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Reports are treating it as a given that we will sign Defoe (34) and Zabaleta (32). Of course both players have proven quality and both still seem good for at least one season. With Defoe on an escape clause and Zabaleta on a free, we can afford, short-term, the massive wage deals required for their services. One would hope that they would be a good influence at the club and not just to be put out to pasture. I could see Zabaleta possibly being a solution to the right back crisis, and if Byram were ever to develop the quality he was supposed to have (which I doubt, sadly), Zabaleta wouldn't be to bad a player to provide. Amazingly, Defoe still has more pace and guile in him than anyone we had up front this season. So, relatively speaking this is not a bad start. We can hope, too, that at least one or two of the loaned out players gets a chance to break into the team next season. So where would you put your money if you had it to spend? And more importantly, who would you spend on?
I agree with you 100% but did
I agree with you 100% but did we know at the time of signing them that the guys we signed were going to flop so badly and some of the guys you mention have as big an impact as they did- I didn't . as I said it's only hindsight which makes our business rubbish but you cant deny if we sign a striker who will get 15 goals at this level regardless of who he is and how old he is that is good business coming from where we are at the moment. and I would also hope that if we get JD & Zabaleta we compliment it with young exciting players from the championship like we did with Antonio and Cresswell and hopefully involve a few more youngsters from our own academy
Kc, certainly some of our
Kc, certainly some of our signings are flops but I think some would definately be better under a better manager, did you just suggest Defoe would get us 15 goals if he joined us? Interesting mmm. Defoe of old maybe. Noble or Lanzini will take pens next season so at most I'd go for 7 or possibly 8. Some people are really clutching at straws how good Defoe currently is.
red neck - he got 15 in a
red neck - he got 15 in a relegated team - granted some were pens but surely we created and missed far more chances than sunderland - he converts half of zaza's chances alone
Just read that Zabaleta says he has "other offers"
So the game is the usual one: he wants more money to join West Ham ...
Ditto Defoe, apparently
Ditto Defoe, apparently
of course they are going to
of course they are going to say they've been offered more money elsewhere - this is what agents do but for 1 or 2 seasons while we find our level and tweak the squad it cant hurt to have these two on board as we know what were getting
Kelechi Iheanacho
for £20miilion apparently.....young quick and can score so I guess we will enjoy being linked but unless he ups his injury history we wont be making a serious approach:-)
would be great business -
would be great business - very similar to early JD and the board might take a fancy to him as at 20 there is plenty of sell on for them
Kc, obviously it all opinion
Kc, obviously it all opinion but I stick to what I say about Defoe not getting 15 next season. I suppose only time will tell. He obviously isn't our marquee players and I doubt he will be the big striker signing which unless bilic plays 2 upfront then he's a squad signing. If so why are we buying squad players again! Have we learnt nothing? I except this as a good signing on if we ditch calleri, Valencia and at least one of sakho or Carroll and loan out fletcher and Martinez.
why are we buying squad
why are we buying squad players??????!!!????
obviously needed to back up injuries and suspensions and loss of form. at more than one point of the season we had a player out of position playing up top - this is exactly why we need a squad - Valencia is as good as gone- sakho shouldn't play for us again, id expect calleri to go and one of fletch or Martinez to be loaned to a championship club. at no point did I say he should be our main man but even as a 2nd option he's already better than what we have on the books currently
Surely if we buy players to
Surely if we buy players to be in our first 11 the players they replace become squad players! That way technically we just get better! The man city guy is probably what we need to buy. If we get batsuyi as well i'd get shot of every striker we have bar Martinez and maybe we can have Defoe. I'd like to see at least 2 youngsters on our bench every game. Oxford hasn't played a lot at reading, so he has wasted a year, Burke injury could be ditto. The Everton boy may get a chance Holland? Cullen should get a few chances from the bench. There is plenty o kids we can feature from the bench at times. I'm sure they can do just as well as the deadbeats bought and could easily use them as squad players of a lesser ilk
agreed totally - but at the
agreed totally - but at the moment defoe would be our best striker -him along with iheanacho on a perm deal and batschauyi on loan would be a good addition to carroll and would represent different options - I too would like to see 2 or 3 kids on the bench and hopefully we will be at the right end of the table so can afford to blood the kids - I would like to see Martinez Cullen and Quina particularly
did anyone else notice
when chelski beat Watford on Monday and had a few fringe players in the side a certain loftus cheek was not even on the bench couple of chelski supporters at work say he is not injured and found it strange that he was notgiven a run out as they really rate him...well if they don't want him he would be a good addition to our team
Really like some of the suggestions here
Get in Iheanacho and/or Batshuayi (one permanent one loan sounded good), get shot of other stikers, have Defoe and Carroll as squad players; Zabaleta may still solve our RB problem for a season (don't know how slow he is now, though), and we should definitely be bringing some of the kids to the bench most weeks and giving them opportunity WHENEVER POSSIBLE. These are good suggestions, and if not these people, at least the right general idea. I'd also try to add another playmaking midfielder to complement Lanzini. We could be good!!! Big questions are: would these people (Iheanacho/Batshuayi) really come? Batty I don't think wants to be a Hammer! Would Defoe settle for being a super-sub? I don't think so. I think he'd sulk. Carroll could of course have nothing to say -- he plays when he's healthy and not otherwise (which is most of the time). But even Andy wants to be starting when he's fit, and he's not always suited to the right strategy against a particular team. Some teams know how to absorb the pressure he creates. So, it will take: (1) Fair investment, (2) Strong Management, and (3) Reasonable inducements to fill out the squad and bring in good (not great) new starting players. But it can be done! COYI
I think batschuayi would come
I think batschuayi would come on loan as he would still be able to go back to Chelsea if he was successful - I think a loan for him would be best as he is still unproven in this league although he has had a good few wks. Iheanacho would be my number 1 target as he looks as though hes already found his feet in the prem. defoe shouldn't really expect to be the main guy wherever he goes at his age he must know his games will be limited and as for AC well he should be happy with what he gets but saying that having 4 top class strikers(when fit) competing for places with no one guaranteed a place is healthy - totally in agreement re support for lanzini, I was hoping snograss/ayew would provide this but one can hope. who would come into the conversation then as I haven't seen us linked with anyone In that position although ajax have a few gems who probably wouldn't cost a lot
batman
we should make an enquiry as to his availability as rumoured chelski want to offload and not loan but his couple of goals against wba and Watford may make conti rethink...so contact them find out if he is going to be sold or loaned find out from agent if he would consider a move to us if not then move on and stop chasing someone who is not interested...sounds simple and I would think it is but we need to be swift in our dealings this summer instead of hanging around then paying way over the odds for players.
NEWSFLASH people we just
NEWSFLASH people we just finished 11th, Defoe is better than our current striker and Zabaletta is better than Byram even if he was 44. Get a grip people inside this West Ham bubble of a forum we get a bit carried away by who we can pull in. Hold your powder dry and see what happens. Last seasons were disappointing, but only in hindsight, the seasons before were successful but again only in hindsight. If we don't get players in that can make a difference of course we'll be struggling. but who of us real really knows and can predict whether that player will succeed or fail? I'm sure all Chelsea fans thought god had answered their prayers when the Liverpool goals machine was bought for £50 million
preach Betty :)
preach Betty :)
most sensible post i've seen here
It looks like
It looks like Defoe is near signing for Bornemouth. Although he despite being 34 years old is still a good player, we need fresh forces. His wage then is high, the same argument applies to Zabaleta. Involve money on talented young people
Defoe wage quoted as 130k a
Defoe wage quoted as 130k a week!
If £130,000 /wk.
then yes, that's WAY too much for Defoe, and Cherries are crazy to throw that much money at him.
Apparently
Apparently we are signing for Zabaleta for free
Yes, but his wage demands will be similar to Defoe's
If not higher. I still remember when Wayne Bridge came to us as a supposed answer to our Left Back problem. He came on HUGE wages and was terrible. Such a gamble to sign players whose career is essentially finished.
Don't know what to make of rumours
but I really dont want to see Smalling in C&B next season. He has been AWFUL at times.
Callieri and Tore have been
Callieri and Tore have been sent back and Arbeloa will be leaving end of June
I think that's good news.
I know some people were hoping Calleri would come good, but he was given a fair opportunity. Tore never seemed up to it at all. Hope we do better this time around. Feghouli and Snodgrass could potentially be more settled for us next season ... who knows.
Zabaleta deal announced
Will he be another Wayne Bridge? An Alvaro Arbeloa? A Lucas Neill? Or will he be the answer to our RB problem -- the man who frees up Antonio to become a marauder down the lines? He certainly adds experience. And he may develop an understanding with Lanzini (though I'm not sure the assumption that just because he's Argentinian is a good one). He adds at least some appearance of intent, toughness, and professionality to the side: all things that we need. COYI -- here's to a good season Zabaleta!
And 1 good point ,he never
And 1 good point ,he never gets injured
West Ham injury curse -
West Ham injury curse - "Challenge accepted."
Didnt think Wayne Bridge was
Didnt think Wayne Bridge was to bad for us and how can you stick Lucas Neill in the same category as the other 2? Neill was our best captain for years and apart from the odd game was pretty much one of most consistent performers. Never should of let him go when we did. Once he left it started going down hill
Wayne Bridge was a massive
Wayne Bridge was a massive let down! Lucash was a good captain though and one of the better signings during a dark period... Llungberg, Upson, Faubert anyone? On another note if we sign Iheanacho, I would like us to go for Walcott next... controversial but imagine him with Antonio and Lanzini and then Ayew and Iheanacho up front. That would be a pretty good attack
Faubert!!
Out of all the poor players ive seen over the years at the boleyn,for me he was the most frustrating of the lot...
When he signed the club was raving about how much of a talent he was,but he was supposed to be a right back,you never saw him in that position!!You could guarantee that whenever the opposing side attacked (& scored a lot of the time!) faubert would have been wandering aimlessly on the wing somewhere!!You were lucky if he averaged 1 accurate pass in 10,even his throw-ins used to go to the other side!!!
I think you can guess i wasnt his biggest fan...
Lucash
Yes, I have to admit that Lucas Neill had some good spells at times. He was a bit of an enforcer. But he had a nasty habit of giving away penalties -- ever since the famous penalty that gifted Italy the win in the WC quarterfinals. The thing is, we had seen plenty of Lucas Neill down under, and he was past his best by the time he went to West Ham, which is probably why I remember him as being better than what he was in C&B. But to be fair, Kevin Nolan was past his best, too, when he came to us, and he made a great difference in getting us promoted and stable in our first season back up.