We've only got one Song?

David Sullivan has told the Evening Standard that West Ham have not given up hope of signing Alex Song for £5m from Barcelona. More than any other player Song seems to sum up the enigma of last season. He was absolutely brilliant before Christmas but then went from eight or nine out of ten performances to five out of ten. Was he carrying an injury? Had he fallen out with Big Sam? Was he disengaged because he wasn't going to move permanently? Is he such a confidence player that he was affected by the decline in form around him? Can anyone explain why his form slumped so badly? I'd take the player from before Christmas, though not the one in his later days at WHU.

Hammers sign Pedro

As predicted, West Ham have signed the Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang from Sampdoria — probably as a straight replacement for Alex Song. As this has been rumoured for weeks it's presumably the work of head of recruitment Tony Henry and David Sullivan. Which asks the question how much influence Slaven Bilic will have over future signings. But another midfielder, with Serie A experience has to be good with the Europa League coming up…

Heavy metal football with Slaven

Some interesting snippets about Slaven Bilic in the papers today. Like the fact he said he wanted Besiktas to be "as exciting as Iron Maiden" and when at West Ham, rather than visit Romford dog track, he preferred to fly to America to see Guns 'N' Roses. He also liked to hang out with the Besiktas Ultras and was carried shoulder high to the airport by them (my fellow season ticket holder Fraser did offer to personally carry Big Sam to London airport, though possibly not for the same reasons). Not sure who our Ultras are, maybe the Bobby Moore Stand, but Bilic knows how to keep the fan base happy and is unlikely to cup his ear to the crowd.

The Independent has a good summary of his time at Besiktas and points out that although he finished third in his two seasons, they looked like winning the league for a long period before blowing it at the end, possibly through fatigue. He also made a point of promoting young Turkish players, which would go down well at Upton Park.

So clearly Bilic has great charisma and beats Big Sam on connecting with the fans. Emotionally he seems a good fit, though applying cold logic it still has to be said that the board have failed to provide a clear upgrade on Allardyce, despite offering a salary of £3m a year. Benitez, Klopp, Ancelotti and Emery have trophies and experience and would have been a visible improvement. Whereas Bilic has only three years' experience of club management and has never won a trophy.

Although at 46 Slaven should be coming into his peak years and we should't discount his fine record as Croatia coach. He's clearly a good man manager and will not be under huge pressure at West Ham. With a possible five new signings he's been set the task of a top ten finish, which is hopefully achievable. It could be an interesting ride and if nothing else Slaven might be able to provide some new cds for our half-time entertainment.

Super Slaven Bilic

So West Ham finally have a manager and it's Slaven Bilic. He's already shown himself to be better at PR than Sam Allardyce, by producing a nice quote that, "I remember West Ham as a special club… this is a cult club." With a degree in law and the ability to speak four languages he's certainly an academic at the Academy. In other ways it's also a risky appointment, having let go a manager who would have kept us up next season.

Bilic starts knowing that he wasn't the board's first choice and  he probably ranked behind Benitez, Moyes, Ancelotti, Klopp, De Boer, Bielsa and 'Dick' Emery. Slaven undoubtedly has a fine record in his seven years managing Croatia, although that, of course, did not involve buying and selling players. His club record is more worrying. His year at Lokomotiv Moscow saw him sacked after the side's worst finish (ninth) since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 and he followed that by two seasons of finishing third at Besiktas in Turkey.

On a more positive note, he's played for West Ham (and was a great defender, though he did leave for the chance of more trophies at Everton) and nearly all the fans will be behind him, at least initially. We won't have a club at war with itself any longer. Another plus is that Bilic has played guitar in his own rock band, which makes him a little cooler than Big Sam. With the Europa League coming up we had to make an appointment quickly and let's hope Slaven is the right man. Irons!

That managerial short-list in full…

Nice image from Stop! Hammer Time podcast's Facebook page… though Russell Brand must be in with an outside chance too.

Tevez and Mascherano versus Mullins and Harewood

Interesting to see Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano turning out in the Champions' League Final last night — both at one time kept out of the great West Ham side of 2006 by Marlon Harewood and Hayden Mullins.

Irons miss out on Emery's hammer

Sevilla boss Unai Emery (no relation to Dick) is the latest gaffer to turn down the Hammers according to the Guardian, having committed himself to Sevilla until 2017. Seems like we've been in for Benitez, Moyes, Ancelotti and Klopp so far and it's all starting to seem worryingly like the summer of 2001 when we ended up with Glenn Roeder as the last man standing. Though better news is that Sepp Blatter is now available…