This blogpost will be updated as often as possible throughout the day.

18.10: So can this be right? No one in, no one out? I have to leave the office now to get a train… Back at 8pm.
18.09: Well, that was a bit premature. Apparently the Chimbonda deal has fallen through after the clubs failed to agree terms.
17.21: Chimbonda has signed a year’s loan, Ryan Babel has said on his Twitter page he is staying at Liverpool.
15.42: Danny Gabbidon has just tweeted: Hearing a shout of Ryan Babel, what a signing that would be.
15.16: Scott Parker has told the BBC’s Jacqui Oatley that he is definitely staying. Woohoo!
14.41: The Sun reports that Scott Parker is snubbing Spurs to stay at West Ham. Is there a God after all?
14.23: Sky Sports have just sent a text out saying West Ham are considering a Liverpool bid for Carlton Cole. Let’s hope it’s a big one. Minimum £10 million, I’d say.
14.10: KUMB is now reporting the Chimbonda story too. He’s a talented player, but a bit of a head case.
13.53 Cradlebay reports West Ham have signed Pascal Chimbonda on a free. Not sure I can believe that.
13.28: I’m thinking, hmmm, Rocky Santa Criz or Carlton Cole… Get on that phone to Eastlands, Avram…
13.19 Santa Cruz’s move to Lazio has broken down.
13.14 Sky Sports are reporting that West Ham are battling with Spurs over Ryan Babel.
12.52: The Mail reports that the Hammers are interested in former Portsmouth defender Anthony Vanden Borre, currently with Genoa, after his move to Tel Aviv fell through.
12.51: KUMB reports that the Yobo deal is off.
12.33: Former Hammer Josh Payne has joined Oxford on loan from Doncaster.
11.48 Delmo reports: Football agent Barry Silkman has just been quoted saying the following: “For me, I’m doing a lot of work for West Ham at the minute. It’s mental,” stressed Silkman. “If anything happens I don’t know. They’re trying to get a right-back, they’re trying to get a midfield player, possibly a second goalkeeper. There’s a million things West Ham are looking at, I’m not sure what is going to happen. Everything is up in the air, to be honest, everything is up in the air.”
11.13: The Spurs Blog THBN is reporting that Scott Parker has been seen at Spurs Lodge training ground this morning. Hmmm.
10.52: ESPN report that Liverpool are going to make a last minute bid for Carlton Cole.
10.08: The Sun reports that West Ham are after Ivory Coast international full back Siaka Tienne
10.07: Yobo is the hot tip of the moment, while Yakubu rumours continue to swirl.
10.03: KUMB report that we are after Brazilian goalkeeper Doni as Rob Green is out for a fortnight
10.01: Talks being held with Hamburg over right back Guy Demel
10.00: Those Scott Parker rumours just won’t go away
09.58: Junior Stanislas tipped for a loan move to Leeds

So, the August transfer deadline day has arrived and we keenly await last minute activity by our club.  Across the PL, it has been a fairly quiet summer transfer window, but we might reasonably expect a flurry of last minute deals going through.  The question is the degree to which West Ham will be involved?

The balance sheet so far is that Hitzlsperger, Barrera, Piquionne, Reid, Ben Haim (on loan)  and Obinna (on loan) have arrived; whilst Diamanti and Daprela have departed.   However, there are still a number of major issues that need resolving.

In particular, we are crying out for another right-back and Daprela’s departure now means that we also need cover at left-back.  Additionally, it may also be good policy to secure experienced cover for Rob Green.   I am assuming that Grant will stick with his existing players at centre-back and try to find an effective partnership.  Although a last minute deal for Upson might change that?

Midfield is probably the strongest area of the squad at the moment.  Although the futures of Parker and Behrami’s are obviously in question.  While it looks like Kovac will remain with the club, at least until January.  Diamanti’s exit means that we have lost a lot of creativity, which we really should be looking to replace.  However, the reality is that good play makers are at a premium and cost accordingly. 

Up front Cole is the subject of a Liverpool bid and it is rumoured that they are offering Lucas and/or Babel in exchange.  Can Piquionne or McCarthy assume Cole’s role in leading the line?  Or will Caracciolo or Gameiro be brought in?  Obviously, we have signed Obinna on loan and he should add pace and power to the forward line.  We will certainly need him if it true that Hines has suffered a set back in his rehabilitation and will not now be available until the new year.  Finally, our best chance of a tried and tested PL goal scorer probably lies with signing Robbie Keane from Spurs, but will Scott Parker have to be sacrificed as part of the deal?  And is that a price worth paying?

Indeed, one of the things to look out for will be part-exchange deals involving Carlton Cole and/or Scott Parker; as well as the possible sale of Behrami to Palermo.  Player-exchange deals are ok in the right circumstances, but we must ensure that we gain more than we lose.  It will also be interesting to see if Grant pursues his expressed interest in signing Mark Wilson from Pompey?

All shall be revealed by 6pm when the window closes.  I just feel that it is worrying that we still need to do so much potential business in the final day of the window.  What is the bare minimum that we can expect? Probably a full-back,  a goal keeper and a striker.  Will that be enough?  It depends on the correlation between the quality of any additions and that of the players that we might lose in any horse trading?

Iain will be posting regular updates on the rumours/deals as they arise throughout deadline day.  Optimistically, lets hope that he has some good news to post!!!! 

Oh well, more in hope than expectation.

SJ. Chandos

Warning: If you are offended by bad language do not click on PLAY.

I can hardly believe I am writing this, but West Ham have let Fabio Daprela join Brescia (Nani’s new home) on a free. Daprela was a brilliant young prospect who cost us £1 million when we signed him 18 months ago. His debut against Arsenal was sensational and I could never understand how Zola seemed to prefer Spector to him when Ilunga was injured.

I have to say I am dreading the next 24 hours. I’m now convinced we will let Parker join Spurs.

UPDATE: Some people are suggesting we got a fee for Daprela. If that were the case, I suspect it would have been trumpeted on the official site by now.

On leaving Old Trafford, after Saturday evening’s match, I seriously questioned my sanity for travelling up for this fixture every season.  But once my bitterness at the distasteful surrender had abated somewhat, I actually began to recall that I had seen the Hammers win at Old Trafford on quite a number of occasions over the years (In sharp contrast to our dire record at Anfield since 1963-64).   Perhaps that is the motivation, the knowledge that we have done the business up there before (often against the odds) and the warm memories of those sweet victories?

However, there was nothing warm or sweet about Saturday’s result.  I feared the worst when I saw the starting line up.  Grant dropped Piquionne and Barrera (our two best players against Bolton) to accommodate Boa Morte and Faubert on the left and right flank.  He obviously felt that these players would better track back and battle for possession, which is fairly sound logic I guess.  However,  Personally, I would have preferred to have seen us start with Barrera and moved Faubert back to right-back. 

Again, Grant’s post-match logic in concluding that Man Utd are a better team than us cannot be faulted.  Although I note that the reported pre-match qualification about the ‘best team not always winning’ had been conveniently forgotten.  We were certainly under the cosh for much of the match (as usual), although we managed to threaten on two or three occasions.  Indeed, some of our forward play was good, although it appeared that Cole was too isolated up front and, as a consequences, we consistently lacked a real cutting edge.  Hopefully, Victor Obinna will help solve that particular problem?

The most depressing thing for me was the continuing tendency for the Hammers defence to shoot itself in the foot.   For the penalty, Jonathan Spector let Giggs cut in and get on the wrong side of him.  Hence, he was at a distinct disadvantage when the subsequent challenge was made.  Having seen the challenge once again, on TV replays, it is clear that Spector got the ball before making contact with Giggs, but his poor positioning allowed the Man Utd veteran to take advantage to win the spot kick.

Danny Gabbidon was arguably at fault for the second, in failing to make a decisive challenge on Nani, backing off and then compounding it all by falling over.   For the third goal, more should have been done to stop Nani getting the cross in to the far post.  But having done so, Spector’s failure to mount a serious challenge to Berbatov was painful to observe.   As I said, a right defensive comedy of errors, but no one in the long suffering Claret and Blue Army was laughing!

Will alleged transfer target, Mark Wilson, improve the defensive situation?  Apparently, Wilson can play at centre-half or defensive midfield.  But the question is, will his acquisition add extra quality to the squad?   Is he really any better than the players that we currently have?  I hope so, if the deal happens. 

I also hope that we ideally retain Parker and Cole, but the failure the sell Behrami probably makes a deal for one of the two more likely.  I do not like the prospect of losing one of our best players, but a deal will be more palatable if it led to the acquisitions that shake up and strengthen the squad.   However, my big fear is that we will lose one or both of them and then bring in players that fail to add extra quality and ultimately prove ineffectual. 

I suspect that we are missing Hitzlsperger, we certainly looked more solid and tougher to beat in pre-season.  I know that they were only pre-season matches, but regardless his positive on-pitch influence was there for everyone one to see.   I sincerely hope that the German international is back soon.  We shall have to see what happens on transfer deadline day, but I would prefer to see us sign a right-back with existing PL experience.   If a player is moved out, then perhaps they will make an improve bid for Lorient striker, Kevin Gameiro?   Alternatively, could Robbie Keane and/or O’Hara arrive from Spurs as part of a deal for Parker?  Could Lucas and Ryan Babel arrive in exchange for Carlton Cole?  Alternatively, could transfer funds be raised via a late deal for Matt Upson or Valon Behrami?  We shall see come midnight on Tuesday?

It should be noted that the three opening defeats equal our worst ever top level start in 1977-78, a relegation season!  If we lose the forthcoming home match against Chelski we will gain a new, unwanted club record.  So our next home match takes on a crucial importance on a number of levels.  The club need to be looking for at least a draw to stop the rot and put a point on the board.   In truth we need a repeat of last season’s gutsy, battling home performance that saw us go ever so close to beating them.  We could even be boosted by the continued absence of Chelski’s England duo of Terry and Lampard, although admittedly they still have plenty of quality available without them.   

I know that at this juncture it may appear fanciful to say it, but a draw and win against Chelski and Stoke City could really turn things around for us.   As we all know stranger things have happened.   Much may depend on the success or otherwise of our dealings in the final 48 hours or so of the current transfer window. 

SJ. Chandos.

Sky Sports is reporting that Liverpool are in talks with West Ham over Carlton Cole. My view is simple. If we can get £12 million we should sell.

Discuss.

I’m really proud to announce that An Irrational Hatred of Luton is out now and available through Amazon. Click HERE to buy it. It’s by Hammers fan Robert Banks, who charts his ups and downs supporting West Ham.

Robert will be doing a book signing in the Newham Bookshop on the corner of Barking Road and Green Street from 12.30pm-2.30pm on September 11th, just before the Chelsea home game.

I don’t think Chris Waddle likes us, does he? Geordie ****. Every utterance by him on ESPN was a negative one, when there were actually a few bright things to take away from this game. OK, we shipped three goals again, but I suspect most of us thought it would be worse than that. I thought Danny Gabbidon had a great game in defence, while Kieron Dyer looked incredibly sharp and could easily have scored when his shot hit the post. In the first half we played the ball around quite well and didn’t appear to be too intimidated. Yes, we didn’t have anything up front, but there arreared to be a game plan and we stuck to it.

However, when we went two down it did seem a bit off for Grant to take so long to change things around. The game was crying out for Boa Morte to be replaced by Picqionne, but it came far too late. Barrera replaced Faubert, who hadn’t done badly at all, I thought. But Barrera should have been on from the start, playing in front of Faubert. Instead Faubert played in front of the completely hapless Spector. Until he gave away the penalty there was even a thought daring to creep into my mind that we might actually get something out of this game. But Spector was always going to be weak link, and so it proved.

I think the Upson Gabbidon partnership should be persevered with. Neither of them are what you might call pacy, but chopping and changing won’t help. Personally I think our long term central defensive partnership will revolve around Da Costa and Tompkins, but that won’t be for some time yet.

In the second half we created little. Cole was to isolated to be able to create anything at all.

The other thing I take from this game is that Scott Parker is half the player he was last season. He looks almost lazy at times, and that is something you would never have said about him last season. Gone are the crunching tacklies, gone are the driving runs forward. You don’t think his mind is elsewhere, do you?

So, here’s how I would mark the players today

Green 7
Upson 5
Gabbidon 7
Ilunga 5
Spector 2
Faubert 6
Parker 5
Noble 6
Dyer 7
Boa Morte 4
Cole 5
Barrera 6

Please click HERE to rate the West Ham player performances v Manchester United. Only vte if you watched the whole game, either live or on TV.

Please use this thread to discuss the Man U match as it progresses.

Team: Green, Upson, Gabbidon, Spector, Ilunga, Faubert, Noble, Parker, Boa Morte, Dyer, Cole.
Subs: Stech, Da Costa, Kovac, Stanislas, Barrera, McCarthy, Piquionne