Daily WHUFC News - 30th December 2017

Oxford to return from Monchengladbach loan
WHUFC.com

Reece Oxford is to return from his loan spell with German Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, manager David Moyes confirmed in his Friday press conference. Oxford spent the first half of the season in Germany, featuring in three top flight and one German Cup matches during his loan spell. The 19-year-old became the Hammers' youngest-ever player when he made his debut aged just 16 in a UEFA Europa League tie against Andorran side Lusitans in July 2015. He has gone on to make 14 senior appearances to date in Claret and Blue and Moyes is looking forward to working with the England U20 international. "Reece Oxford will come back. We will take a look at him and see how he is," the manager confirmed. "I hope we can help improve him - I've only just met him, but I know he is well thought of here and we will work with him."

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Ayew: Every game is crucial when you are in our position
WHUFC.com

While Andre Ayew refused to use the term 'six-pointer' when asked about next Tuesday's Premier League meeting with West Bromwich Albion, the forward appreciates the importance of beating the struggling Baggies. West Brom go into their New Year's Eve fixture at home to Arsenal 19th in the table, three points and two places behind West Ham United, who have a free weekend after their own trip to Tottenham Hotspur was moved to 4 January on police advice. Ayew, who has three top-flight goals and two assists to his name this term, knows victory over Alan Pardew's side would not only keep the Hammers above West Brom in the standings, but also potentially see them move up the standings and away from the bottom three. "In the Premier League, every game is different, so we will see what happens," said the Ghanaian. "It's hard to predict what is going to happen in the game, but what I can say is that we will do everything we can to get the three points in front of our fans. "West Brom is going to be a tough one, but we've got the players and staff for it and the fans behind us, so we need to try and get three points at home and it will be very important for us to start the New Year on a good note. "Every game is crucial when you are in our position. We're not the only ones in this position, either, as there are a lot of teams in that position, so we need to try and get out of there and make some room and to do that we need to breathe, play our game, get points and win games. "We all know their quality on set pieces, it's been there for years. They also have good players in their squad like Krychowiak and Chadli, so we need to do our job and, if everyone sticks to their job, everything will hopefully be OK."

Ayew believes West Ham have shown improvement under new manager David Moyes, but insists there is still room to perform much better, particularly when in possession of the ball. "We've been a bit up and down and inconsistent, but we have shown that we're hard to beat [in recent weeks]. We've shown a lot of character and determination offensively and defensively and we need to keep working hard. "We know we can still progress in the way we play and the way we pass the ball around, so we're going to work on that until the end of the season. We've worked hard technically, tactically and physically and our results have improved. We need to stick to that. "When you're in a situation like this, when there is a change of manager, everyone is in a new situation. The gaffer has put his words in and those words touched a lot of players, so we need to follow what he wants us to do and how he wants us to do it, as we can see it is paying off. We need to believe in him, and get him to believe in us. "We have played a lot of games in the last few weeks, so we need to rest well, recover well, train hard and go again at home. That's football, because the next game is always the most important one. We're going to prepare for that."

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Team news: Noble closing in on return, Antonio update
WHUFC.com

Mark Noble is closing in on a return to first team action ahead of the Hammers' London Stadium clash with West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday evening. The West Ham United skipper has missed the last three matches after suffering a hamstring injury in the 3-0 victory at Stoke City in mid-December, but has resumed training and is almost ready to join manager David Moyes' full sessions again. The boss confirmed he is making good progress, but says it is too early to know whether Michail Antonio would be ready for a return in midweek after he picked up a groin problem which forced him to miss Boxing Day's 3-3 draw with Bournemouth.
"Mark Noble is making progress," Moyes said. "He's trained for a couple of days. He's not joined us yet, but he's making progress. "Michail Antonio has not joined us for training yet, he's recovering. His groin isn't as bad as we first thought, but will he make the game? It's probably just a bit too soon to say."

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Moyes: West Brom, Arnautovic's hot streak and the January window
WHUFC.com

David Moyes faced the press on Friday afternoon ahead of Tuesday's Premier League meeting with West Bromwich Albion. Following the 3-3 draw with AFC Bournemouth on Boxing Day, the manager was asked about the challenge of the Baggies as the Hammers look to climb the table, Marko Arnautovic's fine form, the upcoming January transfer window and more. Here's what Moyes had to say.

The challenge of West Brom…

The most important thing is to focus on ourselves and how we can get away from the bottom end of the Premier League table. I don't like harking back to it, but I think we might have been up to 13th if the decision on Callum Wilson's equaliser had gone for us at Bornemouth. That would have made us feel a lot better, but all we can do is focus on ourselves, and keep our home form as good as possible.

Marko Arnautovic's hot streak

Marko was a big signing for the Club and everybody was expecting something from him. He wasn't a new recruit to the Premier League so you hope he hits the ground running. He's done really well for us in the games, he's helped the team greatly. His energy and effort has rubbed off on the supporters and he's doing a good job for us. That needs to continue because we need him so I hope his form continues.

Reece Oxford's return

Reece will come back from his loan at Borussia Monchengladbach. I've never worked with Reece, so I'll take the time to have a look at him and see how he does. I know that he's been talked of very highly, and he's gone out on loan, so we'll get him back in and see how he is. I hope we could help improve him because he's a young player and we hope the work we will give him will help him. I've not worked with him before and I don't know the boy – I've only just met him, actually.
From that point of view it's going to take a little while to know exactly what he does but I know he's well thought of here, so we'll work with him and see what he's up to.

Transfer window

If I believe everything that's said [in the press], we must be signing 15 players in this window by all accounts! We've made it known that if we can bring in one or two reinforcements to the team we will do so. I think every manager will say the same, but it's not a particularly good time and it's not that easy to do business. It's also probably an expensive month in the year as well. We'll try and do it but there's no guarantee.

The manager is the one who will always take the final say because if you bring the players in you will be judged by them. If I wasn't the one bringing them in I wouldn't have come to the club in the first place, because I want to be judged by my team and by the players I bring in. I've not known anything different, the owners have told me that it will always be my decision.

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TIME TO ACT DECISIVELY IN THE TRANSFER WINDOW WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 DECEMBER 2017 AT 9:18PM
TheWesTHaMWay.co.uk
Written by @farehamhammer

Yes! Bob Madley robbed us of three points. But to be truthful that would have just glossed over the stark reality, that we were very poor. It's clear to everybody, that our midfield needs a massive overhaul. The Board have got to cough up, no spin from their Choirboy about "Moyes being happy with what he has got" and the next minute saying the manager had a 20m "war chest". Twenty million is peanuts in today's transfer market and The Board know it, time to cough up gentleman! We are playing catch up due to the lack of serious investment for the last few windows. No phantom bids, haggling over £200 with the selling Club. Offering a player far less than they are on at present, time for gimmicks are long gone, the days of hanging managers out to dry does not wash anymore, either invest or we get relegated it is as simple as that.

It's not as though we have just suffered this season due to having a poor midfield, this has been the case for a long time. No pace, creativity or movement, even the simple task of retaining possession has been beyond our midfield. Slow pedestrian passes in the middle of the park, then when closed down quickly by the opposition, the ball is shovelled back in a hurry to our under pressured defence, resulting in the ball getting hoofed forward to anywhere. This has been the case under Allardyce, Bilic, Moyes and even Zola at least. Try as we might but we have never really replaced Yossi Benayoun, although Manuel Lanzini has certainly done the business in patches. As seen against Arsenal and Bournemouth, when Lanzini doesn't play West Ham don't play. The big problem with Lanzini is that he is inconsistent, which is frustrating as one senses there is so much more to come from the jewel that he is! Lanzini is also paying the price for a lack of quality in the middle of the park to assist him.

With a midfield like ours is anyone surprised our strikers have struggled? Our strikers have had to drop so deep, they have been almost on the half way line when they have been receiving the ball. Not even Messi could make an impact if he had been playing for us. Christ on a bike it is not bloody rocket science! You need the ball carried forward by the midfield, the opposition retreating. Resulting in space opening for the strikers and the goals come! Another way is for the midfield to feed tricky and pacey wingers, they go around the defence, and hey presto the strikers receive the ball on the front foot and the goals come! The defence have also suffered due to having no protection from the midfield. Let it sink in! Little Bournemouth, relegation threatened Bournemouth, cut through our midfield like a knife through butter. Launching attack after attack on our defence, under such constant pressure even the best of defences would wilt. True Zabaleta and Collins do get done for pace, but a clever holding midfielder directing the midfield would offer them protection, allowing the likes of Zabaleta to roam forward from time to time.

There has been a lot of slating of Kouyate and Obiang by some fans who suddenly believe Noble is the answer again. On the back of what? At the best of times Noble, Obiang don't work anyway as they are basically the same type of player, as for Kouyate never the brightest player offensively or defensively, he simply couldn't care two hoots. Walking back when the defence is under pressure, the language of someone who does not want to be at The Club. I don't know what has happened to Obiang since Bilic left, but he is a shadow of the player he had been under Slaven Bilic, when for a long period he had been our stand out player.

Depends on who we manage to bring in, I could see both Obiang and Kouyate leaving. The trouble is we are really going to battle to attract top players with the position we are in. Managers and players don't want relegation on their C/V for starters, forget about William Carvalho, there is more chance of me Sh****** Kate Middleton with Prince William watching than that happening! As for Steven N'Zonzi, the player has always blown hot and cold wherever he has played, so coughing out that sort of dough would be a big risk, even if we were prepared to cough up that sort of dough, Everton would be able to offer him a better salary and our league position would count against us. So, what of the other name being mention as a potential target, Ki Sung-Yueng the South Korean central midfielder who plays for Swansea City. He would be a shrewd signing, great vision, technique, can play a variety of passes and good at set pieces, certainly capable of lifting a ball over the defence, he would be a big help in the middle of the park. Stoke City's Joe Allen, is another player being mentioned. Again, a good player and like Ki a big upgrade on what we have! Allen is a playmaker, good defensively and attacking wise, a lovely passer of the ball. Some will turn their nose up at the likes of Ki and Allen because they are not 'next' level players.

Well people need to get real! All hands-on deck we are fighting a relegation battle! That is the reality! It is going to be an extremely tough window; the January window is always a tough one to deal with. Money is tight all round, gone are the days of players going for £30m! £40m! £50m! with minutes to spare before the window closes. Clubs don't want to part with their best players mid-season, not just West Ham, but loans are the one in January but there are good permanent deals out there. Still Gold and Sullivan have known the short comings for a long time, and have had more than enough time to have deals in place for the first week of January. Time to correct your wrongs, if you don't… we will be relegated. That will be your FIFTH relegation, IF that were to happen you will find out what Armageddon is all about!

We are more than a football Club, we're a way of life!!

COYI!!
Farehamhammer!!!
(Edited by Danny Twigg)

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Oxford returned against his wishes, insist Gladbach
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 29th December 2017
By: Staff Writer

Borussia Monchengladbach have confirmed that Reece Oxford has returned to West Ham - but insist that the player would rather remain in Germany. Hammers boss David Moyes, speaking to the media earlier today confirmed that Oxford was on his way back to West Ham for the second half of the campaign after his season-long loan spell with Gladbach was cut short. However in a news article appearing on the Bundesliga club's own website this afternoon (Friday), Sporting Director Max Eberl claimed that Oxford had been recalled to West Ham against his wishes - and confirmed that they were still attempting to clinch a permanent deal for the England youth international. "We were informed of West Ham's decision to activate the clause and recall him this morning," said Eberl. "However, we continue to be in talks with West Ham regarding Reece Oxford completing a permanent move to Borussia. It is also the player's wish to stay at Gladbach."

Oxford, who made just four first team appearances during his six months in Germany is yet to comment publicly since returning to London. West Ham were able to recall him due to an appearance clause in his loan contract not being met.

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Hammers eye Argentine midfielder
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 29th December 2017
By: Staff Writer

West Ham are one of several clubs being linked with a January move for Argentine international Nicolas Gaitan. The 29-year-old midfielder is currently out of favour at his current club Atletico Madrid, for whom he has started just six La Liga matches this campaign, and is set to be sold next month according to AS.
And whilst Colchoneros are seeking a fee in the region of £15million for a player signed last year from Benfica for €25 million, a short-term loan move to England may be of interest to Gaitan who has failed to settle at the Wanda Metropolitano. The 5'8" midfielder, who began his career in his home country with Boca Juniors can also operate as a winger, offering the kind of versatility that could be of interest to Hammers boss David Moyes.

* Diafra Sakho could be set to leave West Ham in the next few days - after receiving a bumper offer from China. The wantaway striker has been looking for a way of of the club for some considerable time and could be set to become the latest Premier League player to move to the Far East, according to a piece in the Express. Shanghai Shenhua, who play in the 33,000 capacity Hongkou Football Stadium and only became a professional outfit 24 years ago are seeking to land the Senegal international. West Ham are likley to ask around £15million for the 28-year-old.

* West Ham are keeping tabs on the situation regarding Borussia Dortmund winger Andre Schürrle. The former Chelsea player, 27, is seeking a new challenge for the second half of the 2017/18 campaign having featured less frequently than he would have liked for his current club. And with the World Cup Finals just six months away, agent Ingo Haspel insists that he could be tempted by a temporary switch. "Basically Andre wants to play as much as possible," said Haspel. "If the playing time is not guaranteed then it would be downright negligent not to think about what the future might look like and where to get more."

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Moyes seeking to 'improve' returning Reece
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 29th December 2017
By: Staff Writer

David Moyes says he is looking forward to working with teenage defender Reece Oxford, after it was confirmed that the defender would be returning to West Ham.
The 19-year-old spent the opening half of the 2017/18 campaign on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach, for whom he made just a handful of first team appearances. However Oxford is likely to be thrown straight in at the deep end upon his return to London, with fellow defender Jose Fonte still some way from reaching full fitness and Winston Reid struggling for form and benched for United's most recent outing at Bournemouth. Speaking during a press conference today, Moyes admitted that is looking forward to working with the England youth international, who has already returned to London. "Reece Oxford will come back", said Moyes. "We will take a look at him and see how he is. I hope we can help improve him - I've only just met him, but I know he is well thought of here and we will work with him."

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Bournemouth 3-3 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 29th December 2017
By: HeadHammerShark

"Night, night after day
Black flowers blossom"
- Massive Attack, "Teardrop"


There is a universal truth about being a sports fan, which is that when we pay our money to enter an arena and watch our event, we believe the encounter we are about to watch will be fair. We have to believe the fight won't be rigged, or that the race is straight or the competitors aren't cheating, otherwise the whole thing is a waste of time.

Now, let me state here and now that I don't believe that a game between Bournemouth and West Ham would be worth fixing. Of all the things the Bilderberg Group are doing, I have to imagine this would be quite a long way down the list. We have again been the victim of more poor officiating, and because our minds are conditioned to remember negative things more than positive, it feels like such an overwhelming weight of misfortune that we then begin to wonder if it truly is bad luck or something more sinister. For when a player who is offside scores a last minute equaliser with his hand, and a referee seemingly overrules his linesman to award that goal, then it's hard not to do a double take.

Brown envelope out of sight

So let me invoke Hanlon's Razor here - never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence. It is bizarre to suggest that referee Bobby Madley was bribed to turn this game in Bournemouth's favour, but I equally don't have any qualms in saying that his performance here was appalling. His first error was to fail to send off Simon Francis for a head high, studs up challenge on Cheikhou Kouyate. I don't think Francis was intending to catch Kouyate, and had his eyes firmly on the ball, but when you raise your studs to that height you also have a responsibility to ensure you don't land them on a fellow professionals face. Rather than consult another official or take his time and weigh the decision up, Madley instead brandished a yellow card immediately, which has the added effect of ensuring Francis won't even get the retrospective ban he deserves. And for anyone who hasn't seen it, and thinks perhaps I'm being a little melodramatic - you can judge for yourself here:

Just a yellow - nothing to see here

Similarly, Madley chose not to act on Josh King accidentally elbowing Pedro Obiang in the face off the ball. That probably sounds crazy, but the Norwegian flung his arms out in frustration at a decision and caught Obiang unaware, knocking him to the ground. I don't think there was any intent in the actions of King either, and that is more relevant in his case because the laws clearly state that a player must be dismissed for "deliberately striking an opponent". It doesn't seem unreasonable to me that players should refrain from throwing their elbows around, but they are also people and if we try to remove all joy and human emotion from football then we run the risk of turning this whole thing into BBC1 on Christmas night.

But where Madley fatally impacted this game was in the dying moments. We had floundered and fluked our way to a 3-2 lead, and with just seconds remaining a hopeful ball was pumped into our box. In truth, we hadn't dealt with that line of attack very well all day, and true to form Nathan Ake won the header. He looped the ball back across goal and a marginally offside Callum Wilson diverted the ball in with this arm.

The referee's assistant (oh the irony of that title) immediately raised his flag, and the goal was all set to be disallowed. At that point Madley trotted over to the sidelines. That, in itself, is fairly unusual given that he has a radio link with his assistants and I'm not sure I've ever really seen a referee do that for a straightforward offside decision. After a lengthy enough deliberation for a video referee to have reviewed the incident in real time and made the correct decision, Madley awarded the goal, because of course he fucking did.

Delving into the world of conjecture for a moment I have to suspect that the following happened: the assistant flagged for offside, Madley intimated that he didn't think Wilson touched the ball, the assistant pointed out that this couldn't really be true as the ball wasn't going in until Wilson used his arm to push it in, Madley disagreed because Callum Wilson is a theoretical concept and awarded the goal and the stadium announcer promptly told the world that Callum Wilson has just scored the equaliser. Some fucking magic, that.

In the end, I don't believe this was anything more than poor officiating but it's easy to get drawn into thinking otherwise. After all, I believe that there is an institutional corruption that sits at the heart of most sport. Had this happened against Manchester United, for example, I think that Madley would have disallowed the goal purely because human beings typically do the things that allow them the easiest lives. Referees know that they can make a decision like this against West Ham and be in the news cycle for one night. Do it against Mourinho and you're infamous for months.

So there you go: I think that elite level football is ludicrously tilted towards the rich; I believe that pretty much every high level athlete is using performance enhancing drugs and just because it started with track and field, swimming and cycling doesn't mean it won't be football and rugby soon enough; I believe that cup draws are probably at least partially fixed to satisfy the demands of television, sponsors and Vladimir Putin; and I think that one reason that governing bodies in football are so reluctant to introduce measures to help referees get more decisions correct is that big clubs don't want that to happen - why, after all, would you give up one of the inherent advantages of being a big club - namely that you can rely on most line decisions going your way?

But for all that might make me a tin foil hatted conspiracy theorist in your eyes, I can honestly say that I don't think referees are biased against West Ham for the simple reason that there would be no point. So when you boil all of that down, the reality is probably just that Bobby Madley is a bit of a shit referee.

***

"This is the highlight of your miserable life
A pessimist is never disappointed"
- Theaudience, "A Pessimist is Never Disappointed"


I could write yet more about the decisions in this game, and how I can't see any difference between the "deception" of Manuel Lanzini and the "magic" of Callum Wilson, but fixating too much on officiating would detract away from yet another disappointing performance. It may seem strange to say that when we scored three goals, but we spent most of this game clinging on to the coattails of a decidedly poor Bournemouth team and were particularly fortunate to pull level at 2-2, when Marko Arnautovic took advantage of Asmir Begovic wearing clown shoes in the driving rain.

We started well enough, with James Collins celebrating his recall by thumping home a trademark near post header from an Aaron Cresswell corner. I especially enjoyed this because Bournemouth placed a man on the post to specifically prevent this and he moved far enough from his spot to allow the ball in. It is worth remembering stuff like this when we question how managers can't organise their teams to defend properly - some footballers are so poor at concentrating that they can't even stand still when they're told to.

God bless men who can't stand still

That early lead didn't look particularly secure, however, as our back line seemed to have over indulged at Christmas, and the home team flooded forward in search of an equaliser, creating plenty of opportunities. King should have scored from one such chance, before Dan Gosling latched on to a weak Collins clearing header and rifled home the leveller. Oddly, we really should have been two ahead by this stage as Arthur Masuaku produced another trademark run before picking out Andre Ayew, who put the ball narrowly wide. On such slender threads can satisfactory Boxing Nights hang.

By this stage the rain was hammering down like Blade Runner, although even Roy Batty might have seen some new things here. After Ake scrambled home another shittily defended set piece to give the home side the lead their pressure warranted, it looked as though we would have yet another disappointing trip to the coast. Enter Begovic, who casually controlled a backpass before falling over his own feet, allowing Arnautovic - who hadn't stopped running - to capitalise with a neat left footed finish. Score one for the Moyes school of sergeant majoring the fuck out players.

Better was to come when Masuaku again went roaming with just a minute to go and picked out Chicharito who made a complete Benteke of it, but was saved when Begovic again lost control of his limbs and Arnautovic poked home his fifth goal in as many games. With just injury time to come, it seemed as though we had done enough to steal a win we didn't really deserve - a trait that Moyes would be very welcome to bring with him from all those years at Goodison.

Unfortunately, there was still some Truly, Madley, Deeply action to come and as it was we are left to ponder what kind of world we live in where we can take four points from Arsenal and Chelsea but just one from Newcastle and Bournemouth, and that the only consistent thing about this team is that you don't ever know what they are going to do.

The worry is that these were two games where we could reasonably have expected to have shown a little more in attack. Sitting back and soaking up constant pressure is fine against the teams with several hundred million more to spend on their squads, but these were supposed to the games where we showed we could punch back against our fellow strugglers. And so we scored five and conceded six and the only thing we know is that we know nothing.

***

"Am I moving back in time? Just standing still?"
- The War on Drugs, "Pain"


High up on my list of concerns is the way in which our team seem to be ageing in front of our eyes. Pablo Zabaleta had to replaced here because Bournemouth targeted him in much the same way as Newcastle did, and got nearly as much joy from it. He gets a light ride from the London Stadium crowd because he's enthusiastic and runs around like a toddler on Fanta, but the truth is that his positional play still leaves a lot to be desired and we are forced to expose him as a wing back because we can't defend without playing three in the middle. The chances of him being able to play twice in three days strikes me as minimal, meaning that I suspect we'll see Rice at Wembley against Spurs, and seriously - are Sam Byram's hamstrings made out of spaghetti?

Zaba's going on a run again!

Zabaleta has also been booked seven times already this season, opening him up to red cards, and when players like Ryan Fraser can give him the kind of torrid afternoon that he did here, it bodes poorly for the remaining eighteen months of that characteristically stupid contract. Likewise, Winston Reid didn't even make the team here as he dropped out for Collins and we are now reduced to hoping that he didn't injure himself in doing so.
With Fonte also out long term, it would explain the apparent interest in Alfie Mawson who might cost £25m but can at least still go on an 18-30 holiday if he wants to. I don't know much about Mawson, but it would be lovely if Moyes could target a centre back who can actually pass the ball rather than hoof it in the general direction of Andy Carroll irrespective of whether he is on the pitch or not.

In front of them, Cheikhou Kouyate had another afternoon to forget, as his Catherine Wheel impression continued to have little impact on the game. Pedro Obiang has attracted a lot of opprobrium for his performances in these last couple of games, but I thought it was noticeable how much better he played alongside a proper central midfielder - Mark Noble - than we saw here. There is quite a lot of pressure on that central midfield area in this formation, given that we are giving up a body to play in the back three, and it asks a lot of the defensive midfielder.

After a promising start, in which Obiang looked like he might actually improve a little under Moyes, he has regressed and was replaced here by Carroll - our Goliath for all seasons. I'm not quite ready to judge the Spaniard in this system until we see him get a run out alongside a better midfield partner, but I don't think it was a coincidence that we looked much better when Lanzini went deeper and started our attacks. Either way, I predict some reinforcements will be arriving soon.

The double substitution of Carroll and Chicharito was supposed to galvanise us, but in reality just highlighted the paucity of attacking options that we currently seem to have. With only Lanzini and Masuaku able to create from deeper areas, we have to either rely on the mobile physicality of Antonio and Arnautovic or resort to the long range bombing approach and launch mortars at Fort Carroll and hope for something to land at the feet of Chicharito. And while we do that, the plan was that the sturdy defensive setup constructed by Moyes would allow us to keep clean sheets.

If we can't maintain any defensive structure while being more expansive, then Moyes will have to apply the handbrake and revert to a less attacking style to try and give us a chance of winning games like this 1-0. It might not be pretty, but relegation scraps never are. In the driving rain of the South Coast, we dropped two very precious points because of some awful refereeing, but also because we were defensively all over the place.

***

"Someone's got it in for me, they're planting stories in the press
Whoever it is, I wish they'd cut it out quick, but when they will I can only guess"
- Bob Dylan, "Idiot Wind"


It's nearly January everyone, and that means that David Sullivan is going to be staying up really late ringing agents in South America and furiously flicking through YouTube highlight reels in search of the next Nene. As every West Ham fan knows, the New Year generally brings yet more stupidity in the boardroom, and with the team waist deep in relegation trouble, this time will be no different. Brilliantly, someone in the West Ham/Sullivan PR team decided that a great way to kick off this particular transfer window would be to carry a story in the Mail about how Dave Sullivan Jr lives in a £40m luxury flat and "works harder than anyone he knows".

Another heart warming Christmas story

In fairness to the kid, I'd hate to be judged on things I said and did at the age of twenty, and so I'll choose to ignore the generally crass theme of the article and the incredibly tone deaf decision to celebrate unfathomable, undeserved wealth at a time when so many people in the country are suffering in a stagnant economy. But, honestly, who the hell thinks this stuff is a good idea? Why do these kids keep getting repeatedly exposed to public scrutiny of their lives and activities when it is such a red rag to a fanbase who already think their father is tight and screwing money out of the club? None of this is complicated - but when we're about to enter a month of transfer activity which will define our season, why would you be in the media boasting about your wealth...

...if you're going to do things like this?

Can you see how these two pictures cause problems, Dave? It doesn't matter whether the N'Zonzi story is true, or the fact that I agree that a loan approach is better, because the account that carried it has over sixty thousand followers and this cheap looking style fits a club who seem to have no money.

There were also lots of rumours today about Reece Oxford moving permanently to Germany, although we may now apparently recall him to play for us instead. The rumour there was that Moyes was keen to move the kid on in order to get some cash in for new signings. Quite why we should need cash given that we spent such a low sum in the summer is an issue in itself, but beyond that it also highlights the total stupidity of allowing a potentially temporary manager to make such decisions. Ask yourself whether you would want the substitute teacher expelling your kid, and that will give you an idea of how good a decision making set up this would be.

Moyes doesn't need to worry about what our squad will look like in 2020 because he knows that if we go down this summer he won't be here to worry about it. Once again a Director of Football would be best placed to make such a decision, and once again we don't have one. Let's therefore hope that the Oxford recall is with a view to turning him into a better West Ham player, rather than with a view to turning him into enough cash to buy declining 29 year old players for a relegation battle. We already have a squad full of them.

It's unimportant that one of these can get you a Mirallas

Yes, Oxford might have an attitude problem, and maybe he has a difficult agent, but those things are true of lots of teenage players. In the end, this is a chance for us to get a potentially high quality player for nothing, and flogging him to allow Sullivan to waste yet more funds on his idea of good footballers doesn't do anything for me. Oxford will mature one day, and we'll regret it immensely if he does so somewhere outside East London. Ultimately, when teams who are better than you want your players, that should tell you something about the asset you have. If we truly don't think we can get the best from an eighteen year old then I guess we should move him on, but in turn I would be asking some questions about exactly why that was the case.

So, who should we target? Well, I've outlined above how I'd like a centre back - although that is a slightly difficult assessment to make given that we don't really know how highly the club rate any of Reece Oxford, Reece Burke or Not Reece Declan Rice. A right sided defender to cover Zabaleta and Byram's incredible Chinese noodle hamstrings would also be useful. But we also clearly need a central midfielder who can get about the pitch and create something, while a striker that Moyes can trust to do some Diafra Sakho type things without being Diafra Sakho would really be helpful too.

There is absolutely no chance of us getting all of those players in January, so to my mind they absolutely have to target the midfield as we are currently only playing a three man midfield and still had to play strikers in there for the Arsenal cup game. N'Zonzi wouldn't have been a bad short term acquisition but at 29 he would be yet another to add to the phalanx of ageing one-last-contract types that clutter up our squad.

A better approach, for this season only, might be to target the big clubs and look at non playing member of their squads who are borderline choices for their countries and taking them on short loans. Anyone wanting to play at the World Cup will need game time between now and May, and we would be the ideal place for someone to stage a revival, provided we don't introduce them to Joe Hart.

As such, the link to Andre Schurrle makes sense, as would a return for Andre Gomes - a rumoured target around the time of the William Carvalho debacle. I like the idea of getting these hungry, motivated players, who can arrive and have an immediate impact. Of course, historically this has never worked for us but if the alternative is buying another Robert Snodgrass, then I'm happy to give it another whirl.

***

"But the drumbeat strains of the night remain
In the rhythm of the new born day"
- Al Stewart, "The Year of the Cat"


Some of you may have noticed that I didn't post an article for the Newcastle game. This wasn't a fit of pique but more because I decided to spend Christmas Eve with the family rather than spewing out 3,000 words on how our midfield was overrun by Mo Diame. I did, however, vent a little on Twitter which you can find here.

I've also been asking for some recollections from fans on Frank Lampard Jr, for a retro piece I'm writing at the moment. Any contributions would be gratefully accepted.

And with that, all that remains is for me to wish you all a very Happy New Year and to thank you for reading The H List in 2017. See you in 2018 - it's West Brom to start, so that's bound to be hugely entertaining.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to, KUMB.com.

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Allen going nowhere, says Stoke boss Hughes
KUMb.com
Filed: Friday, 29th December 2017
By: Staff Writer

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes says he has no intention of selling Joe Allen to West Ham during next month's transfer window. The Potters boss spoke out after a report in today's tabloids claimed that West Ham were showing an interest in the Welsh international and wanted him to link up once again with former team mate Marko Arnautovic. "It is the first I have heard of that," said Hughes, when asked about the possibility of a deal being done, "but it wouldn't surprise me because he has been impressive this year. "We can't afford to lose a player of Joe's quality - he is working exceptionally hard for us and we are really pleased with what he is producing for us at the moment." And rather than weaken his existing squad further, Hughes insisted that he is seeking to expand his selection pool.
It's clear that we are too stretched and ideally we would like to rectify that," he added. "We all know that January isn't the ideal time to get deals done, but there are opportunities and we feel there are areas that we need to strengthen." Allen, 27, was signed by Stoke from Liverpool in a £13million deal during the 2016 summer transfer window. The Welsh international began his career at Swansea, before making a £15million move to Anfield in 2012.

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Reece Oxford could feature for West Ham after David Moyes confirms defender's return
By Lyall Thomas
Last Updated: 29/12/17 5:52pm
SSN

Reece Oxford is set to assist West Ham's relegation fight after manager David Moyes confirmed they will "work with" the defender on his return from a loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach. The Hammers have recalled the 19-year-old from a season-long loan in Germany despite Monchengladbach being one of two Bundesliga clubs keen to sign him on a permanent deal. Moyes, whose side are a point above the relegation zone ahead of a crucial clash against fellow strugglers West Brom on January 2, confirmed Oxford "will come back". "We will take a look at him and see how he is," he said. "I hope we can help improve him. I've only just met him, but I know he is well thought of here and we will work with him."
Oxford, who can also play in defensive-midfield, played only four times for Monchengladbach this season but Sky Sports News understands they like what they have seen and expect the England U20 to develop into a top player. Monchengladbach want to sign the defender on a permanent deal worth £5.5m, and RB Leipzig also harbour an interest, having attempted to sign him when he was just 17 in 2016. West Ham value Oxford highly too, however, and would not let him leave unless they received an exceptional offer, according to Sky sources. Oxford, who signed a new West Ham contract last year that tied him to the club until 2021, has made 14 senior appearances for the Hammers.

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David Moyes says there are 'no guarantees' West Ham will make January signings
By Andy Swales
Last Updated: 29/12/17 3:35pm
SSN

David Moyes is keen to add a couple of players to his West Ham squad during the January transfer window. However, the Hammers boss admits it is traditionally a difficult time to do business and says "there are no guarantees". The Scot also played down media reports that the east London club have a long shopping list of potential targets. He joked: "We must be signing 15 players at the moment - by all accounts. "I would like to bring in one or two reinforcements, but every manager will tell you it's not an easy time to do business. "It's also an expensive month. We'll try and do it but there's no guarantee."
Moyes was quick to confirm that he alone would decide which players - if any - will move to the club over the next few weeks. He added: "The manager will have the final say. You'll be judged by the players you bring in. "So, if I wasn't the one bringing the players in, I wouldn't have come here in the first place. "I've not known anything different and the owners have told me it will always be my decision."
West Ham do not play again until January 2 when they take on West Brom at the London Stadium. Long-serving midfielder Mark Noble has missed three matches through injury, while Michail Antonio was ruled out of their Boxing Day game with Bournemouth. Regarding injury news ahead of next week's Premier League fixture against the Baggies, Moyes said: "Mark has trained a couple of days, but not with us, and is making progress. It's his hamstring. "Michail has also not joined us but we don't think his groin is as bad as we first thought. "Whether he will be fit for Tuesday, it's too early to tell."
Moyes confirmed on Friday that Reece Oxford will be returning to the club from Borussia Monchengladbach, having spent the first half of the season in the Bundesliga. Speaking about the teenager, he went on: "He's been talked of very highly. We'll get him back in, take a look, because I've never worked with him before, and spend the time to get to know him."

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SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO – DIAFRA SAKHO
By Goatygav 29 Dec 2017 at 09:21
WTID

Following BlindHammer's excellent post of Jim McWeeny's 'Songs From A Sleepless Night' I thought I'd add a further suggestion with an old Classic from The Clash.

Early October HamburgHammer asked if Diafra Sakho was worth a contract extension. Now the January transfers are about to commence I thought it the appropriate time to debate the 'Should He Stay Or Should He Go' question.

He's currently 28 years of age so if he does move on then another club will gain the benefit of Sakho in his prime. His contribution to the team often goes unsung. The options that he gives, his work in the channels and the way he pulls defences around are all tremendous contributors in matches. I'm not sure everyone appreciates just how good Diafra's movement really is. Defence is another area he mucks in with. Over the last couple of seasons he's not, really, had a decent run of games. For many players this would be a huge setback – one from which it would be difficult to get back up to full match capacity. When Diafra is called upon after a lay off he seems to, almost immediately, look like he is 5 games back in to his stride. Conversely Diafra has been on the scoresheet regularly when getting a run in the team. In his first season he broke West Ham's Premier League record, and equalled Micky Quinn's, when he struck six from six in his first half dozen starts – becoming the Premier League Player Of The Month in October 2014. Overall his strike rate is favourable compared to other forwards.

Sakho's injury list is, relatively speaking, a long one. Although not as prolific as Andy Carroll he first spent time on the side-lines following an injury against West Brom before, controversially, pulling out of the ACON with Senegal. When his national team officials wanted him to fly to Senegal for a medical West Ham refused on the grounds of him being unfit to travel. Subsequently the club were fined 100K Swiss Francs after Diafra was played and scored the only goal of the game in the FA Cup victory against Bristol City – travelling to Ashton Gate in a Limousine. That said when my boys and I attended an open training session at Upton Park in 2015 it was Diafra who was the most charming and engaging player my boys encountered. He was already my older lad's favourite so when reports of Diafra being questioned by Police following an alleged night club incident of assault on a woman it was a hard one for my son to get his head around – although I did explain to him that they were not necessarily true but were just allegations at that stage.
Earlier in 2017-18, during the open transfer window, Diafra was reported to have been attempting to force a move by taking it upon himself to travel to Rennes for a medical, which he passed, without the consent of West Ham. After returning to England, instead of attending training, he went to Chelmsford races to see one of his agent's horses run in the 3.20. Wherever he goes there appear to be reports of behaviour less than exemplary. Some of it many would consider disruptive and unforgiveable. I can fully understand that but, as fans, we have to swallow a lot a rubbish. Having Diafra Sakho still playing for the club after the window closes would be nowhere near as big a load to bear than so many others we've had to put up with – counting this season alone if not over the last few.

If the dressing room was being negatively affected by Diafra's actions then I'd be all for him being offloaded as quickly as possible. But by all accounts there's no conflict or disharmony arising so I'm not convinced by any argument based that he should be moved on for this reason.

From a playing perspective, with what Diafra offers us on the pitch, it's an overwhelming 'Stay' from me. From that perspective alone I just can't see the sense in letting him leave and creating a gaping hole in our squad – which will cost quite a considerable amount to fill. Things happen in people's lives so I'm not going to be one to judge Diafra on his off field antics down the years and, more recently, his reported actions to engineer a move away from the club. He's a slightly better striker than Andy Carroll, in terms of goals per game, and contributes a great deal to the team in other areas. Whatever my opinion is, and even if the club want him to stay, player power generally rules when it comes to influencing transfers. Sadly he appears to want away so I suspect he'll be moving on in January.

Perhaps I have it wrong and there are many better replacements lined up to take Diafra's place. On one of the popular Vlogger sites I recently watched a suggestion that we should offload Sakho, Carroll and Ayew in January. Even if we brought through Toni Martinez we'd still be very light for striking options, should that come to pass, and I wonder how much we'd need to pay out to secure replacements. I'm not sure who David Moyes and David Sullivan might have in mind but, in West Ham's current position, I'm not convinced it will be easy to bring quality replacements in. I really don't see the sale of three strikers in one pop a sensible tactic so, out of the the three of them, I'd retain Diafra. He's just better than one in three, whereas the other two are not quite one in four, and certainly offers more to the team than Andrew Ayew IMO. All boiled down it really does depend who the club can bring in. If Carroll and Ayew do move on perhaps Diafra can be made to feel a major part of the manager's plans for the rest of the season and we'll see him at his, excellent, best again.

On to the West Brom game I'm hopeful of a decent performance as I'm bringing both my lads for their first game of the season along with one of my darts team and his lad of a similar age to mine. On paper it's a game we should win but, as one of the managerial greats of the game once pointed out, it's a game played on grass.

COYI! West Ham 4 The Cup!

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WEST HAM TARGET SURPRISE MOVE FOR SHELVEY
ELLIOTT CUFF @CuffWrites
ReadWestHam

David Moyes is lining up a shock move for Newcastle's mercurial midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, according to a Mirror exclusive. Moyes is believed to be desperate to strengthen his midfield in the January transfer window as he looks to boost the Hammers' chances of survival this season. Despite Shelvey's numerous attitude and temperament issues, the former Swansea midfielder finds himself on Moyes' wish-list for his January rebuild. Shelvey has been sent off twice already this season, and is no longer considered a guaranteed starter at St James Park. However, his passing ability and aggression in the middle of the park would prove to be valuable for the Hammers.
With Amanda Staveley's takeover still not having gone through for Newcastle just yet, the Magpies could be tempted to sell Shelvey in order to raise funds for transfers. Newcastle would presumably want to make back much of the £12million that they paid Swansea for him two years ago, especially if they do consider selling to a direct rival. Shelvey has shown that he has untapped potential throughout his career, and maybe David Moyes could be the man to break through.
The Hammers' have also looked at Bournemouth's Harry Arter and Stoke's Joe Allen as potential long term replacements for Mark Noble.

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Everton landing Steven N'Zonzi could let West Ham sign Morgan Schneiderlin
HITC
Danny Owen

Everton look set to beat West Ham United to Sevilla star Steven N'Zonzi - which could ironically present an alternative option to David Moyes. Reports on Steven N'Zonzi's return to the Premier League had grown cold in recent days. But The Mail (live transfer blog, 13.55pm) reports that Everton are now set to step up their chase in the next 48 hours for the Sevilla midfielder. N'Zonzi fell out with the La Liga side's manager Eduardo Berizzo and, despite his recent sacking, it is understood that the relationship between player and club is beyond repair. And the report states that the £35 million-rated France international is keen to again link up with Sam Allardyce at Goodison Park – having worked with the 63-year-old during his first spell in England at Blackburn Rovers.
Bad news, then, for West Ham; The Mail adds that David Moyes' side had a loan bid for N'Zonzi rejected. But, ironically, missing out on N'Zonzi could put an alternative option immediately within their grasp. Because it is understood that the former Stoke enforcer's arrival at Goodison Park will pave the way for a departure with Morgan Schneiderlin among those whose future at Everton is now at risk. And, strangely enough, West Ham are also interested in bringing the former Manchester United ace to the London Stadium, having made an enquiry about the 28-year-old's availability recently, as reported by The Sun. Schneiderlin hasn't really established himself since his £24 million move to Everton almost a year ago but a move to West Ham could help get his career back on track. But will missing out on one France intentional midfielder pave the way for West Ham to sign another?

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Oxford returns to West Ham United
Oxford returns to West Ham United
www.borussia.de

Reece Oxford has returned to Premier League side West Ham United. The 19-year-old defensive all-rounder had originally been loaned to Borussia for one season, but the Hammers have activated a clause to recall Oxford. "We were informed of their decision to activate the clause and recall him this morning," said sporting director Max Eberl. "However, we continue to be in talks with West Ham regarding Reece Oxford completing a permanent move to Borussia. It is also the player's wish to stay at Gladbach."

Reece Oxford signed on loan at the start of the season and has so far featured in three Bundesliga games and a DFB-Pokal tie. He had started each of the last three matches against Freiburg, HSV and Leverkusen.

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