There are some tasty encounters here, not sure about the music, but hey ho! Enjoy!

The Hammers are about as mid-table as you can get in the Premier League this season, despite splurging a load of cash on transfers last summer and during the January transfer window. While it’s clear that they have been unfortunate with injuries, perhaps they should have considered that the likes of Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker and Kieron Dyer have always been prone to spells on the sidelines, rather than bleating about it incessantly.

The Times reports that West Ham are planning to largely stick with the squad they’ve got for next season, hoping that the number of players on the treatment table is reduced so that manager Alan Curbishley has a full compliment from which to pick (if he survives until August).

“I think when all our players are fit and we can play Dean Ashton up front with Craig Bellamy or Freddie Sears, when Julien Faubert gets a chance, when we can play Scott Parker and Kieron Dyer in midfield, then we are capable of making the top six, and that is our aim,” chief exec Mike Duxbury said. “I think there will be money for signings, but I am not sure we want to use it.”

“If we bring in big-money signings, then we are not going to see the players who we have already get a chance to show what they can do,” Duxbury said. “What sort of message are we sending out to Sears if we buy another big-money striker? Obviously, we will look to bring in players where we need a bit of cover, but perhaps we will bring in a younger striker and let him learn from the more experienced players.”

It will be interesting to see if West Ham hold true to this policy next January if they’re floundering in the lower reaches of the Premier League. It’s certainly hard to see them achieving their aim of finishing sixth next term, considering the renovation likely to be taking place at White Hart Lane in the summer.

Craig Bellamy has been restricted to just nine appearances for West Ham since his £7.5 million move from Liverpool in the summer. The Guardian report that the striker won’t get a chance to add to this tally this season due to him requiring an operation on both knee and groin. The Welshman has been injury prone throughout his career, although he had shown signs of being potentially prolific for the Hammers with four goals to his name.

On a brighter note, the same article reports that Kieron Dyer could be on his way back for Alan Curbishley’s team, despite predictions that he too would miss the rest of the campaign. However, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that West Ham will qualify for Europe this season, which must have been their aim in August after spending so much money in the summer.

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