David Moyes’ used to have an expression – the Moyes’ MOT – which he claimed was the personality test he applied to any possible new recruit. It wasn’t just about playing ability but character. The player in question had to leave his ego at the door and fit into the club, work for the team and be a positive pull on the squad or else Moyes didn’t want him.
Quite how those ‘intangibles’ were ever measured isn’t clear. It certainly gave Moyes an all-encompassing ‘out’ if he didn’t rate a transfer target.
Graham Potter has alluded to the same characteristics for West Ham’s recruitment this summer, stating on more than one occasion that “signing the right player for the right price, that fits how you want to play, that fits in the group, that’s the difficult thing” .
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Linked just today – again – in sportwitness.co.uk is defender Oumar Solet who has had his fair share of disciplinary problems in the past: Dumped by Red Bull Salzburg due to “aggravated poor attitude and disciplinary problems” in 2024, (en.77577.com) the undoubtedly talented French defender was once tipped for great things.
Journalist Christoph Nister (tuttoudinese.it) in Italy nailed it: “There were some disciplinary problems in the past – once he didn’t make it to training, he was often late – and the club representatives decided not to have any more problems. Lijnders [the manager] had decided to let him go for free, but then a few months later he was fired”.
West Ham’s board, managers and fans have had enough of dressing room bust-ups for one year. There are enough red flags waving there for Solet to be given a very wide berth this summer!