Manager: Glenn Roeder
It's hard to escape the conclusion that, having reluctantly appointed Roeder as Harry Redknapp's successor, the West Ham board is depriving him of support in the expectation that he is somehow bound to fail.
Lampard's sale brought in £11 million, while his departure, along with those of Suker, Pearce and Stimac must have reduced the wage bill by close to £100,000-a-week. Yet, despite some lofty talk (most memorably of Josep Guardiola coming to Upton Park) relatively little of the cash has been reinvested. There are, however, some fine players at the club, most notably Paolo Di Canio, Trevor Sinclair and Frederic Kanoute, as well as rising stars like Joe Cole and Michael Carrick. But if things do start getting tough, then the Italian may quickly become a disruptive influence.
In: Sebastien Schemmel (Metz, £470,000); David James (Aston Villa, £3.5m), Laurent Courtois (Toulouse, free). Total £3.97m.
Out: Davor Suker (released); Terrell Forbes (QPR, free); Jimmy Bullard (Peterborough United, free); Frank Lampard (Chelsea, £11m); Stuart Pearce (Manchester City, free); Alessandro Zamperini (Portsmouth, free); Stevland Angus (Cambridge United, free); Craig Etherington (released); Amos Foyewa (Bournemouth, free); Stephen Bywater (Wolves, loan); Igor Stimac (Hajduk Split, free), Gavin Holligan (released). Total £11m. Net income: £7m.
Rep of Ireland players: Shaun Byrne.
Last year: Prem: 15th, FAC: QF.
This year: 16th.
Official website: www.whufc.com
Betting: 350-1.
