Allardyce the new Cloughie

The Mail reported Sam Allardyce as saying about the arrival of Andy Carroll, 'I look at Andy and think, “Is he better than what I already have here and the answer to that is yes”.’

Which reminded me of one of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor's golden rules of the transfer market. Taylor explained in his autobiography they would always give the same speech to a new signing: 'Son, the first time we can replace you with a better player, we'll do it without blinking an eyelid. That's what we're paid to do - to produce the best side and to win as many things as we can. If we see a better player than you but don't sign him then we're frauds. But we're not frauds.'

West Ham sign Danny Whitehead

Like London buses two new players have turned up more or less together. This one is a little lower profile than record signing Andy Carroll though. Danny Whitehead has signed from Stockport County (who were relegated from the Conference last season - just saying). Whitehead is a 19 year old attacking midfielder, he made 59 appearances for Stockport and spent 2 weeks on trial at West Ham at the end of last season. BFS and his coaches have obviously decided Whitehead has the potential to make an impact in the Premier although he will no doubt be in the U21 team next season.

West Ham confirm Andy Carroll signing

The official West Ham website has confirmed the news that was broken by the West Ham transfer news Twitter reporter Jack Sullivan yesterday. Andy Carroll has signed for the club on a six-year contract for an undisclosed fee,  widely reported to be in the region of £15m.

West Ham fixtures 2013/2014

I don't like the look of the last game, Man City away. I prefer a home game against a team likely to be mid-table just in case we need something from it. Hopefully we'll have the points on the board by then so we won't need to worry about it.

August
17/08/2013 15:00 Cardiff City (h)
24/08/2013 15:00 Newcastle United (a)
31/08/2013 15:00 Stoke City (h)

September
14/09/2013 15:00 Southampton (a)
21/09/2013 15:00 Everton (h)
28/09/2013 15:00 Hull City (a)

October
05/10/2013 15:00 Tottenham Hotspur (a)
19/10/2013 15:00 Manchester City (h)
26/10/2013 15:00 Swansea City (a)

November
02/11/2013 15:00 Aston Villa (h)
09/11/2013 15:00 Norwich City (a)
23/11/2013 15:00 Chelsea (h)
30/11/2013 15:00 Fulham (h)

December
03/12/2013 20:00 Crystal Palace (a)
07/12/2013 15:00 Liverpool (a)
14/12/2013 15:00 Sunderland (h)
21/12/2013 15:00 Manchester United (a)
26/12/2013 15:00 Arsenal (h)
28/12/2013 15:00 West Bromwich Albion (h)

January
01/01/2014 15:00 Fulham (a)
11/01/2014 15:00 Cardiff City (a)
18/01/2014 15:00 Newcastle United (h)
29/01/2014 19:45 Chelsea (a)

February
01/02/2014 15:00 Swansea City (h)
08/02/2014 15:00 Aston Villa (a)
11/02/2014 19:45 Norwich City (h)
22/02/2014 15:00 Southampton (h)

March
01/03/2014 15:00 Everton (a)
08/03/2014 15:00 Hull City (h)
15/03/2014 15:00 Stoke City (a)
22/03/2014 15:00 Manchester United (h)
29/03/2014 15:00 Sunderland (a)

April
05/04/2014 15:00 Liverpool (h)
12/04/2014 15:00 Arsenal (a)
19/04/2014 15:00 Crystal Palace (h)
26/04/2014 15:00 West Bromwich Albion (a)

May
03/05/2014 15:00 Tottenham Hotspur (h)
11/05/2014 15:00 Manchester City (a)

Transfer's update

Plenty of rumours but not much concrete news on the transfer front at the moment so I thought I'd give my take on players signed and those we are being linked with. As a West Ham supporter for over 40 years I naturally tend to be a little pessimistic at times:

Signed
Razan Rat - Veteran Romanian, two words to strike fear into any West Ham fan.

Adrian - worrying that he will turn out to be a dodgy keeper in the Allan McKnight mode.

Rumours
Andy Carroll - yes we want him but big money and injury prone. Already out with a heal injury for 3 months, he will miss pre-season so won't be fit when he does eventually return. Almost guaranteed to be another injury hit season next year.

Ambrosini - he's 36, nuff said.

Demba Ba - his knee injury that made him uninsurable has been forgotten because of his impact in English football. If we re-signed him the knee is bound to go.

Romelu Lukulu - Pace, power, young, scores goals. Would be a loan but no obvious downside, therefore won't happen.

Wilfied Zaha - see above

Wilfied Bony - has scored a lot of goals in Holland but then so did 'Mad' Marco Boogers.

Adrian signs!

It's being reported that 26 year old Real Betis goalkeeper, Adrian, has signed a three year deal. It worries me a bit this one as I think he's been signed because:

1. he's cheap
2. he had a good game recently against Real Madrid

He's only had one season playing for the Betis first team and apparently he was a bit shaky at first. Jussi will start the season as first choice and as he played every minute of every league game last season it may not matter how good Adrian is. Jussi showed last year though what a big difference a sound goalie makes to a team.