Having qualified for the Europa League 'proper', Hammers will soon find out who they are likely to face in the group stages. There will definitely be some familiar faces when the games begin, but first several potential rivals have to 'duke'it out in order to reach the group stages.

Strangely enough, as a result of the changed rules for the new season and the establishment of the lower tier Conference Cup, teams that drop out of the Champions league qualifiers now have to play qualifiers to see if they can qualify, it that makes any sense.

Hammers fans are all too aware of how much money Eintrecht Frankfurt relieved the club of for the signing of 'le sulk' Sebastien Haller, however at the same time as relieving West Ham of £45 Million for one of their 'star' strikers, they also fleeced Real Madrid of even more, £50 Million for their other one, Luka Jovic!

Now it is not a good thing in life to wish ill of people, but in 'Tottingham" supremo Daniel Levy's case we can make an exception, after all his dog in a manger approach has seen him deliberately set about ruining West Ham United's prospects, mind you he needn't have bothered really, because the present owners are doing a fine job of it themselves!

Maybe David Moyes really is ramping up the pressure to sign his transfer targets, we have just received news from a GENUINE source that negotiations are at an advanced stage regarding Abdah Sima from the club's 'old friends' Slavia Prague. It seems as if the Irons are not content to have relieved Sparta of Tomas Soucek and Vlad the impaler Coufal, it is understood that Sima, who was the subject of interest early on in the window, has now moved back in to the reckoning as a result of Sparta reducing their valuation of the young winger come striker to a more realistic level.

Talk about synchronicity, just like London buses or police men, you wait ages for one and then three turn up at the same time!

Young children have a habit of ignoring what is really going on by replacing reality with fantasy. If they tell themselves something is so enough times, eventually they believe it and expect everyone else to believe it as well, despite there not being a grain of truth in what they are actually saying.

"I love you Darling, but" is the opening line of a thousand 'Dear John' messages received by forlorn Lovers, suddenly all their glimmers of hope disappearing in to the ether, leaving a broken heart! Well Hammers desperate hunt for new players isn't quite so emotionally dramatic, however alarm signals should ring when the 'but' word is suddenly involved.

While West Ham's need for an out-and-out striker is blatantly obvious, the club's search for additional players seems focused on acquiring a centre back, or several as the Press point out. Liverpool's Nat Phillips is the latest in a long line of potential defensive targets.

Having recently been 'shown the Love' by his manager David Moyes, Hammers maestro Saïd Benrahma has finally started to show the dazzling ability he has, both going forwards AND more importantly for his coaches, tracking back as if his life depends on it!

Hammers outplayed Atalanta to win the Betway cup 2-0 at the London Bowl, this was a more than decent work out against a very good team, the visitors are renowned for their fast paced attacking play, but were nullified by a stalwart and well marshalled defence.

The fans returning to only the 2nd home game in 18 months that they had been allowed to attend were treated to a decisive, clinical performance with many of the players deserving special credit, none more so than Said Benrahma, who bewildered the visitors midfielders and defenders with his balletic footwork.