On This Day - 1 June
WHUFC.com
The first day of June 2012 marks exactly a year since Big Sam's arrival in
east London
31.05.2012
The first of June 2011 saw Sam Allardyce sign a two-year deal with West Ham
United to become the Club's new manager. After his first 12 months in charge
at the Boleyn Ground, Big Sam can look back on his opening year in the East
End with a sense of pride and achievement. From his signing of Kevin Nolan
just two weeks after his arrival to smashing the club record for away league
wins to guiding the Hammers to their npower Championship Play-Off final
victory over Blackpool at Wembley, it has been a year full of highs.
Arriving days after West Ham had been relegated to the Championship, the new
manager's brief was to ensure a swift return to the top flight. Big Sam
began by rebuilding the squad by signing captain Nolan and the experienced
Abdoulaye Faye, Matthew Taylor and Joey O'Brien in the space of month. By
the end of the summer transfer window, Big Sam had added striker John Carew,
Sam Baldock, Papa Bouba Diop and Guy Demel on permanent contracts and George
McCartney, David Bentley and Henri Lansbury on season-long loan deals. The
season began well for West Ham with Big Sam's first win coming in the second
game of the season courtesy of a 1-0 victory at Doncaster Rovers thanks to
Nolan's first goal for the club. From the middle of October until the end of
the year, Big Sam kept the Hammers in the top two of the npower Championship
table with impressive wins at home to Blackpool, Leicester City and Derby
County and away at Brighton and Hove Albion, Hull City and Middlesbrough.
The January transfer window saw Big Sam add some real striking quality to
the squad with the acquisitions of Ricardo Vaz Te from Barnsley and Nicky
Maynard from Bristol City. February saw the Hammers pick up eight points out
of 12, despite going down to ten men in three of their four games. The
Hammers beat Millwall 2-1 at home, drew 1-1 with Southampton and won 4-1
away at Blackpool despite having to field midfielder Lansbury in goal after
Robert Green's dismissal. Good Friday marked one of Big Sam's proudest
moments as a 4-0 win away at Barnsley saw the Hammers break the club record
for most away league wins in a season. The record had stood at eleven wins
since the 1957/58 season and now stands at 13 thanks to a 2-1 victory at
Leicester City in April. Big Sam saved the best until last as he guided West
Ham to a 5-0 aggregate victory over Cardiff in the Play-Off semi-finals
before beating Blackpool 2-1 in the final to secure a dream return to the
Premier League at the first attempt. Carlton Cole and Vaz Te got the goals
at Wembley before Big Sam called the win his proudest achievement as a
manager.
With his second year in charge now underway, Big Sam and his staff are
already plotting the Hammers' path to further success in the Premier League
next season. As the now famous saying goes 'Nothing Beats Being Back'!
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West Ham dismiss Orient hopes of Olympic Stadium ground share
BBC.co.uk
West Ham have dismissed suggestions they could share the Olympic Stadium
with Leyton Orient. Orient chairman Barry Hearn, who has previously
criticised the Hammers' plans , told BBC Sport he would be interested in a
possible ground share. But West Ham insist they are not considering such an
arrangement. "West Ham United has not held talks with Leyton Orient in
respect of ground sharing and nor is it our intention to do so," their
statement said. "We do not wish to comment on recent statements made by
Barry Hearn not least because we can't keep up with his ever-changing
position. "They continue, however, to provide us with a constant source of
amusement.' Hearn had previously considered moving to the Olympic Stadium,
but withdrew on the basis that it was "not fit for football".
The League One club's chairman feared that if West Ham moved away from Upton
Park it could threaten the O's survival by tempting fans away from Brisbane
Road. The newly-promoted Premier League club have been looking at the
feasibility of including retractable seating at the venue, which is due to
be converted into a 60,000-seater stadium after the Games. In March the
Hammers were named as one of four bidders looking to take control of the
stadium following the conclusion of the Games and, at the same time, it was
confirmed that the O's were not among the quartet. The London Legacy
Development Corporation has extended the tenancy bidding process until after
the Games. Hearn had suggested that the two clubs could be the first London
sides to share a ground on a permanent basis. He told BBC Sport: "Subject to
the changes West Ham are asking for, namely covering the running track, we'd
be interested in bidding for the stadium as part of a ground-share with
them. "We will now talk with the Olympic authorities."
But West Ham maintain there is no change in their plans and their statement
added: "Our requirements, made clear from the outset, are for a stadium fit
for world-class football that maintains the athletics legacy and would
ensure a truly multi-purpose globally-renowned stadium."
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New away kit unveiled
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 1st June 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's away kit for the forthcoming 2012/13 Premier League
campaign has been unveiled. The Ironworks-blue inspired shirt is a hark back
to the club's roots and the first time United have worn a dark blue kit
since Gianfranco Zola's squad wore a two-tone away kit in the 2009/10
season. Priced at £44.95 for adults - with both men and women's cuts
available - and junior shirts available at £34.99, the kit may be
pre-ordered now for delivery on 21st June. A long sleeve version of the
shirt is also available priced at £49.99. The adult shirts feature club
sponsor SBOBET's logo whilst the child shirts come with 'Forever United'
embossed on the front.
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Hammers rule out Os share
Premier League new-boys laugh off Hearn idea
Last Updated: June 1, 2012 2:48pm
SSN
West Ham have dismissed a suggestion of ground-sharing the Olympic Stadium
with Leyton Orient made by chairman Barry Hearn. Hearn has been a fierce
critic of the Hammers' bid to become stadium tenants after the London 2012
Games but said recently he would consider a ground-share arrangement for his
League One club. West Ham insist there have been no talks about such a
possibility - nor will there be. A statement from the club said: "West Ham
United has not held talks with Leyton Orient in respect of ground sharing
and nor is it our intention to do so. "We do not wish to comment on recent
statements made by Barry Hearn not least because we can't keep up with his
ever-changing position. They continue, however, to provide us with a
constant source of amusement."
Demand
The Hammers said the demand from fans for tickets for the recent
Championship play-off final at Wembley showed the Olympic Stadium will not
be too big for their supporter base. The statement added: "We are the only
football option able to fill the stadium to capacity on a regular basis.
"Our recent Wembley play-off final win, which secured our promotion back to
the Premier League, saw a level of demand from our supporters that could
have sold out Wembley Stadium to West Ham fans alone. "The noise and
atmosphere created by our fans on May 19 gave a mouthwatering taste of what
the Olympic Stadium could offer to supporters week in, week out. "We also
bring the opportunity for the regeneration of the Olympic Park - people,
prosperity, opportunity, exposure, economy and expertise from our very first
match in 2014. This provides far wider benefits for the local community and
the nation as a whole."
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Hammers Bid for Grant Holt?
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die
The Daily Star has reported that West Ham have made a £4.5m bid for Norwich
City striker, Grant Holt. The suggestion is that Sam Allardyce has sought to
take advantage of the fall out at Norwich, created by Paul Lambert's pending
managerial move to Villa Park. The objective being to strike a deal before
Lambert can engineer a Villa move for the player. Norwich City are likely to
reject the bid, but Holt appears to be firm in his resolve to leave Carrow
Road. Although 31 years of age, Holt performed very well in his first season
in the PL, scoring a creditable 15 goals.
Elsewhere, a number of interesting players were released by their current
clubs yesterday. Included amongst these were: Rodallega at Wigan, Kalou &
Bosingwa at Chelsea, Cuellar at Villa, Klasnic at Bolton, Hargreaves at Man
City and Shorey at WBA. I am sure West Ham supporters would love to see the
likes of Kalou and Rodallega at Upton Park next season!
SJ. Chandos.
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Hearn gets Hammered
The Sun
Published: 01st June 2012
WEST HAM have laughed off Leyton Orient chief Barry Hearn's suggestion that
the two clubs share the Olympic Stadium. A statement released by the Hammers
said: "West Ham United has not held talks with Leyton Orient in respect of
ground-sharing — and nor is it our intention to do so. "We do not wish to
comment on recent statements made by Barry Hearn, not least because we can't
keep up with his ever-changing position. "They continue, however, to provide
us with a constant source of amusement."
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West Ham 'amused' by O's bid to share Olympic stadium
Guardian Series
4:46pm Friday 1st June 2012 in Leyton Orient By Daniel Binns
WEST Ham FC has said it is "amused" by suggestions it could share the
Olympic Stadium with Leyton Orient after the Games have finished. Orient
chairman Barry Hearn told the Guardian yesterday (Thursday May 31) he wants
to hold talks with Olympic legacy bosses about proposals to share the arena
between the two clubs.
At the time, West Ham said they could not comment on any specifics for legal
reasons, but it has now issued a statement mocking Mr Hearn. It said: "We do
not wish to comment on recent statements made by Barry Hearn not least
because we can't keep up with his ever-changing position. They continue,
however, to provide us with a constant source of amusement."
The club also confirmed it had no plans to talk with Mr Hearn about the
proposals. A fierce bidding war is currently underway over who will get to
run the arena in Stratford – which is less than a mile away from Orient's
current home in Brisbane Road, Leyton – with a final decision expected this
October. Orient fears it will lose fans if a high-profile rival moves onto
the Olympic site, with Mr Hearn believing they would have "no choice" but to
move from Leyton if that happened. Mr Hearn told the Guardian yesterday:
"originally we were interested in the tenancy for the Olympic Stadium but
when we saw what they did with the athletics track it became clear it
wouldn't be suitable for football.
"But now there's a suggestion that the Olympics people might install and pay
for [retractable] seating over the track, which is why we're interested
again."
He added: "If it happened, I wouldn't so much see it as ground share with
West Ham. Leyton Orient would just be another tenant, so we would be one of
a number of users."
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West Ham United face Chinese competition for Blackburn Rovers striker Yakubu
by Jack Failsworth. Published Fri 01 Jun 2012 16:15, Last updated:
2012-06-01
ClickLancashire.com
According to reports Blackburn Rovers striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni is
interesting Chinese clubs. The Nigeria international is believed to be
wanted by promoted clubs Reading and West Ham United. However, the Daily
Mail says Chinese Super League clubs Guan Beijing and Shanghai Shenhua are
both interested in the Nigerian.
He has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave for £1million and
that will not be a problem for the wealthy Chinese, who have also offered
him £100,000 a week.
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London 2012 Olympics: West Ham scoff suggestions of Leyton Orient
groundshare scheme
West Ham have rejected a suggestion from Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn
to consider groundsharing at the Olympic Stadium.
Telegraph.co.uk
By Telegraph Sport3:00PM BST 01 Jun 20121 Comment
Hearn has been a fierce critic of West Ham's bid to become stadium tenants
after the Olympics but said recently he would consider a ground-share
arrangement for his League One club. West Ham say there have been no talks
about such a possibility - nor will there be. A West Ham statement said:
"West Ham United has not held talks with Leyton Orient in respect of ground
sharing and nor is it our intention to do so. "We do not wish to comment on
recent statements made by Barry Hearn not least because we can't keep up
with his ever-changing position. They continue, however, to provide us with
a constant source of amusement." The Hammers said the demand from fans for
tickets for the recent Championship play-off final at Wembley showed the
Olympic Stadium will not be too big for their supporter base.
The statement added: "We are the only football option able to fill the
stadium to capacity on a regular basis. Our recent Wembley play-off final
win, which secured our promotion back to the Premier League, saw a level of
demand from our supporters that could have sold out Wembley Stadium to West
Ham fans alone. "The noise and atmosphere created by our fans on May 19 gave
a mouthwatering taste of what the Olympic Stadium could offer to supporters
week in, week out. "We also bring the opportunity for the regeneration of
the Olympic Park - people, prosperity, opportunity, exposure, economy and
expertise from our very first match in 2014. This provides far wider
benefits for the local community and the nation as a whole."
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Saturday, June 2
Friday, June 1
Daily WHUFC News - 1st June 2012
Reid scoops All Whites awards
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid has been voted New Zealand Men's Player of the Year and
Player's Player of the Year
31.05.2012
Winston Reid ended a memorable May by completing a personal hat-trick of
awards. The West Ham United defender added to his npower Championship
Play-Off winner's medal by collecting the Nike Men's Player of the Year and
NZPFA Player's Player of the Year trophies at the 2011 New Zealand Football
awards. Just eleven days after helping the Hammers to defeat Blackpool at
Wembley, Reid was presented with the two gongs at a dinner held at Sky City
Hamilton on Wednesday evening. The 23-year-old, who was ruled out of the All
Whites' quest to defend their OFC Nations Cup title next month with a groin
injury, was voted Player of the Year by his peers in the New Zealand
football community and was picked by his team-mates to win the
Players'Player award. Reid has earned ten senior caps for New Zealand since
making his debut against Australia in May 2010. The centre-back excelled for
the All Whites at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, scoring the
equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Slovakia as the Kiwis drew all three
group-stage matches to end the tournament unbeaten. This past season, the
Auckland-born player totalled 33 appearances in all competitions for the
Hammers, scoring three goals including a sensational winner against Millwall
in February.
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TC feeling positive
WHUFC.com
Tony Cottee thinks West Ham United's squad just needs some fine tuning over
the summer months
31.05.2012
Tony Cottee believes West Ham United already have the strong nucleus of a
squad as they prepare for life back in the Premier League. While the Hammers
may have set a new club record for most away wins in a season, Cottee knows
that tougher times may lie ahead next season. The former Englnd
international striker thinks that the majority of the Hammers squad last
season can cut mustard in the Premier League, but they will need additional
support to provide much needed strength-in-depth. "We have to build a squad.
With the demands of the Premier League you need two teams basically, with a
squad of 24-25 players that can play in the top league," he told West Ham
TV. "Sam [Allardyce] and Macca [Neil McDonald] have to sit down and have a
good think about who to keep and who to let go.
"The squad could shrink to 17 or 18 and its then it is up to Big Sam to
bolster the squad to about 24 players. We could do some with some back up in
defence and possibly another goalscorer."
Regardless of departures and arrivals, the former Hammer of the Year and
star of the legendary 1986 side that finished third in the league believes
everyone involved in the 2011/12 season can look back at their achievements
with pride. Cottee is hopeful that they can continue the same kind of
hard-to-beat mentality in the face of the greater challenges in the Premier
League. "The object was to get promotion and ultimately it doesn't matter
how we did it as long as we did. It's a long old slog 46 games and you can't
expect any team or player to play well in every single game so I expected
the dip and unfortunately the dip we had cost us automatic promotion.
"There's always room for improvement but I would rank the season as an eight
out of ten. We broke the away record for the club and put in some
magnificent performances. In general I thought it was a good season and the
task set for Big Sam and Macca was promotion and they did it."
Crucial to survival in the top league will be the continued form of last
season's key players. For Cottee, two of his fellow Academy graduate in
particular stood out.
"Mark Noble won the Hammer of the Year and has done really, really well. But
for me my Hammer of the Year was James Tomkins. I think it was very close
between them and I'm really pleased Mark won it but James was outstanding
last season. "Tonks was our Man of the Match at Wembley and should push on
next season into a top, top defender."
The 2011/12 season threw up plenty of dramatic moments, the most notable of
which was, of course, the last-gasp win against Blackpool in the Play-Off
final. But Cottee also has fond memories of another superb Ricardo Vaz
Te-inspired victory that will also live long in the memory of Hammers fans.
"Sitting in a bar in Dubai and watching the Hammers beat Brighton 6-0 was a
great highlight for me I must admit - I did enjoy that one! Some of the away
performances were great too as were the Play-Off semi-final games. The one
at home to Cardiff had such a fantastic atmosphere and the crowd were really
driving the boys on."
Cottee was able to take in the day of the final as a fan alongside his
children and like many other families, the day out in Wemlbey provided some
unforgettable memories for the Cottee clan. "It was fantastic; I had a
wonderful day and it has been a long time coming. I was at Wembley 31 years
ago when we played Liverpool and for Arsenal the year before in the FA Cup
final. "I couldn't sleep the whole week I was too excited; I've got twin
boys at 14 who I've brainwashed into being West Ham fans. From the moment we
got the train to Wembley and walked up Wembley Way it was a fantastic day
and to top it off we won the game. "It's a day I will long remember and even
if we don't play at Wembley again the boys have got those memories. "It was
great to see half of Wembley covered in claret and blue. We played in the
final and I always said it would be fantastic for the fans to have the day
out at Wembley and the fact that we won it made it a perfect day."
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That Was The Season That Was 2011/2012 - Part Three
KUMB,com
Filed: Thursday, 31st May 2012
By: Gordon Thrower
It's been dry warm & sunny over the last few days so, quite naturally,
Gordon Thrower's thoughts have been on Christmas and New Year as he wades
through the latest part of his look back at the season just ended. At this
rate he'll be lucky to finish by the time the next one starts!....
December
The month starts with us falling back to earth with a bump on the Saturday
as a team that looks as if it's played three games in five days somehow
contrives to lose 2-1 at home to Burnley, despite hitting the woodwork more
times than one would have thought possible. Southampton also manage to lose
at Doncaster so no harm done.
There's a welcome sight as Henri Lansbury and, more heart-warmingly Gary
O'Neil both get runouts in the Development squad's 3-0 win over Brentford.
Two goals come from a mystery trialist with the improbable name of Habib
Habibou, who, along with Papa Bouba Diop would add to the list of Cleo Laine
songs to be sung in E13.
One player definitely on his way in is 17 year-old Borehamwood midfielder
and oxymoron Pelly Ruddock. He is so highly rated that he bypasses the youth
team and goes straight into the Development Squad set up. Meanwhile we all
start looking for players with similar names – with Cruyff Quinn,
Beckenbauer Radford and Frank Lampard all looming on the horizon.
Disaster strikes as we travel to Reading. Guy Demel pulls up lame with what
looks like a torn thigh muscle after less than 90 seconds. His replacement
Joey O'Brien somehow contrives to pick up two yellow cards whilst Jack
Collison picks up a straight red for a girly push on Kebe following a rather
childish bit of mickey taking in which the Reading winger mimes pulling his
socks up. We lose 3-0 as Southampton scramble an unconvincing point in the
93rd minute of their match, drawing 2-2 at home against Blackpool.
Spurs fans cement their reputation as the Premiership's thickest by
bombarding cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy with abusive tweets (as I believe
they are called) over his refereeing performance in their 2-1 defeat at
Stoke. When the multi-medal winning Olympian helpfully points out that it
might be (admittedly poor) Premiership ref Chris FOY they are after, the
special needs ones remain defiant: "@chrishoy now denying that he's even a
ref. What kind of mugs does he take us for?" tweets one particularly
intelligent specimen. Presumably, Mr Don Logan (for it was he), he takes you
for the sort of thick mug who can't tell the difference between a cyclist
and a referee. Meanwhile, the lovely actress Diane Keen switches off her
twitter account when she hears that Mike Dean is in charge of the window
lickers' next match and local branches of Halfords are put on red alert in
case the riots start up again.
Reading boss Brian McDermott defends his idiot winger Kebe against charges
of bad sportsmanship claiming that Collison could have ended his player's
career. Only if he had plans to appear at the National Theatre, Brian.
McDermott applauds Allardyce for not defending Collison. Shame he couldn't
display the same sort of honesty himself really. There again when you have
Madejski as chairman I expect being economical with the truth is pretty much
par for the course.
Despite scoring twice in his trial match Habib Habibou-be-do-be-doo fails to
impress the management sufficiently for a deal to be offered and he returns
to Belgium. His place is taken in the "Player to be signed by the Hammers?"
section of the papers by Ryoichi Maeda who, according to his agent, is the
hottest thing to come out of Japan since that green radioactive horseradish
stuff that stings your nose when you eat it.
The injury list gets worse as we entertain Barnsley at home. Abdoullaye Faye
pulls up lame during the pre-match warm up, prompting a debut for Daniel
Potts who, as son of kids' coach and goalscoring legend Steve, makes us all
feel simultaneously proud and bloody old at the same time. As it happens the
youngster has a fine debut at left back as Papa Bouba Diop's first goal for
the Irons gives us a 1-0 win. The manager's programme notes bemoan the lack
of discipline shown in the Reading match. We can therefore only presume that
Mr Allardyce had a strong word with himself after being banished to the
stands after complaining about a number of poor refereeing decisions. The
win, coupled with Southampton only drawing 1-1 at Pompey leaves us one point
off the top.
The club announce that, following a successful loan spell at Oxford United,
Robert Hall is to have a further month at the Kassam Stadium. 24 hours
later, the club announce that, following a successful spell at Oxford United
Robert Hall is not to have a further month at the Kassam Stadium after all.
Presumably the club's injury crisis deepened in that 24 hour period.
Birmingham City are our next opponents. A decent individual goal from Cole
following a defensive slip sees us take the lead early on. David Murphy's
handball of a goalbound Faubert header is missed by the ref, a mistake made
even more costly by the fact that the offender remains on the pitch to head
a late equaliser. The ref did spot infringements by Faubert, Nolan and
McCartney, issuing yellow cards leading to suspensions for all three in the
upcoming match at Derby.
The FA conclude their long close look at the Suarez affair and decide that
the player is guilty of using racially offensive language and give him an 8
match ban. Even by the disgracefully low standards of Liverpool FC (which
seem to match those of the city's inhabitants) the club's reaction is
breathtakingly arrogant. "How dare the FA charge anyone to do with Liverpool
with anything" is the general tone of the statement, a press release which
is almost as offensive as anything Suarez has done. After years of having
the BBC being in love with everything connected with the red half of that
city, suddenly nobody is turning a blind eye to the goings on Anfield, a
smell that gets worse as players warm up in T-shirts bearing Suarez's image
in support of the "Uruguay One".
Back in the fresh air, the calendar year (and a rotten one it was too) ends
up with another defeat as a nightmare start at Pride Park on New Year's Eve
sees us go 2-0 down within ten minutes. Frank Nouble pulls one back before
the interval but the injuries and suspensions take their toll as a third
string XI finally go down 2-1. Annoyingly, we'd have gone top with a win as
Bristol City complete their double over Southampton.
And the Jools Holland programme was crap this year too.
January
Happy New Year! The Derby defeat having temporarily evicted us from the
automatic promotion places, a win against Coventry is a must. And we get it
as all those suspended return. A cricket score is avoided as Sky Blues
'keeper Murphy saves everything bar a Kevin Nolan effort on 66 minutes. Both
Southampton (at Brighton) and Boro' (at Blackpool) go down 3-0, a series of
results that see us join Southampton on points at the top.
Of course a new year means new window and we miss out on Spurs kid Andros
Townsend who ends up at Leeds on loan. Silly bids start to come in for the
likes of James Tomkins, for whom Newcastle have stuck in a derisory offer.
Worryingly it appears that Tomkins has a new agent, often the precursor to a
move.
Jordan Rhodes at Huddersfield Town is one player we are continually linked
with, with offers of varying sizes said to be on the table from us.
Unfortunately his five goal haul in the Terriers' 6-0 demolition of Wycombe
only sees the price go up again.
Should Rhodes arrive at the Boleyn, being cup-tied will not be an issue as
we contrive to lose 1-0 at Sheffield Wednesday. A largely inexperienced XI
still miss a shedload of chances – including a penalty from Sam Baldock –
before going out to an 88th minute winner from O'Grady. Another late one
then.
The central defensive area receives a boost in personnel as our first
signing of the window is announced. George John comes in from FC Dallas
after we see off a late bid from Athletico Knots Landing. John arrives on a
loan with an option deal.
Espionage news and police arrest a third person in what nobody is referring
to "Olympicgate". Spurs continue to deny any involvement. A Spurs spokesman
says: "As we have said before when we hired people to spy on those involved
in the Olympic Stadium process we had absolutely no idea that they would spy
on those involved in the Olympic Stadium process. When we were given the
invoice for the Aston Martin DB5 with ejector seat we were assured that this
was standard equipment for those involved in spying on those involved in the
Olympic Stadium process. The fact that some of the interchangeable licence
plates turned out to be false is therefore nothing to do with us".
Freddie Piquionne is linked with a departure from the club as efforts to
secure another striker are stepped up. The Daily Mail informs the world that
the player has signed for Wolves, either for free or for a "cut-price fee"
depending on whether you believe the start or the end of the article.
Unusually for the Mail, no comment is made on the effect that the deal will
have on house prices. Unsurprisingly, the article turns out to be complete
twaddle with the player still on the books at the Boleyn.
We return to league action with an unspectacular but solid win down at
ten-man Pompey, Mark Noble netting from the spot to give us all three
points. This leaves us still level with Southampton on points at the top,
though Boro's defeat at home to Burnley gives us a slightly more important
four point cushion from third place.
Another signing arrives, though this is firmly in the "one for the future"
box. Joe Dixon comes in as a free agent having last turned out for Grays
Athletic. The former Moan Utd trainee is given a two month contract to see
if he's up to it.
Police arrest yet another man in what I will get people to call
"Olympicgate" if it kills me. Tottenham deny involvement yet again: "We
asked Dame Judi Dench for her best man. With some gadgets. That's all."
Croatian Nikica Jelevic is the next striker to appear on the transfer radar.
Although much liked at Rangers, the Scottish club's run-in with the taxman
has potentially left the Ibrox mob in financial trouble, leaving them
vulnerable to bids for their better players.
There's a spot of welcome news as James Tomkins, despite or because of (you
pays yer money...) the attentions of a new agent, signs a new contract. The
announcement is made prior to kick off in the home match against Forest. We
win 2-1 with two penalties from Mark Noble, one dodgy, one not. Forest's
goal is too late to be anything other than a consolation. The manner of the
home team's performance causes some disquiet despite the fact that the
victory sees us go clear at the top with Southampton not playing until the
following Monday.
The Forest match marks the final match in charge of media things at the club
for Greg Demetriou, who is moving on for a quieter life in a similar role at
the FA. The players mark Greg's departure by throwing him fully clothed into
an ice bath. Family commitments preclude my attendance at the post match
leaving do which, I am reliably informed, got "a bit messy". Best of luck
sir!
The weekend sees some sad news as the death of former 'keeper Ernie Gregory
is announced. Gregory, who was in his 90's, spent over 50 years at the club
as player and coach and was rated by my Dad as one of the best 'keepers he'd
ever seen at the Boleyn. And trust me my Dad knows his stuff.
Someone with whom Gregory would have been all too familiar is Harry Redknapp
whose long-awaited appearance in court on tax charges finally commences. As
expected the "Father Ted" defence ("that money was just resting in my
account")is much in evidence, though legal and tax experts are also
impressed by the use of the "Father Dougal" variation ("what's going on?
Where am I?") of that defence.
Herita Ilunga departs. Having spent most of the season so far at Doncaster
on loan, the player returns to find he is still surplus to requirements. One
of those "by mutual consent" announcements is cobbled together and his
contract, that has another 18 months or so to run, is torn up.
We get involved in talks to sign Portuguese striker Eder from Academia de
Coimbra. At least we do until he disappears. Seemingly unaware of the
tradition that you have to sign for the Irons before going missing (Boogers,
Savio etc), the player elects to go walkabout while talks are going on.
"Something didn't feel right" claimed the player. You're not kidding mate.
Next on the list seems to be Brazilian striker Ze Eduardo who is set to come
in for a medical at The Shaun Wright-Phillips Memorial Medical Centre. We
are set to become the player's sixteenth club in seven years (how is that
even possible?) until things get put on hold as talks are opened with
Bristol City's Nicky Maynard. We also stick in a bid for former Allardyce
protégé (Bolton again) Ricardo Vaz Te, which Barnsley reject as "derisory"
despite the fact that the player will be available on a free at the end of
the season.
The Jelevic deal finally dies on its feet allowing Everton to come in and
sign the player as we are linked with Moan Utd bad boy Ravel Morrison, who
is apparently both talented and wayward in equal measures.
Rather inconveniently, deadline day coincides with a visit to Portman Road.
Rather inconveniently the team choose to have their worst performance of the
season going down 5-1 with barely a whimper, never mind a fight. Collison
heads the goal that temporarily pulls us back into the game at 2-1.
The transfer window closes with three more signings completed as Maynard,
Vaz Te and Morrison are all added to the squad. Vaz Te's arrival puts a
temporary halt to Ze Eduardo' s attempt to break the record for the most
clubs played for as we withdraw our interest. Morrison immediately reminds
us of his problems by getting into a verbal spat with some idiot on twitter,
the FA asking for Morrison's comments over his use of the word "faggot" as
an insult, eventually slapping a misconduct charge on the player.
The closing of the window is a historic day for West Ham United FC as
thousands of fans gather round outside the Boleyn Ground to celebrate the
fact that, for the first time since 1895 we have gone through an entire
transfer window without once being linked with Eidur Gudjohnsen. Grown men
cry at the passing of an old established tradition, which the club shop
marks by dishing out commemorative t-shirts and mugs.
February
You will recall (if you're reading this in the correct order and don't have
some sort of memory loss problem) that back in January former Hammer's media
boss Greg Demetriou left the club to take on a similar role at the FA. If
you don't recall then you know now. Any plans that Greg may have had for a
quieter life are immediately thrown into some disarray by the English legal
system. John Terry pleads not guilty to charges over his alleged racial
abuse of Anton Ferdinand. All hopes that the issue will be dealt with
quickly are dashed, with the full hearing into the matter slated for a date
after Euro 2012. The FA elect to strip Terry of the captaincy, it not having
occurred to them previously that the loathsome excuse for a human being
ought never have been within a million miles of the job in the first place.
We're just surprised that M Lipton esq hasn't started a campaign to have a
statue erected in honour of Terry at Wembley, "like the Bobby Moore one only
bigger because Terry's England's Greatest Ever Captain". They'd save money
on the plaque of course. Whereas Bobby's statue bears a 42 word inscription,
Terry's could make do with just the word "twat".
Back on the domestic front a major police operation takes place as we face
Millwall in a lunchtime kick off. Team selection is interesting after the
Ipswich debacle, with Tomkins selected to play in a role just in front of
the back four. The idiot contingent amongst the visiting support make great
claims about walking around Plaistow unopposed, strangely forgetting to
mention that anyone who might have been interested in debating the point
with them was happily tucked up in the ground, what with the match having
kicked off fifteen minutes earlier and all.
By that time we had been reduced to ten men with following a two-footed
Nolan tackle that had the merit of going for the ball but little else going
for it. Other bad challenges – including a slow-mo thigh high kung-fu
assault on Matt Taylor bizarrely escape sanction from ref Mike Jones for
whom competence still seems to be a major problem (see Stoke last season).
Thankfully Millwall the team is every bit as useless as its support and,
with Tomkins pressed into a more formal midfield role after Nolan's
dismissal, we dominate the match taking a lead through Carlton Cole just
before the interval. Millwall somehow pull back an equaliser but we
controversially regain the lead shortly after as 'keeper Forde elects to
punch a catchable one before being clattered by Faubert, Reid volleying the
ball straight back in to the unguarded net. It's as if ref Jones had
remembered his disgraceful performance at the Britannia last season and
figured he owed us one. 2-1 to the cockney boys. I personally take all of
South East London on my own by singing "Bubbles" loudly on their manor. Ok
it was 2.30am (my journey home having been delayed by a concert and a lot of
inclement weather) and there was consequently nobody about but apparently
that counts.
Next we go back to Southwark Crown Court where, despite admitting to have
opened an offshore bank account in the name of his dog, and, somehow, having
forgotten to inform his accountant of said account, Henry Redknapp is
acquitted of both charges facing him. As a qualified tax specialist,
professional ethics prevent me from commenting further but let's just say
that perhaps the prosecution didn't make the best of what they had.
Meanwhile our old mate Greg Demetriou has barely had time to find out where
the digestives are kept at Wembley before there is more fallout from the
ditching of Terry as skipper. Manager Capello is quoted in interviews with
the Italian media as being unhappy that the FA have gone over his head. A
meeting to discuss the matter at Wembley ends up with the Italian resigning.
Absolutely nobody is upset. Unsurprisingly, Redknapp's media pals install
him as England manager elect, conveniently ignoring the fact that his record
over the years isn't that impressive. Still he's English and that's all that
seems to matter apparently.
Our next match at Peterborough falls foul to the weather with temperatures
hitting -15 overnight at London Road, an old fashioned ground without
undersoil heating. Southampton take advantage of our inactivity to reduce
the deficit at the top to one point.
Elsewhere and just when you think Liverpool couldn't act more disgracefully,
they do. Suarez, in his second match back from his 8 match ban for doing
nothing (according to his employers) or racially abusing Evra (according to
everyone else), stokes up ill-feeling by refusing to shake Evra's hand in
the (admittedly ludicrous) pre-match handshake thing. There are scuffles in
the tunnel at half time and full time as the whining Mancs beat the
self-pitying Scousers 2-1. Dalglish is predictably disgraceful in his post
match comments: "you are bang out of order to blame Suarez for anything that
happened today" the moaning Scot claims as he metamorphoses into a sort of
Caledonian Neil Warnock. As usual Scouse supporters go into truth denial
overdrive claiming that it was Evra who had refused the handshake despite
the fact that it so very obviously wasn't. This line of argument is quietly
dropped as Suarez admits that he's in the wrong and apologises for his
actions, though the sincerity of both his and Dalglish's apologies is highly
questionable, coming as they do after instructions from the club's American
holding company who know a good PR disaster when they see one.
Back in the fresh air again we take on Southampton at the Boleyn in a top of
the table clash. Unfortunately Southampton can count on a fully fit and
incompetent Lee Probert who has a disgraceful 90 minutes. Probert
inexplicably ignores two blatant handballs before finally awarding a penalty
for a trip on Noble. Billy Sharp loses all goodwill by clutching his face as
Taylor shoves him in the chest to give the midfielder a red card Sharp's
similar push on Noble goes unpunished as Probert goes into a one man attempt
to rewrite the record books for most inept refereeing performance. Noble
finally puts the penalty away to give us the lead. Southampton 'keeper
Davies then handles outside the box flattening Cole in a "Shumacher on
Battiston" style challenge that Probert decides is perfectly legal.
Southampton finally equalise from Hooiveld with fifteen minutes left despite
an obvious foul in the build up. All in all a good point to get given the
disgraceful refereeing involved – which, I am duty bound to remind you, we
must respect.
In a quiet few days for the Hammers, Carlos Tevez returns to the Man City
training camp to find everyone else has the day off. "Mancini treated me
like a dog" claims Tevez. Mancini denies that was the case saying "we get
the club doctor to do that operation on all our players".
The London Borough of Harringay and the Greater London Authority announce a
package worth £27m to spruce up riot-torn Tottenham. The package includes a
whole raft of infrastructrure improvements linked to the Tottenham stadium
redevelopment project. Meanwhile, in a totally unconnected announcement it
is quietly announced that Tottenham's legal obligation to cough up something
like £16m towards a whole raft of infrastructure projects linked to the
Tottenham stadium redevelopment project has been removed. In effect at least
£16m of taxpayers' money has been handed to Spurs. Suddenly the European
Commission finds itself having to deal with dozens of complaints regarding
illegal state aid, most of which seem entirely more justified than the
anonymous one posted by someone called Steve Lawrence at the time of the
original Olympic deal.
North of the border, Rangers take over from Hearts as the nation's basket
case. With a possible £75m owing to the taxman, the club enters
administration. It is a measure of the paucity of competition up north that,
despite the ten point deduction that comes with such financial shenanigans,
they are still streets clear of the third-placed club.
Also in financial bother, again, are Pompey, whose owners had gone into
administration a few months previously. Vladimir Antonov, the club's
ultimate owner appears in court on a European arrest warrant as the
Lithuanian authorities indicate that they'd like a quiet word about the
millions missing from one or two of their banks. Fans ask the Football
League how on earth Antonov had passed their "fit & proper" test. "He lied"
comes the answer. "He told us he was rich and it turned out that he was just
a great big fibber". Some good comes out of the whole affair though. The
Football League announce changes to their "fit & proper" test. "In future
we'll check their hands so that when they tell us they are rich they won't
be able to cross their fingers".
Portsmouth eventually enter administration themselves prompting a ten point
penalty and worries over their ability to complete their fixtures, something
that could end up costing us six points.
Following the opening fixture of the season when Cardiff supporters were
asked to pick up their tickets at an M25 service area, ticket details for
the return fixture are announced. A series of clues are to be left at
strategic points on the route between London and Wales, each clue being
written by the person responsible for the clues on 1980's gameshow "3-2-1".
Those that successfully complete the challenge will be given tickets. Those
that don't will be getting a radio controlled dustbin with a stupid grin
painted on its face. "We tried this successfully earlier with Millwall
(pronounced Michwach)" a South Wales Police spokesman told us. "No
supporters got to the ground – they found the "if tickets ye seek, to
Cardiff West Services ye should wend" clue a bit too challenging, though the
dustbins are now on three-year contracts at the Den. We'll have to make the
clues a bit harder than that for West Ham supporters though or you'll go
straight there. Er, I probably shouldn't have told you that" he helpfully
adds.
Boxing news, and there is uproar in Germany at a press conference when Derek
Chisora, fresh from becoming the latest bit of cannon fodder for one of
those Ukranian brothers whose names I can't be bothered to check the
spelling of, gets into a bit of a ruccus with Millwall-supporter David Haye.
The spat starts of in verbal form but spills over into actual violence as
Chisora climbs down from the platform to continue the debate. Chisora is
later arrested by the Deutscher Bundesplod at the airport but is later
released without charge. Haye sneaks out of the country before Das Alter
Wilhelm (as I expect the locals call their constabulary) can catch up with
him. Meanwhile boxing fans are left scratching their collective heads
wondering why neither Chisora nor Hay could be bothered to show that much
fight in their respective fights with those Ukranian brothers whose names I
can't be bothered to check the spelling of.
The weekend sees us clicking our heels as Southampton go top beating Derby
4-0 at home. Blackpool, who should have been our own opponents for the day,
are otherwise occupied with being knocked out of the cup by Everton. The
rearranged match takes place on the Tuesday with a win needed to return to
top slot. Even by West Ham standards the match is a bit bonkers in the nut.
We race into a deserved 2-0 lead through midfield maestro Tomkins and
Maynard who scores on his first start. Holloway rearranges things after half
an hour and sub Kevin Phillips pulls one back on the stroke of half time. In
the second half Rob Green becomes the third Hammer in as many matches to see
a red card, after upending Bednar outside the box. With no sub 'keeper on
the truncated bench, Lansbury becomes the second loan signing from Arsenal
of the season to take his place in goal, his previous goalkeeping experience
having come in England U21 colours under similar circumstances. Lansbury is
barely bothered and keeps a clean sheet as we score another two through
O'Neil and Vaz Te to take the match 4-1, a result that takes us back to the
top by a point with a game in hand over Southampton.
On the international front John Terry announces that he'll be out for six
weeks with a knee injury thus saving England caretaker boss Stuart Pearce
the cost of a "you're dropped" text massage and also sparing the rest of the
squad the embarrassment of having to be in the same room as such low life.
We return to action against Crystal Palace with a team unchanged from that
which won at Blackpool. The exertions of playing three in a row with ten men
are all too obvious in the first half. A few changes in the second half sees
things improve but although we seem the more likely to score in the second
period the match finishes goalless. According to the Sun newspaper the
players leave to a "deafening chorus of boos". This, not to put too fine a
point on it, is a lie. Southampton's 3-0 win at Watford, which features yet
another dive to win a penalty, takes them back to the top by one point,
though we still have a game in hand.
England – who feature Rob Green safely on the bench -lose the first match of
the post-Capello era 3-2 to the Netherlands, despite clawing back a 2-0
deficit with moments to spare. Caretaker manager Stuart Pearce rules himself
out of contention for the role on a full time basis amidst rumours that the
not-so-cordial history between Sir Trevor Brooking and Henry Redknapp might
count against the latter in the race to get the full-time job. That and the
fact that Redknapp isn't much of a coach presumably.
So there you go. Second in the league with two months of the season left. A
few wins in March and we could be up by the end of the month. No
worries.....
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Jussi Jaaskelainen set to leave Bolton Wanderers
BBC.co.uk
Jussi Jaaskelainen is set to end his 15-year stay at Bolton Wanderers. BBC
Radio Manchester has learned the veteran goalkeeper is set to reject an
offer to remain with the Trotters, for whom he has played 529 games. Adam
Bogdan was preferred to Jaaskelainen for the second half of last season, the
Finn's last appearance coming against Wolves on 31 December. West Ham,
managed by former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce, have been strongly linked with
a move for the 37-year-old.
Finland international Jaaskelainen moved to England from VPS Vaasa in 1997
and, following Bolton's promotion to the top flight in 2001, became one of
the most highly-rated goalkeepers in the Premier League. Bolton allowed 15
players to leave following their relegation from the Premier League earlier
this month.
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Are the Hammers Weighing Up a Bid for Ba?
West Ham Till I Die
By S J Chandos About 8 hours ago
West Ham are allegedly weighing up a bid for Senegal International Ba.
That's centre-back Abdoulaye Ba, not a certain Newcastle Utd striker of the
same surname and nationality!
Abdoulaye Ba is a 21 year old international defender, who is contracted to
Porto, but has earnt extremely good reviews for his performances, last
season, while on loan to Academica. A deal is possible with Porto, but the
big 'fly in the ointment' is a question mark over whether he can secure a UK
work permit. We will have to see whether the club can circumvent that
particular obstacle, because by all accounts he looks to be is a very
promising player.
Talking of promising players, West Ham have also been linked with a £5m move
for Fulham goal keeper, David Stockdale. Obviously, Rob Green has yet to
make a final decision on the new contract currently on the table. But
reports suggest that QPR are ready to give Green a 3 year contract, worth
£50,000 a week. If so, then it is not likely that West Ham will match those
terms. That means securing a new keeper sudden becomes a higher priority. We
already have Henderson of course, who is a very good prospect and could very
well take his first team chance next season. There is a strong possibility
that a certain Finnish veteran international keeper, who has just rejected a
new contract at Bolton, could soon arrive at Upton Park on a free transfer.
If that is the case then would the club commit £5m of the transfer kitty on
acquiring Stockdale?
I have no objections, in principle, to securing David Stockdale's services,
but I think I would prefer to keep Green (if at all possible), bring in
Jussi Jaaskelainen and get them to fight it out with Henderson for the goal
keeper's jersey. That combination would give us the strongest stable of
keepers that we have had for many a year and keep all three on their toes,
performance wise. Whether it happens is another matter? I am certainly
looking forward to seeing Henderson in action, as he has a reputation as a
outstanding young keeper. Is he ready for next season? He probably needs to
start as No.2 and get the opportunity to ease himself in to PL football
during the course of the season.
A brace of players that I would like to acquire are Nathan Clyne and Wilfred
Zaha from Crystal Palace. There is a rumour that a West Ham bid for Zaha has
been submitted and is awaiting a decision by Palace. While Clyne is at the
end of his contract and is able to move in the summer on a Bosman. Man Utd
are reported to be in poll position position to snap him up and that is the
move that the player allegedly wants. However, if he were available, and we
cold entice him to Upton Park, then the Clyne-Zaha combination would
significantly augment the options on our right flank. On the left, I would
be minded to go with McCartney and Potts at left-back, but if a
reinforcement is required the outstanding candidate is probably Olsson at
Blackburn Rovers. Olsson is a very good left-back, with pace and the ability
to get up and down the flanks. Unfortunately, Chelski are also reported to
be running the rule over him. We are supposedly considing a move for
left-back come left-winger, Kieran Richardson at Sunderland. He is not a
player that I particularly fancy bringing to the club, Although I recognise
that Richardson does have a certain utility value, being able to play right
along the left flank. For me, the outstandng young left-winger up for grabs
is Matt Jarvis at Wolves. Wolves apparently want £8m for his signature, but
£5-6m should be enough to clinch a deal.
Another player reportedly available this summer is another Olsson, this time
Jonas at WBA. Jonas Olsson is a strong centre-back, who can also play at
left-back. He would provide good competition for Tomkins and Reid and also
cover at left full-back. However, for me, the 'stand out' centre-half
currently up for grabs is Roger Johnson at Wolves. It has been suggested in
some quarters that West Ham might move for Scott Dann at Blackburn Rovers,
but personally out of the two I would prefer to sign Johnson.
Elsewhere, it is still unclear where Junior Hollett is headed? Rumour has it
that either Arsenal or Spurs are favourites to secure his signature, but if
Sam Allardyce could pull off a deal for his former young charge at
Blackburn, then it would be a real coup. In midfield, I have not given up on
securing Henri Lansbury for next season, either via a permanent transfer or
a further season long loan. Overall, Lansbury did a good job for us in the
last campaign, but injury disrupted his progress, and I think that he would
have a major role to play in our forthcoming PL campaign. An alternative
option could be signing Andy King at Leicester City, who is more than
capable of stepping up to the PL. However, the midfield position that does
concern me is the lack of a good, experienced defensive anchor man. Whilst
O'Brien, O'Neill or Noble could do a good job there, I would still like to
see us bring in a dominating, defensve midfielder, in the mould of the
recently released Diop.
It looks very much as if we have missed the boat with Jay Rodriguez, which
is something that we may come to regret. Southampton are reported to have
had a c.£7m bid accepted and a deal is imminent, subject to the player
agreeing personal terms with the Saints. So, we must look elsewhere to
bolster our strikeforce. In Cole-Vaz Te-Maynard we have reasonable quality
up front. In addtion, we also have Hall and Baldock, who look likely to
start the season out on loan. Certainly, Robert Hall needs to spend the
period up to Christmas on loan at a decent Championship club. This would
facilitate sharpening up his finishing in preparation for more anticipated
first team game team..The speculation is that Baldock is due to go out on
loan to Ipswich Town, although it is also possible that West Ham might cash
in on him if the money on offer is sufficient.
The move for Yakubu could be a good one if the player continues in the same
vein as last season. He resolved his outstanding fitness issues and
rediscovered his goal scoring form. Yakubu would provide good competition
for Cole and potentially combine well with either Vaz Te or Maynard. Of
course, one hopes that our bid for Bas Dost is successful, but if not Yakubu
could do a job. Another striker up for grabs this summer is Berbatov, who is
due to exit Manchester Utd. The Bulgarian International is a player I would
love to see at Upton Park, he is just the type of striker that would inject
that crucial bit of extra class in to our forward line. Whether we could
secure his services is another matter. It would certainly be a statement of
the club's ambition if we could land a striker of his status and ability.
But as always, the bottom line is the transfer and wage budgets available,
that inevitably must limit our ambition in acquiring players!
Finally, where is Sam Allardyce's 'wild card' acquisition likely to come
from? Allardyce has a reputation for attracting good quality foreign
players, some of them top players entering the veteran stage of their
careers. Is it beyond the bounds of possibility that there might be one or
two of those type of deals in the pipeline? There could well be!
SJ. Chandos.
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West Ham eye move for centre back Ba but hold worries over work permit
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 21:33 GMT, 31 May 2012 | UPDATED: 21:33 GMT, 31 May 2012
Daily Mail
West Ham are keen on Senegal defender Abdoulaye Ba. The centre back, 21, is
on loan from Porto at Portuguese side Academica and is earning rave reviews.
West Ham scouts watched him but worry he may not qualify for a work permit.
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Hearn: Ground-share with West Ham would mean sale of Brisbane Road could be
invested in the club
London 24
Tom Moore
Thursday, May 31, 2012
5:11 PM
Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn has revealed that the assets of selling
their ground would go into the team if they were to ground-share the Olympic
Stadium with rivals West Ham. The club are looking into the move after it
was revealed that seating could be used to cover the athletics track. "As
far as I see it, Leyton Orient have three options," Hearn said. "We have
some considerable assets at Brisbane Road, so if we were to move into the
Olympic Stadium then the money raised from Brisbane Road will be invested
into the team and hopefully help the club rise through the leagues. "I am of
the belief that if West Ham move in then in the medium term we will go out
of business or drop down the divisions – neither of which I want to see
happen. "Another alternative is we look at a site outside Leyton but with
the economy as it is that may not be viable. "We have time to agree
whichever one of those three options."
Hearn had been strongly opposed to the Hammers occupying the Olympic Stadium
outright and insisted that a move to within walking distance of Orient's
Brisbane Road ground would kill his club. The chairman had also claimed that
the stadium was "not fit for football" but has explained why he has had a
change of heart. "We've come to the understanding that West Ham are
insisting that the stadium has seats fitted over the athletics track," Hearn
added. "When London was named as the Olympic venue in 2005 we were the
preferred tenant after the games for a 25,000 seater stadium and we would
not open the top tiers but then the design revealed that the athletics track
would make it unfit for football. "We will never ever play in a ground with
an athletics track in front of the supporters. "We are hearing that West Ham
agree that the track needs to be removed, which is why we are interested in
the proposal. "The two clubs play their home games on alternate weekends
meaning it will have constant use."
West Ham have not yet been awarded the Olympic Stadium, although they are
the favourites to take over the Stratford site and Hearn explained how the
ground-share would work. "It would not be a relationship between Leyton
Orient and West Ham," Hearn added. "We would be tenants in our own right but
we will share the ground. "We would not pay to make the ground fit for
football. "The stadium cost around £600 million to build in the first place.
"We are in phase three of the bidding process and this is the legacy
company's problem."
The move however could be scuppered and sources at West Ham have suggested
that a ground-share would not be welcomed by the Hammers. The Leyton Orient
Fans Trust also want to ascertain what the club's plans are for the stadium
and remain adamant that the site is not fit for football use. Hearn has
moved to ease the concerns of supporters who are unhappy at a proposed move.
"We will certainly consult our supporters," the chairman insisted. "We would
never move without consulting them. "There is no point in going into
consultations at this stage in the process as the full facts are not
revealed yet and we do not know if the stadium will be fit for football. "We
will take time to agree on what's best for the club."
A final decision on who takes hold of the Olympic Stadium is expected in
October, after the 30th Olympiad. Other bidders include Essex County Cricket
Club in a joint venture with the University of East London. West Ham were
initially awarded the venue last year but the deal fell through following an
anonymous complaint to the European Union. Spurs and Orient, who were
challenging the decision, deny they made the complaint.
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Bolton keeper in line to replace West Ham United and England player
Guardian Series
12:21pm Thursday 31st May 2012 in News
Jussi Jaaskelainen is thought to be heading for West Ham United: Action
Images Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen has been linked with a move to
West Ham United after turning down a new deal. Hammers keeper Robert Green
is out of contract this summer and is expected to leave with Malaga thought
to be favourites to sign him. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce will need to bring
in a replacement, should Green depart, and Jaaskelainen is thought to be in
pole position to move to Upton Park.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid has been voted New Zealand Men's Player of the Year and
Player's Player of the Year
31.05.2012
Winston Reid ended a memorable May by completing a personal hat-trick of
awards. The West Ham United defender added to his npower Championship
Play-Off winner's medal by collecting the Nike Men's Player of the Year and
NZPFA Player's Player of the Year trophies at the 2011 New Zealand Football
awards. Just eleven days after helping the Hammers to defeat Blackpool at
Wembley, Reid was presented with the two gongs at a dinner held at Sky City
Hamilton on Wednesday evening. The 23-year-old, who was ruled out of the All
Whites' quest to defend their OFC Nations Cup title next month with a groin
injury, was voted Player of the Year by his peers in the New Zealand
football community and was picked by his team-mates to win the
Players'Player award. Reid has earned ten senior caps for New Zealand since
making his debut against Australia in May 2010. The centre-back excelled for
the All Whites at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, scoring the
equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Slovakia as the Kiwis drew all three
group-stage matches to end the tournament unbeaten. This past season, the
Auckland-born player totalled 33 appearances in all competitions for the
Hammers, scoring three goals including a sensational winner against Millwall
in February.
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TC feeling positive
WHUFC.com
Tony Cottee thinks West Ham United's squad just needs some fine tuning over
the summer months
31.05.2012
Tony Cottee believes West Ham United already have the strong nucleus of a
squad as they prepare for life back in the Premier League. While the Hammers
may have set a new club record for most away wins in a season, Cottee knows
that tougher times may lie ahead next season. The former Englnd
international striker thinks that the majority of the Hammers squad last
season can cut mustard in the Premier League, but they will need additional
support to provide much needed strength-in-depth. "We have to build a squad.
With the demands of the Premier League you need two teams basically, with a
squad of 24-25 players that can play in the top league," he told West Ham
TV. "Sam [Allardyce] and Macca [Neil McDonald] have to sit down and have a
good think about who to keep and who to let go.
"The squad could shrink to 17 or 18 and its then it is up to Big Sam to
bolster the squad to about 24 players. We could do some with some back up in
defence and possibly another goalscorer."
Regardless of departures and arrivals, the former Hammer of the Year and
star of the legendary 1986 side that finished third in the league believes
everyone involved in the 2011/12 season can look back at their achievements
with pride. Cottee is hopeful that they can continue the same kind of
hard-to-beat mentality in the face of the greater challenges in the Premier
League. "The object was to get promotion and ultimately it doesn't matter
how we did it as long as we did. It's a long old slog 46 games and you can't
expect any team or player to play well in every single game so I expected
the dip and unfortunately the dip we had cost us automatic promotion.
"There's always room for improvement but I would rank the season as an eight
out of ten. We broke the away record for the club and put in some
magnificent performances. In general I thought it was a good season and the
task set for Big Sam and Macca was promotion and they did it."
Crucial to survival in the top league will be the continued form of last
season's key players. For Cottee, two of his fellow Academy graduate in
particular stood out.
"Mark Noble won the Hammer of the Year and has done really, really well. But
for me my Hammer of the Year was James Tomkins. I think it was very close
between them and I'm really pleased Mark won it but James was outstanding
last season. "Tonks was our Man of the Match at Wembley and should push on
next season into a top, top defender."
The 2011/12 season threw up plenty of dramatic moments, the most notable of
which was, of course, the last-gasp win against Blackpool in the Play-Off
final. But Cottee also has fond memories of another superb Ricardo Vaz
Te-inspired victory that will also live long in the memory of Hammers fans.
"Sitting in a bar in Dubai and watching the Hammers beat Brighton 6-0 was a
great highlight for me I must admit - I did enjoy that one! Some of the away
performances were great too as were the Play-Off semi-final games. The one
at home to Cardiff had such a fantastic atmosphere and the crowd were really
driving the boys on."
Cottee was able to take in the day of the final as a fan alongside his
children and like many other families, the day out in Wemlbey provided some
unforgettable memories for the Cottee clan. "It was fantastic; I had a
wonderful day and it has been a long time coming. I was at Wembley 31 years
ago when we played Liverpool and for Arsenal the year before in the FA Cup
final. "I couldn't sleep the whole week I was too excited; I've got twin
boys at 14 who I've brainwashed into being West Ham fans. From the moment we
got the train to Wembley and walked up Wembley Way it was a fantastic day
and to top it off we won the game. "It's a day I will long remember and even
if we don't play at Wembley again the boys have got those memories. "It was
great to see half of Wembley covered in claret and blue. We played in the
final and I always said it would be fantastic for the fans to have the day
out at Wembley and the fact that we won it made it a perfect day."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
That Was The Season That Was 2011/2012 - Part Three
KUMB,com
Filed: Thursday, 31st May 2012
By: Gordon Thrower
It's been dry warm & sunny over the last few days so, quite naturally,
Gordon Thrower's thoughts have been on Christmas and New Year as he wades
through the latest part of his look back at the season just ended. At this
rate he'll be lucky to finish by the time the next one starts!....
December
The month starts with us falling back to earth with a bump on the Saturday
as a team that looks as if it's played three games in five days somehow
contrives to lose 2-1 at home to Burnley, despite hitting the woodwork more
times than one would have thought possible. Southampton also manage to lose
at Doncaster so no harm done.
There's a welcome sight as Henri Lansbury and, more heart-warmingly Gary
O'Neil both get runouts in the Development squad's 3-0 win over Brentford.
Two goals come from a mystery trialist with the improbable name of Habib
Habibou, who, along with Papa Bouba Diop would add to the list of Cleo Laine
songs to be sung in E13.
One player definitely on his way in is 17 year-old Borehamwood midfielder
and oxymoron Pelly Ruddock. He is so highly rated that he bypasses the youth
team and goes straight into the Development Squad set up. Meanwhile we all
start looking for players with similar names – with Cruyff Quinn,
Beckenbauer Radford and Frank Lampard all looming on the horizon.
Disaster strikes as we travel to Reading. Guy Demel pulls up lame with what
looks like a torn thigh muscle after less than 90 seconds. His replacement
Joey O'Brien somehow contrives to pick up two yellow cards whilst Jack
Collison picks up a straight red for a girly push on Kebe following a rather
childish bit of mickey taking in which the Reading winger mimes pulling his
socks up. We lose 3-0 as Southampton scramble an unconvincing point in the
93rd minute of their match, drawing 2-2 at home against Blackpool.
Spurs fans cement their reputation as the Premiership's thickest by
bombarding cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy with abusive tweets (as I believe
they are called) over his refereeing performance in their 2-1 defeat at
Stoke. When the multi-medal winning Olympian helpfully points out that it
might be (admittedly poor) Premiership ref Chris FOY they are after, the
special needs ones remain defiant: "@chrishoy now denying that he's even a
ref. What kind of mugs does he take us for?" tweets one particularly
intelligent specimen. Presumably, Mr Don Logan (for it was he), he takes you
for the sort of thick mug who can't tell the difference between a cyclist
and a referee. Meanwhile, the lovely actress Diane Keen switches off her
twitter account when she hears that Mike Dean is in charge of the window
lickers' next match and local branches of Halfords are put on red alert in
case the riots start up again.
Reading boss Brian McDermott defends his idiot winger Kebe against charges
of bad sportsmanship claiming that Collison could have ended his player's
career. Only if he had plans to appear at the National Theatre, Brian.
McDermott applauds Allardyce for not defending Collison. Shame he couldn't
display the same sort of honesty himself really. There again when you have
Madejski as chairman I expect being economical with the truth is pretty much
par for the course.
Despite scoring twice in his trial match Habib Habibou-be-do-be-doo fails to
impress the management sufficiently for a deal to be offered and he returns
to Belgium. His place is taken in the "Player to be signed by the Hammers?"
section of the papers by Ryoichi Maeda who, according to his agent, is the
hottest thing to come out of Japan since that green radioactive horseradish
stuff that stings your nose when you eat it.
The injury list gets worse as we entertain Barnsley at home. Abdoullaye Faye
pulls up lame during the pre-match warm up, prompting a debut for Daniel
Potts who, as son of kids' coach and goalscoring legend Steve, makes us all
feel simultaneously proud and bloody old at the same time. As it happens the
youngster has a fine debut at left back as Papa Bouba Diop's first goal for
the Irons gives us a 1-0 win. The manager's programme notes bemoan the lack
of discipline shown in the Reading match. We can therefore only presume that
Mr Allardyce had a strong word with himself after being banished to the
stands after complaining about a number of poor refereeing decisions. The
win, coupled with Southampton only drawing 1-1 at Pompey leaves us one point
off the top.
The club announce that, following a successful loan spell at Oxford United,
Robert Hall is to have a further month at the Kassam Stadium. 24 hours
later, the club announce that, following a successful spell at Oxford United
Robert Hall is not to have a further month at the Kassam Stadium after all.
Presumably the club's injury crisis deepened in that 24 hour period.
Birmingham City are our next opponents. A decent individual goal from Cole
following a defensive slip sees us take the lead early on. David Murphy's
handball of a goalbound Faubert header is missed by the ref, a mistake made
even more costly by the fact that the offender remains on the pitch to head
a late equaliser. The ref did spot infringements by Faubert, Nolan and
McCartney, issuing yellow cards leading to suspensions for all three in the
upcoming match at Derby.
The FA conclude their long close look at the Suarez affair and decide that
the player is guilty of using racially offensive language and give him an 8
match ban. Even by the disgracefully low standards of Liverpool FC (which
seem to match those of the city's inhabitants) the club's reaction is
breathtakingly arrogant. "How dare the FA charge anyone to do with Liverpool
with anything" is the general tone of the statement, a press release which
is almost as offensive as anything Suarez has done. After years of having
the BBC being in love with everything connected with the red half of that
city, suddenly nobody is turning a blind eye to the goings on Anfield, a
smell that gets worse as players warm up in T-shirts bearing Suarez's image
in support of the "Uruguay One".
Back in the fresh air, the calendar year (and a rotten one it was too) ends
up with another defeat as a nightmare start at Pride Park on New Year's Eve
sees us go 2-0 down within ten minutes. Frank Nouble pulls one back before
the interval but the injuries and suspensions take their toll as a third
string XI finally go down 2-1. Annoyingly, we'd have gone top with a win as
Bristol City complete their double over Southampton.
And the Jools Holland programme was crap this year too.
January
Happy New Year! The Derby defeat having temporarily evicted us from the
automatic promotion places, a win against Coventry is a must. And we get it
as all those suspended return. A cricket score is avoided as Sky Blues
'keeper Murphy saves everything bar a Kevin Nolan effort on 66 minutes. Both
Southampton (at Brighton) and Boro' (at Blackpool) go down 3-0, a series of
results that see us join Southampton on points at the top.
Of course a new year means new window and we miss out on Spurs kid Andros
Townsend who ends up at Leeds on loan. Silly bids start to come in for the
likes of James Tomkins, for whom Newcastle have stuck in a derisory offer.
Worryingly it appears that Tomkins has a new agent, often the precursor to a
move.
Jordan Rhodes at Huddersfield Town is one player we are continually linked
with, with offers of varying sizes said to be on the table from us.
Unfortunately his five goal haul in the Terriers' 6-0 demolition of Wycombe
only sees the price go up again.
Should Rhodes arrive at the Boleyn, being cup-tied will not be an issue as
we contrive to lose 1-0 at Sheffield Wednesday. A largely inexperienced XI
still miss a shedload of chances – including a penalty from Sam Baldock –
before going out to an 88th minute winner from O'Grady. Another late one
then.
The central defensive area receives a boost in personnel as our first
signing of the window is announced. George John comes in from FC Dallas
after we see off a late bid from Athletico Knots Landing. John arrives on a
loan with an option deal.
Espionage news and police arrest a third person in what nobody is referring
to "Olympicgate". Spurs continue to deny any involvement. A Spurs spokesman
says: "As we have said before when we hired people to spy on those involved
in the Olympic Stadium process we had absolutely no idea that they would spy
on those involved in the Olympic Stadium process. When we were given the
invoice for the Aston Martin DB5 with ejector seat we were assured that this
was standard equipment for those involved in spying on those involved in the
Olympic Stadium process. The fact that some of the interchangeable licence
plates turned out to be false is therefore nothing to do with us".
Freddie Piquionne is linked with a departure from the club as efforts to
secure another striker are stepped up. The Daily Mail informs the world that
the player has signed for Wolves, either for free or for a "cut-price fee"
depending on whether you believe the start or the end of the article.
Unusually for the Mail, no comment is made on the effect that the deal will
have on house prices. Unsurprisingly, the article turns out to be complete
twaddle with the player still on the books at the Boleyn.
We return to league action with an unspectacular but solid win down at
ten-man Pompey, Mark Noble netting from the spot to give us all three
points. This leaves us still level with Southampton on points at the top,
though Boro's defeat at home to Burnley gives us a slightly more important
four point cushion from third place.
Another signing arrives, though this is firmly in the "one for the future"
box. Joe Dixon comes in as a free agent having last turned out for Grays
Athletic. The former Moan Utd trainee is given a two month contract to see
if he's up to it.
Police arrest yet another man in what I will get people to call
"Olympicgate" if it kills me. Tottenham deny involvement yet again: "We
asked Dame Judi Dench for her best man. With some gadgets. That's all."
Croatian Nikica Jelevic is the next striker to appear on the transfer radar.
Although much liked at Rangers, the Scottish club's run-in with the taxman
has potentially left the Ibrox mob in financial trouble, leaving them
vulnerable to bids for their better players.
There's a spot of welcome news as James Tomkins, despite or because of (you
pays yer money...) the attentions of a new agent, signs a new contract. The
announcement is made prior to kick off in the home match against Forest. We
win 2-1 with two penalties from Mark Noble, one dodgy, one not. Forest's
goal is too late to be anything other than a consolation. The manner of the
home team's performance causes some disquiet despite the fact that the
victory sees us go clear at the top with Southampton not playing until the
following Monday.
The Forest match marks the final match in charge of media things at the club
for Greg Demetriou, who is moving on for a quieter life in a similar role at
the FA. The players mark Greg's departure by throwing him fully clothed into
an ice bath. Family commitments preclude my attendance at the post match
leaving do which, I am reliably informed, got "a bit messy". Best of luck
sir!
The weekend sees some sad news as the death of former 'keeper Ernie Gregory
is announced. Gregory, who was in his 90's, spent over 50 years at the club
as player and coach and was rated by my Dad as one of the best 'keepers he'd
ever seen at the Boleyn. And trust me my Dad knows his stuff.
Someone with whom Gregory would have been all too familiar is Harry Redknapp
whose long-awaited appearance in court on tax charges finally commences. As
expected the "Father Ted" defence ("that money was just resting in my
account")is much in evidence, though legal and tax experts are also
impressed by the use of the "Father Dougal" variation ("what's going on?
Where am I?") of that defence.
Herita Ilunga departs. Having spent most of the season so far at Doncaster
on loan, the player returns to find he is still surplus to requirements. One
of those "by mutual consent" announcements is cobbled together and his
contract, that has another 18 months or so to run, is torn up.
We get involved in talks to sign Portuguese striker Eder from Academia de
Coimbra. At least we do until he disappears. Seemingly unaware of the
tradition that you have to sign for the Irons before going missing (Boogers,
Savio etc), the player elects to go walkabout while talks are going on.
"Something didn't feel right" claimed the player. You're not kidding mate.
Next on the list seems to be Brazilian striker Ze Eduardo who is set to come
in for a medical at The Shaun Wright-Phillips Memorial Medical Centre. We
are set to become the player's sixteenth club in seven years (how is that
even possible?) until things get put on hold as talks are opened with
Bristol City's Nicky Maynard. We also stick in a bid for former Allardyce
protégé (Bolton again) Ricardo Vaz Te, which Barnsley reject as "derisory"
despite the fact that the player will be available on a free at the end of
the season.
The Jelevic deal finally dies on its feet allowing Everton to come in and
sign the player as we are linked with Moan Utd bad boy Ravel Morrison, who
is apparently both talented and wayward in equal measures.
Rather inconveniently, deadline day coincides with a visit to Portman Road.
Rather inconveniently the team choose to have their worst performance of the
season going down 5-1 with barely a whimper, never mind a fight. Collison
heads the goal that temporarily pulls us back into the game at 2-1.
The transfer window closes with three more signings completed as Maynard,
Vaz Te and Morrison are all added to the squad. Vaz Te's arrival puts a
temporary halt to Ze Eduardo' s attempt to break the record for the most
clubs played for as we withdraw our interest. Morrison immediately reminds
us of his problems by getting into a verbal spat with some idiot on twitter,
the FA asking for Morrison's comments over his use of the word "faggot" as
an insult, eventually slapping a misconduct charge on the player.
The closing of the window is a historic day for West Ham United FC as
thousands of fans gather round outside the Boleyn Ground to celebrate the
fact that, for the first time since 1895 we have gone through an entire
transfer window without once being linked with Eidur Gudjohnsen. Grown men
cry at the passing of an old established tradition, which the club shop
marks by dishing out commemorative t-shirts and mugs.
February
You will recall (if you're reading this in the correct order and don't have
some sort of memory loss problem) that back in January former Hammer's media
boss Greg Demetriou left the club to take on a similar role at the FA. If
you don't recall then you know now. Any plans that Greg may have had for a
quieter life are immediately thrown into some disarray by the English legal
system. John Terry pleads not guilty to charges over his alleged racial
abuse of Anton Ferdinand. All hopes that the issue will be dealt with
quickly are dashed, with the full hearing into the matter slated for a date
after Euro 2012. The FA elect to strip Terry of the captaincy, it not having
occurred to them previously that the loathsome excuse for a human being
ought never have been within a million miles of the job in the first place.
We're just surprised that M Lipton esq hasn't started a campaign to have a
statue erected in honour of Terry at Wembley, "like the Bobby Moore one only
bigger because Terry's England's Greatest Ever Captain". They'd save money
on the plaque of course. Whereas Bobby's statue bears a 42 word inscription,
Terry's could make do with just the word "twat".
Back on the domestic front a major police operation takes place as we face
Millwall in a lunchtime kick off. Team selection is interesting after the
Ipswich debacle, with Tomkins selected to play in a role just in front of
the back four. The idiot contingent amongst the visiting support make great
claims about walking around Plaistow unopposed, strangely forgetting to
mention that anyone who might have been interested in debating the point
with them was happily tucked up in the ground, what with the match having
kicked off fifteen minutes earlier and all.
By that time we had been reduced to ten men with following a two-footed
Nolan tackle that had the merit of going for the ball but little else going
for it. Other bad challenges – including a slow-mo thigh high kung-fu
assault on Matt Taylor bizarrely escape sanction from ref Mike Jones for
whom competence still seems to be a major problem (see Stoke last season).
Thankfully Millwall the team is every bit as useless as its support and,
with Tomkins pressed into a more formal midfield role after Nolan's
dismissal, we dominate the match taking a lead through Carlton Cole just
before the interval. Millwall somehow pull back an equaliser but we
controversially regain the lead shortly after as 'keeper Forde elects to
punch a catchable one before being clattered by Faubert, Reid volleying the
ball straight back in to the unguarded net. It's as if ref Jones had
remembered his disgraceful performance at the Britannia last season and
figured he owed us one. 2-1 to the cockney boys. I personally take all of
South East London on my own by singing "Bubbles" loudly on their manor. Ok
it was 2.30am (my journey home having been delayed by a concert and a lot of
inclement weather) and there was consequently nobody about but apparently
that counts.
Next we go back to Southwark Crown Court where, despite admitting to have
opened an offshore bank account in the name of his dog, and, somehow, having
forgotten to inform his accountant of said account, Henry Redknapp is
acquitted of both charges facing him. As a qualified tax specialist,
professional ethics prevent me from commenting further but let's just say
that perhaps the prosecution didn't make the best of what they had.
Meanwhile our old mate Greg Demetriou has barely had time to find out where
the digestives are kept at Wembley before there is more fallout from the
ditching of Terry as skipper. Manager Capello is quoted in interviews with
the Italian media as being unhappy that the FA have gone over his head. A
meeting to discuss the matter at Wembley ends up with the Italian resigning.
Absolutely nobody is upset. Unsurprisingly, Redknapp's media pals install
him as England manager elect, conveniently ignoring the fact that his record
over the years isn't that impressive. Still he's English and that's all that
seems to matter apparently.
Our next match at Peterborough falls foul to the weather with temperatures
hitting -15 overnight at London Road, an old fashioned ground without
undersoil heating. Southampton take advantage of our inactivity to reduce
the deficit at the top to one point.
Elsewhere and just when you think Liverpool couldn't act more disgracefully,
they do. Suarez, in his second match back from his 8 match ban for doing
nothing (according to his employers) or racially abusing Evra (according to
everyone else), stokes up ill-feeling by refusing to shake Evra's hand in
the (admittedly ludicrous) pre-match handshake thing. There are scuffles in
the tunnel at half time and full time as the whining Mancs beat the
self-pitying Scousers 2-1. Dalglish is predictably disgraceful in his post
match comments: "you are bang out of order to blame Suarez for anything that
happened today" the moaning Scot claims as he metamorphoses into a sort of
Caledonian Neil Warnock. As usual Scouse supporters go into truth denial
overdrive claiming that it was Evra who had refused the handshake despite
the fact that it so very obviously wasn't. This line of argument is quietly
dropped as Suarez admits that he's in the wrong and apologises for his
actions, though the sincerity of both his and Dalglish's apologies is highly
questionable, coming as they do after instructions from the club's American
holding company who know a good PR disaster when they see one.
Back in the fresh air again we take on Southampton at the Boleyn in a top of
the table clash. Unfortunately Southampton can count on a fully fit and
incompetent Lee Probert who has a disgraceful 90 minutes. Probert
inexplicably ignores two blatant handballs before finally awarding a penalty
for a trip on Noble. Billy Sharp loses all goodwill by clutching his face as
Taylor shoves him in the chest to give the midfielder a red card Sharp's
similar push on Noble goes unpunished as Probert goes into a one man attempt
to rewrite the record books for most inept refereeing performance. Noble
finally puts the penalty away to give us the lead. Southampton 'keeper
Davies then handles outside the box flattening Cole in a "Shumacher on
Battiston" style challenge that Probert decides is perfectly legal.
Southampton finally equalise from Hooiveld with fifteen minutes left despite
an obvious foul in the build up. All in all a good point to get given the
disgraceful refereeing involved – which, I am duty bound to remind you, we
must respect.
In a quiet few days for the Hammers, Carlos Tevez returns to the Man City
training camp to find everyone else has the day off. "Mancini treated me
like a dog" claims Tevez. Mancini denies that was the case saying "we get
the club doctor to do that operation on all our players".
The London Borough of Harringay and the Greater London Authority announce a
package worth £27m to spruce up riot-torn Tottenham. The package includes a
whole raft of infrastructrure improvements linked to the Tottenham stadium
redevelopment project. Meanwhile, in a totally unconnected announcement it
is quietly announced that Tottenham's legal obligation to cough up something
like £16m towards a whole raft of infrastructure projects linked to the
Tottenham stadium redevelopment project has been removed. In effect at least
£16m of taxpayers' money has been handed to Spurs. Suddenly the European
Commission finds itself having to deal with dozens of complaints regarding
illegal state aid, most of which seem entirely more justified than the
anonymous one posted by someone called Steve Lawrence at the time of the
original Olympic deal.
North of the border, Rangers take over from Hearts as the nation's basket
case. With a possible £75m owing to the taxman, the club enters
administration. It is a measure of the paucity of competition up north that,
despite the ten point deduction that comes with such financial shenanigans,
they are still streets clear of the third-placed club.
Also in financial bother, again, are Pompey, whose owners had gone into
administration a few months previously. Vladimir Antonov, the club's
ultimate owner appears in court on a European arrest warrant as the
Lithuanian authorities indicate that they'd like a quiet word about the
millions missing from one or two of their banks. Fans ask the Football
League how on earth Antonov had passed their "fit & proper" test. "He lied"
comes the answer. "He told us he was rich and it turned out that he was just
a great big fibber". Some good comes out of the whole affair though. The
Football League announce changes to their "fit & proper" test. "In future
we'll check their hands so that when they tell us they are rich they won't
be able to cross their fingers".
Portsmouth eventually enter administration themselves prompting a ten point
penalty and worries over their ability to complete their fixtures, something
that could end up costing us six points.
Following the opening fixture of the season when Cardiff supporters were
asked to pick up their tickets at an M25 service area, ticket details for
the return fixture are announced. A series of clues are to be left at
strategic points on the route between London and Wales, each clue being
written by the person responsible for the clues on 1980's gameshow "3-2-1".
Those that successfully complete the challenge will be given tickets. Those
that don't will be getting a radio controlled dustbin with a stupid grin
painted on its face. "We tried this successfully earlier with Millwall
(pronounced Michwach)" a South Wales Police spokesman told us. "No
supporters got to the ground – they found the "if tickets ye seek, to
Cardiff West Services ye should wend" clue a bit too challenging, though the
dustbins are now on three-year contracts at the Den. We'll have to make the
clues a bit harder than that for West Ham supporters though or you'll go
straight there. Er, I probably shouldn't have told you that" he helpfully
adds.
Boxing news, and there is uproar in Germany at a press conference when Derek
Chisora, fresh from becoming the latest bit of cannon fodder for one of
those Ukranian brothers whose names I can't be bothered to check the
spelling of, gets into a bit of a ruccus with Millwall-supporter David Haye.
The spat starts of in verbal form but spills over into actual violence as
Chisora climbs down from the platform to continue the debate. Chisora is
later arrested by the Deutscher Bundesplod at the airport but is later
released without charge. Haye sneaks out of the country before Das Alter
Wilhelm (as I expect the locals call their constabulary) can catch up with
him. Meanwhile boxing fans are left scratching their collective heads
wondering why neither Chisora nor Hay could be bothered to show that much
fight in their respective fights with those Ukranian brothers whose names I
can't be bothered to check the spelling of.
The weekend sees us clicking our heels as Southampton go top beating Derby
4-0 at home. Blackpool, who should have been our own opponents for the day,
are otherwise occupied with being knocked out of the cup by Everton. The
rearranged match takes place on the Tuesday with a win needed to return to
top slot. Even by West Ham standards the match is a bit bonkers in the nut.
We race into a deserved 2-0 lead through midfield maestro Tomkins and
Maynard who scores on his first start. Holloway rearranges things after half
an hour and sub Kevin Phillips pulls one back on the stroke of half time. In
the second half Rob Green becomes the third Hammer in as many matches to see
a red card, after upending Bednar outside the box. With no sub 'keeper on
the truncated bench, Lansbury becomes the second loan signing from Arsenal
of the season to take his place in goal, his previous goalkeeping experience
having come in England U21 colours under similar circumstances. Lansbury is
barely bothered and keeps a clean sheet as we score another two through
O'Neil and Vaz Te to take the match 4-1, a result that takes us back to the
top by a point with a game in hand over Southampton.
On the international front John Terry announces that he'll be out for six
weeks with a knee injury thus saving England caretaker boss Stuart Pearce
the cost of a "you're dropped" text massage and also sparing the rest of the
squad the embarrassment of having to be in the same room as such low life.
We return to action against Crystal Palace with a team unchanged from that
which won at Blackpool. The exertions of playing three in a row with ten men
are all too obvious in the first half. A few changes in the second half sees
things improve but although we seem the more likely to score in the second
period the match finishes goalless. According to the Sun newspaper the
players leave to a "deafening chorus of boos". This, not to put too fine a
point on it, is a lie. Southampton's 3-0 win at Watford, which features yet
another dive to win a penalty, takes them back to the top by one point,
though we still have a game in hand.
England – who feature Rob Green safely on the bench -lose the first match of
the post-Capello era 3-2 to the Netherlands, despite clawing back a 2-0
deficit with moments to spare. Caretaker manager Stuart Pearce rules himself
out of contention for the role on a full time basis amidst rumours that the
not-so-cordial history between Sir Trevor Brooking and Henry Redknapp might
count against the latter in the race to get the full-time job. That and the
fact that Redknapp isn't much of a coach presumably.
So there you go. Second in the league with two months of the season left. A
few wins in March and we could be up by the end of the month. No
worries.....
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jussi Jaaskelainen set to leave Bolton Wanderers
BBC.co.uk
Jussi Jaaskelainen is set to end his 15-year stay at Bolton Wanderers. BBC
Radio Manchester has learned the veteran goalkeeper is set to reject an
offer to remain with the Trotters, for whom he has played 529 games. Adam
Bogdan was preferred to Jaaskelainen for the second half of last season, the
Finn's last appearance coming against Wolves on 31 December. West Ham,
managed by former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce, have been strongly linked with
a move for the 37-year-old.
Finland international Jaaskelainen moved to England from VPS Vaasa in 1997
and, following Bolton's promotion to the top flight in 2001, became one of
the most highly-rated goalkeepers in the Premier League. Bolton allowed 15
players to leave following their relegation from the Premier League earlier
this month.
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Are the Hammers Weighing Up a Bid for Ba?
West Ham Till I Die
By S J Chandos About 8 hours ago
West Ham are allegedly weighing up a bid for Senegal International Ba.
That's centre-back Abdoulaye Ba, not a certain Newcastle Utd striker of the
same surname and nationality!
Abdoulaye Ba is a 21 year old international defender, who is contracted to
Porto, but has earnt extremely good reviews for his performances, last
season, while on loan to Academica. A deal is possible with Porto, but the
big 'fly in the ointment' is a question mark over whether he can secure a UK
work permit. We will have to see whether the club can circumvent that
particular obstacle, because by all accounts he looks to be is a very
promising player.
Talking of promising players, West Ham have also been linked with a £5m move
for Fulham goal keeper, David Stockdale. Obviously, Rob Green has yet to
make a final decision on the new contract currently on the table. But
reports suggest that QPR are ready to give Green a 3 year contract, worth
£50,000 a week. If so, then it is not likely that West Ham will match those
terms. That means securing a new keeper sudden becomes a higher priority. We
already have Henderson of course, who is a very good prospect and could very
well take his first team chance next season. There is a strong possibility
that a certain Finnish veteran international keeper, who has just rejected a
new contract at Bolton, could soon arrive at Upton Park on a free transfer.
If that is the case then would the club commit £5m of the transfer kitty on
acquiring Stockdale?
I have no objections, in principle, to securing David Stockdale's services,
but I think I would prefer to keep Green (if at all possible), bring in
Jussi Jaaskelainen and get them to fight it out with Henderson for the goal
keeper's jersey. That combination would give us the strongest stable of
keepers that we have had for many a year and keep all three on their toes,
performance wise. Whether it happens is another matter? I am certainly
looking forward to seeing Henderson in action, as he has a reputation as a
outstanding young keeper. Is he ready for next season? He probably needs to
start as No.2 and get the opportunity to ease himself in to PL football
during the course of the season.
A brace of players that I would like to acquire are Nathan Clyne and Wilfred
Zaha from Crystal Palace. There is a rumour that a West Ham bid for Zaha has
been submitted and is awaiting a decision by Palace. While Clyne is at the
end of his contract and is able to move in the summer on a Bosman. Man Utd
are reported to be in poll position position to snap him up and that is the
move that the player allegedly wants. However, if he were available, and we
cold entice him to Upton Park, then the Clyne-Zaha combination would
significantly augment the options on our right flank. On the left, I would
be minded to go with McCartney and Potts at left-back, but if a
reinforcement is required the outstanding candidate is probably Olsson at
Blackburn Rovers. Olsson is a very good left-back, with pace and the ability
to get up and down the flanks. Unfortunately, Chelski are also reported to
be running the rule over him. We are supposedly considing a move for
left-back come left-winger, Kieran Richardson at Sunderland. He is not a
player that I particularly fancy bringing to the club, Although I recognise
that Richardson does have a certain utility value, being able to play right
along the left flank. For me, the outstandng young left-winger up for grabs
is Matt Jarvis at Wolves. Wolves apparently want £8m for his signature, but
£5-6m should be enough to clinch a deal.
Another player reportedly available this summer is another Olsson, this time
Jonas at WBA. Jonas Olsson is a strong centre-back, who can also play at
left-back. He would provide good competition for Tomkins and Reid and also
cover at left full-back. However, for me, the 'stand out' centre-half
currently up for grabs is Roger Johnson at Wolves. It has been suggested in
some quarters that West Ham might move for Scott Dann at Blackburn Rovers,
but personally out of the two I would prefer to sign Johnson.
Elsewhere, it is still unclear where Junior Hollett is headed? Rumour has it
that either Arsenal or Spurs are favourites to secure his signature, but if
Sam Allardyce could pull off a deal for his former young charge at
Blackburn, then it would be a real coup. In midfield, I have not given up on
securing Henri Lansbury for next season, either via a permanent transfer or
a further season long loan. Overall, Lansbury did a good job for us in the
last campaign, but injury disrupted his progress, and I think that he would
have a major role to play in our forthcoming PL campaign. An alternative
option could be signing Andy King at Leicester City, who is more than
capable of stepping up to the PL. However, the midfield position that does
concern me is the lack of a good, experienced defensive anchor man. Whilst
O'Brien, O'Neill or Noble could do a good job there, I would still like to
see us bring in a dominating, defensve midfielder, in the mould of the
recently released Diop.
It looks very much as if we have missed the boat with Jay Rodriguez, which
is something that we may come to regret. Southampton are reported to have
had a c.£7m bid accepted and a deal is imminent, subject to the player
agreeing personal terms with the Saints. So, we must look elsewhere to
bolster our strikeforce. In Cole-Vaz Te-Maynard we have reasonable quality
up front. In addtion, we also have Hall and Baldock, who look likely to
start the season out on loan. Certainly, Robert Hall needs to spend the
period up to Christmas on loan at a decent Championship club. This would
facilitate sharpening up his finishing in preparation for more anticipated
first team game team..The speculation is that Baldock is due to go out on
loan to Ipswich Town, although it is also possible that West Ham might cash
in on him if the money on offer is sufficient.
The move for Yakubu could be a good one if the player continues in the same
vein as last season. He resolved his outstanding fitness issues and
rediscovered his goal scoring form. Yakubu would provide good competition
for Cole and potentially combine well with either Vaz Te or Maynard. Of
course, one hopes that our bid for Bas Dost is successful, but if not Yakubu
could do a job. Another striker up for grabs this summer is Berbatov, who is
due to exit Manchester Utd. The Bulgarian International is a player I would
love to see at Upton Park, he is just the type of striker that would inject
that crucial bit of extra class in to our forward line. Whether we could
secure his services is another matter. It would certainly be a statement of
the club's ambition if we could land a striker of his status and ability.
But as always, the bottom line is the transfer and wage budgets available,
that inevitably must limit our ambition in acquiring players!
Finally, where is Sam Allardyce's 'wild card' acquisition likely to come
from? Allardyce has a reputation for attracting good quality foreign
players, some of them top players entering the veteran stage of their
careers. Is it beyond the bounds of possibility that there might be one or
two of those type of deals in the pipeline? There could well be!
SJ. Chandos.
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West Ham eye move for centre back Ba but hold worries over work permit
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 21:33 GMT, 31 May 2012 | UPDATED: 21:33 GMT, 31 May 2012
Daily Mail
West Ham are keen on Senegal defender Abdoulaye Ba. The centre back, 21, is
on loan from Porto at Portuguese side Academica and is earning rave reviews.
West Ham scouts watched him but worry he may not qualify for a work permit.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hearn: Ground-share with West Ham would mean sale of Brisbane Road could be
invested in the club
London 24
Tom Moore
Thursday, May 31, 2012
5:11 PM
Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn has revealed that the assets of selling
their ground would go into the team if they were to ground-share the Olympic
Stadium with rivals West Ham. The club are looking into the move after it
was revealed that seating could be used to cover the athletics track. "As
far as I see it, Leyton Orient have three options," Hearn said. "We have
some considerable assets at Brisbane Road, so if we were to move into the
Olympic Stadium then the money raised from Brisbane Road will be invested
into the team and hopefully help the club rise through the leagues. "I am of
the belief that if West Ham move in then in the medium term we will go out
of business or drop down the divisions – neither of which I want to see
happen. "Another alternative is we look at a site outside Leyton but with
the economy as it is that may not be viable. "We have time to agree
whichever one of those three options."
Hearn had been strongly opposed to the Hammers occupying the Olympic Stadium
outright and insisted that a move to within walking distance of Orient's
Brisbane Road ground would kill his club. The chairman had also claimed that
the stadium was "not fit for football" but has explained why he has had a
change of heart. "We've come to the understanding that West Ham are
insisting that the stadium has seats fitted over the athletics track," Hearn
added. "When London was named as the Olympic venue in 2005 we were the
preferred tenant after the games for a 25,000 seater stadium and we would
not open the top tiers but then the design revealed that the athletics track
would make it unfit for football. "We will never ever play in a ground with
an athletics track in front of the supporters. "We are hearing that West Ham
agree that the track needs to be removed, which is why we are interested in
the proposal. "The two clubs play their home games on alternate weekends
meaning it will have constant use."
West Ham have not yet been awarded the Olympic Stadium, although they are
the favourites to take over the Stratford site and Hearn explained how the
ground-share would work. "It would not be a relationship between Leyton
Orient and West Ham," Hearn added. "We would be tenants in our own right but
we will share the ground. "We would not pay to make the ground fit for
football. "The stadium cost around £600 million to build in the first place.
"We are in phase three of the bidding process and this is the legacy
company's problem."
The move however could be scuppered and sources at West Ham have suggested
that a ground-share would not be welcomed by the Hammers. The Leyton Orient
Fans Trust also want to ascertain what the club's plans are for the stadium
and remain adamant that the site is not fit for football use. Hearn has
moved to ease the concerns of supporters who are unhappy at a proposed move.
"We will certainly consult our supporters," the chairman insisted. "We would
never move without consulting them. "There is no point in going into
consultations at this stage in the process as the full facts are not
revealed yet and we do not know if the stadium will be fit for football. "We
will take time to agree on what's best for the club."
A final decision on who takes hold of the Olympic Stadium is expected in
October, after the 30th Olympiad. Other bidders include Essex County Cricket
Club in a joint venture with the University of East London. West Ham were
initially awarded the venue last year but the deal fell through following an
anonymous complaint to the European Union. Spurs and Orient, who were
challenging the decision, deny they made the complaint.
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Bolton keeper in line to replace West Ham United and England player
Guardian Series
12:21pm Thursday 31st May 2012 in News
Jussi Jaaskelainen is thought to be heading for West Ham United: Action
Images Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen has been linked with a move to
West Ham United after turning down a new deal. Hammers keeper Robert Green
is out of contract this summer and is expected to leave with Malaga thought
to be favourites to sign him. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce will need to bring
in a replacement, should Green depart, and Jaaskelainen is thought to be in
pole position to move to Upton Park.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Thursday, May 31
Daily WHUFC News - 31st May 2012
Reid ruled out
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid will miss the OFC Nations Cup as a precaution as he is nursing
a slight groin injury
30.05.2012
Winston Reid has been ruled out of the New Zealand squad for the OFC Nations
Cup with a groin injury. Reid has been carrying the injury since the end of
West Ham's promotion-winning season and New Zealand's potential schedule in
the Solomon Islands - five games in ten days - would risk further damage.
"It's disappointing to not have Winston joining us," said All Whites coach
Ricki Herbert. "He's a big part of our plans as we aim to qualify for the
World Cup in Brazil [in 2014]." Reid made 33 appearances for West Ham United
during the 2011/12 season, scoring three goals. The defender was injured on
his last appearance for New Zealand against Jamaica in February, suffering a
concussion that ruled him out for five weeks. However, the 23-year-old
returned to play a full part in the Hammers' npower Championship Play-Off
final victory over Blackpool at Wembley on 19 May.
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Vaz Te looking forward
WHUFC.com
Ricardo Vaz Te cannot wait for next season to start
29.05.2012
Ricardo Vaz Te says he is looking forward to life in the Premier League with
West Ham United. The Hammers' Play-Off final hero cannot wait to challenge
himself in the Premier League once more and the opportunity to ply his trade
in the top flight was one of the main reasons he moved to east London. With
Season Ticket sales already on the up, Vaz Te is looking forward to dazzling
the Boleyn Ground faithful with more goals next season. "From the beginning,
when I joined here, the goal was to get promoted," he told whufc.com. "So we
have done that and I am looking forward to what that challenge will bring
for us. It is an exciting time for everyone at the club. "You can see it
meant a lot to everyone here and the fans. It has been said many times but
it is the truth, they deserve for the club to be in the top league. We have
around 30,000 at all our home games. They are there with us and we will be
doing everything we can to do the best we can next season again. If I can be
a part of that, it will make me happy."
Vaz Te capped off a memorable few months at the club since arriving from
Barnsley in the January transfer window by scoring the winner at Wembley in
the 2-1 victory against Blackpool. But while he will enjoy a short summer
break, his thoughts will soon turn to what is needed for next season. "I
will go away now and have some time, like we all will and then make sure I
am ready. I am confident I can score more goals next season. I have
confidence in my own ability and I am looking forward to the challenge that
being in the Premier League brings. "I have to make sure I am ready when the
opportunities come and make sure I am there to take them."
With several new signings expected over the summer, the Portuguese
midfielder knows there will be greater competition for places and it is up
to all the players to work hard to earn their place. "I am very thankful to
have been part of this so far and I will be working hard to get into the
team, because it will be hard. I think for all of us it is about reflecting
now then looking to build on this moment and take it into next season with
confidence. "Nothing is easy, but we will work hard to try to achieve our
best."
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Hammers in double swoop
KUMb.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are hoping to make their first signings since returning to the
Premier League with the capture of Sunderland defender George McCartney and
Blackburn striker Yakubu. Sam Allardyce, keen to boost his squad as early as
possible has instructed his employees to bid for the Nigerian international
and tie up a permanent deal for Irish defender McCartney, who spent last
season on loan at the Boleyn Ground. The Hammers are thought to have offered
£1.2million for the much-travelled Yakubu who arrived in England back in
2003 when joining Portsmouth - since when he has featured for Middlesbrough,
Everton, Leicester and Blackburn who were relegated from the Premier League
at the end of the 2011/12 campaign.
Just 48 hours ago a 'source' close to the African striker said: "Yak has his
heart set on staying in the Premier League so it looks likely that he will
be off this summer.
"He was really saddened by what happened at the end of the season because he
had a great rapport with the [Blackburn] fans, but he is certain that he is
still a Premier League striker and hopes that a deal will be done that suits
all parties."
Meanwhile McCartney, who is currently contracted to Sunderland is expected
to sign on a free transfer. Speaking after West Ham confirmed their return
to the Premier League, the Irish international said: "Of course I would like
to be here next year. "I have regrets about leaving a few years ago and I
have got the opportunity to come back and things have gone really well. So
hopefully in a few weeks' time when everything has settled down, we can sort
something out."
We'll have more on these stories as details emerge.
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Season ticket row: common sense prevails
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United have written to long-term season ticket holders to confirm
that they ARE entitled to an immediate 20 per cent discount. Last week
KUMB.com revealed how a number of loyal supporters had been angered by the
club's decision not to award them the discount promised to those who had
held a season ticket for five consecutive seasons leading up to the
forthcoming campaign. However the club have today contacted supporters who
wrote to them to complain in order to confirm that they WILL be able to
claim the full 20 per cent discount off next year's season ticket - instead
of the five per cent over the next four years that was previously offered.
In the letter, received by a number of fans this morning, the club refuted
suggestions that they had acted improperly by refusing to confirm whether or
not the full 20 per cent discount would be available this season. "We
reiterate our previous belief that the club has acted in a transparent way
and has not refused to honour the 20 per cent discount," it stated. "We have
made an offer to pay this amount over a period of time – a solution which
would significantly strengthen the club's current position as we enter the
Premier League. "We acknowledge that this may not be economically possible
for every supporter and if you feel you require the ability to receive the
full 20% in 2012/13 then please call the ticket officeto discuss and action
with a member of our team."
The club's also refuted allegations that they had been aware of the promise
of a discount made by the previous administration in 2009. "For clarity,
there is some suggestion that the club has been aware of this offer for some
time – this is categorically not the case," the letter stated. "This issue
was not declared to the current owners as a liability in the course of the
sale agreement in January 2010."
Those supporters who are entitled to the 20 per cent discount and who have
already paid the full rate for their 2012/13 season tickets are also advised
to contact the ticket office should they wish to claim a part refund.
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Hearn's cheeky Stratford bid
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Staff Writer
Leyton Orient are set to approach West Ham United with view to
ground-sharing the Olympic Stadium, according to reports. The League One
club, whose outspoken Chairman Barry Hearn has been against West Ham's move
to Stratford since it first emerged that the club were hoping to move across
the borough have intimated that they are set to approach United with the
offer imminently. According to a report by David Smith in tonight's Evening
Standard, Hearn will "seek talks" with West Ham's co-chairman David Gold and
David Sullivan in an attempt to shoe-horn his club into the deal. Meanwhile
a 'source' told the Standard: "It ticks all the boxes. Why not ground-share?
It already happens all over the world."
However given Hearn's vocal opposition to West Ham's move, it is unlikely
that any offer will be considered by co-owners Sullivan and Gold, who were
told recently that they were "overwhelmingly likely" to be awarded tenancy
of the stadium by London mayor Boris Johnson. Despite last week's deadline
day for bids being delayed by eight weeks, Johnson saw no reason why that
would hurt West Ham's bid for use of the stadium. "I don't think we should
read too much into this," he said. "It is very important to get all the
legal nails hit squarely on the head so that the thing does not come
unstuck. That is taking a bit of time. "I still think it is overwhelmingly
likely that there will be a footballing solution and that would be a good
thing. But It is very important that it should be legally watertight. "This
is a major piece of public infrastructure with big state aid implications
that we are trying to transfer to commercial concerns and that is always
going to evoke very complicated legal problems."
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Sympathy? You must be joking
KUMb.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Paul Walker
I must admit, I never thought there would come the day when I felt sorry for
Sheffield United or Tottenham.
And I was right! That day has not arrived, although for just one or two
seconds I did feel a touch of sympathy for two clubs we have had more
problems with off the pitch than on it over recent years.
I am not the sort of fan who spends any time abusing rival supporters, I'd
rather spend all my energies concentrating on my own players, and I do hate
the chants and songs which are just aimed at goading opponents.
The " your support is f……s…", or the one that tells rivals how much we hate
being in their town. And then there is the anti-Semitic stuff - racism in
effect - that gets aimed at Spurs fans. Surely we can be above all this.
But there's still a section of our support who sing the 'running round
Tottenham' rubbish and believe it is acceptable. I sat on the tube to
Wembley with a lovely family from Blackpool, with three wide-eyed kids on
their first trip to London, feeling utterly embarrassed as our fans belted
out the anti-Spurs stuff.
For heavens sake, sing about us, not our rivals. Enough said, you know who
you are!
However, the ill-fortune that has fallen on Sheffield United and Spurs at
the end of the season did make me feel that "what goes around comes around"
is an apt view.
Actually, I don't have issue with rank and file fans at either club. They
are just like us, they love their club, they believe the party line stuff
that gets pushed out on club websites and they want what we want. Success on
the pitch.
I have a couple of Spurs fans as mates, they are quite human really, and one
even texted me on the way to Wembley wishing us luck in the play-off Final.
And I managed to reply a few hours later after the dust had settled on
Wembley and Munich, that it is very wrong that the sixth-placed Premier
League club, Chelsea, should be in the Champions League ahead of fourth
placed Spurs.
And I felt sorry for Steve Simonsen, the Sheffield United 'keeper who missed
the decisive play-off penalty shoot-out spot kick that saw Huddersfield
promoted and not the Blades. I've met the lad a few times, and you couldn't
wish for a nicer young man.
But that is where the sympathy ends. I have real issues with the hierarchy
and senior management of both clubs, who have done their utmost to damage us
as a club and business.
Sheffield United first. We are still paying them £5million a year (how much
longer?) following the Tevez arbitration of 2008, and I am tempted to ask
just what we have got for our money, so badly have the Blades fared since!
|I would have liked the TV cameras to have dwelt just a little longer on the
face of their chairman Kevin McCabe after that shoot-out disaster at Wembley
that condemned the Yorkshire club to another season in the third tier of
English football.
They are £32million in debt despite the £20million they have already had
from us, have spent £15million in the last two seasons and are now facing
severe cuts, including sacking Simonsen this week.
McCabe and his mates - including various past sports ministers, senior MPs
and third rate actors - manipulated the Tevez situation and wanted to put us
out of business. The Premier League voted that we had been punished enough
with the £5.5million fine, the High Court would not back the Blades and only
the FA's independent arbitration hearing under that geriatric Lord Griffiths
agreed with McCabe's lot.
We were severely punished for what most in football thought was a technical
offence, the Premier League were more bothered about us deceiving them
rather than the debatable detail of a contract that never actually came into
operation.
We deserved to be punished. But not almost put out of business by McCabe and
his chancers. In the end we were the victims of an FA who was at war with
the Premier League and wanted to make a stand against the all-powerful top
flight.
So I have had no sympathy with Sheffield United's plight, and hope they
enjoy their trips to Crawley, Shrewsbury and Swindon next season.
Now Spurs. The north London club reckon they will lose £40million by being
excluded from the Champions League. They could also lose top players not
overjoyed with the prospect of playing in the Europa League.
Van der Vaart, Modric,Bale and even our beloved 'arry could go. Redknapp was
even linked with Chelsea last week.
I won't be crying over any misfortune that is suffered at White Hart Lane.
Their management have gone to extraordinary lengths to ruin our business
plan and the possible move to the Olympic Stadium, pushing legality to the
limits.
They have employed people who have sunk to the depths of the dark arts of
surveillance, stealing phone records and running personal checks on everyone
of the committee that was considering the Olympic Stadium legacy.
Spurs did not want Stratford, they were just desperate to sabotage any
attempts by us to progress and grow and find a ground that could accommodate
our 50,000 plus fans who went to Wembley.
Whether you like the idea of moving to the Olympic Stadium or not isn't the
point, but Spurs were trying to damage us as a club, which was inexcusable.
So any misfortune that falls their way should be a deluge in my view.
I had a bet with one of my Spurs mates before last season that they would
never play in the Champions League again. Could be I will be right. As for
the Blades, they might just have cut their own throats.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Player Reviews 2011/12 - Part 3
Vinny 3:02 Wed May 30
West Ham Online
Player Reviews 2011/12 – Part 3
To View last season's Part 3, go to:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110702012056/http://westhamonline.net/article.p
hp?5540007
Forwards
John Carew
On August 6th 2011 the club announced the signing of John Carew who had been
released by Aston Villa a few months previous.
He made his debut in the 2-2 draw at home to Leeds United when he came on as
a substitute after 66 minutes. First reactions to him was of course how tall
and strong he is although a few days later in the league cup game at home to
Aldershot Town you could really get the sense of just how slow he was.
His first goal for the club came away at Crystal Palace when he came on for
the final quarter of the game and scored the equaliser late on.
Carew was then rewarded with a start against Blackpool in the following game
where for me he was the best player on the pitch as we ran out 4-0 winners.
He scored the first goal and I gave him my man of the match award, stating:
"He was simply unplayable. Blackpool couldn't get near him and but a selfish
moment which denied Baldock his hat trick, this was perfect performance."
He started the next few games but found himself taken off in every one of
them. His final two starts (away at Hull and Coventry) saw him removed on
both occasions at half time.
This would really be all from John Carew and he did nothing again of note
for the remainder of the season. He made no other impact on the league
season and when we did see him come on as a sub (which was rare) he looked
as though he was a former footballer who was in his forties or fifties and
had returned to play a game for charity.
I cannot believe he is only 32 because the man cannot run. Maybe it is his
frame, maybe it is fitness or maybe he just turned dog shit as he got older
but the man clearly cannot play football at a decent standard anymore.
With Vaz Te and Maynard signing in the January transfer window he fell down
the pecking order and with his contract expiring in the summer it has been
announced that he is to be released which comes as little surprise.
Earlier this year he was declared bankrupt following a petition by HM
Revenue and Customs. His off field problems may have contributed to his lack
of interest on it but I would suspect he was a good wage and with that being
the case the signing of Carew can be considered a bit of a flop.
Apps: League 7 + 11Sub Cup 2
Goals: 2
Bookings: 1
Verdict: Never had the desire and certainly does not have the quality.
Freddie Sears
It is easily forgotten that the first game of the season against Cardiff
City Freddie Sears was in the starting line-up. He had done well in
Pre-Season and scored the winner against FC Copenhagen and also scored in
the home game against Real Zaragoza.
His performance against Cardiff didn't fill me with too much confidence and
he was taken off later in the game.
This wasn't to be his last involvement as he was still in and around the
first team squad and made another start in the League Cup game against
Aldershot. Playing again on the wing I thought he did better than most on
the pitch and actually thought he was our best player on a dismal night.
Sears was coming on as a second half sub frequently with his best cameo away
at Brighton in the 1-0 win where he looked positive and helped us in the
second half when we needed an outlet.
He started the game at home to Bristol City in the 0-0 draw but with us
struggling he was again taken off.
His final start of the season and involvement with the West Ham team was
away at Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup where he was poor like most of the
team.
Not long after he was shipped out on loan to League One side Colchester
United where he has started five games, came on as sub six times and scored
2 goals.
Having signed a five year contract in 2008 he still has another year to run
at West Ham but can anyone see him making an impact or getting any sort of
look in if he remains at the club? He needs to move on for the sake of his
career as he just doesn't have the ability to make it at the top level.
It hasn't helped him that no manager apart from Alan Curbishley wanted to
play him as a striker which is where he made a name of himself at youth and
reserve level. He scored a staggering amount of goals at that level in the
striking position but has always been used as winger in the main under Zola,
Grant and now Allardyce.
Whilst it hasn't happened for Sears we will always recall that day in March
2008 when he made his debut against Blackburn with the score at 1-1. It was
a wonderful moment when he scored the winner as a 17 year old on his first
senior start and whatever will happen in his career he will always have that
and I'm sure we will remember that goal for a few more years.
Apps: 2 + 8 Sub Cup 2
Brian Montenegro
Brian from Montenegro? No, Brian Montenegro. From Paraguay. Signed from
Deportivo Maldonado who are from Uruguay.
18 year old Montenegro was a fairly low risk loan signing who I don't
believe was ever brought here to play first team football during the season
and was brought in to have a look at a promising young player.
He did make his debut for the club in the FA Cup game at Sheffield Wednesday
as he came on a late sub but he did nothing of particular note.
He started 12 games for the development squad and scored 7 goals which
wasn't a bad return.
According to the match programme for the Cardiff Play Off 2nd Leg it states
on page 83 that according to development squad manager Ian Hendon that
Montenegro will be an important member of the development squad next season
so I presume he will be staying on for another season's loan or signing
permanently.
Apps: Cup 0+1 Sub
Frederique Piquionne
I thought he was pretty abysmal in the second half of last season and with
no one willing to sign him given that he must be on a tremendous wage he
started the season at the club as one of our main strikers.
Piquionne indeed began the season in the starting line up as he took his
place up front on his own against Cardiff. He struggled to get anything
going although this wasn't entirely his fault given the way we were just
lumping balls towards him.
It was clear though even at this stage that Piquionne would not be the
answer to our goal scoring problems that we had endured the previous
campaign.
Piquionne has a terrible goal scoring record and has only hit double figures
in a season once in the last nine seasons and that came at St Étienne in
2004/05 season.
Having made little impact in the opening couple of games as a starter he
tended to come off the bench to play cameo roles over the next few weeks.
He was sent off after only a few minutes having come on as a sub against his
former club Portsmouth in an the ball incident with Greg Halford.
He managed a start at home to Bristol City on 1st November but as the game
finished 0-0 and the focus was on us not taking our chances he was dropped
again.
Piquionne did make an impact when he came on against Coventry City on 19th
November as he and Carlton Cole changed the game and Piquionne actually
managed to score the winner as the Coventry defender planted his header
against Piquionne who was falling on the floor and the ball went over the
line.
He came on early in our next game (20th minute) against Derby County and won
a penalty which Mark Noble converted as the game finished 3-1.
This decent form saw him gain a start in the Tuesday night game at
Middlesbrough where he was largely excellent and scored the first goal with
a terrific header from a Matthew Taylor cross.
But then a really lacklustre performance away at Reading saw his form dip.
You could argue that he was unlucky here as the reason we lost this game was
due to our discipline deserting us as we had two players sent off.
Allardyce persisted with him at home to Barnsley, and away at both
Birmingham and Derby. Average displays and most importantly no goals clearly
displayed the need to go and bring in some firepower during the January
transfer window and with Nicky Maynard and Ricardo Vaz Te signing this was
the end for Piquionne.
He was sent out on loan in January to fellow Championship club Doncaster
Rovers and scored a wonderful goal on his debut. He scored one other goal
for Doncaster in March as they lost 3-1 to Birmingham and they were
relegated.
With a year left on his contract he remains at the club and if he is
stubborn he will remain here as he is likely to be on a wage that no one is
going to pay him given his poor form of recent years, lack of goals and age
(33).
Apps: League 8+11Sub Cup 1
Goals: 2
Bookings: 2
Sent Off : 1 (vs Portsmouth home)
Verdict: Doesn't score enough goals and never has in his career. Would be
positive for all concerned if he would leave in the summer.
Sam Baldock
It has seemed as though we had tried to get every striker available to come
to the club but one after another refused so we were left with the end of
list players such as Sam Baldock. I don't mean this as disrespect to Baldock
but his signing seemed liked a bit of a desperate move and not one which
would solve our issues up front.
Baldock had done well for Milton Keynes Dons in League one at the start of
the season and had played four league games and scored four goals. He had
also played two cup games and scored in each of them also. Clearly he was a
player with something and he excited the West Ham crowd early on with his
speed and willingness.
He made his debut away at Millwall coming on as a sub and his full debut in
the 1-0 home defeat to Ipswich Town.
He started against in our next home game against Blackpool and put in a
terrific performance and scored two goals in the process. He took the goals
well, was hard working, quick and effective throughout.
His performance away at Southampton was largely uneventful and he was
dropped for the following game at Brighton but reinstated for the next game
which was at home to Leicester City and for the second concecutive home
match he would score two goals.
It seemed to me at this time that we had a real poacher on our hands and
Baldock would be the one to get those goals from inside the six yard box.
You could say, even know that he is the most natural poacher we have at the
club.
Two games later we went away to Hull City and he opened the scoring in the
second half with a goal again from inside the six yard box.
This game too place on 5th November 2011 and this sadly was to be his last
goal all season. He picked up a injury at the end of November which kept him
out for a month.
He came back and made a start at home to Coventry on 2nd January and stayed
in the team away at Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup where he had a decent
game but missed a penalty in the second half and we eventually lost.
Faith was kept in him by Allardyce in our next home game against Nottingham
Forest on 21st January but Baldock was ineffective and taken off in the
second half. This would be his last start of the season.
He was not on the bench for a number of games, an unused substitute for many
and he came on a few times with no great effect. He should have scored up at
Burnley when he and Maynard came on and changed the game in terms of how we
were playing.
I was even calling for him to be in the first team after that game but
Allardyce kept with his system.
Baldock did not even make the bench for the Play Off Final which I am sure
disappointed him greatly and although he is popular with the supporters it
would seem to me that Sam Allardyce isn't a massive fan of his and I am not
sure that he will be getting a chance in the coming season to show us what
he can do.
I suspect he will be sent out on loan or perhaps even sold.
Apps: League 10+13Sub Cup 1
Goals: 5
Bookings: 1
Verdict: Looked good at times but once he got injured and lost his place he
couldn't get it back again.
Frank Nouble
Despite much promise it has never happened for Frank Nouble at West Ham. He
has played under a few managers and has come in when we have been short up
front and never disgraced himself but with other options always available he
has been continually shipped out on loan to lower division clubs.
This season was no different even though we had dropped a division and had
only three senior strikers available as the season began.
He did come on as a sub in the League Cup defeat against Aldershot Town but
despite being a willing runner he was isolated and had little support.
Nouble was shipped off on loan to League Two side Gillingham on 15th
September and he did well there and ended up spending three months with them
scoring 5 goals in 12 games. He came back to West Ham on 17th December.
Totally out of the blue he was given a place in the starting line-up for the
away game at Derby County on 31st December. Allardyce gave him his chance
and he took it as he scored his one and only goal for the club in a 2-1
defeat.
He was allegedly subject to a bid from Crawley Town in January which was
accepted by West Ham but the move was rejected by the Nouble.
Despite scoring against Derby he was dropped for the following game against
Coventry although he was on the bench. His last appearance in a West Ham
shirt came away at Ipswich Town as we were smashed 5-1.
In March 2012 he was sent out on loan again, this time to Barnsley. He
started five games but did not score any goals.
It was announced at the end of the season that his contract will not be
renewed and he will be leaving the club on its expiry.
He came with a bit of hype but ultimately Nouble hasn't been good enough and
I would think his career will be based in the lower ends of the football
league.
Apps: League 1+2Sub Cup 0+2Sub
Goals: 1
Nicky Maynard
Signed in the January transfer window 25 year old Maynard came to the club
with a reputation for scoring goals at Championship level having done well
with Bristol City in previous seasons.
He signed for an undisclosed fee on a 2 and half year contract.
Maynard made his debut against Southampton at Upton Park as he came on as
sub and nearly opened the scoring with a good effort which was saved.
He made his full debut away at Blackpool in a terrific 4-1 victory and
scored his first goal for the club in this game.
He was also in the starting eleven for the away trip to Leeds United
although he missed a couple of excellent chances and was taken off after 55
minutes.
Maynard would get another chance at home to Middlesbrough but then was
dropped and only made sub appearances in the next three games.
But against Barnsley at Oakwell he was back in the first team and scored a
fantastic goal in a superb 4-0 victory. It was a real classy finish from a
player who does have a knack for scoring.
He was poor in the following game at home to Birmingham and was taken off at
half time and he would not start again for the rest of the season. This was
partly down to Carlton Cole finding his form and Maynard would be restricted
to appearances from the bench.
On one such appearance in the Play Off Semi Final 1st Leg against Cardiff he
scored the third goal in a 3-0 win with a well taken finish.
Maynard looks a decent player and whether he can make the step up remains to
be seen but he clearly is able to finish and hopefully he will rise to the
challenge of the Premiership.
Apps: League 9+7 Sub
Goals: 3
Bookings: 1
Verdict: We haven't seen too much of him but he has done well enough in his
few appearances and we will see more next season.
Robert Hall
18 year old Hall has come through the club's youth system and made his
breakthrough into the first team with a league debut away at Derby County on
New Years Eve. He looked dangerous when he came on as he went out wide and
attempted to showcase his quick feet and skill.
He did the same away in the cup against Sheffield Wednesday when he came on
as sub and looked a tricky customer.
A couple more sub appearances all pointed to a promising player but with
others ahead of him he was sent out on loan for the third time during the
campaign, this time to MK Dons where he only made two sub appearances.
His loan moves earlier in the season were both to Oxford United where he
received more playing time and scored 6 goals in 11 appearances.
I hope he is given a chance to play at some point during the season as
everything I have seen from him so far points to a very good player in the
making.
Apps: League 0+3 Sub Cup 0+1 Sub
Ricardo Vaz Te
Signed on January transfer deadline day for an undisclosed fee on a two and
half year contract, Ricardo Vaz Te has been nothing short of brilliant.
Having already scored 10 league goals in 12 starts for Barnsley it was clear
he was in goal scoring form but even I have been surprised at the impact he
has made since signing for the club.
He ended the season having scored 12 goals in just 16 starts for the club.
His first came away at Blackpool in the 4-1 win.
His late equaliser against Watford at Upton Park ensured we came out with at
least a point. He came off injured in the following game against Doncaster
after just 24 minutes when he was looked incredibly dangerous.
He made it back in the team for the game at Peterborough United where he
opened the scoring with a header and in the next game against Reading he
would also score with his head.
Vaz Te went back to former club Barnsley in the next game and scored the
fourth goal and in the Easter Monday clash with Birmingham City he would
score again with his head and would even get another as his late penalty saw
us grab a point.
It would of course be the following game at home to Brighton which would be
his masterpiece as he scored three goals in an epic 6-0 victory. His first a
powerful shot which the keeper didn't see, the second a brave header at the
back post and the third, a magnificent scissor kick to complete the hat
trick.
A brilliant finish against Cardiff at Upton Park saw us book our place at
Wembley for the Play Off Final and with three minutes remaining on the clock
he was on hand to slam the ball into the roof of the net and send us into
the Premiership.
Ricardo Vaz Te has been a fantastic signing. He is exciting to watch,
skilful, has the ability to make things happen and most importantly – he
scores goals.
Apps: League 16+2Sub
Goals: 12
Bookings: 1
Verdict: A big challenge for him to step up but I believe he can do it and
he has been fantastic for the club since signing.
Carlton Cole
Well here we are again reviewing Carlton Cole. It seems as though he has
been here for an age and in fact he has been with the club since 2006.
He is a player who divides fans with many disliking him more than any other
player and others who see what he can bring to the club.
Then there are people like myself who take Carlton Cole for what he is and
what he always has been which is a striker who will get you a few goals,
have a few good games, have a few bad ones but overall he gives his all for
the team.
Criticising Carlton Cole for being lazy is just that – a lazy criticism
which holds no merit. The same was said about Harewood, Wanchope and
Kanoute.
Cole has again finished top scorer and has come out with 15 league goals.
His form before the Christmas period was satisfactory for me but he did not
score enough goals when the new year hit and he went through a poor run of
form.
Cole would go on a terrible run after scoring against Millwall and would not
score again in any of the next eleven games. Granted he did not start all of
these and rarely played the full 90 minutes but this was a very poor run at
a time in the season where we needed our best striker in form.
Cole has that knack of bringing the ball down expertly but then fails to
play a pass to a team mate two feet in front of him which is extremely
frustrating.
From the Reading home game onwards he did find that form and Cole scored 6
goals in his next 8 games.
One of those goals would of course come in the Play Off Final as he put in
an excellent display and opened the scoring.
His form near the end of the season was really encouraging with his display
away at Cardiff in the semi-final being the pick of the bunch.
Carlton Cole has hit double figures in each of last four seasons (in all
competitions). He scores around the same amount of goals each season
(between 10 and 15) and I have no doubt that he will do it again in this
coming Premiership season because that is what Cole offers.
He is not a world beater; he never has been and never will be. Carlton Cole
is not Didier Drogba.
What startles me is that certain supporters cannot work this out yet. You
would think they would have figured this out by now. He's only been here six
years.
If West Ham could go out and buy better strikers than Carlton Cole then we
wouldn't even be talking about him. But we can't, and we won't and Carlton
Cole will again lead our strike force next season.
Apps: League 30+12Sub
Goals: 15
Bookings: 7
Verdict: Top scorer again. Double figures again. It's always the same thing
with Cole and this is something that certain supporters need to accept.
So that concludes the Player Reviews for season 2011/12.
Thanks for reading.
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Exclusive: Hearn confirms Leyton Orient will approach West Ham over Olympic
Stadium ground-share
London 24
Tom Moore
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
1:52 PM
Leyton Orient will make a bid to ground-share with West Ham in the Olympic
Stadium, chairman Barry Hearn has confirmed. Reports had suggested that they
were set to approach the Hammers over a ground-share and the O's chairman
said "Yes, it's true." Hearn will seek talks with West Ham owners David Gold
and David Sullivan over the move, which would mean two London clubs sharing
a stadium on a permanent basis for the first time. In recent years Crystal
Palace and Wimbledon have shared Selhurst Park before the Dons collapsed.
Fulham played at QPR's Loftus Road while Craven Cottage was being
redeveloped and West Ham and Charlton groundshared briefly but all sides
have since returned to their own stadium.
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QPR will stump up £50k-a-week to persuade Green to cross capital
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 09:44, 30 May 2012 | UPDATED: 09:44, 30 May 2012
Daily Mail
Queens Park Rangers are willing to pay England goalkeeper Rob Green
£50,000-a-week to switch from east London to west. The West Ham stopper's
wage demands are stalling a new deal at his current club and the 32-year-old
would be interested in working under Mark Hughes. QPR's boss wants to
toughen his side up at the back following a close shave with relegation and
Green fits the bill, with current keeper Paddy Kenny a target for Neil
Warnock at Leeds. If Green does make the move across the capital, Allardyce
will turn to his former goalie at Bolton, Jussi Jaaskelainen. The
37-year-old has fallen behind Adam Bogdan in the pecking order at the Reebok
and would be open to a switch.
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Oxford United play West Ham and Cardiff in pre-season
BBC.co.uk
Oxford United will welcome Premier League side West Ham United to the Kassam
Stadium as part of the U's pre-season build-up. The newly-promoted Hammers
have promised to send a full-strength squad to Oxford when they visit on 17
July. Championship club Cardiff City will do likewise when they visit on
August 4.
U's assistant manager Mickey Lewis told BBC Radio Oxford: "West Ham and
Cardiff are big clubs, so these are exciting fixtures for supporters and
players."
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Mugged off?
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Staff Writer
Tottenham Hotspur have slashed the price of a Champions League commemorative
mug after the north Londoners were denied entry to the competition courtesy
of Chelsea's win against Bayern Munich. In the second most important game
played on Saturday, 19th May, Chelsea's Champions League win in Germany
meant that Tottenham - who had previously qualified for the competition by
virtue of finishing fourth in last season's Premier League - were relegated
to the Europa Cup. And that meant that hapless Spurs, who endured a wretched
end to the 2011/12 campaign were left with a surplus of specially-made
commemorative mugs that celebrated their qualification for the tournament.
Fans of the club managed by Harry Redknapp are now able to buy a Champions
League-embossed mug for a bargain £1 - an 80 PER CENT reduction on their
original price of £5 each. As an extra bonus, Spurs fans can purchase three
mugs for the bargain price of just £2 thanks to a special offer on the
club's website.
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Sam takes Stock
The Sun
Last Updated: 31st May 2012
WEST HAM have targeted Fulham's David Stockdale to replace Robert Green.
Contract talks with England keeper Green have broken down over his wage
demands, thought to be £50,000 a week. So West Ham boss Sam Allardyce will
turn to £5million-rated Stockdale should Green quit Upton Park. Stockdale,
26, is growing increasingly frustrated at being unable to dislodge Cottagers
No 1 Mark Schwarzer. And Fulham would listen to offers for a keeper who has
been called up to the England squad already, for the Euro 2012 qualifier
against Switzerland.
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Jaaskelainen set for West Ham after snubbing new Bolton deal
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:40, 30 May 2012 | UPDATED: 22:40, 30 May 2012
Daily Mail
Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen has ended his 15-year stay at Bolton after
turning down a new deal.
Jaaskelainen is set to join West Ham, who have also made enquiries about
Fulham's highly-rated goalkeeper David Stockdale, 26.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid will miss the OFC Nations Cup as a precaution as he is nursing
a slight groin injury
30.05.2012
Winston Reid has been ruled out of the New Zealand squad for the OFC Nations
Cup with a groin injury. Reid has been carrying the injury since the end of
West Ham's promotion-winning season and New Zealand's potential schedule in
the Solomon Islands - five games in ten days - would risk further damage.
"It's disappointing to not have Winston joining us," said All Whites coach
Ricki Herbert. "He's a big part of our plans as we aim to qualify for the
World Cup in Brazil [in 2014]." Reid made 33 appearances for West Ham United
during the 2011/12 season, scoring three goals. The defender was injured on
his last appearance for New Zealand against Jamaica in February, suffering a
concussion that ruled him out for five weeks. However, the 23-year-old
returned to play a full part in the Hammers' npower Championship Play-Off
final victory over Blackpool at Wembley on 19 May.
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Vaz Te looking forward
WHUFC.com
Ricardo Vaz Te cannot wait for next season to start
29.05.2012
Ricardo Vaz Te says he is looking forward to life in the Premier League with
West Ham United. The Hammers' Play-Off final hero cannot wait to challenge
himself in the Premier League once more and the opportunity to ply his trade
in the top flight was one of the main reasons he moved to east London. With
Season Ticket sales already on the up, Vaz Te is looking forward to dazzling
the Boleyn Ground faithful with more goals next season. "From the beginning,
when I joined here, the goal was to get promoted," he told whufc.com. "So we
have done that and I am looking forward to what that challenge will bring
for us. It is an exciting time for everyone at the club. "You can see it
meant a lot to everyone here and the fans. It has been said many times but
it is the truth, they deserve for the club to be in the top league. We have
around 30,000 at all our home games. They are there with us and we will be
doing everything we can to do the best we can next season again. If I can be
a part of that, it will make me happy."
Vaz Te capped off a memorable few months at the club since arriving from
Barnsley in the January transfer window by scoring the winner at Wembley in
the 2-1 victory against Blackpool. But while he will enjoy a short summer
break, his thoughts will soon turn to what is needed for next season. "I
will go away now and have some time, like we all will and then make sure I
am ready. I am confident I can score more goals next season. I have
confidence in my own ability and I am looking forward to the challenge that
being in the Premier League brings. "I have to make sure I am ready when the
opportunities come and make sure I am there to take them."
With several new signings expected over the summer, the Portuguese
midfielder knows there will be greater competition for places and it is up
to all the players to work hard to earn their place. "I am very thankful to
have been part of this so far and I will be working hard to get into the
team, because it will be hard. I think for all of us it is about reflecting
now then looking to build on this moment and take it into next season with
confidence. "Nothing is easy, but we will work hard to try to achieve our
best."
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Hammers in double swoop
KUMb.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are hoping to make their first signings since returning to the
Premier League with the capture of Sunderland defender George McCartney and
Blackburn striker Yakubu. Sam Allardyce, keen to boost his squad as early as
possible has instructed his employees to bid for the Nigerian international
and tie up a permanent deal for Irish defender McCartney, who spent last
season on loan at the Boleyn Ground. The Hammers are thought to have offered
£1.2million for the much-travelled Yakubu who arrived in England back in
2003 when joining Portsmouth - since when he has featured for Middlesbrough,
Everton, Leicester and Blackburn who were relegated from the Premier League
at the end of the 2011/12 campaign.
Just 48 hours ago a 'source' close to the African striker said: "Yak has his
heart set on staying in the Premier League so it looks likely that he will
be off this summer.
"He was really saddened by what happened at the end of the season because he
had a great rapport with the [Blackburn] fans, but he is certain that he is
still a Premier League striker and hopes that a deal will be done that suits
all parties."
Meanwhile McCartney, who is currently contracted to Sunderland is expected
to sign on a free transfer. Speaking after West Ham confirmed their return
to the Premier League, the Irish international said: "Of course I would like
to be here next year. "I have regrets about leaving a few years ago and I
have got the opportunity to come back and things have gone really well. So
hopefully in a few weeks' time when everything has settled down, we can sort
something out."
We'll have more on these stories as details emerge.
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Season ticket row: common sense prevails
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United have written to long-term season ticket holders to confirm
that they ARE entitled to an immediate 20 per cent discount. Last week
KUMB.com revealed how a number of loyal supporters had been angered by the
club's decision not to award them the discount promised to those who had
held a season ticket for five consecutive seasons leading up to the
forthcoming campaign. However the club have today contacted supporters who
wrote to them to complain in order to confirm that they WILL be able to
claim the full 20 per cent discount off next year's season ticket - instead
of the five per cent over the next four years that was previously offered.
In the letter, received by a number of fans this morning, the club refuted
suggestions that they had acted improperly by refusing to confirm whether or
not the full 20 per cent discount would be available this season. "We
reiterate our previous belief that the club has acted in a transparent way
and has not refused to honour the 20 per cent discount," it stated. "We have
made an offer to pay this amount over a period of time – a solution which
would significantly strengthen the club's current position as we enter the
Premier League. "We acknowledge that this may not be economically possible
for every supporter and if you feel you require the ability to receive the
full 20% in 2012/13 then please call the ticket officeto discuss and action
with a member of our team."
The club's also refuted allegations that they had been aware of the promise
of a discount made by the previous administration in 2009. "For clarity,
there is some suggestion that the club has been aware of this offer for some
time – this is categorically not the case," the letter stated. "This issue
was not declared to the current owners as a liability in the course of the
sale agreement in January 2010."
Those supporters who are entitled to the 20 per cent discount and who have
already paid the full rate for their 2012/13 season tickets are also advised
to contact the ticket office should they wish to claim a part refund.
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Hearn's cheeky Stratford bid
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Staff Writer
Leyton Orient are set to approach West Ham United with view to
ground-sharing the Olympic Stadium, according to reports. The League One
club, whose outspoken Chairman Barry Hearn has been against West Ham's move
to Stratford since it first emerged that the club were hoping to move across
the borough have intimated that they are set to approach United with the
offer imminently. According to a report by David Smith in tonight's Evening
Standard, Hearn will "seek talks" with West Ham's co-chairman David Gold and
David Sullivan in an attempt to shoe-horn his club into the deal. Meanwhile
a 'source' told the Standard: "It ticks all the boxes. Why not ground-share?
It already happens all over the world."
However given Hearn's vocal opposition to West Ham's move, it is unlikely
that any offer will be considered by co-owners Sullivan and Gold, who were
told recently that they were "overwhelmingly likely" to be awarded tenancy
of the stadium by London mayor Boris Johnson. Despite last week's deadline
day for bids being delayed by eight weeks, Johnson saw no reason why that
would hurt West Ham's bid for use of the stadium. "I don't think we should
read too much into this," he said. "It is very important to get all the
legal nails hit squarely on the head so that the thing does not come
unstuck. That is taking a bit of time. "I still think it is overwhelmingly
likely that there will be a footballing solution and that would be a good
thing. But It is very important that it should be legally watertight. "This
is a major piece of public infrastructure with big state aid implications
that we are trying to transfer to commercial concerns and that is always
going to evoke very complicated legal problems."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sympathy? You must be joking
KUMb.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Paul Walker
I must admit, I never thought there would come the day when I felt sorry for
Sheffield United or Tottenham.
And I was right! That day has not arrived, although for just one or two
seconds I did feel a touch of sympathy for two clubs we have had more
problems with off the pitch than on it over recent years.
I am not the sort of fan who spends any time abusing rival supporters, I'd
rather spend all my energies concentrating on my own players, and I do hate
the chants and songs which are just aimed at goading opponents.
The " your support is f……s…", or the one that tells rivals how much we hate
being in their town. And then there is the anti-Semitic stuff - racism in
effect - that gets aimed at Spurs fans. Surely we can be above all this.
But there's still a section of our support who sing the 'running round
Tottenham' rubbish and believe it is acceptable. I sat on the tube to
Wembley with a lovely family from Blackpool, with three wide-eyed kids on
their first trip to London, feeling utterly embarrassed as our fans belted
out the anti-Spurs stuff.
For heavens sake, sing about us, not our rivals. Enough said, you know who
you are!
However, the ill-fortune that has fallen on Sheffield United and Spurs at
the end of the season did make me feel that "what goes around comes around"
is an apt view.
Actually, I don't have issue with rank and file fans at either club. They
are just like us, they love their club, they believe the party line stuff
that gets pushed out on club websites and they want what we want. Success on
the pitch.
I have a couple of Spurs fans as mates, they are quite human really, and one
even texted me on the way to Wembley wishing us luck in the play-off Final.
And I managed to reply a few hours later after the dust had settled on
Wembley and Munich, that it is very wrong that the sixth-placed Premier
League club, Chelsea, should be in the Champions League ahead of fourth
placed Spurs.
And I felt sorry for Steve Simonsen, the Sheffield United 'keeper who missed
the decisive play-off penalty shoot-out spot kick that saw Huddersfield
promoted and not the Blades. I've met the lad a few times, and you couldn't
wish for a nicer young man.
But that is where the sympathy ends. I have real issues with the hierarchy
and senior management of both clubs, who have done their utmost to damage us
as a club and business.
Sheffield United first. We are still paying them £5million a year (how much
longer?) following the Tevez arbitration of 2008, and I am tempted to ask
just what we have got for our money, so badly have the Blades fared since!
|I would have liked the TV cameras to have dwelt just a little longer on the
face of their chairman Kevin McCabe after that shoot-out disaster at Wembley
that condemned the Yorkshire club to another season in the third tier of
English football.
They are £32million in debt despite the £20million they have already had
from us, have spent £15million in the last two seasons and are now facing
severe cuts, including sacking Simonsen this week.
McCabe and his mates - including various past sports ministers, senior MPs
and third rate actors - manipulated the Tevez situation and wanted to put us
out of business. The Premier League voted that we had been punished enough
with the £5.5million fine, the High Court would not back the Blades and only
the FA's independent arbitration hearing under that geriatric Lord Griffiths
agreed with McCabe's lot.
We were severely punished for what most in football thought was a technical
offence, the Premier League were more bothered about us deceiving them
rather than the debatable detail of a contract that never actually came into
operation.
We deserved to be punished. But not almost put out of business by McCabe and
his chancers. In the end we were the victims of an FA who was at war with
the Premier League and wanted to make a stand against the all-powerful top
flight.
So I have had no sympathy with Sheffield United's plight, and hope they
enjoy their trips to Crawley, Shrewsbury and Swindon next season.
Now Spurs. The north London club reckon they will lose £40million by being
excluded from the Champions League. They could also lose top players not
overjoyed with the prospect of playing in the Europa League.
Van der Vaart, Modric,Bale and even our beloved 'arry could go. Redknapp was
even linked with Chelsea last week.
I won't be crying over any misfortune that is suffered at White Hart Lane.
Their management have gone to extraordinary lengths to ruin our business
plan and the possible move to the Olympic Stadium, pushing legality to the
limits.
They have employed people who have sunk to the depths of the dark arts of
surveillance, stealing phone records and running personal checks on everyone
of the committee that was considering the Olympic Stadium legacy.
Spurs did not want Stratford, they were just desperate to sabotage any
attempts by us to progress and grow and find a ground that could accommodate
our 50,000 plus fans who went to Wembley.
Whether you like the idea of moving to the Olympic Stadium or not isn't the
point, but Spurs were trying to damage us as a club, which was inexcusable.
So any misfortune that falls their way should be a deluge in my view.
I had a bet with one of my Spurs mates before last season that they would
never play in the Champions League again. Could be I will be right. As for
the Blades, they might just have cut their own throats.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Player Reviews 2011/12 - Part 3
Vinny 3:02 Wed May 30
West Ham Online
Player Reviews 2011/12 – Part 3
To View last season's Part 3, go to:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110702012056/http://westhamonline.net/article.p
hp?5540007
Forwards
John Carew
On August 6th 2011 the club announced the signing of John Carew who had been
released by Aston Villa a few months previous.
He made his debut in the 2-2 draw at home to Leeds United when he came on as
a substitute after 66 minutes. First reactions to him was of course how tall
and strong he is although a few days later in the league cup game at home to
Aldershot Town you could really get the sense of just how slow he was.
His first goal for the club came away at Crystal Palace when he came on for
the final quarter of the game and scored the equaliser late on.
Carew was then rewarded with a start against Blackpool in the following game
where for me he was the best player on the pitch as we ran out 4-0 winners.
He scored the first goal and I gave him my man of the match award, stating:
"He was simply unplayable. Blackpool couldn't get near him and but a selfish
moment which denied Baldock his hat trick, this was perfect performance."
He started the next few games but found himself taken off in every one of
them. His final two starts (away at Hull and Coventry) saw him removed on
both occasions at half time.
This would really be all from John Carew and he did nothing again of note
for the remainder of the season. He made no other impact on the league
season and when we did see him come on as a sub (which was rare) he looked
as though he was a former footballer who was in his forties or fifties and
had returned to play a game for charity.
I cannot believe he is only 32 because the man cannot run. Maybe it is his
frame, maybe it is fitness or maybe he just turned dog shit as he got older
but the man clearly cannot play football at a decent standard anymore.
With Vaz Te and Maynard signing in the January transfer window he fell down
the pecking order and with his contract expiring in the summer it has been
announced that he is to be released which comes as little surprise.
Earlier this year he was declared bankrupt following a petition by HM
Revenue and Customs. His off field problems may have contributed to his lack
of interest on it but I would suspect he was a good wage and with that being
the case the signing of Carew can be considered a bit of a flop.
Apps: League 7 + 11Sub Cup 2
Goals: 2
Bookings: 1
Verdict: Never had the desire and certainly does not have the quality.
Freddie Sears
It is easily forgotten that the first game of the season against Cardiff
City Freddie Sears was in the starting line-up. He had done well in
Pre-Season and scored the winner against FC Copenhagen and also scored in
the home game against Real Zaragoza.
His performance against Cardiff didn't fill me with too much confidence and
he was taken off later in the game.
This wasn't to be his last involvement as he was still in and around the
first team squad and made another start in the League Cup game against
Aldershot. Playing again on the wing I thought he did better than most on
the pitch and actually thought he was our best player on a dismal night.
Sears was coming on as a second half sub frequently with his best cameo away
at Brighton in the 1-0 win where he looked positive and helped us in the
second half when we needed an outlet.
He started the game at home to Bristol City in the 0-0 draw but with us
struggling he was again taken off.
His final start of the season and involvement with the West Ham team was
away at Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup where he was poor like most of the
team.
Not long after he was shipped out on loan to League One side Colchester
United where he has started five games, came on as sub six times and scored
2 goals.
Having signed a five year contract in 2008 he still has another year to run
at West Ham but can anyone see him making an impact or getting any sort of
look in if he remains at the club? He needs to move on for the sake of his
career as he just doesn't have the ability to make it at the top level.
It hasn't helped him that no manager apart from Alan Curbishley wanted to
play him as a striker which is where he made a name of himself at youth and
reserve level. He scored a staggering amount of goals at that level in the
striking position but has always been used as winger in the main under Zola,
Grant and now Allardyce.
Whilst it hasn't happened for Sears we will always recall that day in March
2008 when he made his debut against Blackburn with the score at 1-1. It was
a wonderful moment when he scored the winner as a 17 year old on his first
senior start and whatever will happen in his career he will always have that
and I'm sure we will remember that goal for a few more years.
Apps: 2 + 8 Sub Cup 2
Brian Montenegro
Brian from Montenegro? No, Brian Montenegro. From Paraguay. Signed from
Deportivo Maldonado who are from Uruguay.
18 year old Montenegro was a fairly low risk loan signing who I don't
believe was ever brought here to play first team football during the season
and was brought in to have a look at a promising young player.
He did make his debut for the club in the FA Cup game at Sheffield Wednesday
as he came on a late sub but he did nothing of particular note.
He started 12 games for the development squad and scored 7 goals which
wasn't a bad return.
According to the match programme for the Cardiff Play Off 2nd Leg it states
on page 83 that according to development squad manager Ian Hendon that
Montenegro will be an important member of the development squad next season
so I presume he will be staying on for another season's loan or signing
permanently.
Apps: Cup 0+1 Sub
Frederique Piquionne
I thought he was pretty abysmal in the second half of last season and with
no one willing to sign him given that he must be on a tremendous wage he
started the season at the club as one of our main strikers.
Piquionne indeed began the season in the starting line up as he took his
place up front on his own against Cardiff. He struggled to get anything
going although this wasn't entirely his fault given the way we were just
lumping balls towards him.
It was clear though even at this stage that Piquionne would not be the
answer to our goal scoring problems that we had endured the previous
campaign.
Piquionne has a terrible goal scoring record and has only hit double figures
in a season once in the last nine seasons and that came at St Étienne in
2004/05 season.
Having made little impact in the opening couple of games as a starter he
tended to come off the bench to play cameo roles over the next few weeks.
He was sent off after only a few minutes having come on as a sub against his
former club Portsmouth in an the ball incident with Greg Halford.
He managed a start at home to Bristol City on 1st November but as the game
finished 0-0 and the focus was on us not taking our chances he was dropped
again.
Piquionne did make an impact when he came on against Coventry City on 19th
November as he and Carlton Cole changed the game and Piquionne actually
managed to score the winner as the Coventry defender planted his header
against Piquionne who was falling on the floor and the ball went over the
line.
He came on early in our next game (20th minute) against Derby County and won
a penalty which Mark Noble converted as the game finished 3-1.
This decent form saw him gain a start in the Tuesday night game at
Middlesbrough where he was largely excellent and scored the first goal with
a terrific header from a Matthew Taylor cross.
But then a really lacklustre performance away at Reading saw his form dip.
You could argue that he was unlucky here as the reason we lost this game was
due to our discipline deserting us as we had two players sent off.
Allardyce persisted with him at home to Barnsley, and away at both
Birmingham and Derby. Average displays and most importantly no goals clearly
displayed the need to go and bring in some firepower during the January
transfer window and with Nicky Maynard and Ricardo Vaz Te signing this was
the end for Piquionne.
He was sent out on loan in January to fellow Championship club Doncaster
Rovers and scored a wonderful goal on his debut. He scored one other goal
for Doncaster in March as they lost 3-1 to Birmingham and they were
relegated.
With a year left on his contract he remains at the club and if he is
stubborn he will remain here as he is likely to be on a wage that no one is
going to pay him given his poor form of recent years, lack of goals and age
(33).
Apps: League 8+11Sub Cup 1
Goals: 2
Bookings: 2
Sent Off : 1 (vs Portsmouth home)
Verdict: Doesn't score enough goals and never has in his career. Would be
positive for all concerned if he would leave in the summer.
Sam Baldock
It has seemed as though we had tried to get every striker available to come
to the club but one after another refused so we were left with the end of
list players such as Sam Baldock. I don't mean this as disrespect to Baldock
but his signing seemed liked a bit of a desperate move and not one which
would solve our issues up front.
Baldock had done well for Milton Keynes Dons in League one at the start of
the season and had played four league games and scored four goals. He had
also played two cup games and scored in each of them also. Clearly he was a
player with something and he excited the West Ham crowd early on with his
speed and willingness.
He made his debut away at Millwall coming on as a sub and his full debut in
the 1-0 home defeat to Ipswich Town.
He started against in our next home game against Blackpool and put in a
terrific performance and scored two goals in the process. He took the goals
well, was hard working, quick and effective throughout.
His performance away at Southampton was largely uneventful and he was
dropped for the following game at Brighton but reinstated for the next game
which was at home to Leicester City and for the second concecutive home
match he would score two goals.
It seemed to me at this time that we had a real poacher on our hands and
Baldock would be the one to get those goals from inside the six yard box.
You could say, even know that he is the most natural poacher we have at the
club.
Two games later we went away to Hull City and he opened the scoring in the
second half with a goal again from inside the six yard box.
This game too place on 5th November 2011 and this sadly was to be his last
goal all season. He picked up a injury at the end of November which kept him
out for a month.
He came back and made a start at home to Coventry on 2nd January and stayed
in the team away at Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup where he had a decent
game but missed a penalty in the second half and we eventually lost.
Faith was kept in him by Allardyce in our next home game against Nottingham
Forest on 21st January but Baldock was ineffective and taken off in the
second half. This would be his last start of the season.
He was not on the bench for a number of games, an unused substitute for many
and he came on a few times with no great effect. He should have scored up at
Burnley when he and Maynard came on and changed the game in terms of how we
were playing.
I was even calling for him to be in the first team after that game but
Allardyce kept with his system.
Baldock did not even make the bench for the Play Off Final which I am sure
disappointed him greatly and although he is popular with the supporters it
would seem to me that Sam Allardyce isn't a massive fan of his and I am not
sure that he will be getting a chance in the coming season to show us what
he can do.
I suspect he will be sent out on loan or perhaps even sold.
Apps: League 10+13Sub Cup 1
Goals: 5
Bookings: 1
Verdict: Looked good at times but once he got injured and lost his place he
couldn't get it back again.
Frank Nouble
Despite much promise it has never happened for Frank Nouble at West Ham. He
has played under a few managers and has come in when we have been short up
front and never disgraced himself but with other options always available he
has been continually shipped out on loan to lower division clubs.
This season was no different even though we had dropped a division and had
only three senior strikers available as the season began.
He did come on as a sub in the League Cup defeat against Aldershot Town but
despite being a willing runner he was isolated and had little support.
Nouble was shipped off on loan to League Two side Gillingham on 15th
September and he did well there and ended up spending three months with them
scoring 5 goals in 12 games. He came back to West Ham on 17th December.
Totally out of the blue he was given a place in the starting line-up for the
away game at Derby County on 31st December. Allardyce gave him his chance
and he took it as he scored his one and only goal for the club in a 2-1
defeat.
He was allegedly subject to a bid from Crawley Town in January which was
accepted by West Ham but the move was rejected by the Nouble.
Despite scoring against Derby he was dropped for the following game against
Coventry although he was on the bench. His last appearance in a West Ham
shirt came away at Ipswich Town as we were smashed 5-1.
In March 2012 he was sent out on loan again, this time to Barnsley. He
started five games but did not score any goals.
It was announced at the end of the season that his contract will not be
renewed and he will be leaving the club on its expiry.
He came with a bit of hype but ultimately Nouble hasn't been good enough and
I would think his career will be based in the lower ends of the football
league.
Apps: League 1+2Sub Cup 0+2Sub
Goals: 1
Nicky Maynard
Signed in the January transfer window 25 year old Maynard came to the club
with a reputation for scoring goals at Championship level having done well
with Bristol City in previous seasons.
He signed for an undisclosed fee on a 2 and half year contract.
Maynard made his debut against Southampton at Upton Park as he came on as
sub and nearly opened the scoring with a good effort which was saved.
He made his full debut away at Blackpool in a terrific 4-1 victory and
scored his first goal for the club in this game.
He was also in the starting eleven for the away trip to Leeds United
although he missed a couple of excellent chances and was taken off after 55
minutes.
Maynard would get another chance at home to Middlesbrough but then was
dropped and only made sub appearances in the next three games.
But against Barnsley at Oakwell he was back in the first team and scored a
fantastic goal in a superb 4-0 victory. It was a real classy finish from a
player who does have a knack for scoring.
He was poor in the following game at home to Birmingham and was taken off at
half time and he would not start again for the rest of the season. This was
partly down to Carlton Cole finding his form and Maynard would be restricted
to appearances from the bench.
On one such appearance in the Play Off Semi Final 1st Leg against Cardiff he
scored the third goal in a 3-0 win with a well taken finish.
Maynard looks a decent player and whether he can make the step up remains to
be seen but he clearly is able to finish and hopefully he will rise to the
challenge of the Premiership.
Apps: League 9+7 Sub
Goals: 3
Bookings: 1
Verdict: We haven't seen too much of him but he has done well enough in his
few appearances and we will see more next season.
Robert Hall
18 year old Hall has come through the club's youth system and made his
breakthrough into the first team with a league debut away at Derby County on
New Years Eve. He looked dangerous when he came on as he went out wide and
attempted to showcase his quick feet and skill.
He did the same away in the cup against Sheffield Wednesday when he came on
as sub and looked a tricky customer.
A couple more sub appearances all pointed to a promising player but with
others ahead of him he was sent out on loan for the third time during the
campaign, this time to MK Dons where he only made two sub appearances.
His loan moves earlier in the season were both to Oxford United where he
received more playing time and scored 6 goals in 11 appearances.
I hope he is given a chance to play at some point during the season as
everything I have seen from him so far points to a very good player in the
making.
Apps: League 0+3 Sub Cup 0+1 Sub
Ricardo Vaz Te
Signed on January transfer deadline day for an undisclosed fee on a two and
half year contract, Ricardo Vaz Te has been nothing short of brilliant.
Having already scored 10 league goals in 12 starts for Barnsley it was clear
he was in goal scoring form but even I have been surprised at the impact he
has made since signing for the club.
He ended the season having scored 12 goals in just 16 starts for the club.
His first came away at Blackpool in the 4-1 win.
His late equaliser against Watford at Upton Park ensured we came out with at
least a point. He came off injured in the following game against Doncaster
after just 24 minutes when he was looked incredibly dangerous.
He made it back in the team for the game at Peterborough United where he
opened the scoring with a header and in the next game against Reading he
would also score with his head.
Vaz Te went back to former club Barnsley in the next game and scored the
fourth goal and in the Easter Monday clash with Birmingham City he would
score again with his head and would even get another as his late penalty saw
us grab a point.
It would of course be the following game at home to Brighton which would be
his masterpiece as he scored three goals in an epic 6-0 victory. His first a
powerful shot which the keeper didn't see, the second a brave header at the
back post and the third, a magnificent scissor kick to complete the hat
trick.
A brilliant finish against Cardiff at Upton Park saw us book our place at
Wembley for the Play Off Final and with three minutes remaining on the clock
he was on hand to slam the ball into the roof of the net and send us into
the Premiership.
Ricardo Vaz Te has been a fantastic signing. He is exciting to watch,
skilful, has the ability to make things happen and most importantly – he
scores goals.
Apps: League 16+2Sub
Goals: 12
Bookings: 1
Verdict: A big challenge for him to step up but I believe he can do it and
he has been fantastic for the club since signing.
Carlton Cole
Well here we are again reviewing Carlton Cole. It seems as though he has
been here for an age and in fact he has been with the club since 2006.
He is a player who divides fans with many disliking him more than any other
player and others who see what he can bring to the club.
Then there are people like myself who take Carlton Cole for what he is and
what he always has been which is a striker who will get you a few goals,
have a few good games, have a few bad ones but overall he gives his all for
the team.
Criticising Carlton Cole for being lazy is just that – a lazy criticism
which holds no merit. The same was said about Harewood, Wanchope and
Kanoute.
Cole has again finished top scorer and has come out with 15 league goals.
His form before the Christmas period was satisfactory for me but he did not
score enough goals when the new year hit and he went through a poor run of
form.
Cole would go on a terrible run after scoring against Millwall and would not
score again in any of the next eleven games. Granted he did not start all of
these and rarely played the full 90 minutes but this was a very poor run at
a time in the season where we needed our best striker in form.
Cole has that knack of bringing the ball down expertly but then fails to
play a pass to a team mate two feet in front of him which is extremely
frustrating.
From the Reading home game onwards he did find that form and Cole scored 6
goals in his next 8 games.
One of those goals would of course come in the Play Off Final as he put in
an excellent display and opened the scoring.
His form near the end of the season was really encouraging with his display
away at Cardiff in the semi-final being the pick of the bunch.
Carlton Cole has hit double figures in each of last four seasons (in all
competitions). He scores around the same amount of goals each season
(between 10 and 15) and I have no doubt that he will do it again in this
coming Premiership season because that is what Cole offers.
He is not a world beater; he never has been and never will be. Carlton Cole
is not Didier Drogba.
What startles me is that certain supporters cannot work this out yet. You
would think they would have figured this out by now. He's only been here six
years.
If West Ham could go out and buy better strikers than Carlton Cole then we
wouldn't even be talking about him. But we can't, and we won't and Carlton
Cole will again lead our strike force next season.
Apps: League 30+12Sub
Goals: 15
Bookings: 7
Verdict: Top scorer again. Double figures again. It's always the same thing
with Cole and this is something that certain supporters need to accept.
So that concludes the Player Reviews for season 2011/12.
Thanks for reading.
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Exclusive: Hearn confirms Leyton Orient will approach West Ham over Olympic
Stadium ground-share
London 24
Tom Moore
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
1:52 PM
Leyton Orient will make a bid to ground-share with West Ham in the Olympic
Stadium, chairman Barry Hearn has confirmed. Reports had suggested that they
were set to approach the Hammers over a ground-share and the O's chairman
said "Yes, it's true." Hearn will seek talks with West Ham owners David Gold
and David Sullivan over the move, which would mean two London clubs sharing
a stadium on a permanent basis for the first time. In recent years Crystal
Palace and Wimbledon have shared Selhurst Park before the Dons collapsed.
Fulham played at QPR's Loftus Road while Craven Cottage was being
redeveloped and West Ham and Charlton groundshared briefly but all sides
have since returned to their own stadium.
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QPR will stump up £50k-a-week to persuade Green to cross capital
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 09:44, 30 May 2012 | UPDATED: 09:44, 30 May 2012
Daily Mail
Queens Park Rangers are willing to pay England goalkeeper Rob Green
£50,000-a-week to switch from east London to west. The West Ham stopper's
wage demands are stalling a new deal at his current club and the 32-year-old
would be interested in working under Mark Hughes. QPR's boss wants to
toughen his side up at the back following a close shave with relegation and
Green fits the bill, with current keeper Paddy Kenny a target for Neil
Warnock at Leeds. If Green does make the move across the capital, Allardyce
will turn to his former goalie at Bolton, Jussi Jaaskelainen. The
37-year-old has fallen behind Adam Bogdan in the pecking order at the Reebok
and would be open to a switch.
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Oxford United play West Ham and Cardiff in pre-season
BBC.co.uk
Oxford United will welcome Premier League side West Ham United to the Kassam
Stadium as part of the U's pre-season build-up. The newly-promoted Hammers
have promised to send a full-strength squad to Oxford when they visit on 17
July. Championship club Cardiff City will do likewise when they visit on
August 4.
U's assistant manager Mickey Lewis told BBC Radio Oxford: "West Ham and
Cardiff are big clubs, so these are exciting fixtures for supporters and
players."
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Mugged off?
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 30th May 2012
By: Staff Writer
Tottenham Hotspur have slashed the price of a Champions League commemorative
mug after the north Londoners were denied entry to the competition courtesy
of Chelsea's win against Bayern Munich. In the second most important game
played on Saturday, 19th May, Chelsea's Champions League win in Germany
meant that Tottenham - who had previously qualified for the competition by
virtue of finishing fourth in last season's Premier League - were relegated
to the Europa Cup. And that meant that hapless Spurs, who endured a wretched
end to the 2011/12 campaign were left with a surplus of specially-made
commemorative mugs that celebrated their qualification for the tournament.
Fans of the club managed by Harry Redknapp are now able to buy a Champions
League-embossed mug for a bargain £1 - an 80 PER CENT reduction on their
original price of £5 each. As an extra bonus, Spurs fans can purchase three
mugs for the bargain price of just £2 thanks to a special offer on the
club's website.
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Sam takes Stock
The Sun
Last Updated: 31st May 2012
WEST HAM have targeted Fulham's David Stockdale to replace Robert Green.
Contract talks with England keeper Green have broken down over his wage
demands, thought to be £50,000 a week. So West Ham boss Sam Allardyce will
turn to £5million-rated Stockdale should Green quit Upton Park. Stockdale,
26, is growing increasingly frustrated at being unable to dislodge Cottagers
No 1 Mark Schwarzer. And Fulham would listen to offers for a keeper who has
been called up to the England squad already, for the Euro 2012 qualifier
against Switzerland.
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Jaaskelainen set for West Ham after snubbing new Bolton deal
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:40, 30 May 2012 | UPDATED: 22:40, 30 May 2012
Daily Mail
Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen has ended his 15-year stay at Bolton after
turning down a new deal.
Jaaskelainen is set to join West Ham, who have also made enquiries about
Fulham's highly-rated goalkeeper David Stockdale, 26.
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