Frank Nouble is planning to fire Swindon Town to
promotion via the League One play-offs
Frank Nouble is planning to put on a show in
front of a national TV audience as Swindon Town
prepare to tackle Charlton Athletic in the League One play-offs.
West Ham United's England Under-19 forward has
played his part in helping the Robins to secure a
fifth-place finish in League One, setting up a
mouth-watering semi-final with the Addicks.
The first leg takes place at the County Ground on
Friday night before Danny Wilson's side make the
trip to south London for the return on Monday
evening, with both matches being screened live by Sky Sports.
"It's been a good experience for me so far and we
have two big games coming up against Charlton,"
confirmed Nouble, who has made eight appearances
for Swindon since moving to the club in mid-March.
"We have got them at home first, so hopefully we
can beat them and take a lead back to The Valley on Monday.
"We have been good at home all season, and we
haven't lost at home since I joined, so I see no
reason why we can't continue that on Friday."
Nouble has found his opportunities limited by the
form of strikers Charlie Austin and Billy
Paynter, who have scored 45 league goals between them.
Whether he is in Wilson's starting XI or forced
to make do with a place on the substitutes bench,
the 18-year-old is eager to make his mark when his chance arrives.
"I hope to be involved, and if I am, I hope to be
involved in the moment that wins the game for us.
"Charlie and Billy have both done well all
season, so I have no complaints about not
starting more games. Instead, it has been good
for me to be able to learn, day-in day-out, from
two strikers who are in great form.
"I have come to Swindon for the experience and it
has been a good one so far. We play some good
football. The gaffer encourages us to get the
ball down and play and it's worked well."
Nouble also spent a month on loan at West
Bromwich Albion earlier this year, starting three
times to help the Baggies along the road to promotion from the Championship.
"It would not look bad on my CV to have been
involved in two clubs who have been promoted,
that's for sure. However, we all know there is a
lot of work to do here before we can celebrate going up."
Should Swindon overcome Charlton - who have
fellow West Ham loanee Matt Fry and former
Hammers Christian Dailly and Kyel Reid in their
ranks - the teenager could appear at Wembley in the play-off final on 29 May.
Nouble has also been named in England's squad for
the UEFA European U19 Championship Elite Round
qualifiers against Republic of Ireland, Bosnia &
Herzegovina and Ukraine in Kiev between 26-31 May.
"It's a big month for me. We are in the play-offs
and I'm also in the England squad, so I'm looking
forward to doing as well as I can."
West Ham would have to pay compensation - SSN
West Ham would have to pay Portsmouth
compensation should they swoop for manager Avram
Grant, according to administrator Andrew Andronikou.
The Hammers are believed to be eyeing up the
Pompey boss to replace Gianfranco Zola, who they
sacked on Monday after 18 months in charge.
Grant is contracted to the Fratton Park club
until 2012 but questions have been raised over
the validity of the deal given Portsmouth'sinsecure financial situation.
That means if United owners David Sullivanand
David Gold try to lure the Israeli to Upton Park
then compensation payments to end his deal could be waivered.
Andronikou insists that would not be the case,
though - saying he would look to return as much
money as possible on any move for the club's manager.
He told the Portsmouth News: "It is like any
compensation claim - he has three years left so
we would try to hang out for as much as possible."
Grant has guided the troubled South Coast outfit
to the FA Cup final amidst incredible circumstances.
His team were docked nine points for entering
administration - effectively relegating them to
the Championship - before an injury crisis nearly
left the 55-year-old without enough to players to field a team.
Pompey take on Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday
looking to claim the trophy they won in 2008
while Grant's future remains uncertain after
demanding assurances of stability before leading the team in the second tier.
Stoke City: Fans win refund after hammering West
Ham's shoddy tactics - News now
TWO Stoke fans have been promised a refund by
West Ham after their view of the Potters' Premier
League match at Upton Park was wrecked by
attempts to thwart the long throws of Rory Delap.
Paul and Carolyn Ruane each paid £35 for their tickets for the March 27 game.
But the Trentham couple couldn't see the action
because West Ham had moved their advertising
boards closer to the pitch to try to block Delap's run-up.
They were eventually moved to alternative seats
after complaining to West Ham officials, but Paul
says dozens more Stoke fans had no choice but to
contravene ground regulations and stand up to see.
The 48-year-old IT professional complained to
Trading Standards, who took his case up with West Ham.
The club initially offered Paul and Carolyn free
tickets for next season's West Ham versus Stoke game.
The couple turned that down, so the Hammers have
now promised to refund the £70 cost of their tickets.
Paul is urging other fans who were affected to
take up their case with West Ham.
He said: "The stewards on the day did their best,
but West Ham seemed to have scant regard for the
rights of supporters by putting the boards there.
"There must have been 80 to 100 people affected.
There was quite a lot of anger as kick-off
approached and people realised they couldn't see
without breaking ground regulations. We were
among about 12 people who were moved, but those
who weren't included at least one youngster who
couldn't see even by standing up."
West Ham's attempts to neuter Delap made no
difference to the outcome of the game, which Stoke won 1-0.
Paul said: "I am reasonably satisfied but very
disappointed West Ham have not made an apology to
the supporters. The only apology they made was
for the amount of time it took to investigate the complaints."
Paul and Carolyn will donate the £70 to Tony
Pulis's attempt to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro in
aid of the Donna Louise Hospice Trust.
In the meantime, Pulis is being linked with a
move for West Ham midfielder Mark Noble.
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