In a shock move, Chris Powell has gone back to Charlton on a one-year contract. He explains, "I was trying to negotiate a deal [with West Ham] but was actually offered less [salary] than the previous year and I didn't feel that was right after the season I'd had. I feel I played a significant part in helping West Ham win promotion but things didn't work out and I became a free agent. A lot of people thought I was just on loan at West Ham, but I was a West Ham player and looking forward to building on what we achieved last season. I know I couldn't have left on a better note, but I didn't think that the play-off final would be my last for West Ham."

This places West Ham in a very difficult position and you can't help but think that they've shot themselves in the foot over this one. The only left-backs remaining at the club are Paul Konchesky (ironically, only transferred from Charlton a week ago) and Chris Cohen, and young Cohen has not been seen near the first team for a while now so is presumably not part of Pardew's immediate plans. Whereas with Konchesky and Powell in the picture we had cover for both left-sided positions, and now we have cover for only one of them. Powell might have been 35 but he made a phenomenal 44 appearances for the Irons last season and was one of the key players in the push for promotion. You can't blame him for leaving when West Ham showed him so little respect.

Good luck, Chris, and thanks for all your work for us!