West Ham Fans Born to be Claret and Blue

No player signings today, but a new coach and a churchillian statement of intent from West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan, followed by a fairly pleasing on the eye if hard fought 2-0 victory over MK Dons, courtesy of goals by Julien Faubert and Carlton Cole.

Hardly a day passes without West Ham United being linked to the acquisition of the unattainable, the exotic and the downright ludicrous! In addition to David Beckham and a host of other past it players, Ronaldinho's name has been added to the already eclectic mix of supposed transfer targets, there is more chance of Ronald McDonald lining up alongside Benni Mac, given the player's liking for all things deep fried.

Flushed with the cash from the sale of David Gold's executive jet and helicopter business, West Ham have wasted no time in firming up their improved offer for in demand Nice striker Loic Remy. Hammers can now afford to pay the entire £11.5 Million fee up front instead of in installments. Liverpool, who have also shown an intense interest in the player, are in the unenviable position of not having the required funds to make an outright purchase, which leaves Tottenham and Arsenal as the other realistic suitors for the 23 year old frenchman.

West Ham United's Frank Nouble scored a first half brace for England against Austria as they ran out 3-2 winners at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship's, the ex-Chelsea teenager will have hoped to have impressed Avram Grant with a performance that could well see him further feature for the Hammers first team during this season.

Although many of the squad are up for sale, and there are dubious reports of a foreign investor, it appears that West Ham co-owner, David Gold, is the mystery source of income funding Avram Grant's mini spending spree. David Gold has sold his private jet company in order to free up the funds needed to give the club the ability to be aggressively active in the transfer market, without needing to have a fire sale of existing players, their sales can come later.

Benni McCarthy and Carlton Cole were the goal scorers for West Ham as they beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 in terrible weather at the Waldstadion Stadium in Germany. The home team were game opponents, but had definitely been looking at this match as very much a friendly, the fact that they changed TEN players at half time says it all. Benni Mac, as he has been known of late, certainly seems to have shed a few quarter pounders, in fact his sprightly performance, which was rounded off with a superb goal, showed that the player might yet fulfill the promise that he once showed at Blackburn.

In a move that beggars belief, hypocrite of the year Fabio Cappello, has awarded points for all the players who represented England at the FIFA 2010 world cup finals. West Ham's Rob Green scored the lowest amount of points despite only playing one game and conceding four times less the amount of goals conceded by David James. Manchester United's Wayne Rooney has been rated as the lowest scoring striker and Mathew Upson is rated as the second best defender!

Just like waiting for a bus, the long wait for Hammers transfer targets to arrive is finally over! With the confirmation that both Pablo Barrera and Frederic Piquionne have signed on four year and three year deals respectively, all eyes are turned towards who will be the remaining new signings that have been promised. The Lioc Remy deal looks dead in the water and the Neymar deal seems highly improbable, so who are the remaining targets? Word is that the club are in 'negotiations' with none other than Joe Cole, it is believed that the ex-hammers star is to be offered a lucrative two year deal, with 'an extremely creative exit clause' in his contract that would leave him free to leave the club in each of the transfer windows without penalty.

Day one after the FIFA 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, the transfer market begins in earnest. West Ham have been linked with a host of players, some of these potential deals are spurious but some have real substance. Worryingly, with both Aston Villa and Manchester City sniffing around, co-owner David Gold has revealed that Scotty Parker does have a price!

The continued speculation with the regards to the transfer of Pablo Barrera from Pumas to West Ham is helping to provide perfect cover for other 'sensitive' transfer activities. President of Pumas, Victor Mahbub "We have just finished the negotiations for transferring Pablo Barrera to West Ham. We and the player are satisfied with the arrangement that we have done." So it would appear that this particular deal will go through, eventually.