Saturday 20 June 2009

Boa's Staying Put.


West Ham's Portugese international playmaker Luis Boa-Morte has announced that he has no intention of walking out on the club, despite the best efforts of the boo boys to drive him away. Speaking to Desporto Boa explained: "I thought I should stay and fight for my place. I still intend to play three more years abroad. I have one more year at West Ham and then two more after that. Where I play those two years, assuming all goes well, we will see."

West Ham fans will be hugely relieved that goal machine and midfield maestro Boa-Morte is not about to trigger an exodus of international talent from Upton Park. Back in January, with Boa out of favour with the new management team, a move to Hull City seemed likely, but the Hammers ace declined to leave, preferring instead to show his commitment to the West Ham cause rather than jump ship along with fellow star Craig Bellamy.

Football pundit Lee Vitout explained that January was a dangerous time for the club. "Had we lost Luis on top of Bellamy, heaven only knows who might have followed," he said. "Players are only human. They see one top player leave and they feel anxious. If another goes, then often it has a domino effect. Boa's decision not to defect to Hull was possibly the biggest single factor in West Ham pushing for a place in Europe rather than battling against the drop."

And just as in January, so the dressing room has been unsettled by the loss this month of captain Lucas Neill. Vitout continued: "That is two top top players who have left West Ham since Christmas. If Luis were to go too, the message would be clear - West Ham cannot hold on to the very best players. There are rumours about Green and Upson but, hopefully, they will see the example being set by Luis and think, 'If the club is big enough for Boa then it's big enough for me'. Don't forget, the guy has over 20 caps for Portugal."

With rumours of top class South Americans joining West Ham this summer, it might have been expected that Boa would consider a move to ensure first team appearances and further his international prospects; but the playmaker clearly feels a deep seated love for the club. Vitout added, "Like all Boas, Luis is difficult to shake off. He will cling to the club for as long as he possibly can and certainly until that £56,000 per week contract has expired. If he then walks away on a free transfer, who could blame him?"

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well that is wonderful news, it really warms the old cockles that does, what great value for money, it makes me so happy that I could just shit, why don't we offer Quashie, Downpipe and Faux Paux new contracts while we're at it? And get rid of those two clowns Zola and Clarke and give Curbishley and Day their old jobs back and then our future really would be bright.

Hammersfan said...

LOL

Anonymous said...

Has Boa Morte not shown the type of commitement West Ham want? Trying to please 'hammers'fan is clearly impossible.


mate, u can't praise his pass to Stanislas, then make a joke out of him. are you unhappy because he is not like bellamy (yes his name is bellamy not bellyache) or di Canio, suprisingly some players do want to play for West Ham

And before you ask, yes i got on Boa Mortes back for a while but never would i want him to leave after showing commitement as he has

Hammersfan said...

Of course I can praise Boa's pass to Stanislas and then criticise him, what a silly comment. I think I saw four or five moments from LBM last season which made me purr; I saw dozens that made me groan.

Commitment is not enough. I'm pretty certain that the West Brom players were "committed" but they still went down didn't they?

You don't seem to have heard of the saying "Value For Money". Do you think he is work £56,000 per week? Do the sums! That's almost £3m per year! What do you think the effect is on other players who are better players but earning far less? Imagine you are Rob Green sharing a dressing room with Boa! Might you not think, I am just as committed but a hell of a lot better, so why is he earning more than me?

Anonymous said...

ok but it seems as if you have been on his back all season, and anything good he does you erase his good points. And for your information he is on 40 grand a week!

Hammersfan said...

1626, £56,000 according to my sources. And I haven't erased any of LBMs good points - there are not that many to remember so it is hardly a test for early onset of Alzheimers!

Anonymous said...

i'll produce a DVD of Boa Morte for you then lol

Hammersfan said...

Put it on YouTube! Remember the Faubert one?

Anonymous said...

i don't think we signed Boa Morte because of youtube!

Hammersfan said...

Do you think that's why we bought Faubert? Either way, both signings illustrate why Curbishley should have had "unt" stitched onto his initials bearing tracksuit!

Anonymous said...

lol at least we can agree on that