Kurt robbed

So that's why Kurt Zouma missed the Palace game. Sympathy to Kurt and his family who were burgled at midnight while they were at home in an incident straight out of The Sweeney. David Sullivan and the club have put up a reward of £25k for information leading to the gang's arrest. And the tea-leaves arguably cost West Ham two points by ensuring Zouma stayed at home. Which is another good reason for dobbing them in.  

Zouma has now been punished enough

West Ham have fined Kurt Zouma two weeks' wages and he's had his cats taken away by the RSPCA. He has lost his Adidas contract and is going to get booed at every away ground and quite possibly by his own fans. It was a mistake to play him on Tuesday, but he's now been the subject of national front-page humiliation after his brother (not the brightest button in the box) posted that video on Snapchat. Plus Zouma might also face legal action. 

Young-ish men sometimes do stupid things and David Moyes claims it's out of character from the big man. If you read the court of twitter he should be banned from football forever. But there's a need for some perspective here. His actions have not been without consequence. Zouma needs educating in how to treat animals (and there's nothing the British react more to than being cruel to pets) but he also deserves the chance to prove that he can learn from his mistakes and become a better man.

Catgate

Sometimes events surprise even seasoned West Ham watchers like myself. Of all the ways to create self-inflicted damage, Kurt Zouma kicking his cat on social media is an unexpected and bizarre own goal. And what sort of idiot thought it clever to post the video? 

We've had Antonio crashing his car while dressed as a snowman, Hayden Foxe urinating in a plant pot and Enner Valencia injuring himself on a teacup, but catgate? Even by WHU standards this is unusual. Hardly the preparation we need for the game against Watford. The club has rightfully condemned Zouma and he has apologised — and clearly needs some time with the RSPCA to think about his actions. You really couldn't make it up... and now we're not feline too confident about the match tonight.

Zouma meeting

Some better news on the injury front is that Kurt Zouma might be back at the end of January and Aaron Cresswell is also close to returning from his back injury. So the need to sign a centre-back is slightly less urgent, though Dawson and Diop have wobbled at times in recent weeks. Moyes will have to decide if Alese and Baptiste are good enough to do a job if called upon or sign a fourth centre back. The big need is still for another striker. Interesting to see that Newcastle are moving for Burnley's Chris Wood who has a release clause in his contract. Could the Irons identify players who might have a release clause and benefit from this in similar fashion? 

Zouma out for three months

The bad news is that Kurt Zouma is out for three months with a hamstring injury and Ben Johnson is out for a month. As with Ogbonna, Zouma tried to play on and West Ham's medical team really have to be more proactive in taking injured players off at the first sign of trouble. Somehow we have to keep Craig Dawson and Issa Diop fit and make an emergency signing in January. 

In the event of either getting injured Ben Johnson is out for a month and when he's fit could probably do a job at centre back with his physique and strength. While another option would be to bring in Kral and play Declan Rice at centre back where he performed really well in the latter stages against Chelsea — though  that would deprive WHU of an immense force in midfield. The obvious signing would be Burnley's James Tarkowski who is out of contract at the end of the season — but can Burnley be persuaded to part with their centre back when they are in a relegation battle? WHU will have to throw quite a bit of Daniel Kretinsky's money at them. 

While the injuries to Ogbonna, Zouma and Johnson prove we can't rely on Antonio staying fit, and with Benrahma away in Africa for a month the Irons must also sign Jesse Lingard and a back-up striker in January. If West Ham are going to make the top four we're going to have to do it the hard way.

King Kurt

David Moyes' policy of patience in the transfer market appears to have paid off with the £29.8 million signing of Kurt Zouma — presumably after organising a Zouma meeting with his agent. It's a lot of money for a defender and there's a risk his reputed high wages could cause resentment among the lower-earners around him, though if he performs well on the pitch that will surely be forgotten.

Zouma is a good age at 26 and played 36 times for Chelsea last season, also being on the bench for the Champions League Final. Not all are convinced. My pal the Vicar's Son feels Zouma's always got a mistake in him and lacks pace. But perhaps we should trust in Moyes after he called Soucek, Bowen and Lingard right, and as a former defender himself Moyesy should know his centre-backs. It's also worth remembering that Zouma was talked about as a long-term successor to John Terry and Jose Mourinho rated him. 

Zouma has played 151 times in all competitions for Chelsea. He has won two titles and three League Cups and played in FA Cup Finals. He's a French international and has the useful loan experience of seasons at Stoke and Everton. His concentration might need to improve, but even on rumoured wages of £100k plus a week he is a quality addition to the squad, the sort of no-nonsense defender we need. With Dawson, Ogbonna, Diop and Zouma the options at centre back look good and we can rotate in Europe. Now we just need a striker and midfielder.