West Ham United: West Ham

West Ham's relegation was surely greeted with barely suppressed delight by the majority of Premiership managers. Not, it should be said, because of any antipathy towards the East London club, their stricken manager, Glenn Roeder, or his strangely animated temporary replacement, Trevor Brooking.

Trevor Brooking and West Ham face a summer of heartstrings being pulled. (JohnWalton/Empics)

No, the Hammers' demotion was welcomed for altogether different reasons; it would almost certainly result in the sale of the most talented group of players ever to go down from the Premiership.

Only Blackburn - in 1998-9 - went down with so many players coveted elsewhere. The financial gulf between the Premiership and the First Division was less pronounced then and whereas West Ham have reported debts of �40 million, Blackburn had a multi-millionaire owner.

That West Ham should not have finished in the bottom three is shown in their under-performing players' possible destinations. Lee Bowyer, a flop at Upton Park, has joined Newcastle. Paolo di Canio may go to Lazio. Depending upon what you read, Joe Cole is off to Arsenal, Chelsea or Everton, Frederic Kanoute to Tottenham, Arsenal or Liverpool, Michael Carrick to Newcastle or Tottenham, Don Hutchison to Rangers and Jermain Defoe and David James to the opposite halves of Manchester.

Brooking's statement that West Ham intended to keep their four home homegrown talents - the captain Cole, Carrick, Defoe and Glen Johnson - showed a blend of optimism and defiance that will be required to make an immediate return to the Premiership.

soccernet.espn.go.com...

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Well all i can say is don't believe everything you read...!

For one....10 players have left so far and that is due to their contracts with West Ham Utd expiring and not being renewed...Lee Bowyer is one but he was a flop so its no great loss...Paulo Di canio is another he is old and nearing the end of his career although being a fantastic player at west ham he is replaceable...The others were all bit part players and wont really be missed....

As for all the best talent Carrick,cole,james,defoe,johnson,kanoute so on...They are all still their and its all speculation about them going...
I can only see maybe 1 or 2 leaving with Kanoute the biggest possibility but he wont be going to Tottenham as they cant match the valuation of �6,000,000...The thing is most of the teams have got players of similar calibre already so why would they want them...For some of the west ham players if they were to leave they would end up at clubs where they could be facing relegation again..
I see Hutchinson is listed as going to rangers that is 1 i wont mind going as he is not even one of our best players...

A last thought.....If West ham do keep nearly all their players they will come straight back up to the premier league no problem,but they have to not make the same mistake as last season,Which was not spending money on new players....!

I was in agreement until I read the bit about Don Hutchinson. He is a quality player that could do a really job for us, but he hasn't been given the chance. As soon as Brooking took over he called him straight but into the squad and played him all of the last three games in some form. I'd like him to stay, he adds experiance that would be good for the likes of Carrick and Cole to learn from.


[Edited on 6/6/2003 by TeflonDon]

Yep i suppose hutchinson hasnt really had a chance yet,most due to his injury he had....

He can add something else to the side and his experience would be most helpfull to some of the other players,the same goes for Ferdinand i hope they give him a new 1 yr contract..

Ferdinand will get another deal, and he will score alot of goals in Division 1. Shame we couldn't have signed him a few years back.

Yep thats what we have lack at west ham for a while now,someone up front with the physical presence...Kanoute is not the right type of player to fill that role...

Shame Johhny Hartson left,maybe they should have stuck with him as he has done realy well at celtic...

Hartson would be an ideal signing. i think if he had stayed at West Ham though he wouldn't have developed into the player he is now. By moving around he gained alot of life experiance, not just football and he has definately found a home at Celtic.

Yes i agree..He seemed to have his troubles at west ham in the game and outside of it,and as you say he seems to have found his place at celtic and is playing some of the best football of his career...

I'd like West Ham to have a look at Man City's Shaun Goater, great header of the ball, very strong and has a good scoring record. Would be a cheap signing and he is an experianced pro who could be around for at least another three seasons, very samey as the Les Ferdinand mould of player.

The Goat is a favourite at maine road,he is a good goal scorer and he would do well for us,he has a bit more skill than ferdinand...Would they let him go???

Well he's been on the transfer list for the past three months, so I guess they would Price tag of 1.5m is putting off alot of interested parties though. Something should happen soon or he will be out of contract and can leave for nothing.