Nas! Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 He'll be sold by the end of the window, I hope. His value is probably as high as it will ever be now, even with this new development. I think the club are just posturing so that they can get a decent price for him. It would be great if the club forced him to see out his 5 year contract, though, but didn't let him play a single minute of it. That won't happen though. Can't say I didn't see this coming. It took him a really long time to 'recover' from the Euros, and he's been a shadow of what he was last season. His head's always down, he's being subbed out of every game because he's not bothering to track back by the end of them. It's been coming all season. When the Snodgrass transfer rumors started, I knew it was inevitable. He'd be a strange transfer target for us with Payet in the side. The West Ham online store has reduced the price of the 'We've got Payet' t-shirts to £5. Hopefully the club gets a better return on the man himself. I hope every free kick he takes for the rest of his life goes sailing over the crossbar, that every team he plays for for the rest of his career gets relegated, and that he develops an annoying and perpetual itch in his chest where his heart should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Your lot are proper taking the piss with the Snodgrass thing though. Today you've supposedly increased the original £3mil bid... to £5mil. He's basically the only thing keeping them from being long-buried in the relegation race already, if you want him now you're surely going to have to treble that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 56 minutes ago, Nas! said: It would be great if the club forced him to see out his 5 year contract, though, but didn't let him play a single minute of it. It really wouldn't. It would be a waste and a shame. I get that people have this romantic notion they like to cling to about contracts and loyalty and the awfulness of modern life, but I like to see good players play, not rot away to prove some sort of point. If Payet was forced to stay, it would change nothing and demonstrate nothing, except that club chairmen (not fans or clubs) still have some power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas! Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 14 minutes ago, mormont said: It really wouldn't. It would be a waste and a shame. I get that people have this romantic notion they like to cling to about contracts and loyalty and the awfulness of modern life, but I like to see good players play, not rot away to prove some sort of point. If Payet was forced to stay, it would change nothing and demonstrate nothing, except that club chairmen (not fans or clubs) still have some power. I knew you'd call me out on this point. Of course I'm playing the betrayed fan here, and much of my post should read that way. But I also admit to believing that a person can't really support a club without feeling at least a little bit about loyalty and sportsmanship and all the other romantic nonsense. I try to tone that shit down, believe me. I'm not a romantic about most stuff. Surely if Hearts' best player just quit half way through a troubled season you'd feel something? Or would you just look forward to watching him play for Celtic instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas! Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 53 minutes ago, polishgenius said: Your lot are proper taking the piss with the Snodgrass thing though. Today you've supposedly increased the original £3mil bid... to £5mil. He's basically the only thing keeping them from being long-buried in the relegation race already, if you want him now you're surely going to have to treble that? Yeah, I suspect the bids will increase. The owners have done this before, though. They like a good bargain, clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 31 minutes ago, Nas! said: I knew you'd call me out on this point. Of course I'm playing the betrayed fan here, and much of my post should read that way. But I also admit to believing that a person can't really support a club without feeling at least a little bit about loyalty and sportsmanship and all the other romantic nonsense. I try to tone that shit down, believe me. I'm not a romantic about most stuff. Surely if Hearts' best player just quit half way through a troubled season you'd feel something? Or would you just look forward to watching him play for Celtic instead? It happens regularly to any Scottish team outside the Old Firm, and usually it means that the player's trading a place in the first team for a place on the Celtic/Rangers bench. But doubling their wages and their chances of being picked for the national team in the process, of course. Maybe that's why I've become inured to it. (Actually, these days even Rangers tend to get outbid for promising Hearts players by second- or third-tier English clubs who can triple the player's wages. Celtic have more cash but do tend to low-bid for Scottish players so still get outbid sometimes.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 31 minutes ago, Nas! said: But I also admit to believing that a person can't really support a club without feeling at least a little bit about loyalty and sportsmanship and all the other romantic nonsense. I try to tone that shit down, believe me. I'm not a romantic about most stuff. Don't apologize too much, the myth of loyalty does matter. For whatever reason, we've all locked ourselves into monogamous tribalism in sports. We mock plastic, glory-hunting fans who switch teams. Part of our identity as supporters (not mere fans) is that we stick with our team through thick and thin, reveling all the more in the victories because we had to suffer the wait first. It's actually an emotionally healthy way to enjoy success by deferring gratification and enduring the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. We rationally know that players don't have to buy into this but we can't completely waive that sentiment as our best player turns out to the same plastic, glory-hunter we would revile in another fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 The thing that just feels wrong about this Payet situation is that this guy was all but unheard of until West Ham picked him up at age of 27 (or was he 28?) and basically turned his career around so much he became one of the most important players for both West Ham and French national team. No one is saying that he should stay in West Ham for the remainder of his career and be eternally grateful. We've all expected him to leave over the net few transfer windows, but the way he's handled this whole issue is just disrespectful to fans and the whole club. I mean, refusing to play, leaking the story to the press (I'm assuming here that he or his representatives did that to put pressure on the club since I see no reason why the club would do it), acting like he's being mistreated by the club... that's just not the way to do these things, even though it may be effective from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 The club did, in fact, reveal the Payet-on-strike story. Prior to that they'd received and rejected a bid for the player from Marseille. It's rumoured he wants to leave for family reasons and to be blunt, I can see why he would want to leave for footballing reasons too: West Ham have regressed in the league and failed to make any of the high-profile signings they've bid for. Payet stayed in the summer when he could have left, probably from loyalty and promises from the board, and I would think he now regrets that. Incidentally before signing for West Ham Payet had a season where he was the second-highest chance creator in Europe and the highest assist provider in Ligue 1, a breakthrough in his career, and was attracting interest from larger clubs than West Ham. That season, not his first with West Ham, was the one that turned his career around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Yeah. Whatever one thinks about Payet's behaviour, I don't think West Ham should be given a free ride here. They didn't get the high-profile signings they'd promised and they deliberately bombed out of Europe at the first opportunity which I can imagine annoyed him too. On top of that, them giving it the victimised 'we stood by Payet through everything' nonsense- what have they stood by Payet through, exactly, that should be considered unusual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 West Ham definitely shouldn't be given a free ride, but they are meeting their contract obligations which Payet is not, provided it's true he refused to play. I realize that players lose out on loyalty bonuses if they hand in a transfer request, but if he's that unhappy at the club he should bite the bullet and do it. This whole mess is basically him trying to have his cake and eat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Well, I don't know what Payet's contract says, but we should also bear in mind that this is not taking place in a vacuum. There is clearly some odd stuff going on at West Ham. From the outside, it looks chaotic and one can only speculate how unsettling it is inside the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philokles Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Payet unwillingly left Marseille after they had finished 4th, and is returning to them when they are 6th and far adrift of the Champions League places. West Ham aren't playing well currently, but moving to l'OM is at best a sideways footballing and financial move. There seems little logic in it unless Payet is telling the truth when he claims it is for familial reasons. Nobody bats an eyelid when a player deemed surplus to requirements is frozen out of a team, so, although it is excessive, I don't think going on strike should be seen as some unforgivable crime - especially as West Ham won't be paying him whilst he does so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 49 minutes ago, mormont said: Well, I don't know what Payet's contract says, but we should also bear in mind that this is not taking place in a vacuum. There is clearly some odd stuff going on at West Ham. From the outside, it looks chaotic and one can only speculate how unsettling it is inside the club. Obviously, none of us know the specifics of Payet's contract, but it's a given that it pretty clearly defines the procedure for the player handing in a transfer request, as well as incentives for him not to do so. EDIT: We don't need to know the exact amount of money or whatever form those incentives may take, but it's a rather safe assumption that there is a reason he doesn't go for that option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Antony Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Reading a handful of tweets/articles saying Costa didn't travel with Chelsea to Leicester and is considering an offer from China to become the worlds highest paid player. As much as it would please me to see Chelsea lose their player of the season so far and see their title hopes take a massive hit I have enjoyed watching Costa immensely this season so it would be a bit of a shame for him to be hidden off in China. But I'm sure it will all blow over and if he does leave it won't be till summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas! Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 We'll all be watching the Chinese league in 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 I do wonder whether the Chinese hierarchy has a plan to take the Chinese league to the top tier. Buying big-name players and giving them exorbitant amounts of money is not really going to cut it all by itself. In order to be considered up there with the top European leagues, they probably need some big-time foreign managers (not just one, but several who can form a 'rivalry') and a good national team that can compete in the World Cup so as to attract domestic support, big crowds and homegrown players. Just throwing lots of money at it is not going to make it happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Why not, it worked for the US in the 70s? Wait... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Normally I would say that Costa would not move to China at this stage of his career but with the rumoured money being offered, anything is possible. Add to that Costa not traveling with the squad today and it looks like his head has been turned. Seems more likely than not that the transfer will happen. The big clubs around Europe will be worried about the financial muscle of the Chinese League. A few more star names could be heading there in the near future. I'm actually a little surprised that one of these Chinese sides have not attempted to lure Messi away. I read somewhere that an improved contract for Messi is going to be limited due to spending caps imposed by La Liga in addition to Neymar and Suarez signing big money deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 The China thing isn't sustainable, surely. Their governing bodies are already talking about introducing rules to reign it in. Spurs are absolutely savaging West Brom here. Even the linesman looked disappointed that he had to flag that Alli goal offside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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