Pick Your Poison - West Ham United

The Challenge

Pick 3 players you believe left your club and have gone on to bigger/better things and that you want back at the club. Then make a choice between the 3 players as to which one you'd take back in the current squad. Judge all players on their time of sale, not currently. 

The Challenger

Jim Munro, 49, London

Player 1

Glen Johnson - Right Back

Jan 2003 - May 2003

"The 18-year-old right-back broke into a struggling first XI after Xmas in the 2002-03 season. His arrival along with that of experienced left-back Rufus Brevett (a January signing) helped the relegation threatened club put together an amazing run of just one defeat in the final 11 games. Johnson signed a new four-year deal in March and despite the Irons slipping out of the division, Johnson was regarded as one of the new young breed who would help the club make a quick return. As it was, he was the first to leave in a £6million summer move, becoming the first signing of the Roman Abramovich era at Chelsea."

Glen Johnson broke into West Ham's team as they were fighting a losing battle with relegation from the Premier League. Although everyone knew he had the potential to be a star, the decision to throw him into the side in that sort of environment seemed strange, but it certainly paid off. Despite him not being able to help keep West Ham in the divison, he boosted his own reputation and earned himself a £6M deal to London rivals Chelsea and was the first signing of Chelsea's 'Russian Revolution'. He struggled to break into their side on a regular basis and has since represented Portsmouth and Liverpool and is regarded as England's first choice right-back. 

Player 2

Carlos Tevez - Striker

July 2006 - July 2007

"His part in West Ham's Great Escape is the stuff of legend, but the passage of time has papered over the fact that the Argentina assassin failed to score a single goal in his first 19 appearances for the Hammers in all competitions. That all changed with a first goal in a home defeat by Spurs in March 2007, sparking a run of seven goals in West Ham's final 10 Premier League games. His departure after just one season was sad but not unexpected with Man United stepping in. What we didn't realise at the time of course is that one season is about all you get from the single minded hotshot, no matter who you are."

Carlitos Tevez is currently known as the spoilt brat at Manchester City who refused to come on as a substitute in a Champions League tie vs Bayern Munich earlier this season. He's since gone AWOL and is on the lookout for a new club, however amidst all the controversy, it's often forgotten how good a footballer he is. He came to West Ham from Corinthians and struggled to adapt to English lifestyle and football, not scoring in 19 games after joining. However, when he got going it was hard to stop him. He scored numerous vital goals, most notably against Manchester United at Old Trafford on the final day of the season to keep the Hammers up. That was enough to spring Sir Alex Ferguson into action and the legendary manager signed the striker on an initial 2-year-loan deal with an option to buy. He helped United to 2 Champions League Finals in his 2 years there, winning one. That pace and desire is sorely missed up front for West Ham at the moment and would without doubt push them back into the Premier League.

Player 3

Demba Ba - Striker

January 2011 - July 2011

"West Ham took a big gamble on the Senegalese striker who had been plagued with injury at German club 1899 Hoffenheim. A proposed £5.9million move to Stoke collapsed in January 2011 after Ba failed a medical. The Irons stepped in and offered the prolific hitman a three-year deal, crucially with a release clause should the club be relegated. Ba hammered in seven goals in just 12 appearances to end the season as the club's leading scorer, but his efforts weren't enough to save the Irons from the drop."

Demba Ba, signing of the season. He signed for West Ham last January in a bid to keep the Hammers in the Premier League, and despite his best efforts was unable to do so. However, he moved on a free transfer back into the Premier League with Newcastle where he's been an absolute revelation, banging in a superb 15 goals from just 19 starts for the club. A superb acquisition, Ba could have single handedly brought West Ham back into the Premier League having been so unlucky in his efforts to keep them in the division to begin with.

CONCLUSION

JIM MUNRO

"Without a doubt it has to be Demba Ba. He's carried on at Newcastle where he left off with West Ham. At the time of writing he's smashed 11 goals in just 14 appearances for the Toon - making his total in his first year in English football 18 goals from 26 Premier League games. We can only imagine what damage he could have been inflicting upon our promotion rivals in the Championship, or indeed how West Ham would have fared this season had they stayed up with Ba leading the line."

DMF

West Ham are currently top of the Championship with 53 points from 21 games. But it seems they're lacking an out and out goalscorer. Both Tevez and Ba would bring that to the side and if we're judging the players on the time of their sale rather than currently, then I'd have to say Carlos Tevez (minus all his issues) is one of the best strikers in world football.  So based on that, I can't look past "young" Carlitos returning to Upton Park to help fire the Hammers back into the Premier League.

Do you agree with the choices @JimMunro made? Let us know in the comments section or on Twitter!

DMF (@dmf180593)

Pick Your Poison - Stoke City

The Challenge

Pick 3 players you believe left your club and gone onto bigger/better things and you want back at the club. Then make a choice between the 3 players as to which one you'd take back in the current squad. Judge all players on their time of sale, not currently.

The Challenger

Hannah Burrows, 18, Stoke-On-Trent

Player 1

Peter Hoekstra - Winger/Striker

August 2001 - June 2004

 

"The Dutchman was a magician; he did things on the pitch that I didn’t even know were possible! He was the type of player that would make the opposition scared and although he wouldn’t fit into the current team (big, physical etc) I’d love him to return to the club in some capacity. It’s great to think that such a skilful player finished his career at the club after he retired in 2004. He will always be remembered for his hatrick against Reading and particularly the second goal, a goal that I don’t think will ever be matched by a player in a Stoke shirt at the Brit. He was voted as the best Stoke player in the first 10 years at the Britannia which proves what a player he was."

I don't know much about Peter Hoekstra, but having looked him up for the purposes of the article it seems he was a fairly magical player for the Potters. He scored 11 goals in the 3 years at the club and will be poignantly remembered for his hat-trick heroics against Reading. At 6ft 3 he wasn't a typical winger but his skill often led to him being on the receiving end of strong challenges which may have led to his retirement at a fairly young age. He'd have the height to pose a traditional Stoke threat but he was never the strongest so would probably find himself on the fringes of the first team these days.

Player 2

Martin Paterson - Striker

2004 - July 2007

"Having grown up in Stoke-On-Trent, ‘Patto’ wore his heart on his sleeve. He never fully got going at Stoke (only scored 1 goal) but on the rare occasion that he actually played, he’d give 100% effort in similar fashion to Andy Wilkinson, who he came through the academy at Stoke with. Looking at where Stoke are now, it’s difficult to judge whether he’d actually be involved on a regular basis but he’s still only 24, although injuries seem to have curbed his development in recent seasons. Had he not left in 2007, when he signed for Scunthorpe, there’s no doubt that he would have played a key role in our promotion to the Premier League, just a couple of seasons after he left. Having only played 15 games for the club it shows what sort of character he was when you see that he’s still remembered by Stoke fans."

Martin Paterson came through the academy at Stoke City but never managed to break through into the first team on a regular basis. He played just 15 times for the Potters before moving to Scunthorpe where he had a successful season scoring 13 goals in 40 games for the Championship side. That record earned him a £1.3M move to Burnley where he then helped them to promotion into the Premier League. His time there has been blighted by injuries, but he has still been fairly successful scoring 20 goals for the club so far since he's been there.  He'd add some pace to the Stoke front line, but with Jonathan Walters and Cameron Jerome already there along with Ricardo Fuller, Kenwyne Jones and Peter Crouch he would find opportunities very few and far between.

Player 3

Peter Thorne - Striker

1997 - September 2001

"I’ve been looking forward to writing about this man, if you asked me who my all time favourite Stoke player was; it would definitely be Peter Thorne. He scored 65 goals, including the winner that sealed our victory at Wembley in the ‘Football League Trophy’, then called the ‘Auto Windscreen Shield’. In his final season for Stoke, the season that saw him controversially leave for Cardiff City, he scored 4 goals in 5 games before bidding farewell for a lucrative contract in South Wales, who knows what may have happened that season had he stayed with us. Despite the circumstances with which he left, he’ll always be a hero and he proved his love for Stoke when after scoring a hatrick for Cardiff against us he decided not to celebrate. I’d welcome him back with welcome arms; there is only one Peter Thorne!"

Peter Thorne is a cult-hero when it comes to Stoke City. His four years at the club produced 80 goals in 187 games before a £1.8M move to Cardiff took place. He scored the goal that won Stoke the Auto Windscreen Cup at Wembley and is the club's "Famous Number 9". He was an excellent all round striker and became known for his goalscoring instincts in the penalty area, a "fox in the box" if you will. He'd add some clinical finishing to Stoke's game, but he'd find it hard to displace Peter Crouch or Jonathan Walters from the starting line-up.

CONCLUSION

HANNAH BURROWS

"Choosing between the three I'd say Peter Hoesktra, simply because we desperately need competition for wingers right now. We have a good basis of strikers with Crouch and Jerome signing along with the imminent return of Ricardo Fuller. He'd add flare to our team and like I said previously, defenders would fear him. Although he's now in a coaching role, I'm sure he'd pull on the famous red & white again!"

DMF

I think between the three, the obvious choice if Peter Hoekstra. The big Dutchman possessed lots of skill down the wing and add to that his physique, he'd be an excellent fit into the current Stoke setup. I don't think he'd be first choice for Tony Pulis, but he could definitely be someone to bring on when things need to change and I don't think Stoke would mind having a bit more competition for the wide places in their squad.

Do you agree with the choices @HBscfc made? Let us know in the comments section or on Twitter.

DMF (@dmf180593)