28/01/2009

Action speaks louder than words

In October, November and December we were told by everybody and his puppet that West Ham needed to sell players to survive.
I wish the ones responsible for those crap articles were forced out in the public and made to repent! Some were pointing out the irrationality in that, but the fact that things are decent isn’t much of a story is it?

That kind of dooms day talk unsettles people and it must have made Zola, Nani and Dux’ job unnecessary difficult. To persuade not only the players but also the fans and the media that the Club was in a decent financial position and was not on a slippery slope of financial uncertainty that was about to throw everybody at the Club into a huge depression of Icelandic proportions.

In those situations it is something of a problem when the bloke in charge is not trusted. It took me until the ludicrous Cole to T*ttenham/Juventus rumours to be quite certain that he was actually telling what he thought was the truth. It took - “The January transfer window gives us an opportunity to show that we mean what we say” (or something along those lines). That’s a statement that would have made Dux look totally ridiculous and completely unreliable (if he has a problem with that) if we ended up selling important players without buying relevant replacement.

I must say Duxbury seem to be doing most things right at the moment and if it wasn’t for his history of delivering non-truths and the blunt way he communicates, I’d be happy with him.

So am I softening up to Duxbury here?
I don’t know, I don’t think so and it most certainly does not mean I trust the guy as I don’t believe in people changing. I’ll let his actions do the talking. However, it seems he is now in a situation that he can handle, surrounded by people he can work with and does not need to revert to half-truths and smoke screens. It may be that in that kind of a situation he actually does a decent job.

But we should not forget to keep a "watchful eye" on his doings and keep in mind that his words is sometimes of less value.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

West Ham's dealings have been close to perfect in this transfer window. A sensible squad reduction without panic, an offer for Bellamy that was too good to turn down and a very promising teenager brought in. I agree that Dux should get at least some of the credit for this. Let's hope he manages to offload Davenport, Faubert or LBM before the end of the week.

Joppe - said...

6 days to go. I hope that when we sum up the transfer window we are still this positive about things. No surprises please!

Anonymous said...

Joppe, I know you hate to speculate about transfers, but a number of different rumours seem to indicate that Man City are prepared to sell Micah Richards for something like £5m. This could be the bargain of the decade. If Ferguson doesn't realize this, I hope Zola does.

Joppe - said...

I don't mind speculating when I think there is a remote chance of any reality in a rumour, and that does not leave many rumours to comment, does it?

I think Bubbleview have a decent record of discussing relevant rumours and not being too late to do so either.

Regardless, Micah has been the number one subject at my workplace, for the very reasons you bring up.

However, even though I think it would be a smashing coup to bring such a player into our squad, and I rate Micah as one of the most interesting young players in the league (second to all our youngsters of course)I don't think it qualifies for an even remotely likely deal.

Micah is ManC-bred. Why on earth would they let him go? He may have been a bit off this season compared to what he showed last, but I think the major problem in the ManC defence is not Micah. Give him a decent chance (and some time to recover mentally from the blows to his head he has suffered) and he will shine again.
Even that ex ManUre at the ManC helm (?) would have to realize that?

I simply do not think he actually is for sale.

Anonymous said...

Maybe he's not for sale, but I'm not so sure. For three reasons:
1. City are desperate to bring in new players but have not been very successful so far (sorry, Bellamy...). They might therefore be tempted to use Micah in a part-exchange.
2. There are probably reasons for Micah's loss of form that we don't know about, but might lead Hughes to believe that a transfer is the best option.
3. With a bottomless purse there is a danger that you take your eyes off the ball and forget about the importance to keep and develop your own youngsters, if you feel that you can buy (almost) any player in the world.

Joppe - said...

OK, even though your number 1 and 3reasons are slightly contra-dictory, I get your point.

If I can "re-group" and back down from my "he's not for sale" stand I still think it's highly unlikely that a move would include us.

If your number 1 was the reason, and that is the only one I could agree with, who would we offer to ManC - Parker, Upson or Cole?
A sale of any of those could have serious effects on the squad-feeling and all of those are said to have agreed to stay and participate in the development of the team.
So even though I really fancy Micah I don't want him in anything but a cash deal, unless we can get them interested in LBM!

Anonymous said...

I can see the headline already:
"Hughes and Ferguson in tug-of-war over dead snake"