In a disappointing performance against Leicester, Anthony Taylor rubbed salt into the wounds of all West Ham fans in sending off fan favourite Adrian in the dying minutes of a game for an accidental high kick on Jamie Vardy. Slaven Bilic initially appeared to accept the suspension but the club then decided to appeal the decision, only for the FA to turn down the appeal. This means that Adrian will face a three match ban and will consequently miss the games against Bournemouth and Newcastle at home aswell as the trip to Anfield. So who can we play in those games?
Darren Randolph:
Obviously the most likely candidate is Randolph, West Ham’s first summer signing and deputy to Adrian between the sticks. He is almost certain to play against Bournemouth, a team who scored 8 past him last season when he was plying his trade for Birmingham. Pre-season gave more reason for anxiety as Randolph’s performances were not what you want from your goalkeeper but the board obviously see something in him as they signed him without a manager being at the helm so hopefully Darren begins to improve.
Robert Green:
Rumours have circulated that Bilic is unhappy with the quality of Randolph so obviously names will be doing the rounds and the main one is Rob Green. Some fans are fond of Green whilst others are not so keen on him returning to the Boleyn. Some media outlets have stated that a deal is close but I believe these are short of the mark. I personally would love to have Robert Green back, a goalkeeper who can provide serious competition to Adrian. The issue of the deal would be the initial lack of first team football Green would get. It may be possible that we could get him in on a season-long loan deal but we shall wait and see.
Anders Lindergaard:
Another possible loan signing is Manchester United outcast Lindergaard. Anders is 3rd choice at United at the moment behind Argentine international Sergio Romero and youngster Sam Johnstone, although he would be 5th choice providing David de Gea and Victor Valdes weren’t embroiled in their own issues surrounding their futures at the club. Lindergaard is fairly inexperienced in the premier league and I think the club should be wary before signing the ‘keeper.
There is no doubt in my mind that we do need to sign a goalkeeper but to be honest I would say a striker, a winger and a central midfield player should be higher up the list of priorities. I do understand that West Ham are not in the same financial league as the Manchester City’s of this world and as a result the possibility of 4 more signings is slim but hopefully a couple of further additions are imminent.
As always join the conversation below and let’s all hope that the lads have learnt their lessons from the Leicester City defeat.
COYI
West Ham have scored 6 goals. Only Leicester & Man City have scored more. The trouble is, is that we’ve let in 6 goals as well, so we seem to have a lot of upheaval in defense at the moment. As anyone should know, the final 3rd for the defending team is always under the control of the goal keeper, so obviously there was some confusion in that 3rd with a different man between the sticks, so it seems that Adrian is very good at commanding his troops to not even let the ball get near his area and then makes the occasional great save when he really has to. I mean Randolph made some great saves, but being in charge of his final 3rd, well I am not so sure. It’s only 2 more games to go that that Adrian returns, but that is a possible 6 points lost v Liverpool and Newcastle, which would leave us once again near the bottom of the table, so even for 2 games, I’d consider bringing in Rob Green on loan at 50,000 a week on a 3 months contract. That is better than the possible pressure that 2 more potential loses could cause, OR, sort it out at the back West Ham, even the usually reliable Aaron Cresswell was shocking at the back on Saturday, as he and too many other players lost possession of the ball in our defending half far to often, when usually they would have quickly cleared the danger and have pushed the ball up. Come on West Ham sort it out at the back, as we we have to start next season at the new Stadium IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE!