West Ham vs Norwich..Risk vs Consolidation

[Angus Nisbet 0]

I don''t want to get into the Worthy is useless...Sack the board...Where''s the money etc as I feel too many people use this forum for spleen-venting instead of intelligent debate.

I do however feel that there is a distinctively different feel to the club''s approach this January compared to the last 2 years. The business model seems to have kept the prudence but lost the ambition. West Ham admit that they probably spent over the odds for Deano but decided to take the risk as they are looking to progress. This was what we did 2 years ago (although admittedly in a much stronger position than we are now) and last year we spashed the cash ourselves for Ashton...and it nearly worked.

This time last year West Ham were struggling to get into the playoffs and Pardew was the devil incarnate at Upton Park.2006 -  the parallels are uncanny really. I just feel they were more determined to bust a gut to get back into The Premiership. They feel they belong there whereas I get the impression that we''re slipping back into being comfortable in The Championship

We could splash the cash on some of Jerome, Earnshaw, Davenport, Halford, McSheffrey (who was excellent on Saturday), but it now looks like none of those will be coming but we might get Johansson?? There''s a bit of a gap there isnt there? To quote Worthy -

“There is no point in bringing players in to go sideways. We need to bring players in who will help us go forwards.”

I just think we should get the new young players in on at least 2 year contracts, consolidate for the rest of the season and go for it next year. How is Johansson is going to take the club forwards - would he be picked ahead of Leon?

Oh, I dont know...maybe I''m venting my spleen...just frustrated at the situation.

Any positive thoughts from anyone?

[Middle 0]

I think we should buy davenport but dont pay over the odds,and forget about a striker untill the summer give peter thorne a chance and see if he can cut  it ,if not get rid of him in the summer as well as a couple of right backs.this seasons going nowhere

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

I think the game is up this season, and the board realise this.  We just dont look remotely capable of getting in the play-offs.  Therefore they don''t want to get ripped off by paying over-the-odds now when the same player couild be cheaper in the summer.

[Fat Barman 0]

I''d love to oblige, Angus, but I''m waiting for a delivery! Optimism may be resumed tomorrow evening.We''ve had 3 to 4 years of increasing expectations and it''s hard to think we''re marking time, rather than pushing onwards.Even a prudent board should grasp the chance offered by the parachute payments - unless they were less than prudent with the wages of our current squad? I hope the trumpeted wage cuts on relegation went deep enough (maybe that''s what''s been troubling our dear little darling footballers?)

[sheded 0]

Would like to get a bit more positive Angus ,   but  all the  prospective signings  look to be slipping away ....   but , who knows ?    a last minute   splurge  ?   Halford  , in particular , looked like what we needed  !

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

At the very least we should be buying some young players from the lower divisions on spec and putting them into our reserves or loaning them out to improve our squad.