What About Winnie?

Having shared in Brentord's joyous play off victory over Swansea, it was obvious how happy Hammer Winston Reid felt about the result. It wasn't just about the victory, it also had a lot to do with serendipity, it was playing against Swansea when Reid sustained his 'career ending' injury as a result of landing heavily on his knee after having been knocked unconscious.

Reid struggled for over two years to get anywhere near fit, a constant set of 'niggles' occured as he strove to regain his fitness, during his long rehabilitation things moved on, and when he was able to at least begin the lengthy road to match fitness there wasn't a space for him, even playing with the U-23's, a devastating situation for a proud Kiwi with Maori blood and the captain of his country.

Having been sent out on loan, first to Kansas FC and then to Brentford, Reid has been able to get some valuable game time, and while he would not be included in Barclays Premier League starting berths he could be a more than useful player to bring on from the bench.

Reid's 'cameo' appearance in the play off final showed that he has lost none of the endeavor required to perform at the highest level, there is a possibility that Brentord may wish to secure his services permanently due to his vast experience at the top level.

Any proposition from the Bees would almost certainly involve only a minor transfer fee, and it would definitely require Reid to accept a huge reduction of his current £85,000 per week wages. The New Zealander is under contract to West Ham for a further two years, so either the club cut their losses and let him move to Brentford with the Irons possibly still paying a part of his wages, or David Moyes uses him as a reliable if rarely used substitute.

In a best case scenario, Reid might be able to further enhance his fitness and get some game time, and then come January, with over 18 months still remaining on his contract, be an attractive acquisition for some club and be sold for a reasonable fee.

Just sending Reid out on loan again with Hammers still paying 80% of his £85,000 per week wages is fiscally ridiculous, and David Moyes has probably already made the same call, otherwise why would he have not renewed Fabian Balbuena's contract?

The way we see it, the club is stuck with Reid, so it might as well make the best out of a poor situation and utilise a player who, don't forget, wrote himself into Hammers folklore by scoring the last ever goal at the Boleyn in the closing minutes of the memorable 3-2 victory over Manchester United, who knows, he might just pop up with another era evoking contribution during Hammers 'Eurovision', mightn't he? - Ed