Daily WHUFC News - 1st February 2018

West Ham United sign centre forward Jordan Hugill
WHUFC.com

West Ham United are delighted to confirm the signing of centre forward Jordan Hugill. The 25-year-old arrives in east London from Championship club Preston North End after putting pen to paper on a four-and-a-year contract for an undisclosed fee. The Middlesbrough-born striker, who is enjoying the most prolific season of his career, is delighted to have joined the Hammers and cannot wait to test himself in the Premier League.

"I'm absolutely delighted!" said Hugill, who will wear the No12 shirt. "It's been a long day, but to get this over the line is amazing for me and it's now a new challenge for me and hopefully I can bring what I did at Preston here and show what I can do. We got on the train at lunchtime and I couldn't tell you what happened, it's all been a blur! "It's amazing to know I'm a Premier League footballer, to know where I've come from in the last five years to where I am now in the Premier League is amazing. I'm still pinching myself to see if it's all real, but hopefully I can bring my qualities from Preston here to West Ham. Without a doubt it's a huge opportunity and I'm looking forward to it. "Wherever I have been in life, not just in football, but in whatever I do, I give everything. I'm going to give absolutely everything for this Club and for my teammates. It's a new challenge for me, playing in the Premier League, but they are going to get nothing less than 100 per cent. "I know a lot about West Ham and its history. Upton Park spoke for itself and now the big move here which was a brilliant thing. The one thing that has struck me about watching West Ham over the years is the fan base that we've got. It's amazing how good the fans are here, so I'm looking forward to walking out at London Stadium and hearing the old Bubbles!"

A hard-working, physical centre forward who is dominant in the air and with his back to goal, Hugill is a graduate of the Glenn Hoddle Academy, where he spent a year honing his skills under the expert eye of the former England manager. On returning to England, he played non-league football in his native North East with Whitby Town and Marske United before before moving into the professional game with Port Vale at the age of 21 in 2013. After a brief but prolific loan spell with Conference Premier club Gateshead, Hugill returned to Vale Park and ended his single season in the Potteries by being voted Young Player of the Year. Hugill moved to Preston in June 2014 before further honing his skills during loan spells with League Two sides Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United, scoring the goal which kept the latter in the Football League. He returned to Lancashire in May 2015 and was part of the North End squad which won promotion to the Championship by defeating Swindon Town at Wembley in the League One Play-Off final. The 2015/16 season saw Hugill establish himself in the Preston starting XI and his form over the last two-and-a-half seasons has attracted attention from Premier League and Championship clubs alike.

Last term, he netted a career-high 13 times, finishing as the club's leading scorer as the Deepdale club finished the season in eleventh place. And he has maintained that form this season, netting ten times in 29 appearances in all competitions. We welcome Jordan to east London and wish him the very best in a West Ham United shirt.

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Arnautovic targeting swift return to action
WHUFC.com

Marko Arnautovic cannot wait to pick up from where he left off before suffering a hamstring injury two weeks ago. The Austria international was in fine form before suffering his minor setback, scoring five times in his last six Premier League outings, and he is keen to resume that streak as soon as possible.

Speaking to whufc.com, he revealed he is closing in on a comeback, having resumed running on the training pitches already. He said: "I feel good, the injury has improved a lot and I'm already outside starting to run and do my work. If it goes like that this week and next week, hopefully I'll be back then. "I'm trying everything to be back as quickly as possible because I want to help the team. I want to score some goals and win some games – that's why I'm trying everything to be back as quickly as possible."

Meanwhile, Arnautovic – a former Inter Milan player himself – was delighted to see Joao Mario join the Club from the Italian side last week and is sure the Portugal midfielder will be a big success in east London. "Everybody knows that Joao is a big player," he added. "He came from Inter, we didn't know if he was coming or not, but finally he is here and he made an impact last night. Of course I am looking forward to playing with him."

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All-rounder Mark Noble brings far more than just goals
WHUFC.com

Mark Noble hit the back of the net for West Ham United for the 50th time in Tuesday's 1-1 Premier League draw with Crystal Palace at London Stadium – but the captain brings far more to his team than just goals. He illustrated that with another excellent all-round performance on his Club-record 305th Premier League appearance in Claret and Blue. The No16 covered more ground against the Eagles than any other West Ham player with 11.79km. He covered that ground at an average speed of 7.08km/h, again ranking him first among the Hammers' starters. As Noble's Opta heatmap shows, he was all over the pitch. He made more passes (50) than any other Hammer, completing 74% of them to place fourth behind Declan Rice, Cheikhou Kouyate and Joao Mario in that statistical category.

Interestingly, 17 of Noble's 37 completed passes were to wing-backs Aaron Cresswell and Sam Byram, who provided willing attacking outlets down both flanks. Indeed, no two West Ham players combined more often than Noble and Byram's nine. The right wing-back - himself impressive on his first Premier League start of the season – also combined well with a resurgent Cheikhou Kouyate and the pair were a regular target for Adrian's long goal kicks, undoubtedly a tactic to keep the ball away from Palace's aerially dominant centre-back pairing of James Tomkins and Martin Kelly. With the 24-year-old playing an influential role in West Ham's game plan, Byram pushed Noble into second place when it came to touches of the ball, making 79 to the skipper's 69.

However, defensively, Noble was also hugely important to his injury-depleted side, winning 12 of his 15 duels and regaining possession on a team-high nine occasions. He also lifted the pressure on his team by earning three free-kicks, all of them using his experience to position his body to make it impossible for his opponent to fairly win the ball.

It was his goal which took the headlines, though, and rightly so, as it earned his team another valuable Premier League point. Noble joined a select band of just 32 players when he scored his 50th goal for West Ham United in Tuesday's Premier League draw with Crystal Palace at London Stadium. He became the first player since Carlton Cole, who hit the landmark in a Championship fixture at Birmingham City on Boxing Day 2011, and just the fourth this millennium after Paolo Di Canio, Marlon Harewood and his long-time teammate and friend Cole. While he has taken more games than the other three to reach his half-century, Noble is a midfielder, rather than a forward, albeit one who takes penalties. Indeed, 31 of his 50 goals for the Hammers have come from the spot. But, as the numbers above clearly show, Mark Noble is about far more than scoring goals. He is the beating heart of the West Ham United team, as he has been for the past decade.

No player gives more to the Hammers, physically and emotionally, than the captain.

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Byram: We were always confident we would come back against Palace
WHUFC.com

West Ham United were 'always confident' of getting something out of Tuesday's Premier League contest with Crystal Palace despite going a goal behind, according to Sam Byram. A headed effort from Christian Benteke put the Eagles ahead in the first period but Mark Noble levelled the tie from the penalty spot with his 50th goal for the Hammers, with the game ending 1-1. It was no more than the Irons deserved for their efforts as West Ham climbed to tenth in the table and made is six games unbeaten in the Premier League.

And Byram says he and his teammates always believed they had the ability to get back into the game, crediting the supporters for their help in driving the Irons back into the contest. "I think that's a good point," Byram told whufc.com. "I think they [Palace} were a strong, attacking team. They were very dangerous on the break but I think we did well to keep them out. "It's always tough when we go 1-0 down but with the Stadium we have, and the fans behind us, we're always confident we can get one back. Chicharito did very well to win the penalty and Nobes put it away. I think we had chances and they had spells where they were attacking for long periods. A draw was a fair result in the end."

Tuesday's match was also Sam Byram's first Premier League start of the campaign, and his first start since returning from a lengthy injury lay-off.
The right-back was thrilled to be back in the team and praised manager David Moyes for his patience with him. Byram added: "He's been really good to me since I've come back. He's told me to take my time and that I'd get my chance if I work hard. He's been really good."

The Irons are unbeaten in the league in 2018 and Byram has been impressed with what the team has offered this year, and is confident the side will continue to add points to their tally He continued: "In the league, our form has been really good. We were frustrated, not just with the result, but with the performance at Wigan, so it was good to come back. Unfortunately, we didn't win but it's good to get a point. "It's very close from ninth place down to the bottom, but as long as we keep putting points on the board I'm sure we will be okay."

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Reece Oxford returns to Borussia Monchengladbach on loan
WHUFC.com

Reece Oxford has returned to Germany on loan with Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach. Oxford, 19, spent the first half of the campaign with Die Fohlen, where he featured in three top flight matches and one German Cup tie before the league's winter break. The Hammers brought Oxford back to Rush Green in January and he played two FA Cup ties and four minutes of Tuesday's 1-1 Premier League draw with Crystal Palace and will now head back to western Germany for the final 14 games of the Bundesliga season.

Monchengladbach are pushing for a UEFA Champions League place, sitting seventh with 31 points from 20 games, just three points shy of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen. Oxford's two Bundesliga starts came in the final two matches before the league took its break for Christmas, so he will be hoping to pick up from where he left off when Monchengladbach welcome RB Leipzig to Borussia-Park on Saturday. The England U20 international now has 17 Hammers appearances to his name, to add to the five he made on loan for Reading last season and the four he has already made in Monchengladbach colours in 2017/18. We wish Reece all the best for the second half of his loan spell with Borussia Monchengladbach.

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Moses Makasi loaned to Plymouth Argyle
WHUFC.com

West Ham United midfielder Moses Makasi has joined EFL League One club Plymouth Argyle on loan until the end of the season, subject to Premier League approval. The 22-year-old came through the Academy of Football, graduating in the summer of 2014 and establishing himself as a regular in the Development Squad and U23s in recent seasons.

A leader on the pitch, Makasi has made 66 Premier League 2 appearances, won the U21 Premier League Cup in 2016 and promotion via a Play-Off victory at Newcastle United in May last year. The home-grown player has captained the U23s nine times, scored in a Checkatrade Trophy win at Swindon Town and has been named on the first-team bench on five occasions this season, most recently for both Emirates FA Cup third-round meetings with Shrewsbury Town.

Makasi will join a resurgent Plymouth side who have won five of their last eight League One matches to rise from bottom of the table in late October to their current position of 13th. The Hammers loanee could make his debut for the Devon club at home to promotion-chasing Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
We wish Moses all the best for his loan spell at Home Park.

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Ayew departs for Swansea City
WHUFC.com

West Ham United can confirm that Andre Ayew has signed for Swansea City for an undisclosed fee. The 28-year-old Ghana international spent 18 months in east London after joining from the Swans in August 2016. He notched 12 goals in 50 games in Claret and Blue, including a double in the dramatic 3-2 Carabao Cup victory at Tottenham Hotspur this season. Ayew, who spent the 2015/16 season at Liberty Stadium prior to signing for the Hammers, will link up with his brother Jordan at the South Wales club. Everyone at West Ham United wishes Andre a successful future with Swansea City.

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Burke heads to Bolton on loan
WHUFC.com

West Ham United defender Reece Burke has returned to Bolton Wanderers on loan. The 21-year-old centre back played 15 games for the EFL Championship side in the first half of the season before being recalled by the Hammers ahead of their Emirates FA Cup tie with Shrewsbury Town earlier this month. He featured in both games against the Shrews, smashing home the winning goal in extra-time of the London Stadium replay, before starting in last weekend's fourth round game at Wigan Athletic – one of his former loan clubs. Now, he will link up with Phil Parkinson's side again for the rest of the campaign as the Macron Stadium club fight to remain in the Championship. Burke, who has played 15 senior games in Claret and Blue, has gained plenty of experience of first team football in recent seasons from loans at Bradford City, Wigan and now Bolton, where he will hope to impress over the final 18 matches of the Championship season. The Trotters take on Bristol City at home on Friday night and we wish Reece all the best for the rest of his loan with the Lancashire club.

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Smolov rejects West Ham offer
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 31st January 2018
By: Staff Writer

Krasnodar striker Fyodor Smolov has issued a statement explaining why he rejected the opportunity to join West Ham United. The £20million-rated goalscorer was tipped to move to London ahead of the transfer window deadline but has released a statement via Krasnodar's website confirming that he will be staying at the club. "Firstly, we are only one point behind [Spartak and Zenit] in the battle for a place in the Champions League," wrote Smolov. "Secondly, I've spent two-and-a-half years in Krasnodar, and I think that the club has the right to receive decent compensation for my sale. "The main motive for this move was for me to realise my dream of testing myself in one of the strong European championships. During this transfer window many negotiations were held, but there was no proposal that would be acceptable for the club and me. "So I will continue to work and play in Krasnodar to help the team achieve results and prepare well for the World Cup, and in the summer I will wait for proposals that Krasnodar will suit and will meet my goals."

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Welcome to the mad house, Joao
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 31st January 2018
By: Paul Walker

Remember football? That's the stuff we watch when it can be fitted in amongst all the moaning and gnashing of teeth about the way West Ham is being run (or not) and the people who run it.

Quite rightly, the future of our great club, the performance (that's a polite way of describing it) of our underwhelming owners, is uppermost in our minds as we see the avarice, the slight of hand, the bloated bank balances, and sometimes downright contempt from the boardroom.

But occasionally a football match breaks out amidst the war of words, and I fear soon-to-be outright rebellion from the masses if our owners don't start to listen and stop hiding behind their tame stooges at Sky and TalkSport.

Putting aside (if that is possible) the shocking display at Wigan and the outright disgust of 5,000 travelling fans that spilled over into quite justified questioning of our owners in the car park afterwards, the performance of our manager and patched-up team against Crystal Palace should not be forgotten.

And in particular, the display of our new Portuguese midfield Joao Mario. He has barely played this season for Inter Milan, and prior to his cameo appearance at Wigan, his previous match had been in Florence.

Quite some difference there, from the beauty and splendour of that stunning Italian city and a match against Fiorentina, to the bruising brutality of Wigan. Wigan or Florence? Fake pier or the Ponte Vecchio and the Arno. No contest really, I'm surprised he wasn't on the first plane home after that experience.

Ah, Wigan. What else did we expect? When we had to play so many ill-prepared kids against a team who kicked lumps out of us and bullied the boys. How did that atrocious challenge on Pedro Obiang go un punished? What Arthur Masuaku did was indefensible, as was the way we seemed to just give up after the worst penalty decision I have seen this season. Nuff said about Wigan, let's move on.

Tuesday was so much better with the return of Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate and the ones who were supposed to be injured ahead of the Wigan fiasco.

And in swirling rain, super Mario was splendid against Palace. A clever player, easing himself into small pockets of space, keeping possession constantly, producing the neat, precise passing to the right colour shirt, here was a player of quality and class.

He almost scored running onto Noble's stretched head-down, his deft touch created the space and angle for Chico to force a penalty (thanks Tonks) and throughout he looked at home in the wide open spaces of the LS. Best player on the pitch by a mile. He is clearly not fully match fit yet, but he did enough to give us confidence that he can make a difference.

It's not often are you able to say that about a new player at our place, with a transfer policy over recent years that has been under-whelming to say the least, at least four 'windows' of incompetence . So trapped are we in Sullivan's wild and whacky house of transfer horrors that we have become immune to the mediocrity, we expect nothing more. Mario, thankfully, looks different.

In fact, the general display of a side robbed of 14 players by injuries and stupidity (I mean you Arthur), has to be commended. As does our dour, unruffled manager.

I have unashamedly championed David Moyes since he arrived, unwanted maybe by many, at the LS. Nothing I have seen since has changed my view that there is a good manager there who had lost his way, but knows the business.

He has been working in a bubble, cut off from the circus that is the Sullivan regime, and determined to concentrate on what he was hired to do, keep us up. The cups, clearly have just been an inconvenience brought about by mass absenteeism.

Players who have feigned injury to get away, young players he has rightly recalled from loans only to discover that they are currently not up to it at top level, and a general lacking in squad depth. Again, what did you expect from the team selection at Wigan with so much riding on our Premier League survival?

But even with all those problems, Moyes produced a piece of quality management on Tuesday that has been met with total approval by the fan base. When you have no strikers fit, still a dozen or so players on the sick list, and a patched up squad to face a vital match against relegation rivals, he still was single-minded enough to dump Michail Antonio for persistent bad time keeping.

Brave or what? It could have badly backfired, but he felt that squad disciple was more important, and he has set a standard of behaviour now. One of the reasons Slav's reign got himself into so much trouble was that senior players were furious with the lax behaviour of some and that Bilic was prepared to tolerate it. Now we know who was one of the main culprits.

He was forced to watch from the stand as a spirited display by the players still able to walk, produced a deserved point.

It's not enough, we know. But a fellow relegation rival did not win. Such is the intensity of the battle to stay up, and the vast difference now between the top six and the rest, that there are now so many draws in matches between the unwashed down at the bottom.

It's been a trend this season, and it is not going to get any better any time soon such is the problems the lower ranks now have of getting anything but a cup of tea and a pat on the head when they have to face the high, rich and mighty.

The display by the team, with Pablo Zabaleta providing a fierce, formidable screen in front of the back three--that tackle on Sakho was something else - and the way Sam Byram stuck to his task on the right, lifted more than a few spirits.

Such had been the outcry after Wigan, and the way Sullivan and co were taken to task, Tuesday's display took peoples' minds off the perceived problems at the club.

There is now a growing ground swell of anger from the terraces, from the hardcore fans who are planning protest, a march ahead of the Burnley home game is being planned.

The Real West Ham Fans Action Group (RWHFAG) are getting themselves organised, this protect is not going away. For what it is worth, my view is that this should be encouraged as long as the protest is peaceful.

I noticed recently that KUMB were being called out to show their hand, take sides so to speak, and my colleague Graeme Howlett spelt out our view, and support, very well. There is a voice to be heard now, people are angry, and they have a right to make their stand. That's open democracy, free speech.

So it is pitiful that Sullivan and co can enlist mates at Sky and TalkSport to slag off fans for having their say, for taking the board to task. Nobody was hurt or abused at Wigan, fans wanted to have their say. Nobody was accosted.

So for the likes of Kaveh Solhekol and Jim White to start moaning about how old men are treated is nonsense. These are the pair, presumably, who get their stories from Sullivan and are now doing his bidding. How pathetic. Toe the line or the stories will stop, no doubt.

If you don't like being held to account, if you don't want to hear any opposition voices, if you want to ignore what the fan base says, then get out of the kitchen. It's obviously too hot for you.

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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West Ham director of transfers Tony Henry sparks race row by admitting club don't want to sign any African players because 'they cause mayhem'
Tony Henry told agents during January window they don't want African players
Director Tony Henry said the policy is because African players 'cause mayhem'
West Ham currently have seven players of African descent in their first team
Henry said: 'It's nothing racist at all... sometimes they can have a bad attitude'
By MATT LAWTON FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 22:27, 31 January 2018 | UPDATED: 22:36, 31 January 2018

West Ham United have left themselves open to accusations of racism and potentially unlawful discrimination after telling agents in the transfer window that they don't want to sign any more African players. After being confronted by Sportsmail, the club's director of player recruitment, Tony Henry, made the shocking admission that West Ham do indeed want to limit the number of African players because 'they have a bad attitude' and 'cause mayhem' when they are not in the team.
Lord Ouseley, chairperson of Kick It Out, described an email sent by Henry — and leaked to this newspaper — as potentially unlawful. West Ham have seven first-team stars who are of African descent. Two of the listed stars —Joao Mario and Angelo Ogbonna — have chosen to represent Portugal and Italy respectively despite being able to play for African countries through their parents. Pedro Obiang played for Spain's youth teams but has not represented the senior side and could still play for Equatorial Guinea. Edimilson Fernandes plays for Switzerland but is of Cape Verdean descent. Left back Arthur Masuaku is yet to play for DR Congo but received a call-up in August while Andre Ayew and Cheikhou Kouyate are experienced internationals for Ghana and Senegal respectively.

Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal)
Pedro Obiang (Equatorial Guinea)
Joao Mario (Angola)
Andre Ayew (Ghana)
Angelo Ogbonna (Nigeria)
Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo)
Edimilson Fernandes (Cape Verde)

Henry sent an email on January 27 — in response to an inquiry about a footballer of Cameroonian descent — to another senior West Ham official and an agent.
In the email, Henry wrote: 'We don't want any more Africans and he's not good enough. I sent Thomas to watch him and the other lad last week and he said no. If Palace take them good luck.' Sportsmail knows the identity of both recipients but a stipulation before being sent the email was that they should remain anonymous.

Henry was asked if there is a club policy regarding African players. Initially he replied 'no', only to be informed that we understand he has told more than one agent in the last month that the club does not want any more African players. Henry then confirmed it was true and suggested it was a policy supported by club management. 'Yeah,' Henry replied. 'Because we had three and we felt we didn't particularly want any more African players.' Asked why, Henry replied: 'Erm, no reason. It's nothing racist at all. It's just sometimes they can have a bad attitude. 'We had problems with Sakho, with Diafra Sakho. We find that when they are not in the team they cause mayhem. It's nothing against the African race at all. 'I mean, look, there are top African players. There's not a problem with them. It's just sometimes they cause a lot of problems when they are not playing, as we had with Diafra. He's left, so great. It's nothing personal at all.'

Asked if he thought his view was discriminatory towards African players, Henry asked: 'In what way?' Asked then if he thought his comments amounted to a slight on African players, he replied: 'No. I don't know what you are trying to get at here. All I said was, look, we have a great lad in (Cheikhou) Kouyate, he's brilliant, a great player for us, he's a good lad. 'But the likes of Sakho have caused mayhem. When he's not playing … he always wants a new deal. That's all it was. It was nothing discriminatory at all. 'I could say we get offered Russian players. I just find with Russian players that they don't settle in England. 'It's like Italians. How many Italians come and settle in England? As a club we are not discriminatory at all. 'If you've got too many, they all sit together and it becomes a situation where you can have problems. But then you can have problems with English players. I don't know what you are driving at.'

Lord Ouseley was contacted before the conversation with Henry but in response to the 60-year-old former Manchester City player's email, he said: 'From my point of view, firstly, that is clearly unacceptable now in football. But secondly it's unlawful to make a statement like that. It's clearly discriminatory but giving instruction to someone to discriminate against a person is unlawful. 'Kick It Out would not expect this from any football club official and I would expect that club to take the necessary action.'

Sportsmail contacted West Ham on Wednesday and this was their statement: 'West Ham United is an inclusive, respectful and diverse football club. Equality is at the heart of our ethos and values. We were recently given the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of our firm commitment to these values, which are embedded throughout the Club, with a view to achieving the intermediate level of the Premier League's equality mark, recognised and supported by Kick it Out. 'We have worked extremely hard over the last 18 months across all areas of the Club and we are confident in our achievements. All West Ham United employees are required to go on equality, diversity and unconscious-bias training as part of our new mandatory training and workforce plan. 'We take any allegations of discrimination extremely seriously and are now in the process of ascertaining the full facts behind this accusation.'

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I'LL GET MY TIN HAT – BUT BOARD IN – FOR NOW
AUTHOR: BRIAN KNOX. PUBLISHED: 30 JANUARY 2018 AT 11:05PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by Malcolm Atkins @malatk

I wrote yesterday about my frustration with the way the board have managed this window and the last twenty-four hours has done nothing to reduce that. I do think though, and I know it is not the popular view, that the huge negativity towards the board is not a fair reflection.

There seems to be two different sets of issues with the board. Firstly the move from the Boleyn and all the stuff associated with it and secondly the lack of investment in the squad.

With the stadium – I was in favour and still think the move was right, albeit I loved going to The Boleyn, and everything about it. Football has moved on and the bigger higher profile stadium makes complete sense. It has problems, some of which I believe are down to not being what was agreed, the "retractable seating" being the prime example. I have written elsewhere I think this will change over time, I am convinced West Ham will end up owning the ground, Gold, Sullivan and Brady are playing the long game and have done themselves a lot of damage in the meantime as fans are not "in" on the plan and are fed up with the shortcomings and the seeming tolerance of them. Gold and Sullivan will eventually make a lot of money and I believe West Ham will end up much stronger but it will take time and there will be a lot of upset supporters in the meantime. In terms of the team, the squad has been left woefully short and is now unbalanced and exposed by a horrendous injury list. I do think the signings up to 18 months ago were generally OK in terms of money spent, albeit not what the "leaks" and promises have led us to believe we may get. Since then though we have been on a downward spiral, whether this is because the board are stockpiling funds for the stadium, is a result of poor decisions from Bilic combined with Moyes not wanting players other than those he specified or a bit of both I am unsure. Either way changes are required.

Part of the argument for getting rid of the board has included stories about how Birmingham fans "warned us." Well they did, but Gold and Sullivan took on a broken club in the third tier for a quid plus taking on debts. They sorted out the stadium and left them in the premier league selling for 80 million to an exciting foreign owner – he turned out to be a disaster, the club got relegated and has never got back to the premier league. Now if some mega bucks owner wants to make us the next Citeh all well and good but if Gold and Sullivan are "driven out" (they won't be) who is to say a similar fate will not befall us.

Having been unable to get to the game tonight and spent a nervous evening refreshing twitter while watching sky I am mightily relieved at the point v palace. Given the injury list it was a decent point, we are still in danger but we are tenth and Moyes can clearly organise the troops. The board appointed him and we have good enough players to do this with all the injuries, reports also suggest Mario looked decent. So I am not in favour of abusing the board or of the opinion that "anything would be better." Things do need to change though. The board need to either tell us they are happy with the stadium situation and that is how it is or admit that they are seeking improvement and even if they cannot release all details give some sort of timescale for improvement. They need to stop making false promises and stop slating players on twitter. I honestly think they will sell some shares and buy the stadium but if so they need to start being more honest if not they need to outline what West Ham want from the changes which Sadiq Khan is examining.

Transfers, we need a coherent strategy, Moyes looks to me to have made some progress with this with a clear plan of who he wants rather than accepting whoever gets put to him, or adopting a scattergun approach. Sullivan needs to step back, the game is overtaking him and his style is not conducive. We need a solid director of football who knows the market and is well-connected. Give him a budget let Moyes identify what he wants and let them do their jobs. I truly believe we will see American investment with Sullivan remaining as chairman, I also still believe the move to the London Stadium will see West Ham establish themselves as a much bigger player in English Football but David Sullivan needs to set aside his ego and realise he needs a more professional structure. I think this also needs a new Chief Executive. I think Karen Brady receives unfair abuse but she does not have an affinity to the club, has totally alienated supporters clearly has other interests and her moving on aligned with a director of football allowing David Sullivan to step back a little would be a big step towards repairing the relationship with fans, and it needs repairing because we are not going anywhere, and nor are they any time soon.

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West Ham's Michail Antonio disrespected his team-mates by getting dropped for being late, says skipper Mark Noble
Midfielder might have returned from injury on Tuesday but was punished after not arriving on time to pre-game meeting
The Mirror
By Neil McLeman
Sports Writer
22:30, 31 JAN 2018

Mark Noble has claimed Michail Antonio showed his team-mates "disrespect" by failing to show up for a pre-match meeting on time. His late arrival meant the England international was dropped by David Moyes for the home draw with Crystal Palace — despite West Ham's lengthy injury list. The Hammers boss also revealed "it wasn't the first time" Antonio had breached disciplinary rules. Noble said: "That's the manager's decision. It sets his stall out to say he won't accept it, no matter who you are. He isn't going to accept you being late, showing the lads disrespect. "I'm sure Mikey did not mean it. I'm sure it's a mistake. But when it comes to the position we are in the league, we need him, and we need him here in the team so that was the manager's decision. "He's like that, and that's the way he deals with things."

Moyes said Antonio, who has been out since December 23 with a groin injury, "was close [to playing on Tuesday] but for disciplinary reasons he wasn't involved. He turned up late this morning for a meeting and it wasn't the first time. "I am not having it at the club. "I have said right from the start what it is going to be like and it is too often. Otherwise I would probably have tried to get him on the bench. "He is short of fitness but he would have been a big help for us tonight because we didn't have any alternatives. To be fair, he took it very well."

The Scot added Antonio had apologised and will be included for Saturday's trip to Brighton. Noble netted the 50th goal his career for his boyhood club against Palace — and his 31st penalty — to cancel out Christian Benteke's opener for the visitors. "It's alright taking penalties but you've got to score them," said the 30-year-old midfielder. "It's a pressure I quite enjoy. It helps the team out."

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