BainesontoastNEW
Player Valuation: £50m
This is what I like to call a Happy McNeil.
This is what I like to call a Happy McNeil.
Simon Buttle
Player Valuation: £60m
As frustrating as this is we don't know that a different manager/coach wouldn't have these players involved more tbf. We are all aware that Moyes loves a square peg in a round hole and has certain favourites and if he can pick a player with 'PL experience' over one without he will. Nothing wrong with that its just his way but yes its frustrating from a fan pov.
Personally haven't written off one of our signings mate.
Id argue having 80 mill on the bench is exactly were we need to be. Compare our bench with Spurs at the weekend and £80 mill looks quite cheap in comparison.
I think there is a real blinking on our recuitment strategy here mate. Almost universally before the summer window everyone was saying we needed to sign young players with potential who will improve and we can develop them into PL players. We did it - we signed Barry, Aznou, Rohl, Dibling, Alcaraz with the bulk of funds we had at hand. What did we think was going to happen - each was going to come into the team as if they had played in the PL for 5 years and made 300 appearances. The difficulty with signing young players to develop, is you actually have them let them develop and that takes time sometimes months/years. We are at ground zero with that and need to build on it more and is a way we have take our medicine with that - given the criminal lack on investment in the squad and the neglectful situation with squad contracts last summer from the last regime. The right way is often the most painful, certainly the first step often is.
I would make a couple of points on needing "PL ready players" in the last year or so people mocked Dyche for using the term "PL ready" - turns out its actually a thing. Secondly, we see the value in offering Keane a new contract, is he the future no, has he had a positive influence this season, yes, do we need to move on from him at a time soon, yes, the club was derided for signing him in the summer. The same applied to say Doucoure, there were many who couldn't get him out the door fast enough, did we need to move on from him at some point, sure, would he have helped not make our midfield play like its wet weetabix this seaons, yes he proabably would, so you could see the value in that PL experience even if the players have a limited future here. Equally DCL - we needed to move on from him, but would he be influential right now - he sure would. we had these layers and we let them go many were ecstatic when we did.
The above are the dilemmas really, PL players like your Doucoure's, DCL's or nuetral Longstaff's or Souceks - many turned their noses up at - would they be influential right now - definitely, should we building like that long term, no.
So we have chosen to go a different route, a developmental route, its what many wanted as a strategy and a plan - you have to back it if you believed that was the right way to go. Growing pains are inevitable in development.
Going forward we also need to build it on it, many of the players signed this summer will have come on at some point in the second half of the season IMO, we need to be ready in the summer to incrementally build on that again.
This exact moment is a fleeting transtion.
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Rudolf Hucker
Player Valuation: £30m
The most important thing for me would be replace Moyes now, before the window.
Don’t want him having any hand in picking older players to suit his dinosaur hoofball.
Don’t want him having any hand in picking older players to suit his dinosaur hoofball.
Yeah it’s horrible mate. Completely agree. However I am always willing to give second chances to people. People make mistakes. Okay it’s a big mistake but it’s still a mistake. If he is now a better person then that’s great.
I love Duncan Ferguson but he headbutted someone on the pitch and also went around afterwards throwing punches at people. Yes, it’s not the same thing, however he still assaulted people. I’m fine with our values being different mate, but I’m not hypocrital.
All West Ham fans agree, I’m sure.
Pin this post at the top of every page pls mods.
Obviously saying to football fans they shouldn't be so invested in their teams results right now is slightly insane but...people need to remember the position we were in a) over the last few years (the most financially limited team in the league), b) one year ago (genuinely at risk of oblivion) and c) at the start of the summer (with about 12 senior players contracted). Becoming a *good team* after that will take YEARS.
Spending all our budget on expensive PL-ready players in their late 20s who have already hit their peak and won't either get any better or be sold on for a profit would allow us to finish maybe 9th or 10th this season instead of 12th or 13th. Yay. It also means we'd never get beyond that because the team would never improve beyond that level or allow for reinvestment. So that's where we'd remain.
Everyone wants us to punch above our weight and get to another level like Brighton and Bournemouth did, but no one wants to be patient and take chances with young high-potential players. You can't have it both ways. In a year or two we'll be able to buy a couple Aznous and loan them out for the season and it'll all be much smoother - right now we are rebuilding from *nothing*.
One of biggest issues has been the club's comms around all this. No one at the club should have been allowed to mention Europe for this season - we need fans to buy into the long-term project and understand there'll be inconsistency and bumps along the way.
Harryflashman
Player Valuation: £60m
Look I appreciate the well reasoned response . If there was no audio I’d probably or rather possibly be willing to listen to the argument he was cleared in a court . However there is an audio and is horrible .
Myself included I know more than a few people who’ve been places they shouldn’t and acted in a manner that would embarrass them now and has or could have landed them in court .behaviour like that isn’t Particularly alien to young men . If one of them had behaved like greenwood, even a decade ago I’m not sure I’d feel the same.
Also as regards Ferguson looking at the head butt in particular it’s insane he was jailed for that .
Well they have a clueless board, so if ours is just as clueless moving forward, then it will make zero difference who the manager is. But I’m hopeful they will make the right decisions, which would be getting rid of Moyes by the end of this season.
He wanted soucek not rhol that’s why we signed him on deadline day and he’s not playing the youngsters. Shock horror and nobody is surprised the only new signings playing regularly are 26 and 30 with loads of prem experience….like Dibling, Rohl, Barry and Aznou
…..he brought in 4 young players, indeed his two most expensive signings were 19 and 22yo but lets not have him ‘bringing in older players’
I’d be more concerned we bring in very good, effective footballers.
That’s not going to work if you remit is experienced prem players, because when you’re a team finishing bottom…..he brought in 4 young players, indeed his two most expensive signings were 19 and 22yo but lets not have him ‘bringing in older players’
I’d be more concerned we bring in very good, effective footballers.
Half and not having tons of money, you will just be buying bog standard players. Grealish is costing us a fortune and we don’t have the capacity to sign 4
Of them. Would Moyes have wanted Ndiaye?? Unlikely is my guess.
There was no way TFG/kinnear were letting Moyes spend all the money on 26/30 yr olds with prem experience. There was always going to be a compromise, rumours of TFG making it known, they will not
Be spending big on players of a certain age.
Will be interesting to think what they make of Moyes not playing a lot
Of the new signings, I’m glad we’ve signed young players with the future in mind, will they all be a success, unlikely
A club like us Just buying 27 to 30yr olds for big money and on higher wages, will be a car crash
Zatara
Player Valuation: £100m
I agree with the concept you're both narrating regarding Aznou, Dibling & Alcaraz.
Rohl & Barry at 23 each aren't exactly young 'development' players anymore. Of course they should improve, but they should be considered good for the short term as well at that age.
They may need a season to adapt, as weve seen in the past and then theyre 24 which isnt really a young player anymore.
KDH & Grealish are the only 2 who are in the 11 and they are 27 & 30 years old.
The manager has indeed signed an interesting mix of players, it makes no sense to me.
If we signed young players with the focus on development this season that would have been fun and interesting to watch - 13th in the league again, cool.
But he's dropped nearly £90mil on Barry, Rohl, KDH & Grealish.
Thats not a youth focus.
I disagree a bit about Barry and Rohl I think, moreso on Barry - 22 (the age we bought them both at) *is* still young, and Barry never came through a proper club academy and instead was just playing in the French 5th division as recently as 2022. He was always going to be developing a lot later than most, he's had so much less coaching, and even less quality coaching.
Röhl also is a bit of a strange case in that he's only had about 1 full season's worth of top flight minutes and never played a single regular position. So there could be a lot of development to come still as most likely settles as an 8.
Even just taking into account their ages I don't think you can say signing two 22 year olds is evidence that there was no youth focus though.
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