Paul Goddard has warned new £5m signing Don Hutchison that he
will have to fight for his place in the West Ham midfield.
Glenn Roeder's assistant says that the performances of John Moncur in the opening two games of this season mean that it will be hard to drop the veteran to make way for him.
Echoing Glenn's assessment that he was superb against Leeds, he adds:
"John has done exceedingly well and has trained very hard in the summer.
"He is obviously at the twilight of his career but showed on Saturday he can still perform at that level.
"It is the manager who picks the team, of course, and John has been aware from very early in preseason, when we had a chat, that we were looking for midfield players.
"He fully accepted that because the squad is extremely small - especially in the midfield areas.
"I'm sure he will welcome the signing like everyone does."
Paul said there was immense relief when the deal was announced, explaining:
"We've been working very hard on that and are very pleased it has happened.
"We are looking for someone to complement Michael and Joe and we hope the midfield quartet is going to be a strong factor in our play."
The fact that the club paid a record fee may have raised a few eyebrows, but Paul says:
"You just look at all the transfer fees at the moment and what you can get for your money is frightening.
"We have obviously had to pay top money but we think he fits in to what we need, like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle."
And Paul insists that Don, although he will be 34 when his contract ends, will be worth the investment.
"Players nowadays are getting fitter and fitter, so I don't see a problem," he says.
And he is sure that his temperament and maturity fit the bill.
In Don's own words, he needed "a kick up the backside" when he left the Hammers, and Paul says:
"He is a fiery kind of player who plays with passion, but over the years he has learned to control that.
"I think he is streetwise; he is an experienced player at international level and we hope he
brings that experience to those around him.
"But it is a passionate game and you must play with passion."
Paul hopes there are more signings to come and says:
"We can only keep working to bring in this calibre of player.
"It has been very frustrating that we haven't been able to add to the squad, and losing David James was a body blow."
But he cannot put a timescale on when the next signing might be and adds:
"You never know; when you think it took three weeks of hard work to get to this point with Don, who knows?
"There is no secret about the search for a centre half - we have lost five in the last year and there is a massive need to fill in the gaps.
"But we have worked very hard with Christian and Rigobert in training and I think that has shown in the games."
Don will face one of the recent defensive departees from Upton Park on Saturday, after Igor Stimac made the surprise decision to come out of international retirement and play for Croatia against Scotland.
Glenn Roeder's assistant says that the performances of John Moncur in the opening two games of this season mean that it will be hard to drop the veteran to make way for him.
Echoing Glenn's assessment that he was superb against Leeds, he adds:
"John has done exceedingly well and has trained very hard in the summer.
"He is obviously at the twilight of his career but showed on Saturday he can still perform at that level.
"It is the manager who picks the team, of course, and John has been aware from very early in preseason, when we had a chat, that we were looking for midfield players.
"He fully accepted that because the squad is extremely small - especially in the midfield areas.
"I'm sure he will welcome the signing like everyone does."
Paul said there was immense relief when the deal was announced, explaining:
"We've been working very hard on that and are very pleased it has happened.
"We are looking for someone to complement Michael and Joe and we hope the midfield quartet is going to be a strong factor in our play."
The fact that the club paid a record fee may have raised a few eyebrows, but Paul says:
"You just look at all the transfer fees at the moment and what you can get for your money is frightening.
"We have obviously had to pay top money but we think he fits in to what we need, like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle."
And Paul insists that Don, although he will be 34 when his contract ends, will be worth the investment.
"Players nowadays are getting fitter and fitter, so I don't see a problem," he says.
And he is sure that his temperament and maturity fit the bill.
In Don's own words, he needed "a kick up the backside" when he left the Hammers, and Paul says:
"He is a fiery kind of player who plays with passion, but over the years he has learned to control that.
"I think he is streetwise; he is an experienced player at international level and we hope he
brings that experience to those around him.
"But it is a passionate game and you must play with passion."
Paul hopes there are more signings to come and says:
"We can only keep working to bring in this calibre of player.
"It has been very frustrating that we haven't been able to add to the squad, and losing David James was a body blow."
But he cannot put a timescale on when the next signing might be and adds:
"You never know; when you think it took three weeks of hard work to get to this point with Don, who knows?
"There is no secret about the search for a centre half - we have lost five in the last year and there is a massive need to fill in the gaps.
"But we have worked very hard with Christian and Rigobert in training and I think that has shown in the games."
Don will face one of the recent defensive departees from Upton Park on Saturday, after Igor Stimac made the surprise decision to come out of international retirement and play for Croatia against Scotland.