Saturday, July 28

Web Digest [ West Ham United ] - Tevez

Joorabchian hints at Tevez deal - Sky
By Peter ORourke - Created on 28 Jul 2007

Carlos Tevez's agent believes the player's future could be resolved as early
as next week. The Argentine's proposed move to Manchester United has been
held up after a dispute between West Ham, Manchester United and Tevez's
agent Kia Joorabchian. The transfer has been dragging on all summer and it
seemed unlikely any move would be completed before the start of the season
after Fifa refused to arbitrate on Tevez's contractual situation. As a
result of Fifa's decision Joorabchian's Media Sports Investments group
issued a High Court writ against West Ham United. Manchester United remain
confident they will finally get their man and Joorabchian has hinted an
out-of-court settlement could be reached as early as next week. "There is a
possibility it may get resolved next week," Joorabchian told the Daily Star

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com

Web Digest [ West Ham United ] - 28th July 2007

Lucas is our leader - KUMB
Filed: Friday, 27th July 2007
By: Matthew O'Greel

Australian full-back Lucas Neill has been named as the successor to Nigel
Reo-Coker as club captain. 28-year-old Neill - who only joined the Hammers
in January - was the favourite of many supporters to succeed the outgoing
England under-21 captain; his appointment was confirmed by the club this
afternoon.
Neill, who follows in the steps of greats such as Bobby Moore and Billy
Bonds told whufc.com: "This is a Club with so much great history and so many
great players who have led the team out - and to see my name up alongside
those people is a fantastic feeling. "It's an opportunity that I am going to
relish. I will try to lead by example on and off the field and I promise all
West Ham United supporters that I will lead their team out with immense
pride."

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KUMB Q&A: Alan Curbishley - KUMB
Filed: Friday, 27th July 2007
By: Matthew O'Greel

Gary Jones and Colin Wells met up with Hammers boss Alan Curbishley during
last week's Austrian tour to grill him on behalf of KUMB.com. In the first
part of our exclusive three-part interview - which you can read here - Curbs
talks (amongst other things) about the Great Escape, how he landed the
United job last December and a certain French football manager who made
disparaging comments about the club last week following Julien Faubert's
recent arrival. The second part of KUMB.com's exclusive interview with Alan
Curbishley will follow on Sunday, with the final part due midweek.

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Alan Curbishley: Part One - KUMB
Filed: Friday, 27th July 2007
By: Gary Jones and Colin Wells


Alan Curbishley took time out during the recent pre-season tour of Austria
to talk to Gary Jones and Colin Wells. In the first of a three-part
interview, Curbs talks about the 'Great Escape', Raymond Domenech and a
certain job offer in 2001 ...

KUMB.com: Alan – thanks for agreeing to talk to us. We're going to ask you
some questions about the circumstances of you becoming manager, pre-season,
the run-in last season and expectations for next year.

Alan Curbishley: Yeah, fine.

KUMB: The first question we've got came from one of the supporters - when
the West Ham job came up, did you apply personally for it or did the
chairman come calling?

AC: I was actually doing a Bolton v West Ham game live for Sky, and
obviously West Ham got beat 4-0. That was a Saturday night. I went out to
dinner that night with my elder brother, who was over in London, and got
back late in the early hours of Sunday morning.

As we left the restaurant, "God", he said, "West Ham are having a bit of a
hard time - if anything happens there you might get a phone call!" We just
laughed about it, you know, didn't think too much of it. Then, about half
past ten on Monday morning, I had a phone call - and it was Scott Duxbury.

I knew Paul Aldridge and I knew Terry Brown, but I didn't know Scott
Duxbury. I never returned the call and he phoned again and said "I'm Scott
Duxbury, Chief Executive for West Ham and I want to talk to you." And then
the news broke; I think it was about 11 o'clock, Monday morning.

So I phoned him back and he said "we're looking for a manager, Alan Pardew
has left the club, would you be interested?" And it went from there. So it
was about Monday morning when I first heard about it, after the Bolton game.
We got together Monday night and it proceeded from there.

There had been previous contact [with West Ham] when Harry [Redknapp] left,
which was a big surprise to everybody - least of all me, because I knew he
was on the verge of signing a new four year contract. I was at Charlton at
the time and also on the verge of signing a new contract; in the end I
decided to stay at Charlton.

There was a bit of talk that perhaps West Ham would be interested but I
think Steve McLaren came into the picture a little bit and I felt that, you
know, I had a bit more to do at Charlton really and decided that I was going
to honour the contract that I had agreed. I hadn't signed it, by the way,
but I agreed it in the end and stayed at Charlton.

I met Scott and Eggert on that Monday evening and it was like going on a
blind date - I had never met Scott before and obviously I had never met
Eggert before.

KUMB: So what were your initial thoughts after you got the phone call? When
did you think 'yep, this is it?'

AC: Well, my initial thought was that I'd let it go once - and I wasn't
going to let it go again. That was the first thing. I had resigned myself to
the fact that I was another year off, you know, I'd done six months and in
all fairness I couldn't see anything coming up that would have been
attractive.

I know West Ham were going through a bad time but I didn't think anything
would happen there, bearing in mind what had happened in previous seasons. I
didn't think that there'd be a change so it was a surprise when it happened.
But when they contacted me and said that there was a vacancy, that's when I
decided to talk to them.

KUMB: Did you receive any other job offers?

AC: Yes I did, yeah. I had opportunities to talk to two Premiership clubs.

KUMB: Can you name them?

AC: Not really! But obviously there were vacancies in the summer. That
summer it was quite strange, there were four vacancies I think - Charlton,
Newcastle, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. There were four clubs that didn't
have a manager which was a big percentage of the Premiership, if you like.
It doesn't normally happen like that but I wanted to take the break, I
wanted to have at least six months off so I felt …

KUMB: Well, it was the best part of 15 years with Charlton wasn't it, more
than that …

AC: 16 years - one as a player/coach and the other fifteen as a manager. I
just felt I'd reached a situation where I needed to leave and they needed to
move on. It was amicable when I left . But as I say, I didn't see anything
happening - even though West Ham were having a bad time, I still didn't see
anything happening there. I looked at other clubs that might be attractive
but thought I'd be going into Christmas having my first Christmas at home.

KUMB: I think that was the general consensus from all of us. Although we
were on a bad run we didn't feel there was going to be a change - we didn't
see it coming.

AC: No. You know, when you find yourself in the bottom three, you have to
get out round about Christmas because if you don't then it's a struggle.
Once you're in for that half a season then it's difficult to get out. You
know, you can win a couple of games and then lose a couple and you go
straight back in it again. It's very difficult to get out of it.

I never really asked the reasons why there was a vacancy. I signed Alan
Pardew as a player; he was one of my first ever signings at Charlton and he
was with me for four years. Over the years he had done a bit of scouting for
us and we'd been together on Charlton vet football matches etc. - and we
were close. So I didn't think anything was going to happen there - but these
things do happen.

KUMB: Following on from that, as a lifelong Hammer, you must have been
delighted about the job?

AC: Yeah. I mean, I did look at it coldly and just on a pure football thing
- forget anything else …

KUMB: Was it hard to do a job like that?

AC: No - I divorced myself from it because I know how difficult it is when
you are in the bottom three.

West Ham had played 17 games and had 14 points, so they needed to get to 40
points - 26 points from 21 games, which sounds easy enough but it's not. I
looked at the fixtures and I looked at the squad. I hadn't seen West Ham
play live that year but I'd seen games on TV and knew that there was enough
there to stay up. That was my first thought, that there was enough there to
stay up. The one thing I didn't take into consideration was the
responsibility of the job …

KUMB: Yeah, I can remember you saying that …

AC: As a player, and as an opposing player, and as an opposing manager I
know what West Ham's all about. But I didn't realise until I actually got
inside how much it means, and the responsibility of being the manager. It
wasn't a shock, but I quickly realised that this was a different set of
rules I was working under.

KUMB: Did you ever think 'what have I done?' at any point after you arrived?
Did you ever consider quitting?

AC: No. I think the Charlton game was my lowest point on that run. Not
because it was Charlton - that was secondary - but because of the
performance against a team that was in trouble with us. It was a massive
game - when you are in the bottom three or four the games against teams
around you are massive. We lost to Watford and Charlton on the spin - and
that was my lowest point …

KUMB: I think it was for us as well …

AC: But I never, ever thought anything other than that we were going to get
out of it. It was tough, I must admit - but I never thought that there was
any other way to go about it.

My biggest problem was that I was learning about the players in the first
team. Nothing we tried seemed to work; we brought players in and they got
injured straight away. The whole thing was never settled.

If you look at it, the only time it was settled was from the Tottenham game
onwards. There were only two changes to the team thereafter -Yossi Benayoun
and Matthew Etherington. The rest stayed the same for the [last] ten games
which made a big difference.

From the first game it was constantly changing and we were getting
inconsistent team performances, inconsistent team selections and
inconsistent results. But the one thing that was consistent - and I'm not
saying this to butter anyone up - was the fans. It was quite easy to turn
off but they still turned up in numbers home and away.

So for me the lowest point, for sure, was the Charlton game. But funnily
enough the turning point was the Tottenham game, the next game up.

KUMB: So not the result at Blackburn?

AC: No - I saw more in the Tottenham game than I had seen before.

I was really pleased with the Man United and Fulham performances as I
thought we had lift off. We had two home games coming up, Portsmouth and Man
City and I thought 'we've got a chance here, if we can just nick a win it
will get us out of the bottom three'. But we lost both of them, then we went
to Reading …

But no, it was the Tottenham game where Tevez got his first goal. There were
lots of good performances; Noble coming into the team, Lucas Neill coming
back, Upson played - and went out again. We had a bit about us, you know,
and didn't deserve to lose.

It was the first time I could go to the next game without making loads of
changes. I think if you look at the side that played in the run-in, it's
seven changes. No disrespect to those who played but it was seven changes to
the Charlton team, and it was the first time in that run in that I could
keep a settled side.

Along with that came better performances. But it was the Tottenham game. I
know we got done in the last five minutes, and I think a lot of people
thought that was it; you know, a lot of people around me …

KUMB: A point wasn't good enough - is that why you went for it?

AC: The players went for it, I didn't go for it. But if you look at it, in
the last minute we had a corner and everyone went up for it - and we got
done on the break. But you know, that was the turning point because I was
driving home from that game thinking they've shown me some of the things
that everyone's been saying about them.

We had had no luck up until the Blackburn game - no luck whatsoever. We had
beaten Fulham with ten men in the 95th minute, we were beating Newcastle 2-0
then had the Scotty Parker offside decision - everything what could go wrong
was going wrong. But that's the first time I came out of a game with some
positives.

KUMB: I would like to say a big sincere thanks from at least one supporter
for saving our skins last season. I think you said that you know players
didn't get enough credit because of the media etc and therefore we'd like to
thank you …

AC: Well, I don't look back on it as a triumph. I mean, I've got two really
good friends who are mad West Ham fans and I was sort of left alone when I
was the Charlton manager - but we go out regular and I could see what it
meant to everybody. But I couldn't take too much out of it because my finger
was on a lot of it - do you understand what I'm saying?

I had 21 games to get those points so I couldn't take pleasure from it. I
wouldn't say it was a miracle, but to win seven out of nine was just
incredible …

KUMB: Champion League's form?

AC: Yeah. Obviously we had some tough games where we tactically deserved to
win, but I thought we started making our own luck a little bit - and that is
what happens when you start playing regular and results start going for you.
You seem to get a bit of luck; when it's going poorly for you, you get no
luck.

In that run-in we got a bit of luck but we got the consistency in team
selection and once we had found something … I mean, I don't think any of us
could forget Wigan - the players will never forget Wigan …

KUMB: I don't think Eddie will either, we saw him afterwards …

AC: Yeah, I heard about that! But for me it started with the Alan Ball
thing. I don't think the Wigan fans knew what was happening - there were 6
or 7,000 West Ham fans and they started singing 'Alan Ball'.

But you can call it whatever you want - the great escape, a miracle … all I
think is that it happened and it's resigned to history. We came fifth from
bottom or whatever it was, we're a Premiership club and whatever went on
before is gone.

The interesting thing for me is that apart from Lucas Neill it was the same
players in most of those games in the run-in. It just showed you perhaps not
all West Ham fans were thinking, you know, how are we in this mess when
we've got these players?

KUMB: Yeah, the same ones that got us to a Cup Final …

AC: The same ones.

In the play-off years I came and watched a few games. In the Championship
they were pressurised games, especially playing at Upton Park where you are
expected to win every week. It wasn't going so well, but they got to the
play-off final and lost it - then won it the following year. Then they had a
great season and got to an FA Cup Final. So big games weren't a problem for
these players.

What was a problem was those in for a spin - because we'd never lost four on
a spin. In the last four years, two seasons in the old first division, if
you like, and two years in the Premiership, they never went four games on
the spin without a win - because you don't do that in the first division.

But in the Premiership you do, and it's hard to get out of it. I don't think
the players had the know-how to get out of it. Before I came I think they
went eight games on the spin and didn't score a goal. When I look at the
players now I think they've been through it a bit, and I'm hoping it's going
to hold them in good stead.

I don't expect seven [wins] out of nine to start with next year but the
players have been through the mill and they're still young. If you look at
Lucas he's one of the oldest in the squad; the rest of them are young and
that's what I've been saying all along - that I wanted players in between
the young talent just to bring them through – players like Collinson.

KUMB: Collinson played the other day?

AC: Yeah, and we've got some good kids coming through.

I was on holiday when West Ham got beat in the Cup Final. But I knew the
next year was going to be different.

KUMB: Second year syndrome …

AC: Well, Wigan had it; when I was with Charlton we went up with Ipswich,
Charlton finished ninth and Ipswich finished fifth - the next season
Charlton finished ninth and Ipswich went down …

KUMB: That's right …

AC: That second year is difficult - you're not an unknown quantity. In the
first year you know the players who you are playing against but they don't
know who they're playing against. It's a little bit different in the second
year.

When Keith Peacock came over to join Pards I had a brief conversation with
him and I said ' you have got to realise that last year was last year'. I
think a lot of people left their thoughts at the Millennium, and when they
came to pre-season they were still thinking of Cup Finals when they should
have been thinking about Charlton first game.

It was a learning curve for everybody and I think that we've got some ardent
players now. The Ferdinands of this world have been through the mill in the
last three or four years - hopefully it will hold them in good stead.

KUMB: Whose idea was it to come to Austria?

AC: I always go away for a week somewhere pre-season. I'm big on pre-season,
I like to train hard and over the years I've not lost too many players in
pre-season. If I have lost a player it's been in circumstances that you
can't control. If we had lost someone with a groin, thigh or hamstring I
could probably say we pushed them too hard - but Faubert's Achilles …

KUMB: Do you know how long he'll be out for?

AC: Christmas. Someone did text me saying 'well what else can go wrong?' You
sign a player to then lose him for six months. Quashie is still out after he
got injured against Spurs, Davenport had five weeks out … it happens, you
know, but you've just got to get on with it. [Faubert] made a big impression
on everybody in the two weeks [before his injury] because of his aggression
and his fitness levels.

KUMB: We saw him at Dagenham, he looked quick and strong.

AC: I'd say he was a cross between Trevor Sinclair and Steve Stone.

He's an attacking midfield player, and he's played a lot at right-back so he
understands the game. It's a big hit for us but we've just got to move on
and hopefully he will recover.

KUMB: What did you make of the comment by the French national manager about
Faubert being stupid to sign?

AC: He had a couple of clubs he could have gone to – Rangers, and Roma I
think. But he chose West Ham. We were delighted with that - but these things
happen, don't they …

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Neill to skipper Hammers
By Lewis Rutledge - Created on 27 Jul 2007

Lucas Neill has spoken of his excitement after learning he will be West Ham
captain this season. Alan Curbishley has been deciding who to give the
armband to since Nigel Reo-Coker left for Aston Villa and has plumped for
the Australian. Neill, who joined The Hammers from Blackburn in January, is
relishing the challenge of taking on such a key role. He told Sky Sports
News: "I arrived back last night from Asian Cup duty and the boss gave me
the news this morning, "I'm delighted and it's a great honour at a club like
this. One of the reasons I came here was to play an important part."
Neill admits he was shocked to return from Asia to find that Carlos Tevez's
future was still uncertain. He doubts Tevez will end up staying at West Ham
but paid tribute to the striker for his achievements last season. "I was
very surprised to come back and find we're still in the Carlos Tevez
circus," said Neill. "He's a great player and I wish him the very best."
West Ham struggled from the start last term and Neill concedes the first
couple of months of the new season will be crucial this time around. "It's
important we get off to a good start this season and look up rather than
down," he explained. "It looks healthy. We've just got to steer clear of
injuries and have a little bit of luck."

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Three-way fight to sign Newcastle's Dyer -Soccernet

Newcastle were today awaiting developments over midfielder Kieron Dyer's
future as a three-way fight for his signature began. The 28-year-old England
international was withdrawn from the squad for last night's 4-1 friendly
victory over Celtic as manager Sam Allardyce protected the club's asset.
However, it is understood Tottenham have joined West Ham in registering an
interest in the player, while reports have suggested Manchester City boss
Sven-Goran Eriksson, who knows the player well from his time as national
team boss, is ready to make his move. Newcastle were insisting earlier today
that no bid has yet been received, but as they monitor a difficult
situation, it seems Dyer could have played his last game for the club as an
eight-year stay draws to a close. The Hammers, who earlier this summer paid
Liverpool £7.5million for the midfielder's close friend Craig Bellamy,
emerged as potential purchasers last week, while Tottenham's interest in him
is long-standing. Both clubs would meet the criterion of being closer to
Dyer's family home in Ipswich, the motivation for a move away from St James'
Park. That, however, could not be said of City, and there would be raised
eyebrows on Tyneside if that came about. Dyer's valuation could yet prove a
stumbling block with his well-documented fitness and health problems a
consideration. However, at his best, he is an international-class player and
the Magpies will not be keen to let him leave for a knock-down price - they
paid Ipswich £6million for his services during the summer of 1999 -
especially in the current climate of hugely-inflated transfer fees. That
said, getting his weekly wage packet of in excess of £80,000 off the books
would free up extra cash. Should Dyer leave the club, that would leave
Allardyce needing to find a suitable replacement, and with Nicky Butt having
picked up an injury in last night's game and Emre and Damien Duff still on
the sidelines, that would inject fresh urgency into his search for further
signings. Allardyce's focus has been on his back four in recent days,
although he is yet to make the breakthrough. He is chasing a series of
targets with proven quality and experience the main requirements, and for
that reason, is not in the market for want-away West Brom star Curtis
Davies. Steven Taylor earned his manager's wrath for needlessly aggravating
an ankle injury last night, although the damage is not thought to be too
serious. However, while Allardyce has high hopes for the 21-year-old, he
wants to surround him with old heads. He said: 'I am looking for experienced
defenders. I have Steven Taylor, who is a very, very young and very, very
good prospect, and I would put Curtis Davies alongside Steven Taylor. 'They
are both in their early 20s and in the Premiership, that would be the wrong
thing to do. 'Somebody with more experience needs to be brought in as well
as David Rozehnal, who has been pretty impressive in the time he has been
here. 'Peter Ramage did a terrific job in the first half with Paul
Huntington gaining more experience. 'I have got Huntington, Steven Taylor
and Peter Ramage - I don't need the inexperience of Curtis Davies, as good a
player as he is. 'He is definitely a Premiership player, but I need more
experience in there in those positions to achieve the clean sheets we would
be looking for in the Premiership.'

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Lucas Neill named as West Ham captain - Telegraph
By Marc Isaacs
Last Updated: 12:57am BST 28/07/2007

Lucas Neill says he is honoured to become the captain of West Ham and hopes
it will finally silence his detractors. Neill was criticised last January
after he rejected a move to Liverpool and opted for a move to east London,
although West Ham were facing a relegation battle. Doubters suggested the
Australian international chose Upton Park because of the £60,000 a week
salary he was reportedly offered. But Neill hopes he showed his commitment
by fighting his way back from injury to help keep the club in the Premier
League. Neill, who is also captain of Australia, said: "Being announced as
the captain shows I was always going to be part of this team. It wasn't ever
promised, but I was told I would be important. "If I was only joining for
money, I would have sat on the sidelines and just picked up my wages. I
didn't do that. I got in the trenches and helped dig us out."
Despite the signing of Craig Bellamy from Liverpool and the possible arrival
of Kieron Dyer from Newcastle, Neill is confident he can control all the
players in the dressing-room. He said: "If people step out of line, then
we're open to criticism and will push each other to greater heights."

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I'll be captain grumpy if I have to, says Hammers' defender Neill - This Is
London
27.07.07
Add your view

Lucas Neill, criticised last January for snubbing Liverpool to join West Ham
cash, rounded on his critics yesterday by showing off his newly-won
captain's armband. Australia skipper Neill, fresh from Asian Cup duty, was
the surprise choice of West Ham manager Alan Curbishley ahead of midfielder
Scott Parker.
Neill promised a rowdy dressing room with plenty of heated discussion if
things go wrong. The former Millwall and Blackburn full back said: "I got a
lot of stick for agreeing to join West Ham but I think my decision has been
vindicated. The captaincy wasn't ever promised but I was told I would be
important. "If I'd only joined for the money, I'd have sat on the sidelines
last season, let the others get on with it and picked up my wages. "I didn't
do that. I was in the trenches and helped get us out. Now I'm hoping the
gamble comes good because the chairman is ambitious and the manager is
hungry. We want to achieve much bigger and better things. "I only got back
on Thursday night from Asia and in the morning the manager called to ask if
I was ready to train. He said he was going to announce me as captain. I
didn't take much in for the next minute because it was so overwhelming."
Then, emphasising that he will not back down from a row if he thinks it is
necessary, he added: "I prefer a noisy dressing room, as long as it's
constructive and positive. "I'll lead on the training ground and not take
second best. I have to keep everyone believing. I'll just be an Aussie!"
Curbishley said: "He has all the qualities needed to captain a club of this
stature."

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You can kick me up the bum - the Sun
By PAT SHEEHAN
July 28, 2007

LUCAS NEILL has been installed as West Ham's new captain — and expects
team-mates to give him a kick up the backside if he is not doing the biz.
The Aussie skipper got the nod ahead of fellow national captains Freddie
Ljungberg of Sweden and Craig Bellamy of Wales. Hammers boss Alan Curbishley
also chose him ahead of new signing Scott Parker, who was Newcastle skipper.
After taking over from Nigel Reo-Coker, who has moved to Aston Villa, Neill
said: "It's fine if people kick me up the bum because I'm not always going
to be perfect all the time . . . I'm going to have some bad games. "As long
as we stick together we'll be okay and that's the message I want to get
across — we have to stick together in the dressing-room. "If people step out
of line, then we're open to each other's criticism and to push each other to
greater heights. The more leaders we've got, the more people know how to win
games. "I've been captain a few times before so like to think managers like
my attitude and the way I try to play the game with a bit of passion. "There
are a few leaders in this team so I'm sure we'll be relying on a few of us
rather than just one. "I prefer a noisy dressing room to a quiet one, as
long as it's a constructive and positive noise. "I can't see it being overly
aggressive or too much feuding but I think behind the scenes the mood will
be determined with a lot of winners. "As for me, I'll lead on the training
ground and not take second best. Not in a ranting, raving way, just give
people constructive criticism . . . I'll just be an Aussie! "Being captain
is a massive honour for me. Some huge names have led this club. To be on
that list is phenomenal. "Bobby Moore was obviously one of the most famous
captains in the history of the game and I know I'm nowhere near his level,
but to be given this honour is truly something special. It's an opportunity
you never usually dream of getting."
Neill was accused of joining relegation-threatened West Ham last season only
for the money but believes he has knocked that idea on the head. He added:
"I think my decision has been vindicated to some extent. I don't need to
prove anything to anybody. If I was only joining for money, I would have sat
on the sidelines at the end of last season and just picked my wages up. I
didn't do that, though, I got in the trenches and helped dig us out of
trouble. "Now I'm hoping the gamble comes good because chairman Eggert
Magnusson is ambitious and the manager is hungry. We want to achieve much
bigger and better things this season."

p.sheehan@the-sun.co.uk

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Skipper Neill in Euro cry - The Mirror
By James Nursey 28/07/2007

Lucas NEILL last night vowed to lead West Ham into Europe after being named
as the Hammers new captain. Aussie international Neill, 29, played a
starring role last season helping Alan Curbishley's side stay in the
Premiership by winning eight of their last nine games. Curbishley, who paid
Blackburn £1.5million for the star in January, has rewarded the
£60,000-aweek defender with the armband for his no-nonsense attitude and
will to win. Neill, who succeeds Nigel Reo-Coker, is thrilled and hopes to
join an illustrious group of other successful club captains including Bobby
Moore and Billy Bonds "It is a huge honour as some huge names have led this
team like Bobby Moore," said Neill, ahead of the Hammers' opening
Premiership game against Manchester City at Upton Park in two weeks. "To be
given the captaincy is just overwhelming. "I want to pay West Ham back for
the desire they showed to sign me. Some people said I was just coming for
the money but this proves I am going to be an important part of this team.
"The chairman is ambitious and we are hoping to achieve a lot bigger and
better things this year."

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