Hammers Nail Down Dazzler in First Acquisition of Window

Hammers fans will be delighted to learn that Darren Randolph is set to return to the club. The 32 year old left in 2017 in search of first team football with Middlesboro.

Now two and a half years later he is on his way back as reports indicate that the Hammers have agreed a fee of around £3.5million to bring him back.

Randolph will provide much needed back up for Lucasz Fabianski but first of all will need to agree personal terms and complete his rehabilitation from a thigh injury that has sidelined him for the past 9 games.

Prior to that, Dazzler was living up to his name and has been enjoying a very successful time both at Boro and for the Republic of Ireland for whom he is first choice keeper.

Welcome back Sir!

COYI!!!

Hammers Ready to Make Key Signing

Rumours are that David Moyes will start the West Ham rebuild by bringing back Darren Randolph from Middlesboro. While Lucasz Fabianski is back and looking sharp as ever, the reality is that West Ham do not feel confident in either Roberto or David Martin as back up for a position that has cost them dearly so far this season during Fab's 3 month absence.

Dazzler left West Ham for £5 million in Summer 2017 after a successful spell but found himself short on first team opportunities. He has shined during his time at Boro and continues to impress for the Republic of Ireland at international level. He would undoubtedly be a popular solution to the Hammers goalkeeping problem. 

Boro are stuck in mid table obscurity in the Championship and look unlikely to make a run for a play off position or slip into relegation trouble. Whether Randolph will want to warm the bench remains to be seen but with West Ham in boomerang-mode at present a return looks very much on the cards!

David Gold Gives Update on Andy Carroll's Groin

Hammers head honcho David Gold has taken to twitter to reassure fans that Big Andy Carroll simply has a bit of a stiffy and his substitution after demolishing Middlesboro yesterday was merely a precaution.

Let's hope that the Chairman is correct but Hammers fans will know only too well that Andy's history is of what initially appear to be minor knocks dragging on into prolonged absences.

With the Hammers now in the top half of the table but well adrift of the European spots, it looks like they can relax a little and maybe pencil this season down as one of consolidation. The problems offloading poor Summer transfers highlight the need to be cautious during the January window where most of what's on offer comes with a health warning.

The Deal for Scott Hogan looks stalled for now and with Jonathan Calleri belatedly discovering some goalscoring form maybe the Hammers will decide to hold back on the cash until the Summer. However, with over a million extra prize money for each Premiership placing each victory from here in has aconsiderable financial worth and would cover much of the cost of new recruits.

Meanwhile, the capture of Jose Fonte makes much better sense with news that Angelo Ogbonna needs major knee surgery and will be absent for the rest of the season.

Let's hope Big Andy makes it to the Summer without any further injuries.

 

Sam's the Man as Bilic Looks for more of Palace Form

 

SuperSlav has opted to continue where we left off last week with Sam Byram starting instead of James Collins. Andy Carroll has shrugged off his 'whiplash' injury and starts with Lanzini, Feghouli and Antonio feeding the offensive bullets. New signing Jose Fonte is not yet eligible.

For Middlesboro, new signings Bamford and Gestede are on the bench alongside ex-Hammer Stewart Downing.

West Ham United: Randolph, Byram, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Obiang, Feghouli, Lanzini, Antonio, Carroll
Subs: Adrian, Calleri, Collins, Fletcher, Fernandes, Oxford, Quina

Middlesbrough: Valdes, Bernardo, Chambers, Gibson, de Roon, Traore, Clayton, Forshaw, Friend, Negredo, Stuani

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Subs: Fabio, Leadbitter, Fischer, Guzan, Downing, Bamford, Gestede

Payet Punishment Escalates With Further Disciplinary Measures

Now that Dimitri Payet has been banished to train with our kids in the U23 squad he is having to come to terms with being back in the school environment. While corporal punishment has (sadly) been eradicated from the curriculum, there are still many potent means by which naughty students can be punished.  

Little did Dimitri know that when he put pen to paper on a new five and a half year contract last Summer that he was in fact getting in some early practice for his punishment chores. Apparently, Dimitri wants to fly out to Marseille for the weekend but has been told that he has to stay back in detention with all the other badly behaved ruffians. 


Meanwhile, our star pupils will be turning out for the first team and hoping to push on from last weekend's fabulous Payet-free performance against Palace with the trip up North to Middlesboro.

COYI!!!


 

What should Bilic do with Feghouli?

West ham's Summer signings have been a huge disappointment so far this season. Apart from Edmilisen Fernandes, they have all underwhelmed. However, while Zaza, Tore and Calleri have totally flopped, the case of Sofiane Feghouli is much less clear.

Feghouli looked like a tasty signing in pre and early season as his first touch and passing impressed, along with his ability to deputise on free kicks and corners in Payet's absence. Many fans were quietly hopeful that he would form a powerful understanding and partnership with Mr P.

However, those plans were scuppered by injury and he is only now resuming the challenge. For one thing, his return to the starting XI as a right winger has allowed Antonio to move more centrally and added a more balanced shape to our side, albeit with only a modest contribution in support of our beleaguered right back!

But more misfortune - a harsh red card against Man United, followed by a bizarre open goal miss against Man City have posed to possibly dent his confidence. Interestingly though, Feghouli kept fighting and getting forward after the awful miss and looked relatively undeterred.

With Roma trying to prise him away from the London Stadium in a deal that would see the Hammers recoup their £10million outlay, the big question is whether we have really seen enough to decide whether the Algerian truly is Premiership quality.

The jury is out for now and the games against Palace and Boro look set to swing Bilic's mind either way.

What do you think? WHY NOT LET US KNOW IN OUR FANS POLL?

Payet and the Price of Failure

I curse you to win 2-0......

With only one result in six games and four straight losses, the visit of Middlesborough to London stadium is just what the misfiring Hammers need. With a Premiership low averaging only 5 shots per game, it may just be possible for the chaotic West Ham defence to keep the Boro out. The key will be to stifle Alvaro 'the beast' Negredo who poses their biggest attacking threat. However, after just a single shot on target against Southampton last week, Payet et al will really need to up their performance if they are to get a much needed win.

Slaven Bilic has commented on Dimitri Payet's perspective upon the club's disastrous start to life at the new stadium by repackaging his being 'unhappy' as an example of the passion that is needed to get back to winning ways. However, it's hard not to feel that the Hammers lowly position and the general negativity around the club and it's supporters is likely to impact upon the midfield maestro's willingness to listen to the many suitors out there who would gladly splash considerable cash for his services.

While Bilic will be hoping to keep Payet on board through the January transfer window, the likelihood of him staying beyond this season if the Hammers don't make the Champions League seem slim. As such, Slaven's lads will need to start putting points on the board as soon as possible as we are already ten points of Arsenal in fourth spot and have not had the toughest start in terms of fixtures.

Let's give Stewart Downing a warm welcome - he was a big part of establishing us as a stable Premiership club when we first returned to the top flight. 

The bad news is that Mystic Mark has backed us to win 2-0.




 

Hammers Nail Down European Slot

First successful penalty in Premiership this season!

West Ham picked up a rare win yesterday as they downed bottom of the table Burnley at Upton Park. Given the advantage of an extra man from the 24th minute, when Michael Duff was harshly judged to warrant a red card after a coming-together with Cheik Kouyate, one has to wonder how the Hammers couldn't extend their 1-0 lead and again stumbled home. All the same, West Ham are back up to ninth.

All of that was of minor consequence as the Europa league fair play place was also under scrutiny. Over the past few weeks it has been nip and tuck in terms of yellow card count, while the rating of the fair play judges in terms of postive play and the conduct of players and officials remains unknown. Of note, Big Sam has been mighty quiet about refereeing decisions and the performances of the team could hardly be described as overcommitted!

None the less, it now seems highly likely that the Hammers will top the league and if England can hold on to one of the top three berths in the European table (currently third), the Hammers can start preparing for European football next season. The down side being that the competition starts in July!



Some sources have suggested that the Europa league is actually a booby prize as it places added pressure on the squad in terms of additional games and, importantly, midweek travel. For fans, the Thursday night European fixtures result in an excess of Sunday matches.

In the last season before the move to the Olympic stadium, maybe the Hammers could do without the distraction - especially when one considers that of the English qualifiers for the Europa league over the past decade, eight have subsequently been relegated - Blackburn, Bolton, Portsmouth, Fulham, Birmingham City, Middlesboro, Wigan and - yes........ West Ham!

Perhaps it's time they gave an extra players allowance to sides in European competition.