Confirmation has been made that forward Benni McCarthy - a player initially linked with a move to Upton Park before he went to Blackburn - has at last arrived at Upton Park for a reported fee of £2.5m.
The odd 'visa issues' that delayed him playing against his old club at the weekend seemed to have been ironed out and the South African is a welcome addition to a forward line that has looked pretty toothless all season. McCarthy fell out of favour with Fat Sam at Ewood but otherwise there seems little reason why we should not expect a fair number of goals from a player who has scored consistently since his arrival in England
Meanwhile, a host of other players have been seen arriving down Green Street and I'll report in if and when deals are done rather than get involved in rumour and conjecture.
In a shock final few hours for the East London club, two further strikers were added in the guise of Egyptian striker Mido and Brazilian striker Ilan from St Etienne. Mido is a player known from his days with Spurs and Middlesbrough, a club he is technically on-loan from, but - from this quarter at least - I have to say IIan draws a complete blank.
Even the ever-reliable Soccernet page throws up few details. Amusing thought it will be to have a Brazilian sampling the coffee down Green Street, I'm of the opinion that South Americans usually find the weather in England depressing and I'm not assuming this to be much more than a stop-gap to ensure we don't get down to the bare-bones situation of the last month.
Mido, on the other hand, is quite an interesting deal, the player agreeing to a £1000 a week salary until the end of the season - even I was earning more than that last year - in order to prove himself in English football again. This seems to suggest we will have a top-class player going hell for leather trying his best to tie up a permanent deal and I quite like that type of incentive. It will be fascinating to see if he can prove himself.
The additions to the forward line was a neccessity for the Hammers and although, apart from McCartney, I'm not exactly overjoyed at the signings, we all know what a mess the transfer window is and at least the injection of some new blood and competition will improve options and competition for places.
I would have liked to have seen at least one defender on the books and was sorry to see Alan Hutton go to Sunderland as I thought he would be a good signing. Similarly I think a more determined bid for Moses would have been a good move, giving us a good wide player who can only improve. Still, beggars can't be choosers and at least the usual press tittle-tattle about our England players leaving proved incorrect. There's a very real chance West Ham may go into the World Cup with at least two players in the England first team although much may depend on how the relegation battle goes from here.
Comments
 |
Posted by Homeabroad on 02/02/2010
Check out the video of Ilan below, which proves that while he certainly has some fancy footwork and can shoot straight, the average back four in the French league (and one goalkeeper in particular) seem to be all heavily dosed up on Mogadon. Anyway, we can only dream (with out fingers crossed).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSYRC_zdCsQ
|
Posted by CW on 02/04/2010
The video seems to flatter him? Hope he turns out to be a real deal. I think in the BPL you do need to work hard at a high tempo. Diamanti may be brilliant but he needs to work hard too. With our solid midfield that can create chances, hopefully the strikers can capitalise.
Thanks for the video link!
Posted by Enorme Nuez on 02/04/2010
Everything is based upon "what if's". You hope Mido is hungry, but we are talking about Mido so I won't hold my breathe. Ilan is another one who I won't hold my breathe on either. Benni McCarthy is not worth £2.5M, not at 32 years old and not for what he has done - Allardyce must be laughing! Yes he is a talented player, but that is based on whether he's up for it that day. I hope that the Spammers get something from these three, but I feel that they'll be reliant on the same four: Cole, Green, Noble and Upson and to a lesser extent, Scott Parker. These three additions are peripheral players, a hopeful stop-gap.
| |
Post your comment |
|
|
Born at an early age a mere defenders' spit from the Boleyn ground, Billy Blagg has seen every West Ham game from 1898 onwards. Blagg was mentioned by Kenneth Wolstenholme in 1966 as one of the people on the pitch during the famous Hammers win over West Germany that lifted the World Cup and he returned to the pitch again for the 1975 FA Cup Final but stayed on the terrace for 1980 FA Cup victory. Blagg, 26, now lives with his eighth wife and innumerable children in a small semi-detached with chintz curtains in Dagenham, Essex and still attends every Hammers match and training session.
RSS feed