The feeling of optimism has returned

Wonderful summer time in London. Lunchtime beers, evening beers, barbecues and girls wearing very little. Simple pleasures but ones that keep me happy while I expose my tattooed pink body to the sun.

Regardless of the above distractions I still check any and all West Ham gossip links repeatedly through the day.

Most summers I fear the departures of our star players but one of our biggest "stars" is Andy Carroll and I wouldn't cry if he were sold (NB - I really don't have it in for Carroll, I like him but I prefer Sakho who plays and scores). This summer the bubbles really are flying high.

Discounting our win against Lusitanos and the early date the game was played it was great to see the Board reduce ticket costs so the ground was full and for Betway to screen it live for free. Ok, the cameraman had a drink or two before starting his swooping shots and Stuart Slater told us a few times he had sweaty legs and the Betway chap was excited about the 9/4 possibility of Reece Oxford scoring with a header - but all in all we won and Sakho played and scored, twice. (That's why i prefer him to Carroll.)

The feeling of optimism has returned. As I've previously written I respect what Sam did and we are on a solid footing now because of his tenure. I don't go in for the less-favourable names that some have called him and not going to go back on my thoughts that if wasn't for his stubbornness he may have earned an additional two years from the Davids.

The West Ham chairmen are fans and they listened and brought in Bilic (I'm ignoring Benitez, Emery, Klopp, Ancelotti et al) because the fact is, it wasn't David Moyes or Steve McClaren - both of whom would've been abused for courting favour if they brought in Dicks as coach.

Now we have Bilic as boss, Dicks as coaching assistant and rumours of John Hartson coming in as striker coach. All sits well with me and I don't believe anyone would wish to argue with those three anyway. Things look good, really good.

We have signed Dmitri Payet, Pedro Obiang and Darren Randolph. Carl Jenkinson could soon be on his way as may be Alex Song. Ogbonna from Juve is close by all accounts to add to our strong pool of defenders, following recent news we had bid approximately £14million for Abdennour of Monaco.

There still seems to be a chance fo signing Yohan Cabaye which really does get me excited.
Our midfield is strong, so for me it's another winger and maybe a new big-signing striker.

Which then leaves the question of who is sold to offset some of the outlay. Of course we need a strong number of players but let's not get carried away with needing a big squad for Europe. 23 games to win it and even BT don't start their coverage until September (mugs).

I was up for selling Jarvis but he is settled and looked sharp last week, so why not give him a chance to shine? I like Downing and he showed last season that as the "10" he is creative and knits the play together, but at his age if we can turn a profit by selling I say we sell. Payet looks good on YouTube (but then so did Faubert) but I do think he will soon become a Hammers hero.

We have Mauro Zarate in the mix as well. He has a few flashy touches but generally he doesn't look ready for 90 minutes, let alone two games a week. I don't think we would get much for him anyway, so he may as well be given another crack.

Modibo Maiga didn't make the cut of the squad players named for Europa action. I was open to giving him another chance, but that's a blow he won't recover from. Plus I would like to see Elliott Lee get a fair crack.

We won't make anything on Kevin Nolan and will probably end up paying half his wages while he runs his final year down out on loan, but that's football. Like Sam he was needed at the time and served us well for the first two years, but has looked out of date since.

So.... what wingers are there that we can buy ?

I'm not a big fan of Victor Moses, would take Salah on an unlikely loan from Chelsea and due to Man Citys "homegrown" quota issues I'd even get on the phone to City offering a loan swap of Jesus Navas for Nolan! Neither will play and someone needs to talk to Richard Wright on the bus.

Wingers seem bad investments. Even Manchester United may lose money on Angel Di Maria and we can't waste big money on players that don't deliver, so a loan is a better move.

As for the big money man up front, I now can't see that one happening, I've said before how much I like Charlie Austin but £15million is a bit high and yes, he has had injury problems.

I wouldn't take Mario Balotelli on loan as he is a Newcastle player if ever there was one. Or more likely, he will score 20 goals in Turkey. But we don't need his joke value - plus he looks a lazy sod, with an ego.

As it stands, even with Europa League action and the knock-on effect that has on the Premier League fixtures I now think we are strong in all areas and if we had to start the season as we are, then I would still look to top 10.

Sign Cabaye, a winger on loan here and there or a big money striker and I am then dreaming of the ultimate glory.... which for me is winning ANY cup and finishing higher than Tottenham.

Ah the delirious effect of sunshine drinking. But maybe - just maybe - we can enjoy a really exciting final season at the Boleyn and then come the Olympic Stadium and the staggering TV money, our bubbles really will be flying high. (Beyond that? Well this is West Ham, so those fears of trauma can wait for a rainy day)

Feel free to reply with some suggestions, I'll still read your comments even if I get stick for refusing to hate Nolan...

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