Hammers transfer dithering again!

The Hammers appear to be transfer dithering again but this time the delay is occurring higher up the food chain. 

There is an awful lot of uncertainty at the club presently. The future of David Moyes, Rob Newman and the appointment of a director of football all hang in the balance. The lack of clarity and slow decision making is creating a bottle-neck which could seriously delay our transfer dealings.

I completely understand delaying the decision over the managerial position until after the Europa Conference final. However, leaving the appointment of a director of football until July in unnecessarily restrictive.  

West Ham are rumoured to be interested in signing Harvey Barnes from Leicester but how can we? The transfer grapevine reported yesterday that Aston Villa were now interested in the Leicester player. The midland club have a huge advantage because their staff are already in place for next season. In short they’re a more stable and certain destination which gives them the transfer edge. 

In short the Hammers are transfer dithering again but for a completely different set of reasons.

Self imposed restrictions

This is not the first time that we’ve tied our own hands behind our backs as a club. The insistence on recruiting a director of football in a transfer window is ridiculously restrictive. Any head of recruitment requires time to identify targets and put a transfer strategy into place. Because West Ham have delayed, we’re starting the race late and it may prove costly.

Whilst looking for a replacement for David Moyes in January, the club insisted any candidates had Premier League experience which was preposterous. Whilst other clubs were able to scout and recruit the best talent from across the globe, West Ham chased Rafa.

Nobody will wait for West Ham

How can West Ham seriously contest signing players when we can’t even offer the certainty of a manager? 

I’ve no doubt that all will get sorted eventually but how many targets will have slipped through the net before? If Villa want to sign Barnes from Leicester they can bid immediately but we’ll have to wait. 

West Ham can’t seriously expect a player to delay their future whilst we sort out our managerial team. No player would do that, and in the case of Barnes, he’ll just sign for Aston Villa. 

The situation creates the sort of disadvantage which leads to missing out on first choice targets. Not only do potential targets not know who their boss will be but who will make the actual signing?

It’s a bit of a self imposed mess and it’s not the first time we’ve seen the pattern. The Hammers have a recent history of snoozing & losing  . . . it’s time we woke up!