Some things never change. Head Coaches, Managers may come and go but the ambition comes from the top. [West Ham](https://www.claretandhugh.info/the-worrying-signs-west-hams-substitute-bench-reveals-all/) appear to be repeating the same old mistakes and showing that, despite talking the talk, the reality is that they still don’t walk the walk of a club going places.
First it was seeing ‘old warhorse’ [Aaron Cresswell](https://www.claretandhugh.info/cresswells-heir-apparent/) offered a contract extension in the summer, when we were hoping for a brave new world. Now in a repeat performance it is reported today in _caughtoffside.com_ that 32 year old Vlad Coufal is being offered a contract extension to keep him at the club another year as a permanent understudy to Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Hardly sending a message that West Ham are progressive. Hardly bringing in a youngster from the periphery to build for the future. Keeping Coufal – who has, yes, been a brilliant servant to the club – for another year repeats all of the previous era and keeping ageing, faded players past their sell by dates.
The club seems to confuse player loyalty and player suitability. Coufal deserves praise for his service but needs to be sent to a league more suited to his age and declining pace, not rewarded with another year to block a younger players’ progress. How do West Ham ever expect to manage successions and get out of this ‘oldest squad in the Premier League’ permanent state of decay?
History is destined to repeat itself. Whilst the club will end up with a creaking, thirty-something bench of past-it players there is evidently no real ambition to make this club compete in the upper echelons of the Premier League.
Short term-ism, stop gap solutions and saving money is what it is all about at West Ham. We already have the oldest combination of front line strikers (pictured). Is the club trying to replicate this through the whole team? Maybe we should change our strip to become ‘Claret and Grey”.