The West Ham United Courier
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Jarrod Bowen runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market23 Aug 2027
El Hadji Malick Diouf puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at West Ham United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tempers go at West Ham United
Taty Castellanos 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Real improvement from Preston Fearon at West Ham United
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Preston Fearon is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Jean-Clair Todibo has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Market23 Aug 2027
Cardiff City are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. West Ham United will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at West Ham United
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
West Ham United supporters have found a favourite in El Hadji Malick Diouf
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. El Hadji Malick Diouf has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Market23 Aug 2027
West Ham United promote Robert Clarke from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Robert Clarke has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
In brief
- Market West Ham United promote Nathan Smith from within
- Boardroom A promise the West Ham United board did not keep
- Loan watch Kaelan Casey has seen enough of Notts County