Did Slaven take a swipe at Sullivan?

The papers have made a lot out of comments made by Slaven Bilic about David Sullivan. Faced with a press conference bringing up questions about "the Dildo brothers" Bilic said he found the comments made by Sporting Lisbon's director funny, which seems fair enough in the sense that we now have grown adults discussing playground insults (will it now be known as Dildogate?) And having worked in the adult industry for decades, you'd think Davids Sullivan and Gold are pretty immune to cheap insults by now. Blic also said that "David Sullivan likes to talk", while adding the proviso, "It's his right to be able to." He made a pretty good attempt at defending his pursuit of Carvalho, saying that he turned down other options because Carvalho was his main priority and he didn't want to be disracted by other names. 

The comments that did betray a certain amount of irritation with Sullivan were these: "I am expecting if he [Sullivan] says something about me to call me, to say this and not go through you guys, although that is best for you." Bilic is right that Sullivan mentioning the club had the chance to sign Sanches was unhelpful and the club shouldn't be discussing who they go for in public. But that's unlikely to change  Throughout their ownership there's been a history of Sullivan making over-honest or controversial comments and then Gold doing a PR job to smooth things out. The best antidote to all this will be getting some points on the board.

Crisis club West Ham?

There's rather a febrile atmosphere around West Ham at the moment. The inelegant dispute with Sporting Lisbon rumbles on with director Nuno Saraiva referring to Davids Sullivan and Gold as, "the Dildo Brothers" (rather a cheap insult as Ann Summers and co seem quite wholesome compared to the ways some owners have made their money) and claiming no offer was made for William Carvalho; while Sky Sports has published emails from West Ham showing a bid appears to have been made. Sullivan and Gold are threatening to sue while there are reports Sporting Lisbon plan to report West Ham to FIFA for making an illegal approach. 

Meanwhile there's the inevitable injury crisis. Manuel Lanzini withdrew from the Argentina squad with a re-occurrence of his thigh injury and is likely to miss the Huddersfield game while Ayew and Fernandes are doubtful too. 

Then there's the managerial situation with Bilic under more pressure after David Sullivan said he turned down chances to sign Renato Sanches and Gzegorz Krychowiak because he is happy with the current squad. If Bilic does go it will be because last season saw some of the least productive signings in the club's history (Zaza, Tore, Calleri, Nordtveit, Feghouli, Snodgrass and Fletcher have all departed while Fonte has disappointed). The five players signed this window really have to produce to save Slaven. 

There are even claims that some West Ham fans are planning a protest during the Huddersfield game — which seems a bit premature even by the standards of social media-fuelled indignation. Let's at least get a few home defeats in first before we do that and we can hardly return to Upton Park now it's rubble.

But having said all that remember it's just three away games into the season. If we're bottom after ten games it will look ominous. Right now there isn't much a couple of wins wouldn't put right.

Hart stopper

Hopefully Joe Hart might benefit from getting a couple of wins under his belt with England. He didn't have a shot to save against Malta but a clean sheet of any kind must feel a relief after being blitzed in West Ham's defence and conceding ten. He was a little slow to react to Slovakia's early goal last night but did produce a vital reaction save from Nemec's volley when the score was 1-1. Two wins will help his confidence, whatever the standard of the opposition. 

You feel a little sorry for Hart at West Ham at the moment as he's not had a settled defence to play with. Bilic has switched left backs between Masuaku and Cresswell, Reid was injured in the warm-up at Southampton, and Fonte and Collins have both played one game apiece.  At 30 Hart's reactions must still be sharp and he should be coming to his peak as a keeper. What he needs is to play in a winning side with a settled defence and feel good about himself again, then hopefully we'll see the best of him.

West Ham Fans' Verdict in the Observer

My summary of West Ham's transfer window can be found in the Observer by clicking on this link. What's striking looking at the views of the fans of the other clubs is that most of those sampled feel they've had a decent window. Only the fans of Brighton, Newcastle and Crystal Palace seem a little underwhelmed. Which proves that the Premier League is more competitive than ever. There's also a trend of spending more on younger players, while West Ham have gone for the older end of the market, which is a risk. Clubs like West Brom, Watford, Stoke, Swansea and Leicester have all recruited well, meaning it's more important than ever that our four big signings of Hart, Zabaleta, Arnautovic and Hernandez (and possibly 18-year-old Haksabonovic) produce the required form quickly. 

Did Bilic reject Sanches?

Some strange revelations from David Sullivan. He claims that Slaven Bilic turned down the chance to sign Bayern Munich's Renato Sanches on loan — whom many observers feel is the bargain of the window for Swansea — and also Paris St Germain's Polish star Grzegorz Krychowiak, now on loan at West Brom. According to Sullivan, Slaven said, "he is happy with the squad he has." It's odd that we talk about our targets in public so much and places more pressure on Bilic should Sanches do well. Meanwhile Sporting Lisbon director Nuno Saraiva claims, in very colourful language, that West Ham were not offered William Carvalho in the last hours of deadline day. The Daily Telegraph reports that West Ham may take legal action over his comments. At least the soap opera of the window is now over and we can get on with some football. 

A tale of two strikers

So while one striker Difara Sakho was taking himself to Rennes for an unauthorised medical and then turning up at Chelmsford Races, the other striker Andy Carroll was in court seeing a geezer from Romford jailed for six years for pursuing him on a motor bike with an accomplice and appearing to point a gun at him as they attempted to steal his £22,000 wrist watch. Just another day at West Ham… 

Window shopping via Chelmsford Races

Well, a mixed transfer window for the Hammers, though credit to Diafra Sakho for making a determined bid to be this year’s Peter Odemwinjie. After first flying to Rennes for a medical the club hadn't agreed to, he returned to England and turned up at Chelmsford Racecourse where his agent Mark McKay had a horse running — it won and Diafra's £100 bet earned £550. Sakho then had a meeting with West Ham where, according to the Daily Mail, he discussed his 'personal problems' and might be on the verge of signing a new contract. 

Predictably the Hammers failed to get William Carvalho. It always looked unlikely he'd want to move to the London Stadium and we're still fairly well stocked with defensive midfielders in Kouyate and Obiang. On paper we've bought four players with a proven PL pedigree. Hernandez looks a great finisher and a steal at £16m, while despite his red card, Marko Arnautovic should offer something different up front. But on the evidence so far there are questions about how Joe Hart's confidence has been affected by letting in ten goals and if Zabaleta's experience can mask his declining pace. Montenegro superkid Haksabonovic is one for the future at £2.7m.

We've done well to shift seven players from last season's disastrous spree. Tore, Arbeloa, Calleri, Nordtveit, Feghouli, Fletcher and Snodgrass have all gone, as have Valencia and Randolph. Though I would have liked to have seen Feghouli given another season, while playing Snodgrass out of position and then selling him after just 15 games sums up the panic buying mentality. But thanks to Middlesbrough for paying £11.5 million for Randolph and Fletcher. So the net spend is around £20 million, which isn't that great in today's market. 

In theory West Ham have solved some of last season's problems for the short-term — though in practice we need results fast.