Stratford's field of dreams

Interesting to see the pictures of the London Stadium converted for today's baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. There's a diamond made of clay imported from Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania and 141,900 square feet of imported artificial turf. Looking at the Guardian's time-lapse photography the conversion seems to have involved some digging down into the ground below the pitch, which makes me wonder why the same thing can't be done to bring the fans closer to the pitch for West Ham games — no mention of the contaminated soil we have heard about before. 

We should perhaps be thankful that Andy Carroll is no longer with us, as he might have become the West Ham player to be injured by being buried in clay. Let's hope it is converted back in time for Man City on August 11. Though playing City on a diamond in an oval might just confuse them.

Hands off Issa

Disturbing reports in the Daily Mirror and Sun of Manchester United interest in Issa Diop, if we can believe them. At least Sullivan and Gold seem to be knocking back United, having insisted WHU want cash and Anthony Martial if any deal went through. Come to think of it, why not ask for Lukaku? And we certainly don't want Phil Jones. If Leicester are asking £80m for Harry Maguire, then Diop has to be worth the same. He's not the finished article, but his potential is immense. And from the player's point of view he doesn't need to move at his age. If the club stays solid then United will soon realise they can get a centre back much cheaper in the European market.

Good luck to Super Slav at West Brom

It's good to see Slaven Bilic back in the English game as manager of West Brom. Of all the club's recent managers, Bilic seemed to be the one who 'got' the club. He certainly never needed to ask what the West Ham Way was. Look at the documentary Iron Men again and you'll see what the club meant to him with his tears after the win against Man United in the final game at Upton Park. Such a moment means he'll always be remembered with affection by Irons fans.

Bilic was dealt a very difficult hand having to make the transition to the London Stadium, although he does have to take responsibility for some terrible signings (Nordtveit, Calleri, Tore, etc) and the strange decision to sell James Tomkins. He wasn't helped by his star player, Dimitri Payet, going on strike either, although he won't forget the show of support from Hammers fans in the 3-0 win against Crystal Palace. Eventually Slaven just looked exhausted by the problems at the club. But let's hope he's come back refreshed and makes a success of the West Brom job.

Pablo is a Hammer

Exciting news that West Ham have signed Pablo Fornals, the Villareal playmaker, for £24 million. Not sure where this will leave Manuel Lanzini, but if Fornals has been compared to Santi Cazorla then that will do me. He;'s certainly got an eye for a pass and at 23 he's a good age with 150 league games in La Liga and two Spanish caps already. He's also something of a known quantity having worked at Malaga with WHU director of football Mario Husillas. The prospect of him linking up with Amderson and Rice is already exciting. 

Perhaps it's a little worrying that no-one else was in for him, but then again we might just haver landed a bargain. Now Pellegrini just needs to sort out the defence and sign another striker. But always a good thing to get some business done early and Fornals is now formally a Hammer.

Man City at home kicks off the season

So it's a nice easy start to the season with a home banker against Man City on August 10. Then away games at Brighton and Watford and a home game against newly-promoted Norwich. Knowing West Ham we'll probably beat City and then lose to Brighton and Norwich. Might be worth a bet… The final game of the season is a home match against Aston Villa which we'll presumably need to win to cement our Champions' League Place. At least in my dreams.

Just how many players can West Ham be interested in?

The transfer silly season appears to be here already. According to today's media gossip West Ham are in for Marseille's midfielder Morgan Sanson, Fulham's Aleksander Mitrovic, Atalanta and Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie, the Celta Vigo pair of striker Maxi Gomez and midfielder Stanislav Lobotka (presumably good at lobs), Barcelona's Andre Gomes and Eibar midfielder Joan Jordan. Surely they can't all join? 

Though presumably Pellegrini has something planned for midfield after letting Sami Nasri go. A fit Nasri could have been a real bargain on a free, although perhaps he was asking for too much money and a younger player is coming. At least there is more money in the kitty now with the rumoured prices for Fernandes and Perez being £8m and £2m respectively.

A bit of 1970 Hammers nostalgia

Thanks to my pal Swansea-supporting Huw for passing on The West Ham United Football Book No 3, which he found in a charity shop for £2.50. It was published in 1970 and is edited by Dennis Irving. Irving, we learn, has claret and blue wallpaper in his office and has dubbed the Hammers "the Gay Deceivers", a phrase which might have a slightly different context today.

It's certainly nostalgic reading. There's a chapter on "Ron Greenwood seeks his missing link" (which he never found after the glory years) and a piece on a promising young youth coach called "Johnny Lyall". 

With hindsight it's all a little over-optimistic. There's a puff piece on new star signing Peter Eustace (I remember a cry of "Useless Eustace!" at one of my earliest games) and another chapter entitled "Bobby Howe, the second Dave Mackay, says his trainer" (he certainly wasn't). Then there's the chapter on new signing Jimmy Greaves, which predicts he might well get 20 goals in the next campaign. He was of course a functioning alcoholic by this stage and retired at the end of the following season. 

The ultimate limit of human endurance

A strange story on the BBC website. This claims the limit of human endurance is, "2.5 times the body's resting metabolic rate, or 4000 calories for the average person." But I always thought the ultimate limit of human endurance was supporting West Ham...

How serious is West Ham's Gomes bid?

The Guardian reports that West Ham have bid £20 million for Barcelona's Andre Gomes, who looked a really good player while on loan at Everton last season. Though rather worryingly the paper also writes that, "his representatives have made clear that his preferred outcome is a move to Goodison Park." 

Should we want a player who sees us as his second best choice? And is this just a ploy to make it look like West Ham are in the market for a top player whom the club is unlikely to get, which has happened in the past with the likes of Bacca and Batshuayi? If the Hammers are serious about getting Gomes then it will take £25m or more to sign him. Though if WHU could get him it would be quite a coup to beat the Toffees to his signature.

When West Ham played behind closed doors

Remember when West Ham were in Europe? Looking through my late mother's letters to me at university I found this cutting she sent after West Ham beat Castilla 5-1 behind closed doors at Upton Park in "ghost game" in the Cup Winners Cup in 1980. It makes for nostalgic reading with the Daily Telegraph referring to "last night's soccer" and Cross, Goddard, Brooking and Bonds prominent in the match report. And looking at the picture I've not seen such an eerie, empty stadium since the Europa League Final in Baku.

Alvin's lad signs for the Hammers

West Ham seem to be stockpiling goalkeepers with Millwall's David Martin, the son of the great Alvin Martin, signed as our new number three choice. He's 33 and played a lot of games for MK Dons so not a bad back-up behind Roberto, despite dropping a televised ricket for Millwall against Brighton in the FA Cup. And perhaps he could persuade his dad (who's got no hair but he don't care) to turn out if our defence has a wobbly patch.

Meanwhile the restructuring of the squad has started, with Edimilson Fernandes signing for FSV Mainz and Lucas Perez departing for Alves.

Red redemption

Congratulations to Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp on winning the European Champions League. Of course, if West Ham are going to think like a big club then we have to stop enjoying rivals such as Spurs failing to win a trophy. Though I'm still not sure that pre-match lasagne for Spurs was such a good idea…