Daily WHUFC News - 20th April 2018

Westley: Friday night derby the perfect way to celebrate season
WHUFC.com

West Ham United U23 boss Terry Westley believes Friday night's London derby
against Arsenal will be the perfect chance for his Hammers squad to
celebrate a successful first season at Premier League 2 Division 1 level.
The Academy Director's outfit were promoted from Division 2 last season
after an unforgettable play-off final win at Newcastle United and are on
course for a top half finish in the table this campaign. They take on London
rivals Arsenal at London Stadium on Friday evening in their final match of
the season, and Westley is looking forward to his players celebrating, with
the supporters, their terrific year. He said: "Ultimately, Friday is to
congratulate the boys on how well they have done this season. In the end, we
are not scrapping around at the bottom trying to get a point and survive; we
have 31 points so far and we are safe in the division, which is a terrific
achievement. "We've played some really attractive football this season and
we've done all of that with a very young team, too. We've allowed others to
go out on loan, and Friday is the chance for supporters to come and see the
kind of football we've played all year and to see how well these players
have done. "If we can put in a really good display to finish of the season,
that would be great and that's the most important thing."

The Gunners currently sit top of the table – eight points better off than
West Ham – but will be desperate to end their campaign with a win to ensure
the title goes back to north London. Liverpool, in second and two points
behind, face Chelsea while third place Leicester City are also within
touching distance – three points behind Arsenal but with an identical goal
difference, meaning all is to play for on the final day. The Hammers were
beaten in their penultimate fixture on Monday – away at Derby County – but
Westley is hoping his team can recover from the setback to claim maximum
points at the Club's London Stadium home. "Derby had a lot resting on the
game on Monday," he continued, "and ultimately that probably showed. They
needed a win to survive and you could see with the team they put out how
important the game was for them. "We didn't quite start with the same edge
and intensity that had got us wins in the last three away from home [against
Liverpool, Manchester City and Everton] and the end result [when that
happens] is that you get beat. "But we had chances and on another day could
have got something from the game. We didn't, but now we need to make sure
that we go into Friday's game sharp from the start and give the fans at the
Stadium something to cheer."

Please note that if travelling to the game on Friday, Pudding Mill Lane
station will not be in use due to the DLR strike that day. Supporters are
advised to use alternative routes. Supporters who are Season Ticket Holders
and/or Claret Members can attend Friday's Premier League 2 match, which
kicks off at 7pm, for free. Click here to book your seat.

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Kevin Keen recalls the day he won promotion to the Premier League with the
Hammers
WHUFC.com

Kevin Keen spent a decade with the Hammers between 1983 and 1993, playing
278 games in Claret and Blue. His final appearance, against Cambridge United
on 8 May 1993, remains one of the most memorable for the 51-year-old, who
later returned to the Boleyn Ground as a coach...

"Although I didn't know it at the time, the final match of the 1992/93
season proved to be my last appearance for the club. The fact that we beat
Cambridge United to win promotion to the Premier League means it is a day I
will never forget. "Before kick-off I had been presented with the Hammer of
the Year runner-up trophy – something that I was immensely proud of. And it
became one of those magical, electrifying days at Upton Park. "We were
waiting on Portsmouth's result and it wasn't like today, where you'd know
the score instantly on the side of the pitch – we were relying on radio
reports and you would get mixed messages flying around. "It wasn't a great
game, but David Speedie gave us the lead and then Julian Dicks went through
in the dying moments to give Clive Allen an open goal to seal the win and
promotion. Cue mass pitch invasion, relief and emotion. I also remember that
somebody nicked my boots – which was a big thing for me because in those
days you had one pair for the entire season!"

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Kouyate: I love playing with Arnautovic
WHUFC.com

Cheikhou Kouyate has hailed the influence of Marko Arnautovic - both on and
off the pitch - as the Hammers look to secure their Premier League safety
over the final five games of the campaign. Arnautovic has maintained his
excellent form across the winter and into spring, scoring nine goals in 15
league appearances and assisting four more over that period. Kouyate, who
assisted Arnautovic's strike at Huddersfield earlier this season, says the
Austrian's personality is infectious and has played a big role in helping
the team's form improve over the second half of the campaign. "Marko is an
unbelievable guy. He is a great player and he is here for us through good
and bad," the No8 said. "We could be down without Marko because he has
scored so many goals for us, he is on fire. "I love this guy - he is a great
player, he speaks to everyone and makes us laugh. He is a teammate. "When
everything is not good, he is here and when you are in a bad moment you need
guys like Marko. This is why I love this man. "I think it's possible he can
score another six or seven goals before the end of the season. He has good
feelings and has everything he needs to do it."

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Kenny taking on a Marathon challenge
WHUFC.com

Former Hammers defender Kenny Brown has been harking back to the discipline
and hard work of his playing days recently – as he prepares to run the
London Marathon on Sunday! Kenny, who made 79 appearances for the club in a
five-year spell between 1991 and 1996, is taking on the famous 26-mile
course in support of two charities – Prostate Cancer UK and Revitalise, an
organisation that provides short breaks and holidays for disabled people and
carers. Now 50, the son of our legendary FA Cup and European Cup Winners'
Cup hero Ken Brown Sr admits that he has had to draw on some painful
reminders of his past as motivation for the training required. "It's
certainly hard work!" he says with a smile. "I've had to find my willpower
again, take care of what I'm eating and focus on the training and
discipline…attributes that I thought were long behind me! Thankfully I've
managed to keep a fairly decent level of fitness since I stopped playing,
and the preparation hasn't been too painful. I've started a little later
than I would have liked, but I've felt okay and managed to step up the
training recently. "It's something I've always wanted to do. I've applied
for the last four or five years but never got through. Then a friend of my
wife had to pull out because of injury and offered me the chance to run in
their place. "I'm really looking forward to it now and, of course, most
importantly, it will hopefully raise some money and awareness for two
charities who both do fantastic work. "The reason I am running for
Revitalise is because my wife's friend is caring for a loved one. I have
seen first-hand the love and commitment families provide when it comes to
caring for someone with a disability. Many carers never get a day off or the
chance to do simple things like go out to the cinema or for a meal with
friends. Their job is constant and without a break. "The chance to just be
husband and wife, or father and son again, not just carer and cared for, can
mean the world. Your support will help me make a real difference to the
lives of disabled people, carers and those with prostate cancer. No matter
how large or small your donation, everything you give will make a
difference."

To make a donation and help Kenny reach his fund-raising target for two
fantastic causes, simply visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/KennyBrown4

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WHAT WE NEED TO DO NEXT…
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 19 APRIL 2018 AT 9:56PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by @kaz7289

It's been a while and a lot has happened since my last article so felt
compelled to write all of my thoughts regarding West Ham at the moment. This
could be a long one…

Firstly wanted to talk about what David Sullivan has been saying in the
media this/last week about our "net spend myths". He says signing "bosman
transfers" means agent and signing on fees etc and continues to say we've
broke our transfer record twice with Ayew (whom we again sold back for a
similar price) and Arnautovic signings which is true BUT our net spend by
"the experts" has been tallied up just like every other club and you don't
hear them complaining about petty fees. Truth is we have not spent enough
especially when you look how small our squad is at the moment and how much
we've spent not to forget sold! You could argue about wages but then it is
down to pure stupidity that we pay so much for our "seasoned internationals"
who have done nothing for the past 2 years at the club which moves me on to
my next subject.

I feel a director of football is badly needed but I fear David Sullivan is
already backtracking from his "emergency meeting" after the Burnley game by
now saying the manager will be in charge of signings (which I thought they
he was meant to be anyway, well when things go wrong they are). We seem to
have no philosophy, panic buy, no direction and not a single player from our
youth academy has "made it" at the "academy of football" in maybe 10 years!
I think David Moyes will stay on because of his low wages, easy to control,
experienced "safe option" that should keep us up and will be an easy
scapegoat should things go wrong. I feel like we will again sign over aged
average players on high wages because it is the "safe option" eg Cairney,
Fellaini and Drinkwater (just a few names we have been linked with). I feel
David Sullivan will still have a "hands on approach" when comes to signing
players but easier to blame David Moyes now with what he has been saying
although saying that these types of players do seem like David Moyes
signings, he's old fashioned and that's the type of long term football we
should expect under his leadership. Certainly not the "next level".



David Sullivan has said he wants to stay here for at least 5-6 years (which
conveniently coincides with the deadline of which if David Sullivan leaves
before will have to share a percentage of profit with the government for the
stadium conversion costs). I think now he does only care for money and
knows he won't ever win any real love back from the West Ham fans which is a
shame because the last season at UP was such a special season and there was
so much promise going in to the London stadium that could have been managed
so much better. I think with the position we were in their job was actually
harder to fail than succeed and could right now probably have made more
money, kept Payet and actually have love of the fans but move was built on
lies and plan to make money whilst spending as little as possible trying to
take us for mugs and changed a transfer policy and philosophy that had built
the team that took us to Europe from the Championship.

I always said David Moyes was the right man for the situation we were in and
little other options on offer getting our players fitter and making sure we
put in 100% no matter how little possession we hold or little attackers we
utilize we're nearly safe and have done well considering injuries. My
problem is will Moyes take us to the "next level"? Will he ever have a
special bond with the supporters? I don't think so, his approach to games is
so negative and looking at his past transfer windows I can't see the fans
getting too excited about the future either. Have you ever seen a team get
Europe or Champions league by playing 0 recognised strikers and 5 atb
against a relegation threatened side (Stoke in our case)?? Ok in our
position, it was vital we didn't lose but looking at his history and too be
happy after the performance and literally silence the press in doing so is a
sign of things to come. We have one of the most deadliest poachers in the
world sitting on our bench for Christ sake!

What I would do going forward? It's hard to say not knowing our status in
the league for next season but say we do just stay up being 7 points clear
of relegation with 5 games remaining and a game in hand to some teams around
us I'm quietly confident even with a tough fixture list ahead. I would first
hire a DOF, main candidate Eduardo Macia who is currently Leicester's DOF,
he has great experience working at some top clubs bringing in some now
well-known players and building great foundations at clubs working with some
top managers inc Rafa Benitez whom I think we should also bring over, he was
once hours away from signing for us before Real Madrid come calling and has
done wonders with Newcastle whom have a below average team and virtually no
money to spend. I do think we could temp him in by bringing Eduardo Macia,
big wages, 60m and freedom to buy and sell whom he wants to rebuild. I think
we will get a whole new foundation, philosophy, scouting network, transfer
policy and a proper shake up from top to bottom at the club. I think we
would see more youth, attract better players and get a decent style of
football fans would be proud of and a manager fans could get behind with a
very impressive CV. If David Sullivan is to be true to his word and take a
step back (should this scenario happen) I think he should then be focusing
on the London Stadium and its owners trying to fix the huge problems e.g.
stewarding, policing, seats, screen, facilities and turf around the pitch. I
think us owning the stadium would be better for everybody but I know that
would be very hard and eman considerable investment but at least better
communication and investment is needed with regular meetings inc West Ham
fans that David Sullivan/Karen Brady ATTENDS every time unlike the very
inconsistent unprofessional meetings that happen right now. I feel these
changes at the end of the season should we stay up could change the club and
turn us around benefitting EVERYBODY. Obviously would depend on lots of
different circumstances but is the sort of direction I feel we should be
going in.

I hope you enjoyed reading, there's so much more I want to say but it would
go on for ever but check out my twitter account @kaz7289 if you want to
listen to anything else I have to say, debate or talk about anything West
Ham! Please give me your feedback and opinions on what direction you think
the club should be going in.

@kaz7289

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WITHDRAW YOUR WALLETS!
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 19 APRIL 2018 AT 10:26PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by Andrew Phipps @AndyJPhipps

After a resounding 3-0 win against Southampton and an unexpected (but
welcome!) 1-1 draw versus Chelsea, one would be forgiven for thinking that
we were putting together something of a good run of form. Right when West
Ham needed it most, the team dug deep and delivered some much needed points,
three of those putting our relegation rivals further in the brown stuff and
ensuring that we didn't trade places with them. Then the 1-1 draw with Stoke
happened. I was on the way home from the game, texting my Leicester born
girlfriend; she giving it the oft trotted out 'Aww, never mind' spiel,
desperate to avoid an essay on the finer points of good goalkeeping, and I
pretending to give a crap about how her latest book was panning out whilst
giving her (what I think is) a somewhat abridged version of the
aforementioned essay. "So, in the end, it was quite good?", she replies,
quite understandably for somebody who wasn't at the game but only has a few
facts to go on. But no. To the contrary, it wasn't good enough. Here's why
and here's what I propose we do about it.

I'm not going to sit here and deconstruct the game, I'm sure it's been done
and, to be honest, who the hell would want me to? What can be taken from
that game, though, is that instead of regrouping and aiming high next
season, we will be in a similar position and lower mid table at best. The
word 'ambition' rings around the club, reverberating and echoing in the ear
of each fan because that's what the board have told us to expect. This
wasn't some rhetoric given to us before moving to the Olympic stadium but
came as recently as the sacking of Slaven Bilic.

"The Chairmen and board of West Ham United…believe a change is now necessary
in order for the Club to move forward positively and in line with their
ambition."

"We see this as an exciting opportunity to appoint a quality manager to the
position to inject fresh ideas, organisation and enthusiasm into a very
talented squad."

"We will now focus our entire efforts on bringing in the manager we believe
can get the best out of the current squad of players and steer the Club
towards the top half of the table as quickly as possible."

David Moyes was appointed as our manager, to much disappointment but after
the air had cleared somewhat, the majority of fans got behind him. After
all, we wanted him to succeed and needed him to succeed. So far, he has
delivered more or less what we expected but this was only meant to be for
six months. Being given a six month deal with the possibility of another two
years was surely only a back up plan? Playing defensive football is only
good enough to keep us up (apart from the fact that we've shipped so many
goals, against some struggling teams too). Moyes sets up defensively no
matter how we are supposed to do against the team we face. We should have
beaten Stoke and there was the opportunity to do so but the manager hindered
that. Now, apparently, in spite of how attractive we are as a club and the
managerial candidates that are available, David Moyes is set to keep his
job. I respect him as a person and think his general PR is top notch but
he's not the push forward that our club needs. It's not a push at all. We
may as well have kept Allardyce because, no disrespect to Moyes, he's a darn
sight better at it!

Equally, the players that we have been linked to are not exactly inspiring.
Ryan Fredericks on a free? He might be a fairly good player but why aren't
we looking to spend money on a player that could be even better? It seems we
are avoiding players who've never played in the premier league due to our
own past experiences. Considering those who have come to the premier league
and succeeded, surely that's the failing of the scouting set up as opposed
to foreign players in general? It beggers belief. Tom Cairney- who surely
must cost us £20m plus? Considering Fulham rejected £15m from us in January
and can still get promoted this year, this is how much he's going to cost.
So he's going to cost a packet for us but I'd wager that I'd speak for so
many fans when I say that he doesn't necessarily walk into our team. And
we'd have spent a decent chunk of our already small budget on him. It
doesn't make for good reading at all. It seems we are going for Championship
players, including numerous goalkeepers and fringe players, (though there's
nothing wrong with that) and not even ones like Maddison.

Okay, I'll stop now. I'm just upsetting myself. I used to be a big supporter
of the board but to say that I'm now not so sure is an understatement. I do,
however, want to see my club play football. Maybe I'm a glutton for
punishment but before both Burnley, Southampton and Stoke, I was really
looking forward to the game. So, I'm not encouraging everyone to not renew
their season tickets. To many, that is still unthinkable. I respect those
who don't want to 100% but I can't bring myself to do the same. So this is
what I encourage people to do:

After the success of the West Ham Way lead 'Wear a retro shirt day' versus
Southampton, I propose that, going forward, nobody buys a single new replica
West Ham shirt until the summer transfer window has slammed shut. The rumour
mill does always seem to start just before season ticket renewal time, and
there's not much we can do about that, but we can vote with our feet and
only buy a shirt (Or any new branded West Ham merchandise for that matter,
including programmes) IF we are completely satisfied with the dealings in
the summer. It has often been said that the club are always looking for the
cheap way out (I'm not making a case either way on that issue) and if you
don't feel that they have invested in a progressive manager and have spent
decent money to be able to compete in the premier league, then you do not
have to invest either. Simple as that. Don't spend a penny more than you see
fit on a new shirt if you can't see where this money is going. Just keep
wearing your old one that's steeped in history and what West Ham is all
about. It's different for kids but there are always exceptions. This form of
protest puts the power into your hands and you can make your own decision.
Don't like where things are going. Hit them where it hurts without
sacrificing seeing the club you love.

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Arnie's goals kept us in the Premier League, says team mate
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 19th April 2018
By: Staff Writer

Cheik Kouyate has paid tribute to fellow Hammer Marko Arnautovic by
suggesting that the club could have been relegated by now without his goals.
The Austrian international has scored nine goals for the Hammers since
moving to east London from Stoke last summer - and, according to Kouyate,
the Hammers might have been relegated without them. "Marko is an
unbelievable guy. He is a great player and he is here for us through good
and bad," said the Senegal international. "We could be down without Marko
because he has scored so many goals for us, he is on fire. "I love this guy
- he is a great player, he speaks to everyone and makes us laugh. He is a
teammate. When everything is not good, he is here and when you are in a bad
moment you need guys like Marko. This is why I love this man.
"I think it's possible he can score another six or seven goals before the
end of the season. He has good feelings and has everything he needs to do
it." West Ham have scored just 41 goals in the Premier League so far this
season - with nearly a quarter of them being scored by Arnautovic.

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West Ham game is low priority, says Wenger
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 19th April 2018
By: Staff Writer

Arsene Wenger says that this weekend's Premier League clash with West Ham is
behind next week's Europa League semi final with Atletico Madrid in terms of
priority. The Gunners, who have no chance of qualifying via the league can
still win passage into next season's Champions League if they win Europe's
minor event, the first leg of which is scheduled to take place five days
after the London derby this Sunday. And as a result the Arsenal boss insists
that their league match against West Ham this weekend is effectively being
used as a warm-up for Thursday night's Europa League semi final. "The Europa
League is the priority as in the Premier League we don't have much to play
go for," he said. "For us it is the biggest priority now. "This weekend is
preparation for Thursday. I rested some players after the CSKA Moscow match
and they will need a game. It is not so much rest, but preparation." Despite
prioritising thie forthcoming derby below the Madrid tie, Wenger insists
that a win is still important for Arsenal. "We want to finish in front of
Burnley," he added. "There are still some important games in the Premier
League and we want to finish on a high." West Ham have previously met
Arsenal twice this season, with the only goal in 180 minutes being scored by
Danny Welbeck in December's 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat at The Emirates.

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West Ham want new head of player recruitment in scouting shake-up
By Sky Sports News
Last Updated: 19/04/18 11:10am
SSN

Recruitment experts are searching for a new head of player recruitment at
West Ham as the club concludes a root and branch review of their scouting
network. For the last month, industry leaders Nolan Partners have been
headhunting potential candidates as the club looks to overhaul its scouting
department. Sky Sports News understands the club have been working with a
professional consultant to carry out a complete audit of their scouting
system, believing they have wasted too much money in the past - and have
relied too heavily on the influence of agents. A new global scouting system
would cost the club between £2m and £4m, but club sources say they believe
the money could be recouped quickly due to more considered and targeted
transfer business. It has been reported that manager David Moyes was
unwilling to work with a Director of Football at the club - but Moyes has
previously stated he would be happy to work side-by-side with a recruitment
chief.
In February, West Ham sacked their previous head of recruitment Tony Henry
over claims he said the club would not sign any more African players. Later
that month, co-owner David Sullivan accepted that he needs to invest more in
scouting, video analysis and analytics, telling the club's website that
future policy will follow strict new structures to guard against the
failures of recent years.

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SQUAD ENIGMAS
By Blind Hammer 19 Apr 2018 at 08:00
WTID

Blind Hammer considers who to retain out of our squad enigmas

In over half a century of supporting West Ham I do not think I can recall a
squad with so many enigmas. That is, players who seem a busted flush one
day, but a match winner the next. Hart is the latest example, advancing
recently to hero only to instantly retreat to zero. His point saving
performance against Chelsea blotted by a calamitous mistake which finally
destroyed any prospect of a longer term West ham future. Hart's
inconsistency, gifting Stoke a lead, threatened to pitch our precarious
season into a final and terminal decline at the death.

Fortunately an even more enigmatic performer re-emerged, marching in turn
from zero to hero. Carroll's dramatic 90th minute equaliser reignited yet
again the case for his retention, recovering some of his recent reputational
damage in a blink of an eye. Impatience with Carroll's awful injury record
has recently increased with whispers that some of these problems are
self-inflicted. Irritation if not anger has grown with allegations of poor
lifestyle discipline. Many West Ham fans and commentators have suggested it
is time for Carroll to move on. In particular repeated reports of
inappropriate drinking have led to suspicion that his poor injury and
recovery resilience has been further weakened by avoidable alcohol intake.
Worries grew that Carroll did not respect his body, his career or West ham.
Actions spoke louder than words, choosing to drink in bars seemed to
demonstrate a poor commitment in return for the drawing of his massive
wages.

The problem is that our squad is top heavy with enigmatic performers.
Carroll has been joined this season by Hernandez on even higher wages.
Despite the many calls for Hernandez to start against Stoke Moyes would
never take this risk. Not only is West Ham's record with Hernandez starting
in the team less than Stella, it is clear to nearly everybody, with the
possible exception of West Ham supporters, that West Ham's most strategic
weakness not just this season, but for nearly 2 and a half years now, is
their appalling defence. West Ham have been thumped not just by top six
sides but regularly conceded heavily against moderate or poor sides. Only
recently our defence shipped 7 goals against the combined might of Burnley
and Swansea. Stoke are one of the tiny number of sides, and the only one
below us, who actually have a worst defence than us. Given what was at stake
it was fanciful that Moyes would take the risk of opening up midfield
against Stoke in the hope of running an exciting, expansive game. Whilst you
cannot plan or legislate effectively if your goalkeeper consistently makes
howlers, in general such an approach would have left us even more vulnerable
to a sucker punch. Lambert has similarly tightened up Stoke and it was
predictably an edgy affair. Hernandez has proved that he is a powerful
weapon to deploy from the bench and in that capacity he almost repeated his
successful intervention against Chelsea.

Unfortunately it appears that Antonio has joined our growing casts of
enigmas. Antonio has fitness issues. However, analogous to Carroll, whispers
and rumours have emerged that reflect on Antonio's allegedly poor attitude
to training. On one occasion his lateness for a team meeting was outed
publically by Moyes, possibly in an attempt to shock the player. Whatever
the cause Antonio has retreated from the performances which made him one of
the biggest and most consistent stars at the club to a player who sparkles
occasionally but more frequently disappoints.

All of these players can, on their day, deliver match winning or point
saving performances. None of them are, for various reasons, delivering these
performances consistently. Match winners do not come cheap and West Ham will
not for the foreseeable future, and probably never, be able to purchase from
the top drawer of match winning global talents. We are likely to rely upon
enigmas to some extent. Certainly West Ham cannot afford to be tactically a
one trick pony, relying solely on the skills of a Marko Arnautovic. Teams
would rapidly "work us out". Alternative match interventions from the bench
will remain critical.

So who out of our cast list of enigmas should we retain? Sadly hart has
finally proved that his standards have declined, and that his confidence,
concentration and distribution identified as issues at Manchester City are
long term. Despite extended opportunities to demonstrate he has overcome
these issues at Torino and West Ham, he has failed to show he is a keeper of
premiership standard. A keeper cannot simply rely on making outstanding
saves whilst failing to address other weaknesses.

The case against Carroll relies on his poor injury resilience and his
reported wages. Despite this I am not persuaded that West Ham should
jettison him. Despite making a tiny number of appearances this season, his
goals against West Brom and Stoke may well be the factor which keeps us up
this season. Where would we be now if we have had to launch Hugehill and not
Carroll into the fray against Stoke? Even if Carroll is on the reported full
£85,000 a week, unlikely given his lack of bonuses and game time, this would
still equate to only £4.5 million a season. In other words approximately 50%
of the transfer fee we paid for the services of Jordon Hugehill from Preston
in January. Whilst £4.5 million is not chicken feed, where else are we
likely to recruit the abilities of a player able to influence games in such
dramatic fashion?

Carroll is more likely to fit into a Moyes game plan. However there should
be no expectations that he has the requisite injury resilience or body
capacity to be a regular starter for West Ham or any other Premiership
outfit. West Ham should deploy him in precisely the way Chelsea wanted to.
He should be seen as a squad player, playing not all games but with the
priceless ability to enter games and provide telling match winning or saving
contributions. His next contract with West Ham should reflect this. It
should be heavily skewed to a pay as you play deal.

Of course much of the above applies to Hernandez as well. I would love to
retain Hernandez but doubt that Moyes could ever plan a starting team based
around him. On wages reportedly nearly double that which Carroll currently
draws it may well be that Hernandez is simply not a fit at West Ham, though
if he was willing to stay in the impact role I would keep him in a
heartbeat.
This finally leaves Antonio. I really hope that this season's fall from
grace is not about attitude and is about fitness. We can all have sympathy
for Antonio not being played in a position to his strengths but
professionals sort this out in a professional way. Fitness can recover,
attitude may be impossible to amend. My instinct is that Antonio is another
who may be reaching the exit door, though I would love to seem the surging
Antonio of old again.

COYI
David Griffith

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Is the season over for Plymouth Argyle's on-loan West Ham United midfielder
Moses Makasi?
Borrowed West Ham United ace hints that his season is over on Twitter
Plymouth Herald
By Stuart James
23:07, 19 APR 2018

Plymouth Argyle's on-loan midfielder Moses Makasi has suggested he could be
out for the season after posting a picture of himself in a hospital bed on
Twitter.
The 22-year-old West ham United midfielder has made seven appearances for
the Pilgrims after coming into the side following an injury to Antoni
Sarcevic and he scored on his full debut for the Pilgrims, in a 1-1 draw at
Fleetwood Town. But now, it seems his season is prematurely over after he
posted on his Twitter account: "Post opp… gods plan for gods soldiers! Get
Makass firing and ready for pre-season… ready for whatever lets go. Thank
you Jesus"
The tweet included a picture of him giving the thumbs up in a hospital bed
with what looked like heavy strapping and a brace on his right knee. If, as
it looks, that is the case, then it is another injury blow to the Pilgrims,
who will be without striker Ryan Taylor for the weekend trip to Northampton
Town due to an ankle injury.
Taylor missed the goalless draw at Portsmouth, although there is some good
news on the injury front with Antoni Sarcevic back in training.

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REPORT SHARES DAMNING REASON WHY WEST HAM COULD OFFLOAD STRIKERFeatured
Image
Date: 19th April 2018 at 10:02pm
Written by: Josh Challies
Forever WestHam

David Moyes has plenty of transfer activity planned for this summer's
transfer window but, whilst all the excitement is likely to orientate around
potential incoming pieces of business, there could also be significant
departures. One player already linked with an exit from the London Stadium
is striker Jordan Hugill, who's managed just a handful of minutes in the
Premier League since signing from Preston in a £12m deal back in January.
Limited to just 22 minutes of action, Hugill's name is now being touted for
an exit and Football.London claim the damning reason behind a potential exit
for the 22-year-old is due to the fact he was only signed in case the club
were relegated.
West Ham have been flirting with the drop all season and only a recent
upturn in form has led to a more comfortable position in the standings,
though the club's top-flight status is yet to be mathematically secured.
With a seven-point advantage over the relegation zone, West Ham look set to
secure their position in the Premier League next term and that could lead to
a departure for Hugill, who was reportedly signed as a solution to the
'worst case scenario' in east London.

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