A double-whammy overnight. First the defeat to Manchester United, and this morning the news that Gianluca Nani has left the club.
It’s hard to be totally clear on who did what under the previous regime, but most of what I felt was good about it was down to the employment of Nani. Not so much that I think he was a genius, but I think it was very clever of the club to get someone to (in theory) oversee the development of the football side of the equation. Facilities, staff, players, scouting, training etc. It just seems like damned good sense to me, particularly as we’ve been slack in so many of these areas in the past.
In the transfer market I think Nani, or the system he’s overseen, has been superb. Especially in the circumstances. Halving the wage bill, getting top dollar for our sales, finding good players on the cheap, and investing in youth. Great strategies, brilliantly carried out. Savio’s signing is the only bum note over two years – not bad at all.
Nani’s legacy may be best measured by the string of youth players he oversaw joining the club. If even one of them breaks into the Premiership first team it will be a job well done.
And in the future I hope the club retain that strategy of having an overall vision for the development of West Ham as a footballing force. Simply making sure the squad is well-stocked is not the answer – each move must be weighed up like a gambit in chess. I could see the logic of what Nani & Duxbury were doing, whereas with a signing like Benni McCarthy I see little logic at all. But I hope that Sullivan & Co can prove me wrong.
As for the Man Utd result, it’s nothing that we didn’t expect. The next game, at home against Bolton, is absolutely crucial. Win it and we’re really looking safe, lose it and we’re right back in the mire. The absolute definition of a six-pointer in terms of our season.
