Another own goal as Noble speaks out

Well that went well. Grady Diangana has gone to West Brom for a fee rising to £18m with add-ons. The fans are completely disillusioned and Mark Noble has tweeted that as captain he is "gutted angry and sad that Grady has left. A great kid with a great future!" While Jack Wilshere has tweeted "Go and do your thing in a club that respects you. Big player with a big future" and Arthur Masuaku has posted a broken heart. If the dressing room is already split from management then we're as good as down.

All of this is baffling. The official statement says that the money will be spent on signing players for other areas of the team. But Diangana's sale is only remotely acceptable if we have a top class left-back and central defender lined-up. You can't see WHU getting Burnley's James Tarkowski for  £20m. The West Ham statement also claims that the club is well-stocked with wide players in Antonio (who's now a striker), Bowen, Anderson, Yarmolenko, Fornals and Snodgrass. That's true, but Yarmolenko and Snodgrass are ageing and injury-prone, Fornals is better in the middle and Anderson has just had a terrible season. Diangana can beat a man which would have given us something unexpected.

Surely the best option would have been to keep Diangana and go for a couple of defenders on loan or wait to shift a midfielder if money is that tight. A good wage offer to Shane Duffy might have solved the problem. But as it is the club appears broken before a ball is kicked. If this is the work of Moyes then it's brave at least, but any new signings have to be top quality (and when did that last happen?). It seems we'll get nowhere until there's new ownership.

It would be a big mistake to sell Diangana

Every player has his price, but it would a big mistake to sell Grady Diangana. The Daily Mail claims that West Brom have had a £20m bid accepted. Yes, it's good money for a kid who has only played one and a half seasons, but all the evidence suggests Diangana is the sort of young hungry player David Moyes claimed he needed. 

Apparently sales need to be made to sign some defenders and a striker, but the history of West Ham's recruitment suggests the club are likely to blow any fee on substandard players. We'd also be selling a player to a potential relegation rival. With Zabaleta, Ngakia, Sanchez, Hugill, Ajeti and Roberto gone the club has already made savings. It would make more sense to shift the likes of Wilshere, Snodgrass, Yarmolenko, Lanzini or Anderson if a player has to be sold. Baffling from the board and if this goes through you've got to doubt that the club will keep Declan Rice.

Grady makes the grade

Three wins so far from the pre-season games against Wycombe, Ipswich and Brentford. Perhaps the main thing we can take from these games is that Grady Diangana is going to have a big role this season. The young winger set up Haller for two goals against Ipswich and assisted again for Yarmolenko's opener against Brentford. Could Diangana be the answer to getting Sebastien Haller scoring again? 

What's also evident from pre-season, with Rice and Diop out with knocks, is that West Ham are very stretched at the back. Another centre back and a full back are needed at the least, although Ben Johnson continues to make progress. While up front we have Haller and Antonio, but no back-up strikers. With Zabaleta, Sanchez, Ajeti, Hugill, Ngakia and Roberto off the wage bill it's now time to act decisively in the transfer market.

Martin deserves a chance and there's a case for recalling Diangana and Cullen

Looking at the fixtures the worrying thing is that there are eight league fixtures between now and New Year's Day when West Ham play Bournemouth and no guarantee that Fabianski will be fit by then. We really can't keep Roberto in goal for that long and David Martin surely can't be any worse, so let's give him a chance. Roberto's confidence is shot and teams will now put extra pressure on him if he plays.

Meanwhile there's a strong case for recalling Grady Diangana and Josh Cullen when the window opens. Yes, a season at WBA would be better for Diangana's long-term development, but we're desperate. He's had half a season of regular football and scored a few goals in the Championship already and will get games with West Ham now Lanzini is out and Fornals, Anderson and Yarmolenko are struggling. 

Similarly Josh Cullen is the sort of midfield workhorse we need, a player who has picked up experience at Charlton, wants to play for us and would be an option to replace Mark Noble in games. With only Sanchez in reserve we need cover in central midfield. Burnley beat us because they had triers like Bardsley and Westwood. We need more players who put in a shift.

A better weekend for ex-Hammers and loan stars

West Ham might have lost to Palace but the weekend was better for some of our loanees and ex-players. Grady Diangana scored for top-of-the Championship West Brom in the 4-2 victory against Cardiff; Jordan Hugill (remember him?) scored his sixth goal of the season for QPR in their 4-2 win against Blackburn; and "divine ponytail" Andy Carroll came on as a sub for Newcastle against Man United to unsettle the Mancs' defence in the Toon's 1-0 win. 

Diangana: playing without fear

Good interview with Grady Diangana in today's Guardian. Having left the Republic of Congo at four he grew up playing football in the parks of Woolwich and still seems to have an instinctive joy in the game. The lad also seems to play without fear and has a remarkably mature approach, telling Paul McInnes: "I haven't felt any pressure. I feel like I can go out there and express myself. Even if I make a mistake I don't beat myself up… I've only realised lately how much of the game is in the mind. " Click on the link to read the whole interview.

Grady makes the grade: Diangana a real prospect

Grady Diangana had another excellent game against Burnley. The 20-year-old seems to have come from nowhere, but is now looking like a vital player following Yarmolenko's season-ending injury. Diangana has been involved in six successive first-team games since scoring twice against Macclesfield. 

He seems to play without fear, and when he came on against Spurs he was not afraid to run at international full-backs and even showboat at times. He gave Burnley's Lowton a torrid time on Saturday and was involved in two of the goals. 

Yes, he still looks a little naive at times off the ball, but he's quite a prospect. Defenders don't like playing against him and he even earned praise from Sean Dyche for staying on his feet after he was fouled in the box in for what should have been a penalty. The youngster enjoys playing with Anderson and Arnautovic and seems to believe he belongs alongside them. 

Grady might need resting at some stage, but he looks hungry and there's even a Declan Rice-style tug-of-war over his services, as he is eligible for both DR Congo and England. Credit to Pellegrini for not being afraid to play Grady. This gives hope to Powell, Coventry and all the other Academy youngsters. It's early days, but WHU do seem to have a player here.