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Massive Irons follow Brighton road

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By Happy Hammer Hughie Southon

Make no mistake West Ham ARE becoming a big club!

There is once certain way of deciding how “massive” a club is and that is when bigger clubs circling for its best players.

And within a few weeks we have seen Lucas Paqueta wanted by Manchester City who are also keen – along with Liverpool  – on Nayef Aguerd.

And of course the regular rumours surrounding Jarrod Bowen continue with the Anfield club still very keen apparently as his current Hammers extension talks go on.

All of this on top of Declan being flogged for a record British fee shows us as a club truly starting to hit the heights.

Good and bad news for Hammers

It really is a case of good and bad news but in my view it is a far better scenario than being noticed and ignored and we need to at least, in part, welcome the attention we are getting.

Brighton are a very decent example of what happens as teams start to grow as shown by them selling Marc Cucurella to Chelsea and earlier Leandro Trossard to Arsenal yet here they are this season in sixth place one point behind us.

They have a tremendous recruitment operation going on and now in Moyes and Steidten  we can go down the same road – this summer has shown that.

West Ham have nothing to fear in the current situation – it’s a club well and truly on the move so well done to all involved.

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Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!"

Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

1 comment

  • Good Old Daze says:

    I’m glad you are a Happy Hammer, Hugh. I’m a cautiously optimistic Hammer at present. I think the next 2 weeks will tell us a lot more about what path we are on for the rest of this season.

    Reasons To Be Cheerful.
    1. We are unbeaten, 4th in the table with 3 wins.
    2. Alvarez and Ward-Prowse have hit the ground running and look quality additions.
    3. Mavro and Kudus look good acquisitions.
    4. Team spirit looks pretty good.
    5. With the exception of LB and CF we have strength in depth.
    6. We have a good crop of Academy prospects waiting in the wings.
    7. We have fantastic supporters home and away. Obviously the best around.
    8. However the recruitment is working, the new signings finally arrived at sensible prices.
    9. Our conversion rate of chance to goals is good.
    10. There are worse teams in the Prem this season than last.
    11. Antonio and Bowen are looking lethal. Great to see!
    12. Paqueta stayed.

    Reasons To Say ‘Yes.. But …’
    1. Defending and counter-attacking has its place but it can’t be our only style of play.
    2. Chelsea and Brighton had lots of chances that they didn’t take.
    3. Before our new arrivals, we were hammered by Rennes and Leverkusen.
    4. Let’s not forget Moyes wanted to spend a fortune on McTominay and Maguire.
    5. Lingard – time to move on and give opportunities to younger talent.
    6. Let’s see how Moyes blends the exciting talent of Kudus into the team.
    7. What really happens when Antonio gets injured or loses form.

    Shortly before the start of the season our lack of new signings, the pursuit of Maguire and the terrible pre-season performances against Rennes and Leverkusen led me to finally conclude it was time for a change at the top. I don’t really care who identified the players who have come in and who finally got them to sign – they look good and keen to play for West Ham.
    So – fingers crossed and COYI.

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