Media outlets are reporting that West ham may bid for former Hammer Bobby Zamora. If true, is this a good move for either the player or the club? They say it is never wise for a player to go back to a club, but at least you know that you will get 110% commitment from Zamora! And that is exctly the type of attitude that we need right now.
Apparently Gold and Sullivan met with Zola last night to discuss transfer targets. It’s good to see them taking a sensible approach in endorsing the Zola and Clarke management team! The transfer pot available is anywhere between £8-20m, depending on who you believe, although the lower figure is probably more accurate. It will be interesting to see who they go for and whether there will be any exits?
The likes of Upson, if they go, will probably do so in the summer. I would have thought that they will concentrate upon getting players in and look to undertake any major restructuring of the squad in the summer. We already know the new owners views on the imbalance in the squad and the fact that a midfielder or two will probably eventually be moved on to help strengthen other areas.
Personally, I would ideally go for goal keeper cover, a right-back, a centre half and a striker or two. That is easier said than done, especially in the difficult circumstances of the January window. Perhaps the emphasis will be on loan moves, or a player-exchange deal will be done to bring in a quality striker.
I guess we will all be keeping a close eye on the media outlets over the next ten days or so! One thing is certain, Gold & Sullivan will do themselves a world of good with the fans if they can engineer a good deal or two in this window!
SJ. Chandos.
Personally nothing againt Bobby but I think we could get a better player for the money we would have to ship out to get him back. Agree the areas of interest in a perfect world are
Keeper (sub)
Centre Half (Therefore we can let Gabbs and Spector go)
Strikers x 2
In my opinion betters options are Gomes, Beattie from Stoke, Boyd from Rangers, and with CC and Franco due back wihin 2 weeks and Nouble having an encouraging debut along with Dixon 2 players out of those 3 would help.
Just a little point that has bugged me since yesterday .. Karen Brady was the one who said in Sun that she hoped West Ham "got whats coming to them and were relegated" over the Tevez thing along with telling Matt Upson "I will wave at you as we pass you by" . . not very what's the word I am looking for . . .confidence building. Please please please Karen stop writing for the Sun. COYI
No doubt she'll be held to account over that. I'd be interested in her response but I think we can all guess what it will be.
I hope you're right but I can't see how she can be really. I just hope that every time she meets any fans in the forseeable future they subtly remind her of her words. Sadly I don't think she could care less.
Sorry loyalty to her employer? Her comments on the Tevezgate was nothing to do with her employer yet she had no problem making her comments. Look I have no problem with Karen Brady, in fact I wsh her all the best (along with the new board members) just that i think she needs to realise that not every West Ham fans will forget her comments lightly and as such anything she says in the form of a newspaper column needs to be carefully put. As for waving goodbye to Duxbury I would like to remind you of the praise given to Duxbury by both David's yesterday and remember that from what I read without him we wouldn't have had a club to sell.
i think a lot of people are grateful he kept us going in difficult times, but he was the clubs legal advisor over tevez. Then when made ceo we do have a lot of mitigation cases lost, they all cost cash. To take curbs to court for damages, then have it come out they were going to sack him anyaway and have him then do us for damages was hardly clever. If they accepted curbs resignation, it would of saved us cash and bad publicity in the process.
Pavlychenko,Van Nistelroy,jo,yakubu,huntelaar,Z-man anyone who can help!
Return to a former club! NEVER say NEVER!! Look at Julian Dicks disastrous move to Liverpool & Tony Cottee's two spell at the club (To name but two). OK the are West Ham through & through. This does not mean that other past players WILL NOT return (Zamora apart). Who does finally come in this window to balance the squad with a major overhaul expected in the summer we await to see!
GK – Whoever
RB – Rod Fanni (ha)
CH – Collins
ST – Bellamy
Anybody we get in during this window has to make an instant contribution and isn't Zamora injured and due to be out for a month or two? Or did I just misread that?
I agree with the need for a right back and a striker and I would suspect we will only get a couple of players in before the major overhaul in the summer.
has he had a operation? just when bryan robsons shoulder first went, it kept happening till he had op to keep it in. We dont want to sign another player, only to see him out again soon after.
I have doubts about the ability of Kris Boyd to make it in the Premiership, Bray. Rangers are a club very close to my heart so I watch a fair few of their games and he really isn't Premiership class. He has a fantastic record but that is in a far inferior league playing for the top team in Scotland (I would say that wouldn't I?) He's good, but not that good I'm afraid.
Hi Jonny I agree regarding scottish league and also the fact that he only scored 1 Old Firm goal in his rangers career but considering his wages wont be high and also the transfer fee would be small it is worth a gamble in my opinion. . . but I do understand if prople disagree and he wouldn;t be my main target by any means.
i have seen a few highlights and he did not seem fast…but was aggressive and strong. Its like with beckford i went on a leeds site and they mostly reckoned he was not premiership standard…a bit lightweight they seemed to think. Whats boyds strengths and weakness points cos you have seen him more than us.
i like boby z but i dont think we'll get good value for money after the little goal scoring spree he's been on.
I'd prefer we looked else where. True we will get 110% and he is currently playing well for Fulham….well before the injury. But dont forget Fulham tried to get rid of him in the summer because his performances werent good enough.
He'd make a good back up striker and i'd prefer him to Benjani but he isnt good enough to play week in week out.
zamora is at best a decent championship player whose goals come in runs of twos and threes then he doesnt score for ages,really i dont know where these stories come from.its gonna be tough to get a top class striker in cos there aint too many around.id prefer one who knows the premiership but i guess we may have to go further afield.its not a job id want ,i cant think of a decent striker who may be available.gotta say though gold and sullivan certainly said all the right things,lets wait and see what happens,i guess sometimes you have to take a leap of faith
Zamora would be a good signing, in my opinion – although I believe he''s out injured for 6 weeks with a dislocated shoulder – and we desperately need a striker right now.
Even allowing for the financial restraints, Zamora should never have been allowed to leave WHU. Leaving ourselves so short on strikers was the biggest mistake of the whole football project.
Always liked Bobby Z mainly for his comitment but i do'nt think he is what we need right now.I think we need 3 players a right back,centre back and striker the goalkeeper issue can left until the summer,and i think any signings should ideally be loanees as you do'nt get value for money in the window,then in the summer have propper assesment of what we need.
Possibly a loan Forward in the window but I think the end is nigh at the end of the season for Dyer, Gabiddon, Quashie etc. I think the focus on clear out will be history of injury and age. So we may also cash in on Upson as well. I think Sullivan will want a full justification for players if they have a poor record to date with injury or a good reason to keep an outfield player over 30 who has a reasonable value.
If that were to be the basis of remodelling the squad then I would be happy. But first things first lets get behind the team and get up the table.
davenport,quashie,boa morte,franco and hines out of contract in summer. Hope we keep hines atleast.
so room for some squad reshaping in summer.
Hmmmmm. I wonder if Gianfranco will be particularly pleased with this announcement. Is this one of the players that Gold and Sullivan have identified? Is it their job to go out and get players for the team? Do they think they know better than the team manager? As Fishy would say -" watch this space," veeeery closely.
Insofar as Bobby Z is concerned I'd have him back in a heartbeat. I liked him when he was with us before. On top of that he's a better, more mature, player now than he was then. He's had a taste of European competition and has fought for his starting berth at Fulham. He works his socks off and, when given a decent run in a side, gains confidence in front of goal. Time and again he's first to a 50/50 ball and then holds it well. Along with GZ's coaching I believe he could push on and get himself an England call up. Who he would partner up front is, however, questionable. He is adaptable, though, so should be able to strike up a partnership with most.
dont forget gav that zola is italian and used to this situation. I prefer a manager to pick players, cos he knows best and its his neck on the line. The advantage is that if a purchase is a flop its not his fault !!!
But at most clubs even if a coach they are consulted over here in spain. Pellegrini was head coach but did everything at villarreal, but now at Real Madrid he has no say and just has to get on with what he is given.
At Barca laporta wanted robinho, the technical director wanted robinho…but Guardiola said no and that was the end of it. Basically it works at some clubs, but not at all and ddepends on manager and his standing at the club.
Fair play Tony. I guess if GZ knows how to handle these situations then we, of I, shouldn't worry. I just remember one or two occasions where coaches have had to leave because of interference from above – one very close to home with Curbs having to leave us (although this was slightly different).
Just a quick well done comment for Carlitos Tevez and his goals for Manchester City against Manchester United last night. You're a legend Carlos. Hope to see you back some day & also hope you don't retire from football at the end of the year like you said you were going to. Also loved your response to the pathetic, immature gesture from Gary Neville.
nothing fancy needed for the rest of the season
hutton – rb
senderos – loan cb
For the money we have someone with something to prove in the short term – benni mcarthy – desperate to play in the WC. Pavlychenko will take 2 months to be match fit, van nistelroy wont be interested. Roque santa cruz on short term loan would be ideal assuming his recent injury is minor
I like the idea of Santa Cruz. Also McCarthy but he's snubbed a move to us in the past – will he do it again?
I have a mate who is a Fulham season ticket holder and he reckons the fans love Bobby there. Even when he couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo last season he was appreciated because of what he set up for others (something I think has improved in his game) and his effort and enthusiasm. And don't all of us love a trier?
I'm not actually sure if Fulham would want to sell him so this may be a dead duck anyway.
There is that. Unfortunately I don't think they will sell. Then again Bobby's love of West Ham, and player power being what it is, may force the issue.
That would not be a very sensible thing for Sullivan to do. If you employ a manager to run the team he should be left to do just that (within given budgets). Otherwise we will get another Curbishley situation. I hated the way we played under Curbs but he was right to resign when players were sold behind his back. It never works in this country even though it is standard practice in some continental clubs.
I've just seen Alan Pardew stick the knife in to the Eggman and BG. He said that some of the wages were well over the top and that they put the club at risk.
I don't think BG should come in for any flack on that count. It wasn't him who splashed out mega bucks on players – in fact quite the opposite that he who took measures to sort out the mess left behind when, and after, the Icelandic banking system collapsed due to their speculative Japanese investments.
Mcarthy ? as you said, he snubbed a move to us before, why would we want him ? we need players who WANT to play for the club, who are willing to fight relegation, not just pick up a wage.
We really need to get rid of the dead wood, like Dyer (although a good player not value for money).
I just watched the Gold and Sullivan press conference and (if it was true) was amazed at Dux wheeling and dealing and prespending income.
My Brother has a contact in Whu, he said the club are delighted with the new owners and their vision (Brother is a chelsae fan..a cross i bear).
he'll be able to tell me more next week. Maybe, just maybe, this is a dawning of a brilliant chapter in whu's history
This story was in Mirror guys!!no truth in it at all imo,
Like many others on the blog, i am immensely fond of Bobby and will forever be grateful for scoring the goal that brought us back to the premier league. But, let's be honest – when we got £5m for a goal scorer who RARELY scores goals WE ALL thought that it was a cracking deal!
Now to buy him back when he's actually in a bit of form and has a manager who is talking up his England potential is mental – Fulham would want around £10m for him and we all know that he isn't worth that……..sorry Bob, i love you to bits but you are, for the most part, not good enough………….
No – we should be chasing either Pavlychenko or Keane from the spuds or Kenwyn Jones from Sunderland. other targets could be; Jo, Benjani, Chamakh, Benni Mcartney or Piquione from Pompey – all would be cheaper and have better goal scoring records.
I would rather have Bobby than them clowns Jo or Benjani.
I couldn't believe how Benjani walked around the pitch last night whilst Tevez had been ruuning his socks off.
Bobby is great at holding the ball up and bringing others into play.
And I must admit I don't think that much of Nouble, I know he is young and all that but he couldn't even stand up without falling over, and missed so many blatant obvious passes.
i think your being a bit harsh on frank nouble , he is only 18 years old and the two games he has played in have been agianst arsenal with there full strength back 4 and aston villa who for me has probally the best centre back pairing in the country ( collins ,dunne). Give him time he's big , strong , fast and looks like with a bit of experiance around the box and the balls to ping it . he's going to be good .
BOBBY IS OUT INJURED FOR 6 WEEKS . then he would have to train by himself then train with the team and THEN he would be on the bench . by this point it will be over the season. just read the peice in the sun about massimo celino coming out and saying he would of got 100% of the club written the debts off and signed big names …WHAT A LOAD OF TOSH . so pleased straumur saw throught him .
I think most would agree the Jan window is not the best marketplace but needs must and I believe as long as we are looking at players with EPL experience we’re be ok, my realistic targets would be ferreira and vassell and not much more as long as cole and hines are not far off fitness, sign up senior pros green and upson and continue nurturing what we have.
SSN are saying we have made a bid for Benny McCarthy
Nani to be sacked does that mean no more director of football and Zola gets to identifie who he would like ?
Can't see that Zamora will come back and he's injured so not going to be much help for a few weeks!
IMO we need a quality RB and a striker to keep us up and get us to the next window. If we only have 8 million then I'd spend on a RB and look for a loan striker ,hopefully in the summer we will have some real money to get a top striker unless we can uncover a gem that noone eles knows about.
Luke young for me at RB then for now we could give Faburt a run wide right with parker and collison centre and behrami playing the holdin role wide left Dimanti, Nobleor stanislas for now. Cole and new guy up front with Franco on the bench.
E1 in Parker dropped scandal!
Devo he is in the team ? your not working for the red tops now are you ?
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