WHUFC.com
Luis Jimenez gave WHUTV his thoughts on the recent practice game and the
club's chances this season
12.10.2009
The Chile playmaker has made five appearances for the club since his summer
switch from Internazionale and has settled in nicely to life in east London.
"It is not normal for the team to be in this position in the table," he
said. "We are a very good team, with very good players. I think one win will
help us." The 25-year-old has proved a popular addition to Gianfranco Zola's
squad and was encouraged by the return of the equally attack-minded Jack
Collison and Valon Behrami during a practice game against Valenciennes last
Friday. Known as Jimmy around Chadwell Heath, he also joked his new blond
haircut could bring the team luck - starting with this Saturday's trip to
Stoke City.
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Cole backing for London
WHUFC.com
London's clubs have united to back the capital's claims to be a major part
of England's 2018 World Cup bid
12.10.2009
Carlton Cole is playing a central role in showcasing London as a host city
for England's bid to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The striker, 26 today,
joined club-mates Robert Green and Matthew Upson along with fellow England
stars to endorse the London United initiative. The campaign to promote the
capital's football heritage is called Park Life and includes an exclusive
film that showcases how football lies at the heart of London and all its
communities. The Park Life theme is integral to London's bid, designed to
play heavily on the tradition of the classic kick-around enjoyed by young
children and adults throughout their lives in any of the 278 London parks
and open spaces.
Cole has many such memories from his childhood and believed the experiences
he had helped him go all the way to international level. He said: "I grew up
in Croydon and remember when I was younger going to the park many times,
kicking a ball about with my uncle, cousins and friends. "I think it is very
important to have somewhere to play. You hear so much about young people and
children not having that much to do where they live or the facilities to do
things, so parks and areas like this are important to have. For youngsters
who want to play football professionally when they are older, parks are
where they can practice their skills and learn."
The Park Life film can be viewed now at www.england2018bid.com. Fans can
pledge their support by logging onto the website, clicking on 'Add Your
Support' then choosing London in the drop down menu for 'Choose Your Host
City'. London is calling upon West Ham fans to help secure one million
signatories as part of the campaign.
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Friends meet in friendlies
WHUFC.com
Deniz Mehmet and Eoin Wearen will put aside their Hammers links in two
international matches this week
12.10.2009
Club-mates Deniz Mehmet and Eoin Wearen will be on opposite sides when
Turkey play host to the Republic of Ireland in two Under-18 friendlies this
week. Promising goalkeeper Mehmet and industrious midfielder Wearen are both
mainstays of Tony Carr's U18 side and have each had a taste of first-team
training this season. The 17-year-olds have flown to Antalya for the matches
to be played on Tuesday and Thursday and will then return to London on
Friday ahead of the Academy fixture away to Portsmouth next Saturday.
Mehmet will be particularly looking to impress as Turkey have qualified for
the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be played between 24 October and 15 November and
he will hope to be named his nation's No1. Wearen will be looking more long
term with the Irish seeing the double-header as preparation for next
season's UEFA European U19 Championship programme. Carr said: "It will be
good experience for them both. They have a busy schedule with the matches on
Tuesday and Thursday. We will see how they are when they come back on
Friday, pick it up with them and then think about Saturday's match."
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Ladies keep on going
WHUFC.com
Zoe Marshall and Holly Griffin were on target in an impressive result
against the league leaders on Sunday
12.10.2009
West Ham United Ladies 2-0 Barnet Ladies
Two quickfire goals ensured a tremendous victory against the FA Women's
Premier Southern Division leaders and moved the Hammers to within four
points of their rivals.
Zoe Marshall scored after just two minutes before Holly Griffin added the
second on 22 minutes and there was no looking back for Tony Marshall's side
on Sunday. The home side shut up shop after that and never looked in danger
of making it ten games unbeaten. They have won five and drawn five in the
league this season.
To make for an even better weekend, Reading's draw at home to Brighton and
Hove Albion meant West Ham have moved up to second in the standings. They
are next in action on Sunday when they go to Portsmouth, who are level with
Reading and sit a point behind the Hammers in third place.
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Lies, Damn Lies and Hammers Storylines?
West Ham Till I Die
The press speculation about the Hammers continues apace! Last week
certainly saw a number of eye catching Hammers stories in the sports press.
First off, there was the story concerning an alleged approach for Zola from
Serie A club Napoli. The fact that Napoli had quickly moved to secure a
new manager, to replace the outgoing Donadoni, apparently did not register
with the tabloids!
The Napoli story followed on from the allegation concerning a falling out
between Zola and Clarke and the Technical Director, GF Nani over dealings
in the transfer market. Yet according to some versions of the Napoli story
the Serie A club were actually lining up a move for the whole Hammers
triumvirate of Zola, Nani and Duxbury. No inconsistency there then!
Whilst it was also reckoned that it was a minor miracle that West Ham had
to date avoided administration, even though the club has repeatedly stated
that this has never been a serious threat! More significantly the old story
line about the whole squad allegedly being up for sale, due to the club's
financial position, was dusted off and reprinted! I know we are encouraged
to recycle these days, but rehashed tabloid headlines do absolutely nothing
to protect the environment!
Last week also saw the exclusive about the alleged return of Eggy! This
appeared amidst other competing stories suggesting that C&B Holdings were
negotating potential sales with both American and far eastern consortiums!
Less exotically, Sullivan and Gold also were also supposed to be preparing a
bid! Yet more speculation that conspires to generate more heat than light!
This was followed by the alleged return of the Tevegate issue! One of the
tabloids ran a story about the club preparing for further legal claims
against them over the Tevez controversy! Surely someone must have told
them that particular ship had long since set sail and, indeed, reached its
port of destination!
We finished the week with one of the Sunday papers running a story on the
mounting debt amongst PL Clubs. The alleged financial position of the PL
was outlined on a club by club basis. It was probably more even handed than
most articles on this subject because it did not ignore the debt of the
likes of Man Utd and Liverpool. However, in our case it repeated the
allegation that the club are carrying a debt of £100m! I would sincerely
hope that figure is an exaggeration?
We need to take all this speculation with a large pinch of salt. It is
damaging because it conspires to create a atmosphere of uncertainty and
further undermine confidence amongst the fans. But such negative press is
nothing new to us, we have all been here before. Last autumn to be exact!
I warned over the summer that the tabloids were probably still smarting
about the inaccuracy of their sensationalist 'financial meltdown' and 'fire
sale' headlines. And that we were probably in their bring forward files for
more of the same treatment this season, given the opportunity!
Well the the poor start to the season is exactly the opportunity that they
were seeking! There has been a long standing negative tabloid agenda
towards our club, to deny this is to ignore the sheer scale of the hostile
coverage. The press do not merely report events, arguably they shape
coverage to fit their sensationalist objectives.
The most immediate antidote is improved results on the pitch and a strong
line from the club about it's financial stability. Of course, more
optimistically, the resolution of the ownership issue and the advent of a
cash rich new consortium would also help!
The negative speculation is probably going to get worse, before it gets
better. In those circumstances we need to recall the positive lessons of
last January! Also remember to consider, in responding to future stories,
whether it is just a case of lies, damn lies and Hammers storylines?
SJ Chandos.
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One Step Beyond (Part Three)
Billy Blagg - Mon Oct 12 2009
West Ham Online
"I have always resisted the temptation to describe any match as the most
exciting I have ever seen, but this was the exception. This really was the
greatest"
Peter Batt – The Sun
"If this match had been presented as a piece of football fiction-writing,
you would have rejected it as being too ridiculous"
Desmond Hackett – The Daily Express
Along with the match day programme and some brown faded newspaper cuttings,
I found a stub for the Football League Cup semi-final 2nd replay. Do you
know how much it cost nearly 50,000 people to see one of the greatest
football games ever played? 35p! Think on that for a moment … and then think
again…
The inside cover of the programme contains a welcome from the Chairman of
the club hosting the 2nd replay of the epic League Cup semi-final between
West Ham and Stoke City, Manchester United's Louis Edwards welcomes the fans
and apologies for the fact that the ground is not working to its full
capacity: "The building of the cantilever stand at the scoreboard end
temporarily reduces the capacity by about 10,000 but I am sure the
inconvenience will be worth it…" If you were a Manchester United supporter
and was there later perhaps, Louis, but for West Ham fans that had made the
journey north and were packed into the Scoreboard end, the inconvenience was
considerable.
You see, it was the 26th of January; it was cold and it was wet and it was
Manchester. It could have been Siberia. Imagine how wet and cold Manchester
is in January and then imagine it raining even more on top of that. And then
add some more rain and some more wind. Then imagine huge puddles forming on
the girders of the framework of the new stand, then being blown, from a
height, down onto the heads of the massed Hammers fans. I was very young and
I've seen some wet, cold nights since then but I don't honestly think I ever
stood in such diabolical conditions since (and I was at the uncovered end
when we lost 6-0 to Oldham in another semi-final). Are we quite clear on
this? It was wet! Oh my God – it was wet!
The Stoke fans were happy with the relative comfort of the covered end where
the sound ricocheted round the ground while the Hammers fans made their own
noise that, despite dissipating into the night, made for an intimidating and
electric atmosphere. The pitch was like a quagmire and huge pools of water
formed in the penalty area as West Ham and Stoke took to the pitch that
night. The mud was ankle-deep and the rain lashed into the players faces.
"So British it made you want to stand up and sing Land of Hope and Glory"
wrote Batt again.
By the time of the second replay, the combined attendances for both clubs
cup runs stood in excess of a staggering 566,000. At kick-off, Stoke had
played 920 minutes of League Cup football, West Ham 1060 minutes. At the end
of the 2nd replay over 171,000 fans had witnessed the semi-final epic alone.
Surely this had to end somewhere?
The match began as it would continue with early chances coming at both ends
in a frenetic, breath-taking and exciting opening, but it was probably the
15th minute that will be the earliest and most important recollection for
both sets of fans. A through ball eluded the Stoke forwards as Hammers
keeper Bobby Ferguson bravely came out to claim the ball in the mud, winger
Terry Conroy chose to leave a foot in as he went to challenge for a ball
that was comfortably in Ferguson's arms and the man in the green jersey
failed to rise. Moore stood over the prostrate keeper and wouldn't allow him
to be moved while play was held up for seven minutes while players, trainers
and even Ron Greenwood gathered round the concussed player. There were no
substitute keepers in those days – only one sub was allowed at all – and it
was crucial to get Ferguson back in goal. Indeed, play did start again after
Ferguson was prescribed smelling salts (!) but Moore quickly signalled to
the referee, pointing out that Ferguson was reeling around the goal line
like a drunk in the Mile End Road. Play was halted again as the training
staff walked Ferguson up and down the line to try and revive him before
kicking balls to him in the tunnel to see how he would react. Instinctively,
Ferguson palmed the balls away but he had no idea of where he was nor what
the occasion could be. In fact, afterwards Ferguson recalled nothing of the
night at all.
Down to ten men and with Ferguson off, it fell onto the young Bermudan Clyde
Best to go in goal but Bobby Moore took one look at Best, saw the fear in
his eyes and took the jersey off him and strode into the penalty area. The
Hammers fans roared their support along with a small prayer. Stoke,
inevitably, tried to throw everything at the Hammers goal but only got their
opportunity when right-back John McDowell attempted a disastrous back-pass
that stuck in the mud, the defender recovered quickly but, panic stricken,
could only charge down John Ritchie in the area and a penalty was awarded by
referee Pat Partridge. The chances of Moore saving Mike Barnard's penalty
were 'millions to one' according to legendary Brian Moore's commentary but,
incredibly, Moore dived to his left to beat out the ball but, with West Ham
fans celebrating and Stoke's holding their heads, the ball ran loose
straight back to Barnard who lofted it back over Moore. Moore admitted
afterwards that saving the penalty was one of his greatest feelings in
football and it was only a shame it was followed soon after by one of his
worst
Another night it might have been all over but the Hammers came back. Pop
Robson forced a brilliant save from Gordon Banks before the sublime Billy
Bonds – having perhaps his greatest ever game for the Hammers – beat two men
and cloying mud in a blistering run through the centre before hitting a left
foot drive that took a deflection and flew past Banks. It was 1-1 and the
40th minute and the West Ham contingent's cheers sounded even louder shortly
after when Ferguson rejoined the game, louder still in the first half of
injury time when Bonds again ploughed past three Stoke defenders on the
right wing and squared the ball for Brooking to lash home from just inside
the area. This was glorious stuff.
Ironically though, it was the Stoke-inflicted Ferguson injury that led
twofold to the Potter's equaliser before half-time. Firstly, It was nearly
eight minutes into injury time when Stoke's skipper Peter Dobing scored but,
worse, an obviously unfit Ferguson was nowhere as Dobing ran in, wandering
onto the edge of his area enabling the Stoke skipper to simply drive the
ball past him.
The second half started 15 minutes late and Stoke took an early advantage
after only five minutes when Terry Conroy – football can be cruel can't it?
- roundly booed by Hammers fans for his assault on the Hammers keeper, hit
home as Ferguson again dived late to a ball skidding on the mud, that crept
inside his far post. West Ham's response couldn't have been more positive,
probably sensibly deciding that they were virtually playing without a
goalkeeper, the Hammers laid siege to Stoke's goal. Redknapp, as in the 2nd
leg, again hit the foot of a post with Banks beaten, before the Hammers
suffered the ultimate ignominy in view of what had happened before. Alan
Bloor clearly fouled Geoff Hurst in the penalty area but, though Hurst
stumbled, he stayed on his feet, Partridge waved for the advantage and Hurst
crossed for Redknapp, who had stopped expecting a whistle for the penalty,
to recover briefly and again hit the post. "You're too much of a Gent, Geoff
– if you'd gone down it was definite pen" was Alan Ball's post match
analysis.
Again and again, West Ham attacked but this time there was to be no more
controversial incidents or late drama. Stoke pulled everybody back and put
themselves in front of everything the Hammers could throw at them. It was
heart-stopping, stirring, exciting stuff and, when the whistle went with the
score 3-2 to Stoke, the players just dropped into the oozing mud as the men
in red and white stripes celebrated the first final appearance in their long
history. There is a famous photo of Banks celebrating in front of the Stoke
fans, fist clenched and covered in mud.
The normally placid Ron Greenwood was scathing in his attack on Terry Conroy
later "You saw it – draw your own conclusions" he said, also admitting "He
[Ferguson] doesn't remember anything about the game. He still doesn't know
the score" Greenwood also complained about the attitude adopted in the
second half towards Ferguson calling it 'simply bad sportsmanship'
Looking back though it's hard to deny Stoke their victory either,
controversial though it was, it's an old cliché but this was one game nobody
deserved to lose. West Ham did get to Wembley and won three years later
(another time ok?) but, nevertheless for some, that epic cup run and
semi-final perhaps encapsulated all that there is to love and hate about
West Ham. Entertaining, frustrating, terribly unlucky, irresistible at
times, annoying in others, with great players mixing with lesser in a
combination almost guaranteed to thrill and aggravate at the same time.
As for me, well I was never more upset and rarely as proud. Sodden through
to the bone and dejected beyond belief, I saw the Stoke coaches rocking in
the car park as the fans celebrated and prayed I could do that someday. I'm
happy to say I did (although I'd like to have done it some more!).
As ever in football, you can couch anything you like with words and excuses
but, for West Ham, their season ended that night in January. They slumped
out of the FA Cup to a Frank Worthington inspired Huddersfield and flirted
with relegation, as usual, before pulling clear. Geoff Hurst left for Stoke
the following season and even the great man himself had departed for Fulham
within two years. I've often wondered what might have happened had the
Hammers gone on to beat Chelsea, as Stoke did, and qualified for Europe that
season.
It was virtually Bobby Ferguson's last hurrah too, fighting for his place
with Peter Grotier before losing it completely to Mervyn Day although, to be
fair, Ferguson stayed as reserve for a good many years after. It could have
been grim, but the spine of Lampard, Bonds and Brooking continued and they,
at least, went on to greater glories.
But, there is a curious postscript to this story. In those days, when you
travelled up north to games – never in the south - you were often handed a
magazine called 'Football League Review'. It was the mouthpiece of the
English games governing body and contained reports, rule changes and
letters- oh! And adverts - 20 ½ p for a pack of Park Drive tipped cigarettes
anyone? £883 (!?!) for a Vauxhall Viva deluxe?
Sometime in the autumn – I don't know how or when – there had been an offer
to get tickets for the League Cup final in March. Convinced that the Hammers
would be at Wembley my Granddad simply applied and paid for two tickets –
can you imagine that now? - and until January at least, it looked a sound
investment. In March though, there were two West Ham fans with tickets to a
Stoke City v Chelsea Cup final and no opportunity to sell but, never having
visited Wembley at that time and certainly never seeing a final, it seemed a
shame to waste the opportunity.
So it was that two quiet Hammers fans found themselves amongst the massed
ranks of Stoke City fans in what eventually turned out to be a the Potteries
club first trophy in 108 years of existence as Stoke beat red-hot favourites
Chelsea 2-1 in the final. As Stoke have since to return, it's pretty odd to
think I witnessed something most Stoke fans can now only dream of. And it
might not be considered the done thing in the fraught times of 21st Century
Premiership football – but, you know, I was really pleased for Gordon Banks…
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Lawrence eyes Hammers test
Potters winger eager for club action
By Richard Bailey Last updated: 12th October 2009
SSN
Liam Lawrence insists he will be fit to face West Ham on Saturday even if he
features for the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday. The winger has had to
have steroid injections in his back and glucose injections in his ankle to
make sure he even gets on the field this season. However, the 27-year-old
put his injury problems behind him when he started just his second game for
Ireland in the 2-2 draw with Italy at the weekend to ensure their World Cup
play-off place. The former Mansfield youngster is hoping to keep his place
for the visit of Montenegro in midweek before featuring against the Hammers
on Saturday, despite starting only fou r Premier League games this term. "It
would be nice to get myself in the side at Stoke. I've been in and out of
the team since we beat Sunderland in August," he told The Sentinel. "I am at
my best when I am playing every week. If it was up to me, I would play 50 or
60 matches a season, like we did in the Championship. "I've never wanted a
rest and I'm looking forward to the West Ham game this Saturday, if I am
involved."
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WEST HAM TALK: Zola to swoop for Italian star
12:45pm Monday 12th October 2009
Guardian Series
WEST HAM manager Gianfranco Zola is reportedly keeping tabs on Livorno
midfielder Antonio Candreva. The 22-year-old has set the Stadio Armando
Picchi alight since his arrival in the summer as a replacement for
Alessandro Diamanti, who the Hammers snapped up for an estimated £6million
towards the end of the last transfer window. And Candreva is thought to have
caught Zola's eye, according to the Telegraph, with an approach for the
player thought to be on the cards in January. However, any prospective deal
is complicated by the fact that Candreva is co-owned by Udinese. Diamanti,
32, has admitted he would relish the chance to work alongside the young
Italian. "Candreva is not a surprise, he has everything he needs to become a
champion."
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Hines hails Hammers youth policy
Mon, 12 Oct 13:50:58 2009
Yahoo.co.uk
England Under-21 forward Zavon Hines believes West Ham are being rewarded
for their faith in youth. The 20-year-old netted twice for Stuart Pearce's
young Lions in their 6-3 Euro 2011 Group Nine qualifier win over Macedonia
at Coventry. Hines feels his progress is testament to the Upton Park youth
system, which has produced many England regulars down the years. "Not a lot
of clubs are producing young players, but every year West Ham produce one or
two," he said. "I just know that West Ham have got belief in their young
talent so they will always give you a chance, it just depends whether the
young players take it or not."
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Ex-Arsenal star Wright backs West Ham's Cole for World Cup
13.10.09 | Andrew Slevison
Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright believes West Ham's Carlton Cole is good
enough to make Fabio Capello's England squad for next year's World Cup.
Wright says the current form the 26-year old is showing will provide Capello
with selection headaches and if he keeps it up and improves, will be hard to
keep off the plane to South Africa. "He has a fantastic opportunity to give
Capello a massive selection headache With Heskey on the bench for Aston
Villa, Carlton has to continue his decent form with West Ham and prove he
can deliver for England," Wright wrote in his column for The Sun. "Carlton
is by no means guaranteed a place in the squad for South Africa. "Yet if he
plays to his potential, he could not only be included in the squad but nudge
(Aston Villa's Emile) Heskey out of the team. "He could prove to be an
excellent foil for Rooney. Off the pitch, he has cleaned up his act,
improved his attitude and, as a result, we are seeing better performances
for the Hammers. "It would be a tremendous story if Carlton was to make the
plane."
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Birmingham trio make move for West Ham
12.10.09 | tribalfootball.com
Former Birmingham City trio David Sullivan, David Gold and Karren Brady are
making a takeover move for West Ham United. The Daily Star Sunday says Gold
and Sullivan hope to broker a cut-price deal after they leave St Andrew's
this week when the £80million takeover there by Hong Kong tycoon Carson
Yeung is completed. Gold and Co are understood to be offering less than what
they got for Birmingham and they will walk away if creditors who are owed
more than £100m refuse to do a deal. The Birmingham boys – and girl – made
their move after City's new owners decided to have a complete boardroom
clear-out instead of keeping Gold on as executive chairman. Gold tried to
buy the Hammers once before but the bid was blocked by former chairman Terry
Brown but now he and Sullivan have gone back with a bid that has
considerable strings attached. If that fails, Gold, 73, will look around for
another challenge – which could include managing his own non-league club.
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West Ham to face Italy battle for Zola
13.10.09 | tribalfootball.com
West Ham United boss Gianfranco Zola is being linked with the Italy job. The
Daily Mail says Zola is under consideration to succeed Marcello Lippi after
the 2010 World Cup.
Zola and Pierluigi Casiraghi, who worked together with Italy's Under 21
side, are seen as cheaper, if more risky, alternatives.
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Jimenez: West Ham just need a win
13.10.09 | tribalfootball.com
Luis Jimenez insists West Ham United are just a win away from clicking. The
former Inter Milan attacker told WHUTV: "It is not normal for the team to be
in this position in the table. "We are a very good team, with very good
players. I think one win will help us."
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West Ham, Millwall given extra time to mount defence
13.10.09 | tribalfootball.com
West Ham United and Millwall have been granted an extra week by the FA to
answer charges over the crowd trouble that marred their Carling Cup tie in
August. The extra time will give more time for legal teams from both clubs
to mount their defence as West Ham fight four charges and Millwall three.
Both London clubs are alleged to have taken insufficient action to stop
missile throwing and violent, threatening and racist behaviour during the
game. The Hammers face a further charge of failing to ensure their
supporters did not enter the pitch.
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