Sandwiched between an article in the Standard which spoke of West Ham’s upturn in form, there were a few words which stood out loud and clear… “After careful work in the transfer window, a once fractured dressing room has become a unifying force.”
The newspaper was making the point that the Hammers’ work in the transfer window was not so much about who came in, but rather who departed. Certainly, the evidence can be seen on the pitch, with the team looking more connected, leaders surfacing and a band of brothers seemingly fighting for one another.
It’s worth noting that the Standard (formerly the London Evening Standard) has excellent connections at West Ham and I don’t doubt what they are reporting is true. And whilst no names were mentioned, it’s impossible not to consider which players were part of the fracture.
Departures Tell Their Own Story
The obvious candidates were Lucas Paquetá and Niclas Füllkrug, the latter in particular cutting a miserable presence in the dressing room.
A training ground source told Claret & Hugh at the time: “Füllkrug is not hiding that he wants to leave.”
So maybe Nuno Espírito Santo’s rebalancing was not what many of us thought at the time — a tactical reshuffle with more balanced personnel. Clearly, it was partly a clear-out of personalities who hadn’t bought into the fight for survival.
And it shows.
Think that too many players were sold the dream, signed up and subsequently blamed for the pathetic performances after the turnover of management and coaching staff.
These players are not the ones to blame. The owners are not the ones to blame. The smart mouthed, well connected dreamers seeking to play with someone else’s big money are the culprits.
Practicality and honesty are worth so much more than flash cars and boastful talk.
should have got rid Sniden a lot sooner lost a good manager because of him whether you liked Moyes or not he was right to ban him from training
I will never for the life of me understand why we signed Fullkrug, a striker just turned 30 at the time, suffered injuries and had never played in the Prem. Was not known for his pace, and Sully needs to take all the blame for that one for signing it off. Utterly bonkers signing
if sullivan would have put more money in for duran we wouldn’t have gone near Fulkrug yet again. Mr Sullivan is to blame for our downfall over the last few seasons. only at West Ham can we win a European trophy & fall to relegation fodder