Hammers seal Sakho signing
WHUFC.com
Striker Diafra Sakho has joined West Ham United from FC Metz on a four-year
deal
14.08.2014
West Ham United are delighted to announce the signing of striker Diafra
Sakho from FC Metz on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. The
24-year-old, who has spent his entire professional career with the French
club, has scored 43 goals in the last two seasons, helping Metz to achieve
back-to-back promotions to Ligue 1. Quick, strong and an outstanding
athlete, Sakho was voted Ligue 2 Player of the Year for 2013/14, when his 20
goals helped Les Grenats - The Maroons - win the title by eleven points.
Upon becoming the Hammers' seventh summer signing, Sakho told West Ham TV:
"This is a proud day to have signed for West Ham, I really love English
football and I've dreamed of coming to play for one of the big English
clubs. Today, West Ham have given me that opportunity and I didn't hesitate
to grab it.
"I'm looking forward to playing. It's more than a month now that I've been
training for this and right now I think I'd be ready to pull on the Club
colours.
"I've come here to continue as I was at Metz. I'm going to give it my all,
going flat out on the pitch and I think the fans will appreciate that."
Born in the suburb of Guediawaye in Senegal's capital Dakar, Sakho grew up
in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau before returning to his homeland in 2003. He
joined local club Medina, where he was scouted and invited to attend the
Generation Foot Academy, which was set up by Metz in 2000 as a means of
developing and providing an education to young footballers in the West
African country. Sakho spent just six months at Generation Foot, which also
produced Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse, before moving to France at
the age of 17 in 2007, when he started training with Metz. Two-and-a-half
years later, the forward made his first-team debut in a goalless Ligue 2
draw at home to Brest on 19 January 2010. His maiden senior goal arrived
eight months later on 10 September in a 1-1 home draw with Nantes. After
featuring mainly as a substitute in his first three seasons as a
professional and being loaned to Ligue 2 club Boulogne in January 2012,
Sakho made his breakthrough following Metz's relegation to the Championnat
National - Division Three - in May of the same year.
Handed a regular starting place by new manager Albert Cartier, the African
smashed in 19 goals in 33 league appearances to fire Metz to second place
and promotion back to Ligue 2 at the first attempt. Last season, Sakho
continued his rise to prominence by banging in 20 goals in 36 appearances as
Metz romped to the Ligue 2 title. The striker's outstanding form saw him
handed a senior international debut by Senegal in a friendly meeting with
Burkina Faso on 21 May 2014. Four days later, he netted his first goal for
his country in a 3-1 win over Kosovo.
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Big Sam on: Tottenham Hotspur
WHUFC.com
The manager held his pre-Tottenham Hotspur press conference on Thursday
morning.
14.08.2014
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce faced the media for his first
pre-match press conference of the 2014/15 campaign on Thursday morning.
The gaffer outlined his plans for Saturday's Barclays Premier League season
opener against Tottenham Hotspur, as well as providing an update on transfer
business.
Good morning Sam. Can we start with a squad check? Has anyone picked up any
knocks in the last week or so?
SA: "We do have one or two knocks but I don't think they're serious enough
to exclude anybody from the possibility of being in the starting line-up on
Saturday. We're still waiting for Enner Valencia because he's in the
pre-season situation at the moment, having not played any games. But that's
a situation that's developing quite nicely now. "Of the rest, Matt Jarvis is
not going to make it and Andy Carroll of course. Everyone else is going to
be ok and hopefully we don't get any injuries in the next couple of days
because obviously it's a big plus to have as many players available on
Saturday as we possibly can."
It's a great game to start with. Having beaten them three times last season
and it being a local derby, what would it do to the players' confidence to
start with a win?
SA: "Every game is important, whether it's the first or the last, and
ironically we're playing one of our biggest rivals to start with, which was
our last home game of last season too. If it goes as well as the last one
did I'll be very, very happy on Saturday. It's a new season, they have a new
manager. He'll assess the players he's got, he's brought some new players
in, we've got some new players in, so it's a completely different scenario.
"It was fantastic for us to beat our old rivals three times last year, but
they are a top side and we'll have to hit the ground running. We'll have to
hit top form from the first minute to the last on Saturday. It's a very
exciting fixture for the players, the fans and everybody else surrounding
West Ham. A big local derby to start the season off and hopefully we can
reproduce the performance that we did for the last game at home last year."
Have you been pleased with the transfer business you've done so far? Was
there a need to boost up the squad this summer?
SA: "Yes I think so. Overall we've gone out and shopped very wisely. From my
point of view, it's about the age of the players as well as the talent of
the players. Of the signings, the average age comes out at about 23 years of
age. That's good for now and good for the future as it means they should be
at West Ham for a long time, not just a short-term stopover as you mainly
have to do for the first season or two in the Premier League.
"We've moved on now to not only improve the squad for now, but for a number
of years to come. They'll only get better with us. We are still waiting for
another frontline player to score a few goals - that's been very difficult
to acquire, but we're still pursuing that avenue as quickly as we possibly
can.
Are you optimistic about getting something done over the next couple of
weeks, even if it's not done before the weekend?
SA: "Yes I think so. We'll definitely get something done, but the quality of
the player is the most important thing for me because the quality of that
player must come in and be available to be used immediately, or certainly in
the near future. It maybe that there's a little settling it period because
it's looking more like that player's going to come in from abroad. "We're
still searching high and wide, but hopefully the squad we've got at the
moment will reproduce the sort of football we played against Sampdoria. We
were excellent last week, produced 21 shots at goal, scored three, and had a
nice blend of Academy players with the [senior] professionals. They've
experienced a huge amount over pre-season and one or two came on last week
and proved they might be a vital member of the squad this year, the likes of
Danny Potts, Elliot Lee and young Reece Burke. They've made a big impression
and hopefully more than one of those will emerge this season."
Can you bring us up to speed on Diafra Sakho, and also Matt Jarvis - he's
been linked with West Brom.
SA: "Matt Jarvis will not be leaving us. Sakho is an ongoing situation which
is being handled by the Chairmen at the moment. I don't quite know what the
end result will be, but certainly by the end of today or tomorrow I'll know.
How would you define success this season?
SA: "I'd say tenth or better. We have to aim for at least that position, and
if we score a few more goals than last season, that's feasible for us. If we
can do the same as last season from a defensive point of view, 50 goals
would be enough for us to take us into the top ten or better.
What's your assessment of the way pre-season has gone?
SA: "Apart from the injuries, which were too many and particularly to Andy,
the pre-season [has been okay]. Since we've come back from New Zealand the
squad has got fitter, the squad has got better. People have been concerned,
more than me, about results. I don't think that's a key element of
pre-season, the key element is to try and get the players 100 percent fit
and ready for Tottenham.
"Pre-season is fine, but at the end of the day everybody always keeps a
little bit back in pre-season games for what's going to happen on Saturday.
That game will come around, it'll be hot no doubt, it'll be frantic,
particularly in the first 35 to 40 minutes, and we need to keep a calm, cool
head to be tactically and technically aware of who we're playing against.
Individuals will then have to produce something for us on the day to help us
win the game. That's what we're looking for."
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Date set for Blades tie
WHUFC.com
Advance adult tickets for the Capital One Cup tie are priced at just £10
14.08.2014
Adults can watch West Ham United's Capital One Cup second round tie with
Sheffield United for just £10 when they buy their tickets in advance. The
Hammers will take on the Blades at the Boleyn Ground on Tuesday 26 August
with a 7.45pm kick-off as the pair meet for the first time since the 2006/07
campaign.
Tickets purchased in advance of matchday will be priced at £10 for adults,
under-21s and over 65s, and just £5 for under-16s. Matchday prices will rise
by £5 in all categories. Season Ticket Holders can purchase their tickets
from 9am on Friday 15 August, Academy Members from Tuesday 19 August and
General Sale will commence on Wednesday 20 August. Please note that
Sheffield United are planning to take the maximum allocation available, this
will result in all Season Ticket Holders who normally occupy the Sir Trevor
Brooking Stand Lower Tier relocating to alternative home sections. Any
Season Ticket Holder affected by this and also on the Automatic Cup Scheme
will need to contact the club to complete their booking.
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Zarate ready for derby duel
WHUFC.com
Mauro Zarate would love to make his Hammers debut in a London derby against
Tottenham
13.08.2014
Mauro Zarate is fired up for his first taste of a London derby when West Ham
United take on Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The summer arrival from Velez
Sarsfield already has experience of English atmospheres from his spell with
Birmingham City in 2008, but is looking forward to it stepping up a notch at
the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. Tottenham appointed Zarate's countryman
Mauricio Pochettino as manager this summer and the new Hammers No10 is keen
to make sure his Spurs debut is a miserable one. He explained "It's not an
easy match for us - a derby. We have to win because we're playing at home,
so we have to do our best and win. "Pochettino is a good manager, I don't
know him, but people say he is like Marcelo Bielsa. He attacks always, and
he did very well at Southampton so it's a new chance for him."
Zarate revealed a former Tottenham - and West Ham - frontman used to catch
his eye when watching English football. He added: "For me, Defoe was great
for Spurs, fantastic. He is small, very fast and he showed that you don't
need to be big to play as a striker in England. "Now they have a lot of good
players, another from Argentina in Erik Lamela - he is much better this
year, and has got over his injury."
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West Ham: Boss Sam Allardyce targets top-10 league finish
BBC.co.uk
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is aiming for a top-10 Premier League finish
this season. The Hammers, who start their 2014-15 campaign at home against
Tottenham on Saturday, finished 13th last season. And Allardyce, who has
brought in a number of new players this summer, including striker Enner
Valencia, feels the Hammers can improve on that. "We're aiming for 10th or
better and we want to score more than last season. That's achievable for
us," he said.
The Hammers started last season with a 2-0 win against Cardiff, but then did
not win again for five matches.
West Ham's recent league finishes
2013-14: 13th in the Premier League (W11 D7 L20)
2012-13: 10th in the Premier League (W12 D10 L16)
2011-12: 3rd in the Championship (W24 D14 L8)
2010-11: 20th in the Premier League (W7 D12 L19)
2009-10: 17th in the Premier League (W8 D11 L19)
Allardyce is hoping a win against London rivals Spurs on Saturday would be
an effective springboard for the season ahead. (West Ham won 2-0 at Upton
Park in May) last season. "The season would lift off with a win first up,"
he added. "Every game is a big one from first to last and ironically we're
playing one of our big rivals first. "If the result is as good as last time
we played them then I'll be very happy. "Saturday will come around, it'll be
frantic and we need to keep a calm and cool head and be tactically and
technically on it." The capture of Ecuador international Valencia is one of
six new signings at Upton Park this summer.
They have also brought in defender Aaron Cresswell from Ipswich, midfielders
Cheikhou Kouyate and Diego Poyet from Anderlecht and Charlton respectively
and forward Mauro Zarate from Velez Sarsfield. Full-back Carl Jenkinson has
also been signed on a season-long loan from Arsenal. "All our signings, the
average age comes out at 23, that is good for now and good for the future.
That means they should be here a long time at West Ham and not just a
short-term stopover like you have to do in your first season or two in the
Premier League just to get you through," said Allardyce. "We have moved on
to not only improve the squad for now but also for a number of years to come
hopefully and they will only get better when they play with us."
The club's co-owner David Sullivan recently told their official website that
they had put in bids for four strikers, one of whom is Connor Wickham,
although Sunderland subsequently rejected the offer.
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West Ham announce £10 tickets for Sheffield clash
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 14th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are hoping for a bumper crowd when Sheffield United come to town
for the second round of the Capital One Cup after slashing ticket prices.
In a week when supporters from all over the country marched on the Premier
League's HQ demanding fairer ticket pricing, West Ham have announced that
adults supporters paying in advance will be able to purchase tickets to the
game for just £10 each. And children wishing to attend the game will pay
just £5 each, with all prices rising by a fiver across the board on match
day. Tickets for the game - which will take place at the Boleyn Ground on
Tuesday, 26 August (7.45pm kick off) - will be on sale to season ticket
holders from tomorrow morning (Friday 15 August). Those unsold will then go
on sale to club members from Tuesday (19 August) general sale from next
Wednesday (20 August). Sheffield United have been given the entire lower
tier of the Trevor Brooking stand.
The meeting between the two clubs will be the first time the two Uniteds
have met on the field of play since the 2006/07 season, when Sheffield
United failed to earn enough points to avoid relegation before blaming West
Ham for it. As a result the Blades extorted around £25million from West Ham,
who had already paid a world-record £5million fine for flouting Premier
League rules prior to facing several arbitration panels (from which
Sheffield eventually gained a verdict favourable to themselves).
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Sakho makes seven
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 14th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Diafra Sakho has completed a move from Metz to West Ham - just 48 hours
after his former club threatened to report his new one. The 24-year-old
forward became West Ham's seventh signing of the summer tonight despite the
deal having appeared to have fallen through earlier in the week when Metz
claimed West Ham wanted to renege on previously-agreed terms. It was
suggested in a club statement issued by the French club that West Ham had
agreed to sign Sakho on a permanent basis before attempting to change the
terms to a season-long loan with view to a transfer next summer. However
both parties were clearly satisfied by the terms today when the deal was
completed, with the Senegal international signing a four-year deal with West
Ham. Speaking to West Ham TV tonight, Sakho said: "This is a proud day to
have signed for West Ham. I really love English football and I've dreamed of
coming to play for one of the big English clubs. "Today, West Ham have
given me that opportunity and I didn't hesitate to grab it. "I'm looking
forward to playing. It's more than a month now that I've been training for
this and right now I think I'd be ready to pull on the club colours. "I've
come here to continue as I was at Metz. I'm going to give it my all, going
flat out on the pitch and I think the fans will appreciate that."
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Metz striker Diafra Sakho arrives for talks with West Ham
Last Updated: 14/08/14 8:14pm
SSN
Metz striker Diafra Sakho has arrived in London for talks over a move to
West Ham, Sky sources understand. The 24-year-old has been targeted by
Hammers boss Sam Allardyce as a replacement for Andy Carroll, whose injury
woes returned this summer, an ankle problem ruling him out for at least the
first two months of the Premier League season. Sakho scored 20 times in the
French Second Division last season and could cost West Ham £4.5m - they were
also linked with recent Newcastle signing Facundo Ferreyra and Stoke's Peter
Crouch. The deal appeared to be dead in the water earlier this week when
Metz threatened West Ham with legal action after he missed their Ligue 1
opener against Lille for talks about a move. They also claimed the Hammers
wanted to change their agreed upon deal from a permanent one to a
season-long loan in the closing stages of their talks over Sakho.
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West Ham sign Metz striker Diafra Sakho on four-year deal
Last Updated: 14/08/14 10:14pm
SSN
West Ham have confirmed the signing of Metz striker Diafra Sakho on a
four-year deal for an undisclosed fee. The Senegal forward scored 20 goals
last season to help his side secure promotion to Ligue 1 and he became a
target for the Hammers when they lost Andy Carroll to the latest in a series
of long-term injuries. Sakho's move to the Premier League seemed in doubt
earlier in the week when Metz claimed West Ham had tried to change the terms
of the deal and bring him to Upton Park on a season-long loan. But fresh
talks on Thursday brought an end to the saga and the 24-year-old was
presented as a Hammers player. He spent a number of seasons playing mainly
off the bench for Metz, and had a loan spell with Boulogne, but he made his
breakthrough in the 2012-13 season in the third tier, scoring 19 goals, and
he continued that progress last season. "This is a proud day to have signed
for West Ham, I really love English football and I've dreamed of coming to
play for one of the big English clubs. Today, West Ham have given me that
opportunity and I didn't hesitate to grab it," Sakho told West Ham's
official website. "I'm looking forward to playing. It's more than a month
now that I've been training for this and right now I think I'd be ready to
pull on the club colours. "I've come here to continue as I was at Metz. I'm
going to give it my all, going flat out on the pitch and I think the fans
will appreciate that."
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WILL WE ALWAYS BE A 'SELLING' CLUB?
By Iain Dale 14 Aug 2014 at 20:30
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Anonymous
Repeat after me "we are a selling club". Hurts doesn't it? But it's the
truth and has been the case with the family silver for at least 30 years
when the likes of TC would be moved on to that European Power
House….Everton. We are perhaps the only supporters who can empathise with
Saints fans right now, after cashing in on our own 'Class of '92' a decade
or so back. Where did that money from those sales go by the way? Someone got
rich that's for sure and although we avoided a Pompey style catastrophe,
like the UK paying of the War Bond decades later, it feels like we've never
recovered.
Sticking with the theme, Rupert Lowe, Saints very own Tel Brown, at least
implemented a top class academy culture before he was moved on. We, on the
other hand, appear to have a huge disconnect between the academy which
routinely excels at junior level and a first team which appears impenetrable
to those very youngsters. So what's missing? Even Man City, a club with an
endless budget, realise the need to nurture youth to supplement the first
team. Managers don't have the luxury of time we're told and to a degree
that's true. But for a club like ours who're not aiming for European
football just yet, surely building a successful production culture a la
Saints and maintaining PL status should be a prerequisite of any manager.
The recent sale of youngster Ben Sheaf to Arsenal for buttons should ring
alarm bells and smacks of our main problem 'short term fixes'. Yes, like
Saints we are a selling club, but whereas their 'joined-up' Youth
development policy delivers essential first team experience and consequently
comparatively huge returns on Bale, Oxe, Walcott, Shaw etc, ours appears
fractured. Players and managers in the past 8-10 years have typically been
STF's. From Avram to Ljunberg, from BFS to…well take your pick. Ultimately
we seem to be staggering like a town drunk, knees buckling occasionally and
using lamp posts for support towards the OS but we will still have a
fractured development culture. BFS was wrong when he questioned the 'West
Ham Way'. Redknapp got it, as did Pardew. We don't expect to win every game
or collect trophies by the dozen but there's a way to win and a way to lose,
and yes Sam, you can lose attractively. That's what we're used to and that's
what we want back.
Managers like Martinez (Swansea, Wigan, Everton) and Rodgers (Swansea,
Liverpool) are showing that if they bring that kind of philosophy to a club,
the supporters will buy into it and they'll get time. The only recent team
to have employed BFS tactics and won regularly are Chelsea with Drogba, but
he was world class and had £200m of talent supporting him….spot the
difference?!
The Davids are doing their best, getting us to the OS before selling us to a
Saudi, Oligarch, Yank to take to the next level. But before then, asp fans,
they could kick start that Longer Term Culture. Perhaps bringing Teddy back
is a start, other clubs (Ajax, Man U etc) are bringing back club legends to
help foster legacy and long term cultures. Why not Dicks, Devonshire, TC,
Alvin or Bonzo…the potential list is huge. As for signings so far I'm not
optimistic, except for Poyet and Cresswell? BFS continues with his outdated
one-up-front mentality which typically says "come and score against us",
which invariably the oppo does. Einstein said that the definition of
Insanity was "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting
different results". Sound familiar? Big Fat Crazy Sam?
Btw, just to get the ball rolling on Long Term Fixes, I'd like to see Eddie
Howe given the reigns with perhaps an experienced coach and the ex players
on the staff…..come on you Irons
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HAVE WE BEEN CAUGHT OUT?
By Iain Dale 14 Aug 2014 at 16:30
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Yann Bomken
I have to say that I am one of those who was bitterly disappointed at
getting up at 3am in the morning to witness the lack of performance in New
Zealand. This disappointment was further exacerbated by the lack of
performances and goals (penalties aside) in Germany.
However, I now have myself thinking 'Have I been caught out?'
The reason for asking this question is the 3-5-2 played in the first half
against Sampdoria. I wasn't at the match, but from all accounts, we played
it quiet well. Yes, I know there are some question marks as to whether we
have all the right players for the system (Ginge especially received some
comments), but it appeared to give us a more attacking edge and a second
system from the 4-3-3 (4-5-1) system.
So when did they practice this and work on the formations? Could it be that
the reason for the poor performances was the concentration on understanding
a different system? Assuming it takes a little time to get used to playing a
new system, it would seem reasonable that since they got back into training,
it has been part of the daily work and probably replaced any time spent on
the existing system.
If this is correct, it would go some way to explaining why we looked off the
mark with the previous friendlies, and would give me much more confidence
than I had a week ago.
So the question is have I been caught out? As it happens, I really hope so!
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THE CHASE FOR WICKHAM IS CURTAILED, AS THE BLADES AWAIT IN THE THE CAPITAL
ONE CUP!
By S J Chandos 14 Aug 2014 at 08:00
West Ham till I Die
It has been reported that West Ham have curtailed their pursuit of
Sunderland centre-forward, Connor Wickham, at least for the time being! This
is as a result of Sunderland rejecting a revised £5m bid for the player. One
might have anticipated that Sunderland would have taken the £5m and cut
their losses on a player entering the final year of his current contract.
However, the Black Cats Manager, Gus Poyet, appears determined that Wickham
will start the campaign at the Stadium of Light. Hence, the insistence upon
an unrealistic £8m asking price. Sunderland now need to offer the improved
terms necessary to convince the player to sign a new contract or they may
well come to regret their rejection of West Ham's bid.
For West Ham's part, it might be a case of the pursuit of Connor Wickham
being curtailed rather than ended! There is always the possibility that
Sunderland might suddenly decide to cash-in before the summer transfer
window closes or in the following January window. Alternatively, if the
Hammers are convinced of his potential, Wickham could become a Bosman target
next summer. In the meantime, they need to re-evaluate their immediate
options and revise their targets accordingly. Will they consider
resusitating the £3.5m deal for Sakho? He certainly seems worth a punt, at
that fee, and you have to respect the fact (if the story is to be believed
about Sakho shedding tears when the deal was derailed on Tuesday?) that he
appears committed, highly motivated and hungry for success. They can be real
positive attributes in a player. Or will the club draw a line under that
abortive deal and shift their focus to alternative targets?
Sam Allardyce has confirmed that the club are looking to sign two forwards
before the window closes. Presumably, that will be an additional centre
forward and an attacking midfielder. With regard to the latter role, there
appears to be two current targets in the frame, Morgan Amalfitano of
Marsaille and Sampdoria's Pedro Obiang. Obiang is a Spanish U-21
international and he can probably be signed for a c.£4m fee or via an
initial season long loan, with the option to buy. Although it has to be said
that at present Sampdoria appear to only be open to a permanent move. While
Morgan Amalfitano is significantly more experienced and can play both wide
and as an attacking central midfielder. That versatility, plus the fact he
is available for a relatively nominal fee, could be the clinching factors.
Indeed, there were reports yesterday that Almalfitano was travelling to
London to undertake a medical and seal the move to Upton Park. We need to
keep a watching brief on that potential deal and, indeed, also the other
link to Obiang.
Elsewhere, it has been confirmed that West Ham will face Sheffield Utd, in
the 2nd round of the Capital One Cup, at Upton Park, in the week commencing
25 August 2014. This is, of course, the first time the two clubs have faced
each other since the 'settlement' of the controversial Tevez issue. It
should be an interesting match, with a bit of added spice! There will no
doubt be a debate about whether the Hammers should take the opportunity to
play some youngsters or pick a full-strength XI in an attempt to extract a
full measure of retribution for that ridiculous £25m compensation package?
My view is that the issue is done, dusted and firmly in the past. It is time
to look to the future and give the likes of Chambers, Potts and Lee valuable
first team exposure. As a PL team, and regardless of selection, we should
always expect to win against a League 1 side. It is immaterial who they
happen to be! Arguably, that is the best and most professional way to
approach the tie. But if we can also notch up a few goals in the process, so
much the better!
SJ. Chandos.
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West Ham playing Connor Wickham transfer 'chicken' with Sunderland over
£8m-rated striker
Aug 14, 2014 20:16 By Darren Lewis
Hammers prepared to wait until the window's final week to see whether the
Black Cats will blink and agree to sell rather than lose the hitman on a
free next year
The Mirror
West Ham are ready to call Sunderland's bluff over Connor Wickham, with the
Black Cats unwilling to budge on their £8million valuation. The east
Londoners are ready to wait until the final week of the transfer window to
test whether the Wearsiders really are willing to risk losing the striker on
a free next summer.
Wickham has just a year left on his contract and has so far refused to
commit himself to the club who bought him from Ipswich for £8m three years
ago.
West Ham, looking for a replacement for the injured Andy Carroll, have
already had a £5m bid turned down for Wickham. The 21-year-old is understood
to be keen on a move down to London, but the Hammers believe Sunderland want
too much for him - given that he scored only five league goals last season.
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Sam's body language appears to have changed
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 14, 2014 in Whispers
by Hugh Southon
Claret&Hugh
Maybe it's just my imagination but there seems to have been a definite
change in Sam Allardyce's body language during pre-season. I first noticed
it during the New Zealand tour when despite some shocking performances
against Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FA he flicked barely a muscle in the
dug-out. This is of course very un-Sam like. For we all know him to be an
all-action, all-screaming all-chewing geezer who is on his feet at the drop
of a poor decision or performance. But there was nothing, absolutely nothing
from him as the team put in a couple of seriously shoddy performances. Not
much changed in Germany but I can't speak for the Sampdoria match which
wasn't shown anywhere although ClaretandHugh's reporter at the game didn't
notice a huge amount of dug-out anger or activity. I'd forgotten most of
this until I turned om Sky Sports this morning and saw football's most
notorious love/hate figure discussing West Ham this summer and onwards. It
was like listening to most of the usual cliches by rote…there just didn't
seem much heart in any of it. He spoke of the new signings, the new average
age, the upcoming game this weekend, a possible Sakho deal and the football
world at large. But it wasn't so much what he was saying that interested me
as the way he was saying it – there was a resignation, a going-through-the
motions and his voice inflections changed very little throughout. It simply
didn't sound like the usual Allardyce. There's been a change and whether
this is my imagination, the new fan friendly Sam or a bloke who knows
whatever happens he just can't win, is hard to tell. Sometimes you have to
trust your instincts! Mine are that Mr Allardyce is facing the toughest
season of his managerial life and knows it. The first half a dozen games are
going to be fascinating for I can't ever remember a manager being under this
sort of pressure before a ball is kicked. I just wonder if the strain is
starting to show! Take a look at the interview on Sky Sports and make your
own minds up.
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Friday, August 15
Thursday, August 14
Daily WHUFC News - New Signing
Hammers seal Sakho signing
WHUFC.com
Striker Diafra Sakho has joined West Ham United from FC Metz on a four-year
deal
14.08.2014
West Ham United are delighted to announce the signing of striker Diafra
Sakho from FC Metz on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. The
24-year-old, who has spent his entire professional career with the French
club, has scored 43 goals in the last two seasons, helping Metz to achieve
back-to-back promotions to Ligue 1. Quick, strong and an outstanding
athlete, Sakho was voted Ligue 2 Player of the Year for 2013/14, when his 20
goals helped Les Grenats - The Maroons - win the title by eleven points.
Upon becoming the Hammers' seventh summer signing, Sakho told West Ham TV:
"This is a proud day to have signed for West Ham, I really love English
football and I've dreamed of coming to play for one of the big English
clubs. Today, West Ham have given me that opportunity and I didn't hesitate
to grab it.
"I'm looking forward to playing. It's more than a month now that I've been
training for this and right now I think I'd be ready to pull on the Club
colours.
"I've come here to continue as I was at Metz. I'm going to give it my all,
going flat out on the pitch and I think the fans will appreciate that."
Born in the suburb of Guediawaye in Senegal's capital Dakar, Sakho grew up
in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau before returning to his homeland in 2003.
He joined local club Medina, where he was scouted and invited to attend the
Generation Foot Academy, which was set up by Metz in 2000 as a means of
developing and providing an education to young footballers in the West
African country.
Sakho spent just six months at Generation Foot, which also produced
Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse, before moving to France at the age of
17 in 2007, when he started training with Metz. Two-and-a-half years later,
the forward made his first-team debut in a goalless Ligue 2 draw at home to
Brest on 19 January 2010. His maiden senior goal arrived eight months later
on 10 September in a 1-1 home draw with Nantes. After featuring mainly as a
substitute in his first three seasons as a professional and being loaned to
Ligue 2 club Boulogne in January 2012, Sakho made his breakthrough following
Metz's relegation to the Championnat National - Division Three - in May of
the same year. Handed a regular starting place by new manager Albert
Cartier, the African smashed in 19 goals in 33 league appearances to fire
Metz to second place and promotion back to Ligue 2 at the first attempt.
Last season, Sakho continued his rise to prominence by banging in 20 goals
in 36 appearances as Metz romped to the Ligue 2 title. The striker's
outstanding form saw him handed a senior international debut by Senegal in a
friendly meeting with Burkina Faso on 21 May 2014. Four days later, he
netted his first goal for his country in a 3-1 win over Kosovo.
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WHUFC.com
Striker Diafra Sakho has joined West Ham United from FC Metz on a four-year
deal
14.08.2014
West Ham United are delighted to announce the signing of striker Diafra
Sakho from FC Metz on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. The
24-year-old, who has spent his entire professional career with the French
club, has scored 43 goals in the last two seasons, helping Metz to achieve
back-to-back promotions to Ligue 1. Quick, strong and an outstanding
athlete, Sakho was voted Ligue 2 Player of the Year for 2013/14, when his 20
goals helped Les Grenats - The Maroons - win the title by eleven points.
Upon becoming the Hammers' seventh summer signing, Sakho told West Ham TV:
"This is a proud day to have signed for West Ham, I really love English
football and I've dreamed of coming to play for one of the big English
clubs. Today, West Ham have given me that opportunity and I didn't hesitate
to grab it.
"I'm looking forward to playing. It's more than a month now that I've been
training for this and right now I think I'd be ready to pull on the Club
colours.
"I've come here to continue as I was at Metz. I'm going to give it my all,
going flat out on the pitch and I think the fans will appreciate that."
Born in the suburb of Guediawaye in Senegal's capital Dakar, Sakho grew up
in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau before returning to his homeland in 2003.
He joined local club Medina, where he was scouted and invited to attend the
Generation Foot Academy, which was set up by Metz in 2000 as a means of
developing and providing an education to young footballers in the West
African country.
Sakho spent just six months at Generation Foot, which also produced
Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse, before moving to France at the age of
17 in 2007, when he started training with Metz. Two-and-a-half years later,
the forward made his first-team debut in a goalless Ligue 2 draw at home to
Brest on 19 January 2010. His maiden senior goal arrived eight months later
on 10 September in a 1-1 home draw with Nantes. After featuring mainly as a
substitute in his first three seasons as a professional and being loaned to
Ligue 2 club Boulogne in January 2012, Sakho made his breakthrough following
Metz's relegation to the Championnat National - Division Three - in May of
the same year. Handed a regular starting place by new manager Albert
Cartier, the African smashed in 19 goals in 33 league appearances to fire
Metz to second place and promotion back to Ligue 2 at the first attempt.
Last season, Sakho continued his rise to prominence by banging in 20 goals
in 36 appearances as Metz romped to the Ligue 2 title. The striker's
outstanding form saw him handed a senior international debut by Senegal in a
friendly meeting with Burkina Faso on 21 May 2014. Four days later, he
netted his first goal for his country in a 3-1 win over Kosovo.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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Daily WHUFC News - 14th August 2014
Hammers handed Blades tie
WHUFc.com
Capital One Cup Round Two draw details
13.08.2014
West Ham United have been handed a home tie against Sheffield United in
Round Two of the Capital One Cup. Wednesday's draw pairs the clubs for the
first time since they were last together in the top flight in the 2006/07
campaign. The Blades are now in Sky Bet League One and saw off Mansfield
Town in Round One by a 2-1 scoreline earlier on Wednesday. West Ham reached
the semi-finals of last year's competition, beating Cheltenham Town, Cardiff
City, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur before eventual winners Manchester City
ended their run. The game will be played at the Boleyn Ground in the week
commencing 25 August. Full fixture and ticketing details will follow in due
course on whufc.com
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Zarate ready for derby duel
WHUFC.com
Mauro Zarate would love to make his Hammers debut in a London derby against
Tottenham
13.08.2014
Mauro Zarate is fired up for his first taste of a London derby when West Ham
United take on Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The summer arrival from Velez
Sarsfield already has experience of English atmospheres from his spell with
Birmingham City in 2008, but is looking forward to it stepping up a notch at
the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. Tottenham appointed Zarate's countryman
Mauricio Pochettino as manager this summer and the new Hammers No10 is keen
to make sure his Spurs debut is a miserable one. He explained "It's not an
easy match for us - a derby. We have to win because we're playing at home,
so we have to do our best and win. "Pochettino is a good manager, I don't
know him, but people say he is like Marcelo Bielsa. He attacks always, and
he did very well at Southampton so it's a new chance for him."
Zarate revealed a former Tottenham - and West Ham - frontman used to catch
his eye when watching English football. He added: "For me, Defoe was great
for Spurs, fantastic. He is small, very fast and he showed that you don't
need to be big to play as a striker in England. "Now they have a lot of good
players, another from Argentina in Erik Lamela - he is much better this
year, and has got over his injury."
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The Big Interview - Winston Reid
WHUFC.com
Hammers centre-back Winston Reid cannot wait for the season to get underway
on Saturday
13.08.2014
After seven weeks of hard pre-season graft, West Ham United defender Winston
Reid cannot wait for the Barclays Premier League campaign to start this
weekend. The Hammers begin with a mouthwatering London derby duel against
Tottenham Hotspur at the Boleyn Ground, with Sam Allardyce's men keen for a
fourth straight win over the north Londoners. Reid played a pivotal role in
West Ham's successes over Spurs last year, opening the scoring in the 3-0
win at White Hart Lane last October. whufc.com caught up with the centre
half to chat Spurs, pre-season and the summer trip to his homeland.
Winston, it all gets underway for real this Saturday against Tottenham. That
fixture must bring back special memories both for you and the team from last
year?
WR: "Obviously we did really well against them last year. Hopefully we can
continue that when they come to the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. We're going
to give it our best shot and see what happens."
You got on the scoresheet there last year and you've made a habit of scoring
against a lot of our London rivals!
WR: "I'll be happy if we don't concede at the other end. They're a good side
and last year we did really well against them but I'm sure they'll give us a
difficult task this year. They've got a good squad, with some big players
and as I said before we'll give it our best shot."
It's funny the way it's worked out - we played them in the last home game of
last season and the first of this - do you expect them to give a lot tougher
test this time around?
WR: "You don't really know. They've brought in a new manager and might
change their play a little bit, so we'll just have to wait and see. It's the
first game of the season and everyone's going to be up for it. We've all
been looking forward to this ever since the last game finished and we've
been working hard over pre-season to get fit."
When you look at their strikers, the likes of Adebayor and Soldado with
their firepower, are these the kind of games you look forward to?
WR: "There are a lot of good quality players in this league so you get
tested all the time. This game will be no different."
From the supporters' point of view there's no better game to start with than
this. The atmosphere should be cracking on Saturday.
WR: "It means a lot to the supporters. We're rival teams and it's a derby so
I'm sure they'll be looking forward to the match."
You mentioned the hard work over pre-season - are you feeling fit and ready
to go now?
WR: "I think so. We've been improving gradually over the games we've played.
We finished with a win on Saturday, and it was important to get that under
our belts before the first game of the season."
Is that result a boost for us?
WR: "It was good for the players. We hadn't won in 90 minutes over
pre-season so it was nice to end that. It's not the main thing of course,
we're trying to perform, avoid injuries and get minutes under our belts."
Earlier in pre-season we had the chance to spread the West Ham word with a
trip to your home country. How much did you enjoy that?
WR: "I very much enjoyed it. Not so much the results, but apart from that it
was good. The people were very friendly and they were always going to be
like that, and the organisation was really good as well. For me, to go back
was nice personally as well."
Did the level of support for the Club take you by surprise out there?
WR: "Not really. They follow the Premier League a lot over there and are
very keen on it. It just shows how big the Club is and how popular the
league is over there."
You've had the chance to settle in with some new defenders in the backline
this summer. How is that shaping up do you think?
WR: "I think everything's shaping up well for all the new players who have
come in. We're improving and getting to know each other more and more so
things are looking bright."
For you personally, your season was disrupted by injury last year, so how
helpful has a full pre-season been?
WR: "Touch wood you don't get those sort of injuries again. You want to go
out there and play week in week out and train every day, but if you get an
injury as a footballer there's not really a lot you can do about it."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Haycock: 'It wasn't a 5-0 game'
WHUFC.com
Nick Haycock felt his charges were unlucky to finish on the wrong end of a
5-0 reverse on Tuesday
12.08.2014
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock felt his West Ham United side had
performed a whole lot better than the 5-0 scoreline against PSV Eindhoven
suggested. In the U21s' final pre-season outing, the Hammers were largely
the architects of their own downfall, spurning a series of early chances
before gifting PSV the opener at their Sportcomplex de Herdgang training
base on Tuesday. Once Amos Nasha's back-pass had slid beyond Sam Howes with
15 gone, Haycock's young men lost their way, with Olivier Rommens' deflected
effort, Rai Vloet's spot-kick and a Moussa Sanoh breakaway goal leaving the
Hammers four down at the break. Menno Koch nodded home a fifth shortly
after the hour and though the visitors ultimately had precious little to
show for their efforts, Haycock thought the game could and should have been
a much tighter affair. He told West Ham TV: "It's a great game for us to
play and a great learning experience for the boys. In the first 15 minutes,
I think our game plan was working well, putting pressure on the ball high up
the pitch and we took the ball off them three or four times. Arguably, we
could have been two or three nil up in the first 15 minutes and we never
looked in any real danger. "If you look at the stats at the end of the
game, I think they'd be an interesting read. Obviously the top line is the
one that counts, but final third entries, penalty box entries, pass
completion and so on, I think it would be a close contest. "But the
scoreline is what it is and the boys have to learn quickly from that. What
we're trying to achieve with the players is to become a Premier League
player. If you do make the mistakes that we did for the goals and then go
under for a 15-20 minute spell, the game can get away from you and I think
that's what happened."
Despite the severity of the scoreline, Haycock is still hopeful that his
young charges will take plenty from the experience, not least that the devil
is in the detail.
He continued: "It goes on the website as 5-0 but we know it wasn't a 5-0
game. The players have to realise that what's showing on the scoreline stems
from the little details, the finer margins. The final cross getting into the
right area, blocking the shot, not making the rash tackle for the penalty
and not switching off for a set-play. "Those little things, combined with
the general way we played, with and without the ball, then we've got a
decent side in there."
Under the circumstances, Haycock was particularly impressed with West Ham's
second-half showing and was just disappointed that they were unable to make
their pressure pay in front of goal. "At half-time, it's a question of
making adjustments, but tactically we didn't have to adjust anything. It was
just a case of, 'can you replicate the 15 minutes we had at the start of the
game' and I think we did that in the second half. "There were spells
throughout the game when we were on top and we just didn't quite get it over
the line to get that goal to get us back in the game. We always felt that if
we got one, there were more in us, but the final ball in the final third
wasn't quite there on Tuesday."
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Capital One Cup draw: the vulture returns
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 13th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United will face Sheffield United in the second round of the
Capital One Cup. The two clubs will meet for the first time since Sheffield
United won a settlement worth around £25million from West Ham following
their relegation from the Premier League in 2007. Full draw as follows. All
ties to be played during the week commencing 25th August 2014.
Burton Albion v Queens Park Rangers
Port Vale v Cardiff City
Middlesbrough v Preston North End
Stoke City v Portsmouth
Huddersfield Town v Nottingham Forest
Swansea City v Rotherham United
Watford v Doncaster Rovers
Millwall v Southampton
Bournemouth v Northampton Town
Brentford v Fulham
West Bromwich Albion v Oxford United
Scunthorpe United v Reading
Derby County v Charlton Athletic
West Ham United v Sheffield United
Swindon Town v Brighton and Hove Albion
Leicester City v Shrewsbury Town
Crewe Alexandra v Bolton Wanderers
Birmingham City v Sunderland
Gillingham v Newcastle United
Norwich City v Crawley Town
Bradford City v Leeds United
Aston Villa v Leyton Orient
Burnley v Sheffield Wednesday
Walsall v Crystal Palace
Milton Keynes Dons v Manchester United
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West Ham end interest in Connor Wickham after Sunderland reject final bid
By Lyall Thomas | Last Updated: 13/08/14 3:13pm
SSN
West Ham have ended their interest in Sunderland striker Connor Wickham
after the Wearside club rejected a final bid of £5million for the player,
according to Sky Sources. The Hammers have been chasing the former England
Under-21 international as they desperately search for a frontline forward to
replace the injured Andy Carroll. But manager Gus Poyet insists Wickham, who
scored five vital goals in Sunderland's last six matches to keep them up
last season, is not for sale. "There has been an offer for Connor but he is
a player we want to keep," Poyet told Sky Sports. "He (Wickham) was a
massive part of our miracle last year. He showed he is ready to play in the
Premier League and I am looking forward to playing him this season." He's
had a great pre-season and if we started the season now he'd be in the
starting line-up. I will try my best to keep him. He's a very important part
of our plans."
Wickham, 21, signed for the North-East club for over £8million in 2011 but
fell out of favour with previous managers Martin O'Neill and Paolo Di Canio.
But he enjoyed resurgence under Poyet last season, scoring 15 goals with
striker partner Fabio Borini. Borini returned to Liverpool after his loan
deal expired at the end of last term but Poyet remains confident of signing
him on a permanent basis after a fee was agreed for his transfer earlier
this summer. He said: "He's a player we know very well and is important to
the fans and to us both on and off the pitch. We are still confident in the
next few days we can do something with him."
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WHERE WILL WE BE IN FIVE YEARS' TIME?
By Iain Dale 13 Aug 2014 at 21:00
West Ham Till I DIe
Guest Post by Ray the Hammer
It's clear to all that we're soon about to enter a new chapter in the Club's
history. Like it or not, and I know many don't, in two seasons time West Ham
will say a fond farewell to the Boleyn Ground and make the short trip to The
Queen Elizabeth Stadium, and so will begin the new era. Much has been
written about the Club's long and eventful history, the multitude of
articles around the crest saga have reminded us of the Club's humble
beginnings as The Thames Ironworks and how West Ham United came into being
on 5th July 1900. On top of that, our own Tony Hanna, has provided visitors
to this site with some wonderful, colourful, funny and sometimes tear
jerking potted histories of former players and tales of our glories past.
However, it's not the past I want to talk about, it's the future. Where do
you want this great club of ours to go? What do you want it to become?
Humour me for a moment and take it that we have the half decent season that
we're all hoping for, hopefully looking to consolidate somewhere around mid
table and moving up a place or two next season. I see that overused cliché
'the next level' as top eight, pushing towards sixth and challenging the
likes of Everton for the Europa league spots. Taking into consideration the
expected increase in revenue from the move and the absence of debt that will
be hanging over the club, which is required by the LLDC to allow the move to
take place, I would suggest that reaching that next level is probably just
about within the budget of our current owners.
Bearing in mind that each step up the ladder, moves us further away from the
club we are now, the 'Family Club' we all love and grew up with, some of you
might be happy to stay at that level, some of you might not even want to
make that leap, you might be happy with mid table and the odd cup run. Some
of you will want more.
Progressing any further than that and breaking into the top four would
require massive investment from elsewhere. That investment could come from
someone joining forces with Gold and Sullivan or, an outright sale to
completely new owners. I don't think there's anyone here in the UK that
could provide that level of investment, so we'd be looking towards the oil
rich Arab nations or maybe a Russian oligarch, which would you prefer? Would
you like to be thought of as the next Chelsea or Manchester City, with all
the 'plastic fan' and 'prawn sandwich brigade' jibes that will inevitably
follow? Is that even a fair comparison, given the different backgrounds of
those clubs to ours?
Many think that the whole reason G&S have pushed for the move is to turn a
quick profit and to look to sell the minute we are safely ensconced in our
new home. I'm not so sure about that, I think they see themselves leading
West Ham to future glory and they want the accolades that would go with it.
Whether they can achieve that though, remains to be seen.
Whatever happens, staying still is no longer an option. The Club is going to
move it is going to change and to grow and evolve, so the question I would
like to pose is; where do you think West Ham WILL be in five/six/seven years
time, where would you LIKE us to be and how would you like us to get there?
My personal view would be to go all in and go for it. Once we move, there's
no turning back.
Just to finish, Johnsey set me certain criterion for an article. I hope I
have managed to fill most of them but he insisted it should be funny. So, I
thought I'd tell you a story that Phil Parkes relayed at the recent Stadium
Tour that I attended.
He said, that shortly after Maiga joined the club, Allardyce and Wally
Downes were taking a training session that Maiga was involved in. As he was
barking out instructions, Wally kept shouting "Hoops, tuck inside" or
"Hoops, look to turn your man" Confused, Allardyce turned to him and said,
"Why do you keep calling him Hoops?" Wally laughed and said, " It's not
Hoops, it's oops!, as in oops! there goes six million quid!".
If you've got this far, thanks for reading. Ray
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
AN OPEN LETTER TO RAVEL MORRISON
By Iain Dale 13 Aug 2014 at 17:00
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by McVitie
Dear Ravel,
I hope you read the post earlier from a life long West Ham supporter this
week because it may give you an inkling of what we think about you and your
behaviour.
I know absolutely nowt about your family life, your friends, your troubles
or your aspirations.
All I do know is that there are West Ham supporters left right and centre
that want you to do well. Of these there are obviously some that will give
you gip for the choices that you have made. Most people think they are wrong
and think you need to own up to them, more importantly you need to take
responsibility for them, admit you are a dick, and then try and move on.
You have a choice, be the boy who proved them all right, or, be the man that
proved them all wrong.
Good luck Mr Morrison, I will either see you play for England one day or I
will read about you in a google search about 'if onlys'.
Yours sincerely
A concerned hammer
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
THE SEASON OPENER
By Tony Hanna 13 Aug 2014 at 08:46
West Ham Till I Die
Well, the much anticipated opening weekend of a new Premier League season is
nearly upon us. Only two or three more sleeps to go, depending on when this
article goes to air. I am not sure whether the fixture list Gods have dealt
us a good or a bad hand by throwing up a match against arch rivals Tottenham
in our first match of the season? Time will tell. Recent history tells us
that we are up for the job when it comes to dealing with our North London
rivals. An unlikely double over them last season in the Premier League and
just for good measure we knocked them out of the League Cup at their place
as well to make it three wins from three matches.
So, is the first weekend of the season a good time to play Spurs or does it
really matter? One thing is for sure, if the West Ham players and supporters
can't lift for this game then it will not augur well for the rest of the
season. In a "what comes first, the chicken or the egg" scenario, any lack
of urgency from the players could transpire into a negative crowd reaction –
and indeed, if the home crowd support is edgy the effect could transfer
itself to the players on field performance. Hopefully, the West Ham support
will lift the team right from the start and promote a positive vibe both on
and off the field in what is to most supporters, the biggest game of the
season.
Our record against Tottenham is pretty decent considering that for the
majority of football history they have enjoyed much loftier league positions
than ourselves. Our record against them in the old first division was 24W,
16D and 26L and in the Premier League we have seen 12W, 7D and 17L. In all
competitions, including friendlies, we have played them 244 times for 84W,
60D and 100L. The match has thrown up a few classics including the 4-0 David
Cross drubbing and last seasons against all odds 3-0 victory where we played
with no strikers! The three victories last season broke a worrying sequence
where Tottenham had won nine and drew twice in the previous twelve games
against the Hammers.
So, how do we fare in first up games? If you look back at games in the
Premier League only, the last eight opening days have seen us win six and
lose two. One thing we rarely do in first matches of the season is draw! Not
recently anyway. Whilst the start of a new season always brings new hope,
and in some cases old fears, whatever happens against Spurs is really just a
small part of what is a very big picture. On the first of January this year,
we were second from bottom after 20 games and that is something no West Ham
fan wants to see repeated this season. Strangely, all bottom three teams on
that date went on to survive. That stat alone just shows how tough it is to
survive in a league where three from realistically only thirteen teams will
get relegated every season for the foreseeable future. Anyway, back to this
Saturday and let's hope we are singing "it's happening again" around 4.40pm.
FOOTNOTE. How fantastic to see so many guest posters contributing articles
over the past two weeks whilst some of the regular authors have been away.
It is a sign of a fabulous West Ham community that Iain has fostered on this
site, that so many readers have come forward to help out with the demand for
new material. I think all would agree that much of the content has been
excellent.
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Have West Ham finally turned a corner ahead of the new Premier League
season?
Aug 13, 2014 10:30
OPINION BY STEVESTAMMERS
Steve Stammers feels that the new faces that shone against Sampdoria could
lend the Irons some new momentum this term
The Mirror
The real test, of course, will come on Saturday. But the omens for West Ham
are promising. Pre-season matches are notoriously inaccurate as a barometer
for what will happen when the meaningful action begins and for West Ham that
will be at Upton Park on Saturday afternoon against Tottenham. But there was
enough evidence against Sampdoria four days ago to suggest that the Irons
might just be evolving into the kind of team which a vociferous section of
supporters demanded last season. True, it should have been left to manager
Sam Allardyce to declare the adoption of a new, more expansive game during
this coming campaign. For the club hierarchy to go public with the policy
was less than impressive. It under-mined the manager big time. But with that
now in the past, it is the present that is important and there were some
impressive performances from several of the newcomers last Saturday in the
3-2 win over the Italians. The introduction of Elliot Lee was a
game-changer. Carlton Cole has not been the most difficult opponent but the
youthful energy and zest of 19-year-old Lee suddenly provided a new
dimension and new problems. And the way he set up the winning goal for
fellow academy graduate Reece Burke showed a touch of real class. Instead of
driving the ball blindly across goal in the hope of a connection from a
team-mate, he hesitated for a split second and picked out Burke who had the
most simple of tasks.
For the half-hour he was on, Aaron Cresswell looked strong and powerful and
foraged forward at every opportunity. He went off injured which should come
as no shock. These days, it seems West Ham players would get injured on
Question of Sport. Apparently, it was only a precaution with this weekend in
mind.
But by far the most impressive newcomer was midfielder Chiekhou Kouyate. At
£7million from Anderlecht, he looks a steal. He has a deceptively languid
running style. He covers ground quickly and has enormous reserves of energy.
The touch of the Senegal international is more than decent and he tackles
for fun.
If West Ham get some acceptable return from the first six matches, Allardyce
will be safe . And relieved. That is assuming he comes through unscathed
from the fans forum at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet. Traditionally, that is
a tough audience. Not easily impressed. Cabaret acts have been known to
settle for a show of hands as a mark of appreciation rather than applause
and the location is not unfamiliar to the police of South Essex. If
Allardyce survives that it will stand him in good stead for Saturday.
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West Ham back in for Diafra Sakho after Metz threaten them with UEFA
complaint
Striker had passed medical before potential £3.5million deal
Metz on verge of complaint to UEFA after transfer collapses
Matt Jarvis could be on his way out of Upton Park with West Brom to bid
By SIMON JONES
PUBLISHED: 22:23, 13 August 2014 | UPDATED: 22:23, 13 August 2014
Daily Mail
West Ham have revived their £3.5million deal for striker Diafra Sakho
following complaints from his club Metz. The French side threatened to
lodge an official complaint with UEFA after West Ham pulled out of the
transfer despite the player undergoing a medical. Personal terms had been
agreed with the striker but West Ham changed from wanting a permanent deal
to a loan move at the last minute according to the Metz. The newly promoted
Ligue 1 club criticised the Hammers' 'unacceptable lack of respect' during
the transfer procedure. Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion are poised to bid
£7.25million for West Ham winger Matt Jarvis. The 28-year-old has failed to
rediscover the form that earned him an England call-up while at Wolves and
the Upton Park club will sell.
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DS talks exclusively to ClaretandHugh
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 13, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham's co owner David Sullivan has been the busiest individual inside
the club this summer as he has master-minded a series of deals. The Irons
have rarely been out of the headlines with the body blow suffered via the
Andy Carroll injury still being felt. So – with the season just around the
corner – we were delighted that the co owner was happy to find the time to
answer some questions from ClaretandHugh's Editor Hugh Southon on one or
two burning issues.
CandH: How confident are you that we can – as a minimum requirement -
maintain our position as a strong Premier League force this season?
DS: ASK ME AFTER TEN GAMES, the loss of AC until late November is a big one.
A lot will depend on how quickly Mr Valencia adjusts, as he's a huge talent
and our big summer signing.
CandH: It must give you a lot of pleasure to see the kids coming through –
what are your thoughts on that as you were very frustrated at the raids on
the academy earlier?
DS: I'm still frustrated, agents are always tapping up our best youngsters.
CandH: You have been extremely busy ahead of the new campaign. Ideally how
many more players would you like to see arrive and how pleased are you with
the business we have done?
DS: I'm pleased, but we never planned on AC needing a serious ankle
operation. Hopefully we'll sign one, possibly two more players, but its not
easy.
The thought that Southampton are paying £12m for Shane Long is madness, as
was Fulham's signing of Ross McCormack for £11m. Where do you sign a striker
in this market ?
CandH: How soon can we expect a resolution to the Winston Reid situation?
DS: Who knows… maybe a few weeks, maybe never. Ask the player, we've made
him a fantastic offer.
CandH: Are you confident – given Sampdoria – that we are on our way to
become a more attacking side?
DS: I expect to score more goals this season than last
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WHUFc.com
Capital One Cup Round Two draw details
13.08.2014
West Ham United have been handed a home tie against Sheffield United in
Round Two of the Capital One Cup. Wednesday's draw pairs the clubs for the
first time since they were last together in the top flight in the 2006/07
campaign. The Blades are now in Sky Bet League One and saw off Mansfield
Town in Round One by a 2-1 scoreline earlier on Wednesday. West Ham reached
the semi-finals of last year's competition, beating Cheltenham Town, Cardiff
City, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur before eventual winners Manchester City
ended their run. The game will be played at the Boleyn Ground in the week
commencing 25 August. Full fixture and ticketing details will follow in due
course on whufc.com
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Zarate ready for derby duel
WHUFC.com
Mauro Zarate would love to make his Hammers debut in a London derby against
Tottenham
13.08.2014
Mauro Zarate is fired up for his first taste of a London derby when West Ham
United take on Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. The summer arrival from Velez
Sarsfield already has experience of English atmospheres from his spell with
Birmingham City in 2008, but is looking forward to it stepping up a notch at
the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. Tottenham appointed Zarate's countryman
Mauricio Pochettino as manager this summer and the new Hammers No10 is keen
to make sure his Spurs debut is a miserable one. He explained "It's not an
easy match for us - a derby. We have to win because we're playing at home,
so we have to do our best and win. "Pochettino is a good manager, I don't
know him, but people say he is like Marcelo Bielsa. He attacks always, and
he did very well at Southampton so it's a new chance for him."
Zarate revealed a former Tottenham - and West Ham - frontman used to catch
his eye when watching English football. He added: "For me, Defoe was great
for Spurs, fantastic. He is small, very fast and he showed that you don't
need to be big to play as a striker in England. "Now they have a lot of good
players, another from Argentina in Erik Lamela - he is much better this
year, and has got over his injury."
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The Big Interview - Winston Reid
WHUFC.com
Hammers centre-back Winston Reid cannot wait for the season to get underway
on Saturday
13.08.2014
After seven weeks of hard pre-season graft, West Ham United defender Winston
Reid cannot wait for the Barclays Premier League campaign to start this
weekend. The Hammers begin with a mouthwatering London derby duel against
Tottenham Hotspur at the Boleyn Ground, with Sam Allardyce's men keen for a
fourth straight win over the north Londoners. Reid played a pivotal role in
West Ham's successes over Spurs last year, opening the scoring in the 3-0
win at White Hart Lane last October. whufc.com caught up with the centre
half to chat Spurs, pre-season and the summer trip to his homeland.
Winston, it all gets underway for real this Saturday against Tottenham. That
fixture must bring back special memories both for you and the team from last
year?
WR: "Obviously we did really well against them last year. Hopefully we can
continue that when they come to the Boleyn Ground on Saturday. We're going
to give it our best shot and see what happens."
You got on the scoresheet there last year and you've made a habit of scoring
against a lot of our London rivals!
WR: "I'll be happy if we don't concede at the other end. They're a good side
and last year we did really well against them but I'm sure they'll give us a
difficult task this year. They've got a good squad, with some big players
and as I said before we'll give it our best shot."
It's funny the way it's worked out - we played them in the last home game of
last season and the first of this - do you expect them to give a lot tougher
test this time around?
WR: "You don't really know. They've brought in a new manager and might
change their play a little bit, so we'll just have to wait and see. It's the
first game of the season and everyone's going to be up for it. We've all
been looking forward to this ever since the last game finished and we've
been working hard over pre-season to get fit."
When you look at their strikers, the likes of Adebayor and Soldado with
their firepower, are these the kind of games you look forward to?
WR: "There are a lot of good quality players in this league so you get
tested all the time. This game will be no different."
From the supporters' point of view there's no better game to start with than
this. The atmosphere should be cracking on Saturday.
WR: "It means a lot to the supporters. We're rival teams and it's a derby so
I'm sure they'll be looking forward to the match."
You mentioned the hard work over pre-season - are you feeling fit and ready
to go now?
WR: "I think so. We've been improving gradually over the games we've played.
We finished with a win on Saturday, and it was important to get that under
our belts before the first game of the season."
Is that result a boost for us?
WR: "It was good for the players. We hadn't won in 90 minutes over
pre-season so it was nice to end that. It's not the main thing of course,
we're trying to perform, avoid injuries and get minutes under our belts."
Earlier in pre-season we had the chance to spread the West Ham word with a
trip to your home country. How much did you enjoy that?
WR: "I very much enjoyed it. Not so much the results, but apart from that it
was good. The people were very friendly and they were always going to be
like that, and the organisation was really good as well. For me, to go back
was nice personally as well."
Did the level of support for the Club take you by surprise out there?
WR: "Not really. They follow the Premier League a lot over there and are
very keen on it. It just shows how big the Club is and how popular the
league is over there."
You've had the chance to settle in with some new defenders in the backline
this summer. How is that shaping up do you think?
WR: "I think everything's shaping up well for all the new players who have
come in. We're improving and getting to know each other more and more so
things are looking bright."
For you personally, your season was disrupted by injury last year, so how
helpful has a full pre-season been?
WR: "Touch wood you don't get those sort of injuries again. You want to go
out there and play week in week out and train every day, but if you get an
injury as a footballer there's not really a lot you can do about it."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Haycock: 'It wasn't a 5-0 game'
WHUFC.com
Nick Haycock felt his charges were unlucky to finish on the wrong end of a
5-0 reverse on Tuesday
12.08.2014
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock felt his West Ham United side had
performed a whole lot better than the 5-0 scoreline against PSV Eindhoven
suggested. In the U21s' final pre-season outing, the Hammers were largely
the architects of their own downfall, spurning a series of early chances
before gifting PSV the opener at their Sportcomplex de Herdgang training
base on Tuesday. Once Amos Nasha's back-pass had slid beyond Sam Howes with
15 gone, Haycock's young men lost their way, with Olivier Rommens' deflected
effort, Rai Vloet's spot-kick and a Moussa Sanoh breakaway goal leaving the
Hammers four down at the break. Menno Koch nodded home a fifth shortly
after the hour and though the visitors ultimately had precious little to
show for their efforts, Haycock thought the game could and should have been
a much tighter affair. He told West Ham TV: "It's a great game for us to
play and a great learning experience for the boys. In the first 15 minutes,
I think our game plan was working well, putting pressure on the ball high up
the pitch and we took the ball off them three or four times. Arguably, we
could have been two or three nil up in the first 15 minutes and we never
looked in any real danger. "If you look at the stats at the end of the
game, I think they'd be an interesting read. Obviously the top line is the
one that counts, but final third entries, penalty box entries, pass
completion and so on, I think it would be a close contest. "But the
scoreline is what it is and the boys have to learn quickly from that. What
we're trying to achieve with the players is to become a Premier League
player. If you do make the mistakes that we did for the goals and then go
under for a 15-20 minute spell, the game can get away from you and I think
that's what happened."
Despite the severity of the scoreline, Haycock is still hopeful that his
young charges will take plenty from the experience, not least that the devil
is in the detail.
He continued: "It goes on the website as 5-0 but we know it wasn't a 5-0
game. The players have to realise that what's showing on the scoreline stems
from the little details, the finer margins. The final cross getting into the
right area, blocking the shot, not making the rash tackle for the penalty
and not switching off for a set-play. "Those little things, combined with
the general way we played, with and without the ball, then we've got a
decent side in there."
Under the circumstances, Haycock was particularly impressed with West Ham's
second-half showing and was just disappointed that they were unable to make
their pressure pay in front of goal. "At half-time, it's a question of
making adjustments, but tactically we didn't have to adjust anything. It was
just a case of, 'can you replicate the 15 minutes we had at the start of the
game' and I think we did that in the second half. "There were spells
throughout the game when we were on top and we just didn't quite get it over
the line to get that goal to get us back in the game. We always felt that if
we got one, there were more in us, but the final ball in the final third
wasn't quite there on Tuesday."
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Capital One Cup draw: the vulture returns
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 13th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United will face Sheffield United in the second round of the
Capital One Cup. The two clubs will meet for the first time since Sheffield
United won a settlement worth around £25million from West Ham following
their relegation from the Premier League in 2007. Full draw as follows. All
ties to be played during the week commencing 25th August 2014.
Burton Albion v Queens Park Rangers
Port Vale v Cardiff City
Middlesbrough v Preston North End
Stoke City v Portsmouth
Huddersfield Town v Nottingham Forest
Swansea City v Rotherham United
Watford v Doncaster Rovers
Millwall v Southampton
Bournemouth v Northampton Town
Brentford v Fulham
West Bromwich Albion v Oxford United
Scunthorpe United v Reading
Derby County v Charlton Athletic
West Ham United v Sheffield United
Swindon Town v Brighton and Hove Albion
Leicester City v Shrewsbury Town
Crewe Alexandra v Bolton Wanderers
Birmingham City v Sunderland
Gillingham v Newcastle United
Norwich City v Crawley Town
Bradford City v Leeds United
Aston Villa v Leyton Orient
Burnley v Sheffield Wednesday
Walsall v Crystal Palace
Milton Keynes Dons v Manchester United
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West Ham end interest in Connor Wickham after Sunderland reject final bid
By Lyall Thomas | Last Updated: 13/08/14 3:13pm
SSN
West Ham have ended their interest in Sunderland striker Connor Wickham
after the Wearside club rejected a final bid of £5million for the player,
according to Sky Sources. The Hammers have been chasing the former England
Under-21 international as they desperately search for a frontline forward to
replace the injured Andy Carroll. But manager Gus Poyet insists Wickham, who
scored five vital goals in Sunderland's last six matches to keep them up
last season, is not for sale. "There has been an offer for Connor but he is
a player we want to keep," Poyet told Sky Sports. "He (Wickham) was a
massive part of our miracle last year. He showed he is ready to play in the
Premier League and I am looking forward to playing him this season." He's
had a great pre-season and if we started the season now he'd be in the
starting line-up. I will try my best to keep him. He's a very important part
of our plans."
Wickham, 21, signed for the North-East club for over £8million in 2011 but
fell out of favour with previous managers Martin O'Neill and Paolo Di Canio.
But he enjoyed resurgence under Poyet last season, scoring 15 goals with
striker partner Fabio Borini. Borini returned to Liverpool after his loan
deal expired at the end of last term but Poyet remains confident of signing
him on a permanent basis after a fee was agreed for his transfer earlier
this summer. He said: "He's a player we know very well and is important to
the fans and to us both on and off the pitch. We are still confident in the
next few days we can do something with him."
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WHERE WILL WE BE IN FIVE YEARS' TIME?
By Iain Dale 13 Aug 2014 at 21:00
West Ham Till I DIe
Guest Post by Ray the Hammer
It's clear to all that we're soon about to enter a new chapter in the Club's
history. Like it or not, and I know many don't, in two seasons time West Ham
will say a fond farewell to the Boleyn Ground and make the short trip to The
Queen Elizabeth Stadium, and so will begin the new era. Much has been
written about the Club's long and eventful history, the multitude of
articles around the crest saga have reminded us of the Club's humble
beginnings as The Thames Ironworks and how West Ham United came into being
on 5th July 1900. On top of that, our own Tony Hanna, has provided visitors
to this site with some wonderful, colourful, funny and sometimes tear
jerking potted histories of former players and tales of our glories past.
However, it's not the past I want to talk about, it's the future. Where do
you want this great club of ours to go? What do you want it to become?
Humour me for a moment and take it that we have the half decent season that
we're all hoping for, hopefully looking to consolidate somewhere around mid
table and moving up a place or two next season. I see that overused cliché
'the next level' as top eight, pushing towards sixth and challenging the
likes of Everton for the Europa league spots. Taking into consideration the
expected increase in revenue from the move and the absence of debt that will
be hanging over the club, which is required by the LLDC to allow the move to
take place, I would suggest that reaching that next level is probably just
about within the budget of our current owners.
Bearing in mind that each step up the ladder, moves us further away from the
club we are now, the 'Family Club' we all love and grew up with, some of you
might be happy to stay at that level, some of you might not even want to
make that leap, you might be happy with mid table and the odd cup run. Some
of you will want more.
Progressing any further than that and breaking into the top four would
require massive investment from elsewhere. That investment could come from
someone joining forces with Gold and Sullivan or, an outright sale to
completely new owners. I don't think there's anyone here in the UK that
could provide that level of investment, so we'd be looking towards the oil
rich Arab nations or maybe a Russian oligarch, which would you prefer? Would
you like to be thought of as the next Chelsea or Manchester City, with all
the 'plastic fan' and 'prawn sandwich brigade' jibes that will inevitably
follow? Is that even a fair comparison, given the different backgrounds of
those clubs to ours?
Many think that the whole reason G&S have pushed for the move is to turn a
quick profit and to look to sell the minute we are safely ensconced in our
new home. I'm not so sure about that, I think they see themselves leading
West Ham to future glory and they want the accolades that would go with it.
Whether they can achieve that though, remains to be seen.
Whatever happens, staying still is no longer an option. The Club is going to
move it is going to change and to grow and evolve, so the question I would
like to pose is; where do you think West Ham WILL be in five/six/seven years
time, where would you LIKE us to be and how would you like us to get there?
My personal view would be to go all in and go for it. Once we move, there's
no turning back.
Just to finish, Johnsey set me certain criterion for an article. I hope I
have managed to fill most of them but he insisted it should be funny. So, I
thought I'd tell you a story that Phil Parkes relayed at the recent Stadium
Tour that I attended.
He said, that shortly after Maiga joined the club, Allardyce and Wally
Downes were taking a training session that Maiga was involved in. As he was
barking out instructions, Wally kept shouting "Hoops, tuck inside" or
"Hoops, look to turn your man" Confused, Allardyce turned to him and said,
"Why do you keep calling him Hoops?" Wally laughed and said, " It's not
Hoops, it's oops!, as in oops! there goes six million quid!".
If you've got this far, thanks for reading. Ray
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AN OPEN LETTER TO RAVEL MORRISON
By Iain Dale 13 Aug 2014 at 17:00
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by McVitie
Dear Ravel,
I hope you read the post earlier from a life long West Ham supporter this
week because it may give you an inkling of what we think about you and your
behaviour.
I know absolutely nowt about your family life, your friends, your troubles
or your aspirations.
All I do know is that there are West Ham supporters left right and centre
that want you to do well. Of these there are obviously some that will give
you gip for the choices that you have made. Most people think they are wrong
and think you need to own up to them, more importantly you need to take
responsibility for them, admit you are a dick, and then try and move on.
You have a choice, be the boy who proved them all right, or, be the man that
proved them all wrong.
Good luck Mr Morrison, I will either see you play for England one day or I
will read about you in a google search about 'if onlys'.
Yours sincerely
A concerned hammer
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THE SEASON OPENER
By Tony Hanna 13 Aug 2014 at 08:46
West Ham Till I Die
Well, the much anticipated opening weekend of a new Premier League season is
nearly upon us. Only two or three more sleeps to go, depending on when this
article goes to air. I am not sure whether the fixture list Gods have dealt
us a good or a bad hand by throwing up a match against arch rivals Tottenham
in our first match of the season? Time will tell. Recent history tells us
that we are up for the job when it comes to dealing with our North London
rivals. An unlikely double over them last season in the Premier League and
just for good measure we knocked them out of the League Cup at their place
as well to make it three wins from three matches.
So, is the first weekend of the season a good time to play Spurs or does it
really matter? One thing is for sure, if the West Ham players and supporters
can't lift for this game then it will not augur well for the rest of the
season. In a "what comes first, the chicken or the egg" scenario, any lack
of urgency from the players could transpire into a negative crowd reaction –
and indeed, if the home crowd support is edgy the effect could transfer
itself to the players on field performance. Hopefully, the West Ham support
will lift the team right from the start and promote a positive vibe both on
and off the field in what is to most supporters, the biggest game of the
season.
Our record against Tottenham is pretty decent considering that for the
majority of football history they have enjoyed much loftier league positions
than ourselves. Our record against them in the old first division was 24W,
16D and 26L and in the Premier League we have seen 12W, 7D and 17L. In all
competitions, including friendlies, we have played them 244 times for 84W,
60D and 100L. The match has thrown up a few classics including the 4-0 David
Cross drubbing and last seasons against all odds 3-0 victory where we played
with no strikers! The three victories last season broke a worrying sequence
where Tottenham had won nine and drew twice in the previous twelve games
against the Hammers.
So, how do we fare in first up games? If you look back at games in the
Premier League only, the last eight opening days have seen us win six and
lose two. One thing we rarely do in first matches of the season is draw! Not
recently anyway. Whilst the start of a new season always brings new hope,
and in some cases old fears, whatever happens against Spurs is really just a
small part of what is a very big picture. On the first of January this year,
we were second from bottom after 20 games and that is something no West Ham
fan wants to see repeated this season. Strangely, all bottom three teams on
that date went on to survive. That stat alone just shows how tough it is to
survive in a league where three from realistically only thirteen teams will
get relegated every season for the foreseeable future. Anyway, back to this
Saturday and let's hope we are singing "it's happening again" around 4.40pm.
FOOTNOTE. How fantastic to see so many guest posters contributing articles
over the past two weeks whilst some of the regular authors have been away.
It is a sign of a fabulous West Ham community that Iain has fostered on this
site, that so many readers have come forward to help out with the demand for
new material. I think all would agree that much of the content has been
excellent.
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Have West Ham finally turned a corner ahead of the new Premier League
season?
Aug 13, 2014 10:30
OPINION BY STEVESTAMMERS
Steve Stammers feels that the new faces that shone against Sampdoria could
lend the Irons some new momentum this term
The Mirror
The real test, of course, will come on Saturday. But the omens for West Ham
are promising. Pre-season matches are notoriously inaccurate as a barometer
for what will happen when the meaningful action begins and for West Ham that
will be at Upton Park on Saturday afternoon against Tottenham. But there was
enough evidence against Sampdoria four days ago to suggest that the Irons
might just be evolving into the kind of team which a vociferous section of
supporters demanded last season. True, it should have been left to manager
Sam Allardyce to declare the adoption of a new, more expansive game during
this coming campaign. For the club hierarchy to go public with the policy
was less than impressive. It under-mined the manager big time. But with that
now in the past, it is the present that is important and there were some
impressive performances from several of the newcomers last Saturday in the
3-2 win over the Italians. The introduction of Elliot Lee was a
game-changer. Carlton Cole has not been the most difficult opponent but the
youthful energy and zest of 19-year-old Lee suddenly provided a new
dimension and new problems. And the way he set up the winning goal for
fellow academy graduate Reece Burke showed a touch of real class. Instead of
driving the ball blindly across goal in the hope of a connection from a
team-mate, he hesitated for a split second and picked out Burke who had the
most simple of tasks.
For the half-hour he was on, Aaron Cresswell looked strong and powerful and
foraged forward at every opportunity. He went off injured which should come
as no shock. These days, it seems West Ham players would get injured on
Question of Sport. Apparently, it was only a precaution with this weekend in
mind.
But by far the most impressive newcomer was midfielder Chiekhou Kouyate. At
£7million from Anderlecht, he looks a steal. He has a deceptively languid
running style. He covers ground quickly and has enormous reserves of energy.
The touch of the Senegal international is more than decent and he tackles
for fun.
If West Ham get some acceptable return from the first six matches, Allardyce
will be safe . And relieved. That is assuming he comes through unscathed
from the fans forum at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet. Traditionally, that is
a tough audience. Not easily impressed. Cabaret acts have been known to
settle for a show of hands as a mark of appreciation rather than applause
and the location is not unfamiliar to the police of South Essex. If
Allardyce survives that it will stand him in good stead for Saturday.
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West Ham back in for Diafra Sakho after Metz threaten them with UEFA
complaint
Striker had passed medical before potential £3.5million deal
Metz on verge of complaint to UEFA after transfer collapses
Matt Jarvis could be on his way out of Upton Park with West Brom to bid
By SIMON JONES
PUBLISHED: 22:23, 13 August 2014 | UPDATED: 22:23, 13 August 2014
Daily Mail
West Ham have revived their £3.5million deal for striker Diafra Sakho
following complaints from his club Metz. The French side threatened to
lodge an official complaint with UEFA after West Ham pulled out of the
transfer despite the player undergoing a medical. Personal terms had been
agreed with the striker but West Ham changed from wanting a permanent deal
to a loan move at the last minute according to the Metz. The newly promoted
Ligue 1 club criticised the Hammers' 'unacceptable lack of respect' during
the transfer procedure. Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion are poised to bid
£7.25million for West Ham winger Matt Jarvis. The 28-year-old has failed to
rediscover the form that earned him an England call-up while at Wolves and
the Upton Park club will sell.
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DS talks exclusively to ClaretandHugh
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 13, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham's co owner David Sullivan has been the busiest individual inside
the club this summer as he has master-minded a series of deals. The Irons
have rarely been out of the headlines with the body blow suffered via the
Andy Carroll injury still being felt. So – with the season just around the
corner – we were delighted that the co owner was happy to find the time to
answer some questions from ClaretandHugh's Editor Hugh Southon on one or
two burning issues.
CandH: How confident are you that we can – as a minimum requirement -
maintain our position as a strong Premier League force this season?
DS: ASK ME AFTER TEN GAMES, the loss of AC until late November is a big one.
A lot will depend on how quickly Mr Valencia adjusts, as he's a huge talent
and our big summer signing.
CandH: It must give you a lot of pleasure to see the kids coming through –
what are your thoughts on that as you were very frustrated at the raids on
the academy earlier?
DS: I'm still frustrated, agents are always tapping up our best youngsters.
CandH: You have been extremely busy ahead of the new campaign. Ideally how
many more players would you like to see arrive and how pleased are you with
the business we have done?
DS: I'm pleased, but we never planned on AC needing a serious ankle
operation. Hopefully we'll sign one, possibly two more players, but its not
easy.
The thought that Southampton are paying £12m for Shane Long is madness, as
was Fulham's signing of Ross McCormack for £11m. Where do you sign a striker
in this market ?
CandH: How soon can we expect a resolution to the Winston Reid situation?
DS: Who knows… maybe a few weeks, maybe never. Ask the player, we've made
him a fantastic offer.
CandH: Are you confident – given Sampdoria – that we are on our way to
become a more attacking side?
DS: I expect to score more goals this season than last
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
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Wednesday, August 13
Daily WHUFC News - Draw.. the explanation
For those in the dark like I was reading the 'Draw' thread..
Hammers handed Blades tie
Capital One Cup Round Two draw details
13.08.2014
WHUFC.com
West Ham United have been handed a home tie against Sheffield United in
Round Two of the Capital One Cup. Wednesday's draw pairs the clubs for the
first time since they were last together in the top flight in the 2006/07
campaign. The Blades are now in Sky Bet League One and saw off Mansfield
Town in Round One by a 2-1 scoreline earlier on Wednesday. West Ham reached
the semi-finals of last year's competition, beating Cheltenham Town, Cardiff
City, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur before eventual winners Manchester City
ended their run. The game will be played at the Boleyn Ground in the week
commencing 25 August. Full fixture and ticketing details will follow in due
course on whufc.com
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
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Hammers handed Blades tie
Capital One Cup Round Two draw details
13.08.2014
WHUFC.com
West Ham United have been handed a home tie against Sheffield United in
Round Two of the Capital One Cup. Wednesday's draw pairs the clubs for the
first time since they were last together in the top flight in the 2006/07
campaign. The Blades are now in Sky Bet League One and saw off Mansfield
Town in Round One by a 2-1 scoreline earlier on Wednesday. West Ham reached
the semi-finals of last year's competition, beating Cheltenham Town, Cardiff
City, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur before eventual winners Manchester City
ended their run. The game will be played at the Boleyn Ground in the week
commencing 25 August. Full fixture and ticketing details will follow in due
course on whufc.com
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
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Daily WHUFC News - 13th August 2014
Young Hammers receive England call
WHUFC.com
Two Academy prospects have been called into their England age group squads this week
12.08.2014
Academy duo Jahmal Hector-Ingram and Anthony Scully have received call ups to their respective England age group squads. Hector-Ingram, who scored three goals in eight games for England U16 last term, earns an U17 call for the first time as the Young Lions get set for a friendly international tournament to be played in the Midlands at the end of August. England will take on Czech Republic at Kidderminster Harriers' Aggborough Stadium on Wednesday 27 August before heading to Chesterfield to play Portugal two days later. The tournament concludes on Sunday 31 August with a game against Italy at Burton Albion, with John Peacock assessing his options before the UEFA U17 Championship campaign gets underway later in the season. For midfielder Scully, he will have the opportunity to impress England U16 head coach Dan Micciche as he prepares for the Victory Shield. Scully forms part of a 22-man squad to face Belgium at St George's Park on Wednesday 20 August.
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Noble looks forward to derby backing
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble is sure the Hammers fans will be able to play their part against Tottenham on Saturday
12.08.2014
Mark Noble is ready and raring to go for Saturday's Barclays Premier League season opener against Tottenham Hotspur. The Hammer of the Year scored from the spot as West Ham United concluded their pre-season programme at the weekend with a 3-2 victory over Sampdoria. It brought a first summer win over 90 minutes for Sam Allardyce's men and Noble was delighted with the performance. "It was brilliant on Saturday," he beamed. "I thought we played really well and gave the fans a good game to watch. For Reece [Burke] to score the winner was a lovely way to top the day off. "I'm looking forward to Tottenham. I think it'll be a harder game than the one we had here at the end of last season, but the atmosphere is always fantastic for the first game of the season. "With them having a new manager, everyone will want to impress him, so everyone's going to have to play as well as they did last Saturday for us and hopefully get the three points. "We need the crowd behind us and hopefully they will be."
The win over Sampdoria was characterised by strong performances from the Club's Academy players, and Noble had praise for the subbsitutes - both young and experienced. He added: "Pottsy came on and won the penalty. He played really well, then Elliot {Lee} came on and was brilliant for the 20 minutes he was on and Reece popped up with the winner. "The substitutes all came on and made a difference - when Mo's playing like that he's untouchable. "I've always said that the results in pre-season don't matter and it's the performances and getting the lads through it that's the focus. "I went through an unbeaten pre-season with Avram Grant and we all know what happened that year, so the results don't matter, but I thought we played really well against Sampdoria and it was nice to get the win."
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Under-21s set for PSV test
WHUFC.com
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock says his team will benefit from playing European opposition
12.08.2014
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock says his team's meeting with PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday evening will act as another hugely useful stepping stone in their development. The Under-21s head to the Netherlands six days before their opening Barclays U21 Premier League game at Tottenham Hotspur, with Haycock keen to test his side against continental opposition. He said: "It's European competition for us and we're delighted to be in it. "We're delighted that we're in the elite league for the Premier League too, because we're a smaller Academy when compared to the powerhouses in there. "We think we've got some good players who can compete at that level and hopefully we can go and show that on Tuesday. "You're never sure how you're going to look from pre-season until it gets underway because up until now you've played different teams. "You play Conference teams, competing against men, you play Under-23 teams and then we had a 21s team against Aston Villa last Friday. "There'll be different styles of games now than what we've had and we'll adapt to that and try to assert the way we want to play on teams a little more. I think we're capable of that. "I'm happy with where we are and I'm looking forward to the season."
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Fans march on Premier League HQ
KUMb.com
Filed: Tuesday, 12th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Hundreds of fans will march on Premier League and Football League headquarters this Thursday demanding cheaper ticket prices throughout football. The march will be led by the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) with fans from scores of clubs joining them. Supporters say clubs should use multi-billion pound media deals to lower ticket prices for both home and away fans. The Premier League's current media deal is worth £5.5bn, an increase of £2.1bn on the previous three years, but fans say there is little sign of anything being done to make life easier for match-going supporters. From the increase in Premier League media rights alone all 20 top-flight clubs could have let every fan into every game for free, without being any worse off than they had been the season before. Instead, many clubs chose to increase prices and £50+ tickets are now common in the top-flight. Hull City's Category A tickets jumped from £30 last season to £50 in 2014/15. Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSF, said: "Nine out of 10 fans think football's simply too expensive. There's always the odd deal that clubs can quote to play it down, but the truth is supporters tell us they think tickets cost too much. It's not just top-flight football either, fans throughout the leagues tell us prices are too high. "Football is swimming in money, with clubs pocketing record amounts from broadcasting deals while squeezing supporters with high prices. Something has to give. "Ultimately we, as football supporters, have to speak up about this. Join the FSF and hundreds of fans on Thursday when we deliver that message to the Premier League and Football League."
Fans will gather at Marble Arch for 1pm and leave for the Premier League and Football League offices at 30 Gloucester Place (W1U 8PL) at 2pm. A delegation of fans will meet with the football authorities, while those on the demonstration head back to The Globe (NW1 5JY).
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Free coaches for Hull trip
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 12th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Supporters wishing to follow West Ham when they face Hull City at the KC Stadium next month will be able to take advantage of free coach travel. The club have confirmed that all supporters travelling to the game, which takes place on Monday, 15 September will be able to travel free of charge on club coaches, as part of the Premier League's away fan fund scheme. Each top flight club has, for the second successive season, been awarded £200,000 by the league with which to improve their fans' trips to away grounds. And this season West Ham have responded early with the offer, which means fans taking advantage of the offer will pay just £35 - the price of a visitors' match day ticket - to attend the match. The match is also being broadcast on TV by Sky Sports, one of four Premier League fixtures involving West Ham to go live in the first half of the 2014/15 season.
On live
Mon 15 Sept: Hull City v West Ham Utd (8pm, SS)
Sat 20 Sept: West Ham Utd v Liverpool (5:30pm, SS)
Sun 5 Oct: West Ham Utd v QPR (4:15pm, SS)
Sat 25 Oct: West Ham Utd v Man City (12.45pm, BT)
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Everton haven't won a pre-season game, we have
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 12th August 2014
By: Paul Walker
New players, check. Youth being given a chance, check. More attacking approach and new systems, check. Big Sam smiles at us more…well, you can't have everything can you?
Now I know it's easy to be flippant, and clever in hindsight, but please remind me what pre-season friendlies are really for?
You would think that it's Christmas already and we are down at the bottom of the table without a point. Now that would be cause for the wholesale abuse being heaped on everyone at the club from Ms Brady (I'll get to her in a minute) to the gateman.
But all that has happened is that we have not done too well in our pre-season matches, apart for what I am told was an encouraging display in beating Sampdoria on Saturday, and when a few kids and new faces didn't do too badly.
We should not be getting our knickers in a twist about pre-season results, long distance travelling to the far side of the globe and the now expected injury for poor Andy Carroll. (As I have said before, he didn't get injured on purpose, and it's nothing to do with his TOWIE totty.)
At this point I can add that we are not the worst off. Everton have not won a pre-season game yet and I bet there are very few West Ham fans out there who would not like to swap our position with the Merseysiders. And their esteemed manager too, Roberto Martinez.
But I doubt there's anybody up at Goodison Park calling for the manager's head while roundly abusing players and owners at will.
But such is the now entrenched views of a sizeable amount of our fans who despise everything about BFS and the people who employ him, you would have thought there is a crisis of biblical proportions going on.
Now I have had plenty to say about Big Sam and the way we play and the performances of players. Last season was dire, the entertainment value was not there and we were much nearer a genuine relegation scrap than Sam Allardyce has been prepared to admit.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, we pay for our tickets and have a right to be heard. But the season hasn't started yet, no ball has been kicked in anger and many of the things we were all screaming for are being put into place.
We wanted higher quality players. Enner Valencia and Cheickhou Kouyate seem to fit the bill. We wanted the club to look into the lower divisions for bright, likely lads to be brought to the Boleyn. Diego Poyet and Aaron Cresswell are just that.
A bit of flair was asked for. Mauro Zarate step forward. And we should be trying to acquire young talent from bigger clubs. Carl Jenkinson is just that.
Sam was seemingly asked to change the perception of our club, to produce more attacking style and flair and to improve the quality of the staff. He was also told to be nicer to us and make an effort to get along with fans he once called deluded and then was seen to cup his ear and mock the boo-boys after the truly dreadful win over a ten-man Hull last season.
Now to my mind he still has a bit to do on the PR front as far as we are concerned, the odd smile wouldn't go amiss. But within the framework of our budget, things look to be changing. Blimey, we played two different systems on Saturday……3-5-2 and 4-3-3, and the kids were given their head.
So let's just give it a chance, see if things do look better in a few months and see whether we are enjoying it more.
I noticed a piece by Iain Dale on WHTID in which he rounded on the faceless abusers of our players on the internet, where cowards get away with saying stuff they would not dare address to someone's face. Sometimes when you read threads on fans' forums you wonder why people actually come through the turnstiles any more, so much do they hate everything and everyone.
Every time we sign a player, there is always a long list of people who instantly slag them off, probably when it comes to foreign players having not even seen them play…and I don't count a few grainy minutes on YouTube.
I agree that some of the pre-season displays were poor, in New Zealand and Germany, as well as Stevenage! But if you look at those squads, they were full of youngsters being given a chance to impress, seniors coming back from injury and new faces looking to find their feet. Nobody should read too much into any of that.
Good grief, people have been calling for BFS to be sacked for losing pre-season friendlies. I ask you! If we are a basket case come November, say, then I would agree. But not yet, give everyone a break.
And come on, now, we have a new member of the House of Lords at the helm. I wouldn't give you a penny for Ms Brady's political views, but she hasn't done that badly as a woman in the world of business.
I feel that Baroness Brady of Highbury (that, I presume is what she will want to be called when she reaches Westminster) will not be long in her role as our chief executive now she has her eyes on higher office.
And you cannot expect her to want to be called Baroness Brady of Boleyn, young ladies with that name who have aspirations to reach the corridors of power tend to lose their heads.
But she has done what she was asked to do by the Davids. She has the right image to get round the likes of Boris and the PM, and she was the acceptable face of the club in the negotiations for the new stadium move. You cannot see the Tory boys being comfortable negotiating with a couple of ageing porn barons in the wake of the Olympics, so Ms Brady did what she was asked to do.
The same may well, in the end, be said of Big Sam. I know that 'BFS out' brigade will never change their views or have a good word said about him, and I struggle at times with his abrupt, arrogant approach to anyone who is not a professional in the football industry. We know nothing, you see.
But he might, just might, be building a squad that can take us forward, whether he is buying the players or David Sullivan is. I can hear you all laughing out there, sure. But give it a chance for a few weeks, we need to be united when the real action starts. And that means on Saturday against the hated enemy. It's happening again, anybody?
If we don't present an intimidating atmosphere and solid support for the team, then things really will go pear-shaped.
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UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, IS C.£4M SUCH A 'LOUSY' BID FOR CONNOR WICKHAM?
By S J Chandos 12 Aug 2014 at 12:00
West Ham Till I Die
It was widely reported yesterday that West Ham have submitted a bid for young Sunderland centre-forward, Connor Wickham. Reports vary on the alleged size of the bid, in some instances its £5m and in others £4m. Even if we accept the lower of these two figures, then that is surely still a decent bid for a player who is in the final year of his present contract. Yet, one leading Sunderland website dismissed the bid as 'lousy' and suggested that West Ham need to come back with an improved bid! While I can understand Sunderland's angst at only recouping 50% of the original fee paid to Ipswich Town, you have to ask whether they are being realistic? The owning club is never in the 'driving seat' once a player's contract enters its final year. They are faced with the dilemma, so well articulated by Gus Poyet recently, that the player either signs a new contract or they are sold. Of course, that's providing the player does not chose to 'dig in,' see out his contract and leave on a Bosman deal.
In those circumstances, a c.£4m bid is a good offer, which may very well not be on the table for long. Once the season starts, Wickham's valuation will start dropping still further. And now West Ham have set the bar, at c.£4m, it is very unlikely that any other club will come in and beat it. I know its a thoroughly fustrating situation for any club (and remember we face the same situation with Reid and Diame), but if the player will not sign a new contract, then all you can do is cash in. Arguably, Sunderland should take the £4m while its on offer. Its probably only the imperative created by Carroll's injury absence that motivated the bid. West Ham could eventually decide to hold off, agree a pre-contract with Wickham (at the appropriate juncture) and then sign him later on a Bosman deal next summer. With an alternative loan deal for Sakho of Metz in the pipeline, it is a course of action that they could consider pursuing.
Of course, ultimately, it all depends how urgently West Ham feel they need to obtain Wickham's services. Sunderland may, in turn, be gambling that desperation will motivate an improved bid and/or other clubs will come in to spark an auction. However, they could very well be disappointed if they are relying on those factors coming in to play to deliver the full recoupment of the original £8m fee.
SJ. Chandos.
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THAT TUESDAY MORNING FEELING
By Iain Dale 12 Aug 2014 at 08:01
West Ham Till I Die
New regular Tuesday column from The Guardian's Brian Williams
What do you mean, you've never heard of the "Tuesday morning feeling"? It's like the Monday morning feeling, only worse. You know Monday is going to be rubbish, and prepare accordingly. You expect better of Tuesday. But, like a Stewart Downing cross, it always lets you down.
I've never liked Tuesdays. It goes back to when I was a kid. One year at secondary school we had double chemistry and double geography every Tuesday. I'd rather wear a Spurs shirt in public than have to face that again.
There was a time, if West Ham lost at the weekend, there wasn't much point trying to talk to me before Tuesday. Honestly, you'd have done better having a natter with a Trappist monk on Strepsils than attempting to engage me in conversation. I like to think that, as a middle-aged family man, I'm rather more mature than that now. Generally, I can come up with a civil response by Sunday teatime following a Saturday setback. However, I fear that if we have another season like last year's the long, silent sulks of my childhood will return.
I'm no expert, but it's clear that West Ham Till I Die doesn't write itself. I imagine Mr Dale will be far from happy if he regularly finds himself, first thing on a Monday morning, drumming frustrated fingers on his large, executive-grade desk waiting for copy that never turns up as I try to extricate myself from a blackdog depression. That's why I suggested he publishes this column on a Tuesday.
So, now we've got that out of the way, let us examine the big question being asked by all of us with claret and blue in our hearts as we steel ourselves for a new season: can West Ham mend their ways and serve up some proper entertainment rather than the dross that passes for association football in Fat Sam's eyes? It's fair to say, pre-season has been far from encouraging.
True, we beat Sampdoria, and at times there was even the hint of two up front. Naturally, the headline writers summed up Saturday's 3-2 victory as a five-goal thriller. However, I'd like to take issue with them over that. I don't know about you, but I'm never thrilled when anyone scores against West Ham. And when they do it twice, I'm distinctly unthrilled. I prefer the sort of nine-goal thriller we got back in the glory days of '86 when we scored eight of those nine goals.
Okay trivia lovers, every West Ham fan worthy of the name should know that the mighty Alvin Martin scored against three different Newcastle keepers in the pouring rain at the Boleyn Ground. (And I don't want to hear people who complain that "it was before my time" – the first world war was before my time, but I know the result.) You would have to be a serious anorak to be able to name all three of the Geordie keepers that night and quite frankly, we are not looking to encourage people like that on this site. Therefore, I'm going to give you the first two – Martin Thomas and Chris Hedworth – but who was the third?
Yes sir, you in the Avco shirt. Good effort but no, it wasn't Glenn Roeder – although he played his part by scoring an own goal and conceding the penalty that Stretch converted for his hat-trick. The correct answer is Peter Beardsley. Alvin reckons that the little fella tried to put him off by pulling funny faces, but with Beardsley it was hard to tell what counted as a funny face and what was merely his normal boat race.
But I digress. We were discussing West Ham's pre-season. As a generous-hearted individual, I am prepared to forgive them the diabolical results in the antipodean outback – anyone can slip up against the giants of Wellington and Sydney. But the performances in Schalke were woeful. I know this because I watched the games on a TV channel called Quest.
Hands up anyone who had ever heard of Quest before last week. No, me neither. And, to be honest I can't see myself watching it all that often from now on. Its programmes seem to consist mainly of fishing and environmental types with dodgy beards recycling other people's rubbish that they've salvaged from skips. (I'm starting to think Mr Allardyce got his tactical handbook from the same source.)
Of course, you can't read too much into pre-season. One of the best I can ever remember was with Avram Grant at the helm, and we all know how things turned out under his management when the shooting started for real. Ah, where are you now Avram? The old place just isn't the same without your smiling face.
To be perfectly frank, I'm not hopeful about the season ahead. Leopards don't change their spots, and Allardyce isn't going to change the direct formula that has underpinned his entire career. Don't get me wrong – I'd rather beat Spurs playing ugly than lose stringing together a series of meaningless passing moves in front of their massed defence. But never again do I want to see the sort of negativity we got against Hull last season. A goal up, them down to 10 men, and Fat Sam chooses to shut up shop. I'm sorry mate, that's just not acceptable.
It goes without saying I want to hammer Tottenham on Saturday. But if we don't, I will be quietly crossing my fingers that Messrs Gold and Sullivan follow the lead set by Huddersfield, who have given their manager the old tin tack after just one game. Now that would brighten up next Tuesday.
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Should we give him another chance at West Ham?
Westhamworld.co.uk
James Jones
August 12, 2014
Ravel Morrison today revealed that he'll be back in training on Thursday following a groin injury picked up early pre-season. He's also recently revealed that he's been handed the number 14 shirt for the season, which has to be the biggest hint yet that he still has a role to play in the first team. His off-field antics this summer have been nothing short of a disgrace. The whole court case looming over him is something of a minefield, with only speculation surrounding the real truth behind what happened between Ravel, his ex-girlfriend and her Mum. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that. But being pictured in an Arsenal shirt has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've seen a footballer do in a very long time. He knows he's under the spotlight and he knows we're not going to take kindly to him wearing the shirt of one of our London rivals. But he goes ahead with it anyway. Nonetheless, all of the above doesn't yet warrant the decision to give up on him and get rid. Why? Because I'm a firm believer that he will mature and will become one of England and West Ham's best players in the coming seasons. There's no doubting his desire to stay at the club. He tweeted about his love for the club just a few days ago…
Such an admission just wouldn't come from a player either pushing for a move away from the club or knowing the club are trying to get rid of him. It's still a bit of a mystery as to why he behaves the way he does off the field, but his performances on the field should be the main reason the board and Sam Allardyce put together a new deal for him and a new role for him in the first team. Morrison's performances at the beginning of last season were a breath of fresh air amidst the pollution of Allardyce's one-dimensional approach to tactics. He played his own game and came out on top in so many of our performances – his role in our epic 3-0 victory at White Hart Lane last October goes down as one of the best individual performances I've seen in a West Ham shirt from any player in many years. So what's stopping him from replicating such form this season? Nothing. Well, apart from the ongoing dispute about his future between the board and the manager. This cannot be good for him and it cannot be good for us. Period.
However, that fact Morrison has publicly declared his love and thanks to the club, and his excitement at getting back to playing football with West Ham this season, bodes well for both parties. You cannot deny his talent, and we simply cannot dismiss how important he could be for us next season and beyond. This is why he must be given another chance at putting things right. Both on and off the field. Because, if we lose him, we may just live to regret it…
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Time to blood Elliot Lee
August 12, 2014
By Danny Rust – @Danny_Rust10, Shoot's West Ham blogger
Shoot.co.uk
With the new Premier League campaign kicking off this weekend, a number of youngsters at West Ham United will be hoping they have staked a claim for a spot in Sam Allardyce's side this season. One teenager that certainly should be in Big Sam's thoughts is striker Elliot Lee.
Lee, the son of former England international, West Ham and Newcastle United midfielder Rob, has been scoring goals for fun for the Hammers' Development Squad for a number of years now and has enjoyed loan spells in the Football League in recent seasons too.
But Lee has performed well for the Irons in pre-season, with his late cameo appearance against Sampdoria on Saturday being the pick of the bunch. When Lee came on after 76 minutes to replace Carlton Cole, West Ham started to attack quickly and looked more confident on the ball. Lee's intelligent runs created acres of space for his teammates, who were then able to shoot more freely, with the likes of Ricardo Vaz Te going for goal more often in the final ten minutes.
In fact, within a minute of Lee coming off the bench, Mohamed Diame scored the equaliser against the Italian Serie A side. Then with almost the last kick of the game, 17-year-old Reece Burke converted the winner from a fantastic pass from the striker, who waited until the right moment to play the killer pass.
The 19-year-old looks as though he could be a big part of Sam Allardyce's plans this season and he should be based on that performance. The Hammers faithful have been calling for Lee to get a chance for a year now and he has never really been given the opportunity, but now this may finally be his time.
It is unlikely that Lee will start on the opening day of the season against Tottenham Hotspur due to his lack of experience, but he should at the very least be named among the substitutes. If he were to come on and play like he did against Sampdoria, then the Tottenham backline could be in for a shock, and he will certainly create a number of chances for himself and his teammates.
One negative to take from West Ham's final pre-season game was the injury to Aaron Cresswell. The left back, who signed from Ipswich Town this summer, was looking like a good addition in the early stages, with some neat passes down the left hand side and some dangerous crosses being put into the Sampdoria penalty area. But Cresswell was forced off just after the half-hour mark, when a strong challenge from a Sampdoria defender meant he could not continue.
Allardyce will be hoping that the injury is not too serious and the new acquisition will be fit for the opening day of the season.
However, Dan Potts replaced Cresswell and looked comfortable at left back. Potts, who has made a handful of first team appearances over the last three seasons, is likely to go into the season as the club's second choice left back because of the signing of Cresswell, but he looks as though he is a good back-up to have at the Boleyn Ground.
He continued where Cresswell left off, with some good attacking play and he should have scored soon after West Ham equalised for the second time in the match.
All in all, Big Sam will be pleased to have ended a disappointing pre-season – which has seen Andy Carroll pick up another injury and the side suffer numerous defeats – on a high with some good performances from the club's youngsters and a win.
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West Ham set to beat Hull to Amalfitano signing
By talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) | Tuesday, August 12, 2014
West Ham are set to finalise a move to sign former West Brom midfielder Morgan Amalfitano on a three-year contract, according to reports in France. Sam Allardyce is ready to strengthen his midfield as uncertainty continues to surround the future of Mohamed Diame, who has been strongly linked with a move to QPR. Amalfitano, 29, enjoyed a successful loan spell with West Brom and scored a wonder goal against Manchester United last season. But he is now looking for a new challenge in England and despite speculation linking him with a move to Hull, West Ham appear to have won the race to clinch his signature from Marseille. The French midfielder could go straight into the squad for the opening Premier League game against Tottenham on Saturday.
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West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady: Two years to go and we are on track to achieve our Olympic dream
Evening standard
Published: 12 August 2014 Updated: 11:43, 12 August 2014
The Barclays Premier League will return with a bang on Saturday after an amazing summer, culminating in Germany lifting the World Cup to end another incredible season. But while the thoughts of fans are understandably dominated by what might happen on the pitch this weekend, I thought I should also update our supporters and the rest of London on the huge amount of work that has been going on away from the pitch at West Ham United this summer.
I remember when we were awarded the Olympic Stadium in March 2013, I wrote in this very newspaper that the hard work was just about to start and so it has proved. This weekend marks two years until we kick off the first game in our state-of-the-art, 54,000-seat new home in the Olympic Stadium and much of our close-season has been spent putting plans together that will ensure it becomes one of the venues in world football. Just last week we saw our most expensive signing of the summer, Enner Valencia, proudly sport our new home kit in front of the stadium. He spoke of his desire to fire West Ham into the top four of the Premier League and although that might sound unrealistic to some outside of the club, that is the sort of ambition we must have. A move to a stadium as iconic as the one at the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park should be a gamechanger for a club like ours.
We will be able to attract better players, who will be drawn to playing at an iconic venue the world fell in love with during the summer of 2012. But the stadium will not just be better for our players, though, as our biggest priority is to deliver a stadium that exceeds the expectations of our fans. We have been composing a robust plan to migrate our supporters in the clearest and fairest way possible. We realise an affordable and accessible ticketing strategy to bring football back to working people will also be integral to achieving our goal of kicking off our first game with a full stadium and an electric atmosphere.
It will look and feel like the home of West Ham, the facilities will be world class, the nine direct rail links will make it the best connected in Europe and I know the West Ham fans will bring their passionate support to create an atmosphere to match. Our bigger capacity also means more revenue and bigger budgets, without increasing the burden on the 35,000 who come to watch us every other week at the moment. I am pleased to report the construction schedule is on track and in two months' time the installation of the cutting-edge roof — the largest cantilevered roof in the world — begins. It is a truly world-class solution that covers every seat and we want to ensure that standard is matched with our final designs for the innovative retractable seating.
We have also focused our energies on creating a hospitality proposition that will be the best in the Europe once completed. From the outset, it has been designed to compete, and compare, to leading London restaurants and members' clubs and I am looking forward to revealing more of our exciting plans in the coming months. Then, from early next year, the new floodlight configuration and internal upgrades to the turnstiles, catering and bathroom facilities will take place.
The Rugby World Cup in autumn 2015 will lead to a highly significant break in the construction work and provide an important marker in the project timeline for West Ham United. Once the tournament's Bronze Final is concluded at the venue on Friday October 30, the final series of changes that will transform the Stadium into a UEFA Category 4 Football Stadium and the new home of West Ham United will take place. This period will see upgrades made to the hospitality lounges and the delivery of our new Club Megastore and dedicated Ticket Office, both of which will be open to fans and visitors all year round.
So we know there is a lot to do still but I am delighted with the progress my hard-working team at West Ham has made in conjunction with our partners at the London Legacy Development Corporation. I can assure West Ham fans that, when we kick off our new season in 2016-17, it will be an experience worth waiting for.
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Sakho on back burner as Wickham race hots up
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 12, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham have put talks with Diafra Sakho (right) on the back burner as they push ahead with moves for Connor Wickham The Metz striker is believed to want around £15k a week plus £5k appearance bonuses but the Irons are intensifying their efforts to grab Sunderland's England under 21. Sakho has been in talks with the club for several days but Sam Allardyce would love to grab Wickham – who at 21 – looks a real prospect and helps the Irons preserve their British baseline. An Upton Park source told ClaretandHugh exclusively this morning: "The Sakho negotiations are on hold as it's clear Wickham is now the big target. "If the manager and chairman can get a deal sorted out it will have been an excellent summer and Wickham. However, should that turn out not to be the case, the Sakho remains in play."
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West Ham vs Tottenham will set back fans as much as £77... while Hull City charge £16 for home opener against Stoke as fans prepare to march to Premier League HQ
Non-members adult ticket in Band 1 for game on Saturday will cost £75
A £2 booking fee is also placed on all orders for the Premier League opener
Members prices are £70 for Band 1, with the cheapest member ticket £50
Tottenham is a Category A fixture, with Category B costing around £15 less
West Ham do have a Category C (£20-30), against Leicester City
Hammers also offer 'Kids for a Quid' for six games a season
By GERARD BRAND
PUBLISHED: 10:54, 12 August 2014 | UPDATED: 15:48, 12 August 2014
Daily Mail
West Ham United's first Premier League game of the season against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur could set fans back as much as £77 for an adult ticket, causing uproar among Hammers fans. Saturday's opener at Upton Park, kicking off at 3pm, has been classed as a Category A fixture, with the cheapest ticket for members £50 and non-members £55. In stark contrast, Hull City, who finished just three points below the Hammers in their first season back in the Premier League, are charging a flat price of £16 around the ground for their first home fixture against Bojan Krkic's new club Stoke City on Sunday August 24. Hundreds of fans will march on Premier League and Football League headquarters on Thursday to demand cheaper tickets across the board, with the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) heading the protests. Supporters believe the increase in the multi-billion pound TV deals, including the Premier League media deal worth £5.5billion, should allow for a decrease in ticket prices. Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSF, said: 'Nine out of 10 fans think football's simply too expensive.
'There's always the odd deal that clubs can quote to play it down, but the truth is supporters tell us they think tickets cost too much.' Table: Prices for first two weeks of fixtures (red indicates highest and lowest price)
West Ham are charging juniors £41 in Band 1 areas of the ground, while Hull fans under 15 can go for as little as £5 for the Category C fixture. The most expensive ticket for the Tottenham game is £75, with a £2 booking fee for all purchases. Despite the expected difference in Category A and Category C prices, West Ham fans are already disgruntled at having to watch what some of the faithful regard as poor football. West Ham won just seven of their 19 games at home last season in the top flight, scoring 25 goals. But the club do offer incentives for fans throughout the term, particularly for juniors. Six 'Kids for a Quid' fixtures are named in a season, as well as earmarking one game where under 16s can attend for free. However, the prices have caused anger on social media, with football fans wondering how a side that struggled in the Premier League last season can charge supporters so much. Adrian Leahy (@adieleahy), who voiced his concerns to Hammers co-chairman David Gold on Twitter, said: '@davidgold if you really are serious about making football affordable how come you keep raising the prices ? More & more fans priced out !'
Danny Smith (@DannyyySmith) added: 'How can west ham charge £70 to the game against spurs ? Wouldn't mind but we don't even play football! HOOOFBALL!! @davidgold.'
Andrew (@{griffina71) said: 'I took my son to watch Dortmund last year return flight and ticket cost £6 less !!!!'
With it costing £35 to become a member at Upton Park, the ticket prices for non-members could discourage new fans from deciding to attend Hammers games at short notice. Tottenham is a Category A fixture, alongside the visits of Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Eleven other Premier League clubs are listed as Category B fixtures, costing as much as £55 for members and £60 for non-members, while the Leicester City match at Upton Park is graded as Category C, priced £20 to £30. Fans across the Premier League have a right to feel disgruntled about ticket prices for the highest category games. Hull themselves charge adults £50, seniors and young adults £30, and juniors £20 for Category A games at the KC Stadium, while West Ham are not the only club charging a premium, particularly in the capital. At newly-promoted QPR, 'Platinum' seats for their Category A fixtures - against Arsenal, Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and West Ham - will set non-members back £70. Across the capital at Arsenal, the most expensive Category A ticket for non-members is £97, while seeing the big clashes at White Hart Lane will set you back £81, including their home match against West Ham. A ticket see Jose Mourinho's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge against top opposition costs £82. In their penultimate campaign at Upton Park before moving to the Olympic Stadium, West Ham announced in April they would be freezing prices on season tickets for this term. The most expensive adult season ticket is £910 for new applicants, while renewals saved £20. But the cheapest, at £620, is still more expensive than London rivals Chelsea's least expensive option for this season, as well as the cheapest ticket at Manchester United.
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West Ham United Premier League season guide 2014/15
The latest West Ham United news including fixtures, transfers, best starting XI, odds, tickets and predictions ahead of the new Barclays Premier League season
West Ham United Premier League season guide 2014/15
Telegraph.co.uk
By John Percy10:09AM BST 12 Aug 2014
Sam Allardyce may have avoided the sack this summer but is arguably under more pressure than ever at West Ham United. After agreeing to substantially modify the style of football to appease the board and an increasingly disgruntled section of supporters, he cannot afford a bad start to the Premier League campaign if he is to survive the season. The loss of record signing Andy Carroll for possibly four months with an ankle injury has only added to the sense of frustration in the boardroom while the Ravel Morrison dilemma has polarised opinion. The signings this summer appear to suggest a shift in transfer policy, with Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate, in particular, brought in to excite, while there have been other changes to formation. Whether Allardyce is happy to adapt his tactics to such an extent is uncertain, with the manager already admitting the new approach has left his team open defensively. It seems an uneasy truce between the two parties and the first five games or so will give an accurate barometer of how it will progress. The move into the new stadium next year means that relegation cannot even be contemplated.
Manager Sam Allardyce.
Best starting XI Adrian; Jenkinson, Collins, Reid, Cresswell; Kouyate, Noble, Nolan, Downing; Valencia, Zarate.
Prediction West Ham will survive but whether Allardyce stays beyond next summer – at the latest – is debatable.
Transfers
In Enner Valencia (Pachuca, £12m), Aaron Cresswell (Ipswich Town, £3.75m), Cheikhou Kouyate (Anderlecht, Undisclosed), Mauro Zarate (Velez Sarsfield, Undisclosed), Diego Poyet (Charlton Athletic, Compensation), Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal, Loan).
Out Ben Sheaf (Arsenal, Undisclosed), Joe Cole (Aston Villa), Matt Taylor (Burnley), Stephen Henderson (Charlton Athletic), Robert Girdlestone (Chelmsford City), Raphael Spiegel (Crawley Town, Loan).
Released Jack Collison, Alou Diarra, Callum Driver, George McCartney, Jordan Spence.
Tickets
• Cheapest: £20
• Most expensive: £75
Dependant on Category of the game (A, B, or C). Cheapest category is C. Most fixtures have been set in category B but they could be subject to change. The cheapest ticket in Category B is £38.
Ticket Office Number 0871 529 1966
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Irons look for chance to tempt Wickham
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 12, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are ready to hand Connor Wickham a big pay increase to join the club. However, they first have to convince Sunderland to sell the player who is out of contract in a year. Despite being unsure whether they can entice the player out of the Stadium of Light, the Hammers are ready to try again. A source told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "Sunderland are adopting a very strong position with the player despite him only having 12 months left on a deal at the end of which he could go for nothing. "However, we are likely to up our bid and hope to be given permission to speak with the player." Currently the England under 21 is on around £23,000 with the Black Cats and the Irons are certainly ready to push that to over £30,000."
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WHERE'S JULIAN DICKS WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
By Iain Dale 12 Aug 2014 at 21:00
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post From Little Fork
Who can inspire and motivate our team like Dicksy? Do we have someone today who can get the team "up" and battle ready?
On a filthy wet evening at Upton Park on Monday 24th Feb 1997 the Irons met Spurs. With our team having been entrenched in the bottom three with only one win in 14 games , Spurs were odds on favourites to win. 'Arry had made a couple of purchases (£7.3+m was considered a "staggering" amount). Paul Kitson and John Hartson were to make their debuts but the Hammer's skipper, Julian Dicks, with his hair fiercely cropped was the inspiration that night.
Dicksy was everywhere on the pitch that night. He was the best defender, best midfield player and certainly played his part up front as well. He rallied the troops, I wish I'd been there to hear the pre match dressing room rousing speech, as the team came out with what seemed a new found confidence. For me, the packed house and of course the Monday night SKY audience, this was the match of the season. It was end to end, topsy turvey stuff…….in East End parlance "a right ol' ding dong" of a game.
It was our new attacking coach Sherry who scored first for Spurs with a stunning header. But the Hammer's response was forceful to say the least. From a Michael Hughes corner in the 21st minute Dicksy powered in a header to get us back on terms. About 2 minutes later the atmosphere really ignited when Paul Kitson on debut scored with a header from another Hughes corner. Joy was short lived however when Darren "sick note" Anderton lobbed Ludo to get spurs on level terms. Hartson then captured the hearts of the hammers' fans when in the 37th minute he headed us back in front again, this time from a superb cross from Dicksy.
Sheringham, however, wasn't to be upstaged, though, as he cleverly blocked off Dicks to allow Howells to make it 3 each. This was a rather poignant moment for Howells who had just suffered a family bereavement (his Dad) but had decided to play the match. Our bubbles anthem was heard right across London that night I am sure, as the game swung one way and then the other.
Dicksy sensed that a win was possible and pushed his battle weary troops forward for what seemed one last effort. I think the crowd had settled for a point, but not Dicksy.
When Howells was judged to have fouled the irrepressible Hartson in the box, who else would step up to take the penalty? In front of the Bobby Moore stand, I have never seen a penalty struck with such force before. Ray Stewart was the former penalty "king" but Dicksy's penalty blasted into the net with such ferocity and velocity, it felt the whole of the Park would explode!!
What a captain that night, what a performance, and what a result.
West Ham 4 Spurs 3.
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West Ham United over Diafra Sakho transfer
Metz' Senegalese forward Diafra Sakho kicks the ball during the friendly football match Sochaux (FCSM) vs Metz (FCM) on July 25, 2014© Getty Images
By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter
Filed: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at 21:54 UK
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at 22:10 UK
Metz have pulled out of negotiations over striker Diafra Sakho's transfer to West Ham United, the Ligue 1 club accusing the Hammers of foul play and threatening to take legal action. Both sides are said to have reached an agreement over a fee for the 24-year-old, Metz claiming that the player had successfully completed a medical at Upton Park. But according to a statement released by the French club, Sam Allardyce's side switched from wanting a permanent transfer to a loan deal with the option to buy. The statement read: "The English club unilaterally decided to propose a loan deal with an option to purchase instead of a permanent deal, which does not correspond to FC Metz's expectations and contradicts all the terms that had been agreed last week between the two clubs. "FC Metz regret this clear lack of respect, which is unacceptable, from West Ham towards FC Metz and also the player. "As a result, FC Metz reserve the right to approach the international sport court and assert their rights and defender their interests. FC Metz had released Diafra Sakho from his professional duties during matchday 1 of the Ligue 1 championship by giving him leave to take a medical in England to complete the last stage of the deal."
Senegalese striker Sakho was named best player in the French Ligue 2 last season.
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Hammers weigh up Marseilles midfielder
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 12, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are still tracking Marseilles midfielder Morgan Amalfitano and may make a definite move over the nest seven days. The 29 year old has been on the Irons radar for some time and at one point stories were circulating that he had actually joined. The inventive midfielder spent last season on loan at West Brom and scored four goals in 30 outings. He scored a brilliant goal against Manchester United and showed fleeting moments of real class but couldn't maintain that on a consistent basis. The Hammers want to pay around £2 million for him and a source told ClaretandHugh: "There's nothing imminent but something may happen over the next week."
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Metz blast West Ham as Sakho transfer falls through
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 13th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Diafra Sakho's move to West Ham is off after Metz pulled the plug on the deal last last night. The 24-year-old forward looked set to join West Ham after the two clubs agreed a deal last week. A medical was completed but the deal collapsed, say Metz, after West Ham attempted to change the terms of the transfer.
According to a statement published by the French club tonight, West Ham - who had originally agreed to sign Sakho on a permanent basis - requested instead to take the player on a season-long loan with view to a permanent transfer.
Metz refused to play ball and, as a result, the deal is now officially off. "While FC Metz and West Ham agreed a written agreement on the terms of a definitive transfer of the Senegalese striker to the English club, West Ham finally changed its position at the last moment," read the French club's statement. "The English club decided to propose to FC Metz a loan with option to purchase, which absolutely does not correspond to the expectations of FC Metz and contradicts all terms and conditions that had been validated specifically late last week between the two clubs."
Metz, who were set to receive around €4m for Sakho from West Ham also threatened to report the Hammers to football authorities over the collapse of the deal. "FC Metz regret a clear lack of serious and unacceptable disrespect from West Ham against FC Metz but also in respect of the player," they said. "As a result, FC Metz reserves the right to address international sports courts to assert their rights and defend their interests. "FC Metz had released Diafra Sakho from his professional duties during the first day of the Ligue 1 championship, giving him the opportunity to take a medical examination in England in order to validate the last stage of his transfer. "Sakho will return to Metz on Wednesday afternoon.
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COULD THE SAKHO DEAL BE REFERRED TO THE COURT FOR ARBITRATION IN SPORT (CAS)?
By S J Chandos 13 Aug 2014 at 00:30
West Ham Till I Die
Reports yesterday alleged that Metz have halted West Ham's move for Diafra Sakho after claiming that the Premier League club sought to suddenly reconstitute the terms of the proposed transfer. It had appeared that the clubs had quickly agreed a £3.5m fee for the promising 24 year old Senegalese striker and the way lay open for medical clearance and the negotiation of the player's personal terms.
However, Metz have now issued a statement alleging that West Ham have reneged on their agreement by seeking a season long loan deal agreement, with the option to buy next summer, rather than an permanent transfer. Furthermore, the French club have accused West Ham of being 'disrespectful' in their conduct and are currently considering their legal options, as Sakho missed the club's opening Ligue 1 fixture last Saturday (a 0-0 draw with Lille) to complete his medical.
The Metz statement asserts:
'The English club unilaterally decided to propose a loan deal with an option to purchase instead of a permanent deal, which does not correspond to FC Metz's expectations and contradicts all the terms that had been agreed last week between the two clubs. FC Metz regret this clear lack of respect, which is unacceptable, from West Ham towards FC Metz and also the player. As a result, FC Metz reserve the right to approach the international sport court and assert their rights and defend their interests. FC Metz had released Diafra Sakho from his professional duties during matchday 1 of the Ligue 1 championship by giving him leave to take a medical in England to complete the last stage of the deal.'
So, based on the above statement, it would seem that Metz's case is likely to be that they reached a binding (verbal or written) agreement with West Ham for the permanent transfer of the striker. And that Metz sanctioned Sakho to miss their opening fixture of the season (in order to complete his medical) on the basis that it was effectively a done deal. Metz dropped two points, in a 0-0 draw with Lille, and they may well argue that the voluntary absence of last season's top scorer could have been a salient factor in the result. A risk that Metz were presumably prepared to accept on the understanding that they would receive the agreed transfer fee. If this is the thrust of their case, would they be successful at CAS? And, if so, would the CAS ruling be that the transfer should proceed on the original terms or, alternatively, would a compensation package be necessary? There is even a suggestion circulating that Metz might push for a points deduction! One only hopes that Metz are not relegated this season by two points or less or that will raise old spectres of a previous crazy compensation deal for an alleged injury to another football club!
Sakho is well worth a gamble at £3.5m, but it all depends what the club's approach is with respect to the possible signing of Connor Wickham and how the transfer finances stack up? As the situation stood yesterday evening, it is understood that Metz's lawyers have given West Ham until 12 noon today to agree to proceed with the transfer, on the orginal terms. If not, they will consider taking their case to EUFA/CAS.
SJ. Chandos
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WHUFC.com
Two Academy prospects have been called into their England age group squads this week
12.08.2014
Academy duo Jahmal Hector-Ingram and Anthony Scully have received call ups to their respective England age group squads. Hector-Ingram, who scored three goals in eight games for England U16 last term, earns an U17 call for the first time as the Young Lions get set for a friendly international tournament to be played in the Midlands at the end of August. England will take on Czech Republic at Kidderminster Harriers' Aggborough Stadium on Wednesday 27 August before heading to Chesterfield to play Portugal two days later. The tournament concludes on Sunday 31 August with a game against Italy at Burton Albion, with John Peacock assessing his options before the UEFA U17 Championship campaign gets underway later in the season. For midfielder Scully, he will have the opportunity to impress England U16 head coach Dan Micciche as he prepares for the Victory Shield. Scully forms part of a 22-man squad to face Belgium at St George's Park on Wednesday 20 August.
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Noble looks forward to derby backing
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble is sure the Hammers fans will be able to play their part against Tottenham on Saturday
12.08.2014
Mark Noble is ready and raring to go for Saturday's Barclays Premier League season opener against Tottenham Hotspur. The Hammer of the Year scored from the spot as West Ham United concluded their pre-season programme at the weekend with a 3-2 victory over Sampdoria. It brought a first summer win over 90 minutes for Sam Allardyce's men and Noble was delighted with the performance. "It was brilliant on Saturday," he beamed. "I thought we played really well and gave the fans a good game to watch. For Reece [Burke] to score the winner was a lovely way to top the day off. "I'm looking forward to Tottenham. I think it'll be a harder game than the one we had here at the end of last season, but the atmosphere is always fantastic for the first game of the season. "With them having a new manager, everyone will want to impress him, so everyone's going to have to play as well as they did last Saturday for us and hopefully get the three points. "We need the crowd behind us and hopefully they will be."
The win over Sampdoria was characterised by strong performances from the Club's Academy players, and Noble had praise for the subbsitutes - both young and experienced. He added: "Pottsy came on and won the penalty. He played really well, then Elliot {Lee} came on and was brilliant for the 20 minutes he was on and Reece popped up with the winner. "The substitutes all came on and made a difference - when Mo's playing like that he's untouchable. "I've always said that the results in pre-season don't matter and it's the performances and getting the lads through it that's the focus. "I went through an unbeaten pre-season with Avram Grant and we all know what happened that year, so the results don't matter, but I thought we played really well against Sampdoria and it was nice to get the win."
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Under-21s set for PSV test
WHUFC.com
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock says his team will benefit from playing European opposition
12.08.2014
Development Squad coach Nick Haycock says his team's meeting with PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday evening will act as another hugely useful stepping stone in their development. The Under-21s head to the Netherlands six days before their opening Barclays U21 Premier League game at Tottenham Hotspur, with Haycock keen to test his side against continental opposition. He said: "It's European competition for us and we're delighted to be in it. "We're delighted that we're in the elite league for the Premier League too, because we're a smaller Academy when compared to the powerhouses in there. "We think we've got some good players who can compete at that level and hopefully we can go and show that on Tuesday. "You're never sure how you're going to look from pre-season until it gets underway because up until now you've played different teams. "You play Conference teams, competing against men, you play Under-23 teams and then we had a 21s team against Aston Villa last Friday. "There'll be different styles of games now than what we've had and we'll adapt to that and try to assert the way we want to play on teams a little more. I think we're capable of that. "I'm happy with where we are and I'm looking forward to the season."
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Fans march on Premier League HQ
KUMb.com
Filed: Tuesday, 12th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Hundreds of fans will march on Premier League and Football League headquarters this Thursday demanding cheaper ticket prices throughout football. The march will be led by the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) with fans from scores of clubs joining them. Supporters say clubs should use multi-billion pound media deals to lower ticket prices for both home and away fans. The Premier League's current media deal is worth £5.5bn, an increase of £2.1bn on the previous three years, but fans say there is little sign of anything being done to make life easier for match-going supporters. From the increase in Premier League media rights alone all 20 top-flight clubs could have let every fan into every game for free, without being any worse off than they had been the season before. Instead, many clubs chose to increase prices and £50+ tickets are now common in the top-flight. Hull City's Category A tickets jumped from £30 last season to £50 in 2014/15. Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSF, said: "Nine out of 10 fans think football's simply too expensive. There's always the odd deal that clubs can quote to play it down, but the truth is supporters tell us they think tickets cost too much. It's not just top-flight football either, fans throughout the leagues tell us prices are too high. "Football is swimming in money, with clubs pocketing record amounts from broadcasting deals while squeezing supporters with high prices. Something has to give. "Ultimately we, as football supporters, have to speak up about this. Join the FSF and hundreds of fans on Thursday when we deliver that message to the Premier League and Football League."
Fans will gather at Marble Arch for 1pm and leave for the Premier League and Football League offices at 30 Gloucester Place (W1U 8PL) at 2pm. A delegation of fans will meet with the football authorities, while those on the demonstration head back to The Globe (NW1 5JY).
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Free coaches for Hull trip
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 12th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Supporters wishing to follow West Ham when they face Hull City at the KC Stadium next month will be able to take advantage of free coach travel. The club have confirmed that all supporters travelling to the game, which takes place on Monday, 15 September will be able to travel free of charge on club coaches, as part of the Premier League's away fan fund scheme. Each top flight club has, for the second successive season, been awarded £200,000 by the league with which to improve their fans' trips to away grounds. And this season West Ham have responded early with the offer, which means fans taking advantage of the offer will pay just £35 - the price of a visitors' match day ticket - to attend the match. The match is also being broadcast on TV by Sky Sports, one of four Premier League fixtures involving West Ham to go live in the first half of the 2014/15 season.
On live
Mon 15 Sept: Hull City v West Ham Utd (8pm, SS)
Sat 20 Sept: West Ham Utd v Liverpool (5:30pm, SS)
Sun 5 Oct: West Ham Utd v QPR (4:15pm, SS)
Sat 25 Oct: West Ham Utd v Man City (12.45pm, BT)
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Everton haven't won a pre-season game, we have
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 12th August 2014
By: Paul Walker
New players, check. Youth being given a chance, check. More attacking approach and new systems, check. Big Sam smiles at us more…well, you can't have everything can you?
Now I know it's easy to be flippant, and clever in hindsight, but please remind me what pre-season friendlies are really for?
You would think that it's Christmas already and we are down at the bottom of the table without a point. Now that would be cause for the wholesale abuse being heaped on everyone at the club from Ms Brady (I'll get to her in a minute) to the gateman.
But all that has happened is that we have not done too well in our pre-season matches, apart for what I am told was an encouraging display in beating Sampdoria on Saturday, and when a few kids and new faces didn't do too badly.
We should not be getting our knickers in a twist about pre-season results, long distance travelling to the far side of the globe and the now expected injury for poor Andy Carroll. (As I have said before, he didn't get injured on purpose, and it's nothing to do with his TOWIE totty.)
At this point I can add that we are not the worst off. Everton have not won a pre-season game yet and I bet there are very few West Ham fans out there who would not like to swap our position with the Merseysiders. And their esteemed manager too, Roberto Martinez.
But I doubt there's anybody up at Goodison Park calling for the manager's head while roundly abusing players and owners at will.
But such is the now entrenched views of a sizeable amount of our fans who despise everything about BFS and the people who employ him, you would have thought there is a crisis of biblical proportions going on.
Now I have had plenty to say about Big Sam and the way we play and the performances of players. Last season was dire, the entertainment value was not there and we were much nearer a genuine relegation scrap than Sam Allardyce has been prepared to admit.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, we pay for our tickets and have a right to be heard. But the season hasn't started yet, no ball has been kicked in anger and many of the things we were all screaming for are being put into place.
We wanted higher quality players. Enner Valencia and Cheickhou Kouyate seem to fit the bill. We wanted the club to look into the lower divisions for bright, likely lads to be brought to the Boleyn. Diego Poyet and Aaron Cresswell are just that.
A bit of flair was asked for. Mauro Zarate step forward. And we should be trying to acquire young talent from bigger clubs. Carl Jenkinson is just that.
Sam was seemingly asked to change the perception of our club, to produce more attacking style and flair and to improve the quality of the staff. He was also told to be nicer to us and make an effort to get along with fans he once called deluded and then was seen to cup his ear and mock the boo-boys after the truly dreadful win over a ten-man Hull last season.
Now to my mind he still has a bit to do on the PR front as far as we are concerned, the odd smile wouldn't go amiss. But within the framework of our budget, things look to be changing. Blimey, we played two different systems on Saturday……3-5-2 and 4-3-3, and the kids were given their head.
So let's just give it a chance, see if things do look better in a few months and see whether we are enjoying it more.
I noticed a piece by Iain Dale on WHTID in which he rounded on the faceless abusers of our players on the internet, where cowards get away with saying stuff they would not dare address to someone's face. Sometimes when you read threads on fans' forums you wonder why people actually come through the turnstiles any more, so much do they hate everything and everyone.
Every time we sign a player, there is always a long list of people who instantly slag them off, probably when it comes to foreign players having not even seen them play…and I don't count a few grainy minutes on YouTube.
I agree that some of the pre-season displays were poor, in New Zealand and Germany, as well as Stevenage! But if you look at those squads, they were full of youngsters being given a chance to impress, seniors coming back from injury and new faces looking to find their feet. Nobody should read too much into any of that.
Good grief, people have been calling for BFS to be sacked for losing pre-season friendlies. I ask you! If we are a basket case come November, say, then I would agree. But not yet, give everyone a break.
And come on, now, we have a new member of the House of Lords at the helm. I wouldn't give you a penny for Ms Brady's political views, but she hasn't done that badly as a woman in the world of business.
I feel that Baroness Brady of Highbury (that, I presume is what she will want to be called when she reaches Westminster) will not be long in her role as our chief executive now she has her eyes on higher office.
And you cannot expect her to want to be called Baroness Brady of Boleyn, young ladies with that name who have aspirations to reach the corridors of power tend to lose their heads.
But she has done what she was asked to do by the Davids. She has the right image to get round the likes of Boris and the PM, and she was the acceptable face of the club in the negotiations for the new stadium move. You cannot see the Tory boys being comfortable negotiating with a couple of ageing porn barons in the wake of the Olympics, so Ms Brady did what she was asked to do.
The same may well, in the end, be said of Big Sam. I know that 'BFS out' brigade will never change their views or have a good word said about him, and I struggle at times with his abrupt, arrogant approach to anyone who is not a professional in the football industry. We know nothing, you see.
But he might, just might, be building a squad that can take us forward, whether he is buying the players or David Sullivan is. I can hear you all laughing out there, sure. But give it a chance for a few weeks, we need to be united when the real action starts. And that means on Saturday against the hated enemy. It's happening again, anybody?
If we don't present an intimidating atmosphere and solid support for the team, then things really will go pear-shaped.
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UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, IS C.£4M SUCH A 'LOUSY' BID FOR CONNOR WICKHAM?
By S J Chandos 12 Aug 2014 at 12:00
West Ham Till I Die
It was widely reported yesterday that West Ham have submitted a bid for young Sunderland centre-forward, Connor Wickham. Reports vary on the alleged size of the bid, in some instances its £5m and in others £4m. Even if we accept the lower of these two figures, then that is surely still a decent bid for a player who is in the final year of his present contract. Yet, one leading Sunderland website dismissed the bid as 'lousy' and suggested that West Ham need to come back with an improved bid! While I can understand Sunderland's angst at only recouping 50% of the original fee paid to Ipswich Town, you have to ask whether they are being realistic? The owning club is never in the 'driving seat' once a player's contract enters its final year. They are faced with the dilemma, so well articulated by Gus Poyet recently, that the player either signs a new contract or they are sold. Of course, that's providing the player does not chose to 'dig in,' see out his contract and leave on a Bosman deal.
In those circumstances, a c.£4m bid is a good offer, which may very well not be on the table for long. Once the season starts, Wickham's valuation will start dropping still further. And now West Ham have set the bar, at c.£4m, it is very unlikely that any other club will come in and beat it. I know its a thoroughly fustrating situation for any club (and remember we face the same situation with Reid and Diame), but if the player will not sign a new contract, then all you can do is cash in. Arguably, Sunderland should take the £4m while its on offer. Its probably only the imperative created by Carroll's injury absence that motivated the bid. West Ham could eventually decide to hold off, agree a pre-contract with Wickham (at the appropriate juncture) and then sign him later on a Bosman deal next summer. With an alternative loan deal for Sakho of Metz in the pipeline, it is a course of action that they could consider pursuing.
Of course, ultimately, it all depends how urgently West Ham feel they need to obtain Wickham's services. Sunderland may, in turn, be gambling that desperation will motivate an improved bid and/or other clubs will come in to spark an auction. However, they could very well be disappointed if they are relying on those factors coming in to play to deliver the full recoupment of the original £8m fee.
SJ. Chandos.
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THAT TUESDAY MORNING FEELING
By Iain Dale 12 Aug 2014 at 08:01
West Ham Till I Die
New regular Tuesday column from The Guardian's Brian Williams
What do you mean, you've never heard of the "Tuesday morning feeling"? It's like the Monday morning feeling, only worse. You know Monday is going to be rubbish, and prepare accordingly. You expect better of Tuesday. But, like a Stewart Downing cross, it always lets you down.
I've never liked Tuesdays. It goes back to when I was a kid. One year at secondary school we had double chemistry and double geography every Tuesday. I'd rather wear a Spurs shirt in public than have to face that again.
There was a time, if West Ham lost at the weekend, there wasn't much point trying to talk to me before Tuesday. Honestly, you'd have done better having a natter with a Trappist monk on Strepsils than attempting to engage me in conversation. I like to think that, as a middle-aged family man, I'm rather more mature than that now. Generally, I can come up with a civil response by Sunday teatime following a Saturday setback. However, I fear that if we have another season like last year's the long, silent sulks of my childhood will return.
I'm no expert, but it's clear that West Ham Till I Die doesn't write itself. I imagine Mr Dale will be far from happy if he regularly finds himself, first thing on a Monday morning, drumming frustrated fingers on his large, executive-grade desk waiting for copy that never turns up as I try to extricate myself from a blackdog depression. That's why I suggested he publishes this column on a Tuesday.
So, now we've got that out of the way, let us examine the big question being asked by all of us with claret and blue in our hearts as we steel ourselves for a new season: can West Ham mend their ways and serve up some proper entertainment rather than the dross that passes for association football in Fat Sam's eyes? It's fair to say, pre-season has been far from encouraging.
True, we beat Sampdoria, and at times there was even the hint of two up front. Naturally, the headline writers summed up Saturday's 3-2 victory as a five-goal thriller. However, I'd like to take issue with them over that. I don't know about you, but I'm never thrilled when anyone scores against West Ham. And when they do it twice, I'm distinctly unthrilled. I prefer the sort of nine-goal thriller we got back in the glory days of '86 when we scored eight of those nine goals.
Okay trivia lovers, every West Ham fan worthy of the name should know that the mighty Alvin Martin scored against three different Newcastle keepers in the pouring rain at the Boleyn Ground. (And I don't want to hear people who complain that "it was before my time" – the first world war was before my time, but I know the result.) You would have to be a serious anorak to be able to name all three of the Geordie keepers that night and quite frankly, we are not looking to encourage people like that on this site. Therefore, I'm going to give you the first two – Martin Thomas and Chris Hedworth – but who was the third?
Yes sir, you in the Avco shirt. Good effort but no, it wasn't Glenn Roeder – although he played his part by scoring an own goal and conceding the penalty that Stretch converted for his hat-trick. The correct answer is Peter Beardsley. Alvin reckons that the little fella tried to put him off by pulling funny faces, but with Beardsley it was hard to tell what counted as a funny face and what was merely his normal boat race.
But I digress. We were discussing West Ham's pre-season. As a generous-hearted individual, I am prepared to forgive them the diabolical results in the antipodean outback – anyone can slip up against the giants of Wellington and Sydney. But the performances in Schalke were woeful. I know this because I watched the games on a TV channel called Quest.
Hands up anyone who had ever heard of Quest before last week. No, me neither. And, to be honest I can't see myself watching it all that often from now on. Its programmes seem to consist mainly of fishing and environmental types with dodgy beards recycling other people's rubbish that they've salvaged from skips. (I'm starting to think Mr Allardyce got his tactical handbook from the same source.)
Of course, you can't read too much into pre-season. One of the best I can ever remember was with Avram Grant at the helm, and we all know how things turned out under his management when the shooting started for real. Ah, where are you now Avram? The old place just isn't the same without your smiling face.
To be perfectly frank, I'm not hopeful about the season ahead. Leopards don't change their spots, and Allardyce isn't going to change the direct formula that has underpinned his entire career. Don't get me wrong – I'd rather beat Spurs playing ugly than lose stringing together a series of meaningless passing moves in front of their massed defence. But never again do I want to see the sort of negativity we got against Hull last season. A goal up, them down to 10 men, and Fat Sam chooses to shut up shop. I'm sorry mate, that's just not acceptable.
It goes without saying I want to hammer Tottenham on Saturday. But if we don't, I will be quietly crossing my fingers that Messrs Gold and Sullivan follow the lead set by Huddersfield, who have given their manager the old tin tack after just one game. Now that would brighten up next Tuesday.
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Should we give him another chance at West Ham?
Westhamworld.co.uk
James Jones
August 12, 2014
Ravel Morrison today revealed that he'll be back in training on Thursday following a groin injury picked up early pre-season. He's also recently revealed that he's been handed the number 14 shirt for the season, which has to be the biggest hint yet that he still has a role to play in the first team. His off-field antics this summer have been nothing short of a disgrace. The whole court case looming over him is something of a minefield, with only speculation surrounding the real truth behind what happened between Ravel, his ex-girlfriend and her Mum. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that. But being pictured in an Arsenal shirt has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've seen a footballer do in a very long time. He knows he's under the spotlight and he knows we're not going to take kindly to him wearing the shirt of one of our London rivals. But he goes ahead with it anyway. Nonetheless, all of the above doesn't yet warrant the decision to give up on him and get rid. Why? Because I'm a firm believer that he will mature and will become one of England and West Ham's best players in the coming seasons. There's no doubting his desire to stay at the club. He tweeted about his love for the club just a few days ago…
Such an admission just wouldn't come from a player either pushing for a move away from the club or knowing the club are trying to get rid of him. It's still a bit of a mystery as to why he behaves the way he does off the field, but his performances on the field should be the main reason the board and Sam Allardyce put together a new deal for him and a new role for him in the first team. Morrison's performances at the beginning of last season were a breath of fresh air amidst the pollution of Allardyce's one-dimensional approach to tactics. He played his own game and came out on top in so many of our performances – his role in our epic 3-0 victory at White Hart Lane last October goes down as one of the best individual performances I've seen in a West Ham shirt from any player in many years. So what's stopping him from replicating such form this season? Nothing. Well, apart from the ongoing dispute about his future between the board and the manager. This cannot be good for him and it cannot be good for us. Period.
However, that fact Morrison has publicly declared his love and thanks to the club, and his excitement at getting back to playing football with West Ham this season, bodes well for both parties. You cannot deny his talent, and we simply cannot dismiss how important he could be for us next season and beyond. This is why he must be given another chance at putting things right. Both on and off the field. Because, if we lose him, we may just live to regret it…
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Time to blood Elliot Lee
August 12, 2014
By Danny Rust – @Danny_Rust10, Shoot's West Ham blogger
Shoot.co.uk
With the new Premier League campaign kicking off this weekend, a number of youngsters at West Ham United will be hoping they have staked a claim for a spot in Sam Allardyce's side this season. One teenager that certainly should be in Big Sam's thoughts is striker Elliot Lee.
Lee, the son of former England international, West Ham and Newcastle United midfielder Rob, has been scoring goals for fun for the Hammers' Development Squad for a number of years now and has enjoyed loan spells in the Football League in recent seasons too.
But Lee has performed well for the Irons in pre-season, with his late cameo appearance against Sampdoria on Saturday being the pick of the bunch. When Lee came on after 76 minutes to replace Carlton Cole, West Ham started to attack quickly and looked more confident on the ball. Lee's intelligent runs created acres of space for his teammates, who were then able to shoot more freely, with the likes of Ricardo Vaz Te going for goal more often in the final ten minutes.
In fact, within a minute of Lee coming off the bench, Mohamed Diame scored the equaliser against the Italian Serie A side. Then with almost the last kick of the game, 17-year-old Reece Burke converted the winner from a fantastic pass from the striker, who waited until the right moment to play the killer pass.
The 19-year-old looks as though he could be a big part of Sam Allardyce's plans this season and he should be based on that performance. The Hammers faithful have been calling for Lee to get a chance for a year now and he has never really been given the opportunity, but now this may finally be his time.
It is unlikely that Lee will start on the opening day of the season against Tottenham Hotspur due to his lack of experience, but he should at the very least be named among the substitutes. If he were to come on and play like he did against Sampdoria, then the Tottenham backline could be in for a shock, and he will certainly create a number of chances for himself and his teammates.
One negative to take from West Ham's final pre-season game was the injury to Aaron Cresswell. The left back, who signed from Ipswich Town this summer, was looking like a good addition in the early stages, with some neat passes down the left hand side and some dangerous crosses being put into the Sampdoria penalty area. But Cresswell was forced off just after the half-hour mark, when a strong challenge from a Sampdoria defender meant he could not continue.
Allardyce will be hoping that the injury is not too serious and the new acquisition will be fit for the opening day of the season.
However, Dan Potts replaced Cresswell and looked comfortable at left back. Potts, who has made a handful of first team appearances over the last three seasons, is likely to go into the season as the club's second choice left back because of the signing of Cresswell, but he looks as though he is a good back-up to have at the Boleyn Ground.
He continued where Cresswell left off, with some good attacking play and he should have scored soon after West Ham equalised for the second time in the match.
All in all, Big Sam will be pleased to have ended a disappointing pre-season – which has seen Andy Carroll pick up another injury and the side suffer numerous defeats – on a high with some good performances from the club's youngsters and a win.
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West Ham set to beat Hull to Amalfitano signing
By talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) | Tuesday, August 12, 2014
West Ham are set to finalise a move to sign former West Brom midfielder Morgan Amalfitano on a three-year contract, according to reports in France. Sam Allardyce is ready to strengthen his midfield as uncertainty continues to surround the future of Mohamed Diame, who has been strongly linked with a move to QPR. Amalfitano, 29, enjoyed a successful loan spell with West Brom and scored a wonder goal against Manchester United last season. But he is now looking for a new challenge in England and despite speculation linking him with a move to Hull, West Ham appear to have won the race to clinch his signature from Marseille. The French midfielder could go straight into the squad for the opening Premier League game against Tottenham on Saturday.
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West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady: Two years to go and we are on track to achieve our Olympic dream
Evening standard
Published: 12 August 2014 Updated: 11:43, 12 August 2014
The Barclays Premier League will return with a bang on Saturday after an amazing summer, culminating in Germany lifting the World Cup to end another incredible season. But while the thoughts of fans are understandably dominated by what might happen on the pitch this weekend, I thought I should also update our supporters and the rest of London on the huge amount of work that has been going on away from the pitch at West Ham United this summer.
I remember when we were awarded the Olympic Stadium in March 2013, I wrote in this very newspaper that the hard work was just about to start and so it has proved. This weekend marks two years until we kick off the first game in our state-of-the-art, 54,000-seat new home in the Olympic Stadium and much of our close-season has been spent putting plans together that will ensure it becomes one of the venues in world football. Just last week we saw our most expensive signing of the summer, Enner Valencia, proudly sport our new home kit in front of the stadium. He spoke of his desire to fire West Ham into the top four of the Premier League and although that might sound unrealistic to some outside of the club, that is the sort of ambition we must have. A move to a stadium as iconic as the one at the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park should be a gamechanger for a club like ours.
We will be able to attract better players, who will be drawn to playing at an iconic venue the world fell in love with during the summer of 2012. But the stadium will not just be better for our players, though, as our biggest priority is to deliver a stadium that exceeds the expectations of our fans. We have been composing a robust plan to migrate our supporters in the clearest and fairest way possible. We realise an affordable and accessible ticketing strategy to bring football back to working people will also be integral to achieving our goal of kicking off our first game with a full stadium and an electric atmosphere.
It will look and feel like the home of West Ham, the facilities will be world class, the nine direct rail links will make it the best connected in Europe and I know the West Ham fans will bring their passionate support to create an atmosphere to match. Our bigger capacity also means more revenue and bigger budgets, without increasing the burden on the 35,000 who come to watch us every other week at the moment. I am pleased to report the construction schedule is on track and in two months' time the installation of the cutting-edge roof — the largest cantilevered roof in the world — begins. It is a truly world-class solution that covers every seat and we want to ensure that standard is matched with our final designs for the innovative retractable seating.
We have also focused our energies on creating a hospitality proposition that will be the best in the Europe once completed. From the outset, it has been designed to compete, and compare, to leading London restaurants and members' clubs and I am looking forward to revealing more of our exciting plans in the coming months. Then, from early next year, the new floodlight configuration and internal upgrades to the turnstiles, catering and bathroom facilities will take place.
The Rugby World Cup in autumn 2015 will lead to a highly significant break in the construction work and provide an important marker in the project timeline for West Ham United. Once the tournament's Bronze Final is concluded at the venue on Friday October 30, the final series of changes that will transform the Stadium into a UEFA Category 4 Football Stadium and the new home of West Ham United will take place. This period will see upgrades made to the hospitality lounges and the delivery of our new Club Megastore and dedicated Ticket Office, both of which will be open to fans and visitors all year round.
So we know there is a lot to do still but I am delighted with the progress my hard-working team at West Ham has made in conjunction with our partners at the London Legacy Development Corporation. I can assure West Ham fans that, when we kick off our new season in 2016-17, it will be an experience worth waiting for.
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Sakho on back burner as Wickham race hots up
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 12, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham have put talks with Diafra Sakho (right) on the back burner as they push ahead with moves for Connor Wickham The Metz striker is believed to want around £15k a week plus £5k appearance bonuses but the Irons are intensifying their efforts to grab Sunderland's England under 21. Sakho has been in talks with the club for several days but Sam Allardyce would love to grab Wickham – who at 21 – looks a real prospect and helps the Irons preserve their British baseline. An Upton Park source told ClaretandHugh exclusively this morning: "The Sakho negotiations are on hold as it's clear Wickham is now the big target. "If the manager and chairman can get a deal sorted out it will have been an excellent summer and Wickham. However, should that turn out not to be the case, the Sakho remains in play."
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West Ham vs Tottenham will set back fans as much as £77... while Hull City charge £16 for home opener against Stoke as fans prepare to march to Premier League HQ
Non-members adult ticket in Band 1 for game on Saturday will cost £75
A £2 booking fee is also placed on all orders for the Premier League opener
Members prices are £70 for Band 1, with the cheapest member ticket £50
Tottenham is a Category A fixture, with Category B costing around £15 less
West Ham do have a Category C (£20-30), against Leicester City
Hammers also offer 'Kids for a Quid' for six games a season
By GERARD BRAND
PUBLISHED: 10:54, 12 August 2014 | UPDATED: 15:48, 12 August 2014
Daily Mail
West Ham United's first Premier League game of the season against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur could set fans back as much as £77 for an adult ticket, causing uproar among Hammers fans. Saturday's opener at Upton Park, kicking off at 3pm, has been classed as a Category A fixture, with the cheapest ticket for members £50 and non-members £55. In stark contrast, Hull City, who finished just three points below the Hammers in their first season back in the Premier League, are charging a flat price of £16 around the ground for their first home fixture against Bojan Krkic's new club Stoke City on Sunday August 24. Hundreds of fans will march on Premier League and Football League headquarters on Thursday to demand cheaper tickets across the board, with the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) heading the protests. Supporters believe the increase in the multi-billion pound TV deals, including the Premier League media deal worth £5.5billion, should allow for a decrease in ticket prices. Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSF, said: 'Nine out of 10 fans think football's simply too expensive.
'There's always the odd deal that clubs can quote to play it down, but the truth is supporters tell us they think tickets cost too much.' Table: Prices for first two weeks of fixtures (red indicates highest and lowest price)
West Ham are charging juniors £41 in Band 1 areas of the ground, while Hull fans under 15 can go for as little as £5 for the Category C fixture. The most expensive ticket for the Tottenham game is £75, with a £2 booking fee for all purchases. Despite the expected difference in Category A and Category C prices, West Ham fans are already disgruntled at having to watch what some of the faithful regard as poor football. West Ham won just seven of their 19 games at home last season in the top flight, scoring 25 goals. But the club do offer incentives for fans throughout the term, particularly for juniors. Six 'Kids for a Quid' fixtures are named in a season, as well as earmarking one game where under 16s can attend for free. However, the prices have caused anger on social media, with football fans wondering how a side that struggled in the Premier League last season can charge supporters so much. Adrian Leahy (@adieleahy), who voiced his concerns to Hammers co-chairman David Gold on Twitter, said: '@davidgold if you really are serious about making football affordable how come you keep raising the prices ? More & more fans priced out !'
Danny Smith (@DannyyySmith) added: 'How can west ham charge £70 to the game against spurs ? Wouldn't mind but we don't even play football! HOOOFBALL!! @davidgold.'
Andrew (@{griffina71) said: 'I took my son to watch Dortmund last year return flight and ticket cost £6 less !!!!'
With it costing £35 to become a member at Upton Park, the ticket prices for non-members could discourage new fans from deciding to attend Hammers games at short notice. Tottenham is a Category A fixture, alongside the visits of Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Eleven other Premier League clubs are listed as Category B fixtures, costing as much as £55 for members and £60 for non-members, while the Leicester City match at Upton Park is graded as Category C, priced £20 to £30. Fans across the Premier League have a right to feel disgruntled about ticket prices for the highest category games. Hull themselves charge adults £50, seniors and young adults £30, and juniors £20 for Category A games at the KC Stadium, while West Ham are not the only club charging a premium, particularly in the capital. At newly-promoted QPR, 'Platinum' seats for their Category A fixtures - against Arsenal, Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and West Ham - will set non-members back £70. Across the capital at Arsenal, the most expensive Category A ticket for non-members is £97, while seeing the big clashes at White Hart Lane will set you back £81, including their home match against West Ham. A ticket see Jose Mourinho's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge against top opposition costs £82. In their penultimate campaign at Upton Park before moving to the Olympic Stadium, West Ham announced in April they would be freezing prices on season tickets for this term. The most expensive adult season ticket is £910 for new applicants, while renewals saved £20. But the cheapest, at £620, is still more expensive than London rivals Chelsea's least expensive option for this season, as well as the cheapest ticket at Manchester United.
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West Ham United Premier League season guide 2014/15
The latest West Ham United news including fixtures, transfers, best starting XI, odds, tickets and predictions ahead of the new Barclays Premier League season
West Ham United Premier League season guide 2014/15
Telegraph.co.uk
By John Percy10:09AM BST 12 Aug 2014
Sam Allardyce may have avoided the sack this summer but is arguably under more pressure than ever at West Ham United. After agreeing to substantially modify the style of football to appease the board and an increasingly disgruntled section of supporters, he cannot afford a bad start to the Premier League campaign if he is to survive the season. The loss of record signing Andy Carroll for possibly four months with an ankle injury has only added to the sense of frustration in the boardroom while the Ravel Morrison dilemma has polarised opinion. The signings this summer appear to suggest a shift in transfer policy, with Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate, in particular, brought in to excite, while there have been other changes to formation. Whether Allardyce is happy to adapt his tactics to such an extent is uncertain, with the manager already admitting the new approach has left his team open defensively. It seems an uneasy truce between the two parties and the first five games or so will give an accurate barometer of how it will progress. The move into the new stadium next year means that relegation cannot even be contemplated.
Manager Sam Allardyce.
Best starting XI Adrian; Jenkinson, Collins, Reid, Cresswell; Kouyate, Noble, Nolan, Downing; Valencia, Zarate.
Prediction West Ham will survive but whether Allardyce stays beyond next summer – at the latest – is debatable.
Transfers
In Enner Valencia (Pachuca, £12m), Aaron Cresswell (Ipswich Town, £3.75m), Cheikhou Kouyate (Anderlecht, Undisclosed), Mauro Zarate (Velez Sarsfield, Undisclosed), Diego Poyet (Charlton Athletic, Compensation), Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal, Loan).
Out Ben Sheaf (Arsenal, Undisclosed), Joe Cole (Aston Villa), Matt Taylor (Burnley), Stephen Henderson (Charlton Athletic), Robert Girdlestone (Chelmsford City), Raphael Spiegel (Crawley Town, Loan).
Released Jack Collison, Alou Diarra, Callum Driver, George McCartney, Jordan Spence.
Tickets
• Cheapest: £20
• Most expensive: £75
Dependant on Category of the game (A, B, or C). Cheapest category is C. Most fixtures have been set in category B but they could be subject to change. The cheapest ticket in Category B is £38.
Ticket Office Number 0871 529 1966
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Irons look for chance to tempt Wickham
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 12, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are ready to hand Connor Wickham a big pay increase to join the club. However, they first have to convince Sunderland to sell the player who is out of contract in a year. Despite being unsure whether they can entice the player out of the Stadium of Light, the Hammers are ready to try again. A source told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "Sunderland are adopting a very strong position with the player despite him only having 12 months left on a deal at the end of which he could go for nothing. "However, we are likely to up our bid and hope to be given permission to speak with the player." Currently the England under 21 is on around £23,000 with the Black Cats and the Irons are certainly ready to push that to over £30,000."
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WHERE'S JULIAN DICKS WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
By Iain Dale 12 Aug 2014 at 21:00
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post From Little Fork
Who can inspire and motivate our team like Dicksy? Do we have someone today who can get the team "up" and battle ready?
On a filthy wet evening at Upton Park on Monday 24th Feb 1997 the Irons met Spurs. With our team having been entrenched in the bottom three with only one win in 14 games , Spurs were odds on favourites to win. 'Arry had made a couple of purchases (£7.3+m was considered a "staggering" amount). Paul Kitson and John Hartson were to make their debuts but the Hammer's skipper, Julian Dicks, with his hair fiercely cropped was the inspiration that night.
Dicksy was everywhere on the pitch that night. He was the best defender, best midfield player and certainly played his part up front as well. He rallied the troops, I wish I'd been there to hear the pre match dressing room rousing speech, as the team came out with what seemed a new found confidence. For me, the packed house and of course the Monday night SKY audience, this was the match of the season. It was end to end, topsy turvey stuff…….in East End parlance "a right ol' ding dong" of a game.
It was our new attacking coach Sherry who scored first for Spurs with a stunning header. But the Hammer's response was forceful to say the least. From a Michael Hughes corner in the 21st minute Dicksy powered in a header to get us back on terms. About 2 minutes later the atmosphere really ignited when Paul Kitson on debut scored with a header from another Hughes corner. Joy was short lived however when Darren "sick note" Anderton lobbed Ludo to get spurs on level terms. Hartson then captured the hearts of the hammers' fans when in the 37th minute he headed us back in front again, this time from a superb cross from Dicksy.
Sheringham, however, wasn't to be upstaged, though, as he cleverly blocked off Dicks to allow Howells to make it 3 each. This was a rather poignant moment for Howells who had just suffered a family bereavement (his Dad) but had decided to play the match. Our bubbles anthem was heard right across London that night I am sure, as the game swung one way and then the other.
Dicksy sensed that a win was possible and pushed his battle weary troops forward for what seemed one last effort. I think the crowd had settled for a point, but not Dicksy.
When Howells was judged to have fouled the irrepressible Hartson in the box, who else would step up to take the penalty? In front of the Bobby Moore stand, I have never seen a penalty struck with such force before. Ray Stewart was the former penalty "king" but Dicksy's penalty blasted into the net with such ferocity and velocity, it felt the whole of the Park would explode!!
What a captain that night, what a performance, and what a result.
West Ham 4 Spurs 3.
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West Ham United over Diafra Sakho transfer
Metz' Senegalese forward Diafra Sakho kicks the ball during the friendly football match Sochaux (FCSM) vs Metz (FCM) on July 25, 2014© Getty Images
By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter
Filed: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at 21:54 UK
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at 22:10 UK
Metz have pulled out of negotiations over striker Diafra Sakho's transfer to West Ham United, the Ligue 1 club accusing the Hammers of foul play and threatening to take legal action. Both sides are said to have reached an agreement over a fee for the 24-year-old, Metz claiming that the player had successfully completed a medical at Upton Park. But according to a statement released by the French club, Sam Allardyce's side switched from wanting a permanent transfer to a loan deal with the option to buy. The statement read: "The English club unilaterally decided to propose a loan deal with an option to purchase instead of a permanent deal, which does not correspond to FC Metz's expectations and contradicts all the terms that had been agreed last week between the two clubs. "FC Metz regret this clear lack of respect, which is unacceptable, from West Ham towards FC Metz and also the player. "As a result, FC Metz reserve the right to approach the international sport court and assert their rights and defender their interests. FC Metz had released Diafra Sakho from his professional duties during matchday 1 of the Ligue 1 championship by giving him leave to take a medical in England to complete the last stage of the deal."
Senegalese striker Sakho was named best player in the French Ligue 2 last season.
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Hammers weigh up Marseilles midfielder
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on August 12, 2014 in Whispers
Claret & Hugh
West Ham are still tracking Marseilles midfielder Morgan Amalfitano and may make a definite move over the nest seven days. The 29 year old has been on the Irons radar for some time and at one point stories were circulating that he had actually joined. The inventive midfielder spent last season on loan at West Brom and scored four goals in 30 outings. He scored a brilliant goal against Manchester United and showed fleeting moments of real class but couldn't maintain that on a consistent basis. The Hammers want to pay around £2 million for him and a source told ClaretandHugh: "There's nothing imminent but something may happen over the next week."
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Metz blast West Ham as Sakho transfer falls through
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 13th August 2014
By: Staff Writer
Diafra Sakho's move to West Ham is off after Metz pulled the plug on the deal last last night. The 24-year-old forward looked set to join West Ham after the two clubs agreed a deal last week. A medical was completed but the deal collapsed, say Metz, after West Ham attempted to change the terms of the transfer.
According to a statement published by the French club tonight, West Ham - who had originally agreed to sign Sakho on a permanent basis - requested instead to take the player on a season-long loan with view to a permanent transfer.
Metz refused to play ball and, as a result, the deal is now officially off. "While FC Metz and West Ham agreed a written agreement on the terms of a definitive transfer of the Senegalese striker to the English club, West Ham finally changed its position at the last moment," read the French club's statement. "The English club decided to propose to FC Metz a loan with option to purchase, which absolutely does not correspond to the expectations of FC Metz and contradicts all terms and conditions that had been validated specifically late last week between the two clubs."
Metz, who were set to receive around €4m for Sakho from West Ham also threatened to report the Hammers to football authorities over the collapse of the deal. "FC Metz regret a clear lack of serious and unacceptable disrespect from West Ham against FC Metz but also in respect of the player," they said. "As a result, FC Metz reserves the right to address international sports courts to assert their rights and defend their interests. "FC Metz had released Diafra Sakho from his professional duties during the first day of the Ligue 1 championship, giving him the opportunity to take a medical examination in England in order to validate the last stage of his transfer. "Sakho will return to Metz on Wednesday afternoon.
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COULD THE SAKHO DEAL BE REFERRED TO THE COURT FOR ARBITRATION IN SPORT (CAS)?
By S J Chandos 13 Aug 2014 at 00:30
West Ham Till I Die
Reports yesterday alleged that Metz have halted West Ham's move for Diafra Sakho after claiming that the Premier League club sought to suddenly reconstitute the terms of the proposed transfer. It had appeared that the clubs had quickly agreed a £3.5m fee for the promising 24 year old Senegalese striker and the way lay open for medical clearance and the negotiation of the player's personal terms.
However, Metz have now issued a statement alleging that West Ham have reneged on their agreement by seeking a season long loan deal agreement, with the option to buy next summer, rather than an permanent transfer. Furthermore, the French club have accused West Ham of being 'disrespectful' in their conduct and are currently considering their legal options, as Sakho missed the club's opening Ligue 1 fixture last Saturday (a 0-0 draw with Lille) to complete his medical.
The Metz statement asserts:
'The English club unilaterally decided to propose a loan deal with an option to purchase instead of a permanent deal, which does not correspond to FC Metz's expectations and contradicts all the terms that had been agreed last week between the two clubs. FC Metz regret this clear lack of respect, which is unacceptable, from West Ham towards FC Metz and also the player. As a result, FC Metz reserve the right to approach the international sport court and assert their rights and defend their interests. FC Metz had released Diafra Sakho from his professional duties during matchday 1 of the Ligue 1 championship by giving him leave to take a medical in England to complete the last stage of the deal.'
So, based on the above statement, it would seem that Metz's case is likely to be that they reached a binding (verbal or written) agreement with West Ham for the permanent transfer of the striker. And that Metz sanctioned Sakho to miss their opening fixture of the season (in order to complete his medical) on the basis that it was effectively a done deal. Metz dropped two points, in a 0-0 draw with Lille, and they may well argue that the voluntary absence of last season's top scorer could have been a salient factor in the result. A risk that Metz were presumably prepared to accept on the understanding that they would receive the agreed transfer fee. If this is the thrust of their case, would they be successful at CAS? And, if so, would the CAS ruling be that the transfer should proceed on the original terms or, alternatively, would a compensation package be necessary? There is even a suggestion circulating that Metz might push for a points deduction! One only hopes that Metz are not relegated this season by two points or less or that will raise old spectres of a previous crazy compensation deal for an alleged injury to another football club!
Sakho is well worth a gamble at £3.5m, but it all depends what the club's approach is with respect to the possible signing of Connor Wickham and how the transfer finances stack up? As the situation stood yesterday evening, it is understood that Metz's lawyers have given West Ham until 12 noon today to agree to proceed with the transfer, on the orginal terms. If not, they will consider taking their case to EUFA/CAS.
SJ. Chandos
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