According to Sky Sports and Jack Sullivan, West Ham have signed League One defender Roger Johnson on loan until the end of the season. This is a player that doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence, especially in the times that we are in.
After all the talk of us getting Heitinga and also our apparent interest in Lescott, this is somewhat of an anti-climax. Same old West Ham. With all the defensive problems at the moment, I expected a defender to be bought in, however one of better quality. When you ask for a rock in defence you don’t really ask for Johnson.
Let me give you a little insight into Johnson’s footballing career. This is a player that has suffered relegation 3 times, once with Birmingham and twice with Wolves. Let’s hope that isn’t a sign of things to come. This is also a player that Wolves fans are apparently pleased to see the back of, with one fan saying on Twitter; Roger Johnson to West Ham has to be the best January deal so far…please let this happen! Scraping the barrel is an understatement! Another fan also dubbed him as Roger ‘Relegation’ Johnson.
However I guess I might as well try and say something positive about this deal. I feel that although he is a League One player, we still need to give him a chance. We need to not judge him on previous performances, only those in a West Ham shirt. The ones that matter. When our main centre backs are back though I don’t expect him to feature much, if at all.