There is a tendency to lump every player together in a failing team and declare them all unfit for purpose, as the West Ham fans’ much publicised chanting at Ewood Park might suggest. However, the boiling over of a couple of years of frustration and anger, aimed at the current occupants of the claret and blue shirts, need not be taken as voicing disapproval of the whole squad.
In fact, there are some positive signs – Ezra Mayers, as we wrote elsewhere this morning- gives us all cause for optimism.
I’d wager that another starter against Blackburn, Edvin Austbø is perhaps wondering about now what kind of hell he has signed up for as one of the Hammers’ youngest summer recruits.
However his is another fledgling career that looks to be hugely promising. Against Blackburn, the young winger looked prepared to take on and beat players in a way that his more seasoned colleague Manor Solomon appears to have forgotten.
And for this, Nils Koppen deserves huge credit.
Remember, West Ham were linked with Stoke City’s winger Sorba Thomas in the summer – an ex Hammer who has in fact gone to Premier League Hull City and struggled enormously – so much so that footballleagueworld.co.uk claim ‘West Ham dodged huge £10.5 million transfer bullet’:
West Ham made a pretty shrewd decision by backing away from Sorba Thomas and investing in Edvin Austø
We may think things are bad right now, but with youngster Austbo West Ham look to have found a young talent with a high ceiling – compared with the -relatively speaking – wizened old pro’ Thomas who at 27 seems to have peaked, if Hull City’s experience is anything to go by. Good choice, Nils Koppen.
Very easy to hate on all things West Ham just now with the club sitting outside even the play off places. Austbø however continues to shine even on dark days at Ewood Park and needs to be nailed-on as a starter in place of Solomon who, by comparison, just looked plain ordinary.
Credit for signing a player who has done what exactly in the second division so far? £20M on Engles, £5m on Solomon and £10m for Piroe had we gone up? I see nothing here to give him credit for.
I was chatting to a guy Saturday who told me he thinks West Ham are the easiest team to play through in the league. He reckoned our midfield had zero defensive qualities and constantly left our back four exposed. The more I think about it, the more I see what he is saying. If we had no intention of playing Alvarez or Magassa, why didn’t we sign a midfielder who can defend or tackle because none of the current bunch can.
Promotion has to be the key aim this season, but it was always going to be a reset after the torrid few seasons and incompetent leadership at the club under Sullivan and his managers.
I was ok with Nuno staying on, but hindsight always being clear 20/20 vision, I think it was Paco Jémez that was the factor in West Ham’s improvement towards the back end of last season.
I hope Parker brings the feelgood factor back to the squad, last seen during the high times of Moyse.
Stating the bleeding obvious, there’s still time to push for that automatic spot, but no room now for what we’ve been witnessing recently if it’s going to happen for us.