ExWHUemployee Column: Striker shopping list growing by the day, New keeper likely, Song & more
by ExWHUemployee on August 18th, 2015
The Leicester City game was a real disappointment but was completely to be expected as any West Ham fan would tell you.
We always seem to follow up brilliant results, like the one at Arsenal, with a loss in a game we probably should have expected to win. I also find whenever we do novelty things for games we lose those too, so the omens were there. The main problem for me was the defending in the first half, we too often stood off our man and couldn't deal with the pace and width that they had. The formation left our fullbacks often exposed and in fairness neither, particularly Jenkinson, had a great game. I was surprised that Jenkinson came in straight away to replace Tomkins. Whilst long term Jenkinson is obviously the better right back, I would never change a winning team (especially one that won away at Arsenal) unless there was an injury. Unfortunately Reece Oxford also struggled, but I think this is no reflection at all on the talent he has and we are right to expect big things from him. I think Bournemouth will offer the same threat and it will be interesting to see whether we have learnt anything from the game.
I felt the referee had a poor game and we really should have had a penalty when Sakho was brought down by the keeper. Adrian's sending off was really harsh as well and had it been any other referee I don't think it would have been a red. This ref seems to take great offence to any boot slightly off the ground at Upton Park (he has history of this here). Despite what Slaven had originally said, we appealed the decision as club officials believe that it was wrong.
As has recently been reported, the red card was not rescinded. It is a worry that Adrian will now miss three games because Randolph hasn't impressed in the games he has played so far. Many have written him off already before he has really had a chance to prove himself. Whilst I haven't been impressed I am prepared to give him the chance to redeem himself. He was highly rated at Birmingham and hopefully we will see why. I thought Obiang looked a good player when he came on and Payet is obviously a class act.
We have been strongly linked with Robert Green this week, especially now that Adrian has been suspended. I am under the impression that he isn't a priority and is unlikely to be signed for a couple of reasons. Firstly he is on large wages which we are trying to cut down on and secondly the board want to give Randolph a chance to prove that he is a good signing. With Adrian's ban in place we may look to sign a goalkeeper on loan, which could be Robert Green, but the club are also looking at Manchester United's Anders Lindegaard in case a deal for Green doesn't work out.
This week we have been continued to be linked with many forwards, most of which have already been linked. We have a list of forwards of which many do not appear to be that close. The most likely destination for our next purchase is abroad as the club feel this offers the best value for money. Yilmaz is someone that we have considered but again this will not be finalised until other options have been explored (it's a similar tactic to that used with our managers). We have other targets who we are also looking at and have submitted a number of bids to test the water. I have covered this before but the stories keep being recycled: Hernandez will not be joining this window, unless Manchester United sign at least two more forwards. Austin will not sign, unless the price is dropped significantly because he has a dodgy knee, which we will not risk for £15m. Adebayor really wants to join us and has made that clear to all parties, however he is seen as a backup option. Berahino would be a real consideration but again his price is way too high. Callum Wilson of Bournemouth and Benik Afobe of Wolves are both admired but their lack of top level experience and their inevitable high price have meant they are unlikely as well, as much as I would like either. Eduardo Vargas on loan from Napoli is an option that we are also exploring. As I mentioned last week there are also a couple of young talents playing in the European leagues that we are very interested in. Some of these names are very much sought by other clubs as well, so the club are wishing to keep them quiet, although all have been guessed by people on my twitter feed and the odd one picked up by the press. The main target can play as a winger/forward, has a 1 in 2 goals ratio for his current club and has also scored in the champion's league already despite his age.
I had a number of people saying that an excellent ITK on a well-read website had announced that the Song deal had been finalised whereas the media are reporting he is now a top target for Everton. My understanding is that the situation with Song has not changed much at all in recent weeks. The deal to us is agreed in principle and we are able to finalise it but we are waiting till the end of the window to save us wages and to have a final check on the injury that he is carrying. As soon as it is finalised it would obviously be announced by the club, as there would be no reason not to. I don't believe that Song would be interested in a move to Everton as he very much wants to re-join us and London is also a big factor in the move. I don't believe Everton are even interested because they have a number of defensive midfielders and on a limited budget they are looking at other positions.
It has been a while now that I reported that we turned down Ayew because of his wages. I took a lot of abuse from Swansea fans when they said I was talking rubbish and that he had chosen them over us. Jack Sullivan has now specified the wages we offered 90k a week and Swansea 120k a week. 120k would be way above our current highest earner (Andy Carroll on approximately 90K a week) and this would have shattered our wage structure. Whilst he would have been a great signing, those wages do seem very steep.
I will continue to update my twitter feed with any other news that I hear, I personally think if we look at the overall progress in the window as a whole we have bought well. We just must make sure we add at least one other forward and a couple of midfield players, especially now that we are likely to also sell Amalfitano after his recent fall out with Bilic.
The atmosphere on Saturday was brilliant, especially after we scored, lets continue this into the Bournemouth game and hopefully this time we will get the right result. COYI.
Twitter - @ExWHUemployee
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