Hindsight is a wonderful thing for those of us who support or write about West Ham. Easy to be critical or to make judgements from the seats or after watching televised disappointments on the pitch. Clearly The Hammers have a ‘recruitment and retention’ issue when it comes to strikers. (Seb Haller, Gianluca Scammacca, etc..etc..I don’t have space to name all fifty! ). Niclas Fullkrug has been reported as ‘the future’ at West Ham United.
Tim Steidten, if we believe the reports, was recruited himself to oversee player transfers by shareholder Daniel Kretínskŷ to try and avoid some of the mistakes made in the past.
Those mistakes did most certainly apply to the recruitment of Danny Ings.
Mick Brown, until last summer a senior scout at West Ham, made a frank assessment of the English forward when speaking exclusively to footballinsider247.com. “I’ve always thought he’s one of those players who’s as honest as the day is long, but he’s not a Premier League player any more.”
Well tell us something we don’t know. The problem is everyone else knows this too, including possible suitors who might come in for Ings next Summer.
I’d guess Ings knows it too which is why he is clinging doggedly to the last year of his contract (as he is entitled to) . Of course, in reality Ings will find it tough finding a new challenge at the age of 32, and 33 next July when he will be looking for a new club.
I suspect every West Ham fan has known for a couple of years that he’s OK as a bench player but hasn’t been a Premier League-quality starter since the day he joined.
And his wages are amongst the highest at the club which again is not his fault. It means we have a Ferrari-level monthly payment for a creaky old BMW-level player who would probably be good for a couple of seasons in The Championship. Both he and 34 year old Mikhail Antonio will finish their contracts next summer and depart on ‘free’ or tiny incoming payments if, fortuitously, a buyer comes forward for either in January. So, what is the plan, Tim?
There has to be one.
Gonzo’s article yesterday makes it clear that ‘we’re skint’ but in 8 months we will have precisely ONE striker on our books.