West Ham Online

Don’t shoot the messenger as still TBC. Supposedly Antonio has had a crash in his Ferrari in Loughton, sounds fairly bad

Message from Antonio:

Every year around this time, I’m asked what I’m grateful for, and every year I’ve struggled to find the right words. But this year, I know exactly what I’m grateful for: being alive.I want to take a moment to acknowledge something I’ve come to realise – I’ve spent so many years taking life for granted. I made plans for the next day, the next year, always assuming tomorrow was guaranteed. I’ve seen close friends pass away, witnessed others face near-death experiences, and even then, I didn’t fully grasp just how precious life is.  What I’ve been through recently has opened my eyes. Life is fragile, and every single moment matters. I’m so grateful to God for giving me the strength to keep going and for allowing me to still be here.To the emergency services, the NHS, The Air Ambulance, everyone at the Royal London and Cromwell Hospitals and everyone from top to bottom at West Ham United FC. The medical team, The board, all of the staff, my teammates and the amazing West Ham fans… I honestly could not have got through this without you. thank you from the bottom of my heart. To my loved ones who stood by my side throughout everything, I can’t express how much you mean to me.  Lastly, to the whole football community, thank you for all the love and support you’ve shown me. It has truly meant the world. I love you all and I am endlessly grateful for every one of you. ❤  Happy New Year – and I’ll be back on that pitch soon.Michail

stubbo-admin wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024, 14:04 Just been confirmed he's been discharged from hospital.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lopetegui pick him for the City game and play him on the right.

Anyone but Kudus

Will he be fit enough by the summer I wonder?

Will see him starring in Strictly no doubt! 

stubbo-admin wrote: ↑31 Dec 2024, 14:04 Just been confirmed he's been discharged from hospital.

Doubt he will play again realistically 
Expect he will move into a media career as a jolly joker Micah Richards type. Get himself into a wheelchair & will be a certainty for a MOTD pundit slot

Just been confirmed he's been discharged from hospital.

I'm fine if the club want to offer him some sort of employment that doesn't count towards any sort of FFP, but to offer any sort of contract for playing purposes before he's fully rehabbed and been scouted is lunacy. He was already slowing down before the crash. The only other time I've seen this before (Charlie Davies), the player came back as a shell of the player he was. He returned to full training 7 months after his accident and having to re-learn how to walk (at the age of 23) .

Insure craPaqueta for 500 million and by him a 2 wheel drive rear engined Porsche. 

Employ Antinio as his chauffeur.

Everyone wins.

If the accident wasn’t his fault, give him a few quid for a year. Yeah he’s rich but this is a team sport and being the sort of chap he is, I think his teammates would respond well to him being looked after by the club.

if he was driving like a loon and caused it, then he should just get by on the millions he has in the bank. Not trying to be a cսnt about it but the two situations are very different and so should be the cost to the club.

stubbo-admin wrote: ↑17 Dec 2024, 09:29 I'd do what we did with Ogbonna. Greatly reduced terms (say 30k per week), and a pay as you play deal (30-40k per appearance) if there is belief he can get back to fitness.

Means he stays around the group while recovering in familiar surroundings and hopefully gets to finally be the impact sub for a season that lets him have a proper send off, and assuming Ings and Fullkrug don't last, finding 3 strikers in one window seems a stretch.

Seems a fair trade off. 

so he’ll be 36 when he gets his second leg back - fucking ridiculous. bloke was on the slippery slope a long time ago and would have fucked off for a payday elsewhere at the end of the season on his terms. 

I'd do what we did with Ogbonna. Greatly reduced terms (say 30k per week), and a pay as you play deal (30-40k per appearance) if there is belief he can get back to fitness.

Means he stays around the group while recovering in familiar surroundings and hopefully gets to finally be the impact sub for a season that lets him have a proper send off, and assuming Ings and Fullkrug don't last, finding 3 strikers in one window seems a stretch.

Seems a fair trade off. 

Ridiculous if we give this moron another contract. 

Nah, he's a mumti millionaire. Continuing to pay him is a slap in the face to fans, especially those that are losing concessions

fraser wrote: ↑12 Dec 2024, 07:50 Would be a ridiculous use of club funds. 

Monsieur merde de cheval" wrote: ↑17 Dec 2024, 01:31

Mad Dog" wrote: ↑12 Dec 2024, 07:32 OK loyalty,

But let's have this right he gets treble the ANNUAL average wage EVERY WEEK

He isn't going to strapped for cash

Meanwhile the club are removing concessions for children and pensioners.

And THAT is what is disgusting

I totally agree with you mad dog regarding the fans.
 Ts 
BUT that's not on Mickey is it ?
you're simplifying and politicising ...

Imo ..The club are doing the right fing for once for a long servant of the club.

​​​​Its  ok to disagree  



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Mad Dog" wrote: ↑12 Dec 2024, 07:32 OK loyalty,

But let's have this right he gets treble the ANNUAL average wage EVERY WEEK

He isn't going to strapped for cash

Meanwhile the club are removing concessions for children and pensioners.

And THAT is what is disgusting

He'll get his wages as normal till the end of this season then suspect he'll be offered a 'small' basic next season on a pay as you play deal should he get back to some kind of fitness before finally saying goodbye I reckon.

In meantime the Club can just let it play out and assess his recovery after leaving hospital till Summer and see whether it's still worth it should his leg resemble a half eaten chicken thigh..

Still lots of discussion around what to do when his contract expires. I fully expected us to be out of pocket and pay his salary whilst he is injured but I'd also expect his car insurance to pay him out for his injuries and loss of earnings. 
Beyond this season I didn't expect us to renew his contract. He has declined as a player and although the media still thinks this guy is a top player and influential we could do better with the salary even if it's to keep our better players. I'd like to think the club would keep him around in some capacity and certainly help him recover as best he can. His spirit and character have had a positive influence on the squad over the years, his performances have given us some special moments. I'd 100% support the club doing something to look after him but not a contract extension of that amount at the cost of progression. 
He will make a decent pundit or podcast host, I've sure he can build a career doing that and inviting old pros on to chat. 

Nice bit in the athletic from Slav:

“I was at home on Saturday scrolling through my phone,” Bilic tells The Athletic. “Then I received an alert about Michail being involved in a car crash. I saw a picture of the car and thought: ‘No way someone can survive that’. The car was completely written off but God saved him. A lot of people have said it’s a miracle, but it was God."

“I haven’t spoken to Michail but I reached out to people at West Ham. They gave me an update and I thanked God he was alive. It’s horrible what happened to him and he has a long recovery ahead. But if anyone can come back from this, it is Michail. I love him like a son. He’s a warrior and that’s just his character.”

“It was always a journey with Michail, not just one moment,” says Bilic. “When I was manager, the fans would always say: ‘Let’s sign a striker’. First we brought (Simone) Zaza, then, after me, they signed (Sebastien) Haller, (Gianluca) Scamacca, but it was always Michail who was the first choice."

“In his second season, we played Manchester City away. Sam Allardyce was the England manager and he called up Michail for the senior squad. After the game, I told Michail and he was super happy. He went with England for their game against Slovakia but he didn’t play. He came back and he was really down. I said: ‘What’s wrong?’. He said he was disappointed he didn’t play. I had to do everything to lift his mood. But that’s Michail for you. He’s super ambitious and driven.”

“When we signed him, the only question I had was why no one else had signed him,” says Bilic. “He was 25 and it seemed like no other club wanted to take a chance on him, but it worked out well for West Ham and I’m proud of what he’s gone on to accomplish. What makes me smile the most is the fact he’s gone on to become a West Ham legend. They tried to say he was just a Championship player and he’s proved them all wrong.”

also, from moyes:

 “He’s been very hard to replace over the last four years,” Moyes tells The Athletic. “He’s done a great job and he’s someone who the fans really appreciate. A lot of the strikers we bought hadn’t been successful but they arrived with good pedigree. I’d converted Marko Arnautovic into a centre-forward and I was confident I could do the same for Michail."

“He scored four goals against Norwich and that kept us up. It was in the middle of covid and from that game, we started to build as a club. I remember me and Alan Irvine (West Ham first-team coach at the time) having a chat after that, saying we have to do something more than (just) avoiding relegation.

“Michail played a big part in our journey of qualifying for Europe and winning the Conference League. I remember me and him had a stand-up (argument) once in the dressing room because I didn’t think he was doing enough. Then, two minutes later, we’re hugging each other. Thankfully, I was often able to get him to respond well to criticism."

i'm not sure moyes can give an answer to anything without including at least a couple of instances of self aggrandisement
 

West Ham's players will visit team-mate Michail Antonio in hospital this weekend as he continues his recovery after a "miracle" escape from a car crash, says manager Julen Lopetegui.

Antonio, 34, had surgery on a lower limb fracture following his accident on 7 December.The Jamaica international had to be released from his car after the incident in Epping, Essex, and was taken to a central London hospital.

"We are going to visit him today or tomorrow," Lopetegui said on Friday."But the main thing is we are happy because he is recovering well.

We are close to him and his family and we wish him the best for the next days."The best news about Michail Antonio was that he was able to talk with us before the [Wolves] match - [because] looking at the car crash, it was one miracle [he was OK]."Now he is strong, he is recovering himself in the next months to be a man first and then a player."

Antonio is expected to remain in hospital for weeks as he recovers from multiple injuries, according to the PA news agency.

The Hammers forward spoke to his team-mates via a video call before they earned an important 2-1 win over Wolves on Monday, having worn 'Antonio 9' shirts before kick-off.Antonio is West Ham's all-time leading scorer in the Premier League, with 68 goals in 268 league appearances.

West Ham return to Premier League action with an away match at Bournemouth on Monday night.

Perhaps send him a Get Well Goals Soon" card, claiming it was lost in the post when first sent?...

the daily mail (sorry) are reporting  that he is expected to be in hospital for weeks, so he seems to be in a very bad way. Prob not the time to kick a man when hes down. For all their faults im sure the club will do the right thing to support his recovery and rehab.

maybe the who fund could send some grapes/ arrange a visit