But surely Hogan is either going to be an Austin or a Beckford?
If we're going to shell out £15m, I'd rather lump it all on Defoe, or we may as well wait until the summer, which would risk us having an underwhelming end to the season.
What i don't understand is that, as far as I can recall, no mention was made of Hogan up until 3-4 weeks ago and now he is the answer to our needs. I'd rather wait until the summer.
They came up with that last season too 'go big in the summer' - we got Zaza + Calleri on loan deals
Carroll will break down and Ayew and Antonio cannot play the lone striker role. Calleri couldnt hit a barn door and asking Fletcher to solo it when he might end up on loan anyway...
I didn't say 'go big' Twist but if Hogan has a good second half to the season then we look again. After all it doesn't appear that clubs are beating a path to his door.
Problem is last year we finished the season 7th, had Europa league football, semi final of the FA cup and had kept Payet who was one of the stars of the season and the euros.....yet we couldn't bring in the types of players that could take us to he next level
Don't see what will change from last summer as we are in a worse position of anything
There aren't a ton of strikers and I think given the summer we had we are going to stay away from players from foreign leagues
I don't think anyone is saying Hogan is our saviour or the answer to all our needs but he's the type of player this squad is lacking and if he turns out as good as our other championship players he'll be worth the risk
Also Defoe isn't going for as cheap as Hogan
Van Aanholt is a left back and they managed to get £14mil for him, how much do you think they'll sell their top scorer and best player for?
Slaven Bilic will make the ultimate decision on whether West Ham will make their final move for Brentford striker Scott Hogan, according to Sky sources.
Bilic is currently sitting on the fence about the 24-year-old, whom the Hammers already negotiated a principle agreement for earlier this month.
Sky Sports News HQ understands the two clubs have agreed to a £9m payment up-front but disagree on added bonuses.
Definitely a Striker over a keeper for me as although Carroll has demonstrated he is a 20m striker recently you just cannot expect him to stay fit and we have so little back up that it would be reckless to go to May without adding to the strike force.
With regard Keepers I would agree that Hart is better than Randy or Adi but Randy has not let us down aside from the Spurs gaff and waited for his chance patiently, lets be classy and give him a proper bite of the cherry and see how the situation looks in the summer. Harts wages would likely dwarf both our keepers salaries put together and although class he is not exactly free from making gaffs himself.
Agree OCS - hart is a cut above. I know he's had his issues but he is still a commanding presence. He'd feel less pressure being at a club like ours compared to Man City
Carroll will break down and Ayew and Antonio cannot play the lone striker role. Calleri couldnt hit a barn door and asking Fletcher to solo it when he might end up on loan anyway...
Ayew played as a lone striker at Swansea last season with Sigurdsson playing in the hole and scored six goals in seven games
If Hart comes here he will want to be first choice keeper,
I have quite a lot of faith that everything will start clicking into place now the shadow of Payet has gone. I think the clue that something was wrong was when a few months back we managed to turn our slide of losses into a run of wins but still seemed to be disjointed, playing without confidence.
Ayew hasn't played a full 90 minutes yet and he's only had 6 starts in 13 appearances. The longest he lasted was 75 minutes against Swansea where he scored, he was given about an hour four times and the other time he started he was replaced at half time.
Its not as if he's been given much of a chance this season and the competition for places is pretty fierce. Maybe now Payet's gone he'll get more of a run out but then we've just bought Snodgrass.
Don't get the Hart move, he'll only move if he's a guaranteed starter (if he moves to us) and he'll be on big wages. He isn't a bad keeper but I fill to see a big enough step in levels looking at him and Randy who's been very good
Adrian apparantly is out of contract in the sumer so we will be a keeper light but Hart is an expensive one. Would rather we keep Adrian and invest money into other area software the squad
And I agree Ayew needs to take his chance when he comes as he has been disappointing, although a 4-4-2 would surely suit him better as he can play as Carrolls partner
Don't get me wrong, Randy has done well with some good saves, but he is nowhere near as dominant and commanding as I'd like the keeper to be.
I think an in-form Adrian comfortably trumps an in-form Randy, and I think Hart trumps both.
Adrian suffered from the teams lack of form. Our defending in those opening months was shambolic. Randy came in just as we began sorting ourselves out. A year ago I thought he was one of the top six keepers in the PL.
Hart would be a fantastic signing. Randolph has had an excellent season and Adrian has been a very good servant for the club, but Hart ticks every possible box and would be a major asset for the club, whilst randy and Adrian are both legitimate number 1's and deserves to be playing week in week out. We have to reach a stage where our transfer windows are much more methodical and selective, genuine quality who fit the right kind of profile.
Personally, I feel that Randolph is better than Adrián, I've always felt he was an accident waiting to happen. I love the pair of them, think they're excellent keepers, very good and dependable at this level.
Joe Hart, for me, is in the top 10 keepers in the world. His organisation is fantastic, he has saved England and City so many times over the years, and he is a hugely calming presence for defenders.
I don't think he'd be interested in coming to us, as I think he will want to go somewhere where he can beat City to trophies, but if he were interested I would snap him up in a heartbeat.
Comments
If we're going to shell out £15m, I'd rather lump it all on Defoe, or we may as well wait until the summer, which would risk us having an underwhelming end to the season.
We might not need to buy in the summer...
Don't see what will change from last summer as we are in a worse position of anything
There aren't a ton of strikers and I think given the summer we had we are going to stay away from players from foreign leagues
I don't think anyone is saying Hogan is our saviour or the answer to all our needs but he's the type of player this squad is lacking and if he turns out as good as our other championship players he'll be worth the risk
Also Defoe isn't going for as cheap as Hogan
Van Aanholt is a left back and they managed to get £14mil for him, how much do you think they'll sell their top scorer and best player for?
http://gianlucadimarzio.com/en/las-palmas-calleri-will-stay-at-west-ham-bilic-has-blocked-any-potential-transfer
BILIC TO DECIDE ON HOGAN
Slaven Bilic will make the ultimate decision on whether West Ham will make their final move for Brentford striker Scott Hogan, according to Sky sources.
Bilic is currently sitting on the fence about the 24-year-old, whom the Hammers already negotiated a principle agreement for earlier this month.
Sky Sports News HQ understands the two clubs have agreed to a £9m payment up-front but disagree on added bonuses.
So assumimg for a second that it's accurate, I can't see Slav going for Hogan with Carroll, Antonio, Fletcher, Ayew, Calleri and Sakho all at the club
With regard Keepers I would agree that Hart is better than Randy or Adi but Randy has not let us down aside from the Spurs gaff and waited for his chance patiently, lets be classy and give him a proper bite of the cherry and see how the situation looks in the summer. Harts wages would likely dwarf both our keepers salaries put together and although class he is not exactly free from making gaffs himself.
Adrian was in the Spain squad.
Why buy another keeper?
Certainly not a necessity, but if he's available it's worth asking the question, IMO
So we either play him to the ahead of two keepers that have proven themselves willing to compete with each other in a good manner for the no1 spot.
Or we have another high wage big ego dude to deal with, don't see it myself.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4169724/Leeds-expect-sign-Ashley-Fletcher-West-Ham-loan.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Interesting to read as well that it was Slav's decision to let him go, although I always take Sully's words with a shovel-full of salt.
If Hart comes here he will want to be first choice keeper,
Its not as if he's been given much of a chance this season and the competition for places is pretty fierce. Maybe now Payet's gone he'll get more of a run out but then we've just bought Snodgrass.
Adrian apparantly is out of contract in the sumer so we will be a keeper light but Hart is an expensive one. Would rather we keep Adrian and invest money into other area software the squad
And I agree Ayew needs to take his chance when he comes as he has been disappointing, although a 4-4-2 would surely suit him better as he can play as Carrolls partner
Don't get me wrong, Randy has done well with some good saves, but he is nowhere near as dominant and commanding as I'd like the keeper to be.
I think an in-form Adrian comfortably trumps an in-form Randy, and I think Hart trumps both.
Adrian suffered from the teams lack of form. Our defending in those opening months was shambolic. Randy came in just as we began sorting ourselves out. A year ago I thought he was one of the top six keepers in the PL.
IMO
Hart is a cut above.
Personally, I feel that Randolph is better than Adrián, I've always felt he was an accident waiting to happen. I love the pair of them, think they're excellent keepers, very good and dependable at this level.
Joe Hart, for me, is in the top 10 keepers in the world. His organisation is fantastic, he has saved England and City so many times over the years, and he is a hugely calming presence for defenders.
I don't think he'd be interested in coming to us, as I think he will want to go somewhere where he can beat City to trophies, but if he were interested I would snap him up in a heartbeat.
Can't see it, TBH
Now we have a fit RB I am really curious to see the Kouayte / Obiang Parnership in MF.
I think it be special as they will complement each other but that does leave Noble on the bench... ;hmm