Daily WHUFC News - 15th February 2013

Hall extends Birmingham loan
WHUFC.com
West Ham United forward to stay with npower Championship side Birmingham
City for another month
14.02.2013

West Ham United youngster Robert Hall has extended his youth loan at npower
Championship side Birmingham City for a further month. The 19-year-old
forward has already spent three months with the St Andrews club, clocking up
12 appearances for Lee Clark's Blues. He will now remain with Birmingham
until March 16, taking in a further seven Championship fixtures. Birmingham
currently sit 16th in the table, but go into Saturday's game against Watford
protecting a four-game unbeaten run. The England Under-19 international has
seven first team appearances for the Hammers to his name and has previously
spent time on loan at Oxford United and Milton Keynes Dons.

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Noble eager to earn his Spurs
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble cannot wait for the special visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Monday
25 February
14.02.2013
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Mark Noble is relishing the opportunity to take on Tottenham Hotspur when
West Ham United return to Barclays Premier League action. The Hammers
welcome Spurs to the Boleyn Ground on Monday 25 February for what promises
to be an emotional evening in east London, with the club marking the 20th
anniversary of the passing of Bobby Moore MBE. A host of West Ham and
England legends will be back at the Boleyn Ground, including Moore's fellow
1966 FIFA World Cup winners and West Ham team-mates Martin Peters and Geoff
Hurst, and five-times Hammer of the Year Sir Trevor Brooking. Prior to
kick-off, a minute's applause will be held in memory of the man who made 544
appearances for the Hammers between 1958 and 1974. Supporters sitting in the
Bobby Moore Stand will also be invited to take part in displaying a special
mosaic depicting Moore's famous claret and blue No6 shirt, which was retired
by the club in August 2008 to mark the 50th anniversary of the defender's
West Ham debut. The match is also one of this seasons designated Bobby Moore
Fund matches and the Fund will be the beneficiary of all charitable activity
carried out at this fixture, including receiving 50p from the sale of every
Official Programme sold.
Noble, for one, is relishing what promises to be a memorable evening. "It
will be a great game, a great occasion and a night game so it'll be
brilliant," said the Hammer of the Year, who scored his first Premier League
goal in the 4-3 home defeat by Spurs in March 2007 - a result that served as
the catalyst for West Ham's amazing escape from relegation that season. "I
think that was my best-ever game in a Hammers shirt. I scored a half-volley
after 15 minutes and, even though we went on to lose the game, it was an
amazing occasion and I'll never forget it."

The No16 and his team-mates are currently preparing for the visit of Spurs
at a warm-weather training camp in Dubai. Noble said the players will enjoy
a bit of sun on their backs, but will be focused on re-charging their
batteries ahead of the final 12 games of the season. "We're looking forward
to it but we're going to get down to training and work on some shape and
that sort of stuff and then look forward to the game ahead. "After the two
seasons we've had, playing three games a week in the Championship, getting
promoted and the start we had to the Premier League season, the manager
believes a break and the sun will do us good, so that's what we've done this
week. We'll enjoy it but we'll work hard, train hard and be ready for
Spurs."

The ever-popular Noble is determined to secure three points against Andre
Villas-Boas' side, if only to satisfy his fellow West Ham supporters. After
losing their previous five away matches, the midfielder said the players owe
it to the fans to give it their all on Monday week. "All the lads say it all
the time - the away fans are brilliant. The home fans are brilliant as well,
but the away fans pay their money and travel and are fantastic all the time,
even though they haven't had much to cheer recently. Last time they had
loads to cheer on the road because we were winning all the time away from
home, but they are sticking by us. We're mid-table and looking up and not
down."

Looking back at Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa, Noble admitted to
personal disappointment as his foul tackle on Charles N'Zogbia led to
Christian Benteke's penalty opener. "Obviously giving a penalty away was
frustrating. When you're a holding midfield player in that situation, you
have to make decisions whether to tackle or not and that was probably the
wrong one. You have that dilemma of letting him go past and he cuts inside
and smashes it into the corner and everyone says 'Why didn't you tackle
him?' so it's a little bit frustrating."

Statistics showed West Ham again had cause for frustration. The Hammers had
more final-third and penalty area entries than their hosts, delivered twice
as many crosses, had eleven corners to Villa's three and unleashed more
shots than the home side. Defensively, West Ham also won more headers and
tackles than Paul Lambert's side. Noble's own frustration was compounded by
a second Villa goal through N'Zogbia's free-kick just a few moments later -
especially as the Hammers had controlled large portions of the game prior to
Benteke's 74th-minute spot-kick. "The first 20 minutes of the second half
were brilliant. We put loads of crosses in but, as it seems to be away from
home at the minute, we just can't get a win. In the game against Fulham, we
were 1-0 down to a header from a free-kick that was offside, got back to 1-1
and then let in a sloppy goal. "On Sunday, I gave away a penalty and then
they put a free-kick in the top corner, so it was frustrating afternoon.
"Sometimes it goes for you like that. At home, we're picking up points but
away from home we're not. If you look at the game at QPR when we picked up
the points away from home, our chances went into the net, but recently that
hasn't been the case and we've been punished."

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Rob Hall's loan deal with Birmingham City extended to March 16
Last Updated: February 14, 2013 4:42pm
SSN

West Ham youngster Rob Hall will spend another month on loan with
Championship side Birmingham. The 19-year-old forward has already spent
three months with the St Andrews club, making 12 appearances, and will stay
there until 16 March. The England U19 international has made seven first
team appearances for the Hammers and also gained experience on with Oxford
United and Milton Keynes Dons.

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Sam's fury at late Mod
Exclusive
By ANDREW DILLON
Published: 4 hrs ago
The Sun

MODIBO MAIGA faces a grilling from West Ham bosses after his late return
from the African Nations Cup. The madcap Mali striker arrived in London on
Wednesday — 48 hours after he was due to report back for the Hammers. Maiga
played in his country's 3-1 third place play-off win over Ghana on Saturday.
The rest of Sam Allardyce's squad is on a six-day warm weather training trip
to Dubai. But West Ham want to find out whether Maiga went AWOL or there was
a mix up by the Mali FA over his return flight. He also went missing while
at his last club Sochaux.

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Big Sam: I want to fill out Olympic Stadium
The Sun
OLYMPIC MISSION ... Sam Allardyce says club need to be in top flight to make
successful move
Published: 14th February 2013

SAM ALLARDYCE wants West Ham to establish themselves in the top flight to
ensure they can pack out the Olympic Stadium. The Hammers are the preferred
tenants for the stadium and they are awaiting confirmation to move in for
the 2015-16 season. Allardyce said: "There is this huge, massive-looking
Olympic Stadium which is going to be converted and if that is going to be
converted into a football arena, it will be one of the biggest in the
country. "West Ham needs the players to be established in the Premier League
if they want to fill it." The Hammers were promoted to the top flight last
year and are flying high in 11th spot in the table. The Boleyn boys remain
just seven points above the drop zone but Allardyce reckons they are almost
assured of their Premier League place next season. Big Sam said: "They [the
board] gave me a two-year period to [get promoted] and I did it in the first
year and that was a massive achievement.
"We are 11th with 12 games to go and only need at the very, very maximum 10
points from the last 12 games to make sure we are safe. "The progress has
been massive in a short period of time." The Hammers continue their Premier
League campaign at home to Spurs on February 25.

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Eastenders scream for Rickie: West Ham plan summer move for Southampton
striker Lambert
The Mirror
14 Feb 2013 22:30
Alex Livesey

West Ham are set to follow up their initial approach for Rickie Lambert with
a summer bid. The Hammers had an enquiry dismissed by Southampton during the
January transfer window but are set to return at the end of the season. The
Hammers are big admirers of the marksman whose 11 goals this season make him
the highest scoring Englishman in the top flight. Lambert is also out of
contract at the end of next season. It comes despite Lambert's insistence
that he is happy at St Mary's and wants to finish his career there.

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West Ham to make final payment to Sheffield United over Carlos Tevez affair
The Argentine saved the Hammers from relegation
The Independent
Martyn Ziegler Wednesday 13 February 2013


West Ham are close to drawing a line under the costly Carlos Tevez affair
with their final payment to Sheffield United to be made before the summer,
it can be disclosed. The Hammers agreed an £18.1million compensation deal
with Sheffield United in 2009 over Tevez' role in keeping the London club in
the Premier League in 2007 at the expense of the Blades. Under the
compensation deal, the payments were staggered until 2013 - the Blades'
latest accounts confirm that, and that a loan from Santander bank was taken
out in 2010 secured against the payments from West Ham. As of June last
year, the amount guaranteed stood at £8.5million, and the final £6million
payment is due by July. West Ham were fined £5million by a Premier League
inquiry for breaching rules governing third-party ownership, but
controversially no points were deducted and Tevez was permitted to play in
the final three games of the season. The club claimed they had unilaterally
terminated their third-party agreement with the players' advisors, a
consortium headed by Kia Joorabchian. Tevez scored in the final match of the
season as the Hammers survived and Sheffield United were relegated. The
Blades took the case to an independent tribunal which ruled that Tevez had
been ineligible to play. Third-party ownership of players is prohibited in
English football - on the basis that if one person or company owns a number
of players at different clubs it can lead to conflicts of interest.

UEFA has now pledged to introduce the same ban across Europe though there is
opposition from some clubs, especially in Portugal and Italy, against such a
move. But UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said: "We think this
should be the case all over the world, certainly all over Europe. If FIFA
will not do it, we will certainly do it as far as Europe is concerned."

The final payment from West Ham will be hugely important in financial terms
to Sheffield United, now in League One, who last year reported a £13million
loss.
The club have stated in their accounts that the income has helped maintain
wage levels and pay off debts.

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