Yesterday was all about number 3’s at West Ham. It could also be some of the most important summer business the club has been able to conclude.
The first news to reach the ears of fans was the return of former West Ham hardman Julian Dicks. Having previously worked as manager of the West Ham Ladies side, who made great progress under his stewardship, Dicks has joined Slaven Bilic’s coaching staff and will be another face within the setup that knows the club through and through.
‘The Terminator’ spent two spells as a player at Upton Park where he scored 65 goals in 326 games from left back and he will no doubt bring a real hard working mentality to the team.
“I have always said that the first quality that players must illustrate is hard work. If you then have very good players who work very hard, then you can achieve great things and hopefully we can do that here at West Ham,” said Dicks during the announcement of his appointment.
Dicks linking up with Bilic will reunite a pair who formed a great relationship in defence when they were players at the club.
“I met up with Slaven last week and, although we had not met in person for a few years, it was like we had never been apart. We had a hug and a kiss and sat down and talked all about West Ham and all about football.”
“We had a great relationship when we played together in the same team here and I am sure we will work well together again as manager and coach.”
Dicks’ coaching credentials were hugely applauded in relation to the work he had carried out with the Ladies. While they are undoubtedly sad to lose their manager the men’s team have most certainly gained a top quality coach. There’s also no danger of players slacking off in training with Bilic, and now Dicks, keeping an eye on things.
Continuing the theme of left backs the club also announced that some big news would be announced yesterday evening. That news was that Hammer of the Year, Aaron Cresswell, had signed a new five-year deal with the option of a further two.
After Cresswell’s breakthrough season last year I started to get worried when rumours began to arise that some of the league’s biggest clubs, such as Manchester City, were showing an interest in our left back as they were desperate to fill their homegrown quotas.
Like many of our fans I am over the moon that the Liverpudlian has committed his future to the club as we enter a pivotal time in our history.
“It’s exciting times for me to pen a new deal at West Ham,” he told West Ham TV.
“Thankfully last year was a good season for me personally to play every minute of every game, so it’s nice to finally commit my future to West Ham.
“I was at Ipswich 12 months ago and when West Ham came in for me there was only one place for me.”
“I jumped straight in the car, down the A12 and signed for West Ham. So for me to play for a club like West Ham, week in week out, is massive and these are exciting times.”
‘It’s going to be a massive year for us, the last year at Upton Park. But it’s exciting times going into one of the best stadiums in Europe, even in the world. It’s going to be a good summer, hopefully a few more faces will come in and we’ll have a good year.”
Too many times over the years we have seen some our best talent depart. Securing Cresswell’s future is a real signal of intent. A lot of the talk, understandably, is about new faces coming in but it is just as important to secure the futures of our best players and no one had been better than Cresswell for us.
Yesterday’s news was great for the club and is another bit of summer business that shows we seem to be heading in the right direction. We’ve secured our current Hammer of the Year and someone who won it four times. Not a bad day’s work at all.
