Jamie Carragher has delivered a scathing assessment of West Ham United’s recruitment and says it has ruined their progress.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic has endured a tough second season in East London, a stark contrast to his record breaking debut campaign which saw the Hammers finish just four points off the Champions League places.
West Ham have flirted with relegation this season and were dumped out of the Europa League, FA Cup and EFL Cup in embarrassing fashion.
As a result of West Ham’s poor form throughout the season, Bilic’s future has been the subject of intense media speculation with the likes of Jaap Stam, Roberto Mancini, Rafa Benitez, Slavisa Jokanovic and most recently Lazio boss SImone Inzaghi tipped to replace him in various reports.
But many fans and pundits feel Bilic has done a good job in difficult circumstances this season with injuries, the Olympic Stadium move, Dimitri Payet saga and most notably poor recruitment taking its toll.
The East Londoners were thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool in their last home game of the season on Sunday which consigned the Hammers to a 12th placed finish at best, some five places – and 20 points – below last season.
Sky Sports Pundit Jamie Carragher is in no doubt about the cause of West Ham’s problems as he delivered a scathing assessment during the defeat to Liverpool.
Jamie Carragher
“It’s got to be better in the summer transfer market,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ live coverage of the game.
“I mean considering the position they were in (after a strong season last term and with the stadium move, they haven’t pushed on).
“Of course there was a big problem in January with Payet, but that man (Bilic) whether it’s him (or) the people above him, the players that come into the club have to be of much better quality.
“It’s been a really poor 12 months really transfer-wise for West Ham.”
West Ham United owners David Sullivan and David Gold
A lack of clarity over exactly who is in charge of transfers at West Ham is a real bone of contention for the club’s supporters.
The club are deliberately non-committal on the subject and it means supporters are unsure where to apportion blame for their poor recruitment which leads to pent up frustration and perhaps even a misguided stance on the manager either way.
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