I was dubious about an £8 million purchase of Santa Cruz yesterday, but if we can really negotiate a season long loan with an option to buy in 12 months time, that would be one of the deals of the century. It would mean we would be unable to play Santa Cruz against the Northern Plastics but that would be a small price to pay.
Yes he is injury prone and no, he isn't a scrapper, but he would be one hell of a capture for the cost of his wages. Of course, that would still cost us the best part of £4 million for the year, but if that keeps us in the Prem, then that is a price well worth paying.
The worry is Mark Hughes. Might Roque fancy linking up with his old gaffer rather than Avram? The excuse for not buying is that we have injuries at the moment and so have been unable to sell anybody. That is the untimate lame excuse and means that we had better complete the deal quickly before Goldfinger and Sullimanga pocket all that cash from the Parker sale!
No, Santa hasn't come early. You're still posting things everybody already knows having read it elsewhere hours before you bore us with your take on it.
ReplyDeleteWhy should we fear Hughes and Fulham HF? We've already bagged one of his 'old boys' haven't we? The deal is done (albeit undisclosed details) on Caicedo and we're just awaiting 'Premier League ratification' of it!
ReplyDeleteAs for Rocky, maybe we could take a leaf out of Caaaardiff's book, and ask Man Citeh to pay ALL his wages, fuel expenses, clothes allowance, dinner money etc.? I'm surprised you actually rate the guy HF? You almost sounded slightly positive for a nanosecond there!
One player we won't be lending/borrowing/buying/kidnapping is Kevin Princess Boatrung (phew). He's been signed by Genoa and immediately loaned out to AC Milan! Mercenary!
Oh, by the way, Scott Parker is STILL at West Ham...just thought I'd point that out!
All you keep banging on about is how Parker will be sold,WHEN he signs the new contract will you be saying I was wrong,I doubt it very much
ReplyDeleteHasn't signed that contract yet Shaun. Sullimanja expected him to sign it yesterday. What happened do you think? Pen ran out of ink? The dog ate it? Another bout of writer's cramp for Scotty?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/west-ham/7952336/West-Ham-United-rue-missing-out-on-loan-deal-for-Craig-Bellamy.html
ReplyDeleteHF, see link. Bit of detail there about why Parker not yet put pen to paper.
HF - Sorry to post off topic but what are your thoughts on the Olympic Stadium bid?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I can't stand the idea of having a running track between the fans and the pitch. I can't think of any top level team that have 'chosen' to have a stadium with a track let alone in the PL era.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not an old school 'never leave Upton Park' type of fan and definitely agree that we need a new, larger stadium but I think that the OS is a bit of a lazy and convenient option for relocating the club. There seems to be rather a lot of square pegs and round holes...
1) Brady has admitted that the existing OS design is wrong for modern football. Keeping the track would place the fans too far away from the action and the atmosphere generated would be compromised.
2) The conversion costs are ridiculous (circa £100m). Eastlands only cost £30m to convert. I'd rather spend the money on a new purpose build stadium. The Olympic Park site is vast, why not buy up part of the land and build our own, more suitable, stadium. That way the government still get some money back on their Olympic investment and we'd still benefit from the improved transport links.
3) We'd have to share the OS for other events and sports which could potentially damage the condition and development of the playing surface. Apparently that is one of the big problems Wembley are experiencing.
4) Will we really be able to attract 60,000 fans? We already struggle to reach capacity at UP.
Part of the ten point pledge by the new owners when they took over was to listen to the fans on key issues. Will they ask us before committing to such an important project? It looks to me as though we're already committed.
Maybe I'm in a minorty but I would expect that other fans have similar concerns.
I agree Parker is a goner.
ReplyDeleteI think Santa is worth a punt, I can't see anyone else that would add as much value esp. Remy
What a signin Santa would be. He and Cole up front would be sick with barrera, Boa and Faubert whiping crosses into them allowing us to ditch this 4 5 1 which our players are obviously not good or smart enough to play. What is wrong with 4 4 2 all of a sudden anyway? Has it gone out of fashion? It certainly hasnt stopped being functional. Only the other night I watched Man utd destroy Newcastle using 4 4 2. With Santa and Cole up front and 2 decent wingers we could be brought back to the moderately good old days when Pardew was in charge.
ReplyDeleteyour signing caicedo on loan from city ain't you? that means you can't loan santa cruz as the rules say only 1 loan from another domestic club for prem teams
ReplyDeleteHF... The Telegraph claim that West Ham have denied the rumours that they are attempting to sign Santa Cruz!
ReplyDeleteAlso, according to the link provided by Anon 17.21, we were prepared to take Bellamy back on loan AND pay 66% of his wages...far more than Cardiff! But Citeh apparently preferred not to loan/sell him to another Prem club, especially top4, i.e. Spuds!
Makes sense why he went to Cardiff now!
Anon 20.36, The actual rule you are speculating on states that an EPL club cannot sign more than TWO UK-based/domestic players on loan deals. As we already have Tal Ben Haim on a temporary arrangement, the signing of Santa Cruz would contravene the above rule if and when Caicedo were to sign on a loan deal also. That said, the details of the Caicedo deal are yet undisclosed. If he has been bought then the Santa Cruz deal WOULD be possible, albeit that it has already been denied by the club!
Does anybody else think Shay Given would be a good fit for us? Is there any likelihood of us pursuing him? Surely a better option than Bobble Green.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody else think Shay Given would be a good fit for us? Is there any likelihood of us pursuing him? Surely a better keeper than Bobble Green.
ReplyDelete