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England expects is the sort of burden players have suffered from in the past when it comes to playing the actual tournaments rather than the qualifying, but this England team is exactly that, a team. Instead of a disparate set of players in cliques from their clubs, there is a genuine feeling of team spirit, and at the centre, literally, was Declan Rice.

It's amazing what qualifying for a proper European competition does for a club's profile, ironically Pellegrini's disastrous reign will eventually be a positive thanks to the hard graft of David Moyes and his staff. Lots of people around Europe and elsewhere got to hear the name of West Ham due to the Chilean's high profile, so when West Ham are seen on the lists of teams participating in Europe, people who don't have a 'keen' interest in football still assume Pellegrini is in charge!

The will he or won't he doubts as to whether David Moyes would sign a new contract at West Ham have been put to bed somewhat, with the club due to 'officially' announce the managers signature of a new three year deal om Monday. Behind the scenes things weren't quite as straight forward as they had originally seemed, with Everton's sudden need for a new manager being a particular fly in the ointment, however, it appears that David Moyes utilised the 'Everton jeopardy' to ensure certain promises would be put down in writing.

Andriy Yarmolenko's time at West Ham has been an unmitigated disaster, his signing fromBorussia Dortmund in the summer of 2018 for around £18 Million was a classic example of 'Pellegrinitus', and his outrageous £115,000 per week completely defies logic.

Yarmolenko's stats are appalling, in his entire injury ravaged time at the club the Ukranian has played only 47 games, and scored a paltry 7 goals. Not much of a return for around £35 Million in wages and signing on fees is it?

I started “supporting” West Ham by betting on them back when I was 17 years old. I used to go to a local betting shop near my place almost every day for the following 2 years. It was illegal but authorities were not that bothered back in 1993. An underage person could easily drink, smoke and even gamble his money away.

The 'window' for renewing West Ham season tickets closes on June the 14th at 5pm, for once the club won't need to hype the 'value' up, due to the club's highest ever Barclays Premier League points total meaning direct qualification to the Group stages of the Europa Cup, and th fact that fans have been starved of attending games for over a year.

Today is the first official day of the transfer window, although there has already been a certain amount of 'jostling' for position ahead of the starters gun! One deeply worrying rumour that refuses to go away is that relating to Chelsea's Olivier Giroud.

Time and again West Ham have been 'linked' with the 34 year old French striker over the last 18 months, and the speculation persists despite the fact that Giroud is the exact polar opposite of Moyes's RB template for players which is young, lean and keen!

Confusing reports are emanating from our old 'fleecer' Manuel Pellegrini's new club Real Betis, apparently Hammers are 'interested' in bringing Real's Aissa Mandi to the London Stadium from Spain. The 60-capped Algeria international has been heavily linked with a move to Villarreal this summer on a free transfer but as yet, nothing has been confirmed. The 29-year-old was valued at around £9 million recently, but is set to leave Betis for nothing this summer, as the centre-back has failed to agree terms on his new deal.

The exact amount of money available to Barclays Premier League managers is always a matter of smoke and mirrors for most clubs, with no one wanting to show their hand too clearly. West Ham have definitely been in that category for years, there have been some ridiculous 'attempts' at signing players at 'low ball' prices to boot!

There are certain football players who look as if they came from the Halcyon days of the sport back in the fifties, one such player is Hammers transfer target, Blackburn Rover's Adam Armstrong. The powerful striker is only 24 years old, but looks 34 and even his name seems to have come from a bygone era!