It has been reported that Parma are interested in taking Jimenez from Inter-Milan.  Obviously any deal between the Serie A clubs, in the January transfer window, is obstructed by his current loan deal with the Hammers.  It raises the question whether the club might consider releasing Jimenez to facilitate him joining Parma?

Jimenez has been largely ineffective this season, but has shown some flashes of quality.  By far his best performance was in the Boxing Day victory over Portsmouth, where he made a major contribution.  However, the player has failed to consistently reproduce that form and has been unable to tie down a regular first team slot.

However, is this the right time to let him go?  Or do we need to retain him until the summer to provide vital creative midfield cover?  One option could be to release Jimenez and replace him with Jack Wilshire on loan from the Gooners.  The question here is whether we can afford to replace an experienced player with another youngster?  Or does Wilshire’s rich promise negate any doubts on that score? 

Wilshire is allegedly a Hammers fan and would probably jump at the prospect of a loan at Upton Park, especially if the alternative is Bolton Wanderers!  But should we consider it in our current circumstances?  Also, does it send out the wrong message to our own promising youngsters like Edgar and Kerns who will find themselves being pushed back down the midfielder pecking order by a gooners youth product?

SJ. Chandos.

I’ll be on Ian Collins’s show on talkSport from midnight to 1am tonight, and hopefully we’ll be spending some of the time talking about the mighty Hammers.

Also, you will be glad to know that sometime in the next week, I am moving the hosting of this site. I am as frustrated as the rest of you that it keeps crashing. Anyway, hopefully it will all be solved when the geeks do what geeks do.

Laters.

Click HERE to rate the West Ham player performances against Portsmouth.

What a shame this game isn’t on TV. Portsmouth are in the doldrums and it is rumoured that they have so few players available for selection that they will only be able to name three substitutes. I’ll believe that when I see it. I think we all hope that we will see a repeat of last year’s thumping 4-1 victory at Fratton Park, but I suspect most of us would settle for a dull 1-0 win.

The good news is that Carlton Cole may well be back. If Zola goes by past form he may well be on the bench and only be used if needed in the second half. Otherwise, it is likely that Zola will field the same team that did so well to grab a 0-0 draw against Aston Villa. The only possible change I can foresee is for Diamanti to come into the equation somehow, maybe to give Nouble a bit of support up front. It’s as yet unclear whether Scott Parker will be fit to start.

Green, Faubert, Spector, Tomkins, Upson, Collison, Noble, Parker/Diamanti, Kovac, Nouble, Behrami

SSN have reported that West Ham are currently targeting five strikers.  These include McCarthy, Benjani and one striker from overseas.  Could that overseas striker be Maoulida from Lens or the former WBA loanee Menseguez?  Or is it a altogether more exciting prospect?

Interestingly, it has also been reported that Benni MacCarthy has not trained with Blackburn Rovers today.  So, perhaps this is an indicator that a deal is pending?  Alternatively, it could be a protest by the player at the move being blocked?  We shall see!

The rumour about James Beattie still persists, but this could be the media putting 2 + 2 and coming up with = 5?   Beattie could probably do a job, but perhaps our interest in this particular player is a red Herring?

With no news yet, have the club missed their first target of signing a striker in time for Tuesday’s fixture at Portsmouth?  Or has a deal gone through that has yet to be reported?

SJ. Chandos

There are various reports circulating that the club are seeking to get Huntelaar from AC Milan on loan for the remainder of the season.  Huntelaar is a striker with a big reputation from his days in the Dutch league, but has apparently failed to settle in the Spanish league and Italy’s Serie A. 

There is no doubt that he is quality and just the type of goal predator that we so badly need.  The only question will be whether he can adapt quickly enough to the more physical nature of the PL to maximise his impact over the remainder of the season.  My view is if we can realistically get him then we should go for it!  It could be an inspired move!

However, this is only one of the rumours circulating at the moment.  Other sources have us signing McCarthy from Blackburn and/or Gudjonsson from Monaco.  I think that McCarthy will be a good signing in the short-term and for a fee in the region of £1.7-2.5m you cannot really go wrong.   Some sources are stating that Blackburn are digging their heels in over a £3m fee, but the player is clearly unsettled and, hopefully, this will prove decisive in pushing a deal through.

There are also reports of Spurs proposing a player swop deal involving Carlton Cole and Robbie Keane.  Whilst I would consider Keane joining the club, losing Cole is really too high a price to pay I am afraid.  Similarly, we should reject any offer from Man City of £15m or a lower fee and a player exchange.  Again, losing Behrami is just too high a price to pay in my book.

However, things have gone quiet on prior reports that we were setting up a deal for Luke Young from Villa.  I have to admit that I do hope that a good quality right-back  joins the club, as it is a position that really worries me.   We need to tighten things at the back and preserve/ improve our current goal difference.  The -9 goal difference could be worth an extra point to us, seeing as most of our rivals at the bottom are c. -20.  Hopefully we will climb to mid-table and goal difference will not be a factor, but just in case!

Zola also has to decide whether he is happy going with the two young reserve keepers as cover for Green.  Both are very good prospects, particularly Stech, but do they have the experience to cope if Green got injured?  As an insurance policy it might be advisable to Bring in a veteran keeper on a short-term deal.  Similarly, improved cover for Upson and Tomkins might also be a preferred option,  but it has to be recognised that you can only do so much business in what remains of the the January window.  Perhaps we may just have to go with Da Costa and Gabbidon as first line cover, with promising prospects Spence and Ngala as our fall back?

Whatever, the next 7 days should be very interesting.  Starting with, hopefully, delivering on the club’s stated objective of bringing in a striker before Tuesday’s match with Portsmouth.  Interesting that Pompey beat Sunderland yesterday.  There is always one team every season that starts off well and then ends up dropping in to the relegation mire, could that team be Sunderland this season?

SJ. Chandos.

According to the Daily Mail’s excellent Charles Sale’s Sports Agenda Column, Eggert Magnusson is writing a book…

Former West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson, accused by the club’s new owners of being responsible for the Premier League side’s £100million-plus debt, will have his say in a book. Icelander Magnusson, whose ‘crazy regime brought the club to its knees’, according to the latest Hammers overlord David Sullivan, is writing an account of his time at West Ham to be published in the UK later this year. Magnusson said: ‘It will be about my personal experiences. I’ll explain many things that need to be put into the daylight. This will be my personal settlement with West Ham.’

Having just started a new book publishing company, that set me thinking. Would it sell? If I published it would my fellow West Ham fans think I was a traitor!!? There’s no doubt Magnusson has a story to tell and to my mind, it would make fascinating, if sometimes painful, reading. I’ve just signed up a major biography of one of England’s leading players, to come out just before the World Cup (can’t tell you who yet) and am in discussions with a popular West Ham author about two other book possibilities. I think Sports publishing is a great niche area if you can get the marketing right. Anyway I thought it worthwhile investigating so I called Charlie Sale yesterday to see if he had a contact number or email for Eggert Magnusson (he didn’t). And, strangely, nor do many of those who were closely associated with Magnusson during his time at the club. Funny that. Anyway, today, Charlie Sale follows up the story again and concludes…

Political blogger and West Ham fan Iain Dale, whose company Biteback is starting to publish sports books, is one of those showing interest in Magnusson’s memoir of his West Ham reign.

So, if Eggert’s book ever saw the light of day, how many of you are likely to a) want to read it and b) buy it, and c) never speak to me again if I published it?!

Oh dear. I think most of us agree that David Sullivan and David Gold have got off to an excellent start in their new roles at West Ham. Some thought, however, that it was only a matter of time before Karren Brady put her stilettos in it. And so it has proved. Her suggestion that West Ham should lose the “United” and become West Ham Olympic is both crass and idiotic. Karren is very talented lady, but she has to realise that there are certain West Ham traditions which you interfere with at your peril.

The fact of the matter is that it would be a non starter anyway because the word Olympic is one of the most heavily protected trademarks there is. She must know that, so why mention it?

And can you really imagine us switching from chanting “U-NI-TED!” to “O-LYM-PIC!”? No, nor can I

UPDATE: I’ve been told that Karren Brady intended to say she thought the stadium itself could be called the “West Ham Olympic”, rather than the team.

Fail.

The emphasis upon bringing in a couple of proven strikers is undoubtedly correct.  Quite simply, we must increase our quality up front going in to the forthcoming run of key fixtures.  For me, Benni McCarthy is a good short-term option, he may be 32, but he is experienced, knows where the back of the net is and can do a good job for us, no doubt about it. 

Of course the discussion at the moment is dominated by the identity of the £100,000 a week striker.  Everyone thinks that it is RVN from Real Madrid and it may well be, but his recent injury record makes me a bit nervous to be honest.  The last thing we need is a £100,000 a week striker who is a fixture on the treatment table!  No doubt the club will be wise to that one and will ensure that RVN is fit and can contribute fully to the remainder of the campaign.

Anyway, the latest news is that he is concluding a deal with Hamburg, so it may well be academic whether his fitness is a managable risk or not.   However, you really cannot fault Sullivan & Gold’s logic in balancing the short-term expenditure on the wages of a player of that proven class against the losses that any possible relegation would bring.  The other factor is that a landing a deal for a top draw striker can give everyone at the club a massive psychlogical lift.

If  RVN deal does not happen, then perhaps the club will try for Huntelaar from AC Milan?  We might just get Huntelaar for the sort of money allegedly offered to RVN,  he is unhappy at AC Milan and is apparently open to the idea of a loan to a PL club for the rest of the season.  If the deal is only a loan until May, Huntelaar’s people might think it a good opportunity to put him in the PL shop window for next season?  Afterall, it worked for Tevez did it not!  And no doubt the likes of Sir Alex, Wenger or Benitez will be more than happy to step in once he has proven his PL goal scoring ability at Upton Park!!

The other option in the media is the club bringing in Cavenaghi from Bordeaux.  This is a striker that we were linked with before, when he was with Palermo if I recall correctly.  He certainly had a reputation as a good prospect when he was in Serie A, but I am not sure what his goal scoring record is like in the French League? 

One thing is certain, the club need to land players in this window, difficult although it undoubtedly is.  Failure to do so will be met with understandable cynicism by the fans.  Particularly against the back drop of the last two or three windows, which were a massive let down.  Failure by the new regime to land decent signings will just be seen as just a further disappointment.  As such, the club really do need to go the extra mile to make the signings happen.

Whilst the prioritisation of strikers is correct, I would also urge the club not to forget to bring in a decent right-back.  I would go for Luke Young at Villa, Paulo Ferreira at Chelski or Justin Hoyte at Boro.  I just feel that the defence would look so more balanced and solid with a good quality right-back.  Faubert is doing reasonably well, but I just feel that he is vulnerable positionally.  He frequently get caught out, letting forwards get on the wrong side of him.  He may be ok as a wing-back, where he has extra cover, but I still think he is a bit of a liability, defensively, in a flat back four.

I would also welcome an experienced centre half and goal keeper cover, but I accept that other positions might take priority.  I think that Tomkins has really started to come in to his own recently and should finish to the season strongly.   The problem here is cover.  I have not found Da Costa totally convincing, so far, and Gabbidon has a big question mark over his fitness.

I do not think that we will be relegated.  Everything is set up for us to start climbing the table in the coming weeks.  The recent performances against Chelski, Arsenal and Villa have been very convincing and shown that the squad has the bottle to get out of trouble.  The points are there to be won in the next few matches and we have more quality than the other teams in the bottom half of the table.  The addition of 2 or 3 more good quality players will help guarantee a strong finish to what has been a disappointing season.

In conclusion, I see that there is a rumour that Man City will bid £15m for Behrami.  Personally, I would not go for it.  Behrami is a very important player for us.  We probably do currently have too many midfielders, but there are other players in that position that we can move on in the summer, which is the right time to make major decisions on restructuring the squad.

SJ. Chandos.

David Sullivan has just given an interview to Radio 5 Live in which he reveals he has offered an out of contract player £100,000 a week to join us. I assume he must be referring to Ruud Van Nistelroy.

Listen to the 9 minute interview HERE.