Power of the Hammers

[itsBilly]

View attachment 682208

West Ham United

League: Premiership
Media Prediction: 16th
Stadium: The Boleyn Ground, London (35,000)

Squad
*New signings bolded
*Loan signings italiced


[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Goalkeepers[/TD]
[TD]Defenders[/TD]
[TD]Midfielders[/TD]
[TD]Strikers[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Adrian
J. Jaaskelainen[/TD]
[TD]G. Demel
J. Tomkins.
J. Collins
J. O'Brien
A. Cresswell
C. Kouyate
W. Reid
C. Jenkinson[/TD]
[TD]K. Nolan
M. Noble
M. Diame.
M. Jarvis
R. Morrison
S. Downing
A. Razak
D. Poyet[/TD]
[TD]A. Carroll
M. Zarate
E. Valencia
C. Cole[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

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In my final story before FM15, I am taking charge of West Ham (evidently). My targets for this save will be;

- Build a strong squad using the clubs youth system.
- Win the Premier League
- Win The FA Cup
- Win The Capital One Cup
- Get West Ham into the Champion's League

As you can see, the club has a pretty small squad, which is something I will look to build on immeditely in order to avoid relegation & fight for mid-table places in my first season. Defence & Midfield are the areas I need to strongly bolster.

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Comments & criticisms are appreciated

Also if anyone has recommendations for signings I'd like them
​

 

[ChrisD1]

Good luck. What sort of time scale are you looking at to achieve your goals?

 

[itsBilly]

Good luck. What sort of time scale are you looking at to achieve your goals?

Cheers dude! Hopefully a domestic cup in 3-5 as well as breaking into Europe. Then the league in 7-10 seems reasonable.

 

[itsBilly]

First Signing

View attachment 338922

New West Ham boss Billy Ray has confirmed his first signing for the club as veteran striker Samuel Eto'o!
The 32 year old Cameroonian was a free agent after leaving Russian side Anzhi in the summer, and Ray says he couldn't resist offering him a contract;

"Samuel Eto'o is a name that everyone in the world of football knows, and to have him agree to come to us is a huge honour. He is a natural goalscorer who can win us games alone, and will bring a tonne of experience to the side"

The former Barcelona & Inter Milan striker's agent claims that he rejected a number of top European clubs to finally make his move to the Premier League. He signs a 3 year deal with the Hammers worth £52,000 a week.

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View attachment 338919View attachment 338920

Elsewhere, Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley has rejected a loan move to East London. Reports had been confirmed that the two sides had reached an agreement for a loan with the option to buy, but the player was unable to agree personal terms.

Reports in Italy say that West Ham have jumped into a 3-horse race to sign Napoli defender Federico Fernandez. The 24 year old is said to be weighing up his options, with Torino & Inter Milan also believed to be in the race.​

 

[ChrisD1]

Eto'o should prove to be a good acquisition. What formation are you planning on playing him in? Is he going to be a starter or squad player?

Could you post your current starting line up and tactics.

 

[itsBilly]

More Transfer News

View attachment 338917View attachment 338916

The big news this week is that West Ham have confirmed the signing of Napoli centre-back Federico Fernandez
for a fee of £2m. The 24 year old signs a 4 year deal with the club.

Middlesborough left-back George Friend has also agreed a deal with the Hammers, signing a 3 year deal for £2.5m.

View attachment 338915

On their way out of the club is striker Modibo Maiga, who had a forgetful season in the Premier League. He returns to France with Bordeaux for £1.6m, only a cut of what The Hammers paid for him.

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In other news, the worst case scenario occurred for West Ham fans, as stellar new signing Samuel Eto'o picked up a hamstring injury in the clubs friendly with Hearts. The fans will have to wait until late October to see their new man in action.

​

 

[itsBilly]

Eto'o should prove to be a good acquisition. What formation are you planning on playing him in? Is he going to be a starter or squad player?

Could you post your current starting line up and tactics.

View attachment 682229
Toying about with a few modified 4-4-2s but might switch back to 4-5-1 when the season starts. Eto'o will come into the starting line-up hopefully when he's fit, & still looking for another 1 or 2 players.

 

[itsBilly]

More Transfer Action


View attachment 338912

The fight to keep Mohammed Diame was always going to be a tough one, and West Ham have lost the fight as he agrees a £3.8m deal with Shakthar Donetsk.

Its disappointing, especially because I was not made aware of any clause in Mohammed's contract. I just received an email notifying me that the clause had been met, and although we offered Mo a new deal, the lure of Champion's League football was clearly too good to refuse.

West Ham have replaced Diame with 33 year old veteran Christian Poulsen, who signs a 1 year deal after being released by Ajax.

View attachment 682237

Elsewhere, more tough luck on the injury front for West Ham. After striking a loan deal for Manchester United's Anderson, the midfielder broke his ankle in his first days training, forcing West Ham to cancel the loan deal.

Finally, 4 players left the club on loan this week, the most notable being Ricardo Vaz Te who joins Leicester.
Blair Turgott, Danny Potts & Paul McCallum have agreed loan deals to Crewe, Shrewsbury & York respectively.
​

 

[ChrisD1]

What are your plans now after the Anderson injury? Where were you going to play him? In the midfield 3 as CM or AMC?

 

[itsBilly]

More Transfers + Friendly Results

View attachment 338911View attachment 338910

Winston Reid becomes the 2nd major transfer out of West Ham this summer. The New Zealand international has signed for Southampton for £6m.

Reid is replaced by the signing of West Brom defender Craig Dawson for £5.4m.

Elsewhere, Joey O'Brien has left the club to join Leicester on a free transfer.

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A Round-up of West Ham's friendly fixtures;
View attachment 338909

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We start our season at home to Manchester United. The majority of my transfer business is done, so I will play through August and then do a big monthly update.
​

 

[itsBilly]

What are your plans now after the Anderson injury? Where were you going to play him? In the midfield 3 as CM or AMC?

Mid 3 but pushing into a AMC in easier games. And no matter, made a big name signing after freeing up some wages. Will get announced later/tomorrow

 

[itsBilly]

August 2013

Transfers

View attachment 338831

West Ham roll back the years again in the transfer market by announcing the signing of Brazilian legend Ronaldinho! The former Barcelona man has signed a 2 year deal with the club and is looking forward to working in the Premier League.

I have had many offers from Premiership clubs before, but the move never worked out for me. I am delighted that I have been given the opportunity to play in this fantastic league before the end of my career. It will also be very exciting to work with Samuel Eto'o again.

In minor news, Sebastian Llegett has moved to Serie B side Lanciano on loan, while Sean Maguire has been loaned to Plymouth.

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Results

Monday 19th August 2013
Premiership
West Ham 0 - 0 Manchester United

MOTM: Michael Carrick
Attendance: 35,402

A decent result in our open game to claim a point against one the the big boys. Ronaldinho almost made an instant impact after coming off the bench to hit the bar with a wicked volley. United were lacklustre & in the end, a draw was a fair result.

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Saturday 24th August 2013
Premiership
Aston Villa 0 - 0 West Ham

MOTM: James Tomkins
Attendance: 31,709

Another goalless draw has me worrying about in my teams ability to create chances. An early knock to Ronaldinho forced him off which drastically limited our creativity. Andi Weimann had several chances to make our afternoon a misery but failed, so in the end, we were lucky to survive for a point.

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Tuesday 27th August 2013
Capital One Cup
West Ham 4 - 1 Barnsley
M. Zarate (2) C. Cole (2)
M. Crainey

MOTM: Mauro Zarate
Attendance: 13,075

An big, yet expected result in the cup against the League 1 side. Mauro Zarate put in a stunning performance, netting his first goal for the club within 4 minutes, and capping it off with a brilliant free-kick in the second half. Hopefully we can implement this scoring form in the Premier League.

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Saturday 31st August 2013
Premiership
West Ham 3 - 5 Arsenal
S. Downing, E. Valencia (2)
S. Cazorla, O. Giroud (2), L. Koscielny, M. Arteta

MOTM: Santi Cazorla
Attendance: 35,402

An absolute goal-fest against a solid looking Arsenal side. Their pace & skill was too much for us as they came back from a goal down to take a commanding 5-1 lead. But substitute Enner Valencia came on to bag a brace & give the gloomy West Ham fans something to cheer.

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Managers View
So just 2 points from a potential 9, but at least we have 2 difficult games away from us now. We looked very good in the last 2 games this month & we our starting to find the net. Hopefully when Federico & Samuel return to fitness we can tighten up the defence & start firing in more goals.

Thanks for reading!​

 

[itsBilly]

September

View attachment 338716
Mauro Zarate celebrates his winning goal against Liverpool

Saturday 14th September 2013
Premiership
West Ham 1 - 0 QPR
Ronaldinho

MOTM: Adrian
Attendance: 32,890

The Legend scores his first goal for West Ham as they pick up their first win of the season in the league. A beautiful team move was capped off with a simple finish from the Brazilian. Christian Poulsen was sent off for the Hammers, but they held on for victory.

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Saturday 21st September 2013
Premiership
Liverpool 1 - 2 West Ham
M. Skrtel
Ronaldinho, M. Zarate

MOTM: Enner Valencia
Attendance: 43,812

An astounding win against one of the title contenders. Two goals in the last 12 minutes turned our luck around against a 10-man Liverpool side. Lucas Leiva was sent off for a professional foul on Ronaldinho in the first half. Substitute Enner Valencia made an incredible impact, setting up both goals & picking up the MOTM award.

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Tuesday 24th September 2013
Capital One Cup
West Ham 4 - 3 Nottingham Forest
R. Morrison, J. Lascelles (o.g), M. Zarate, A. Carroll
D. Vaughan, D. Blackstock (2)

MOTM: Ravel Morrison
Attendance: 15,800

Another goal fest that this time falls in West Ham's favour. Thrilling for the neutrals, West Ham established a heavy 4-0 lead. But a 2nd half comeback from Forest gave them a lot to think about defensively.

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Saturday 28th September 2013
Premiership
Stoke 1 - 0 West Ham
M. Arnautovic

MOTM: Marko Arnautovic
Attendance: 25,295

A frustrating day for West Ham who were clearly the better side, but fell to Stoke's only shot on target. Another frustrating day for the West Ham strikers. Stoke rough brand of football claimed another victim, Ronaldinho, who went off with an elbow injury.

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Mangers View
A fantastic start to the month, especially with the win over Liverpool. Performances dropped against Forest & Stoke but we are starting to build some sort of momentum. Eto'o returns next month so hopefully he'll start firing in the goals.

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