking at the lineup, everyone was confused, questioning the formation and selection of players.
The first 20 minutes saw us being dominated, Fulham having the majority of the ball, leading them to have many chances, but the closest they came was the crossbar.
Potter and his assistant, rambling on the touchline, decided to make a critical change which would ultimately end up winning us the game. They decided to drop Alvarez into a more defensive role, allowing Soucek and Soler to push further forward, also telling Kudus to cut inside more frequently to allow Paqueta to play better in the 9 role.
Two quick goals in succession and a total of two blunders from Fulham caused us to win the game, but that doesn't suggest it was a poor performance and a lucky win. We forced Fulham into those errors, which allowed Paqueta and Soler to capitalise on an open goal, but that was not to take away from their sublime finishes.
Two defensive mistakes from ourselves kept Fulham in the game and made it closer than it should've been, but we held on with some good defending and a big well done to Scarles, who cleared it off the line in added time, another great shift from Ollie.
It almost feels difficult to know who to give the MOTM award to. Soucek had a great performance. Alvarez had a solid match, probably his best in recent times, but Paqueta takes the crown.
Last night, we saw the second coming of our Brazilian Magnifico. He has struggled so much in the past season and this season, but in these two games under Potter already, he has been transformed and going back to how he was before.
Paqueta ended the game by winning 12 duels, which is the most of any West Ham player this season, along with winning 5 free kicks and recovered possession 7 times, welcome back Paqman.
Amongst the fans, there's a consensus that a top-10 finish is what would be classed as 'successful' for Potter in the remainder of this season. After that win, we find ourselves two points from that mark and only 6/8 points away from a European spot. What's to say we can't go for it? Out of all other competitions and only the Premier League to focus on, we could seriously have a chance at the Conf.
'Crys' return seems imminent, and Bowens' recovery period seems to be quicker than expected, with reports earlier this week and comments from Potter saying he's already back on grass. Crucial players are returning, and perhaps a signing is on the horizon with numerous loans with options to buy deals being explored.
Potter is also said today to be finalising his targets for this window and who he'd like the club to go all out for... updates tomorrow on that.
But currently, It's all happy-smiley faces in the West Ham scene at the minute; we are back to winning games and watching our squad play with a clear identity once again, with players who now are playing with passion and enthusiasm for the game and fans.
Potter has already provided new energy in the club's surroundings and the players themselves, the future brings excitement.
West Ham: Fabiański, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson, Rodríguez, Álvarez, Souček ©, Soler, Kudus, Paquetá
Subs: Foderingham (GK), Coufal, Cresswell, Scarles, Casey, Orford, Irving, Luis Guilherme, Ings
Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson, Lukic, Pereira, Wilson, Iwobi, Smith Rowe, Jimenez.
Subs: Benda, Reed, Muniz, Cairney, Traore, Cuenca, King, Sessegnon, Diop.
When B&S see all these empty seats tonight they might start realising that people aren't going to spend their hard earned cash watching a team with no forwards- and no future if they don't put their hands in their very deep pockets they are going to find it difficult to attract the fans so all this talk about about putting up the prices could be absolutely crucial in the attendance figures next season,
We have no money we are poor have to be careful of FFP and yet just heard we have bid £40million for Duran again.
Silly Question but as we would not go that final push and bid exactly that in the summer because that is overpriced what is the difference now? i know Villa have said no and clearly with them trying to strike a deal for another striker themselves they clearly will sell but the price has gone up as they know we are desperate.
So where has Sullivan found the money? worried we could be pulled into a relegation dogfight and his bank balance could take a serious hit so he magics money out of the pot that apparently we don't have to piss in.
Personally i would look elsewhere as we also have urgent need in other areas of the squad so if we do have funds and the cats out the bag now i would not be going back with a further bid to Villa.
From Southampton to Villa, all we have come across are injuries.
From what has already been a dismal season, it only ends up getting worse for the Hammers. The news was broke yesterday that Fullkrug had sustained an injury that would keep him out for three months, being one of now many people added to the long-term injury list.
He now joins the likes of Antonio, Bowen and Todibo. Antonio's estimated return is unknown, but most likely, he won't be back until next season. Bowen probably will be back for the end of February, and Todibo has seemingly gone under the radar, with Potter saying he's still doing work with the physios.
Summerville will also take a miss for the Fulham game due to the injury he picked up at Villa Park, but looks to make a return to the pitch hopefully against Crystal Palace or conveniently the Aston Villa game on the 26th of February.
The overwhelming amount of injuries don't just make the Potters opening Premier League fixtures harder, but they also force his hands to use the academy players. We've already seen this with the likes of Scarles due to the fact Emerson was injured, with Emerson returning, we could see him back in the starting eleven, which is extremely harsh as Scarles did indeed have a MOTM esc performance on Friday night.
I would be keeping my eyes on the striker force as Potter hinted today during his pre-match press conference that he could look to use Mohammed Kudus or Lucas Paqueta in the number 9 role due to the loss of Fullkrug. Other options, apart from Ings, would be to perhaps look at Guilherme, which could be trusted with a starting spot for the first time, or look to the academy with Lewis Orford.
Potter doesn't have too many options, with the look of signing a striker this window seems more narrow by the day, we will most likely just have to put up with what we've got. Not to mention, the rumours of Sullivan taking over transfers appears to be true, as the latest of rumours are that we've had a 50 Million bid rejected for Jhon Duran, meaning one thing and one thing only... the phantom bids are back! It makes no logical sense to do this, why submit a bid so high if we're supposedly 'struggling with PSR'?
With no transfers in sight and social media scattered with these ridiculous rumours, it seems to be that the youth academy and Potters' belief in them will have to save the remainder of our season.
18 days remaining of the window... tick tock
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