TC looking forward to new season
WHUFC.com
Tony Cottee discusses West Ham United prospects ahead of the new season
29.06.2013
West Ham United legend Tony Cottee believes manager Sam Allardyce needs to
bring in one more forward to complement his forward line ahead of the
2013/14 Barclays Premier League season. Cottee lauded the signing of England
centre forward Andy Carroll and believes Modibo Maiga, Ricardo Vaz Te and
Elliot Lee have parts to play. However, the 146-goal striker believes Big
Sam will delve into the market to bring in one more frontman before the big
kick-off at home to Cardiff City on Saturday 17 August.
"It was a good season for the Club last year, finishing tenth in our first
season back in the Barclays Premier League," Cottee told West Ham TV. "Right
at the end of last season, I felt we needed to strengthen up front. "The
Andy Carroll conundrom has been resolved and we obviously have Modibo Maiga,
Ricardo Vaz Te and Elliot Lee as the guys who are squad players. To have a
successful season in the Premier League you need to have four quality
strikers. "That is the aim as we come towards the start of the season. We
need to get a striker in. The signing of Andy is great for the Club, so if
we can keep Maiga and Vaz Te and get one more in, then I feel that is where
our priorities lie. "We're pretty good in midfield. We could maybe do with a
couple of players with a little bit of pace in the squad. At centre-half
we're fine and I think we're OK in the goalkeeping position, so it's mainly
the forward positions for me."
Cottee also said he believes Romania captain and left-back Razvan Rat will
add welcome experience to the back four before going on to set out his goals
for 2013/14. "I am just hoping for a five-year period of stability at the
Club. I got frustrated with the Club being a yo-yo and going up and down, up
and down, because I don't think that did anyone any good. "Under Sam
Allardyce I do think we will get a period of stability and that is exactly
what the Club needs. We're three years away from going into the Olympic
Stadium and we simply must retain our Premier League status. "I don't want
the fans to get carried away just because we finished tenth. I don't want
fans thinking we're going to qualify for the Champions League next season
because that is unrealistic. With the budget and squad we've got, that's not
going to happen.
"It wouldn't be a disaster if we finished 12th or 13th next year, but
hopefully we can improve. If we can finish ninth next year, I'll be
absolutely thrilled with that and then hopefully eighth and seventh. "Once
we get into the Olympic Stadium, it will give the Club more money and more
sponsorship and commercial opportunities to develop the squad and give Sam
the chance to compete for Europe. That's my ultimate dream - to see us
compete for a place in the Champions League."
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Birmingham keen to bring Shane Ferguson and Ravel Morrison back
Last Updated: June 29, 2013 4:58pm
SSN
Birmingham are hoping to bring Shane Ferguson and Ravel Morrison back for
second loan spells, but will also promote from within. Discussions with
Newcastle United and West Ham United have been opened regarding further
season-long deals for Ferguson and Morrison. Blues boss Lee Clark will,
however, be exploring all avenues as he looks to piece together a
competitive squad for 2013/14. He is reluctant to block the path of academy
graduates, but also appreciates the need to get experienced bodies on board
for what will be another testing Championship campaign. Clark told the
Birmingham Mail when quizzed on his plans for the summer: "How many more
players? It's a tough one because as you know and as I've shown in the past,
I like to promote from within as well. "The scholars came in on Wednesday
and I've sat down with them to throw down the gauntlet - why not you take
the positions or have a go at taking the roles? "There's that possibility,
but there's also a possibility in regards Shane Ferguson and Ravel Morrison.
"We're still in dialogue with Newcastle United and West Ham United. I would
really like to get them, but we've got to see."
Opportunity
Clark added: "There are possibilities on both sides for promotion from
within, down to the young players. "I believe they're in an unbelievable
position because they've seen I'm not frightened to do it, they've seen the
position of the club and the position where you can get games, and lots of
games. "But ultimately it's up to them. I'm not just going to give them an
opportunity to be in the team and producing the goods as it's about the
whole package for me. It's about how they behave on and off the field."
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Jimmy Greaves on why West Ham fans shouldn't get too distressed by pictures
of Andy Carroll partying
29 Jun 2013 22:00
The Mirror
The football great tells the Sunday People's Dave Kidd that there used to be
a time when you'd fail a medical for having no alcohol in your bloodstream
Let's get one thing straight: Even at the height of my drinking, I never
dressed up as a giant chipmunk while sipping champagne in a Las Vegas
nightspot.
Nor did I climb on the shoulders of a fellow party-goer, bare-chested and in
a Superman cape while firing a smoke gun. But West Ham fans should not get
too distressed at photos of Andy Carroll, who has just cost the club
£15million, going ballistic in the Nevada desert at 4am, 36 hours before his
Hammers medical.
Because there was a time when you'd have failed a medical at West Ham if
they found out there was NO alcohol in your bloodstream. Not that new
signings had to undergo any sort of medical at English clubs in my playing
days. At least we were responsible drinkers down at West Ham.
When Bobby Moore, Clyde Best, Brian Dear and I were banned for a match after
Ron Greenwood discovered we had gone out for a few on the eve of an FA Cup
defeat at Blackpool, the fifth member of our party was club physio Robbie
Jenkins – how much more medically responsible could you get? We were banned
not because we went out boozing but because we went out boozing and then
lost 4-0. We had a far heavier session in Manchester the day before my
Hammers debut. I woke up feeling rough as a pair of sandpaper underpants,
yet we went to Maine Road and beat City, the champions of England, by five
goals to one. We never got banned after that one, funnily enough.
After Blackpool, we were suspended for what turned out to be a 4-1 home
defeat by Derby. The following week I scored the only goal at Coventry and
Bobby Moore ran half the length of the field to deliver a V-sign at Ron –
the most emotional I ever saw Bob on a football field. Earlier in my career,
when I signed for Tottenham, I made my debut in a reserve match at Plymouth.
I'd just come back from AC Milan, amid plenty of talk that I was a prima
donna who just wasn't up for it in Italy. So the best way I could endear
myself to my new team-mates was to go drinking with them before and during
the trip home on the sleeper from Devon.
On that journey we earned ourselves a real badge of honour when a Rugby
Football Union bigwig, on the same train, made an official complaint about
our rowdy behaviour. Those were the days when rugby players were regarded as
the most hardened drinkers of all, and it was a real feather in our caps. So
despite his strange taste in fancy dress, you certainly won't hear me
condemning Carroll for his heavy night in Vegas. It's a shame players cannot
go out drinking together more often – partly because of increased fitness
levels, which make them athletes first and footballers second and partly
because of the curse of mobile-phone cameras. They are missing out on a lot
of enjoyment and camaraderie, and I have always been convinced that,
whatever they earn, modern
players won't look back on their careers with the same sort of fondness as
we did. Summer holidays for top players have always been pretty brief – no
more than a month between the end of a post-season tour and the start of
pre-season training. For me, married with young kids, summer holidays were
generally a time to go away and do a little less drinking than I'd normally
do! Not so Carroll, it seems, who is an uncomplicated footballer and an
uncomplicated bloke.
He isn't a £35m player, or even a £15m one, and his status as a member of
the England squad shows how limited Roy Hodgson's striking options have
become. But Carroll is a big old-fashioned centre-forward who works hard on
the pitch and plays hard off it. Which makes him all right by me.
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West Ham among trio of clubs in hunt for Liverpool's Shelvey
PUBLISHED: 22:53, 29 June 2013 | UPDATED: 22:53, 29 June 2013
Daily Mail
Liverpool will let England Under-21 midfielder Jonjo Shelvey leave and
boyhood heroes West Ham, Swansea and Norwich are all interested. Norwich
are also fighting Hull for £5million Celtic striker Gary Hooper. Besiktas
are one of two Turkish clubs looking at signing striker Carlton Cole after
his release by West Ham. Cole, 29, is willing to consider a move abroad,
with Galatasaray interested, along with Premier League Hull.
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