Too much information from Mr Sullivan

David Sullivan has been fortunate that the great win against Chelsea has distracted somewhat from the comments he made in Saturday's Guardian. It's fine being honest, but there's no point in undermining players who are still on the club's books. Sullivan told the Guardian's Jacob Steinberg, "The manager said he wanted Fonte and Snodgrass. My kids begged me not to sign them." Snodgrass, on loan at Aston Villa, responded with a tweet reading, "Thanks for your support Mr Chairman." While Fonte told the Daily Telegraph, "It's ignorance. I'm not gong to say anything. It's not going to change who I am. I'm going to keep being the good professional I am."

It's a row that never needed to happen. West Ham are certainly going to need Fonte again this season. To his credit Sullivan does admit in the same interview that he's made mistakes and he shouldn't have made it public that Slaven Bilic turned down Renato Sanches and Grzegorz Krychowiak in the summer window. As co-owner he's entitled to an opinion. But the discussion of the club's transfer policy in public by Sullivan and his sons should stop, particularly when it concerns current players. David Sullivan should either leave the PR work to the more discrete David Gold or allow a PR person to sit in with him at interviews who would have the power to tell him when to stay quiet.

West Ham player scores in World Cup shocker

Interesting to note that one Robert Snodgrass took his goal well when scoring Scotland's equaliser for Scotland at Slovenia, a draw that ended Scotland's dream of World Cup qualification. Snoddy is still a West Ham player, even if he is on a season's loan at Aston Villa. He also opened his account for Villa with a fine volley in the 4-0 win at Burton and his arrival has coincided with an upsurge in the Villains' form. He's a better player than we saw during his 15 games at West Ham. Bilic appears to have given up on him, but if there was a change of manager at West Ham next summer when Bilic's contract expires, might he be given another chance by a new boss as a useful squad player? Stranger things have happened.

Snoddy blames Slaven for his departure

Interesting to read Robert Snodgrass's comments after joining Aston Villa on loan. He blames Slaven Bilic for his poor form, insisting he was either a right winger or a number 10.  “I went to West Ham and I had a manager that played me out of position. To be honest with you it was very tough to take, " Snodgrass told the press. "I spoke to the manager and said to him, 'You wanted me to try and replace Payet, it's not my position'. I couldn't have made that any more clear. When I spoke to him this season I said 'I need to play my position, I need a run of games in my position'." 

There are two sides to every story of course, and players are always looking for excuses, but Snodgrass doesn't appear impressed by Bilic's man-managemnt: "I haven't enjoyed not knowing what's happening. Nobody's spoken to me at West Ham really and it's a weird feeling. I've always had a British-based manager who has talked to me and had a good relationship with, so to have that feeling back is a good feeling."

Which all seems to indicate the Snodgrass was a £10m panic buy and wasn't used correctly when at the club. He's not a great player, but he is normally a useful one, and we should have seen more from him than we did.

Snoddy goes to Villa

The recruitment policy at West Ham appears to be make it up as you go along. Robert Snodgrass has signed on a season-long loan for Aston Villa, so the replacement for Dimitri Payet has now been replaced by Marko Arnautovic after seven months. Seven of last season's signings have now departed.

Presumably the club spend a long time scouting potential signings and the manager must have faith in the players he buys. So why shift Snodgrass after just 15 games? Is that long enough to judge a player? Admittedly he didn't impress last season, but he came into a struggling team, was often played out of position and would surely have improved this time round. The same player had scored nine goals for Hull in the first half of the season.

Perhaps Snodgrass might be the sort of player who excels at teams like Leeds, Norwich and Hull but doesn't cope well with not being the star man. But he's not really had a chance at West Ham. As it is we've spent £10 million on a player who has played 15 games — which is bad business by anyone's standards.

What future for Robert Snodgrass?

With all the new signings will there be a future at West Ham for Robert Snodgrass? Teams like Sunderland and Middlesbrough are already rumoured to be interested in him, though I'm not sure we should give up on a £10 million investment. He didn't play well after joining us last season, his main contribution being an assist in Kouyate's vital goal against Swansea. Too often he misplaced passes and didn't look at all at home in a claret and blue shirt. 

But we should remember that new signings are often better in their second season and he will now have had a full pre-season with WHU. Snodgrass had scored five Premier League goals from open play (including a cracking free kick against Everton) plus a couple of penalties for Hull in the first half of last season, so we know he can do it in the Premier League. 

It's also worth noting that he's scored 78 goals in his career and was popular with the fans at Leeds, Norwich and Hull. Might a goal get him going at West Ham? We're going to need a strong squad and although Snoddy might not start, he gives West Ham options as a right winger or as a creative player behind the strikers if Lanzini is out. Rather than sell him at a loss it's surely better to give him another season to show he can produce for the Irons.

Snoddy available after baby seat-gate

Robert Snodgrass is available to play against Chelsea after baby seat-gate. He's not been arrested after a police warrant was issued, but is required to attend another court hearing in Glasgow. He told the Sun: "It was just a misunderstanding. I didn't realise I had to be present in court. It's not a big issue and will be resolved in due course."

Meanwhile there's been much press coverage of the likelihood of a repeat of the trouble against Chelsea in the League cup tie and you do wish the papers would be more accurate. The Guardian reports there was "fighting" against Chelsea, which isn't strictly true. There was bad behaviour, posturing and missile throwing, but it seems to have been forgotten that the security line did hold. There's been no trouble in the nine home games since and hopefully the bigger gaps, adapted exits, better stewarding and larger police presence will work tonight.

Where would Snodgrass fit into West Ham's side?

West Ham have had a £10 million bid for Robert Snodgrass accepted by Hull City and you have to feel he'd choose the Hammers and higher wages over Burnley. Always liked Snodgrass as a player — he came up the hard way via Livingston, Leeds and Norwich. The Glaswegian plays with hunger, has a great shot and can score free kicks. The only fitness reservation is the dislocated knee that kept him out for a season at Hull. 

Though if he's mainly a right winger you wonder where he'd fit in as we're just starting to see the best of Feghouli and Antonio prefers the right flank too. Presumably Snodgrass's arrival would mean the departure of Gokhan Tore as we're now overloaded with wide players. The Scottish international can also play up front and might revel in a more central Payet-esque role. 

He'd certainly be a good player to bring off the bench and a record of 78 goals in 371 matches is impressive. As is his giant beard. Since the departure of Tomkins, the Hammers, bar Ginge and Big Andy, have been a little lacking in the facial hair department. In fact Ginge, Andy Carroll and Snodgrass could form a very impressive prog rock band…