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Who is responsible for the summer transfer disaster?

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speaks_with_simone_zaza_338897We all accept last Summer’s transfer window was a disaster.

Recent financial accounts confirmed the club spent a total of £45.7m last summer but who is to blame for it ALL going so wrong?

Contrary to popular belief the de facto director of football David Sullivan, Head of Recruitment Tony Henry and manager Slaven Bilic each need to sign off every signing and therefore all have a right to veto.

ToreWe saw his in action in January with Scott Hogan, the Brentford player was scouted by  Henry, with Sullivan reportedly happy to back it but Bilic vetoed it so no bid was made.

We understand, each of the trio compile  their own list and go through each player one by one, crossing out some and underlining others. In the case of Sullivan they mainly come from agents and clubs who have contacted him to tell him that their player is available. Tony Henry runs the West Ham scouting network and Bilic does his own research to highlight players who he admires or wants within the squad.

Bearing the above process in mind below is our understanding of which list the summer transfers originally initiated from.

Havard Nordtveit (Borussia Moenchengladbach) Free (Slaven Bilic)

Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia) Free transfer (Slaven Bilic)

Gokhan Tore (Besiktas) Loan (Slaven Bilic)

Andre Ayew (Swansea City) £20.5m (Slaven Bilic)

Simone Zaza (Juventus) Loan (Slaven Bilic)

Domingos Quina   (Tony Henry)

Toni Martinez (Valencia) (Tony Henry)

Ashley Fletcher (Manchester United) Undisclosed (Tony Henry)

Arthur Masuaku (Olympiacos) Undisclosed (Tony Henry)

Edimilson Fernandes (FC Sion) Undisclosed (Tony Henry)

Jonathan Calleri (Deportivo Maldonado) Loan (David Sullivan)

Alvaro Arbeloa (Free) (David Sullivan)

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who proposed them as all three signed off on them so all three could be said to be equally guilty for the disastrous summer.

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I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball,

I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh.

Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons!

Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

0 comments

  • jaybs says:

    Then clearly time for Tony Henry to GO! and perhaps Mr Sullivan go back to playing FIFA Manager instead, I am sure it is was not Slaven or perhaps Henry who made promises.

    • Eug says:

      Is that supposed to be ironic?
      Out of the list, Tony Henry’s signings are by far the best.
      Yes they seem to be mainly on youth and are more potential, but they are by far the best signings and the real STINKERS I’m afraid to say are down to Bilic.
      That is accepting that the list to be accurate.
      Domingos Quina He is going to be a real star. (Tony Henry)
      Toni Martinez Looks like a natural goal scorer. (Tony Henry)
      Ashley Fletcher Stilll young and hopefully one for the future (Tony Henry)
      Arthur Masuaku haven’t seen enough, but looked really fast and done O K on Saturday(Tony Henry)
      Edimilson Fernandes This guy is a real talent and you can tell he is class. Is going to go a long way.(Tony Henry)
      Yes these guy’s are young and for the future but they are all very talented players and are going to be worth considerably more than we paid for them.
      Compare them to Bilic signings
      Simone Zaza & Gokhan Tore
      These two alone were total disasters and have cost the club a fortune..
      Then Havard Nordtveit not exactly set the league on fire.
      Sofiane Feghouli Yes after a slow start, is starting to show some potential but many of the fans don’t like him.
      Ayew a good player but we still don’t know what is his best position and at £20 million way over valued by about 50%.
      Then Sullivan with Jonathan Calleri & Alvaro Arbeloa.
      If this is correct just leave all the signings to Toni Henry, and just tell him to buy a few more that have more experience.

      • CondorHammer says:

        Absolutely spot on imo Eug👍👍👍

      • West Ham Fan No 32 says:

        I agree with Eug on all of them although I believe Nordveidt is a good player we haven’t seen the best of for whatever reason.

  • John says:

    As I said earlier who’d have thought these players would fail. I desperately wanted us to get Tore but he turned out to be one of the worst we have had. I thought Zaza would do a good job. He didn’t. Nordtvielt was MG player of the season who qualified for CL. Fletcher WAS rated higher than Rashford. Calleri was interesting Barcelona. But it didn’t work out. Payet Lanzini Antonio the previous year suggests Sullivan Henry and Billic aren’t mugs. Move on I guess eh?

  • John says:

    Anyhow in answer to the question who is to blame? I blame Hughie.

  • Stan The Man says:

    I do read some utter tripe sometimes.Do your homework Jay,Tony Henry came highly recommended after being considered in the game as a top man in his job while at Everton.
    Moyes disnt want Stones,Henry talked him round and told him he must,must sign him.
    £50 million of good business for the Toffees i would say

    Whats the point i might as well be shouting down a well full of sh1t half the time on our sites.
    Fans with not a clue about something but talking like they wrote the A-Z on football.
    Yes you are right im being a grumpy old b4stard lol

  • Stan The Man says:

    All you have to do is look at the Tony Henry instigated signings,not a single one of them has been a major flop.Ones for the future and ones that have at the very least shown promise or have offered something.

    Anyway while im being a grump since when have Fernandes,Quina,Martinez,Fletcher become disasterous signings.
    Half of the signings up there we can say neither yay or nay on right now.

  • Radai Lama..Paid up member of Slavs Chavs. says:

    Lol Stanley calm down the old ticker must be racing 😂
    Only ones up there i think have been total shyte are Zaza &Tore.
    Tore was a shadow of the player i watched before,Arbeloa was a last​ minute buy so i didn’t expect too much after barely figuring for Real last season.
    All the rest like Feghouli i aint got too much against.Nordveidt is nothing more than a squad player but we have had far worse.
    Calleri having watched him in the Copa Libertadores & Olympics has far more to offer than we have seen.Woulsnt surprise me at all if he goes elsewhere & scores regularly.
    Got nothing against Ayew either,he has been where it matters to score recently & i couldnt give a sh*t what he cost,it aint my money 😂
    As for the kids well Fernandes has shown glimpses of what he coukd be for us and Quina,Martinez we dont know about yet.
    I dont know i still dont see it as ‘disasterous’,most of the true shyte was on loan or out of contract so no massive fee was involved.

  • sleepswithdafishes says:

    Clear that Henry wins it hands down. But all his finds are youngsters for the future. It should be brilliant in 3.5 years time.
    I like all those youngsters, but as Rad says, only Fernandes has proved something. Can’t wait to see the others step up.

  • The Long Dog says:

    The disasterous comment depends whether you are a half empty or half full kinda person i think.
    Yes Zaza and Tore were woeful but of the others only Arbeloa has been a total waste of time alongside the other pair.
    I was looking at some of the other clubs summer business and a few others signed some right pigs for some serious dosh.Leicester had a stinker if you look at what most of their summer signing have given as a return on their fee.

  • ReggieHammer says:

    Tony Henry’s clearly the man with the eye. Maybe he should get the final say… Slav won’t be happy, but at least we won’t/shouldn’t get another Zaza or Tore!

  • John says:

    Stan is da man lol

    • The Long Dog says:

      Lmao yeah i did almost spit my beer out when i read Stans comment about the well HaHa

  • Michael Miller says:

    🎶Don’t blame it on the sunshine
    Don’t blame it on the moonlight
    Don’t blame it on good times
    Blame it on the boogie🎶

  • Swanie says:

    Long Dog is there​ such a thing​ as a glass half full West Ham fan on the internet.Even David Attenborough couldnt discover that species.
    Mind you i think MMs cup has runneth over tonight Lol

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