ExWHUemployee: ‘It’s going to be interesting to see who stays, leaves and comes in this summer’

I wanted to start this piece with a dedication to fellow Blowing Bubbles writer Hugh Southon after his sad passing in March. Hugh is someone I’ve known from the very first day that I decided to create this “Ex” profile. He was the number one source of West Ham news and someone who always showed his passion for the club through his writing.

As my account started to develop, Hugh and I would regularly swap news and stories in the hope that together we would be able to piece together accurate and informative articles for West Ham fans. At times we clashed, I guess there was always an element of rivalry between us and on occasions, I found him difficult to work with.

However, over the 12 years or so that I’ve known him, we always patched up our differences and had been on good terms for a number of years. Both of us at times are subjected to a lot of negative comments across many of the social media platforms and in particular on certain forums and it would really affect me.

Although deep down it did with Hugh too, he was much more resilient than I, especially in the earlier days, and I learnt a lot from his ways of dealing with that unpleasant side of what we do. Hugh was almost 80 and at that age many would have stopped the role years ago, Hugh was different. Not only did he have this thirst and passion to report accurate West Ham news for fans but the revenue he made from his site was used to support his children and grandchildren.

In fact, my very last conversation with him revolved around how much he cared about his family and still providing for them in his later years. For many years Hugh was also the sole provider for his very ill wife. Hugh was a ghost writer for Bobby Moore for three years and anyone that Sir Bobby trusted and recognised and gave that much respect to, surely should be given the same from West Ham fans.

Transfer windows will not be the same without our regular chats Hugh and I will miss you a lot. I trust that you are in a better place now and I will always be grateful for the support and respect you showed me during the years that I knew you.

Hugh would have loved the opportunity to report on West Ham’s potential business this summer as I expect there will be a lot. There are a few issues that need addressing immediately. The first is the fact we have a need for home grown players.

The Premier League has strict quotas that insist that clubs must have a number of eight home grown players in their squad. The senior players that currently tick this criteria include Johnson, Cresswell, Ward-Prowse, Bowen, Ings, Antonio and Joseph Anang.

Of course there is a chance that Johnson, Cresswell, Ings and Antonio could all leave as well meaning the need is even greater. Johnson has yet to sign a new deal with the club and looks set to leave us in the summer with a number of clubs including Southampton, Spurs, Everton and a couple of Dutch sides looking at him, it does seem like Crystal Palace lead the way.

They have reportedly provisionally agreed terms with the player’s agent which offers him a lot more than he is on now. It is thought that the summer will also see the end of Aaron Cresswell’s 10 years at the club having not featured much this season.

I think if a club came in with a decent offer for Danny Ings, we would also consider this especially if it meant we could get most of his wages off our bill, considering I believe he is one of the highest earners at the club. The same will apply to Kalvin Phillips who at the time of writing (after the Newcastle game, before the Spurs game) has been nothing short of a disaster since joining.

I’ve lost count of how many goals or penalties he has been at fault for and I can’t believe how wrong the deal has gone. I hold my hands up and admit I was wrong, I genuinely thought this would be a good signing for us but it hasn’t turned out that way.

I hope he can turn it around by the end of the season as I still believe he is a good player. I’ve also heard from people that know him that he is a lovely bloke too although his recent hand gesture to critical fans at Newcastle will not have helped project that image. Flynn Downes’ return could add a homegrown midfield option to replace Phillips but his future is unclear at the moment despite an impressive loan move to Southampton this season.

The jury is still out on Michail Antonio’s future but I suspect should Moyes remain as the manager, then he will stay for another year. We also have an issue that our squad is the second oldest in the Premier League and therefore some young talent is needed. Now naturally this could come from our impressive academy where there is a whole host of players.

So ideally, I would like to see some of these used more, with some additions of some top talent home grown players. I think we need to look at central defenders as a priority and both Max Killman of Wolves and Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo would tick the home grown box as well as being proven Premier League defenders at a good age.

I think we need fullback options too. I think Coufal is a steady right back option and I would be happy to keep him a few more years but he finds it hard against pacy tricky wingers. I would like a young right back to come in with pace especially if Johnson is to leave and Kehrer turns his loan moan to Monaco into a permanent deal.

I also think we need the same at left back too. Whilst I’ve been delighted with Emerson this year and think he should remain first choice, he is coming into his 30s now, I think Leif Davies of Ipswich would provide a great alternative option should we sign him. We then also clearly need a left winger having tried and failed to bring one of those in the January window and I think we need a good quality centre forward to take over from Antonio as our number one signing.

Of course both would cost a lot of money and I’m not sure either are realistic options but if they are, both Solanke or Bournemouth and Ivan Toney (Despite his off field issues) should be targets for us. The final key thing to do is to try and hold onto the likes of Kudus and Paqueta. I suspect, especially the latter, will be linked with clubs like Man City throughout the summer but if we can hold onto those two and strengthen in other positions, I hope we should have another productive season.