Chadwell Chatter - Carlton Cole
WHUFC.com
Hello everyone,
It was great that I could be back at the Boleyn Ground for one final visit on Tuesday night and it was an unforgettable evening.
The team were brilliant against Manchester United and made it a great spectacle. They made sure the fans remembered the game and they are not going to forget this 3-2 victory.
The boys are doing so well this season and made it look easy. I am just happy to be invited back and say farewell to the Boleyn Ground.
I have enjoyed a number of memorable moments under the lights at West Ham but that was one of the best and I was cheering like a proper fan for once.
People were watching this all over the world but there was nothing like being here and taking in the amazing atmosphere.
The boys understand the feeling I had in the closing ceremony when they were singing my name.
It was like I was still on the field and I enjoyed every minute of it. I feel I have played my part for the club and it took a great deal for me to be here on the night.
I came down from Glasgow after training as I had to do some rehab on my injury but to see everything happening was unbelievable. It was a great closing ceremony as well.
I can't believe I will not be coming back here anymore and I have so many memories which will always be with me.
My debut will always stay me and I scored with my third touch against Charlton.
Everyone keeps asking me what my favourite moment was and it is so hard for me as I had so many, but I enjoyed it every time I stepped on the field and it was a special occasion.
I hope to see you at the new Stadium.
Coley
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Payet leads international call-ups
WHUFC.com
West Ham United look set to have at least two representatives at UEFA Euro 2016 after Dimitri Payet followed James Collins in being called-up by his country.
Payet was named in Didier Deschamps' 23-man France squad for their home championship finals on Thursday evening, following Collins' own inclusion in Wales' 29-man pre-tournament training camp.
Starting with Payet, the 29-year-old's inclusion completes an outstanding 12 months for the attacking midfielder, who has excelled in his first season in Claret and Blue, won the Hammer of the Year award and returned to the international set-up.
The No27 arrived from Marseille with a strong reputation which he has only enhanced with a campaign that has so far yielded 12 goals and 15 assists in 38 West Ham appearances.
Payet returned to the France squad after a nine-month hiatus in March this year, returning to the starting XI with a sensational free-kick goal against Russia in Paris – his fifth successful direct set piece of the season.
The Reunion-born star also took an influential role in the Final Game at the Boleyn Ground on Tuesday, setting up West Ham's second and third goal in a 3-2 victory over Manchester United.
Speaking afterwards, Payet again thanked the Claret and Blue Army for their support of him and his teammates this season.
"It was a very, very big night," he said. "We wanted to win in front of our supporters for the final time here.
"The scenario was magnificent. We didn't give up. We managed to score those three goals, despite trailing 2-1.
"It was exceptional, the fans played their part. We try to reward them and I think we succeeded. It was a very good night!"
As hosts, France are in Group A alongside Albania, Romania and Switzerland.
Collins, meanwhile, has been named in Chris Coleman's 29-man training squad for a camp in Portugal, with the final 23-man selection being made on 31 May.
Wales will play Sweden in Stockholm on 5 June before travelling to its Team Base Camp in Dinard, Brittany, where they will prepare for their opening Group B game of the tournament against Slovakia in Bordeaux on 11 June. Wales will then play England in Lens on 11 June and travel to Toulouse for the match against Russia on 20 June.
West Ham are set to send a third player to France, with goalkeeper Darren Randolph starring for the Republic of Ireland in their final qualifying matches and Play-Off win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The in-form stopper will face a tough test if Martin O'Neill keeps faith with him in France, with the Boys in Green being paired alongside Belgium, Italy and Sweden in Group E.
Elsewhere, Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho could be involved for Senegal in their 2017 AFCON qualifier in Burundi in early June, while Enner Valencia will hope to be included in Ecuador's final squad for the Centennial Copa America in the United States.
Ecuador will be hopeful of advancing from Group B, which also contains Brazil, Haiti and Peru.
Finally, Dylan Tombides Award winner Declan Rice started and Anthony Scully appeared as a substitute as Republic of Ireland U18s drew 2-2 with Germany in an international friendly in Ruesselsheim am Main on Wednesday.
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Not the same as Hillsborough, but nearly
Filed: Thursday, 12th May 2016
By: Kit Robinson
KUMB.com
With headlines of 'Carnage' in the media, the attack on the Manchester United bus prior to the last match that West Ham United would play at the Boleyn Ground, overshadowed what was a brilliant send off and an amazing game and celebration.
But it would seem that both the media and Police do not seem to have learnt any lessons from Hillsborough as a similar tragic incident was narrowly avoided but should never have been possible.
Nobody at West Ham will condone the actions of the fans who hurled missiles and damaged the Manchester United team coach. It was thuggish behaviour and everybody connected with the club, from staff to fans should hope they get prosecuted as citizens and not fans. Of course there is no comparison to their actions and those of the fans at Hillsborough, who have quite rightly been proven innocent of any wrongdoing.
However, like Hillsborough, the same cannot be said of the police and their attempts to rectify a situation which would never had occurred in the first place, had they the foresight and planning to protect the public and avoid what could have been another major tragedy.
As it happened I did not go to the match but gave up my ticket to my father who went with my brother, however after the match I spoke directly after Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal on BBC Radio 5, who stated that Manchester United had done nothing wrong as their coach was only 100 yards behind the West Ham team coach.
The match was delayed by 45 minutes as the coaches arrived on a packed Green Street after 6 o'clock trying to get to the ground for a kick off originally set for 7.45pm. The Manchester United team coach ended up being stuck in the middle of a road, packed wall-to-wall with fans.
Some fans were never going to make it into the ground as a ticket ballot would have made it impossible for everyone to go. The potential number of people there could be guessed at given that only that week, West Ham had announced that 52,000 season tickets had been sold for their new stadium.
It was very likely that a combination of most of that number, along with those without tickets and members of the general public would be packed into that one street, particularly after 5pm once most had finished work. The coaches use one way of getting to the coach car park; up Green Street. So two coaches, along with police vans and some local traffic became stuck there.
Some idiots attacked the Manchester United team coach. This resulted in the Police forcing fans away from the coach so that it could get to the ground. This resulted in fans trying to get to the match being temporarily crushed. Some stated that it was a very scary and dangerous situation. Thankfully there wasn't a major incident and few were injured. It could have been a lot worse, but it could also have been completely avoided.
@brian_skeels <https://twitter.com/brian_skeels> @kumbdotcom <https://twitter.com/kumbdotcom> in the middle of the crush I was on the verge of having a panic attack. It was petrifying. Somehow escaped! 🙏🏼
— Bianca Westwood (@beewestwood) May 12, 2016 <https://twitter.com/beewestwood/status/730761892755558400>
Being as the Police have the power to enforce clubs, the Premier League and the TV companies to accept that matches by rival teams kick off at 12pm to avoid drunkeness, you would guess that they must have the power to say to two clubs that their team coaches have to be at the ground before 5pm as they will be closing off Green Street because of the expected size of the crowd after that time?
Did nobody have the foresight to predict that, after working hours, the size of the crowd in Green Street would pack it out wall-to-wall - and that three Police vans and two team coaches would not only be a danger to public safety (through crushing), but also be potentially highly-inflammatory to large numbers of people drinking when effectively celebrating a party?
No, there is no excuse for people's behaviour when drinking but it is fairly easy to predict problems might occur being as Police in cities across the land deal with it every Friday and Saturday night.
Sky presenter Eamonn Holmes has apologised for stating the event was like Hillsborough. No, at Hillsborough drink was not to blame and the fans were doing nothing wrong. West Ham chairman David Sullivan has retracted his statement aimed at Manchester United saying they shouldn't have turned up earlier.
Both of these statements are misdirected, however the similarity with Hillsborough is that surely the Police are partly culpable as they did not enforce the arrival times of both team coaches and in trying to sort out the mess they had created by not doing so, a potential major tragedy was made possible.
Had the coaches been at the club by 5 o'clock, Green Street would have been closed, there would have been no coach to attack, there would have been no attempt to rectify the situation by forcing a crush.
There has been no smear from the Police (this time) but neither have they made a statement even suggesting that they may have got it wrong. They do however seem happy to let the media perform their usual uninformed attack on football fans.
None of the media seem to have picked up at all on how ludicrous and dangerous it was to allow the coaches to arrive after 6pm. That thousands of non-aggressive fans who just wanted to go to a football match were put in grave danger by the Police trying to rectify their own mistake. That there wasn't a major tragedy was pure luck.
Hit the fans who attacked the coach with everything you can. Nobody wants a public enquiry etc. Nobody wants this to be escalated.
But a statement maybe suggesting why the coaches were allowed to arrive when they did and maybe admitting that this was poorly planned or at least misjudged would be appreciated, if for no other reason than this will not be allowed to happen again at any match around the country. This could have been my family getting killed and I don't wish that upon anybody.
RIP the Hillsborough 96.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be attributed to, KUMB.com.
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Tottenham and West Ham target Michy Batshuayi to leave Marseille in the summer
* 15:28, 12 MAY 2016
* UPDATED 16:25, 12 MAY 2016
* BY DARREN LEWIS , JAMES WHALING The Mirror
Marseille have sparked a scramble from English clubs by confirming £31million striker Michy Batshuayi will leave the club this summer.
West Ham and Tottenham have both confirmed that they want the talented 22-year-old, who has scored 21 goals in all competition this season.
Liverpool and Arsenal are also interested.
Marseille's interim coach Frank Passi revealed the French club have already budgeted for Batshuayi's departure.
Getty
Red Devil: Batshuayi has two goals in two games for BelgiumHe said: "Everybody knows that he will leave. It is included in the accounts that Michy will be sold this summer.
"We will accept it. We know why players leave Marseille, the financials are not so enticing. We have to accept it."
The Hammers have been involved in a sustained dialogue with Marseille over the last three months and are ready to shatter their transfer record to sign the Belgian.
But Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino can offer Batshuayi Champions League football next season.
Getty
Will Pochettino's Champions League sweetener help Spurs win the Batshuayi race?Pochettino confirmed Tottenham's interest recently, admitting to French radio station RMC that a striker was among his top priorities this summer.
Harry Kane has been the north Londoners' only fit senior centre-forward for much of this season.
But Spurs are also interested in West Brom's Saido Berahino.
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