Not sure if it's already been mentioned on here yet, but West Ham have made a couple of very respectable signings.
Nocerino on loan from Milan and Borriello on loan from Roma. Blimey.
To my mind, there are two major different types of loan signings:
(1) the up-and-coming youngster - with the parent club looking to give them experience at a higher level than they can offer, and the club taking them on loan possibly looking for a bit of class above their normal transfer targets, but more often a bright spark that will lift the team on occasions and offering surprise factor. Several examples come into mind - obviously Lukaku, Alvaro Vazquez, Deulofeu spring to mind, but closer to home we have Jamar Loza
(2) the experienced head - not necessarily over 30, but certainly the parent club finds them a bit of a burden on the wage bill and they're not likely to play much because their star is on the wane, so offloading them to another club may (i) help their value go up and (ii) free up squad places for promising younger players not sent out on loan/new signings to bed in. For the loaning club, they are looking for an experienced head to steady the ship inexpensively and to provide a bit of strength in depth, possibly even a test for a future signing. Examples are plentiful - Garrido was originally in this bracket for us, and this season clearly Elmander and Gutierrez are here, Everton again have this example in the form of Barry, Villa with Holty.
Now neither is a "better" loan, each is required for different circumstances - Everton have done brilliantly because they have used their different loans perfectly and they plugged the gaps needed. I'm also of the opinion that our loans are the correct ones, and I think Holt will prove a good (if quiet and not necessarily celebrated) loan signing for Villa.
The trouble with West Ham is I don't think they needed old heads. They have plenty of that. Borriello is probably the better of those two because they do need strength up front, and both have clearly been class players in their time, but I really think that West Ham's problem is they don't have a bright spark. Obviously they missed out on Lacina Traore on loan, which would have been a much better signing IMO.
So all in all, I'm not too worried about this. Neither of those players would have added much to our squad (maybe more Nocerino), so I don't necessarily see this as a big leap for them.