West Ham United Blog

Hammers in Transfer frenzy or just a slow news day?

West Ham have been linked with a number of players over the past day or so.  Let's look at these in running order.  The first is the old favourite, Benni Mcarthy.  This seems to me the least likely option of all of them.  Having spent 7 mill on Deano and with Bobby and Marlon proving their Premiership worth, I don't see the board backing another huge bid for a striker.  The only circumstances I can see this happening is if we get into Europe, but let's not count our chickens just yet people!

Next up is Jimmy Bullard - apparently, a few clubs have raised their antlers over his revelation that he does have a buyout clause in his contract.  As we know, Jimmy started his career with the Hammers so there is a link there.  If we can get hold of the tidy, utility midfielder for around 3 million I think that would be an excellent addition to our strong but small midfield line up.

The other two are Villa's Delany and Glen Johnson.  That we will be buying a right back in the Summer is a no-brainer and expect us to be linked with every one in the footballing world.  if we can get Glen back for a low figure it might be worth an investment, however for me his defensive qualities are just not good enough.  Delaney is a more experienced player and of the two, has better qualities and would be welcome at Upton Park.

Or maybe we're gonna buy none of them and the papers ran out of Sven stories for the day!

Aliadiere launches attack on Hammers

Jeremie Aliadiere, the best West Ham striker since Alex Bunbury, has launched an attack on Pardew and his time on-load at the Hammers.  Apparently he feels he would have been better off training with Thierry Henry then staying on the Hammers sidelines.  He may have a point, but I think if Wenger fancies you then he does not farm you out to Celtic, West Ham or Wolves, so maybe less whinging and more focussing on your development young man.

England Call up

Anton Ferdinand and Nigel Reo-Coker have been called up in Peter Taylor's England U21 Squad to face Norway next Tuesday (28th Feb).  Quite right to, both the boys have come on leaps and bounds this season, growing in confidence and stature with every game.  Likely to be on Sky Sports, so make sure you cheer on the lads.

Meet a Hammers legend in Kent

Tony Cottee is doing a meet, greet and talk down Kent way on 3rd March. I've not met one of my fave ex-Hammers but by all accounts he is very amiable and loves to talk about his Hammers past. Though we all want to know what really went on in Malaysia! Click here for more.

Up for the Cup

If anyone was to have offered me a reply from our match against Bolton at 3pm on Saturday, I would have gladly accepted.  Bolton are a real tough nut to crack at home and to get a draw and take them back to Fortress Upton Park is an excellent result.  However, the next round is likely to be equally difficult, with another trip to the North West likely.  City deserverdly beat us there earlier in the season but we are a different proposition right now and we can look forward to a replay at the very least.

Trotting to the Trotters

Bolton in the Cup tomorrow - Gabbi and Mullins are doubtful which is a blow against a stubborn Bolton side.  Elliot Ward returns from Plymouth tommorow, hopefully he'll have done enough to get back into the squad.  He was raw but solid last season and deserves another chance to partner Sir Anton of Ferdinand.  Roy 'don't call me Mark E Smith' Carroll is set for a back-op which could keep him out for 6 weeks.  A real blow, Shaka is cool but just not as good as Roy.  Come back soon Roy....

Pikey's back

An interview with old Hammer Geoff Pike who now works for the PFA as a regional coach.  Pikey was certainly around in my years as a junior Hammer, and my two memories are him getting on the scoresheet in a 3-1 victory over Arsenal and also scoring in that FA Cup victory at Old Trafford.  Have a read here

Search for a right back

It seems we have been linked with a Real Sociedad right back, by the name of Aitor Lopez Rekarte (let's hope he doesn't score too often) who could move to us in the Summer, although Real say there is no approach.  That we need a permanent member there however is a no-brainer.  Jury is still out on Scaloni, but my feeling is he won't stay.  Although he was apparently v happy that he was made a paella by the West Ham chef last week.

This did get me thinking about who we might bring in and clear out over the Summer.  For me, it would be best for Dailly to move on.  I've nothing against the guy, in fact he seems like a good bloke, but think he would be best off getting a fresh start somewhere else.  Teddy may decide to call it a day, I think it would be great if he stayed on and learnt his coaching credentials with us but Pards may be uncomfortable with that.  I can't think of any of the starting 11 that i would like to see go apart from that, such is the quality of their play this season.  Just get us some real cover at the back Pards!

Executive Boxes

Such is the success of the clubat the current time, they have introduced a new row of executive boxes for the Prawn Sandwich brigade (who'd have thought that Roy Keane could add to the English language in such a way?) - the view is great, I wonder if the Hammerettes will change in there too?

Seven up...

So last night the Hammers continued their excellent run of form with a comfortable victory over Birmingham in the league.  I'm as delighted as any fan, but the way we won did leave some questions.  Is our current league position, like that of Spurs, more a reflection of the paucity of the league rather than our own qualities?  Sure, we have some good players, a great spirit and are a real threat up front.  But for me, our defence remains shaky, we lack any squad depth except up front (Dailly has enough critics already but I for one agree with them) and we can still revert to the old West Ham at any moment.  I hate to be the bringer of doom, but us against a quality European side will still be men against boys unless we added at least 3 players to the squad.

People criticise Chelsea, but for me all they illustrated was that with the addition of real quality into a side, a team could run away with the league because the standard is not that high and even they have struggled in Europe because the cream is just too rich up there.

The Hammers have shown excellent quality in a measurement of mediocre football, what remains to be seen is if the bar is raised by other clubs, whether or not we can still compete.