Roberto joins the Irons

Well, the first signing of the summer is new understudy goalkeeper Roberto who will be joining on a fee transfer from Espanyol. He fits the first requirement of replacing Adrian, in that he is known by only one name (which will surely be 'Bobby" at Stratford). Though his full name is Roberto Jiminez Gago, which makes him sound like a distant cousin of Lady Gaga. At 33 Roberto is a good age for a goalkeeper and has plenty of experience in Spain, Portugal and Greece having played more than 300 games for Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Real Zaragosa, Olympiakos (with Arthur Masuaku) and Espanyol. Welcome to East London Roberto.

Why is the London Stadium's green carpet in Baku?

Got to admire the West Ham board for flogging our green carpet to the Olympic Stadium in Baku. Looking at the Europa League Final last night the stadium had an astonishing amount of vast open space covered by a dodgy green carpet. 

It made the London Stadium seem a compact hotbed of claustrophobic working class fervour. There was a gap behind one goal where you could have fitted a block of flats, and the pitch was closer to one stand than the other. Several twitter users compared it to a Subbuteo pitch. No sign of any retractable stands and a great example of how not to convert an athletics stadium for football.

But it was enjoyable seeing Robert Green do a John Terry and celebrate in full kit despite not playing a game for Chelsea this season. Though some commentators erroneously claimed that it was his first major honour, forgetting that he won the Championship Play-Off Final with West Ham in 2012 — the biggest honour in football.

Farewell Adrian and Andy

As predicted West Ham have released Adrian and Andy Carroll, and a little more surprisingly Samir Nasri. Big Andy always put in a shift when fit and scored some great goals — it's just a shame his body has proved so fallible. I remember seeing Adrian star in a 2-0 win at Cardiff under Sam Allardyce, when he first really started to show his character and become a cult with the fans. That penalty and knee-slide against Everton in the FA Cup was unforgettable too. Adrian was a little hard done by to be dropped for Darren Randolph and then Joe Hart, but in both cases won his place back. Fabianski has proved an upgrade, but Adrian will always get a good reception when he returns to the London Stadium.

Play-off triumphs for Hammers old and new

Good to see the on-loan Josh Cullen play at Wembley in the Charlton team (managed by Lee Bowyer) that beat Sunderland to reach the Championship in the League One Play-off Final. While eagle-eyed Hammers anoraks might have noted that Anton Ferdinand came on as a 93rd minute substitute for St Mirren in the Scottish Premier League play-off against Dundee United. 

London Stadium still not a massive moneyspinner

Interesting round up of all the Premier League club's accounts for the 2017-18 season in the Guardian. West Ham made £25m from "match receipts and football related", a figure that is just over a fifth of the £119m made from broadcasting rights. It's a healthy profit from the stadium, but not that much more than clubs made with grounds similar in capacity to Upton Park. Brighton and Southampton both made matchday profits of £19m for example. 

No doubt profits from the London Stadium match receipts will have gone up last season (2018-19) with more Cup games and more £99 Under-16 tickets going up to Under-21 rates. But even so it's a long way from the promised revenue that would take West Ham to the "next level". Now PL clubs are more reliant than ever on TV money. Even clubs like Bournemouth with a 15,000 capacity get their £119m from TV. The London Stadium might help attract a better class of player, but on its own it's not going to lift West Ham into the top six.

Da doo Rondon, da doo Rondon?

The latest rumour is that West Ham are trying to hijack West Brom's striker Salomon Rondon after his successful loan spell at Newcastle last season, where he scored 11 goals. At 29 he's a little old, but is a powerful player who can certainly do a job in the Premier League. He looked very handy in a defensive Newcastle side so would surely benefit from the chances made by Anderson and Lanzini. He'd also be worth signing simply for the chants value. The fans must be able to come up with something from the old 1963 Crystals hit Da Doo Ron Ron.

My West Ham Player Ratings: 2018-19

LUCASZ FABIANSKI 9/10:  Proved to be a significant upgrade and very consistent. Produced great saves almost routinely.

ADRIAN: 5/10: Only given Cup games due to form of Fabianski, but a loyal back-up.

PABLO ZABALETA: 6/10: Always gives it everything and an example to others, though at 34 he is starting to look alarmingly slow against fast wingers.

RYAN FREDERICKS: 6/10:  A very tentative start but towards the end of the season started to show his speed going forward and got in some match-saving tackles. 

ARTHUR MASUAKU 5/10: Had a terrible run of winter defensive blunders, but improved when restored towards the end of the season. Decent going forward but struggles unless played as a wing-back.

AARON CRESSWELL: 5/10: Had a great game against Arsenal but has generally looked depleted by his injuries and not the player he was three years ago.

ISSA DIOP: 8/10: Admired by Mourinho and had a great game at Spurs. Had a dip when he was rested but a fantastic prospect, good in the air and capable of rampaging runs forward.

FABIAN BALBUENA 7/10: A bargain at £3.5 million. Lacking a bit of pace, but makes some great interceptions and reads the game well. Was missed when out injured.

ANGELO OGBONNA 5/10: Has gone backwards since the final season at the Boleyn. Scored a few goals and did a job but seems to have lost his pace. 

MARK NOBLE 8/10: A great season from the skipper, who has benefitted from his hernia operations. The side always looked better with Nobes in it and he showed skill going forward too.

DECLAN RICE 9/10: Great season from the young Irishman/Englishman. Did the simple things well, scored a couple of goals and made some great tackles. Made the defensive midfield position his own.

ROBERT SNODGRASS 7/10: Showed fantastic character to win over the doubters and play in nearly every game. Became a bit of a cult for his workrate and very effective corners.

PEDRO OBIANG 5/10: An inconsistent season and looks like he might benefit from a change of club.

MANUEL LANZINI 6/10: Missed most of the season with serious injury but was starting to look back to his best in the defeat at Old Trafford.

CARLOS SANCHEZ 5/10: Hardly played because of injury. Despite giving a goal away against Wolves, he looked like he might be an effective defensive shield if given a run.

JACK WILSHERE 4/10: Undoubted class but tragically injury probe — who knew? At least he ended the season on a high returning to bag an assist against Southampton.

FELIPE ANDERSON 8/10: A little inconsistent and made a slow start, but weighed in with ten goals and produced some wonderful moments of magic. Could be West Ham's talisman and has even started to tackle back defensively.

SAMIR NASRI 6/10: Still has class and made the difference against Arsenal and Huddersfield. Suffered frustrating injuries, but worth persevering with.

GRADY DIANGANA 6/10: A good breakthrough season for the young winger, who showed no fear when taking on seasoned defenders. Needs to improve defensively but a fine prospect.

MICHAIL ANTONIO 7/10: Finally looks to have overcome his injury curse and has his speed back. Scored some important goals late on and knows how to celebrate with carpet stroking and silly dance moves.

JAVIER HERNANDEZ 6/10: Always likely to score when used as a sub but looks unsuited to playing as a lone striker. Still a great finisher but will he ever be more than a super sub?

MARKO ARNAUTOVIC 6/10. Great before Christmas, then a terrible dip and sulk after his move to China didn't happen. Looked more motivated in the last few games though and still managed to hit double figures.

ANDY CARROLL 4/10: Managed to score against Birmingham but this looked a season too far for the injury-prone big man.

LUCAS PEREZ 6/10: Looks poor outside the box, but he can certainly finish and with limited chances did well to score six goals.

ANDRIY YARMOLENKO 6/10: Had a brilliant game against Everton but then his season ended with injury. Has a great left foot and will be interesting to see what he does next season.