that West Ham fail in their promotion bid. I wouldn't usually post this, as its the kind of thing that remains a thought, but; I can over look the signing of Nolan (amongst others), being a 'free' as it obviously leaves money in the kitty, for ridiculous £35k a week championship wages, but to publicly state an interest in Carlos Tevez, well, its frankly embarrassing. Even Leicester, over paying for everyone they've bought this summer hasn't rattled my cage, but for Big Sam to come out & say they'd gladly pay his wages to have him just defies belief. At what cost West Ham? Maybe we will shall see, at just what it costs in May.
Really!?! That's even worse! With the Foxes being bankrolled by limitless billionaire money, I can kinda see how that just chuck it around, but I seem to remember the WH owners moaning about how much debt the club has a mere 12 months ago. Outrageous! What really annoys me is, they have a great academy, but are just insisting on chucking money at the squad.
You forgot they have alse brought in john carew, pantsil, sam baldock, papa diop, guy demel + bentley, lansbury, almunia on loan they all must be on crazy money.
Not to mention Taylor, Faye, and O'Brien as big Sam attemps to recreate his old Bolton team (plus McCartney on loan too).
I think the bigger question is would Sam prefer Tevez or Kevin Davies? For all of Tevez's ability, Big Kev is the missing piece of Big Sam's Bolton circa 2004 jigsaw.
I did notice that West Ham picked up Almunia on an "emergency loan". Not sure what is wrong with their other three first team goalkeepers - Boffin, Stech and Kurucz. If they are never going to use them, why have them? Anyway, I will not go as far as to say that I hope they fail to go up. But with so many teams in the hunt for the top two, there is a fairly high chance that they will. They haven't really faced any other serious top six contenders yet (maybe Cardiff but they lost), so we shall see. Barton left Newcastle for free, but Nolan cost a significant amount, according to the Guardian it was £4m plus various add ons if they get promoted.
Can't be bothered to look this up but I'm pretty sure Sam got shot of 13 or so players pre-season. As for the parachute money, it's an absolute essential. Clubs relegated from the PL would otherwise have to go straight into administration such is the gulf between PL and Champ TV money. That said, I almost crashed the car when I heard that they'd offered Tevez an escape! This year, I have reserved my "I hope they fail" sentiments for QPR. Well not actually QPR, just Warnock.
I think Gold and Sullivan know they have to gamble. Not sure how long the parachute payments last, or by what ratio they diminish year on year, but it's basically **** or bust for them this season. I don't wish WHU any harm, but it will be fascinating to see what happens to that Olympic Stadium if they don't get back to the top flight soon. Bet Barry Hearn's chuckling away though. always comes up roses, that bloke.
When Sam was at Bolton and we changed managers every week I used to bang on about the need for consistency and building a team. Now we have Adkins and he is building. We don't need a "name" to fire us into the headlines. Hard working, very fit players are playing out of their skins week in and week out to do that. Adkins is clearly a great motivator and has got people playing way above expectations. Many of us thought Hammond would really struggle; we feared Rickie's lack of pace would prove his downfall; even Kelv might struggle. They haven't, they've excelled alongside others and this is largely down to what Sam created at Bolton - a strong consistent approach where players formed a team bigger than the sum of the parts. There is something unseemly about watching the great West Ham United (winners of the 1966 World Cup for my generation!) seeking the services of Tevez.
The Saints are living proof of how far team spirit, togetherness and continuity can get you. A lot of our players are young and hungry or in the case of Rickie and Deano have a point to proove. All of our players give the impression of how much they love being at the club and want to win 'for the shirt' and the manager too. I wouldn't swap what we have going on at our club with anyone in the Championship and winning the way that we are by playing attractive football makes it all the more satisfying.
Nolan is reportedly on £55k p/w according to my West Ham buddy - which actually isn't too bad considering Parker was on £80k a week. They got £5m for Parker which is around what they spent on Nolan, so effectively they payed nothing for Nolan but also managed to cut the wage bill down in the process. I agree with you though, it's farcical. Firstly, it's no secret that The Shammers have huuuuuge debt piling up, but now they also have to deal with the cost of the Olympic Stadium (Which they won't be able to fill - especially if they don't find their way back into the Premiership before 2013) It's all or bust for them now... Most likely bust. Also, Baldock hasn't done anything since they brought him in either has he? Didn't they end up spending like £3m for him? What a waste of money. I'm glad we steered clear of that one tbh.
Well said that man. When you look at the teams were sucess endures over the years, it is often where players have been together for a long time, with some or many having come through the ranks. Man U and Barcelona spring to mind. They obvuiously make signings, but the core of the team have played together for some years. I prefer the Barcelona model over the Real Madrid model (cherry pick the best players in Europe) any day, and long term it is better for the game.
