Football Forum | Ticket Forum | Off-Topic Forum | All

Josh 10:03 Fri Jan 15
West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

Yeah - another thread but decent read

West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season... the Frenchman has inspired a remarkable transformation

The Olympic Stadium in Stratford looks pretty desolate against the backdrop of slate grey skies and intermittent sleet when you pass it on a winter’s morning.
But come August it will once again be a vibrant place, bedecked in West Ham’s colours of claret and blue, that glorious spirit of 2012 revived.
Supporters will flock to watch Slaven Bilic’s equally vibrant team, challenging in the upper reaches of the Barclays Premier League table and - who knows - even in the Champions League.

And as they clack through the turnstiles they should look up and see - 30ft tall, gazing out proudly over the east London skyline - their club’s new poster boy Dimitri Payet.
For seldom has a signing caused such a dramatic uplift in a team’s fortunes. Seldom has any player become so integral so quickly. And seldom has a £10.7million investment looked like such a bargain.

There can be no doubt that Payet, brought in by Bilic from Marseille at the end of June, is the Premier League’s signing of the season.
You might make a case for Petr Cech at Arsenal, but the true dynamos of their title challenge lie further forward on the field. Dele Alli at Tottenham? Well, the deal was actually secured back in the January so that doesn’t really count.

It’s Payet that has inspired the remarkable transformation in West Ham’s fortunes. A transformation that sees them, against all expectations, just a point off the Champions League places ahead of their Saturday visit to Newcastle United.
Let’s consider the stats. With Payet in the team, the Hammers have won eight of 14 matches, scoring a total of 28 goals. Their win percentage stands at a muscular 57.1 per cent.
Now compare that to the seven matches when Payet wasn’t in the side when he suffered ankle ligament damage against Everton in early November.

Just one win from those seven, a mere five goals scored. A paltry win percentage of 14.3.
There is nothing coincidental about West Ham recording three wins on the bounce - against Liverpool, Wolves in the FA Cup and Bournemouth - since Payet returned to full fitness.

The 28-year-old France international brings so much more than the six goals and five assists contributed in claret and blue so far. He supplies that spark, a certain galvanising effect that produced another 10 per cent from his team-mates.
Bilic summarised it nicely after Payet curled home a lovely free-kick on his return to the starting line-up in the 3-1 win at Bournemouth on Tuesday night.
‘It was a team win but Payet made the difference,’ Bilic said. ‘West Ham fans love that kind of player with a bit of magic and he has got more than a bit.
‘But it is not only about his quality. He is deciding games, he is keeping the ball and he is doing the things which are very hard in football.

‘He is taking the whole team 20 yards up the pitch without kicking the ball and that is important. He is also making all the players around him better.’
Bilic has taken Payet under his wing like a son. The Croat was absolutely despondent when he suffered his injury - describing it as a ‘massive blow’ - and West Ham crashed 4-1 at Tottenham in their next game.
Five successive draws followed as they struggled to replace that missing impetus delivered by Payet. There has inevitably been an upturn in mood and form since their talisman returned to fitness.

The Upton Park faithful adore him too, as witnessed by the wonderful ovation he received on his return against Liverpool a fortnight ago. He’s almost ranked in their affections as highly as Paolo di Canio and Carlos Tevez.
And that’s just off the back of seven months. Continue this trajectory in the coming years and he’ll go down in legend.
These are historic times for West Ham. Their move to the Olympic Stadium is imminent, representing a move to the next level. And with their inspired signing of Payet, they have a team ready to meet that challenge.

El Scorchio 10:17 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

All this talk, exposure and praise is great, but it's just going to make him a target for the kind of treatment McCarthy(?) gave him.

Hobble Payet and you'll beat West Ham.

One McAvennieeeeee 10:19 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

Cheers Josh

Hammer and Pickle 10:23 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

On the other hand, Scrorchio, it means officials will be more obliged to hand out more than a limp yellow if anyone tries it on.

I like to see my glass half full.

Mike Oxsaw 10:24 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

But it's so UNFAIR!!!

He needs to be playing (or bench-warming) for a "proper big club" before the world sees the best in him.

Joey Woodwork 10:24 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

He is the signing of the season, the only one close is that Kante at Leicester.

BRANDED 10:25 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

If its about injuring a good player why dont all the good players get battered?

penners28 10:45 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

it was EUROS as well wasnt it, so sub £10m

ridiculous bit of business.

Livingstone 10:52 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

Erase season, try decade or century !

Trevor B 10:59 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

El Scorchio 10:17 Fri Jan 15

Yes mate. that's right, newspaper and media articles is what influences opposition players and managers, they don't do any of their own research and definitely do not use their own eyes with which to see.

Johnson 11:07 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

Joey Woodwork 10:24 Fri Jan 15

Bit harsh calling Mahrez that.

i-Ron 11:09 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

penners28 10:45 Fri Jan 15

The boy Sullivan said it was an "8 figure fee" when we agreed it.

andyd12345 11:12 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

Let them target Payet.

Will give more room to Lanzini, Antonio, Obiang....

One McAvennieeeeee 11:15 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

CRYSTAL PALACE supporter here reckons Cabaye is better.

The conversation didn't last long.

riosleftsock 11:19 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

One McAvennieeeeee 11:15 Fri Jan 15

They paid 3m more and got somebody a year older.

We got the bloke who provided the most goal opportunities in europe last year - more than Messi.

i-Ron 11:35 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

Cabaye has had a great season to be fair, but I wouldn't want to compare him to Payet as they're in different roles.

Stepney.Ammer 11:43 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

If I'm honest I'm trying to not let Payet suck me into loving him too much.....this is West Ham and I only know of great players we have end up either being sold in their prime or getting career ending injuries.

Di Canio is possibly the only exception to this, but then he was a fruitcake and had his faults....I'm yet to see one with Payet.

Grumpster 11:53 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

I dreamt last night that payet scores the only goal in a 1-0 win at Newcastle, so lump on.

riosleftsock 11:54 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

Stepney

He's got stupid hair, ear-rings and his wife looks a bit post op.

Northern Sold 11:54 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

Did you dream what Jockey threw a race Grumps... let us know??

Hermit Road 11:57 Fri Jan 15
Re: West Ham paying £10.7m for Dimitri Payet is the signing of the season

I can't believe we've got him. He's as good as anyone in the league. Amazing player.

Page 1 - Next