Herita Illunga and Benni mccarthy have both failed to make the West Ham 25 man Squad for the second half of the season and are thus unavailable to play for us.
With Mccarthy one is hardly surprised. He was part of the of the punt of Ilan and Mido to socre the goals that kept us up. As it turned out, it was Ilan who popped up with those goals, with Benni never really gaining fitness. Things got worse in the Summer when he was removed from the South afirca world Cup squad allegedly for failing to shed his pounds. He will no doubt be off in the Summer to some footballing backwater.
Herita Illunga is a different matter and a much more frustrating one. Herita was brought here to replace George Mccartney, whose departure led to Alan Curbishely leaving. In his first season, he was a real favourite of the fans and indeed myself, with his adventurous runs and no nonsense defending. However, he took a knock in the opening day of last season against Wolves and has looked dazed and confused since. A real shame for the club and player alike but it looks like his bridges are burned.
Anyhow, here is the squad, and yes, unfortunately, it contains Radoslav Kovac….
Goalkeepers
Robert Green (England)
Ruud Boffin (Belgium)
Defenders
Danny Gabbidon (Wales)
Matthew Upson (England)
Wayne Bridge (England)
Manuel Da Costa (Portugal)
Julien Faubert (France)
Winston Reid (New Zealand)
Lars Jacobsen (Denmark)
Midfielders
Jonathan Spector (USA)
Scott Parker (England)
Kieron Dyer (England)
Mark Noble (England)
Pablo Barerra (Mexico)
Gary O'Neil (England)
Tomas Hitzlsperger (GErmany)
Jack Collison (Wales)
Radoslav Kovac (Czech Republic)
Luis Boa Morte (Portugal)
Strikers
Carlton Cole (England)
Robbie Keane (Ireland)
Frederic Piquionne (France)
Zavon Hines (England)
Demba Ba (Senegal)
Victor Obinna (Nigeria)
First team squad players who were 21 or under at the registration deadline and therefore also eligible to play include Jordan Brown, Anthony Edgar, Matthew Fry, Frank Nouble, Freddie Sears, Jordan Spence, Junior Stanislas, Marek Stech and James Tomkins.