West Ham Banter 3

04 Aug 2026 07:39:03
{Ed's Note - Philip_hunter2003 has posted a new article entitled, What United Still Need in the Transfer Window

03 Aug 2026 19:55:20
I notice Engels is in the Celtic starting line up tonight so maybe he is staying put.

03 Aug 2026 17:15:47
Chelsea have Badiashile and Tosin Adararibo doing not much now that Disasi. Looks over WH should get one of these two on loan with option. Good players doing nothing.

03 Aug 2026 20:31:57
Great shout, Joyful. Perhaps you should head recruitment, buddy.

03 Aug 2026 20:58:39
We would be ready for the season if I was.

04 Aug 2026 10:00:33
Identifying suitable players is one thing, negotiating deals that satisfy selling club, players and agents is vastly another. You must know that, from speaking to your agent mates, Joyful?

03 Aug 2026 16:57:20
Just done post on Nuno fixation with Isidor, now Sunderland have said not interested. Please move onto a proven striker Haji Wright or Vipotnik end of.

03 Aug 2026 18:08:22
Or Parrott came of age for ROI during World Cup play-offs.

03 Aug 2026 16:52:30
Can’t work out why Nuno is fixated it seems, in getting Isidor from Sunderland, he’s a decent player, and would be ok, but others in the same price range are proven people, it’s got to be a loan with option, whilst others would be purchases.

03 Aug 2026 10:19:16
Would anyone take Solly March? Heard him on Talksport this morning, he said he’s fit, he’s looking for a club can play on the right or left and at fullback. I know he’s 32 but we need experienced players to get us out of this league, plus he knows where the goal is as well, just a thought. 🤷

03 Aug 2026 13:03:18
Type of free WH would look at the close of the window, depending on who's staying or going.

03 Aug 2026 14:17:43
Absolutely have him. If we are keeping JWP, we can definitely get Sully March.

03 Aug 2026 14:26:16
Stevie, yes I would have Solly, definitely. Thought he was excellent at Brighton at times. Too much noise about this one & that one, too old, would have had both Henderson & Welbeck if I had any say in it, good mixture older & younger! If I want work done in my home & I've had plenty from my move 19 years ago, I want somebody experienced, not someone barely out of their teenage years.

⚒ ⚒ ⚒ ⚒

03 Aug 2026 18:11:44
Easy deal to do, would show us that something is actually happening, proven in Premier League, free. What's not to like. Certainly would give us options regardless of who else was coming through the door.

03 Aug 2026 10:18:13
First off I must say I am no conspiracy merchant but. This Staveley bird and her cronies stepping in to upset the apple cart will do us no good this season for anyone celebrating. First off in my opinion they will want us to remain in the Championship this season, the reason you ask! Is because Sully’s shares that they undoubtedly want to purchase are worth loads more if either we are doing well in the Championship this season, or if we do end up getting promoted.

Obviously depending on when he decides to sell. End result in my opinion is they save untold millions on the purchase of shares if we do poorly in the champ and we get lumbered with another season in the Championship. The other thing that bothers me is when DK and Vanessa Gold had an agreement, purchasing players should be a fairly straightforward task, what happens now with no agreement between them!

02 Aug 2026 17:05:05
We must be due some.
Good news regards transfers coming sometime soon coz this is depressing lol.

03 Aug 2026 09:09:37
I wouldn't hold your breath Whitby, I think the Staveley bid has stopped any transfers for now, Kretensky has been gazumped, which means he won't invest, which means there's no money for transfers. Hopefully there are some loans, like Saloman from Spurs, available.

03 Aug 2026 09:34:56
I think you will see if Kretinski really has our club at heart or not, because he can either usurp Staveley by buying those shares, or buy some of them immediately, or say he is not interested so they do not have to wait a month, imo, the guy is a fraud; he is an on-paper billionaire, all those billions are in property or companies, and he probably does not have the sorts of money readily available.

He could have ended all this earlier by buying the shares, but he didn't.

03 Aug 2026 10:25:45
The reason he didn't is Vanessa Gold decided after the agreement was made that she wanted to sell all the shares in one go. At the time DK only wanted to purchase 16% of the 25%. That's why this Staveley bird has stepped in.

Hopefully, DK will decide to purchase all of them, as, strictly speaking, as soon as he buys the 25% he could then sell the 9% if he doesn't want them all.

03 Aug 2026 10:29:47
So why didn't he do it earlier. He's had nearly 2 months.

03 Aug 2026 10:48:39
Whether Irons, be Krentensky dithering, Staveley bid or Sullivan trying to manipulate things in the background, it's definitely hampering our transfer business.

03 Aug 2026 17:53:24
The reason he didn't, Hammer D, is these things take time to go through. After agreeing to sell some of the shares to DK, the Gold family decided they wanted to sell all their shares rather than keep some. That is where the Staveley bird comes in. They want to buy all of Gold's shares, and, I guess, some or all of Sully's, so they are the major shareholders.

DK now has the option of buying the shares at the same price that has been agreed. I can see him buying them, as I can't see 2 different investment companies wanting to buy the same club. But we will have to see.

01 Aug 2026 23:20:57
This may not be popular, but with yet more vultures circling, I'd like to state an opinion.
I have mostly enjoyed our Premiership status over the years, if not much of the tactics. However, I would much rather watch a Championship team made up of academy graduates playing with freedom and hope than a bunch of mercenaries parking the bus or playing sideways and backwards with fear. Potts out, Engels in is a symptom of the malaise of modern football, Stavelys interest in making yet more money from a third short term investment in a historic club is yet another.


Brady famously called us customers. If we continue to support success by any means, rather than supporting the development of those players who come to us from an early age and who the club has identified as having talent, then that really is all we are.

02 Aug 2026 06:05:33
I would agree with a certain amount of what you said, AOII.
I didn't see the Magdeburg game, but if it was as bad as the Rangers performance then I can't say I am looking forward to the upcoming game. I don't know if he did the same, having the so-called first team on, and then bring in all the youth players? But all the preseason games I have seen, when the youth have come on, they have improved our performances by a mile. More pace and ability to keep the ball. But then people say 'they're not up to it' blah blah blah. The only way you become better is by playing at the higher levels on a more regular basis. I am not saying throw out all the first team for the youth, but think more should be interpreted into that first team asap.
A lot of fans only want to see their clubs win something or be in the prem, well, that ain't the situation for me.

I support West Ham because I grew up in East Ham and I also loved the way we played the game. I want to see entertainment. I hear people say they still get the nervous knot in your stomach when you go over to a match. Sadly I don't, maybe I've become passionless? I do enjoy going over there. But I think having had a similar brand of grey football served up over the last 4 managers isn't helping, making it the joyous experience it should be.
On the vultures circling thing, I have heard from Newcastle fans who are a similar sort of fanbase to our own, who only praise Amanda Stavely as she seems to take on board what the fans want, and yes her bottom line is to make a lot of money but still do it in a way that benefits all. So I live in hope.

02 Aug 2026 09:39:33
The football has been dross for a good few years. The last time we were a bit exciting to watch was when Lingard was here. Of course, there has been the odd game here and there, but in general these boring, safety-first managers seem to have been the way the board have wanted to go, and as a result we are left with the players we have now who aren't capable of doing much else.

02 Aug 2026 11:47:10
That's why, in my opinion, Nuno plays like he does. You can't play other styles without the players to do so.

02 Aug 2026 13:28:22
I'm not so sure that's correct, Joyful. Whilst we don't have a wealth of creative or attacking players, we have numerous players who are being coached to play in a much more restrictive manner.

Potts is a good example; he was played in a much more forward-thinking way when loaned out, getting numerous assists and a few goals. Also, Kante is a decent box-to-box player, but Nuno has him as a DM.

02 Aug 2026 14:24:29
Forest played a low-block counter style when he was there, and he had good attacking players like Gibbs-White and Elanga. I think it's just his style, to be honest. His boring style was also a big part of why he lost his job at Spurs.

01 Aug 2026 17:42:13
Response to Stavely agreement to buy Gold shares.

"The agreement we had reached with the Gold family in June provided stability for the club at a crucial time, " a spokesman for Kretinsky told the Sunday Times. "This does the opposite. We will always act in the best interests of West Ham United and are reviewing all of our options, including exercising our pre-emption rights in full."

01 Aug 2026 18:20:10
Yes, turmoil at the top. Will see WH stay in this division, the way things are going. Nothing we can do as fans, but sit and watch.

With the volume of monies that have come in, WH are destroying a great opportunity to get back to the Premiership.



Makes me sad to write it, but everyone can see it now, surely, 10 weeks have passed since relegation, without one signing.



If someone had told me that, on that relegation Sunday, I would never have believed it.

01 Aug 2026 18:28:39
Nor me, Joyful. What concerns me is that only last week we brought Chorley in, who has knowledge of the Championship, and even after that, all the players we are linked with are not in the Championship... confused!

I can only put it down to either Nuno can't make up his mind, there is no money, or Nuno is kidding himself, thinking we already have a team good enough to get us up!

Not up to me to doubt him.

Let the results speak for themselves.

01 Aug 2026 22:16:42
When all the Sullivan stepping down stuff broke, we were all generally so happy (and rightly so) that this is the beginning of the end of DS. But, after a little bit of inaction, I raised concerns about Kretinsky, as I said he is solely an investor looking for a return on his investment. I was called out by some, which I don’t have an issue with, as it’s only our opinions. In fairness, the following days and weeks he seemed to speak at last and say and do the right things.

But, since we have seen nothing, lots of people were renewing their ST, when many were thinking of chucking it in. And now it looks like my initial feelings were spot on. Kretinsky has no interest in West Ham and only wants money, nothing else. It seems maybe I was right in the first place.
And thanks to him we are stuck with a s*** manager playing dreadful tactics.

01 Aug 2026 17:10:42
If WH where serious about returning to the Premier League immediately, action would have started 6 weeks ago

It was clear straight away we lacked firepower, creativity and solidity at the back, we have NONE of these things And still have none

As much as I like the positivity of some of our posters I do not understand what they are watching

From the off we needed say 5 players, whilst the expected sales went ahead
,
We are going nowhere at present, and with the best will in the world, with the time that's passing, plus the upheaval at the top, can't see us getting in the people that's required


I'm personally very disappointed, I genuinely believed WH could get back quickly, but nothing has been done to aid that scenario


With the passing time rushing now to the kick off, some people may wish to have a look through realistic eyes and take stock of where we are


We may still get in a couple of players but it won't be enough


A lot of posters hate. Nuno that's fair enough, BUT no matter who's in charge, they can't play who they havnt got, and we don't have enough full stop

01 Aug 2026 17:42:51
If we get 4 players in, we may get promoted if we are lucky with injuries, but we would be taking a chance, imo.
What I don't get is we sign players after pre-season. Consistently, in a lot of cases, their current clubs know they are leaving and therefore leave them out, so they arrive to us unfit.

This happened last season, the season before and so on, yet nobody has thought to do anything different?

Also, when Nuno and Bowen agreed to stay, were they not given assurances there would be incoming players?

01 Aug 2026 17:58:57
Of course they were. Taty apart, Bowen has no one to play with or off of, Taty needs feeding. There is nothing to do that either.

WH have had, in, £190 m in cash. Potts will go now, whatever, because he knows he's not wanted. That will make £200. M.

What are they waiting for? Bowen must be thinking, I've made a mistake staying on; looks like he has.



Getting too late now to get people in. Once kick-off happens, things change.

If WH were serious, signings would have been made by now. Two weeks to Burnley, and nothing.

Robbo, there's a price to be paid for neglect. We paid that price with relegation, and now we may pay another price of stagnation.

01 Aug 2026 18:29:35
Yup, hate to say it, but got to agree.
I wanna stay positive, but this mirrors what we did last summer.

01 Aug 2026 18:33:44
I don't disagree Joyful, I myself have argued that after last season Nuno would know what we needed (or should do). It's a very bizarre situation; if we aren't signing anyone, why are we still selling?

01 Aug 2026 19:16:26
And, by all accounts, Robbo, we are not finished yet.

Tobido, Alvarez, Fulkrug, Awb, Diouf and Mavro could all be leaving? Then what are we left with?

01 Aug 2026 19:54:08
To be honest, Phil, only Mavro has played a part in pre-season. I've never been too bothered about players leaving, it's the game, but not replacing any of them is madness. Something is driving this, no idea what.

Has Nuno told the board he can get us promoted with what we have? Are they waiting for a takeover? Clearly Kreyensky doesn't want to invest anything, maybe Stately wants full control? Whatever it is, it needs sorting, and quickly.

01 Aug 2026 15:50:00
Your views on today’s game?

01 Aug 2026 16:48:59
Lack of quality in midfield, making our build up play slow and ponderous. No clear target men up front (seems like there is too much reliance on Jarrod Bowen doing something). What happens when he gets injured? Sick of hearing it said, "But we need players and we need them now."

Defence was ok-ish, but Nuno worries me.

01 Aug 2026 15:32:01
Just seen the game in Germany, I know it’s only a friendly but sloppy defending at the end, thought Kilman and Lamadrid had pretty good games.

01 Aug 2026 15:26:33
The Times reporting the Stavely deal is now done and she has 25% of the shares. Nuno just put on 3 defenders and we let in goal. He doesn't clear, does he? Eddie Howe anyone?

01 Aug 2026 10:38:42
Potts surprise to be fair he’s decent, but no great shakes. Decent offer worth taking.

So another out. Shrinking squad. Ok who’s coming in?

01 Aug 2026 15:40:36
And 4 midfielders down, when are we gonna replace them?

01 Aug 2026 16:34:06
That's a good question.