The transfer window officially opened on Saturday as players could move between clubs and officially begin work for their new employer. The shortlist for Wally of the Week this week consists of an openly desperate chairman, a manager who simply cannot let go and a club who have won the award for the cringiest player announcement of all time.
3. David Gold
The West Ham co-chairman made careless comments this week regarding their transfer targets and his comments could have an impact on whether these targets are signed or not. Gold told talkSPORT that his club were ‘desperate for two centre-forwards.’ Now I know it’s important to let the fans know what’s going on and to be transparent but there’s surely a line to be drawn here. By revealing that West Ham are desperate, clubs are now going to be more difficult to negotiate with and bump up the prices of their strikers in order to get the most money out of West Ham. This will either make their targets more expensive or rule them out because their new price is out of the Hammers’ budget. Nice going David.
2. Aston Villa
In the age of social media, a club’s presence online is very important but it can only go so far. In recent times, clubs have been competing with each other to see who can announce a new signing in the most innovative and creative way. After Liverpool’s announcement of Mohamed Salah reached new levels of cringe, Aston Villa felt like they had to step up their game (for some reason). The Villains posted a mock WhatsApp conversation that including Dr. Tony Xia (the club’s owner) adding John Terry to a group that included manager Steve Bruce and a few of the players. The conversation lasted over a minute was intended to be funny but as the video went on it got more and more painful to watch. I’m sure it was what John would’ve wanted.
1. Rangers
After finishing 3rd in the Scottish Premiership last season, Rangers qualified for European football for the first time since 2011, something to be cherished in recent times. They were drawn against FC Progres Niedercorn from Luxembourg who have never won a game in continental football – it couldn’t be easier. Rangers took a 1-0 lead into the second leg in Luxembourg on Tuesday night and looked certain to progress to the 2nd qualifying round in the Europa League but things didn’t go to plan. The Gers lost the game 2-0 and crashed out of European football at the first, smallest hurdle. Some have already described it as the worst defeat in their history. To make matters worse, new manager Pedro Caixinha has opted to sell Barry McKay, a fans favourite at Ibrox and a talented player, to Nottingham Forest. Fans are also uncertain about is almost 100% foreign transfer policy. Things don’t look good for Rangers as their fierce rivals, Celtic, look to get stronger with every day that passes and this defeat to a side who finished FOURTH in the Luxembourg league will certainly not help close the gap.