[cunningstunt87]

(Original post by Calabrian)
Havent heard about the Pablo rumours......

Keane would never come to us, and i hope we dont get Bent. He's useless. If we dont sign another striker, i wouldnt mind because Sears is a good player, just needs to mature more, gain more experience and get a goal or two to increase his confidence.
Di Michele is also quite good, but inconsistant.

Bents a goal machine and is a far better striker than any we have. Cole's finally finding the net but doesn't look a 20 goal a season striker, Sears needs time on loan in a lower league to get some playing time and confidence (Orient? Southend?), Ashtons injury prone and someone we should be looking to sell in the summer and Di Michele and Tristan are both short term squad players.

The Osvaldo rumours are emanating through the press, though I've been reading them on the BBC Gossip Column

[WestHamJake]

I've heard we're gonna splash £11m on some German youngster, plays for Brescia and name escapes me at the moment.

Am happy Bellamy ****** off, no-one is bigger than the club and for the price to be £14m, that is IMO, a really good deal for the club.

Whilst many would expect a possible shock tomorrow in the cup, I fancy us to see Hartlepool through comfortably.

[.Andrew.]

I'd be rubbing my hands if i were West Ham. After getting £14m for Bellamy.

What a price!

[.Andrew.]

Hayden Mullins - is he any good?!

It was a shock when i turned on SSN earlier and saw Pompey had signed him!

Saw he scored a nice goal for you guys a while back, but that's all i know about him, tbh.

[WestHamJake]

Latest update on the Hammers is the departure of Hayden Mullins to Pompey, what you think of that Andrew?

I admire Mullins a lot. Has been really loyal over the years and a solid enough player who I would of liked us to have kept. However, I respect the fact he wanted first team football. He weren't getting it here, but was a solid enough player when he come in and can do a job. All the best at Pompey.

Now for the in's, supposedly we've just broke our transfer record on Savio Nsereko, a Ugandan born German international who won player of the tournament in the recent U19 Championships. Nothing on the official site as of yet. Just done a bit of research on him and it appears he has just one domestic career goal to date. He may well be a fabulous prospect but is that the kind of player we need right now for the sort of money being mentioned (anything from £8-12 mill)?

[WestHamJake]

I posted that ^^ without seeing your post mate.

I'm a fan personally. Not spectactular in the way he goes about his business, but a real solid player and hard worker. He plays the holding role similar to that of Diarra, but obviously not of the same class. He was instrumental in our first season back in the Prem and our cup run a few years back, but has normally been a squad player. However he's certainly up to the standard of this league.

[.Andrew.]

(Original post by WestHamJake)
Latest update on the Hammers is the departure of Hayden Mullins to Pompey, what you think of that Andrew?

I admire Mullins a lot. Has been really loyal over the years and a solid enough player who I would of liked us to have kept. However, I respect the fact he wanted first team football. He weren't getting it here, but was a solid enough player when he come in and can do a job. All the best at Pompey.

Now for the in's, supposedly we've just broke our transfer record on Savio Nsereko, a Ugandan born German international who won player of the tournament in the recent U19 Championships. Nothing on the official site as of yet. Just done a bit of research on him and it appears he has just one domestic career goal to date. He may well be a fabulous prospect but is that the kind of player we need right now for the sort of money being mentioned (anything from £8-12 mill)?

Funny, you must have been typing that as i was posting above

TBH, i don't know much about Mullins. But it is nice to get a proven PL player in. I suppose West Ham had no option to sell him, like you said he wasn't getting regular footie there, and was a quick way to reduce the wage bill. Im not even sure how much you got for him. Some places say £1m, others say £2m. You Answered my above question as well. (we should have sent Djimi Traore your way. As a swap deal)

With Savio Nsereko & the prices being mentioned. I would say the likes of £8-12m would be payed over 3-5 years, depending on appearances etc.. As to be honest, that amount up front for that kind of player is quite silly. He looks pretty decent, but who knows, could do you good.

[.Andrew.]

(Original post by WestHamJake)
I posted that ^^ without seeing your post mate.

I'm a fan personally. Not spectactular in the way he goes about his business, but a real solid player and hard worker. He plays the holding role similar to that of Diarra, but obviously not of the same class. He was instrumental in our first season back in the Prem and our cup run a few years back, but has normally been a squad player. However he's certainly up to the standard of this league.

Sounds like the kind of player Pompey need then.

Bargain, i hope. Good deal for both parties.

[cunningstunt87]

Mullins is a solid utility player, not a first team premiership player but useful to have in the squad. Has been loyal to us and will be hard to replace as he could fit in to so many positions along the back 4 and midfield.

And this German fella has 3 goals in 17 serie B appearances this season, which makes him dramatically overpriced for what we need. An Owen / Crouch / Henry (???) sort of player was needed as far as goalscoring strikers in the £10m to £12m price bracket. Gudjohnsen for £2m from Barca would be a good signing now on the cheap.

[.Andrew.]

Im liking the sound of Mullins already!

Hope he can do well here at the cold south coast.

You could have got Balotelli for £9m or even Peter Crouch for £12m. The new dude you have just signed does sound good, price seem a bit steep. But im sure with someone like Zola teaching him & training etc... he can be a quality player.

Gudjohnsen would have been an ok signing, even on loan! Could have saved yourself some dough there.

Good luck to you for the rest of the season. Zola is Da Man!

[zar91]

Hayden has certainly improved in his time at West Ham, sadly he's retained the "Muggins" tag that he won in the first season of the Championship.

I like him though, and Zola tended to bring him on to consolidate late on in a game, which can be useful to calm the side down.

Sears needs to go somewhere to get used to the physical side of things, he seems to get shoved off the ball quite easily, although there's clearly a lot of skill there.

[WestHamJake]

(Original post by zar91)
Hayden has certainly improved in his time at West Ham, sadly he's retained the "Muggins" tag that he won in the first season of the Championship.

I like him though, and Zola tended to bring him on to consolidate late on in a game, which can be useful to calm the side down.

Sears needs to go somewhere to get used to the physical side of things, he seems to get shoved off the ball quite easily, although there's clearly a lot of skill there.

I've heard of the "Muggins" tag in the past, but not in a long while?

I agree with you on Sears. Moving to a Championship/League 1 club will certainly benefit him more than reserves football and could do him a world of good, a la Defoe.

Can only see us continuing our unbeaten record tonight.

[Rutter knows best!]

westhamjake's a ****.

[WestHamJake]

Ignoring soppy ******** above here's the team I can see starting tonight:

Green

Neill - Collins - Upson - Illunga

Behrami - Noble - Parker - Collison

Cole - Di Michelle

[Klinsmannic]

Keane? lmao

[.Andrew.]

I like Ilunga, Zola seriously needs to keep him on after the loan period is over.

Hull tonight isn't it? Bullard & Gio will no doubt be a handful. But im sure Zola knows that!

Im going with a 2-1 scoreline for West Ham.

[WestHamJake]

Illunga for me has been the surprise player of the season for us. George McCartney was a solid if unspectacular full back who we did very well to get £5 mill for. Ilunga is a step up on him and for me has been one of our players of the season for me. The way we play at the moment with what is really four central players across the midfield in a narrow kinda diamond means there is a lot of emphasis on the full backs to get forward and support the attack - something he does really well. He's also pretty strong going the other way although has an annoying tendency to back off a little to much for my liking. I would definitely try and sign him permanently and Zola has said the same.

Andrew, how did Mullins get on mate?

[Mastermind`]

(Original post by zar91)
Hayden has certainly improved in his time at West Ham, sadly he's retained the "Muggins" tag that he won in the first season of the Championship.

Mullins has to be one of the biggest water carriers I have ever seen. Solid but that's about it really.

[.Andrew.]

Certainly wouldn't mind Ilunga down here, he is superb! Just slots in so well into the team.

First match for Mullins was pretty good. Why you sold him was a bit odd. Almost scored, played pretty well. Impressed, for sure. Bargain!

[WestHamJake]

Good to hear mate, keep us updated.