If “endeavour” is the current buzz word at St. Mary’s, with the manager having used it multiple times in recent weeks: “our endeavour is to keep winning games of football,”; “our endeavour is to give ourselves that opportunity from where we stand now,”; “our endeavour is always to try and break the opposition down,”; “our endeavour is to get him back and up to speed as quickly as possible,”; “our endeavour is to ensure we give the young lads the opportunity to come through the system,”; and, “our endeavour will be to enhance the squad we have got,” then Sam Allardyce’s buzz word is “buy.”
Since coming down from the Premier League, not only have The Hammers been able to hold on to England internationals Robert Green and Carlton Cole, who have 18 England caps between them, but they’ve been able to bring in a whole host of Premier League players on free transfers, loans and buys. Among the odd ludicrous rumour (Carlos Tevez and Frank Lampard in the Championship, really?), West Ham have assembled an impressive side under the no-nonsense leadership of Sam Allardyce. Matty Taylor and David Bentley were brought in to bolster the wings, however the latter has since departed; Kevin Nolan, Henri Lansbury and Papa Bouba Diop were signed to add to the already impressive midfield engine of Mark Noble and Jack Collison; John Carew added the necessary height upfront for any Sam Allardyce side and Guy Demel and George McCartney further strengthened a defence that has the blossoming James Tomkins at the heart of it.
With a plateau in performances preventing West Ham from capitalising on Southampton’s below-par December, Sam Allardyce feels that their worst run is behind them and he’s assured he can keep pace with the league leaders: “I’m very confident because Matt Taylor and Guy Demel are close to getting back.” George John has already signed on loan for The Hammers and Allardyce has confirmed their January business isn’t over yet, “we’re still looking for at least one player in the transfer window,” said the former Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn boss. However, one player they won’t be signing is Huddersfield’s Jordan Rhodes, “That’s something we have tried to do but it’s not a situation where it looks like Huddersfield want to lose their player – we have given up on that.” (Source: The Telegraph)
Between now and midnight on January 31st, Nigel Adkins and Big Sam will have their clubs continuously linked with a stream of available, suitable and sometimes outrageous players. Allardyce has already had to rubbish rumours that he is interested in Kevin Davies, whilst Southampton continue to, “try and do [their] talking in quiet.” But with the two sides neck and neck with 20 games left and Cardiff and Middlesbrough not too far behind, will one take the gamble and spend big on a player between now and the deadline to ensure Premier league status next season?
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