Daily WHUFC News - 15th October 2012

Oiling the Mobot
WHUFC.com
Carlton Cole has thrown his support behind old friend and double Olympic
champion Mo Farah
14.10.2012

As an aspiring young athlete, Carlton Cole wisely avoided taking on the
small boy from Isleworth and Syon School on the track. While Cole stuck to
the 100m and 200m sprints, Mo Farah won every long-distance race there was
to win at the London Borough of Hounslow athletics championships. Both men
have since been proved to have made the right choice, with Cole going on to
play football for West Ham United and England and Farah famously winning the
5,000m and 10,000m Gold medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games. "I went to
school in the same Borough as Mo," explained the Hammers No9. "He used to go
to Isleworth and Syon and I went to Lampton and then on to Chiswick School,
so that's how we know each other. "We used to go and do Borough athletics
and that was based at Feltham Athletics Arena so we always used to see each
other. "We have a mutual friend who is a sprinter called Darren Chin, who
doesn't run anymore because he has retired, and that's how we know each
other so well . "Mo is a good friend of mine and I'm just so happy that he
did so well and did his country proud at London 2012."

Cole smiles when he remembers watching his old friend in action at the
Borough athletics events when the two were teenagers, laughing at the sight
of the diminutive Farah streaking away from his rivals. At the same time,
the bigger, stronger Cole was attempting to make his mark as a sprinter -
but with markedly less success! "We were in different events. He was the
endurance guy and I couldn't keep up with him! He used to lap people in the
first three laps and I used to think 'What on Earth is going on?'. "I always
saw that he had a talent and I am so pleased he has done really well. I saw
how hard he worked over the years, so to get the medals that he achieved at
the Olympics was brilliant. "I was a sprinter but I wasn't the fastest. We
had some good athletes come out of my area and it was a really good
experience to be involved in. "I've always been into my athletics, anyway,
so seeing the Olympics was a brilliant spectacle for me and for everyone
involved in West Ham as well because everyone wanted to cheer on Team GB.
"We had the rower Mark Hunter come to visit us last season and everyone
wanted to see him do really well. I know Mark was a bit disappointed not to
get the Gold, but he still took part and got a Silver medal."

Cole and Farah were reunited when the Somalia-born champion held a charity
ball in central London to raise money for his charity foundation. The Mo
Farah Foundation aims to build 50 water wells across Somalia, provide and
distribute food and medical supplies to more than 20,000 people, build eight
canals and provide livestock and farming tools to ten farms by the end of
2012. The Hammers star is backing his old friend to meet those ambitions and
was delighted to lend his support to the cause alongside Olympic heroes
Usain Bolt, Sir Steve Redgrave, Christine Ohuruogu, Colin Jackson and Steve
Cram at the Grosvenor House Hotel. "Basically, Mo has launched a Foundation
to provide a lot of wells and farms in Somalia, where his heritage is from.
"He is doing a brilliant job but he needs help to build enough wells to keep
everyone going over there. "He has done a brilliant job and has got a load
of celebrities to push it through as well, so he doesn't really need my help
with the people he has got behind him! "Seriously, I am always there to
support him in his good deed. It comes from his heart so I'll always be
there for him."

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Nigel's Making Plans ... at Ipswich Town
By Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die

Now, no disrespect to Ipswich Town, but I don't imagine Nigel Reo-Coker
imagined he'd end up there after telling Bolton he wouldn't re-sign for them
as he was a Premier League player. "It's the right club at the right time
for me and everything has fallen into place." Yes, two months after the
start of the season.
It would be cruel to laugh. Very cruel.

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EXCLUSIVE Q&A WITH WEST HAM'S NEXT STAR
Posted on Sunday, 14th October 2012 by Jordan French
Forever West Ham

Hello again people, I hope you enjoyed my last article if you managed to
read it! This time around though I would like to look at the generally good
feel around the club this season and the under 18′s and I am pleased to say
I have had the pleasure of having a Q&A session with our new under 18′s
star Nathan Mavila.

For those of you who are unsure who this young man is here is a brief
insight into the player: He was born in Brixton and as a youngster played
for a team called Afewee Urban along with our other young player Leo
Chambers. The versatile youngster was then scouted in 2007 by Football
League side Wycombe Wanderers where he spent 5 years until moving in the
summer of 2012 to the claret and blue of West Ham United. Since then he has
played 6 times for the under 18′s with 4 starts and 2 subs, most notably in
the 4-0 win over West Brom in which he scored his first Hammers goal. Here
is the interview.
Jordan French (JF) : How are you finding it at the club since your move in
the summer?
Nathan Mavila (NM) : I'm really enjoying it. I thank the players and staff
for helping me settle in.
JF : As a fan, there is a great feel to the club this season overall, is
that the same as a player for the club?
NM : Yeah, there has been a really positive vibe around the training ground.
I think this will be a good season for all ages including the first team.
JF : I've heard the staff like to mix the players up in training a lot,
whats it like showing off your skills to the first team players?
NM : The mix has been really good. And you'd feel really nervous but the
first team players are nice lads towards the younger lot training with them.
JF : We've had a great start this season, 8th in the Premier League, 1st in
the under 21′s and 4th in the under 18′s, the players must be confident to
keep up and improve on this already great season?
NM : Yes, the 1st team are doing really well and the 21′s and 18′s are
doing well too. The under 18′s are hoping to do even better and get in to
the elite group, which consists of teams that came 1st and 2nd in every
group.
JF : What has been the stand out moment for you this season?
NM : So far it has got to be playing really well against West Brom.
JF : Do you have any personal aims or goals for yourself this season?
NM : To score and assist in games as much as I can and also push on to the
development squad.
JF : You can play anywhere down the left side, do you have a favourite
position?
NM : Left midfield
JF : How would you describe yourself as a player?
NM : I think I'm a versatile, athletic, skillful, quick and direct player.
JF : Is there any players or people who have inspired you to play the game?
NM : The people I grew up with and the area I was brought up in were really
into football and they really inspired me to get involved.
JF : Last question, if you could choose one player, past or present, to play
alongside for 90 minutes, who would it be?
NM : It has to be Ashley Cole. He is a hardworking, reliable and consistent
player.

What we see here and going by interviews by many players at the club is the
great feeling around the whole club this season from the training ground, on
the pitch and all the way to the fans at home and away games. But we most
notably see a very promising youngster at our club, a player who is quick
and determined, likes to get forward, has an eye for goal and with the help
of our coaches a player who in my mind will be a first team regular battling
away with Dan Potts and Matt Jarvis for places down the left in the not so
distant future!

Well, isn't it an amazing feeling being a fan of this history packed club
right now? The fans are happy, the players and staff are happy plus in all
levels were playing such good football it's hard to complain about anything
really, it seems that David Gold and David Sullivan have got the ball
rolling to kick start this teams rise to the top like they said would
happen, all i can say is keep it up and please please do not hire Avram
Grant again!

So my fellow fans, it is a few years down the line, we are a team fighting
to get into a European place and some of our first team players have age
catching up on them, "oh dear! What will happen now?" I hear you say, well
have no fear my fellow hammers as our academy have some future stars within
the ranks! I am however unable to name all of them and give a reason why
they will be big players in the future as you would all be reading for so
long the players would have retired by the time you finished, so just click
onto the clubs website and have a look through the academy and development
squad sections and keep an eye on their progress because honestly, who
doesn't get excited at trying to find the next world star from the famous
Academy Of Football? There is a lot of promising players so if anybody has
been keeping an eye on anybody in particular please comment so that others
can look out for them as the youth system doesn't get enough attention in
my eyes.

So onto our under 18′s, they have a good chance at making it into the Elite
group this season which I for one am confident they will, as Nathan pointed
out in the interview the top 2 teams in each group go through to the Elite
group and with us being in 4th, 1 point behind Arsenal in 3rd, 4 points
behind Reading in 2nd and 9 points behind Bolton at the peak it is still
anybody's game, but with this confidence around the club, the staff mixing
the players up in training giving the much needed experience to the raw
talent at our younger levels, I think that will give the boys in claret and
blue the edge over the other teams around them and go for some silverware!

Well a big thank you to Nathan Mavila for taking some time to answer them
questions, you can find him on twitter at @N_Mavila as well as a lot of our
younger players so please follow him and the other players to show your
support to the clubs future stars!

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