‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts ’ (Aristotle)
‘We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion’ (Friedrich Hegel)
What do we want from Avram Grant’s management? Attractive, passing football? A tougher, winning mentality that makes us far more competitive and hard to beat? The preservation of the club’s long standing reputation for producing and promoting young players?
Yes, all of the above. However, possibly an important factor in achieving success, will be Grant’s ability to embed a strong team ethic, build togetherness and promote passion. We know that these attributes are the x-factor in footballing success. A strong team ethic and fighting spirit invariably allow sides to improve performance and boost results.
Too often, West Ham have produced sides that seem to play like a collection of individuals. Yet, the 1985-86 team was very much an effective unit, within which the qualities and abilities of individuals were showcased. But the bottom line was that they fought for each other and played as a strong unit. Arguably, this allowed them to out-perform (in league terms) previous Hammers sides that were probably more individually gifted. While, how many times in our club history have we defied the odds to avoid relegation or to win specific matches that, on paper, we had no right to do? The best example of that was the 1-0 defeat of Man Utd (courtesy of a Kenny Brown goal), at Upton Park, in 1991-92 to help deny them the title. How did a already relegated Hammers team manage to overcome far superior opponents? Pure passion and commitment!
Things certainly seem to be shaping up well in pre-season so far. We followed up our 1-2 victory at Peterborough Utd, with an impressive 0-2 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach. The scorers were Cole and McCarthy and the team seem to have dispatched the German side with a certain clinical efficiency. Could this be the harbinger of a new West Ham consistency and professionalism? Lets hope so.
Elsewhere, it appears that there may be substance to the rumour that the club are negotiating the possible joint sale of Kovac and Diamanti to Greek club, Olympiakos, for a potential combined fee of c.£6.5m. Whilst the sale of Kovac is not problematic, are the club right to seek to also sell Diamanti? For me, he is a richly gifted individual, but it is his individualism that is the problem. The challenge was and remains to better harness Diamanti’s ability within a team context. Perhaps the new management feel that objective is not easily achievable? Hence, the decision to move the player on. Nevertheless, there will be sense of profound regret amongst many fans if Diamanti is, indeed, sold.
One rumour that keeps cropping up, is that Stoke City are to bid for Carlton Cole. The latest rumour is that they are preparing a £8m bid for his services. Personally, I do not feel that it is a deal that will come to fruition. Cole has looked sharp in pre-season, scoring 2 goals in 2 games, and he is likely to be a key player next season. Especially if we play 4-3-3 or a variation formation such as 4-2-3-1. Encouragingly, Nouble also appears to be in fine form with the England U-19s. We could certainly do with a young striker such as Nouble making a major first team impact this coming season.
Elsewhere, Fredric Piquionne has been quoted as cautioning that he is not a prolific goal scorer in the mode of Rooney or Torres. Although he does add that he feels that he can increase his goal return next season. Piquionne is a good professional and a decent forward. He will not suddenly turn in to goal machine, but he can still do a job for us. And that will hopefully include maximising his goal return.
Finally, it appears that Nice are happy with West Ham’s £12.5m bid for Loic Remy, but the scheduling of payments remains the sticking point. It has been reported that Nice are awaiting at least an equal bid from Liverpool, that puts more money up front. If that alternative bid is not forthcoming, then there is the possibility that Nice will reach an accommodation with us on the scheduling. We will just have to wait an see what transpires on that one?
SJ. Chandos.
Can't see Liverpool having the money for Remy on top of Joe Cole. Also Hodgson has said that he has never heard of him, he was one of Rafa's targets. With a player exchange offer for Mach, I can't see Liverpool splashing much cash, let alone 12.5m. The only worry I have is that Harry will do his usual scouting through us and poach him at the last min. Also 6.5m will be a disgrace. 2m for Kovac by all means but I'd be very upset if we let the Diamond Geezer go for less than 6m to 8m on top. Personally I'd rather we kept him.
Let Remy stay where he is and we keep Carlton and Diamante.I remember going to every game home and away that 85-86 season and we should have won the league,we beat Chelsea 4-0 at the Bridge and lost at home on the monday 2 bloody 1 !But the poxy owners sold Cottee and Macavennie and that got me thinking,spending all my money going all over Britain and everywhere when we went to Europe got me annoyed about the ambition of the owners and for 20 years of home and away following they let my dreams of becoming Champions fade and Die!I think we have at last owners who have a planned vision and basically want what we all want success for our great Club!just give us a taste of the good old days because winning trophies and being there makes you glad to be Alive!COYI
diamanti is a very skillful player but he has no pace. he cannot go past a defender without being re-caught due to lack of speed, and everyone knows that without pace you cannot cope in the premiership. personally i would select diamanti for a financial sacrifice, always if the offer is worth it.
i think the club is in a position to gain money from behrami also.
personally i would like him to stay but business wise he can be valued for around 8 million and in central midfield we have parker, noble, hitzilsberger and collison when fit. boa morte can also play there if required. i adore behrami's work rate but we are full of grafters and need more creativity.
dont need pace if your played in the hole.
zidane was a carthorse!
Reports in this morning's press suggest that Remy is in favour of a move to Liverpool. If so, we should withdraw the offer now and walk away. If his attitude is to put himself in the shop window and then press for a move we will have gained little from him. £12.5M (7.5 upfront is rumoured) is a lot of money for a player who has never played in England, can we afford him? What wages is he asking?
Cole should not be sold at this late stage, whatever the offer, because we will not be able to replace him with a better striker before the start of the season. There just isn't EPL talent out there for sale.
Couldn't agree more and was going to post similar untill I read this, although I can't say I don't understand the guy wanting to go into a team that is playing in Europe, I think Liverpool are in as much dissaray as we were at the end of last season and if Remy isn't passionate about a move to West Ham, I'm sure we can find someone @ 12 mill who is. I don't want to see CC sold, I thought that untill his dip in form & injusry problems last season he was one of our best players. I think we'll see him become a better player still under Grant
Dorrans just signed with WBA till 2015. With Remy turning towards Liverpool and Santos holding us to ransom over Neymar I think it's time for fresh ideas. Interest has died down for Adriano who is pretty prolific and young prospects like Witsel, both with whom we have been linked to in the past. I'll be happy as long as we avoid Ben Haim and offload Spector and Dyer.
ide be happy just to get kovac off the books !!! no news on upson going and i hope they have a replacement lined up if he does !!!
I really hope that we will keep Carlton Cole. If he can get back to how he played in the first half of last season, before his run of injuries, he will be a big player for us this year – regardless of who else we sign. If he does go (to Stoke for £7-8m?) we will not be able to get a replacement as good as him for that kind of money.
If Cole can get good service from wide, and with Barrera and LBM there is no reason why he shouldn't, I'm sure his goal tally would increase significantly.
The £12M price tag for Carlton Cole has got to be met Roy. Anything less than that would be an absolute steal for any club. Despite that I'm with you in hoping he stays as I think he'll do extremely well for us again.
Can't see the logic in selling Cole, also for 8 million would be a steal. Where can you find a proven target man that scores goals in the premiership for that little money? I can't see that deal being done unless the offer is for at least 10 maybe 12mil. We are currently being linked to strikers for more doe who have it all to prove, so why sell Cole for less?.
In addition to Cole and the rest, we do need another striker. McCarthy despite reports to the contary, still looks to be carrying some extra lumbar, Nouble and Hines are good kids but are just that, kids.
I would sell Diamante if the cash is needed, he has plenty of skill in his shooting and passing but he so lacks in other areas of his game, it makes him a liability. If his decision making improved 100% then he could become a top top player but if he hasn't learnt that by this stage of his career, he never will.
What a difference to last summer, when we all was looking forward to so many players arriving that had been linked, then we signed no-one. Already we have three fairly decent signings in the bag that are going to improve the squad so any more would be the icing on the cake.
C.O.Y.I
If Loic Remy is 12 million pounds worth then what must Cole be worth then.
He,s a proven premiership player who can score goals and bring others in to play as well, he also is an England international so that must be counted as well.
The only thing that Cole needs is confidence and good crosses from the wide players and he bangs them in,he did well for us last season even without decent players around him who can provide good passes and crosses.
Beware that if he goes to Stoke that he and Matthew Etherington could be lethal,
All those lovely crosses and Cole buries those chances.
He could be worth 20 million if he has a good season.
great post.
Etherington was a crap crosser of the ball, how many times did I see him cockup great moves with wasted crosser’s . His best game for us in the prem against reading away a couple of years ago when we won, actually West Ham played great that day,bellamy scored that day as well.After that game I though WH were really improved only to be let down there after!
Word from Juventus is that their young playmaker Giovinco is looking for first team football, if we are bidding for Remy and loose out, plus sell on Diamante we can do a lot worse than look at this fella.
Giovinco is a super little talent (in the words of Ray Wilkins) but i fear that he may be too small and slight for the demands of Premier League football – the poor lad is only about 5ft 2!
We were looking at him a year back, the same summer we were looking at Balloteli, Witsel, Hamsik, Mancici and Aquafresca. I don't know how close we were really to signing any of them but if we did, we'd have about 100m of talent to sell by now.
ive never considered size to be a disadvantage in football. look at maradona and messi. if you have the skill, there is no stopping you…
12 mil for Remy,no thanks!!!
rather keep cole.
Wronger than a wrong thing, wearing the wrong clothes at the wrong time of day……..
£12m for Remy is a good deal that we should bloody well hurry up and get sorted!
£12m for a goal shy, under achieving, confidence dependent, injury prone Carlton Cole would be the sell of the century.
selling cole this season would be stupid. with englands shocking performance in the world cup capello is gonna change his formation to 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1 like the rest of the big teams and if he does cole still only 26 is the big strong type of player who could lead that line. i dont think there is another english striker like him at the moment he is big, strong, quick and if he can improve on his finishing he could become a £20 million+ player easily. i think this is a big season for him now and hope he stays. C.O.Y.I
rooney matches him on everything. i dont like the bloke one bit but he will never be dropped by england or united, even if hes in a wheelchair!
I'd really like to see what Cole can do this year. I think this could be a brand new start for him. Two goals in two games already, although friendlies is still nice to see. The kid has the hunger this season and with our new signings, I say keep him. Less than a month away. COYI!!!
Joe Cole has signed for Liverpool officially – that's that hope (not matter how small) put to bed
i never did expect him to sign for us i honestly thought he'd sign for harry, so i'm well happy he's gone to liverpool. hahahahaha lets all laugh at tottenham hahahahahahaha
i've already been on the blower to a few spuds already johnny ha ha!
all of them are in disbelief at why he turned them and arsenal down for liverpool as they are obviously the bigger club ha ha! MUGS!!!!!
money, money, MONEY!
Glad it is Liverpool, wouldn't have been too happy if it was arsenal, spurs or even man utd. Suppose thats the best place for him to go without me being that bothered, apart from him not coming home of course though!!!
Poor old bogy eyed hairy Redkrapp! ha ha
a typical spuds reply to this news….
"He's not better than
Hudd
Jenas
Bale
Modric
Lennon
Bentley
So not that bothered.
Modric, the Hudd and Bale are world class – Cole isn't, end of "
honestly! There is not one spud fan I know (and unfortunately I know a lot!) who is not deluded / in denial about their club – its ridiculous!
I sit in between 2 Spuds at work and both of them think the sun shines out of 'Arry's arse! So happy he hasn't joined them as it puts them firmly in their place… I hope they fall at the first Champions League hurdle!! Fingers crossed.
I am pleased that Joe Cole has signed for Liverpool as like many, the thought of him in a lily white shirt is too awful to contemplate. That said, i will certainly NOT be phoning any of my Spud 'friends' to gloat – to gloat you have to be in a position of superiority and many of you appear to have forgotten that no matter how much we hate THEM, they have just had thier best finish in the top flight for 20+ yrs and will be playing 2 games of Champions League football next year before a season of Europa league football (!). We however had one of our worst seasons and have a squad riddled with mediocrity.
I'll gloat when we are in a position to do so, i think we have more important things to focus on now……………………
I can tell you guys an even bigger reason not to sell Cole………..he actually wants to play for West Ham. Apart from Noble and Parker, there aren't many who want to play for the shirt as much as Cole. Maybe Franco but we let him slip away.
Wasn't there a bit on the official website on Friday about some major signings within 72 hours? It must be atleast 69 hrs since then and still no news.
Hello mate since they put thet on the website we've signed Barrera and Piquionne.
I think they were hoping to sign Remy as well.
Na the one Johny is talkign about is the one after both of them signings, they said it again!
I think the statement could be read two ways – most have interpreted as meaning more signings in next 72 hours. I read it as referring back to original statement when it said there would be signings in next 72 hours and club were saying they have delivered! In any case your 72 hours has almost expired!
Surely if it was Ben Haim, they would have announced it by now. So we can only assume because that is not coming through that they were looking to confirm Remy. Will we get the green light to sign him because they have just got Cole, we will have to wait and see.
There is still some hope. I mean, i know the opinion is that Remy isn't experienced enough but i admit it would be pretty exciting to get him. Who here wouldn't expect big things this season if our last signing was this kid?
Me thinks we still need a few more signings…
Better sooner than later too, need to get used to the team before the season starts
Well i still think we have a chance with signing Remy, i seriously hope though that we sort something sooner rather than later, i also want Mokoena to join us.
As for Joe Cole, shame we missed out but i didn't think he would coem anyway, there was a small chance but never mind. At least he isn't go Spurs!
Good news 1 – Joe Cole is not coming back
Good news 2 – Pre-season appears to be better than last season.
Good news 3 – Frank Nouble scored two crackers last night.
Good news 4 – Big Benni scored a cracker the other night.
Perhaps we don't need another striker. Now, defenders on the other hand…..
Well said DevoDevo, defenders is exaclty what we need although Remy would still be nice haha. Unfortuantely Bad News is that Ben Haim looks like he is coming, don't want that to be honest, i would much rather Mokoena if im honest. But i trust Avram with who he wants at the club.
i'd love remy but not if its to replace cole. defenders are what we really need just hope ben haim is not the only one coming in. i read he and grant fell out at chelsea so if he still wants to sign him surely grant see's something in him.
We definitely need defenders mate, in particular CB's!
But…….we DO still need a striker! Cole is never going to be a 15+ man and 1 good goal from fatbot Benni doesn't mean he will carry that form over the the new season. Nouble doesn't have the experience for first team yet and Sears has got no hope! Before we had Nouble, Cole, benni and Mido and couldn't hit the back of the net for love nor money.
I know we have Piquionne now but even he admits he's not all that! lol!
An out and out striker would be fab (a Defoe or Torres!) lol
But yes, we need defenders because it's no good having great strikers who are going to score 4 golas a game if we are going to let in 6!
Matt – with all due respect, Cole would have bagged over 15 goals last season had he had any decent service and not got injured. On his day, he is unplayable. He has to stay and I am pleased that we now have some cover for him in Piquionne.
People forget that Cole was rushed back from injury and finished the season not only half fit but costing him his place in South Africa. Despite his dip in form at the end of last season, it was Cole who laid on most of Ilan's tap ins. Yet some people on here rave over Ilan as though he was some kind of saviour, when in fact, he was never up to much.
I do lament Franco's leaving, though.
Devo, I owuld like to agree with you on Cole mate. I do like him but I just don't think he has that ooomph that a striker needs to be prolific! I'd love to be proven wrong but he just seems to start the season well and then hit a plateau!
I know he was injured and I know he was rushed back but I personally don't think he would have played any different even if he was fully fit.
I think that if a club (be it Stoke or whoever) bid somewhere between 8 and 12 Million, he will be gone mate!
Just my opinion
Bet Harry is really smarting about losing Joe Cole. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
I Hope the bagpuss nob is crying into his court papers!
we dont buy some defenders,we're in big trouble.
Another name crossed of the Dave,s "dream signings" list.
That can only be postive for us as we have no time to waste looking for signings.
This has narrowed down the list of names linked with us aswell as the clubs shopping list.
Hopefully we can nick Remy from under the noses of Liverpool and sign Marveaux at the same time.
A couple of defenders ,a midfielder (O,haro of KPB) and another striker (we don,t want to be down to bare bones again with all our injuries adn strength in dept)
Let,s make the most of this season!
I, for one am not to upset about Joe signing for Liverpool! Ok, he would have been a nice addition to our midfield when fit but that's the problem! He's liable to quite a few injuries and to be honest, I think we are all set in midfield.
Also from what I heard we offered him a silly get out clause stating he could leave whenever he felt llike it! No thanks!
I also think we should just pull the plug on this remy geezer too! He's obvioulsy playing us to get a move to Liverpool! If he wanted to play for us, he woudl have signed by now! I know his club aren't too happy about the payment plan we offered but if it was going to happen it could have been ironed out!
Just let him go and concentrate on someone else! Someone we have heard of that isn't going to want silly money like him.
Like who ?
Like Keane or Pavlyuncheko or we could maybe get Santa Cruz on loan for a season.
Three good suggestions Matt. I agree with your sentiments, but i'd rather find out who is leaving us and get some centre backs.
I am quite happy with our signings up to know, to be honest, i just want my team on a stable footing, consolidate this season and start to build in the following seasons.
As much as I don't like it I think Carlton will go! I want him to stay but 8-10Million for him would be a good price!
We definitely need some CB's you are right! I also would like to see us on a stable footing with maybe a mid-table finish but I also would really like to re-live the DiCannio excitement too! WOuldn't it be great to have another exciting striker???
Remy would have been good (I think) if all this Liverpool crap hadn't ahve happened and if he showed some interest in us.
You have thought about this!! Glad its not just me. I dont think cole will be going, i think we wont be adding anymore to the attack, unless this Remy joins.
Id like Zamora back as long as cole stays. Santa Cruz? would he come? that would be good too.
Oh yes mate! Definitely have thought about it lol!
Not so sure Bobby is what we need right now! he's done a great job for Fulham but I think he fits in better over there.
Sata Cruz isn't getting a game at Citeh and can't really see that changing! Maybe we could pay hallf his wages?
we sign two new faces , more to come , squad looking healthy, club being ran from top down now properly and to top it off arry at the spuds didnt get his grubby hands on joe cole ! life as a hammer is ok at the moment lol !!!
Also glad with cole joe that is not coming as if we ever stood a chance now hopefully we get remy even if holding out for cheapskate deal arthur daley sully has put forward as this guy will make us good money in two years and excite and give the team a bit of flair for awhile. Good post jolly I remember cole scoring how many for the season and one for defoe too but if his injury cleared up then hold on to him and sell the headless chicken to palermo or lazio or whoever he will run all day for and produce nothing
It’s nice that there’s a bit of money available now, I’m not too overjoyed with the signings yet though!!
Hitzleberger is way past his best and apart from a thundering left foot he didn’t do much at Villa to be fair, Piquinne has a worst goal/game ratio than Cole and Barrera is a total gamble.
I'm loving all of the optimism on the site at the moment. I do wonder, however, exactly how fragile this will prove to be. I'd like to think that posters here will still be chipper after the Villa, Bolton, Manchester United and Chelski games but I'm not so sure the current 'faith' will stand the test.
I think 5-1 to win at Villa could be a good bet, Gav – whether we buy anyone else or not!!
Mate I have taken the 5-1 purely because Villa lost at Basingstoke 2-1 and have just scratched a 3-2 win at Peterborough. We seem to always get a draw at Villa but if we can add a bit of quality to the squad we could nick the 5-1 odds,here is hoping!
Yep – hear what you're saying Devo. I think the point I was trying to make was more to do with the fickle nature of fans & how quickly patience runs out. Kipling said it best when he spoke of 'those two imposters.'
Mate, you can guarantee that as soon as we lose a game, there will be the usual suspects on here with "Avram must go" posts and how we are going to get relegated…….
U know it! It's as predicable as a Phil Taylor 100 plus 3 dart average.
I expect to drop points and it’s going to take time for Av’s to settle the squad. I’m just seeking solace in the belief that the only way is up from last season
This fella http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humberto_Suazo is keen on a move to EPL and would cost around £7Million.
Sell Spector for £5 and Upson for £6,999,995 and buy him!
He seems to have a good record.
Why so much for Spector I will give someone a fiver to take him!lol
That's a very impressive goal return – everywhere he's been. I wonder about the Premier League being a different kettle of fish but he'd have as good a chance as anyone to get us 20+.
who mate?
Humberto?
Mate, the person is not a Hammer!
Nope! He's a SPANNER! lol
The Spuds have done something good – stop press!!
They've become the first EPL club to ban the vuvuzela. That said, I reckon if one appears at the Boleyn ground it will end up being wrapped around the head of the person trying to use it.
Good ol football-rumours.co.uk contains this: "Just a whisper but west ham may offer 7 mil for zamora". Almost certainly a crock of the proverbial like most stuff on that site but it got me thinking, if someone offered you a straight swop for Cole, how many of you would go for it?
I thought you were on an undercover scouting mission in Turkey?
na, just 1500 quid lighter having booked alternative flights and pending a hoped for CAA payout. Just think, Capello will earn that tomorrow before elevenses!
And before any wag starts, no I do not earn 200k lol!!
for those of you who are scratching your head as to why joey cole went to the kop, i have the answer…MONEY! he has turned into a modern footballer, and is more concerned with the dosh than a ball. wouldn;t care if he did go to spurs to be honest. he wouldn't have done any better, imo.
i would forget remy now. he clearly is turning out to be another modern footballer, but you can't blame him, his club aren't helping us out either. i am still a little bit annoyed that we didn't approach beckford.
looks like this season is shaping up to pretty good. a good pre-season, new players coming in, owners that care, a GOOD new manager, i could go on…
also lloking forward to thursday for the release of the new home kit. hopefully it will be better than last season's. just didn't click for me. the away kit was alright, but looked a tad bit like fat sam's blackburn.
i would also like to point out how impressed i was with frank nouble last season. as we have villa away as our first game i feel it is a little ironic. i wasn't very impressed with him against arsenal iin the fa cup, but my opinino changed dramatically after seeing the villa game! for a young lad with no previous premier league experience, in a new team, playing up front on his OWN…he did reaaly well! hopefully he can improve on that this season! glad to see he put two away for england the other night, lad's gonna be a little belter!
also, im quite surprised that nothing has emerged about us trying to sign dindane. he did marvelously well for pompey last season and for me, had a decent world cup. maybe grant doesn't like him but id rather him than bloody big belly ben haim!
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