Monday, November 14

Daily WHUFC News - 14th November 2011

Brown reveals loan ambition
WHUFC.com
Jordan Brown is aiming to make up for lost time by going out on loan for a
second time
13.11.2011

Jordan Brown is planning to 'do it properly' by going out on loan for a
second time this season following a stop-start spell at Aldershot Town. The
left-back joined West Ham United's Carling Cup conquerors for two months in
August, only for the form of the Shots' Grenada international Anthony
Straker to restrict the 20-year-old to four first-team appearances. While
Brown is taking the positives from his spell at the Recreation Ground -
including a Football League debut in a 1-0 League Two victory over
Cheltenham on 3 September and a Carling Cup appearance in a 2-1 third-round
victory over Rochdale two weeks later - he is eager to gain more vital
experience sooner rather than later. "Obviously it didn't work out the way
I wanted it to because I wanted to be playing more games, but I learnt a lot
from it mentally - to try and stay strong when you're not getting in the
team and stuff like that - so it was a good thing but not as good as I
wanted it to be," he said. "I got my first game in and I thought I did well.
I played a few other league games and played in the Carling Cup as well, so
it was good to learn from doing that, but I hoped it would have gone better
than it did. "To be fair, their left-back [Straker] is one of their better
players and their manager [Dean Holdsworth] wanted to stick with what he
knew, so he kept faith with the boys he already had down there and didn't
really want to change it. I was only really put in the team when he got
injured. "I feel like I still need to go out on loan and do it properly and
get a run of games under my belt and show people what I can do. There is a
doubt there at the moment because people will be asking why I wasn't
playing."

Brown played the full 90 minutes in the Development Squad's 2-2 draw at
Gillingham on Tuesday and is targeting more game-time as he works his way
back to full match-fitness. He could feature in Tuesday night's game at
Whyteleafe Town. "I just want to go out and play games. Games like the
development squad game at Gillingham are good for me because I lost a bit of
fitness in the two months I was away because I wasn't playing as regularly
as I was here earlier in the season.
"I need to be getting forward down the left flank and defending strongly.
That's what I need to be doing to push on. "I need to get fit again.
Hopefully people will be seeing me play, so I'll work hard and train hard
and see what happens."

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Collison eyes more goals
West Ham midfielder looks at improving his scoring tally
By Subhankar Mondal. Last Updated: November 13, 2011 4:52pm
SSN

West Ham United midfielder Jack Collison is eager to score more goals as the
season progresses following his strike against Hull City. The 23-year-old
bagged his second goal of the 2011/12 season in the Hammers' 2-0 victory at
the KC Stadium in the Championship. Collison was delighted with his
performance against the Tigers and is keen to find the target on a regular
basis for the London club. "The more goals you score the more confident you
become," the Wales international told West Ham's official website.

Improving

"As I've said time and time before, it is something I want to add to my
game. I feel I'm improving with every game. "I'm still working hard to try
and get better and better. The better I do personally is going to be better
for the team. "Hopefully we can kick on and put a gap between us and the
teams below us now. "Obviously my goalscoring is something I want to
improve. I feel that I can chip in with a lot more goals and help the team
out." The victory means that Sam Allardyce's West Ham are second in the
Championship table with 31 points from 16 matches, five behind leaders
Southampton.

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Are West Ham Calling The Shots Over Olympic Stadium Future?
Date: 13th November 2011 at 10:39 am
Written by John Baines
FootballFancast.com

In this week's episode of Eastenders, Phil angrily confronted Christian and
their argument took a violent turn, leaving Roxy to plead with Ben to tell
the truth whilst Jane chastised Ian for neglecting Bobby. Dramatic stuff
indeed, yet a couple of miles away from the relative tranquility of Walford,
an even more absurd soap opera is taking place concerning the nations
Olympic Stadium.

On Tuesday a 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of fraud following
complaints made by West Ham United and the Olympic Park Legacy Committee
(OPLC) against Tottenham Hotspur. The arrest came about just hours after the
OPLC Chair Baroness Ford accused Spurs of placing 14 of her board members
'under surveillance' as the spat over the future of the Olympic Stadium
escalated.

The tit-for-tat row between the OPLC, Newham Council, West Ham, Tottenham
and Leyton Orient shows no signs of receding after a decision to grant
tendership of the stadium to the Hammers was rescinded last month under the
threat of numerous legal challenges.

West Ham were the OPLC's choice from the off due to their acceptance to
leave the running track around the Olympic athletics venue and given the
purported conduct of Spurs throughout the whole process, it is difficult to
see how they have any chance of claiming ownership of the site when it is
re-tendered next month.

So, for the sake of protocol the whole thing needs going over again which
remains in keeping with the confused and conflicting opinions of what is
best for the venue which will be the showpiece of next summers London
Olympic Games.

With location, east-end identity and the maintenance of the running track in
their favour, West Ham remain favourites to be allowed to take up residence
but inevitably another twist to the plot has further made the whole thing
look even more shambolic, dysfunctional and disrespectful to what should be
an iconic national image.

After being the front-runners for occupancy since day one, West Ham
co-Chairman David Gold has now admitted that the club might not be all that
interested in taking up the offer after all.

Speaking to talksport, Gold confessed he had 'mixed feelings' over moving
away from Upton Park and into the Olympic Stadium and expressed 'doubts'
about 'unresolved issues'. All of which sounds fairly ominous as the legacy
of the stadium hangs in the balance.

Central to Gold's 'doubts' maybe that, under the terms of the new tender
proposed as London bids for the 2017 World Athletics Championships, track
and field events take precedence over all other sports - a notion which
would considerably weaken West Ham's previously exhalted position and lessen
any designs they had on being overtly in control of the venue.

What's difficult to ascertain is just where this leaves the club, and what
the genuine intentions of the board are. The realigned conditions may mean
Gold, Sullivan and Brady are genuinely considering an alternative option to
the Olympic Stadium, or it could just be innuendo to scare the OPLC into
loosening the noose to allow the Hammers more autonomy.


For a start, the move to the Olympic Stadium was not a universally popular
decision amongst the club's following who were largely underwhelmed at the
prospect of having to watch games from beyond the boundaries of a running
track. Ideally, all concerned with West Ham would want to own their own
ground and be the masters of their own fortune, but financial constraints
means thats wishful thinking too.

All of which leaves the Irons supposedly stuck between a rock and a hard
place which is where savvy business folk like Gold and Sullivan won't feel
comfortable, but where they are also wise enough to try to navigate from.

So, it does make you wonder whether their perceived poker face about
declining a move to the Olympic Stadium is nothing more than a tactile
gesture to call the bluff of the OPLC and the relevant authorities into
climbing back into bed with West Ham.

What the OPLC will be privately fearing but would never admit too, is that
if West Ham do pull out and Tottenham refuse to accept the maintenance of
the running track, they could be faced with the very embarrassing
proposition of having a multi-million pound state of the art stadium with
huge national significance being lay dormant for huge swathes of the year
and for the foreseeable future.

Of course, Leyton Orient would still maintain their interest and even argue
they should be granted the stadium on purely geographical grounds anyway,
but again, could the OPLC really justify using a stadium built on massive
tax expenditure to house a few thousand fans to watch League One football?

On the exterior it may look like West Ham are wobbling but don't be
surprised if their position is further strengthened by showing their hand
first.

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Athletics win favours West Ham
http://www.footballeconomy.com/
Submitted by WG on Sun, 13/11/2011 - 06:26

London's victory last week in the battle to stage the 2017 World Athletic
Championships at the Olympic stadium has cemented legacy plans for the venue
and puts West Ham United in pole position to bid again for the anchor
tenancy.

Sports minister Hugh Robertson made clear his views stating, 'I think the
West Ham-Newham bid last time round was a good bid, and I very much hope
they will bid next time round.' But he added, 'Any football club knows
they will have to work around the [athletics] track.' Defeat in the
championships bid would have piled on the pressure to scrap the promise to
retain the track after the Olympics.

West Ham have made it clear that they are willing to take up residence in a
stadium that included a track despite the distance of many seats from the
pitch and the lack of an immediate connection with the players. If I was a
West Ham fan (and my father supported them at the famous first final at
Wembley) I would have my reservations about that. Perhaps the club should
consider pay in the slot binoculars of the kind placed on the back of remote
seats in theatres.

The new tender, due to be published in the next few weeks, will differ from
the old one in that the stadium will remain in public ownership. After
2012 the number of seats will be reduced from 80,000 to 60,000.

The Mayor of London's office have made it clear that they would also like to
see a rugby club in the venue. A spot of egg chasing always does wonders
for the pitch.

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