Daily WHUFC News - 13th August 2012

Hammers planning for legacy
WHUFC.com
West Ham United are working hard to keep up the feelgood factor of the
Olympics going
11.08.2012

The West Ham United Community Sports Trust is aiming to carry on the legacy
left by the might of the 2012 London Olympic Games by welcoming youngsters
back to their after-school activity clubs once the new term starts again. As
debates about sport in schools and local communities go on, the club's
Community Sports Trust will once again provide a number of different
sporting and educational activities for youngsters aged five to 14 years.
When the school summer holidays end and winter starts to make an appearance,
there will be still be lots of ways children from across east London and
Essex can stay active inside and outdoors. An array of sports, from football
to tennis and handball to volleyball will be on offer, with trained coaches
leading the sessions. All are designed to offer enjoyment and encourage new
skills, while at the same time introducing youngsters to sports they may not
have tried before.

Mick King, West Ham United Community Sports Trust Chief Executive, said:
"West Ham United is taking a lead in providing high quality after-school
coaching in a range of Olympic-inspired sports. We are providing
opportunities for young people to channel their enthusiasm to participate in
new sports and achieve their personal best."

The after-school activity clubs are just one part of a wide ranging
partnership the club has with organisations and schools throughout the local
community.
For further information on West Ham United Community Sports Trust, the
after-school clubs and more, call 020 7473 7720 or e-mail
community@westhamunited.co.uk

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Reid ready for Villa re-run
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid is looking forward to Saturday's season opener against Aston
Villa for many reasons
12.08.2012

Winston Reid cannot wait for the new Barclays Premier League season to start
for a variety of reasons. West Ham United's No2 ended last term in the form
of his life as the Hammers gained promotion back to the top-flight. On
Friday, he capped a solid defensive performance by scoring a last-gasp
equaliser at SC Braga. Now, Reid is looking forward to the season opener
against Aston Villa and banishing the memory of his West Ham debut against
the same opposition exactly two years ago. That afternoon, West Ham conceded
two first-half goals on their way to a 3-0 defeat and the New Zealand
defender was substituted at half-time.
Fresh from his goal in Portugal, Reid is convinced things will be different
this time around.

"I thought we put in a good performance against Braga," he said. "After last
week's game at Ipswich where we didn't perform so well the boys were
determined to put a good shift in and I thought we thoroughly deserved our
draw at the end there. We even had a good chance to win it. "Of course we
don't like to lose like we did at Ipswich. We're professional footballers
and we're paid to win football games and that's what we want to do. Nobody
enjoyed what happened there and we were determined to put things right
against a better team than Ipswich [in Braga]."

Just as he did against Nottingham Forest, Millwall and Leicester City last
season, Reid was on hand to score with his feet at the Estadio Municipal,
poking home after James Tomkins had headed down Matt Taylor's corner. The
centre-back revealed he was only in position inside the six-yard box because
captain Kevin Nolan was not on the pitch as he continues his recovery from a
toe injury. "With the goal I just happened to be in the right place. Tonks
has done really well like he normally does and luckily enough I had taken
Kev's spot in front of the goalkeeper and I put it in. "I'm sure if I try to
stand there when he is back in the team he'll push me out of the way!"

Whether or not he is inside the six-yard box against Aston Villa on
Saturday, Reid is determined to do everything he can to erase the memory of
his debut back in August 2010. "My debut didn't go too well, and I'd prefer
to start the season in a positive fashion this time, of course. The guys
will be determined to get off to a good start with three points and we're at
home, so we'll be looking to win and make sure things are different this
time around."

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Villa set for sell out
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's first game back in the Premier League is set to sell out
before Saturday
12.08.2012

There are now fewer than 2,000 tickets remaining for West Ham United's first
game back in the Barclays Premier League against Aston Villa and with
tickets selling fast the game is set to sell out this week The Hammers
kick-off their Premier League campaign when they host the Villains at 3pm on
Saturday 18 August and fans have been rushing to make sure they are there.
Alou Diarra, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Modibo Maiga and Momo Diarra are set to
make their first home appearances in claret and blue, while James Collins
will line up against his former club.

West Ham United's last game against Aston Villa came in the 2010/11 season
and ended in a 2-1 defeat, but the Hammers have lost just twice in ten
against their visitors as they look to continue the form that saw them
promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Tickets start at just £39 for Adults and £21 for concessions. To make sure
of your seat, click here to buy your tickets today.

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Hammers duo out for Wales
Lynch & Earnshaw earn call-ups
By Pete O'Rourke - Follow me: @skysportspeteo. Last Updated:
August 12, 2012 4:54pm
SSN

West Ham duo James Collins and Jack Collison have pulled out of the Wales
squad to face Bosnia-Herzegovina. Collins, who rejoined West Ham in the
summer from Aston Villa,has withdrawn from Wednesday's friendly with a groin
injury. West Ham midfielder Collison has been forced out with a knee
problem. Wales boss Chris Coleman has called up Huddersfield defender Joel
Lynch and Cardiff striker Robert Earnshaw as replacements in his squad. Team
GB quartet Craig Bellamy, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Neil Taylor are all
included in the squad. Wednesday's game is Coleman's final chance to prepare
his squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.

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In Allardyce We Trust?
Alex V 4:04 Sat Aug 11
West Ham Online

Here's a few opinions on the new season - I am happy for you to agree or
disagree with them below. Cards on the table, I'm not a massive fan of
having Big Sam as manager, and I don't really like the rat-race of Summer
signings that we seem to enter into each season, and I would prefer us to be
developing and promoting from within the academy and trying to improve on
that basis. But given that we are where we are, doing what we're doing,
here's some thoughts that came into my head when I sat down today.

The players and squad are currently moulded in the image of Sam Allardyce, a
man without the merest shred of humility, a man clearly incredibly
frustrated that his career hasn't advanced to the very top levels in World
football. But I find that I actually like that side of the manager. His
bizarre outburst at the fans last season very similar to Reo-Coker's
infamous cupped ear, but hasn't a perennial West Ham problem in the past
been it's over-politeness? I'm not sure these are qualities that Moore or
Brooking would idolise, but I like the fact that Sam accepts no other
authority than himself, that his managerial style seems mostly self-taught,
invented by Sam for Sam - rude, forthright and (hopefully) formidable. I
doubt Sam will be at West Ham for long, but who really cares - here's an old
stager in management, motivated and wise, who knows how to get the job done.
If we stay up this season it is because of Allardyce.

Yes the football can be terrible, absolutely grotesque. Some of the least
entertaining football I've ever seen was witnessed last season. But who
cares right now, in the afterglow of promotion? Nobody. But the issue won't
go away, and I'm absolutely certain I wasn't the only one sitting in the
stands last season wondering why I go to watch such rubbish. As soon as
we're safe the issue will be the style of winning, but if we look in danger
it'll be open season on Sam's negative tactics. And yes, they are negative
and ugly. Sam, of course, has his way, and in a sense cannot win, and will
eventually tire of the fight I think.

If the squad came into the Summer weak, it was only because of the
short-term approach to get us promoted. Veterans like Faye, Bouba Diop and
Carew brought in for one season, used, discarded. Borderline Premiership
players like O'Brien, McCartney, Noble and Taylor, useful in the
championship but with little prospect of shocking anyone with their progress
now. I don't think there was a lot of long-term planning involved in last
season, and it left us weak on personnel on promotion, but who can really
argue with it now - it got us where most of us want to be. Obviously if we
now get relegated one of the reasons will be a lack of proper long term
squad planning and development, but let's keep that point in a sealed
envelope ready to be brought out later if we go down.

So there was a lot of pressure on this Summer's transfer business -
thankfully if the aim is survival alone this is a considered, intelligent
overhaul of the squad. Worried about Reid in the Premiership? - here's
Collins to add experience and threat from Sam's set-pieces. Worried about
the loss of Rob Green? - we have an old head and a young buck to fight for
the place. Worried about a flimsy uncreative midfield? Here's Diame. And
Diarra - a player with every bit the formidable CV to match Scott Parker's,
indeed they fought in midfield for major nations in Euro 2012.

The only area of the squad that has failed to noticably change so far is
maybe up front, where Cole remains the probable first choice for yet another
year. Carlton, approaching legend status now at the club, seems to see off
every challenge to his position, and once again proved himself the MVP
during our promotion charge through the play-offs. Like many fans, I
slightly crave a world without the one-dimensional football that Cole seems
to feed on, but it's hardly Cole's fault that the many alternatives have
never staked a proper claim to depose him. Maybe Maiga or A N Other will do
it, but I doubt it.

What I like, looking at our squad, is the number of goal threats on paper.
Cole will no doubt hit double figures yet again this season, though he's
unlikely to build on that threat. Vaz Te an incredible scoring record last
season, he will be hungry to push on. Nolan, one of the best scorers from
midfield you could really hope for at our level. A number of fringe palyers
who could provide a threat - Maynard, Maiga and even Collison who played a
very attacking role in the play-offs.

For me Collison is still the dark horse in the squad, the major untapped
potential. Every time he touches the ball I see quality, with his assured
touch, and just that bit of guile and unpredictability that can unlock
defences. The problem being that at times last season you couldn't tell he
was on the pitch (the other problem is injury of course). But that is an
issue for the coaches, physios and the player to work out - how do we get
Collison on and around the ball in the areas we want to see him? Maybe it
will be the right flank again, and that certainly gives him the freedom to
move about and get involved. It just seems an odd fit for a player who just
seems ideally suited to the centre.

What I like most looking at the club, is that this is an outfit that will at
least have to find new reasons to get relegated. There's no reason to
consider our manager a chump. We're not going to get dominated physically
with this bunch of players. We're not going to roll over - the steely
determination was the best feature of our promotion season. We're also not
going to have to hit our A-game to get results, because we were a disjointed
mess at times last season and still picked up points.

Will we survive? Will we do better than survive? Does Big Sam's blueprint
still work? All options other than World-domination are open to us right
now. And I think the players will know that. It is, as always, a great
opportunity to do something good on the field, and for us to enjoy watching
it.

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Were You Watching FIFA?
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die

At the close of the excellent London 2012, English football fans can only
wonder whether the oligarchs of FIFA watched the Olympics from their deluxe
ivory towers in Switzerland? Did they see the excellent organisation, the
developed infrastructure, the top quality, state of the art, facilities and
the passion of a historic sporting nation acting as hosts of the biggest and
most complex international sporting occasions of them all? Did they heed the
International Olympic Committee's (IOC) generous praise of the event and
Britain's far sighted emphasis upon legacy and sustainability. And did they
note the universal plaudits for the sporting and intensely passionate
atmosphere generated?

I wonder if for one isolated moment the FIFA oligarchy reflected on 'what
might have been' if the power brokers had awarded the 2018 World Cup
Competition logically to the best bid submitted, the one that had
everything, England's? Might they have wondered what a truly great World Cup
England would have delivered? Indeed, the whole London 2012 experience must
surely underline the fact that the decision to award the 2018 competition to
a vastly inferior Russian bid was a mistake of the first order, which has
denied world Football of a truly unique event.

Of course, knowing the insular arrogance of FIFA, they will not feel it
necessary to engage in a single moment of thoughtful reflection.They will
just reaffirm and defend their original error, born of ....... well you make
your mind up on that one! And of course, FIFA will never be the losers (on
any level), no the losers are England, robbed by a unfair selection process,
English fans, robbed of a long overdue 2nd home World Cup, and world
football itself, robbed of a World Cup that would have been truly
outstanding. Russia 2018 is the wrong choice for a number of well documented
reasons. As for the hosts of 2022, well that decision is not just wrong, it
is totally mystifying? No doubt FIFA are banking on a success in Brazil in
2014 and they may well get it. But what will follow it in 2018, with the
geographically vast, administratively shambolic and somewhat authoritarian
Russia as hosts?

The whole debacle around the 2018 decision just reinforces the need for the
reform of FIFA to create a transparent, fair and accountable body, much in
the same way that the IOC reformed itself in the past.

SJ. Chandos.

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Steve Bacon Book Out This Week
By Iain Dale About 11 hours ago 0 comments
West Ham Till I Die

He has never scored a goal, lifted a trophy, worn the captain's armband or
even played for the club – but the man is considered a genuine Hammers
legend. Indeed, as the fans have repeatedly chanted for the last three
decades, "There's only one Stevie Bacon." As West Ham United's popular
official photographer for more than 30 years, Steve Bacon has become a cult
hero at Upton Park – to the extent that he has appeared on Sky's Soccer AM,
starred in a comical YouTube clip, been parodied in a fanzine comic strip
and even had a burger named after him.

From his privileged position, Steve has enjoyed unlimited access behind the
scenes – forming part of the club's backroom team and travelling with the
squad – and established close relationships with many of the club's managers
and players, allowing him to reflect on an undulating period of Hammers
history from a unique perspective. John Lyall, Lou Macari, Billy Bonds,
Harry Redknapp, Glenn Roeder, Alan Pardew, Alan Curbishley, Gianfranco Zola
and Avram Grant have all worked under the focus of Bacon's candid camera,
while Trevor Brooking, Tony Cottee, Frank McAvennie, Julian Dicks, Rio
Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Paolo Di Canio and Scott Parker are just a few of
the star players who have embraced him into their fold. The result is that
Steve has a thrilling story to tell. Packed with terrific tales, amusing
anecdotes and controversial characters, plus a foreword by Hammers hero, SIR
TREVOR BROOKING, There's Only One Stevie Bacon offers an intriguing insight
into life at the Boleyn Ground and one that no West Ham United fan will want
to miss.

It's published this week, and Steve will be doing some booksignings over the
next few weeks. Here are details of the first two...

Saturday 18 August, Newham Bookshop, Barking Road, 12-2pm (I will be with
him and signing my books too!)
Saturday 25 August, Waterstone's, Romford, 12-1pm

You can order the book from my company Biteback Publishing for £11.99 (RRP
£15.99) HERE and the book will be sent to you on the day you order.

Or you can also order the book from Amazon, who are charging £13.59 .

There will be a eBook version of the book in a week or two's time.

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Jarvis Stale-mate
Published: Today at 00:15
The Sun

WOLVES have told West Ham to stump up £10million for Matt Jarvis. They
rejected a £9million bid for the winger as it worked out at £6m, plus
add-ons. Wolves boss Stale Solbakken said: "We want the money. "We can't
wait two years for West Ham."

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WHAT WILL ALOU DIARRA BRING TO US?
Posted on Sunday, 12th August 2012 by Bud Hedges
Forever West Ham

West Ham United have announced that they have completed the signing of
French international midfielder Alou Diarra. Strong comparisons link Diarra
with Arsenal legend and current Football Development Executive at Manchester
City, Patrick Vieira. He has played in Germany and France, with Lyon,
Bordeux and Bayern Munich, also seven years ago, he has a spell with
Liverpool, without appearing for the Reds.

Diarra's qualities that he brought to the French team during Euro 2012, were
one of the few highlights during the tournament for the national side. He
was causing problems for opposition by the way that he controlled the flow
and tempo of the game and was stopping the midfield on the opposing team
playing through to the strikers.

On arrival, Alou Diarra told the club website, "I am very happy to be here
at West Ham – everything is signed now which is good and I am excited to be
here at this club and to be playing for them in the Premier League. I know a
lot about West Ham as a club and when I knew they were interested in signing
me, I was very happy and knew it would be a good choice for me."

"The club has just been promoted and I am looking forward to a good
challenge with the team ahead. I see this as my chance in the Premier League
to do well with West Ham. I hope that my experience can help and the fans
will see me give my all in the matches."

This signing may be a crucial one for us; Diarra will act as one of the many
leaders that we are going to need for our next season. Diarra will give the
midfield bags of experience and power, if we have two defensive midfielders
in front of the defence with Mohamed Diame and Diarra, it could be like
knocking down a wall to get through the midfielders. Diarra is a very good
signing because he can double up as a centre back as well as his natural
role in the midfield. The role of Diame and Diarra could be a vital
partnership because you can have one of the pair holding back whilst the
other one moves forward to back up the attack and give the attackers an
extra outlet to use.

Though forget the role that he can play in attacks, the signing of Diarra is
important because he will add experience that we need this year. The
leadership qualities he holds can give a boost to consolidating our place in
the league.

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