West Ham Weekly Loan Watch

Welcome back, Hammers, to the very well-known, ubiquitously celebrated, very important, number one loan watch out there: The West Ham Weekly Loan Watch. Bolton Wanderers are still winless, the West Ham first team are still hopeless, and the board is still clueless. Now, let’s get right into it — no time to waste!

Josh Cullen

A loan to Championship club Bolton was promising for arguably West Ham United’s brightest young talent. With Bolton still chasing a win nine matches into the season, though, it seems as if things could have gone better for the Ireland U21 captain. Cullen is getting a lot of development playing full matches in a competitive league, so there’s at least one positive.

Cullen sat as an unused sub in Bolton’s match on Tuesday night after a 3-0 loss to Brentford on Saturday in which Cullen played all 90 minutes. This is not what we want to see.

Some have noticed that Bolton aren’t exactly playing Cullen’s style of football and that this could be contributing to some poor play from the 21-year-old. Our man is very good on the ball, and he’s all about the short passes to get the ball up field. Unfortunately for him, Bolton are playing Fat Sam football, hoofing it up the field, over Cullen’s head, so that he’s not getting the chance to work his magic.

This probably won’t change, as it doesn’t seem likely that a Championship manager for a relegation-bound outfit would change his style of play for a single loanee. When Cullen does get the ball, he’s a force to be reckoned with, and that’s all his parent club really needs to know.

Reece Burke

Reece Burke is in much of the same boat as Cullen. Mr. Burke was on for 62 minutes in Bolton’s loss against Brentford, before being subbed off.

The whole reason that West Ham would send a player out on loan is to have them develop. Bolton manager sitting both Burke and Cullen after a couple of bad showings from the entire team — in which tactics certainly aren’t helping — is not what the club had in mind. It’s Reece Oxford at Reading all over again.

Apparently most of the fans trashing our young fellas are just the loudest — not necessarily the majority. Many are saying that Burke is one of the few positives on a Bolton squad that’s falling apart before our very eyes.

Reece Oxford

Reece still has not featured for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Soon enough he’ll get his shot!

Robert Snodgrass

Snodgrass is, of course, tearing it up at Aston Villa. You know. . . because of course he is.

Slaven Bilic’s “play them anywhere except their natural position” method apparently doesn’t work for everyone.

Snoddy ended Villa’s last game with a goal and an assist. The Scotsman had a good game, sure, but let’s not get carried away. The opponent that he and the rest of his Villa squad took to task? Burton Albion, who are absolute pants. Remember that, board, before you try and bring Snodgrass back for Bilic to abuse his power and put him on the left wing, working with a right foot that’s nonexistent.