Is this good or bad news for us?

(there’s not much else I can say really – so long as it doesn’t mean that Milner will be next to leave, followed by Parker)

IRONS

There’s no confirmation on either and I’m by no means confirming it here, but that’s what’s being said!

UPDATE1: Considering we’re playing the Aston Villa reserves tonight, I guess him being at Upton Park is no real shock! No smoke without fire, and there’s the fire. (thanks to krf for pointing this, now blindingly obvious point, out!)

UPDATE2: Stan Collymore is saying that “Martin O’Neill is going nowhere…trust me”  A rumour produced and squashed in the matter of minutes. Must be nothing negative to write about West Ham in the press today

When I say sponsoring, we’re basically picking up the bar tab – each of the meetups coincides with a decent game of football, so it will be an afternoon/evening of football, beer and general banter.

There are more details on this post here: Football Blogger Meetups

Bloggers of Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Brom, Aston Villa, Manchester United, Manchester City, Walsall, Stockport (etc etc) we’ll be in your neck of the woods first so have yourself a butchers are the details page linked above and get yourself over for some beer.

I’ll be at all the events – and most certainly the ones in New York, Washington DC and Madrid – so if you’re based anywhere near any of those then it would be great to catch up for a pint.

Football Blogger Meetups with FootballUnited.com

As an example, I personally don’t want Anton to go anywhere….but this week the transfer speculation surrounding him has upped it’s tempo. The price we are apparently asking now has risen to £8m and the key candidates for his signature are Aston Villa and maybe even Newcastle. Apparently.

The thing is with this rumour is that it is sourced from somebody who is “unnamed” reporting to The Mirror. This person has apparently said that:

They don’t want Anton to go but his agent has not been in looking for a new contract so something might happen

I’m thinking pinch of salt here. And once again (as I have mentioned in my previous posts on this topic) I am becoming continually frustrated.

This week, the AJ rumour has resurfaced. Again. And let’s be honest if the rumours turn out to be correct, we are considering £9.5m….jog on.

I think I might start my own rumour mill, there is clearly a business in it. I’m thinking “West Ham sign Christiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for a tenner and a packet of Haribo”

To be honest I think that would be overpriced. If you want to keep him happy the key is to invest in a dummy.

I digress.

They are the main rumours to come out of the past few days. One rumour that has been sufficiently been concluded however is the possibility of signing Kightly from Wolverhampton Wanderers. He has today signed himself a tidy 4-year deal with the Championship outfit. Rules that one out.

In conclusion then, our transfer activity thus far has been:

- Released Solano.

Great Curbs, real great.

I personally hope we keep Ferdinand, I do know a lot of people disagree.

I doubt many people disagree with not signing Andy Johnson though, especially for the sort of money that is being suggested!

Here are the poll results from Part II of this post…makes for interesting reading:

[poll id="2"]

So there you have it. Most readers of this site would rather see Curbishley replaced with Billic than signing a player. But if of course that doesn’t work out then it would appear that what we are most wanting at Upton Park is a play maker in Lanzafame, and a quality quality wing back in Zhirkov. And his is quality.

Make of it what you will…check back soon for further polls

Comments are always welcome!

Sam

I digress.

So, what is the rumour mill circulating today? Well, Anton’s name is once again being linked Tottenham. But also Aston Villa now. Reports are suggesting that we are willing to let him go for £6m…oh, and now Newcastle have joined the fray.

Same old faces popping up, Newcastle, Tottenham, Newcastle, Villa, Tottenham, Everton.

What particularly annoys me about this rumour is that the aforementioned clubs are ‘on paper’ challenging the same sort of positions in the league as we are. On paper. So why oh why Mr. Curbishley are you willing to sell Anton when clearly there should be about 10 other players ahead of him in the ‘Must Get Rid Of’ box.

Plus, if it is to “cut the wage bill” as one report suggests, then why haven’t we already got rid of players like Ljungberg, Cole, Neill etc etc Quashie, etc etc. Personally I find this annoying.

Who else is circulating the rumour mill? Well, as a replacement for Anton,  Coloccini has been linked. Ok, maybe if we sign this guy, Curb’s can be forgiven for prematurely getting rid of Anton. But we are talking £12m for him…I’ve got a horrible feeling that we really aren’t as rich as people think and I’m not sure if we can afford him at the minute.

I would say that before we sign anybody at all we will see a lot more players shown the door. Curb’s, you had better get a move on because there is a serious amount of dead wood in our team, and dead wood only ever gets erm, more dead?!

In an attempt to get a clearer understanding of what the fans want, I have put together this poll of players that we have been linked with. Vote as if you could only have one person, and obviously vote for the person you would most like to see in Claret and Blue.

Sam

[poll id="2"]