We’re starting to get used to hearing now that players, managers and clubs are refusing to talk to West Ham. Supposedly Carlo Ancelotti didn’t wish to enter negotiations about taking over as West Ham boss when it became clear Manuel Pellegrini’s days were numbered. The hierarchy at Sporting Lisbon were at pains to consider doing business with West Ham over the William Carvalho saga infamously labelling Gold & Sullivan as ‘the dildo brothers’. And now we hear that Tottenham bound Gedson Fernandes refused to even talk to the delegate West Ham sent out to Portugal to try and convince him to join. Perhaps Gedson looked out the window and saw Sullivan Jr. stood there in his backwards cap, boombox held aloft by one of his man-servants and thought ‘Nah mate’… or perhaps not, but it’s concerning to hear just how often this is happening. We’re like that poor kid at school that nobody talks to because he smells a bit of egg, you know the one, we called ours eggy. Seems a tad harsh, but perhaps we’ve brought it on ourselves with the way the board have tried to conduct business over the years. There have been more than a few insulting smelly offers that seem to have resulted in players, managers and clubs dismissing us altogether when hearing of our interest.
In other news. West Ham are still heavily linked with Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge. He was very impressive during Cardiff’s short stint in the Premier League last season but has apparently not continued that form in the Championship. Enter West Ham who love to sign a player after they’ve stopped being good! To be fair, goalkeeper is a fragile position and we’ve seen on plenty of occasions how top keepers can crumble once their self belief has gone. Remember Joe Hart? Whether Etheridge falls in to that category is better answered by Cardiff supporters, but it’s worth approaching with caution.
Declan Rudd is another keeper we’re supposedly looking at. I don’t think anybody was surprised to see us linked with a Preston player after David Moyes rejoined the club, but after the Jordan Hugill signing in January 2018, surely Sullivan will veto that move. As I previously wrote, we need a capable number 1 and Rudd has never looked like that at Premier League level. Darren Randolph looks to be the best option of the three keepers linked, it’s unfortunate that he’s currently carrying an injury because we can’t possibly take a risk on signing another keeper who won’t be available for selection.
Is it too early for Nathan Trott? The 21 year old England Under 19’s European Championships winner has played 21 times for AFC Wimbledon this season conceding 30 goals and keeping 3 clean sheets according to transfermarkt. Wimbledon currently sit in 20th place in League One. If Nathan truly is the real deal, perhaps we shouldn’t be blocking his pathway to the first team by signing more average goalkeepers that will be ahead of him simply because of their experience and the fact we’ve paid a fee for them. Jordan Pickford was chucked in at the deep end for Sunderland at the age of 21 because they had nobody else and it didn’t seem to hurt his career. It’s worth remembering however that Sunderland were relegated that year. under David Moyes for that matter. Pickford would go on to join Everton for 25m the following season.