Defender Roger Johnson has completed a move to West Ham United on loan from his parent club Wolverhampton Wanders for the rest of the season. The centre-back has fallen out of favour at the Midlands club despite them being in League One, and the former Birmingham man has spent recent times on loan in higher divisions, in order to carry on plying his trade. Johnson has recently ended a loan spell with Championship strugglers Sheffield Wednesday, and has instead completed a temporary switch to The Hammers.
It is no secret that The Owls were working hard to try and extend the 30-year-old’s loan deal at Hillsborough, after a very positive impact since signing temporarily in September. The Yorkshire side had been struggling with a very poor defence prior to his arrival, and whilst it still took them over two months to register a clean sheet (being the last professional English side to do so), Johnson’s appearances definitely showed improvement in the Wednesday side. The former Cardiff player left Hillsborough following the expiration of his loan deal following New Years’ Day’s game at home to Blackpool, which Wednesday won 2-0.
Roger Johnson has often been criticised by fans for his attitude towards the game, and a lack of professionalism at time; however, the defender has struggled with alcohol problems at times – he once allegedly turned up to a training session drunk, only to be sent home again. He is amongst a number of highly-paid Wolves players who were transfer-listed following their relegation from the Championship last season, deemed surplus to requirements given the back-to-back relegations for the Molineux team.
Whilst West Ham are most definitely in a relegation battle this season, after a mixed first-half of the season, some fans will question whether this signing is the right one to keep them up. Roger Johnson has been relegated from the Premier League on two successive occasions, as well as being part of the relegated Wolves side from last season. However, the Englishman has made over 100 Premier League appearances for Wolves and Birmingham City, as well as winning the League Cup with Birmingham in 2011, against Arsenal at Wembley.
The first game Johnson could play in would be this week’s game against Manchester City, in the Capital One Cup semi-final opening leg at the Etihad Stadium. This would be regarded by many as a baptism of fire for the new signing, given City’s fine home form over the past few months, including a 6-0 win over Spurs and a 6-3 triumph against Arsenal. However, with The Blues expected to field a weakened side ahead of the weekend’s trip to Newcastle, Roger Johnson could be a part of the side causing a huge upset on Wednesday night.
