Now that the season is coming to a close, it’s time for us to hang up our scarves, drink drastically less, and not want to cry on Saturday evenings. As with the closing of every season, it’s also time for us to bid farewell to some of our loan signings and, because Eurovision is just around the corner and it’s the perfect time of year to judge people from different places, here are my ratings and grades for the loan signings we brought into Upton Park this season.
Pablo Armero
When we first signed Armero on loan it took weeks for evidence of his existence to surface, but since then he’s made three starts and two sub appearances for the Hammers. He’s the kind of defender I’d hoped Razvan Rat would be – quick, skilled at moving the ball up the pitch, and also good at getting back to defend. He seemed a little skittish on the ball, and wasn’t the strongest defender I’ve seen, but I was pleased to have him in the squad this year as cover.
B
Roger Johnson
Poor Roger Johnson. He may have finally shrugged off his ‘relegator’ title (and/or sent it over to Scott Parker) but the number one thing we will remember him for this season is the visual of him running backwards whilst ‘marking’ Yaya Toure. He seemed to get on brilliantly with his teammates and his turn on the crossbar challenge was genuinely funny, but he was signed as a stop-gap solution to our defensive injury crisis. He made but six appearances for us, and again, only one of them will be remembered.
C
Marco Borriello
The man made a mere two appearances as a substitute and played a grand total of 90 minutes before injuring a hamstring, and has not been seen since—but we also don’t seem to have sent him back to Roma even though he was not expected to be fit to play again this season, so perhaps there’s more than meets the eye there.
Jury’s still out – really didn’t see enough of him.
Antonio Nocerino
Of the entire group of loan players, Nocerino is perhaps the one I – and most Hammers fans – would have liked to see stay at Upton Park. Nocerino and his absolutely massive shorts made 10 appearances for us (8 as a sub) and every time he came on he brought pace, and a firm drive forward. I’m sad to see him go, but also conscious that we didn’t see enough of him to grasp his full potential.
B+
Abdul Razak
Here’s a bit of a mystery. Some websites say we signed him. Some say we loaned him. Either way, things clearly didn’t work out. He’s gone now. I had to do a serious Google search to make sure this one even happened and wasn’t a figment of my imagination.
Nil points- 0
Most of the loans were admittedly brought in as short-term cover for our extensive injuries, and for that reason they did their jobs – but for a club that loves a bit of a loan signing, it’s disappointing we didn’t bring in anyone who looks set to stay and or shake up the squad a bit. Then again, some of our loan signings had a bit more longevity than our actual contracted signings—quite seriously, I was shocked to discover Rat and Mladen Petric were not loan signings and that we had actually signed them.
What do you make of our loan signings this year? Did they get the job they needed to do done, or were you hoping for more? Let us know below.
