Summer 2017 Transfer Speculation

grey_til_I_dye

My feeling about the NotaClugh Ihenacho article is it is all twaddle, but if it were true, I would be delighted to think that the owners have enough faith in our manager (and sense) to give him the final say in transfer dealings.

Lukerz

Grey - I think the problem is that Hugh is credited by Gold and Sully. He does have contact with them. They often give him private interviews.

So it's almost like he's been fed this news by someone (Sully?) and it is so negative about the manager it makes you wonder what the motive is?

Fortuneseeker

I have yet to read (apart from on here) or hear anyone say it is good business to wait to do your transfer business. Everyone has been congratulating how well Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Everton plus Leicester just today in getting their business done quickly. It appears some clubs just select a player they want and make an acceptable offer, none of this lets undertake transfer dealings the "Levy" way. Like Diana Ross "I am still waiting" and my patience is starting run very thin!

Yeoldhammer

prices only go up more as the window gets closer.

grey_til_I_dye

Lukerz

I don't see it as negative at all.

In the unlikely event that it actually represents what happened:

Manager doesn't want player.

Doesn't get landed with player.

Good job all round, imo.

grey_til_I_dye

Fortunes

Everyone (including DS and Slav) recognise that doing business early is ideal.

What, I fear, you have to accept, is that the transfer market is a far from ideal world.

I haven't seen one completed transfer so far that we could reasonably have got who I think we missed out on.

Adam

Slaven_A_Laugh_Lukerz said:

Tbf I am baffled by the outcry on Twitter at not signing Iheanacho.

Gold said we're targeting 'proven PL strikers'.

Iheanacho is not. We don't need anymore risks. We've done that with Emenike, Zaza and Calleri.

If that's the reason then why would we be going for Gray (allegedly)? He's as experienced (if not less) as Iheanacho in the Premier League.

MrsGrey

Yeoldhammer said:

prices only go up more as the window gets closer.

That is possible, yes .. but I don't think it's that straightforward. As the deadline approaches and players fear not being signed, they may have less scope for negotiating and playing one club off against the other.

Prices can go down as well as up ;hmm

#complicated

Yeoldhammer

Or they go up to hold out for as much money as possible because they know the buying club has limited to no options and needs to sign some forwards...

TwistandShout

OldCastleSwift said:

West Ham Twitter has gone into meltdown again. Knives are really out for Bilic.

So much negativity around the club and we're nowhere near our heavy defeat to Man U yet.

Was just about to post this. The meltdown is embarrassing.

Fortuneseeker

grey, Wouldn't have been disappointed, especially after the current perceived lack of progress, with Defoe, Abrahams or Ramirez.

Has anyone got to the bottom of why we were supposed to be able to bid big bucks last season for Lacazette and Bacca when this year we don't appear to be able to compete even after we sold the Frenchman? Where has last season's pot of money gone we should have had it replenished with staying up last year.

Hamstew

Not too bothered if manager doesn't want a player. But would be pretty annoyed if it's taken this long for Bilic and our owners to realise they had different views on him.

MrsGrey

Yeoldhammer said:

Or they go up to hold out for as much money as possible because they know the buying club has limited to no options and needs to sign some forwards...

Yes - complicated ... by many factors.

We on the outside don't know how it pans out on the inside, so aren't in any position to judge.

Any opinion we express is an uninformed one, so not really of any value.

Lukerz

I think they're more likely to go down as clubs realise it's now or never to shift players not required off the books.

Bazshuayi

Iheanacho has obviously got talent and hes also scoring for his country too. Yes, he may look better as he's surrounded by better players at Citeh. However, when he's been introduced as sub, he's lifted the team a lot of the time with his play.

25M isn't a lot comparatively in these inflated TF times. We've been linked with him for ages now and all of a sudden it's been suggested Bilic doesn't fancy him after all (or the terms). I just 'agreed' Hamstew's 'pretty annoyed' comments so will not say more than he already has in that area.

IMO though a club of our size/pulling power/squad strength should be biting Citehs arm off to try and get Iheanacho!

IronHerb

baracks_a_hammer said:

No disrespect to herb but his transfer thread is now 80 pages long and all we have to show for it is a 33 year old freebie.

Would it be possible to shut this one down and get Baz to open a new one in the hope reversing the fortunes and bringing some good karma?

;nonono

TwistandShout

Hamstew said:

Not too bothered if manager doesn't want a player. But would be pretty annoyed if it's taken this long for Bilic and our owners to realise they had different views on him.

Surely that is the first part of the process

Do you want this player?
No.

Move on then. Why ask him after a 'deal has been agred'?

Also why leak that this was Bilic's 'fault' - just so the kids on twitter slag him off instead of the owners?

Bazshuayi

baracks_a_hammer said:

No im rather saying that Baz is a proven miracle worker and we could do with a sprinkle of his magic dust

Whilst its extremely flattering to have miracle worker feats mentioned and obviously we are in troubled TF times (so feelings are heightened), I have to say that any sprinkles I have left (I used most of them up for the Spurs game) need to be saved for actual matches.

I considered choccy topping but, in such troubling times, the best I can do is a lemon squishee

I've already had to call an emergency house meeting today to discuss the very real possibility of no Batshuayi or Iheanacho. There was a lot of dissent and a lot of tears shed. Things got very heated and there were admittedly a few personal comments bandied about in the heat of the moment.

It's a massive relief that only I live in my apartment or it could've got a whole lot worse ;wink

baracks_a_hammer

TwistAndShout said:

Hamstew said:

Not too bothered if manager doesn't want a player. But would be pretty annoyed if it's taken this long for Bilic and our owners to realise they had different views on him.

Surely that is the first part of the process

Do you want this player?
No.

Move on then. Why ask him after a 'deal has been agred'?

Also why leak that this was Bilic's 'fault' - just so the kids on twitter slag him off instead of the owners?

You have to wonder if all is tickety boo between the owners (esp Sully) and their manager. The comment after January that Slav was "happy with what he'd got" (which I suspect wasn't true). The non contract renewal. And now a difference of opinion on a player seemingly arising quite late on.

I do wonder if this all fizzles out to an end a year from now

MrsGrey

TwistAndShout said:

Surely that is the first part of the process

Do you want this player?
No.

But you assume the NO/YES answer is unrelated to value? It surely isn't. If the manager has been told he has X amount to spend, he is surely within his reasonable rights to say 'yes, I'd have him but only if'... and set conditions.

TwistAndShout said:

Why ask him after a 'deal has been agred'?

You assume - with no evidence - that this is the first Bilic has heard of it. Why can you not think that - as seems very logical - you go back to the maager at the final stages and say, OK you liked this player ... we did the negotiations, this is the deal. Are you in or out? You get the final say.

TwistAndShout said:

Also why leak that this was Bilic's 'fault' - just so the kids on twitter slag him off instead of the owners?

You assume
- the owner(s) leaked it.
- there was an intention to 'blame' or place 'fault' rather than simply explain and give reasons
- there was an intention to deflect negative comments on to the manager.

All 3 assumptions that make the owners look bad and the manager come out of it smelling of roses.

But - what if the owners version is accurate, and it is Bilic's fault? Is that not a possibility?

You assume the worst of the owners and the best of the manager .. but you have no more grounds for doing this than those twits who do the reverse.

Bazshuayi

At this moment I personally dont care who is at fault etc. as that'll eventually come out when Bilic is given the tin tack or sees out whats left of his contract. I care that he's not coming to us and that we had the capability to get him but dropped out.

TwistandShout

Mrs G, surely everyone is 'assuming' based on what they've read, by Hugh, sky etc... So why pick out my post? ;hmm

Bazshuayi

On a completely different, away from striker TFs, theme....

Outside of Lanzini we are totally lacking in the creativity dept. Should we be considering bringing Ravel back? He wouldnt cost much at all and we can only gain or once again take a small loss on him. e.g. nowhere near the 10M we've lumped on Snodgrass who's not exactly set the London Stadium (or any other stadium) alight. Getting that second chance in the Prem with us might see a more mature and grateful Ravel linking up with Lanzini ;hmm Just putting it out there

Pearces_Left_Foot

I think maybe the final deal was the problem bilic said he wanted the player the chairman agreed a deal but it was too expensive buy back clause was too high took too much of the budget etc that Slav decided he would rather move onto a another target on the list. I hope that that we have plenty of other deals in progress we have nearly two months of the window left to get it right

Bazshuayi

I'd accept the move on to another target stance if that were the case. However, how many Iheanachos at 25M will there be in this TF window? Also, those that would actually come to WHU ;hmm

OldCastleSwift

Spot on Baz. The Iheanacho deal may not have been perfect, but if we can't secure a decent alternative then we could end up regretting not taking the risk.

MrsGrey

TwistAndShout said:

Mrs G, surely everyone is 'assuming' based on what they've read, by Hugh, sky etc... So why pick out my post? ;hmm

I was responding to your post. Pretty much in the same way I responded to OCS and Luke on recent pages, suggesting there might be more than one conclusion to be drawn from the situation. And responded to other people's comments in the same vein with an 'agree' rather than a substantive comment.

Maybe you skipped past my posts on the previous 2 or 3 pgs.

MrsGrey

Bazshuayi said:

Should we be considering bringing Ravel back?

No. Been there done that. Didn't work 1st time, won't work 2nd time.

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over again in the same circs, expecting a different outcome.. when NOTHING else has changed.

If there was evidence that he'd overcome the problems that previously led us to ditch him, I'd view him favourably. But as far as I can see, nothing has changed in his attitude or approach. Why would it turn out any different 2nd time around.

Divorce has gone though. Move on.

No need to add a bad apple to the barrel - will only cause problems. imo

Fortuneseeker

Definition of insanity: doing the same thing over again in the same circs, expecting a different outcome.. when NOTHING else has changed.

That is a very good way to sum up quite a few peoples feelings about our transfer business! ;weep

HappyHammer_ish

Could argue a fair bit has changed since he was last here to be fair... diff manager coaches n staff, different players, different style of play, different stadium... he's older, not sure we've seen evidence he hasn't improved his attitude...

Not saying we should bring him back... but he was good for us when involved in match days...