After a season of conflicting emotions, West Ham United captain Scott Parker
has been talking to FourFourTwo about two events that helped shape his
2010/11 campaign.
Despite walking away with the Football Writers' Association's Player of the
Year award, Parker's season ultimately ended in disappointment as West Ham
were relegated to the Championship.
The former Charlton, Chelsea and Newcastle United midfielder was one of the
few players from that side to emerge with any credit; his passionate
displays endearing him to fans and neutrals alike.
It was this particular trait that came to the fore at half-time during a
Premier League encounter with West Bromwich Albion. After a woeful first
half display, which saw the Hammers 3-0 down, Parker produced a rousing
dressing room speech, urging his fellow players to show that they were
worthy of wearing the claret and blue.
The game eventually finished 3-3 with Carlton Cole – who netted the
equaliser – praising his captain for an "inspirational" team-talk.
And looking back, Parker has told FourFourTwo that he was surprised at his
ire, but felt it was his duty to rile his team-mates.
"I got caught in the moment. I can't remember the words, but I was really
angry," he says in the July issue of FourFourTwo magazine, out now.
"That's not like me and I suppose it was that, rather than what I said, that
shocked everyone!
"As a senior player you have a role. You have to help the manager and
endorse his messages."
Now with the England squad ahead of their Euro 2012 qualifier against
Switzerland on Saturday, Parker is looking to advance his international
career, after Fabio Capello handed the midfielder a recall to the national
side in March.
Although aware that it could be his last chance to make a starting position
his own, Parker feels he has nothing to prove to the Italian, even after
Capello decided against taking Parker to the World Cup in South Africa last
summer.
"I don't think I had anything to prove, put it that way," he says. "Maybe it
did serve as a motivation, but the manager made his decision and I can see
why he made it."
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Meet our number two (The Boleyn Inheritance)
Neil McDonald and Sam go back to the days of Bolton and Blackburn. Apart
from that he does have quite a good record as a manager taking Carlisle Utd
to 8th in his first season in charge (not bad for an assistant) Anyway here
is the story:-
Former Carlisle United boss Neil McDonald is back in football as Sam
Allardyce's No2 at West Ham after turning down the chance to become Bury
manager.
McDonald will help Allardyce spearhead West Ham's attempt to return to the
Premier League at the first attempt.
The 45-year-old Tynesider had been first choice to land the Bury job but he
turned down the position to link up with Allardyce after successful spells
alongside him as first team coach at Bolton Wanderers and assistant manager
at Blackburn Rovers.
The pair have been out of work since their shock sacking at Blackburn in
December.
McDonald steered the Blues to eighth in League One in his only season in
charge in 2006-07, but was then sensationally sacked by the Blues after one
game of the following season.
As well as being tipped for the Bury job, he was also reported to have
turned down the Motherwell job last December.
Bury have appointed Richie Barker as their new manager.
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Tottenham's Harry Redknapp closer to signing West Ham's Scott Parker
(Guardian)
Harry Redknapp is closing in on the capture of Scott Parker from West Ham
United and the deal is expected to be completed once the sale of Wilson
Palacios is agreed. The Tottenham Hotspur manager may also welcome the
21-year-old Brazil striker Leandro Damião, although the deal is being driven
by the chairman, Daniel Levy, with Redknapp thought to prefer a more
experienced signing.
Levy has offered £11m to Internacional for Damião, which has been rejected
and the Brazilian club, with whom Tottenham have a commercial partnership
and from where they signed the midfielder Sandro, intend to keep the player
until the end of the year. The Brazilian championship ends in the first week
of December. If Levy, though, were to raise the bid to nearer £18m,
Internacional could be persuaded to sell this summer.
Damião has also been linked to Arsenal, Barcelona, Roma and Benfica and
Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, is expected to watch him play for Brazil
in the Copa America, which is scheduled for 1-24 July. Much will depend on
how Damião performs in South America's major international tournament.
Redknapp, who has completed the Bosman signing of Brad Friedel after the
goalkeeper's contract expired at Aston Villa, has made no secret of his
admiration for Parker. The 30-year-old, who is valued at £8m, will leave
West Ham after their relegation from the Premier League and Redknapp heads
the queue to sign him.
The task will be made easier for Redknapp when he has sold Palacios, who is
a target for Napoli. The £12m signing from Wigan Athletic has struggled for
form. The midfielder Jermaine Jenas also faces an uncertain future at White
Hart Lane.
Redknapp is delighted with the signing of Friedel, describing the
40-year-old as a "fantastic professional" and he said the American's arrival
should not spell the end for Heurelho Gomes. Tottenham's third-choice
goalkeeper from this past season, Stipe Pletikosa, has returned to Spartak
Moscow after the Russian club demanded a fee to make his loan move
permanent, which Tottenham were not prepared to pay, and Redknapp said he
needs three senior goalkeepers.
Gomes, though, has only a year to run on his contract and has been linked
with a move back to PSV Eindhoven. Tottenham last month gave the back-up
goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini a new one-year contract.
Redknapp wants to give the central defender Jonathan Woodgate a
pay-as-you-play deal and he intends to discuss the matter with Levy. The
chairman, though, is nervous about keeping Woodgate because of his
well-documented injury problems.
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Behrami blames Zola sacking (Sky Sports )
Ex-Hammers winger sure Italian would have turned things round
Valon Behrami believes West Ham's recent decline began the day they sacked
Gianfranco Zola.
Co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold took charge midway through the
2009/10 season and sacked Zola at the end of the campaign after narrowly
avoiding the drop.
They replaced him with Avram Grant but the Israeli was sacked last month
after the Hammers suffered relegation from the Premier League, finishing six
points adrift at the bottom.
Sullivan and Gold have this week appointed Sam Allardyce as Grant's
successor but some Hammers fans feel his brand of football is at odds with
the traditional West Ham philosophy.
Behrami, who played under both Zola and Grant before quitting Upton Park for
Fiorentina in January, is back in England to prepare for Switzerland's Euro
2012 qualifier at Wembley on Saturday.
"We felt that, with him (Zola) as manager, we could improve. I know that is
how I felt."
Valon Behrami Quotes of the week
He feels Zola could have done good things at the club given more time and
the Swiss winger has admitted he would not want to play under Allardyce.
"I don't like to play that way," said Behrami.
"I like to play like Zola wants to play, every time with the ball, every
time trying to be attractive as well.
"They sacked him for no reason. We'd had a difficult season but we secured
safety two or three games before the end of the season, even though we'd had
a lot of difficult situations with the club and the takeover.
"All the team was with him. We felt that, with him as manager, we could
improve. I know that is how I felt.
"So the players were very, very sad when they sacked him and the first day
with the new manager was difficult to accept."
Grant certainly never managed to win over Behrami as he believes the
ex-Chelsea and Portsmouth boss did little to spark a turnaround.
"It was a time when he had to change something, he had to bring something
new. But he didn't give a thing," added the 26-year-old.
"We tried to do a good job but what the players needed was a reaction. We
needed something new and we didn't feel that we got it. We felt that the
situation was the same, going down.
"I respect what the owners say, though, because they put their money in,"
Behrami added.
"They can do whatever they want. They have to see also, though, how the
players react. What can happen is the team get upset and down."
Yet despite not being a fan of Allardyce's tactics, Behrami has backed the
former Bolton boss to lead West Ham back into the top flight.
"Allardyce is a good manager, a manager with personality - strong," he said.
"This is what West Ham need to get a good reaction. A big reaction.
"Avram was a good person but he left the situation to drift along too
easily."
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Tony Fernandes blasts West Ham co-owner David Sullivan over bid criticism
(Telegraph)
Tony Fernandes has hit back at West Ham owners David Sullivan and David Gold
after his bid to buy the club was criticised.
Fernandes, the Malaysian businessman behind AirAsia and the Lotus Formula
One team, announced yesterday he had submitted an offer for the club he
supports.
But Sullivan told the Evening Standard yesterday: "Tony Fernandes wanted to
buy 51 per cent of the club for two bob."
Fernandes, though, fired back with a series of messages on Twitter.
"Make up your mind sullivan and gold. One minute you say no offer then you
say its a joke offer. It was a good offer with good money and brought in
good people."
Three follow-up messages said: "Gold and sulivan can say whatever they want.
I have been a lifelong fan and would have brought good money, good ideas,
new people and a new belief
Related Articles
"As for PR stunts. Wow. They are always in the press making huge claims.
Were we not supposed to be in europe. Now we have been relegated. 2 sacked
managers. All good players will be sold.
"No new trainning ground which is the most important ingredient I feel. Look
at how many injuries we have. And more investment into the academy."
Sullivan had said yesterday: "He thinks somehow that we are desperate to
have him involved or desperate for the small amount of money he offered for
51 per cent of the club."
Fernandes first expressed an interest in taking over West Ham in 2009 but he
lost out on that occasion to Sullivan and his business partner David Gold.
Sullivan and Gold do want to attract new investors into a club that is
saddled with debts that could rise to over £100 million following relegation
from the Barclays Premier League.
"We are not looking to sell the club but, as we have always said, we would
love co-investors to join us in rebuilding West Ham United, which has been
our aim ever since we took charge back in January 2010," said Sullivan.
"In the event that a serious investor came forward as was the case at
Chelsea and Manchester City, we would naturally consider it for the good of
the club - but this is certainly not the case in this instance."
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t's going to be a long, long summer. (West Ham Til I Die)
I usually hate the summer – especially in years ending in an odd number when
there is no World Cup or European Championship to raise hopes and then
provide bitter disappointment. I suppose I will just have to wait until
August for some excitement. Or will I?
This is, after all, West Ham. Never out of the papers and usually for the
wrong reasons so it will no doubt be an extra long summer of one desperate
story after another.
I've been holding fire on writing a piece about Sam Allardyce because
although it appeared to be a done deal I felt I would be wasting my time and
yours by adding to the speculation. Now that it is official there probably
is little left of any interest to add to the debate. What's done is done,
all we can do now is give him 100% support and look forward to the 2011-2012
season.
It has been interesting sitting back and watching the comments on here and
other forums as an exercise in human behaviour. I often say things I don't
mean in the heat of disappointment or anger and I have certainly decided not
to go to the odd game over the last couple of years as a result of my
complete disillusionment with the poor performances we have witnessed. But
to say you won't renew your season ticket because you don't like the style
of the new manager is not something I can believe for one minute. It's like
waking up with a hangover and saying you will never drink again. By mid-day
you're arranging a quick pint after work.
And so it passed as soon as Allardyce was confirmed officially, the mood
changed considerably to one of quiet optimism, looking forward to the
organisation and discipline that he will undoubtedly bring to the table next
term. His reported comments about being aware of the club's history and
philosophy will no doubt have helped. I welcomed this statement as well as
the statement that he would look to have us playing passing football at home
and make us hard to beat away from home. Halleluya! After three away wins in
the last two seasons it has been a bit like watching the charge of the light
brigade away from Upton Park. A lot of effort (by the fans) but ultimately
knowing how it's going to end. It's time we changed from headless chickens
to ruthless snipers.
It is likely that some preconceptions will have to be cleared away before
Allardyce will have any chance of being popular. He is often labelled as
being a northerner – he's from Dudley and supports Wolves, which like it or
not, is not in the north. Similarly the tag 'long ball' is often banded
about but I don't remember seeing too much of that in his Bolton, Newcastle
or Blackburn teams. Annoying, yes. Irritating, certainly. Niggly, without a
doubt. But long ball? I will be studying the videos and will let you know
the results of my analysis. I do feel that after six weeks of being in
charge at West Ham, as long as games are being won this behaviour will be
re-branded as being 'tactically astute.' Newsagents in Chadwell Heath and
Upton Park will, however be buying in extra supplies of chewing gum.
West Ham United could reasonably be the subject of a BBC3 documentary – we
are the football equivalent of a drug addicted pregnant teenager with an
eating disorder and parents who are out on the razz every night. I'm not
going to harp on about Allardyce but he could be the lifestyle guru that the
club needs to get it back into shape and point out the error of its ways.
Adding his name to the list of mad people associated with our club is Tony
Fernandes. His use of Twitter to communicate a bid for the club bizarre in
the extreme, the timing and cryptic nature of it made the current owners
look positively sane.
It is also clear to me that there is no communication between Gold and
Sullivan and they simply MUST sort this out if we are going to achieve any
sort of credibility in the press over the coming months. Sullivan saying
that Fernandes wanted to buy 51% of the club for "two-bob" is not a very
sensitive way of rejecting a proposal and probably means that Fernandes will
pick up his bat and go home. Unless he really is bonkers in which case the
saga will continue.
If Sullivan had said: "it's not quite what we are looking for but we'd like
to talk to you" as Gold had appeared to indicate, we might be in a position
to get some further investment. Better still if Gollivan appointed a
professional to liaise with the press and co-ordinate communications between
them the situation might not be irreversible. Fernades has now responded in
typical schoolboy tit-for-tat style telling Gollivan to make their mind up,
we were supposed to be in Europe now not the Championship, etc, etc. All
very sad. Clearly the three of them together would be a disaster. They
would certainly have to build a bigger board room to fit all their egos in
at the same time.
Fernandes and Gollivan simply would not work as a combination – and has
already been pointed out in this site, incredible as I find it that I should
say so, we might just be better off with what we've got. Indeed anyone
buying up available shares would have a job on their hands getting along
with Gollivan and it may be that the only prospect of getting shot of these
jokers would be a sugar daddy that would make Abramovic look like Oliver
Twist.
It's going to be a long, hard summer – I am optimistic enough about next
season to have just renewed my season ticket. But I'm not looking forward to
the war of words. It needs sorting. Quickly.
Robert Banks 3 June 2011 – Exactly one year after Gollivan appointed Avram
Grant….
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