Tevez on way back to the Boleyn?

With Rumours of Tevez becoming increasingly unsettled at Middle Eastlands over recent weeks,Mancini indicating he can leave and G & S indicating a willingness to dip into their pockets for Quality players is a return for the Little man on the cards. They have by their bids for RVN and Robbie Keane shown a desire to pay marquee wages for marque players although whether theyd be prepared to stump up the fee than Carols would demand is another question.Cant see it somehow

In the meantime, we can but dream.

One Carlos tevez.......

DIAMANTI TO BE FIRST OUT OF THE DOOR

Jason Burt, who has a good handle on West Ham is reporting today in the Telegraph;-
Interest In Argentine striker- Mauro Bosseli
Diamanti -first out the door.
Franco contract not to be renewed
O Hara for Upson ot Tomkins(!!)
Improved bid for Dorrans

The Daily Mail is reporting interest in Whittingham and Eagles.

Cant say Im impressed with Sullivan potentially allowing the likes of Diamanti, Franco and Tomkins to go because he;s not been impressed by them and how many central midfielders do we need to buy!!!!

LATEST MANAGERIAL ODDS.......

courtesy of Skybet

1. S McClaren 4/6
2. Hoddle G 3/1
3. Curbishley A 8/1
4. Bilic S 8/1
5. Grant A 8/1
6. Pardew A 10/1
7. Hughes M 12/1
8. Jewell P 14/1
9. Souness G 20/1
10. Venables T 20/1
11. Coppell S 20/1
12. O'Leary D 25/1
13. Brooking T 33/1
14. Southgate G 33/1
15. Rijkaard F 33/1
16. Shearer A 40/1
17. Eriksson S 40/1
18. Jol M 50/1
19. Houllier G 50/1
20. Ince P 50/1
21. Gullitt R 66/1
22. Adams T 66/1
23. Wise D 100/1
24. Mourinho J 100/1
25. Sheringham T 100/1

Where do they get some of these from.....

Dennis Wise, Teddy Sheringham, Gerard Houllier,Tony Adam, Judas, Gareth Southgate, Alan Shearer and Paul Jewell. Rather keep our little Italian than end up with any of those jokers.

Oh yes , Mourinho and Rijkaard, nice thought but cant see it...

NEW PLAYERS but WHAT POSITIONS?

No one disputes the influx of new blood which is needed to enable us to compete next season but which positions need strengthening based on our 2009-2010 performance.


RESERVE GOALKEEPER

We have been very fortunate that Green has consistently remained fit over the last three seasons because the cover of Walker, Lastuvka and this season Kurucz
and Stech has fallen well short of the mark.The move for Kelvin Davis in the summer would have given us some back up quality and experience that we should have and this will be a key role for the new goalkeeping coach to remedy.

RIGHT BACK

Despite Faubert being a solid performer this year , he is not an out and out right back and has frequently been caught out by the better sides. We have certainly missed Lucas Neill and a move for Luke Young or similar who can actually play RB and LB (unlike Spector who cant paly either) would be a shrewd move.

CENTRE BACK

Despite decent performances from Tomkins and Da Costa there is a clear need for a solid Centre back in the James Collins mould to build a solid partnership with Upson. These are the foundations ,good teams are built on.

ATTACKING GOALSCORING MIDFIELD/CREATIVITY

There has been a dearth of quality , which is why for me Diamanti in patches has been a shining light.To establish ourselves in mid table we will need to add that bit of creativity that a Dorrans would give us , altohugh I wouldnt be surprised to see a South American attempting to fill this NO 10 role.

WIDTH/PACE

This has sadly been missing and I have yearned for the days of Etherington charging down the left.With the exception of the talented but confidence lacking Stanislas we have no one capable of knocking the ball past a defender and getting some crosses in for the likes of Cole. No defender likes running back to his own goal to defend
and our attacking style has made it for too easy for too many opponents this season particularly away from the Boleyn.

GOALSCORERS

As much as I like, and am frustrated by Cole ,in equal measure we need a goalscorer, as daft as it sounds to put away those penalty box chances. Cole deosnt get himself in the right position to convert enough of these.When Coles out we have no one else to do this as this season has proved(save for Ilan in the last handful of games)

FOOT IN MOUTH SYNDROME STRIKES AGAIN!

It appears that Mr Sullivan has suffered from the Old FIM syndrome once again , with headlines in the sun suggesting he was willing to listen to offers for all of our players with the exception of Scott Parker.Whilst even the most ardent of our supporters will have felt and concurred with these sentiments at times since the turn of the year, the comments do nothing for the stability and unity of the club.

Whilst no one would doubt that alot of players could and should be moved on to enable us to trade and improve for next season, to make comments which give the Red Top press a field day is unnecessary and somewhat naive , once again leaving the senior and more diplomatic of the two David's in a position where he will have to come out and make comments to the contrary. Mr Sullivan appeared to have been in self imposed press exile since the earlier attack on the players but could not resist the temptation to have a further "pop" after safety had been secured.

The matter will clearly annoy and destabilise GZ and SC even further but do we really want to invite offers or destabilise the likes of Cole, Green,Noble, Collison,Parker,Upson Diamanti ,Tomkins and Hines who one may expect the club would prefer to hang onto for next season.

Additonally the Dorrans bid.... Was this led and orchestrated by GZ? If not he is surely being further undermined by player bids led by a chairman and his favourite agent , Barry Silkman which neither the existing or a future managerial appointment may approve of(although i must say Dorrans is a cracking player).

Time to firmly take him and keep him under your wing Mr Gold before he does untold damage.We respect his right of opinion having spent so much to save our beloved club but his bull in a china shop approach is threatening to create more problems than it solves.

DORRANS-A POSITIVE SIGN OF INTENT!

News that the club have made a £4million bid for West Brom's hugely talented Scottish International,Graham Dorrans, is an impressive signal of Intent by the Davids and an indication that they are looking to up and coming talent rather than seasoned professionals after a final payday.Dorrans has been hugely instrumental in West Brom successful promotion campaign.

Whether we can persuade West Brom to part with their prize asset is another question but this type of target can only reap dividends for the club in the long run.

DORRANS -THE FACTS
Full name Graham Dorrans
Date of birth 5 May 1987 (1987-05-05) (age 22)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

Playing position Midfielder

Club information

Current club West Bromwich Albion
Number 17

Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2003–2008 Livingston 77 (16)
2005 → Partick Thistle (loan) 15 (5)
2008– West Bromwich Albion 52 (12)

National team‡
2007 Scotland U20 5 (0)
2008 Scotland U21 5 (0)
2009– Scotland 3 (0)

DORRANS IN 2010

In 2010 it was rumoured that Manchester City,Everton and Villa had shown interest in making bids for Dorrans in the transfer window

Scored a particularly notable 30 yard free kick against Preston North End on 21 March.

Dorrans was then named PFA fans' Championship player of the month for March 2010, following his impressive performances.

Top scorer in 2009-2010 with 17 goals , including 5 Cup goals.

Named in 2009-2010 PFA Championship XI

Should I stay or should I go now?

Let's look at the pro's and cons of keeping our current Management Team;-

PRO'S

-Continuity-not many sides who change their management teams frequently, achieve success

-Player Support-It is clear that GZ retains considerable support among the players with Parker, Cole ,Upson and Noble expressing support for the beleagured Italian over recent weeks.

-Shown durability- In a season when decisions have been taken above his head, sales of Bellamy,Cole and Collins in particular, he has in the main stayed strong publicly.

-Finance- Cost of getting rid of the pair is estimated at £8m at a time when the club is on his knees financially.Do the costs outweigh the benefits of change however.I think not.

CONS

- Too nice - As Gareth Southgate and several other media friendly ex footballers have proved, nice guys rarely make good managers. Ferguson, Stein, Clough werent/arent media friendly individuals and it hasnt hurt them.

-Tactically Inept - Playing right sided players at LB and LM; playing Left sided midfielders in RM;failure to use width;changes for changes sake;failure to use pace;lying down and dying for big matches are just a few of the errors made.There
were several times during some of our poorer displays , where Zola has proved unable to change tactics or see the error of his ways

-Uninspirational -May be a good training ground coach but on matchdays he appears motionless and clueless in his dugout, as surprisngly does Clarke.They have failed to motivate performances and results on a consistent basis despite the apparant support of the players.Id rather the players respect rather than like the boss and be able to perform when it matters.

-Lost support of the Fans- Appears to be a growing tide given the ineptitude over recent months that a change is needed to take the club forward.I fear keeping him and a bad start to next year will immediately see him ousted.

So, weighing up the pros and cons,it is diffcult to support his tenure continuing.

RELIEF FOLLOWED BY A DOSE OF REALITY!

After the joy felt by most of us in retaining our premiership status with a nervy win over another struggling premiership side , we return to the stark reality of our current situation.

Around a £100 million in debt and with a squad requiring significant investment following Duxburys failed project regime to prevent us suffering a similar fate next season, some big decisions are needed from Gold and Sullivan.These centre principally around Team Management ,our future Transfer policy and Funds to be made available in the Summer:-


TEAM MANAGEMENT:-

Whilst most fans are appreciative of the constraints that Zola and Clarke have had to work with, the growing view appears to be that he is not the Man for the job. Saved from Media ridicule by his "nice guy" status, Zola has shown himself to be inept with both his squad selection, tactics and ability to motivate the players on several occassions this season.Gold, interviewed on Talksport earlier indicated that Zola had succeeded in achieving the brief they gave him on taking control of the club when they took over and said he deserved a chance , although the fact that there was no comment with respect to Zola staying , probably said more. David Gold would appear to be the calmer of the our two chairman whilst David Sullivan is more emotional in his response.Putting emotion and what anice man Zola is to one side though, the question is can he take us forward as a club next season. For me the answer is No and therefore a replacement must be brought in

FUNDS AVAILABLE IN THE SUMMER:-

Given the investment made by the two Davids already and Mr Golds statement on Talksport that the aim next season was mid table medicority, it is clear that funding will be made available to the manager, although dont expect the outrageous spending of the Icelandic regime which threatend our very survival.

Indications are that their will be funds to reinvest from the sale of 31 Yr Old Upson who is out of contract at the end of next season and possibly Robert Green
and the over rated Behrami.The Swiss International has an excellent "engine" but his ability on the ball is unfortunately nothing better than average. With upwards of £20 million for these three and some additonal funding this could release in the region of £30 million to the new Manager.

TRANSFER POLICY:

The way forward must be similar to that adopted by Gold and Sullivan previously and that is to look for hidden gems abroad and promsing Championship players to augment our own Youth policy and a core solid spine.

At Birmingham, they often raided the likes of Arsenal for young talent like Larsson, Muemba and earlier Pennant and Upson.From the Championship came Cameron Jerome, Scott Dann and Roger Johnson at small sums who have all established themselves as decent Premier League performers or gone onto other things.All players at a decent age who will if necessary have a greater sell on and not command ridiculous wages of the Dyers of this world which have nearly crippled us.Players who will not see West Ham as another pay day but as their big move and the chance to establish themsleves in the Top league. The likes of Middlesbroughs David Wheater and Cardiffs Joe Ledley spring to mind.


Whatever happens it's going to be an interesting few weeks at the Boelyn.

_

Peter Reid linked to Hotseat!

NOTW Indicating today that the ex Man City and Sunderland manager is a strong contender for the role.

Dont think any of us saw that one coming .Let's just hope its pure gutter press nonsense although it has got Rob Shepherds name to it , who is ,if you believe him , close towhats going on at UP.

ZOLA- The Post Wigan reaction

"It was a difficult game because there was a lot of pressure and the boys gave everything and got the three points and it shows everybody how much they care about this team," said Zola.

ON SUPER SCOTT

"I think Scott Parker deserved to score the winner. He is an inspirational player for us and he makes a difference when he is on the pitch.

"He is committed to this club and his attitude is excellent. I am impressed with his performance, but I was happy with everybody."

ON OUR SITUATION

"It has been a tough season so we are not going to stop until we are sure that we are going to stay up,"

"I am delighted for the supporters as they have been behind us all the time, and at times it was difficult.

"Those are the moments when you need to stick together and it has worked for us."

FT: West Ham 3 Wigan 2

Yes!

Barring 9 points from 3 matches for Burnley we are safe.

How Ironic that Parker should be our saviour after carrying the side this season single handedly.

It's Official -HOTY Poll now open

Is there anything more certain, apart from Zola's exit,than Scotty winning this?Surely not!Infact my Votes are on him for 2nd and 3rd place and Young Hammer of the Year!

My vote for best goal went to Ilan, best performance to Zavon v Villa.

We could in theory be safe come Saturday

If and its a big If we can somehow claim the points against Wigan on Saturday and
Hull lose to or only draw against Sunderland , we could with our Goal difference be virtually safe with a 34 miserly points. Shouldnt stop the repurcussions that need to follow but thank God for three worse sides than our pathetic shower .

COYI

WHO NEXT FOR THE HOT SEAT?

After Mondays quite abysmal showing it seems impossible that the Chelsea Old boys will remain in charge next season , regardless of what division we find ourselves in!

Several names are being bandied around...Martin Jol, Steve Mclaren, Glenn Hoddle,Avram Grant and Alan Pardew are the names around which most press speculation is currently based.Prior to this Slaven Bilic and Mark Hughes were mentioned.

One things for sure, whoever inherits the squad has a hell of a task in front of them
to take the club forward now that Scott Duxbury's "Project" reaches its final chapter.

My choice would be Martin Jol.Why? He commands respect, has a good track record at T******** ,Hamburg and Ajax and a good knoweldge of the talents in European football.

Things can only get better, surely.