Marked for Daniel Cummings
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Nov 2027
Stockport County ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market8 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at West Ham United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match8 Nov 2027
30 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” West Ham United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match6 Nov 2027
Wolverhampton left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomáš Souček, and the manager let it.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad8 Nov 2027
5 West Ham United players away with their countries
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 5 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
The interim tag comes off Stephen Wood
West Ham United interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Stephen Wood keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Market20 Sep 2027
Jarrod Bowen hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what West Ham United can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Daniel Cummings was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. West Ham United told Soungoutou Magassa something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market20 Sep 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. West Ham United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Market2 Aug 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at West Ham United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
The deal with Cardiff City is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
The offer went to Burnley this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Market2 Aug 2027
The most awkward business a club does is signing tomorrow's answer while today's is still in the building. Richard Koné comes from Queens Park Rangers for exactly that purpose, and the handover will not be discussed publicly by anybody.
Market2 Aug 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
West Ham United pay $1.0M to end the manager's contract
The bill for the sacking has arrived. the manager leaves with $1.0M for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Liverpool, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match26 Apr 2027
Position 18, 27 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market26 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at West Ham United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match24 Apr 2027
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Reece James was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match24 Apr 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Manor Solomon
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.