This week marked the seven-year anniversary of Gold and Sullivan’s West Ham takeover (back in 2010 I suggested they be addressed as ‘David squared’ but thus far, neither have replied to my letters.)

In marital terms, it is their wool anniversary and they certainly used plenty of that to pull over Hammers fans’ eyes in the summer. Expectation was that a big money striker would be parachuted in to spearhead the club’s assent up the table set to the backdrop of the Olympic Stadium.

Optimistic whispers of “Lacazzette” and “ Bacca” filled pubs up and down East London whilst Andy Carroll frantically Googled how to transform himself into an unbreakable bionic man through fear of being put out to pasture.

The reality was all too familiar with loan moves for Simone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri befitting of any ‘Reality vs. Expectation’ meme and if Calleri’s move to Las Palamas goes ahead, then both will have been in and out as quickly as a sour plum.

Ashley Fletcher was also brought in on a free from Manchester United and despite early promise, he certainly wasn’t the big name the fans had expected to see tread the same ground as Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill, albeit from a hundred miles away in row ZZZ.

One look at the statistics reveal that West Ham’s striker dilemma runs far deeper than simply bringing in an exotic name - they need any name, just as long as he can count to ten. Double digits by a striker in a single season is a feat achieved only by Diafra Sakho since the Gold/Sullivan takeover but even he took until November 27th - or any other West Ham striker for that matter - to notch up a single goal this campaign.

Big Andy Carroll is capable of glimpses of brilliance but his talents are often restricted to beating his Tetris score from a physio table. Even when fit, he certainly isn't the long term solution unless "causing problems" and "being a nuisance" in the box are structurally integral components to the 'West Ham Way' blueprint.

Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that a staggering 31 strikers have been bought under the current regime and have only managed 128 goals in 643 games collectively – 14 of those never scored at all.

Curiously, the Hammers were the Premier League’s fourth highest scorers last season, which can be attributed to the squads' ability to spread the goal-scoring burden evenly. An effective game plan, no doubt, but a dangerous one aided with the knowledge that the man responsible for a large portion of that tally last term, Dimitri Payet, seems hell bent on returning to his homeland.

A move to Marseille could be seen - and fairly, in some quarters - as a pretty unambitious one but it is a want that only serves to underpin the frustrations surrounding a club that has been misfiring up top for a number of years. In fact, not a single striker has managed as much as 20 goals in a season since the birth of the Premier League.

Demba Ba is the standout exception to an otherwise underwhelming list of recruitments spanning the last seven years, but his arrival came too little too late as the club were relegated to the Championship that year and reluctantly forced to watch him board the 0752 Virgin Express to Newcastle.

For every talk of a Van Nistelrooy there’s a Mido, for every Enner Valencia in August there’s an Enner Valencia in March and for every hint of evolution as Carlton Cole walks out the door, he walks straight back in again.

Everything considered, perhaps their recent bid for Jermain Defoe wasn’t that strange after all.

Either way, it is painfully obvious that should Payet leave this month or in May, the resulting money needs to be invested in a proven striker; one they can build a team around, one with at least five years left in the tank and one that isn’t just a name plucked from thin air one lazy London summer afternoon.

West Ham have the fans, the stadium and the ambition to attract whoever that may be, of that there is no doubt, but Gold and Sullivan need to apply a little patience to a process that should start now.

Only then, can West Ham’s new era get under way.

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