Times change with all football clubs. Managers come and go, new coaches have their own pet players and those they don’t rate. West Ham saw it with Maxi Cornet (main pic), brought in by David Moyes and then discarded with hardly a run in the team, along with £30 million James Ward-Prowse dispatched after just one season: Lopetegui didn’t rate the set-piece expert and booted him out on loan unceremoniously on deadline day, to make way for his own ‘pick’ Carlos Soler.
The astonishing pace with which Luis Guilherme has been seemingly earmarked to be jettisoned epitomises the crazy tug of war at the heart of a club with a technical director, head coach and chairman all thinking they’re running transfer deals. The £20 million – plus that was chucked away in August on an 18 year old raised eyebrows at the time: Now in hindsight it looks mind-blowingly reckless. For a club of West Ham’s resources, the tying- up of such a large quantity of the club’s transfer budget on a ‘hunch’ is a significant failure.
This is not about apportioning blame. More than one person at the club would have been involved in signing off the purchase. Having made the decision to buy Guilherme, the club had no idea what to do with him. One u21 appearance, a few minutes as a substitute in lost cause matches: Guilherme could have been loaned out to get match sharp. Instead the poor guy has become the latest casualty of a split-personality club. Once dubbed as fast as Mbappe, West Ham could be sitting on the next, South American version of the French Superstar for all we know. Nobody seems to have bothered to find out.
As ex-Hammer Divin Mubama is just starting to find a pathway into first team football at Champions Manchester City, so Guilherme is likely to come back to haunt West Ham as we look back wistfully in five years when we see the giant he will probably become. I wouldn’t mind if he’d even had a couple of starts. Even Maxi Cornet got that before being jettisoned.
If ever there was a club that makes a complete balls up of everything they touch.. Its West Ham
I would like us to reach 40 points 😬 after which the old men sit on the bench between ice baths and warmups while the kids play. Our season is effectively over so as soon as we are safe, let’s see what the youngsters can muster.
Gaz, 40 points takes us down this year. Remember when Derby County could only manage 11 points all season? We were relegated that time with 42 points.
Southampton look as if they will struggle to break into double figures this time.
That leaves more points to be shared out amongst the teams above. I think we should aim for at least 44 points before we relax and experiment with the youngsters.
COYI
Cornet discarded by Moyes? Cornet was out with injury as soon as he joined us. That injury lasted months. Moyes had very little option when it came to including Max for any meaningful play time.
Cornet could be an answer for our need right now. We just don’t know.
If he is loaned out then a Championship club might not give him many minutes as happened with Callum Marshall last year.
Dutch & Portugese top flight clubs give more of a chance to young players. The added advantages of Portugal for Guilherme are the cultural & language links between Portugal & Brazil
Maxwell Cornet was signed for £18m, on big wages and won’t generate a fee if we sell him.
We have the transfer genius David Sullivan to thank for this waste of money via his mate Will Salthouse at Unique Sports Management.
Sullivan will continue to ruin the club with more transfers like this. Steidten having a job title but no control and being a scapegoat works perfectly for Sullivan.
I tend to agree on this one. He could have been given some minutes throughout the season, but it almost feels as though no one wants to even look at him. Unless he just ins’t good enough for the Premier League or Championship I can’t understand why Potter isn’t even considering him. Rather than sell him a loan to end of season in the Championship would seem a good option, then evaluate in pre season and either keep or sell on. I’m afraid this is just another example of the way Sullivan runs the club. We don’t even know he is a Steiden pick or whether Sullivan despatched him to Brazil with instructions to buy him.
I’m referring to Luis Guilherm. P.S.
I agree with you Martin , the handling of the lad by W.H. so far seems to have been atrocious, on and off the pitch! a simple question , how is his spoken English coming on?
What is the likelihood of Ward-Prowse being recalled in this window? Is it even possible?
I had heard that Forest want to return him but WHU said no…if you can believe that.
The problem wasn’t bringing in Guilherme, it was the amount we paid for him. £20m+ for a young player whose stats in his early career in Brazil are average, at best.
If we paid a small sum for him then there would be no complaints. But at that price we need him to make an impact.
Maybe he’s not getting a fair chance to make an impression. After all, someone saw something in him. However, coaches at the club see him perform everyday in training and obviously don’t fancy him to step up to a first team regular.
All in all a very poor transfer.
Things will never be any different all the time that Sullivan calls the tune, his decisions are mind bogglingly bad. Lopetegui, best man for the job absolutely essential, Duran it’s not worth paying any. extra for him, go and get Fullkrug instead. What can go wrong…
I genuinely believe Sullivan appointed Loppy just to undermine Steidten and flex his power. It’s obvious nothing has changed apart from yet another manager who will have to operate with a woeful owner and leadership team.
Kretinsky needs to buy out Sullivan asap. Next season won’t be much better due to the huge rebuild required and Sully & Salthouse pulling the strings.
West Ham are a joke!
If he goes must get a clause for selling on included.
Could be 60m player in a couple of years.
:” this club isn’t run like a circus anymore”😂😂
a very sad tale indeed. 😐