Robert Green is doing well on his fundraising bid to make it a summer to remember after a fine season
06.05.2008
It is not too late for any fans wanting to support Robert Green on his fundraising trip to Africa this summer for the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF).
More than £5,000 has already been raised by the 28-year-old who is aiming to harness the popularity of football as a means of improving the lives of people living in deprived communities. One of the highlights of the trip will be a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, the continent's highest peak. It will be a "physically demanding challenge" but Green said preparation is going well and he will have a holiday in Mexico at the end of the season to "get some altitude training".
There are places available to join Robert on the trip but if you want a more sedate, but equally exciting, way of getting involved why not sign up for the inaugural five-a-side football tournament at the Boleyn Ground? The Boleyn Cup, taking place next Monday 12 May, is limited to 20 teams of eight players and it costs £1,000 per team to enter. The matches will be officiated by professional referees, refreshments will be provided and trophies and prizes will be awarded to the winning teams.
AMREF has more than 600 people working throughout the Africa, attempting to improve the lives of people in some of the harshest and poorest climates in the world. If you would like to sponsor Robert on his climb, or take part in the Boleyn Cup, you can find his page on www.justgiving.com/robertgreenkiliclimb. He added: "It would be great to receive any amount and the more we raise, the more chance there is of seeing me alive and well for the start of next season!"
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Bellamy plans academy in Africa - BBC
West Ham and Wales striker Craig Bellamy plans to build a football academy in Sierra Leone to try to help develop the country's young talent. Bellamy visited the war-torn country last year and was so impressed by the local playing talent that he vowed to help them improve facilities. He has now set up the Craig Bellamy Foundation, which will start to build an academy in the capital Freetown. "Because of the war, children haven't had any opportunity," he said.
"They haven't been thrown a football, they've been thrown a gun. "Now we can give them a chance that their fathers or grandfathers never had. That's the buzz for me. "I'm not looking to find and sell players. I'm not an agent. I want to make it clear that if any player does make it, any fee goes straight back into the academy."
Bellamy has reportedly invested nearly £650,000 of his own money into the foundation and the academy is set to include 14 new leagues and 68 new boys' teams and employ 141 managers and coaches. While improving the country's football is Bellamy's primary motivation, he also hopes the foundation will lead to more youngsters receiving health awareness education.
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KUMB Awards XI - KUMB
Filed: Tuesday, 6th May 2008
By: Staff Writer
Voting in the KUMB.com 2007/08 annual awards has now begun.
This year our annual polls consist of ten categories, full details of which are below. To cast your votes (which should take you no more than 60 seconds), please complete our entry form.
Hot favourites for KUMB.com's Player of the Year include Rob Green, Matthew Upson and George McCartney, whilst our current Young Player of the Year - Mark Noble - will be up against some stiff opposition from the likes of Fred Sears and James Tomkins this time around.
The full list of nominees (excluding Player of the Year, Worst Player and Most Improved Player which feature all squad members) are as follows:
Young Player (21 or under at start of season)
Jack Collison
Mark Noble
Fred Sears
Jonathan Spector
Jordan Spence
Junior Stanislas
Tony Stokes
James Tomkins
Best/Worst Signing
Craig Bellamy
Henri Camara
Kieron Dyer
Julien Faubert
Freddie Ljungberg
Scott Parker
Nobby Solano
Richard Wright
Most Memorable Match
Reading 3-0 (a): a counter-attacking masterclass
Derby 5-0 (a): the biggest away win for 20 years
T*ttenham 1-1 (h): Green's penalty save secures a point
Man Utd 2-1 (h): two late headers win the day
Liverpool 1-0 (h): Noble penalty secures all three points
Blackburn 2-1 (h): Fred Sears grabs the winner on his debut
Derby 2-1 (h): the fans 'boo' a home win
Goal of the Season
Ashton v Everton (a): bullet header
Sears v Blackburn (h): diving header on debut
Upson v Man Utd (h): rose above crowd to head home
Ashton v Fulham (h): glancing near-post header
Cole v Man City (a): close-range overhead kick
Ashton v Middlesbrough (a): piledriver into bottom corner
Parker v Middlesbrough (a): clever turn and curler
Solano v Derby (a): curling free kick into top corner
McCartney v Bolton (h): fierce volley into top corner
Bellamy v Reading (a): counter-attack, finishes across keeper
Etherington v Reading (a): counter attack, into roof of net
Ashton v Man Utd (a): overhead kick into top corner
Biggest Disappointment
Atmosphere (or lack of) at the Boleyn Ground
Booing of our own players
Curbishley's negative tactics
FA Cup exit to Man City
Unprecedented injury situation
Lack of goals scored
Losing Carlos Tevez
Mysterious departure of Eggert Magnusson
No signings in January transfer window
Post-Christmas slump in form
Season being effectively over by March
Three consecutive 4-0 defeats
Hackett of the Year
Darren Bent (chose Sp*rs and spent the season on the bench)
Oliver Holt (purveyor of anti-WHU propaganda)
Kia Joorabchian (claimed he is owed £7m+ by WHU)
Eggert Magnusson (former MD with big ideas)
Kevin McCabe (Sheff Utd chairman who couldn't let it lie)
Miranda Nagalingum (WHU press officer who banned KUMB from press conferences)
Neil Warnock (Crystal Palace nee Sheffield United manager)
Once again, you can cast your votes by completing our entry form here. All previous poll results can be found here.
2006/07 KUMB.com Winners
Player of the Year: Carlos Tevez
Young Player of the Year: Mark Noble
Best Signing: Carlos Tevez
Goal of the Season: Mark Noble v Bolton (h)
Most Improved Player: James Collins
Most Memorable Match: 1-0 Man Utd (a)
Worst Player: Nigel Quashie
Worst Signing: Matthew Upson
Biggest Disappointment: Failing to build on the successes of 05/06
Hackett of the Year: Dave Whelan (Chairman, Wigan Athletic)
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Bellamy reveals academy plans - SSN
Welshman invests to help Sierra Leone
Last updated: 6th May 2008
Craig Bellamy has announced plans to set up a football structure in war-torn Sierra Leone. The West Ham striker visited the country last summer and the Craig Bellamy Foundation is now set to start the construction of an academy in the capital Freetown. Bellamy's plans will incorporate 14 new league and 68 new boys' teams, giving employment to 141 managers and coaches. The project, which has been welcomed by Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma, will go beyond football with boys' teams picking up extra points for fair play, school attendance and helping in the community. Sierra Leone has the worst child mortality figures in the world but Bellamy hopes the foundation will lead to more youngsters receiving health awareness education. The Welshman has so far invested £650,000 of his own money into the foundation but he insists he is not in it for personal gain. "I'm not looking to find and sell players," Bellamy told The Times.
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And now the end is near ... KUMB
Filed: Tuesday, 6th May 2008
By: Gary Kruse
So here we are then, at the end of another eventful roller coaster of a season at West Ham United.
Next weekend's game against the Villa marks the end of a tumultuous, turbulent, topsy turvy season that has seen West Ham do…not an awful lot actually.
In truth, this season has been about as turbulent as a frozen mill pond. In fact, it's been frustrating in its blandness. We've been sitting comfortably in a mid-table league of our own since about the thirteenth game of the season. We've not even bothered to flirt with relegation. We could have had a decent cup-run, but the minute we met quality opposition, we went crashing out.
And whilst we paid lip-service to the idea of chasing a UEFA Cup place, the players apparently took a long hard look at what it would take to achieve that goal and decided to think about their holidays instead. It's been so tedious since Christmas that we've even started calling ourselves Charlton.
The worrying thing about the Charlton tag is that it accurately sums up the kind of season we've had. Whilst we strove for the magical forty point target that almost certainly guarantees Premier League survival we played like lions. Who can forget the 5-0 thrashing of Derby, the 3-0 slaughter of Reading and that glorious hat-trick victory over Manchester United. We even came from a goal down in that one! Glorious days. The future looked bright.
But once safety was all but assured, we seemed to stop playing. Oh for sure, there have been some fantastic moments in the second half of the season. Young Freddie Sears scoring on his debut, and celebrating with crossed arms immediately springs to mind, as does Carlton Cole's overhead strike at Manchester City.
But for the most part it's been insipid, tedious and utterly devoid of anything resembling passion. It almost made you long for a good ol' fashioned relegation scrap. Now, with one game to go, the biggest issue to be settled is will we finish above the Spuds? Forgive me for my negativity, but that's hardly a nail-biting conclusion to the season.
Curbs has had his detractors, but to be fair to him, the aim this season was stability. We've certainly had a lot of that. Win, lose or draw, we've barely moved in mid-table. An almost unprecendent injury list hasn't helped matters and Curbishley has to take some credit for putting together a makeshift side that has still managed to avoid the lower reaches of the table. And although the performances in recent months have left a lot to be desired, there have been some positives that can be taken from the season.
For a start we've managed to blood some of the Academy boys. Freddie Sears became a cult hero with his debut goal, and Jack Collison and James Tomkins have both featured in the side more than once over the last few months. Mark Noble has continued to develop steadily. Carlton Cole reacted well to the early season boo-boys and has managed to earn the respect of the Hammers faithful. Rob Green has finally won a place in the England squad, and Dean Ashton has found his scoring boots again.
So overall, it's a case of job done, and lets look forward to next season. The Icelandic masters must surely be pleased with the progress and one would hope that they would use this stability as a springboard to build a squad capable of challenging for a Uefa Cup spot.
Unfortunately there are some worrying rumours flying around at the minute that suggest it may be a summer of déjà vu for Hammers fans.
Curbs has said that there will be no big name signings this summer. There is talk of trimming the wage bill and quite rightly so, considering most of the squad players never even make the bench. More worryingly though, Dean Ashton and Rob Green are yet to sign new contracts, and if you believe everything you read in the red-tops, the Big Four are sniffing around again.
Curbs has said he would like to tie Green and Ashton into new deals, but will he actually be able to? Only time will tell, but we now face the first big test of the Icelandic ambition.
We've always had a reputation as a feeder club. We have at least five ex-players who may well feature in the Champions League final later this month. I'm sure I won't be the only Hammers fan wondering what might have been had we kept the likes of Rio and Tevez, Carrick and Cole, not to mention Lampard.
But when the Icelandic consortium took over, we were led to believe that we would no longer need to sell our best players. We were told that there was a five year plan for Champions League football. There was talk of new training facilities and a new ground. Even the official website calls it a new beginning.
If this is a new beginning, then the powers that be need to make a statement to the fans and ensure that we don't loose Green or Ashton, or any of our other up and coming young talents.
On the other hand, if we do end up selling Ashton and Green this summer, it will be a clear indication that despite the new owners, nothing has changed. We will still be a feeder club, the Champions League will probably be forever out of reach, and Hammers fans will have to watch their former heroes march to glory with other teams.
By the time the new season kicks off in August, things should be a lot clearer. For now though we have one more game of this season left. Let's hope we defeat the Villa, and claim tenth spot.
At least then we can enjoy the summer knowing that despite the fact that we've been rubbish since Christmas, we were still better than Spurs.
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Spurs Table 6 Million Anton Bid - The Sun
TOTTENHAM will test West Ham's determination to hold on to Anton Ferdinand with a second bid. The Hammers snubbed a £4million offer for the central defender when Martin Jol was Spurs boss. But new Tottenham manager Juande Ramos is ready to up the fee to £6m to land the former England Under-21 star. Hammers boss Alan Curbishley has been told he must trim his huge squad before he can go on a summer spree. West Ham have six centre-backs on the books and with James Tomkins, 19, pushing for a first-team spot, Curbs may let Ferdinand go. Ferdinand, 23, hopes to shake off a hamstring strain to face Aston Villa at Upton Park on Sunday.
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Spurs Launch Ferdinand Bid - Goal.com
Tottenham have tabled a ₤6 million bid for West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand, according to reports…
Former Spurs boss Martin Jol made an approach for Ferdinand, but the Hammers rejected the initial ₤4 million offer. However, according to The Sun, Juande Ramos is prepared to go one better than his predecessor – or two better, rather – by tabling a ₤6 million bid to bring the promising young defender to White Hart Lane. Ramos will need to shore up his defensive options for next season, and Ferdinand may be a perfect replacement for French flop Younes Kaboul as cover for the injury-prone Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate. The 23-year-old has long been tagged to follow in his brother Rio's footsteps by becoming one of the best defenders in the Premier League. However, a series of injuries and off-field problems have halted his development for the time being, and Ferdinand now finds himself struggling for games as 19-year-old James Tomkins pushes for a place in the first-team. Hammer boss Alan Curbishley is looking to revamp his squad in the summer, but has been told he must lighten his squad before bringing in any new recruits. And as West Ham have no less than six central defenders in their senior squad, Ferdinand may well be deemed surplus to requirements.
Mike Maguire
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Dailly slog will be well worth it if Rangers win UEFA Cup - The Herald
HUGH MacDONALD May 07 2008
There is more to home and away for Christian Dailly than the particulars of the fixture list. The loan signing from West Ham has a post-match routine that involves a flight back to Essex to see his wife and four children.
Dailly, who has proved his worth in Rangers' backlog of fixtures, admitted his family situation was the major factor when he was considering joining Rangers during the January transfer window.
"I had to think about it because I have four kids who are down the road," he said of the offer from Rangers. "There is the purely physical aspect of how you sort out running them all to different places - schools etc - when you are not there. There was also the aspect of how I would travel up and down.
advertisementI had been approached about other things and I had to weigh up what I was going to do."
He has no regrets about deciding to come to Rangers.
It has worked out for the children, too.
"The kids are switched on," he said. "The good thing is that all the games are on TV so they get to see me all the time. They are loving it. I have the balance about right. I get back for the odd day or two when I can." This normally involves leaving after a game and doing his recovery work either with West Ham or at a gym.
He has had much to recover from this term, but Dailly, who is relishing his spell at Rangers, was measured in his response to the controversy over the length of the season.
"Everybody loves playing but, ideally, there is a happy medium," he said. "There is the odd time when you could do with a week to get people back fit and get a good week's training in."
He admitted the amount of games was taking a toll. "The boys have been working their socks off since last June and there is always a slight mental and physical aspect involved in that," admitted Dailly.
"I don't think anybody has ever experienced the number of games that we have had, so it has been a great experience and a great learning experience about how to cope with the demands of that. We just can't train as hard as we normally would and recover as well."
He added: "Whatever games we have to play, we will play them. If we had to play every day, we could do it. But whether you can play well every day is another matter. That is more the issue. The statement has been put out by the club by Sir David Murray and I think that is on behalf on anybody at Rangers."
Rangers will play Zenit St Petersburg four days after playing Dundee United this Saturday, and Dailly said: "In an ideal world, you would have a week where you would be able to do a full week's preparation. We just accept that we will not have that. The UEFA Cup final is the biggest game of our career, but the other games are like cup finals, too. We can't think one bit about the game until after Saturday."
He added quickly of the final: "It doesn't mean we will not win."
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West Ham and Spurs after intelligent £3.5m man: But where will he go? - CaughtOffside.com
May 6, 2008
Alan Curbishley will be looking to invest in his squad but he will not want to splurge big money on players, he tried that last summer and due to injuries and poor form those signings failed. West Ham have now been linked with a clever player who has been in top form in the Championship this season. Tottenham are also believed to be considering a move for the talented youngster.
West Ham United are about to move for Wolves winger Michael Kightly.(The Mirror)
Tottenham are also interested in a move for Kightly (Daily Mail)
22 year old Kightly has had seen his career sky rocket in recent seasons. After being released by Southend he got stuck in at Grays and netted an incredible amount of goals from the midfield and the wing. He had a great season at Molinuex but now it appears he may be about to leave Wolves for a move back to London and into the Premier League. Do West Ham and Spurs fans like the look of Kightly?
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West Ham boss Curbishley angry with snipers
tribalfootball.com - May 06, 2008
West Ham United boss Alan Curbishley has again hit out at his critics after an injury-plagued campaign. He said: "It seems I'm also constantly having to answer this criticism of us being dull. First of all it should be said we stayed up last season and have gone to finish in mid-table this year. How bad is that?
"In the third week of pre-season we lost Julien Faubert and Scott Parker and by the third week of the season, Craig Bellamy, Kieron Dyer and Bobby Zamora. "Four of those players were summer signings and with them went a lot of pace and creativity. Despite everything, the players who have stayed fit have put a shift in every week. I can't praise them too highly. Even at Old Trafford on Saturday they gave it all they could." Curbishley was without 13 of his senior squad and he lost two more, Dean Ashton and Luis Boa-Morte, during the match. "I've just got to get on with it," he added. "There should be some recognition of what we have gone through this season. Tell me how any Premier League clubs would have fared with the sort of problems we've had this season."
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Everton, West Ham, Celtic queue for Newcastle's Carr
tribalfooball.com - May 06, 2008
A host of clubs are queuing to speak with off contract Newcastle United fullback Stephen Carr. Everton, West Ham, Celtic, Wolves and Queens Park Rangers all are chasing the veteran.
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West Ham move for Wolves winger Kightly
tribalfooball.com - May 06, 2008
West Ham United are moving for Wolves winger Michael Kightly. The Mirror says the Hammers are lining up a £3.5million summer raid on Wolves for Kightly. Former Southend trainee Kightly, 22, has been a revelation at Molineux since arriving in November 2006 from non-League Grays for a nominal fee. Wanderers badly missed the England Under-21 star when he injured an ankle last November and spent most of five months sidelined.
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Blackburn, Middlesbrough in for West Ham's Zamora
tribalfooball.com - May 06, 2008
West Ham United striker Bobby Zamora could be on his way in the summer. The Mirror says Blackburn and Middlesbrough are tracking Zamora.
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