WHUFC.com
Supporters should move quickly to make sure of their place at the big
Carling Cup date on 27 October
14.10.2010
The general sale period has begun for fans wanting to make sure of their
place at the Carling Cup tie with Stoke City on Wednesday week. With fans
knowing a win would take the club just two ties from Wembley, interest has
been high in what promises to be an exciting night under the lights. The 27
October fixture will not be televised and will be played to a finish on the
night. The club have slashed prices to just £20 for adults and £10 for
children.
Season ticket holders who have not yet bought their seat should move quickly
or risk seeing someone else snap up their usual place, with exclusivity for
them and members having now passed. Prices for season ticket holders remain
at just £15 for adults and £5 for kids.
Four days before Stoke, Youth Academy members can also exclusively take
advantage of the Kids for a Quid promotion when Newcastle arrive on Saturday
23 October. Anyone enrolled on the scheme, which has some terrific savings
and great member benefits, will be able to buy a child ticket for just £1.
There has never been a better time to buy a Youth Academy membership. For
just £25, children can see the Stoke game for £1 and the package also
includes FREE match tickets for three Barclays Premier League games against
Wigan Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City later in the season.
Manager Avram Grant has spoken of the importance of fan backing and said
strong home support can play a key role in pushing his team forward. "The
stadium was sold out against Fulham and it is a big help to have everyone
right behind us. "We look forward to continuing our unbeaten run away at
Wolves a week on Saturday before our next home games against Newcastle and
Stoke City in the Carling Cup, when I hope we will again have a full
stadium. It makes such a difference."
His words were echoed by captain Matthew Upson, who sees the Stoke game in
particular as a chance to push forward the feelgood factor at the club.
"It is a big opportunity to get into the quarter-finals," he said. "We need
to give it everything we have got as the chance to go far would be great for
the club. The guys went to Sunderland in the last round and did a great job.
They performed really well and got it done and we will need to do that again
when we play Stoke."
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Sears pushing forward
WHUFC.com
The 20-year-old forward Freddie Sears is looking to continue his good form
and show Avram Grant what he is all about
14.10.2010
Freddie Sears is determined to do all he can to keep on catching the eye at
West Ham United after some encouraging displays. The Academy product, still
only 20, impressed last week in the 1-0 reserve-team win at Liverpool and
followed that up this week with a lively 70 minutes in the 3-2 friendly win
at Dagenham and Redbridge that included a well-taken goal. "It was a good
game, I really enjoyed it," he said. "It was nice to play and show what I
can do."
The England Under-21 striker knows he has a challenge to get past Frederic
Piquionne, Victor Obinna, Carlton Cole and Benni McCarthy but is not one to
shy away from the task. "I am hoping to do what I can to get back in the
first team. The manager obviously picks the team so it is up to him. You
have just got to be patient and wait and see what happens. If I get a
chance, I have to take it. "My aim is to break into the first team but if
not then maybe go on loan somewhere else to play games, score a couple of
goals and then go from there."
Sears, who has been at the club since the age of eleven, spoke positively
about the mood in the camp this season. "We've been playing well and playing
some good football, even in the games we have lost. "Obviously it takes
time, there are a lot of new players coming in. I think it is really coming
together and you see the last couple of games that we are getting stronger
and the team is really coming together."
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Jacobsen targets top ten
Defender expects side to climb the table
Last updated: 13th October 2010
SSN
West Ham defender Lars Jacobsen believes the side are good enough to finish
in the top ten this season. The Hammers currently sit rock bottom of the
Premier League after a slow start to the campaign with just one win from
their opening seven games. Avram Grant's side are unbeaten in their last
three games and, ahead of Saturday's visit to fellow strugglers Wolves,
Jacobsen insists West Ham have enough quality in their squad for a top-half
finish.
"I think we will be sure to get away from those bottom positions," Jacobsen
told Onside.dk. "But there is no doubt that the team is a clearly a top-10
side.
"There are plenty of good players and there is enormous potential in the
team. "But now we just have to get out of the bottom region first."
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Thomas hit by new KO
The Sun
By ANDREW DILLON
Published: Today
THOMAS HITZLSPERGER has suffered an agonising new injury and is out for a
minimum of four months. It is a shattering blow to West Ham's relegation
battle. The Germany midfielder was hoping to play in this weekend's
bottom-two cruncher at Wolves. Instead, he will have surgery after a thigh
muscle completely detached from the bone, ruling him out until February at
least. A Hammers insider admitted: "It's a disaster. It's not
career-threatening but it's incredible bad luck for him and the club. He's
one of the most important players here."
Hitzlsperger, 28, has yet to play for the Londoners since joining from Lazio
on a three-year deal worth £45,000 a week in the summer. Boss Avram Grant's
marquee signing suffered what was initially a routine torn thigh muscle
playing for Germany against Denmark in early August and missed the start of
the season. The wound healed in eight weeks but once Hitzlsperger resumed
training last week the muscle came away completely.
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Playing Devil's Advocate – The Case for the Olympic Stadium!
West Ham Till I Die
The following is a devil's advocate exercise to expound a case for the move
to the Olympic Stadium. I have read much from the opponents of the scheme,
but not nearly so much from the proponents. So in the interests of balance
I have drafted a 'full on' case in favour of the move. Support it if you
will, or reject it, but lets debate, in a rationale and meaningful way,
what is likely to be the biggest change/upheaval for the club since the move
to Upton Park in 1905!
Much as it pains me to use it (given its dodgy origins), but for me, the
Olympics Stadium debate brings to mind the term TINA (There Is No
Alternative)! West Ham must pursue the option in order to develop its
potential as a club, bottom line, full stop! The Stadium will raise the
profile of the club and guarantee the revenue streams necessary to excel in
the PL. In addition, it opens up a whole world of new possibilities for
West Ham to be at the centre of a community based sports hub in east London.
The club will be at the centre of these developments, steering their course,
rather than being a powerless spectator, able only to look on and watch
those who grasp the opportunity and succeed.
What is the alternative? To stay at Upton Park (with all its inbuilt
limitations) and allow the likes of Spurs to move to Stratford? That would
permanently limit West Ham's future development and put the club under
pressure, as the new arrivals assault and erode our key east London and
Essex fan base. I do not believe that the Spurs proposal is viable,
certainly not whilst the West Ham-Newham Council partnership proposal is on
the table, but take West Ham out of the frame and it could be a possibility.
Such a scenerio emerging would be an absolute nightmare and a disaster for
the future of our club.
Upton Park has had its day. I have wonderful memories of the place, going
back to 1967, but it will soon be time for it to be consigned to the club's
history. To be honest, the old ground (with its unique atmosphere) is long
gone and what is left is little more than a seated parody of its former
glory. Historically, West Ham missed a trick in the 1960s, with the failure
to purchase the massive West Ham Stadium, at Custom House. If the board at
the time had more vision and ambition, we would have left Upton Park at the
end of the 1960s. It did not happen and I believe that was a significant
factor in the club's subsequent failure to seize the golden opportunity
afforded by the era of Moore, Hurst and Peters. One could also argue that
this toxic legacy continued in to the 1990s and 2000s, with the inability of
the club to generate sufficient revenue to enable them to retain its 'golden
generation' of Academy graduates.
One of the counter-proposals is to redevelop the east side and take the
ground up to 45,000 seats. To be honest that is just not good enough, why
lock yourself in to a 45,000 capacity, when the top PL teams have or are
aiming for 60,000-70,000 stadia. Or is that it, do the opponents of the
Olympics Stadium actually believe that West Ham will never be able to
challenge the top teams and, therefore, 45,000 is sufficient for our future
needs?. That smacks of self-depreciation and, indeed, there is an element
of it in the mentality of some Hammers fans. And I well understand the
basis of it, born out of the ineptitude of the club's ownership over many
decades. Fans have been bitterly disappointed so many times that they,
perhaps, sub-consciously accept that the club will always be also rans! I
can understand it, but I cannot excuse it. West Ham has always suffered
from short-term thinking and a lack of ambition, it has undermned our club
history. Now we have this once in a life time opportunity to take West Ham
into the big time, and it needs to be pursued with courage and a clear
vision of striving for a better future for the club and its long suffering
supporters.
Collateral to this self-depreciating mentality is the idea that we cannot
fill a 60,000 capacity stadium. Yet, the West Ham fan base geographically
is massive, it covers East London and the Thames Corridor, right out to
Southend and beyond to Colchester and Chelmsford; in addition, there are
also Hammers fans right across the Home Counties. Other clubs would love to
have that type of natural support base. We actually have it and the trick
is to turn it into increased numbers through the turnstiles!
The common mistake is to hypostatize the current situation and project it
in to the future, as a given, as something that will always be that way. We
regularly have a c.34,000 attendance at Upton Park and that is very good for
a PL team who have not won a major trophy in 30 years. But imagine a
successful West Ham, challenging for trophies & European qualification and
doing it in style. Also imagine a club with the capacity to keep ticket
prices at an affordable level, with even better concessions for children,
families, older people, students and the unemployed. In those
circumstances, the club could better attract, and even extend, its fan base.
A successful West Ham could attract that extra c.25,000, I have no doubt
about that. And being at the centre of a major transport and communications
centre like Stratford can only underwrite our chances of success.
In short, I do not believe in sacrificing the club's (potential) future on
the alter of some sentimental attachment to Upton Park. The current ground
is hopelessly hemmed in and the scope for the development on the east side
is severely restricted. So we are left with filling in corners and other
such fanciful and inadequate schemes! It s time for fans to accept and
embrace the immense possibilities of this move post-2012; particularly the
exciting prospect of being the anchor to a sporting hub and becoming a truly
community based football club in the style of Barca.
The choice is straightforward. Stay at Upton Park and accept the status quo
or grasp the challenges and immense possibilities of a move to Stratford.
If we stay, the likelihood is that the club will never generate the revenue
to buy the best players or retain the outstanding prospects that come
through our world famous Academy. It means at best, a permanent glass
ceiling on our PL ambitions, at worst, stagnation and decline, with another
relegation, around the corner, sooner or later. As David Gold as argued, if
you want West Ham to eventually compete with the top clubs and appear
regularly in Europe, then this move is not optional, it is vital! We all
love Upton Park (or at least what it once was), but we must surely love the
club itself more and want to embrace a change that is in its long-term
interests.
However, whilst I advocate embracing the move to Stratford, I do not expect
fans to do it uncritically. Legitimate questions have been raised about the
club's security of tenure at the Olympic Stadium; the desirability of losing
a home ground that we currently own; and what the owners will do with the
capital receipts arising from the sale of Upton Park?
Similarly, the point about the impact of the running track upon the
atmosphere, and the negative impact of fans being some way from the pitch,
must be addressed. The co-owners and Ms Brady need to be questioned on
these issues and asked to provide answers. Some critics of the Olympic
Stadium move appear to mistrust the owners motives and intentions. They see
some Machiavellian sub-plot to cash in on Upton Park and then leave the club
without a permanent base. If so, we the fans must challenge them to give
commitments and assurances on the long term future and viability of West
Ham Utd FC as a secure tenant at the Olympic Stadium. Iain has an interview
lined up with the co-owners, I would suggest that he ask these difficult
questions and push for satisfactory answers.
I will conclude with an appeal not to be totally fixated upon the possible
pitfalls, to the exclusion of the exciting potential of the move. Far
better to focus on that potential, whilst actively seeking to circumvent any
issues of concern/difficulties. Concern/Difficulties are meant to be
confronted, analysed and overcome. Once we understand that, we can focus
upon the rewards that await the club brave enough to take on the Olympic
Stadium challenge post-2012.
SJ. Chandos
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