Back in the big time - now how do we stay there?

As a West Ham United fan, this is the most exciting transfer window in years.

Ever since we last got promoted in 2005 and Alan Pardew brought in the likes of Paul Konchesky, Danny Gabbidon, Matthew Etherington and Yossi Benayoun, the summer window has been a series of disappointments, overreactions and fire sales (31st August 2006 apart!). This season we have a real opportunity to build on our solid base and create a sustainable but exciting squad that can keep us in the Premier League and more.

Although it’s always thrilling to be linked with the big names, in reality we need to be shopping more for the sales items, fishing around for bargains. This is exactly what Big Sam has been doing so far, and it’s nice to see him trying to sneak some deals early rather than look for inevitably overpriced ‘stars’ of Euro 2012.

The co-chairmen seem to be happy to let Allardyce take control of the transfers, something that didn’t seem to be the case under Gianfranco Zola and Avram Grant. The big calls the manager has made so far have mostly paid off. He knows a good player who is up for the fight when he sees one and it’s refreshing to have some trust in the manager’s dealings.

With the disappointing departure of Greeno (a lot has been said about his move, now it is time to wish him well and move on), we have brought in two goalkeepers; on paper one looks like a long term successor, the other more of a short term gap-filler.

Stephen Henderson has played less than 100 games in his career, whilst Jussi Jaaskelainen has almost 600 appearances to his name. On the one hand this suggests we may be looking at bringing in another keeper who is experienced, but still has a few years left at the top.

Personally however, I think that Allardyce would like Henderson to establish himself pretty quickly as number one (surely we bought him with Green’s departure in mind), with Jussi there as a safe pair of hands if he isn’t quite up to it. The fact Jussi was given a one-year deal with the possibility of another indicates they would prefer it if he didn’t have much of a role this season. We have been hearing good things from Pompey fans regarding Henderson but we just have to wait and see for ourselves.

As for our other signing, I think we have pulled off a brilliant deal with Mohamed Diame. To sign someone at the peak of their career with no transfer fee, who is regarded as one of the best central midfield players outside of the top six or seven in the league, could be a masterstroke. It is a substantial upgrade to Diop, and in the Premier League it is vital we have an energetic enforcer to stop us getting overrun in a midfield containing two of our slower players (to put it mildly) in Nolan and Noble.

If he can recreate the kind of form he showed for Wigan in the last couple of years, ‘Momo’ could become a key player.

One area it is clear we need to strengthen in is defence. I wouldn’t mind James Tomkins and Winston Reid in the centre after both had very good seasons but they cannot be alone, and in the short term an experienced player like Olof Mellberg could be what we need, possibly Jonas Olsson if they are looking more at competition for the next few years.

At left back I would be happy to see our very own Beatle stay. There is an argument that he might not be cut out for the Premier League but you cannot underestimate a player who wants to play for the club and is held in such high regard by his teammates. With Matt Taylor able to cover and Potts Junior looking promising, I would prefer to focus on other areas.

Having mentioned Taylor being able to cover at left back, one player who I think we will miss is Julien Faubert (bear with me!). Don’t get me wrong, he could be the most frustrating player at times, and I will never understand why he tries to cross like David Beckham despite it being plainly obvious that he cannot pull it off, but having a player who could more than adequately fill in at right back or midfield was very useful.

I am not convinced by Joey O’Brien - and Guy Demel’s fitness is an issue - but if we could get him playing regularly and bring in some younger competition, then this might be enough.

On the wing we do need to bring someone in who can play on the right of the three ‘strikers’; as much as I am a fan of Jack Collison it is frustrating when Big Sam insists on saying we are playing three up front when he is on the right. As much as I am excited about the likes of Eljero Elia, I think Allardyce should think carefully about bringing in a left sided player and moving Ricardo Vaz Te to the other flank, in case he loses his effectiveness by not being able to cut in and shoot as he does so often.

Up front, I think Carlton Cole’s performances and commitment have earned him another shot at the big time, but we need to have someone else who plays a similar style because of his injury problems. Grant Holt is clearly a good player, but whether we should be spending large sums on 31-year-olds is another matter. I would have liked have seen Yakubu as competition, but it looks like he wants a pay day elsewhere.

As for Luc Castaignos, he looks a great talent (admittedly on YouTube, risky I know), but it looks like we will inevitably miss out on him to a more established Premier League side. I do think we should look to give Nicky Maynard and Sam Baldock some more playing time this year, as they have only been given limited opportunities so far and it's far too early to write them off.

So, there is still a lot of work to go in the next couple of months, but I do not think we need an overhaul. With the base that we have, another four or five players with a good mix of youth and experience should give us the best chance of staying up, and beyond. Of course Big Sam has his own plan and I have no doubt that he will do the right deals to keep us where we belong.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to, KUMB.com.