Summer Transfer Window 2023
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Comments
You know full well that who people support isn't a choice. There are plenty of West Ham fans that aren't happy with the situation; you seem content and that's absolutely fine. I kinda envy it, if I'm honest. But please respect that others aren't.
Doesn't feel like a particularly happy camp all round, does it.
Blimey.
Chelsea get a bad injury to one of their players so just go out and buy a replacement. For all their faults we could learn a thing or two from them about being active in the transfer market.
Just my weak attempt to bring a little touch of light on here. I’ve obviously misjudged my audience.
Hey ho.👍
Maybe I don’t take it quite as seriously as some on here.
As for "Moyes out", he is statistically one of the best managers West Ham have had. Last summer a lot of money was spent to realise a strategy that, to date, hasn't really worked out, due to injury, slow assimilation (perhaps due to overcaution), and at times refereeing decisions and flukes on the pitch that cost the game. I've said before I'd like to see what he can put together with this new shape. The sale of Rice has provided an additional challenge which will have to be dealt with. As such, if anything Moyes should be given more time, not less.
As for player signings, I am pretty sure that nobody on this forum knows anything about how it works. It doesn't help that the club's recruitment structure and strategy seems to change from year to year, but I have a feeling that a professional football recruitment team have a better inkling of why and how certain players are approached. I'm not saying I have absolute faith in the club, but I'm hardly unbiased or qualified to even have an opinion -I hate Harry Maguire, but it's surprisingly easy to find people singing his praises online, and they can't all be bots.
In the end, though, it's just a game, and just as I would still love my son if he was jailed for shoplifting, I will still support West Ham even if -shock, horror- they are relegated. Which brings another thought. If you look at what happened to Brighton, or Newcastle, a few years ago I would have said that a longer period in the Championship might be what West Ham needs. Now, I think we're past that, and the setup is improving to a place where a few adjustments need to be made to really turn West Ham into a top-7 club.
In summary, 3 or 4 signings, including a lynchpin midfielder, and we're set.
That was also true on the 14th June when the transfer window opened and we knew Rice was going.
I think we all know that we'll sign players - and they'll probably be good players - but it's more the fact that we've wasted the opportunity of pre-season in terms of bedding in the new signings and will in all likelihood start the season on the back foot as a result. This is particularly frustrating having heard Moyes say that's why we struggled last season.
You're right, of course, to say that nobody really knows how transfers work. There have been a number of articles over recent seasons by the likes of The Athletic that offer an insight, but the particular intricacies of how West Ham work we'll never truly know. But the more respected journos and ITKs are all suggesting that it's a pot-mess right now, and the fact we haven't signed a single first team player lends some weight to that.
I suppose some of us are being greedy; we have just lifted a European trophy and have a third season of European football. Taking a step back, it's definitely progress and, in a rare nod to Sullivan, it is arguably the 'next level' to where we were.
That said, I do think we could be in a better situation still. I get Moyes is statistically one of our best managers, but the football under him over the last 18 months has generally been very poor. I still maintain he should have gone after Prague to freshen things up, particularly with Steidten coming in. A new approach to transfers and some new ideas from the dugout would have meant another transitional season maybe, but from a position of strength. I fear we go into this season now from a much weaker position, in terms of playing squad and cohesion at the top.
The ECL cup is not the attraction many think or hope it should be. Players are not attracted to a club because of a cup win, unless it's a major one.
The players we got in last year came to us thanks to our league position at the end of the previous season and the promise of European football and further success in the EPL.
Unfortunately, the season proved to be a near-disaster.
Prospective targets will look at the position we ended in and not the many valid reasons for it - injuries, dodgy refereeing to name a couple - and think they could do better elsewhere.
Another thing is how we are perceived as a football club. When you have Maguire (who has obviously forgotten where he came from) reportedly mocking the idea of coming to us you have to think that there's a definite perception about us.
Is it Moyes with his preferred style of play, or Sullivan, is it the level of the training facilities - who knows?
With the fanbase that West Ham has, the stadium, the history - we really should be massive (yeah, I know we think we are
So just what is it about West Ham that some players seem to turn their noses up at?
IMO, there's something not right at the club when not only are we not attracting players but players and coaching staff want to leave.
Did I understand you right, that players came to us last summer because they were promised European Conference League football, but this summer players don't want to come to us because they are promised Europa League football?
I agree, though, that final league position might be an influence, but footballers don't have other jobs to distract them, and have agents to look into things for them, and will (or should) know of a club's potential.
You are definitely on to something saying that the club have a poor reputation. At agent level, if I was responsible for a young player making waves, and had to make a decision upon which the future success of my client -and my fee- directly depended, I would probably not decide to go to a team where the manager seems to have a clear notion of what he wants, but the minority owner regularly speaks out on what are, really, footballing decisions, and then pressures the manager to make changes, and then hires a new director who will also have a say on strategy. Sounds like I'd be at risk of putting my protege into a system where any one of three or four people have the power to bench them indefinitely.
You've hit the nail on the head @Fortuneseeker.Well for me anyway.
There is a lot of passionate supporters who care very much about the club and are frustrated at what's happening or rather not happening regarding transfers.
Oh wait ☔️