Pre-Season 4th August 2007 Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: Upton Park
West Ham United rounded off their pre-season preparations with an impressive
2-1 victory against Italian giants AS Roma on Saturday. In a hard-fought
encounter at a sun-drenched Upton Park, two goals in the space of three
second half minutes from George McCartney and Dean Ashton gave Alan
Curbishley's men a morale-boosting victory after Ludovic Giuly had put the
visitors into a first-half lead. The Hammers boss had asked for fitness,
performance and an injury-free outcome from his side's final warm-up game
before next week's Premier League curtain-raiser against Manchester City,
and he got all three, along with the added bonus of seeing Ashton fire a
superb winner. The hosts made a bright start and fashioned a handful of
attacking moves early on, but the Italians - led by their talismanic captain
Francesco Totti - quickly began to show their class, and opened the scoring
with a well-worked goal after 13 minutes.
Winger Taddei created some space on the left and cut the ball back for
French playmaker Giuly, who took one touch before sending a superb
right-foot drive beyond Robert Green and into the top corner. Seven minutes
later, Roma came close to making it two, when Giuly skipped down the right
and clipped in a cross that was met by Esposito, whose acrobatic effort
clipped the top of the bar. As the first half wore on, Hammers were made to
work hard by the stylish Romans, who finished runners-up behind Inter Milan
in Serie A last season and will be fancied to progress in next year's
Champions League campaign.
Green was called upon on three occasions to make decent saves before the
break, twice from Taddei and once from Esposito and, as the half-time
whistle blew, the hard-working Hammers would have been grateful for the
opportunity to regroup.
Curbs made two changes at the interval, handing back-up goalkeeper Richard
Wright his Upton Park debut in place of Green, while Bobby Zamora was
replaced by Dean Ashton, who stepped out in front of the Boleyn Ground
faithful for the first time since April 2006 - a fact emphasised by the
standing ovation he received. The 23-year-old striker immediately became the
focal point of the Hammers' attack and, after firing a left-foot shot wide
of the target three minutes in, he went closer on the hour mark with a
rasping 18-yard drive that Curci did well to tip over the bar. Three minutes
later, though, the Roma keeper was finally beaten, and from the most
unlikely of sources. A Freddie Ljungberg corner from the right dropped
invitingly 12 yards out and, as the assembled pack rose to meet it, a
Hammers attacker got there first to plant a powerful header into the roof of
the net. Ashton? Upson? Ferdinand? No, the claret and blue shirt wheeling
away in delight belonged to none other than George McCartney, who seemed
almost as surprised as his team-mates and the 26,425 crowd to have notched
his first goal for the Club. The Irish left-back didn't get to enjoy his
moment in the spotlight for long, though. Just three minutes later, the
resurgent Hammers strode forward on the break, as Mark Noble's searching
pass found Ashton wide on the right. Faced with one defender to beat, the
powerful striker proved he is well and truly on his way back to full fitness
by pulling off a deft step-over and surging past his marker into the box,
before slamming home a low 12-yarder that gave Curci no chance. Not
surprisingly, the cheers that greeted the effort were more suited to an FA
Cup final than a pre-season friendly and, for the manager and his staff
watching from the sidelines, hopefully the first of many similar
celebrations in the coming campaign.
Showing greater stamina than their opponents, who don't kick off their new
Serie A campaign until September, Hammers saw the game out comfortably and
walked off to rousing applause from the satisfied supporters, who will back
in even louder voice next Saturday when Sven Goran Eriksson's men arrive in
town.
Minute-by-minute:
2 - As a loose ball bounces around in the box, the grounded Boa Morte
sustains an accidental kick to the head, causing a delay of two minutes as
the physio and doctor rush on to attend to the winger. Thankfully he is soon
back on his feet and able to continue.
10 - Ljungberg's powerful free-kick from the edge of the penalty area is
punched away by Curci.
13 - GOAL. Roma take the lead, as the ball is cut back to the edge of the
box for Giuly, who tees it up before firing a superb strike past Green into
the top corner. West Ham United 0 AS Roma 1.
20 - Noble curls a free kick over the bar from 20 yards out after a foul on
Bowyer
21 - Giuly's cross from the right is met by an acrobatic effort from
Esposito that clips the top of the bar.
22 - Boa Morte's deep free-kick from the left is met by Upson, whose header
bounces up and over the crossbar.
28 - WHU substitution, Etherington on for Boa Morte.
30 - Totti's threaded pass finds its way through to Taddei, who is denied by
an excellent save from Green.
35 - Green again comes to the rescue, this time tipping a low Taddei effort
round the post after Hammers are caught on the break.
43 - Totti's ball releases Esposito but Green rushes out to push the striker
wide and he can only divert his effort into the side-netting.
45 - De Rossi booked for foul on Ljungberg.
Half-time: West Ham United 0 AS Roma 1.
Second Half:
46 - WHU double substitution, Wright on for Green, Ashton on for Zamora.
46 - Roma substitution, Cassetti on for Kuffour.
48 - A neat move sees Bowyer lay the ball off for Ashton, who fires wide
with his left foot from the edge of the penalty area.
56 - Roma substitution, Brighi on for Esposito.
59 - Ashton almost produces an equaliser, as his fierce left-foot shot is
tipped over the bar by Curci at full stretch.
60 - Roma substitution, Rosi on for Cassetti.
62 - Giuly is released through the middle and rounds Wright, but fires his
effort wide of the target.
63 - GOAL! Hammers draw level from an unlikely source, as Ljungberg's corner
from the right is met by a towering header from left-back George McCartney
that flies past Curci into the roof of the net. West Ham United 1 AS Roma 1.
66 - GOAL! TThe game is turned on its head in the space of three minutes, as
the hosts take the lead thanks to a moment that Hammers fans have been
waiting to see for more than a year. Picking the ball up on the right wing,
Dean Ashton superbly beats his marker before sending a low drive under Curci
from an acute angle, for his first goal at Upton Park since March 2006.
70 - Roma substitution, Vucinic on for Aquilani.
74 - WHU substitution, Pantsil on for Ljungberg.
77 - Roma triple substitution, Barusso on for De Rossi, Nonda on for Totti,
Alvarez on for Taddei.
78 - WHU substitution, Mullins on for Bellamy.
84 - Roma substitution, Pit on for Giuly.
86 - WHU double substitution, Cole on for Bowyer, Gabbidon on for Ferdinand.
90 - Ashton breaks clear on the right but this time his powerful effort is
pushed away by Curci.
Final score: West Ham United 2 AS Roma 1.
West Ham United: Green (Wright 46); Neill, Ferdinand (Gabbidon 86), Upson,
McCartney; Ljungberg (Pantsil 74), Bowyer (Cole 86), Noble, Boa Morte
(Etherington 28); Zamora (Ashton 46), Bellamy (Mullins 78). Subs unused:
Spector, Collins, Walker, Davenport, Reid.
AS Roma: Curci, Panucci, Mexes, Aquilani (Vucinic 70), Totti (Nonda 77),
Taddei (Alvarez 77), Giuly (Pit 84), De Rossi (Barusso 77), Esposito (Brighi
56), Tonetto, Kuffour (Cassetti 46, Rosi 60). Subs unused: Bertagnoli,
Andreolli.
Att: 26,425
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Dyer deal is off, says Curbishley - BBC
West Ham manager Alan Curbishley has said that Kieron Dyer's move from
Newcastle is "definitely off". The two clubs had agreed a fee thought to be
£6m for the 28-year-old midfielder but Curbishley has blamed Newcastle for
the move collapsing. "We made an offer, had it accepted, agreed personal
terms and the player passed a medical," he said. "But it was pulled at the
11th hour by Newcastle and there's not much we can do about that." He added:
"It has never happened to me before. We are disappointed and the player is
very disappointed but it's definitely off."
Dyer is keen to leave the north-east club and move south for "family
reasons" and a move looked set to be completed after Newcastle boss Sam
Allardyce's comments earlier this week. "We've agreed a deal so you would
have thought he will end up where he needs to be in order to solve his
family problems," Allardyce said after his side's 1-0 defeat to Hull in a
friendly. "From our point of view and from his it's a satisfactory result."
The reasons for Newcastle's apparent change of heart are not yet known. They
have signed striker Alan Smith and centre-back Claudio Cacapa in the last
two days. The St James' Park outfit are also close to signing left-back Jose
Enrique from Villarreal, according to the Spanish side.
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Dyer move off, says Curbs - KUMB
Filed: Saturday, 4th August 2007
By: Matthew O'Greel
Alan Curbishley has told SkySports that the deal to bring Kieron Dyer to
West Ham United has been canned. The Hammers had agreed a deal worth up to
£5m with Newcastle for the England midfielder, who had also agreed personal
terms. However for reasons unknown the Magpies upped the fee on Friday by
£2m to £7m - which the Hammers have refused to pay. Curbishley, talking
after today's morale-boosting 2-1 win over Roma, told reporters: "We had
agreed a deal with Newcastle and terms with the player, who also passed a
medical. Then at the eleventh hour the move was pulled by Newcastle for
their reasons. There's not much we can do. "The boy is left in limbo a bit;
he was about to come and train with us. The likelyhood is that it will stay
this way. "It's the first time I can remember anything like this
happening."
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West Ham Utd 2 Roma 1 - KUMB
Filed: Saturday, 4th August 2007
By: Matthew O'Greel
West Ham have won their final pre-season friendly thanks to second half
goals from George McCartney and Dean Ashton. Alan Curbishley's side
completed a busy pre-season programme with a win over Italian Cup holders -
and Serie A runners-up - Roma at the Boleyn this afternoon, despite being a
goal down at the break. The game - which kicked off around half-an-hour late
due to a number of late arrivals and minor scuffles between rival groups of
fans - had began in lively fashion with a couple of stern challenges from
both sides, whilst a number of late tackles ensured that the match had an
edge not normally associated with a pre-season run-out. Former Barcelona
winger Ludovic Guily - playing through the centre - scored the only goal of
an action-packed first period on 13 minutes to give the Italians a half-time
lead that they just about deserved on balance of play. Robert Green had had
to be at his best to deny Roma a second goal when he saved bravely with his
legs after being left one-on-one with Brazilian midfielder Rodrigo Taddei.
Meanwhile Mauro Esposito also went close when he fired against the woodwork
on the half-hour mark.
The Hammers - although lively in patches - rarely threatened the Roma goal
in the first half although Bobby Zamora and Freddie Ljungberg both created
good opportunities; Ljungberg going closest with a smart 10th minute
free-kick which produced a good save from Roma's Curci. Having been run
ragged in the centre of the park for the first 45 minutes Alan Curbishley
decided to pull Craig Bellamy back to form part of a five-man midfield for
the second half. The new formation proved much more effective and the likes
of Francesco Totti were far less effective after the break as a result.
United's equaliser arrived 18 minutes into the second half when George
McCartney latched on to a Freddie Ljungberg corner to nod home at the far
post. Just three minutes later the Hammers were ahead through half-time
substitute Dean Ashton - Ashton weaving his way in from the right flank
befre driving home across Curci. Due to a string of substitutions in the
final 20 minutes action was limited, and neither side looked like adding to
the score.
West Ham United: Green (Wright 46); Neill, Ferdinand (Gabbiddon 86), Upson,
McCartney; Ljungberg (Pantsil 74), Bowyer (Cole 86), Noble, Boa Morte
(Etherington 25); Zamora (Ashton 46), Bellamy (Mullins 78).
Roma: Curci; Panucci, Kuffour (Cassetti 46) (Rosi 60), Mexes, Tonetto;
Aquilani (Vucinic 70), De Rossi (Barusso 77); Esposito (Brighi 56), Taddei
(Alvarez 77), Giuly (Pit 84); Totti (Nonda 77).
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Spalletti: lucky West Ham -KUMB
Filed: Saturday, 4th August 2007
By: Matthew O'Greel
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti has claimed that his side were unlucky to lose
this afternoon's pre-season friendly at the Boleyn. Spalletti - who saw his
side go down 2-1 despite having taken a first-half lead through Ludovic
Guily - insisted that the result was far from a true reflection of the game.
The result was not important but we [still] dominated three quarters of the
game," moaned Spalletti. "Clearly someone who didn't see the 90 minutes will
look at the scoreline and remember the two incidents that allowed West Ham
to win." And on the numerous scuffles and incidents which broke out
throughout a niggly game, he added: "I was glad to see the right aggressive
approach from my men. The fact we are smacking into a strong opponent that
doesn't back down helps players to find that attitude during training and
matches."
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Magpies pull Dyer deal - SNN
Midfielder's Hammers move off
By Mark Buckingham Last updated: 05th August 2007
Newcastle United midfielder Kieron Dyer's move to West Ham United is off.
Dyer appeared set to be reunited with a clutch of his former Newcastle
team-mates at Upton Park after agreeing personal terms. But Hammers boss
Alan Curbishley has told Sky Sports News that the transfer has been 'pulled'
by The Magpies. Curbishley also doubted the prospects of the deal for the
England international being resurrected before the start of the season. "We
agreed a fee with Newcastle and we agreed personal terms with the player,"
Curbishley told Sky Sports News. "The player passed a medical, but at the
11th hour, the 11th-and-a-half hour, it got pulled by Newcastle for their
reasons. "There is not much we can do about it. "The boy has been left in
limbo, obviously. He was just about to come and train with us. "It's been
pulled and the likelihood is it's going to stay that way. "It's the first
time I can remember anything like this happening. It's happened and we have
got to get on with it."
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Joorabchian 'delighted' with Tevez transfer - Soccernet
Carlos Tevez's representative Kia Joorabchian revealed the striker hopes he
will be a Manchester United player for 'a long time to come'. Although the
final paperwork on Tevez's United contract has yet to be completed, the
Argentina star has already passed his United medical and trained with his
new team-mates after West Ham agreed a £2million settlement for the
23-year-old to leave the club. Joorabchian told Sky Sports News: 'We tried
in the last couple of months to do it very quietly and quickly and I'm very
happy, we're all very delighted it has come out to be a victory for
everybody in this case. 'He made it clear he was very happy last year but he
knew the ambition had come now to progress and he's absolutely thrilled to
move on. He's very happy that he left West Ham on a good note. 'And he's
absolutely thrilled now to join Manchester United and hope that will be his
club for a long time to come.'
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Tevez affair symbolises a game without honour - Telegraph
By Patrick Barclay, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:09am BST 05/08/07
Let's say you have a £500,000 house with a £100,000 mortgage. You put it on
the market and it attracts a full-price offer. You pocket the £500,000 - and
tell the building society to whistle for their share because you have torn
up the mortgage agreement. Well, if West Ham can try it, why can't we all?
Because, of course, you and I live in the real world.
Having fled football for a few weeks - at a certain age I have finally come
to realise that unless people are actually playing matches in earnest the
game is not even remotely likeable, let alone worth loving - I could hardly
believe that the Carlos Tevez affair (understandably, no one seems too
bothered about the ethics of Javier Mascherano's short spell at West Ham or
his transfer to Liverpool) was still being discussed in terms that insulted
the intelligence.
War-weary newspapers intoned that the contract which brought Tevez to east
London from the Brazilian club Corinthians last summer had been torn up, as
if such a unilateral act could be legitimate, when it hardly needed a court
hearing to determine that Kia Joorabchian and anonymous associates retained
an interest in the player so bleedin' obviously authentic that Manchester
United were negotiating with them rather than the club.
The agreement reached out of court towards the end of last week gives
Joorabchian and company £10 million, conceivably rising to £35 million, and
West Ham a mere £2 million, which Joorabchian convincingly hints is a
facesaver calculated, like so many elements of this long-running farce, to
fool at least some of the people, presumably including the sections of the
press that, to their credit, have kept drawing attention to it over the past
year. In which case the chief beneficiaries are undoubtedly the Premier
League, under whose auspices this extraordinarily sustained masterclass in
maladministration has been conducted. They walk away from it with the air of
bemused bystanders.
If football were politics, Richard Scudamore, the Premier League's able and
affable chief executive, would have been put under pressure to resign long
ago. But football at England's highest level no longer so much as genuflects
towards such concepts as honour and fairness. So how could Scudamore and his
colleagues have been expected fiercely to uphold them? Scudamore's job, at
which he excels, is to establish a measure of coherence in the organisation
and make a lot of money and, to give him his due, he often goes beyond that
in being sensitive to sporting criteria. For him to have gone in such
circumstances would just have made matters worse. What the game does need,
nevertheless, is a bit of honest reality, however belated. For the affair
has not really been laid to rest, as Kevin McCabe, the chairman of Sheffield
United, has stated in arguing that the offence for which West Ham were fined
rather than docked points was not the only one they committed.
To recap: West Ham, with Tevez at the forefront of their team both before
and after they were fined £5.5 million for breaking Premier League
regulations, escaped relegation at the expense of Sheffield United. It then
became apparent, however (as if everyone did not know), that West Ham's
assurances that they had terminated the contract in question, a condition of
their being allowed to keep fielding the Argentine, were worthless. Thus
arose a second and inevitably more serious offence against League
regulations, for which the only reasonable punishment could be West Ham's
relegation and the reinstatement of Sheffield United.
McCabe also notes that a revised contract was drawn up for Tevez by the
current West Ham regime, headed by Eggert Magnusson, and observes: "One of
the reasons why West Ham were fined and not docked points was that it was
all done by the old regime and that the new regime under Eggert Magnusson
had clean hands. The whole thing is a shambles and a disgrace to the
national game and we are weighing up our options.'' But in football, sad to
say - and as the Joorabchian case has most recently demonstrated - a dispute
seldom goes to a fully just and transparent conclusion.
Perhaps, too, the South Yorkshire club acknowledge in their hearts that West
Ham's squad belong in the Premiership while theirs would just clutter it up
the place, especially now Neil Warnock has quit as manager and Phil Jagielka
been sold to Everton. I should certainly rate West Ham's chances of making a
contribution to the division higher than Sheffield United's. But that is
hardly the point and what I should like most, as we contemplate the
Premiership season that kicks off with a few relegation battles on Saturday
(most of the big boys await televised encounters on Sunday), is for football
to stop living lies. No one has put this one better than Warnock in his
forthcoming book, as serialised last week in The Sun: "Carlos Tevez,
football's equivalent of a murderer out on bail, scored the goal that kept
West Ham up and sent us down. So much for the integrity of the Premier
League.''
There is likely to be increasing discussion of club ownership, too, as the
number of foreigners in charge edges towards half the Premiership. Should
the American Stan Kroenke pursue his interest in Arsenal to a successful
conclusion, 10 of the 20 clubs (including the Irish-owned Sunderland) would
be in overseas hands. It would also complete a clean sweep of the top four
and the most significant factor is that all of the clubs but Fulham have
been taken over in the period of little over two years since the Glazers
acquired Manchester United. At the current rate of overseas acquisition it
could be only a season or two before Premier League policy is being dictated
from abroad, mainly across the Atlantic, where a distinguishing principle of
top-level organised sport is the absence of promotion and relegation - and
who then will defend the characteristics that have underpinned our national
game for a century and more?
Yet there are more profound issues involved in the way the game is going:
the ethical acceptability, for example, of Manchester City's purchase by
Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai former prime minister accused of human-rights
abuses. I find it slightly odd that Shinawatra, whose alleged crimes include
the ordering of thousands of drug dealers to be shot (far from the worst
idea I've ever heard, even if his PR people have denied it), is subjected to
infinitely more scrutiny than Roman Abramovich, whose obscene profiteering
figured prominently in the appalling political tragedy of Russia's botched
transition to capitalism.
And what of the Glazers? Are even they playing the game? They are being very
clever in raising ticket prices by several times the rate of inflation to
service their self-incurred debts - but once more the success of Sir Alex
Ferguson's Manchester United is buttressing private fortunes more than the
club, for all the impressive declarations emanating from Ferguson's
assistant, Carlos Queiroz, about United's further investment in young
players such as Nani and Anderson from Portugal: "Our aim is to school
players so that, ahead of being players, they are artists who bring
innovation, magic, creativity and fantasy. We are building a group to
sustain success for the next 10 years and United have to be an opera as well
as winners.''
It is all very well, exciting and gratifying even, until you listen to the
plaintive voice of Sir Trevor Brooking, who, as the Football Association's
director of football development, is charged with ensuring that the global
boom benefits the game's homeland. "How many strikers have we got coming
though?'' he asks, meaning young English ones. "Not enough in depth. How
many left-sided players have we got coming through? Not enough. How many
creative, individual players who can go past people?'' How many Nanis and
Andersons, he might have added, amid his plea for serious investment by the
professional game in its, and England's, seedcorn. Poor Brooking. The
chairmen are only half-listening to him now. What chance will he have of a
hearing when the likes of Abramovich, Shinawatra and the various Americans
have their feet firmly under the table and the last notion of an obligation
to Englishness is abandoned?
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Robert Green: West Ham 'spy' failed
By Patrick Barclay, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:20am BST 05/08/2007
West Ham had a saboteur in their dressing room last season, the source of
the continual leaks that left the club on the cusp of foundering. Robert
Green, the West Ham goalkeeper, does not know the identity of the
perpetrator. All he is sure of is that it cannot be allowed to happen again.
"The stuff that was getting out was very strange," Green said. "It was
obviously coming from within because it was happening every week. It wasn't
one person listening in at a changing room door. It was from somewhere
within. I'm sure now that this season has come about it will change."
The dressing room is supposedly a privileged forum, where managers and
players can say exactly what they think of each other. It is a bit like the
Cabinet only, perhaps, more civilised. Green was the victim of one such leak
himself, when it was reported that he had rowed with manager Alan Curbishley
in the aftermath of the 6-0 defeat at Reading on New Year's Day. "That was a
low point for me, that game," Green said. "Later on I went to see the
manager and he said to me, 'What's this about us having an argument?' It was
news to me as I try not to read the papers - especially after losing 6-0. "I
mean we're all professionals and passionate about the game. Of course the
manager gave us what-for when we came in after that performance. But there
was nothing personal directed against me. The stuff that was getting out was
very strange. "It was one of those bizarre things, and you start thinking
'who said that? No one really knows. Whoever it was looking at the paper was
generally mystified as to how it got there. You couldn't start to think who
would do that."
The repercussions of these repeated betrayals could be seen in the
despairing demeanour of Curbishley, who was having a difficult enough time
getting his players to do their jobs on the field with being undermined with
stories of dressing room unrest. "The stuff going on around the club, off
the field, the stuff coming out of the dressing room mystified him as much
as everybody," Green said. "It didn't break him but it could have broken a
lot of people."
Having taken over from Alan Pardew in December, Curbishley found himself
dealing with the melodrama that is inevitable at West Ham, even before the
scandal of Carlos Tevez's illegal registration broke. His captain, Nigel
Reo-Coker, had been the subject of hate mail from fans who blamed him for
the club's abject form and it was of little surprise that he left this
summer, joining Aston Villa for £8 million. Reo-Coker believes he was "hung
out to dry" by the club.
Marlon Harewood, Paul Konchesky, Yossi Benayoun and Teddy Sheringham have
also left as West Ham reportedly made 14 players available for sale at the
end of the season. Curbishley's determination to have a thorough overhaul of
personnel - including the backroom staff - makes all the more sense after
hearing Green's account. Still Curbishley is not beyond forgiving
indiscretion. Anton Ferdinand will be an important part of the squad this
year despite going to South Carolina to celebrate his 22nd birthday, having
told Curbishley he was off to visit his sick grandmother on the Isle of
Wight. That lack of respect was something that Curbishley was not used to
and Green believes that, after 14 years of relatively sedate work at the
Valley, the intensity of the West Ham job came as a surprise. "I think he
walked into something that I don't think he fully anticipated, with the
frenzy surrounding the club," Green said. "He was used to press conferences
of about 12 people at Charlton, the same people every week. You come to West
Ham and it's a media frenzy."
Curbishley has survived and grown stronger. A series of ambitious signings,
Kieron Dyer may become the latest - has instilled a hunger for success and
Curbishley has reintroduced a code of discipline. "There's a whole new
feel," Green said. "He's got his own backroom staff and he is bringing his
own ideas and way to train. The players he's brought in are used to winning.
In that respect it will be a more solid, professional outfit. As a manager
and person he looks more comfortable, building up his team now rather than
working with someone else's. "It's a different regime. You get the feel that
everyone knows their job. It's a lot more structured. I'd be very surprised
if there were leaks from the dressing room this season."
Team-mate Mark Noble, the emerging England under-21 midfield prospect,
agrees that West Ham will prove to be an entirely different entity this
season, far from last season's perpetual troubles, particularly now the
protracted Tevez saga has reached a conclusion. Noble said: "Carlos is a
great player and above all, a great person, meaning it was a credit to play
with him. But with all the new players we've now got here at the club, it's
important that we improve on last season's showing and really push on in the
league." "The yo-yo days are certainly over at West Ham. Last year, everyone
thought we were gone but in typical West Ham spirit we dug in deep and
proved that we deserve our place in the Premier League. Now, the sky's the
limit here."
Additional reporting by Matt Lawless
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Newcastle Can Keep Dyer -West Ham Til I Die
August 4th, 2007
It looks like Kieron Dyer's move south has been scuppered by the Newcastle
chairman, who has tried to extort another £2 million out of West Ham. I hope
Eggert Magnusson stands firm and doesn't fall for this con trick. Dyer is
very injury prone, and while he might be an England international, £8
million is way over the top for him, especially as the two clubs had already
agreed a fee of £6 million. People seem to think that at West Ham money is
now growing on trees. That impression needs to be dispelled.
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Winner Ashton ready to take Tevez mantle - This Is London
04.08.07
Dean Ashton put his injury torment behind him and showed West Ham can live
without Carlos Tevez by scoring the match-winner against Roma. Ashton
suffered heartbreak last August when he broke an ankle on the eve of his
first senior call-up for the England team. The injury ruled him out for the
whole of last season and the £7 million striker questioned whether he would
be able to play again. But, after working tirelessly though the summer,
Ashton has regained full fitness and is determined to regain the form which
made him one of the best strikers in the English game. Roma took the lead on
14 minutes when former Barcelona midfielder Ludovic Giuly fired a shot past
Robert Green into the corner of the net. But West Ham bounced back and
scored an equaliser on 64 minutes. Freddie Ljungberg's corner picked out
George McCartney, who rose the highest to head the ball past Roma keeper
Gianluca Curci.
Ashton then showed his class when he netted the second after 67 minutes. The
striker skipped past the Roma defence and drilled the ball through the legs
of Curci. Tevez became a folk hero at Upton Park last season for helping the
club retain their Premiership status, but Ashton clearly has all the
attributes to become an even bigger hero with West Ham supporters. Following
a season of turmoil last season, manager Alan Curbishley is determined to
stabilise the club in the forthcoming campaign and make them a force to be
reckoned with again in the top flight. The Tevez affair has been settled
with his long-awaited move to Manchester United and the dark clouds appear
to have been lifted over the East End of London. Curbishley has stamped his
authority on the club this summer, bringing in his own backroom staff and
implanting new ideas on the training ground. Chairman Eggert Magnusson has
also shown his passion towards the club by spending £24m on new players in
the close season. Big things are expected of Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker and
Ljungberg, who all have a hunger to show they can still compete with the
Premiership's best. The club suffered a major blow when French midfielder
Julien Faubert ruptured his Achilles tendon on their pre-season tour to
Austria and is expected to be ruled out until the start of 2008. Curbishley
acted quickly by bringing in the vastly-experienced Ljungberg from Arsenal
and will be hoping the Sweden captain can reproduce the magic he showed
under Arsene Wenger during a nine-year spell with the north London side.
Bellamy, who has a tarnished reputation after a controversial season at
Liverpool, will also find himself under the microscope and will be
determined to let his football do the talking as he prepares for another new
challenge. Bellamy and Ljungberg made their first appearances at Upton Park
in yesterday's last pre-season game. But there are growing fears that Parker
will miss the big kick-off against Manchester City next weekend because of a
knee injury suffered in Austria.
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Shorey rejects Royals deal - SSN [ possibly NON -WHU , possibly WHU ]
Star declines new deal
By Peter O'Rourke Last updated: 04th August 2007
Reading boss Steve Coppell has revealed Nicky Shorey has declined the chance
to extend his contract. The Royals have been holding talks with Shorey in a
bid to tie him down to a new long-term deal to ward off interest from rival
clubs. The likes of West Ham and Newcastle have been credited with an
interest in Shorey following his impressive season in the Premier League
last term. Shorey, who still has two years to run on his current contract,
has turned down the chance to extend his deal as he wants to keep his
options open. Coppell is not worried about the contract situation of Shorey
and team-mate Leroy Lita, who has been in discussions over a new deal.
"Nicky Shorey is going to stick with his current situation and there are no
new contracts imminent," said Coppell.
"Both have two years left so it is not of immediate concern to us. We are
realistic about the situation." Coppell also revealed that he may make one
final foray into the transfer market with Glenn Little struggling with the
Achilles problem. "I'm not anticipating making any more signings but we have
been in the situation throughout the summer that if someone became available
that we liked then we would do something about it," added Coppell.
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Ashton's finishing touch lifts Hammers
West Ham 2 - 1 Roma (friendly)
McCartney 64, Ashton 68; Guily 13
Richard Gillis
Sunday August 5, 2007
The Observer
West Ham may have had a more interesting close season than they would have
liked, but the long queues for season tickets, which delayed the start of
this match, are testimony to the rising expectations in east London. Before
the game, children and their dads looked through the bars of the players'
car park, catching a glimpse of some of the summer signings. Alan Curbishley
has spent big in the hope of avoiding the need for the final-day escape act
of last season. In come Scott Parker, Craig Bellamy, Freddie Ljungberg and
the Frenchman Julienne Flaubert from Bordeaux.
The first team squad were also reacquainted with Dean Ashton - starting as a
sub here - who missed the whole of last season because of injury. But there
was no Kieron Dyer due to the brinkmanship of the Newcastle United board
and, after taking up yards of newsprint in recent weeks, the name of Carlos
Tevez merited just one mention in the match programme squad list.
'We've been grabbing the back-page headlines recently,' said Curbishley.
'We'd prefer to be on the back pages for football.' Any further interest in
Dyer seems unlikely, as Curbishley distanced himself from the player and the
event of Friday evening, when the Magpies upped the price at the last
moment.
It felt like being gazumped, said Curbishley: 'But nobody else bought him.
We made an offer. It was accepted, a fee was agreed and the player passed
the medical. The deal was then pulled by Newcastle. We're disappointed and
so is the player. It is definitely off as far as I am concerned.'
The team put out by Curbishley yesterday reflected a pre-season dogged by
injuries. No Parker, who is 50-50 for next week, and no Flaubert, who is
likely to miss the first half of the season. Their absence was felt
throughout the first half, which was dominated by Roma, who came here
following a disappointing pre-season tour to Germany. However, they had
sufficient class and invention to pose questions all over the pitch.
In the third minute, the shirt-sleeved crowd were treated to a move in which
one of their new men played to type. A Ljungberg dart down the right was
found by Bellamy, who bustled into the area for the return. It was a rare
glimpse of the energy that makes the Swede such a positive force when fit.
Here, he was a marginal figure and when he took his leave after 75 minutes,
West Ham fans were left to wonder which version of the player they have
bought.
Francesco Totti - the Roma captain, who won the European Golden Boot for his
25 goals last season - strolled through the gaps in front of the West Ham
back four, creating uncertainty whenever he was in possession. Roma took the
lead after 13 minutes thanks to a crisp shot from the edge of the area from
Ludovic Guily and it was only the excellent Robert Green, in the West Ham
goal, who prevented further scoring in the first half.
West Ham came back after the break and in the 64th minute George McCartney
rose above a crowd of players to head home from 10 yards. This was added to
by Ashton, on at half time for Bobby Zamora, who struck a firm shot low
between goalkeeper Gianluca Curci's legs. A mass of substitutions followed
and the game drifted to a tame conclusion.
Upton Park 26,425
WEST HAM Green; Neill, Ferdinand, Upson, McCartney; Ljungberg, Bowyer,
Noble, Boa Morte; Zamora, Bellamy Subs used Wright, Gabbidon, Pantsil, Cole,
Etherington, Ashton, Mullins ROMA Curci; Panucci, Mexes, Aquilani, Totti,
Taddei, Giuly, De Rossi, Esposito, Tonetto, Kuffour Subs used Vucinic,
Nonda, Alvarez, Pit, Barusso, Brighi, Cassetti, Rosi
Referee H Webb
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West Ham boss Curbs: We tried to keep Tevez
tribalfooball.com - August 04, 2007
West Ham boss Alan Curbishley insists they did all they could to convince
Carlos Tevez to resist a move to Manchester United. He said: "I'm
disappointed he didn't want to come back to us. We tried but he decided his
future is elsewhere. So all I can say is thanks for what he did. "I don't
believe he was the only player here last year but obviously had a big say in
things. "He knew we were keen for him to stay, but once Manchester United
came in he decided his future was elsewhere."
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Ashton continues scoring for West Ham
tribalfooball.com - August 04, 2007
Dean Ashton continued his superb preseason form by netting the winner for
West Ham against Roma yesterday. Curbishley said: "He must be so happy the
way it's going for him. It has been a long year for him but he now comes in
on Monday morning and says 'I have thrown a marker down, it's up to you to
decide whether you are going to pick me'." Scott Parker is described as only
50-50 to make the opening day clash with Manchester City next week.
Curbishley said: "I was expecting him back by now but if he doesn't make the
first game he should be OK for the second."
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Ashton shows glimpse of class in return - The Times
West Ham 2 Roma 1Rob Maul at Upton Park
EXPECTATIONS that West Ham United can mount a significant Premier League
threat this season, thus avoiding another prolonged battle with relegation,
increased yesterday with a morale-boosting victory over AS Roma, one of the
aristocrats of Italian football.
Against considerably talented, albeit unfit, opponents – the Serie A season
does not start for another three weeks – the Hammers completed their
preseason programme with their fourth victory in eight matches. At times,
though, this did not seem much like a friendly, given the number of cynical
fouls and aggressive, full-blooded challenges, but it was the manner of the
performance, particularly after half-time, and the rehabilitation of striker
Dean Ashton, which would have been encouraging for Alan Curbishley.
"Deano has worked ever so hard, perhaps two months more than the others, to
come back fully fit," the manager said. "I had never seen him play or even
train before. The last three weeks have been an insight."
If this was the closest resemblance to West Ham's strongest first-team
lineup – although Ashton started on the bench and midfielder Scott Parker is
currently "50/50" for the opening match with Manchester City – then,
perhaps, Curbishley will be finally judged on what he has signed and not
inherited from Alan Pardew.
"We made an offer [£6m], had it accepted, agreed personal terms, the player
passed a medical and it was pulled at the eleventh hour by Newcastle,"
revealed Curbishley. "There's not much we can do about it. It is definitely
off."
With Carlos Tevez's protracted transfer to Manchester United set to be
resolved shortly, Curbishley admitted that it has been a testing summer for
the club. "Every day we were on the back pages. I am disappointed that
[Tevez] didn't want to come back to us. I spoke to him and the club have
been in dialogue. Once United came in, he decided his future was elsewhere."
The day began badly for the hosts as Ludovic Giuly guided a shot beyond the
powerless Robert Green on 13 minutes. Roma's attacking prowess was superb to
watch in the first half with Francesco Totti the principal architect.
However, the last time that Roma played in England they lost 7-1 to
Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarter-final second leg of the
Champions League, and the defensive frailties that plagued them then
returned in the second half. From Freddie Ljungberg's corner, defender
George McCartney leapt highest in a crowded penalty area to direct a
powerful header home.
Ashton, who did not play last season after breaking his ankle while training
with the national team, was introduced at half-time and evidence of his
burgeoning class came shortly before the hour when he received the ball on
the right-hand wing, skipped past one feeble challenge and then slid the
ball through the legs of Curci. "It has been a long year for him but he has
a thrown down a marker [to the rest of the team]," said Curbishley.
Star man: Dean Ashton(West Ham United)
West Ham United:Green (Wright, ht), Neill, Ferdinand (Gabbidon, 86min),
Upson, McCartney, Ljungberg (Pantsil, 73min), Bowyer (Cole, 86min), Noble,
Boa Morte (Etherington, 28min), Zamora (Ashton, ht), Bellamy (Mullins,
78min)
AS Roma:Curci, Panucci, Mexes, Kuffour (Cassetti, ht; Rosi, 59min]),
Tonetto, Esposito (Brighi, 55min), De Rossi (Apimah Barusso, 76min),
Aquilani (Vucinic, 69min), Ferrante Taddei (Alvarez, 76min), Giuly (Florin
Pitt, 84min), Totti (Nonda, 76min)
Scorers: West Ham:McCartney 63, Ashton 66 AS Roma:Giuly 13
Referee:H Webb Attendance:26,425
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West Ham 2 Roma 1: Dyer's Hammers deal 'definitely off' - The Independent
By Ronald Atkin
Published: 05 August 2007
The news for West Ham from this niggly friendly is that Deano is back.
Having missed last season with a broken ankle, Dean Ashton thumped the
impressive, brute force winner which destroyed Roma's earlier, classy
domination. It was his third in the last three pre-season games.
"He has thrown down a marker about his intentions", said manager Alan
Curbishley, who confirmed that the proposed signing of Kieron Dyer is
"definitely off", blaming Newcastle's upping of the fee after terms had been
agreed. "That has never happened to me before, that the clubs have agreed a
fee, only for it to be pulled," he said.
Curbishley was pleased with the way his team battled back against a Roma
side who, for the first hour, offered disciplined Serie A stuff in defence
and Francesco Totti-inspired attacking genius.
West Ham's only injury concern was over Luis Boa Morte, who was kicked in
the head in the opening minute and exited feeling dizzy before half an hour
had gone. The more serious incident involved Ludovic Giuly. He took
exception to the close attentions of Lee Bowyer and retaliated with a wild
kick which failed to connect. Referee Howard Webb summoned the two players
and captains to explain that this was a friendly and declined to punish
anyone, although yellow cards were subsequently shown to Rodrigo Taddei and
Daniele De Rossi as Roma continued to dish it out.
That there was no need to mix it was shown by the quality of Roma's 13th
minute goal. Taddei slid a low ball across the edge of the penalty area and
Giuly thumped it first time past Robert Green, who saved a certain second by
sticking out his left boot to deny Taddei when the winger was through.
Ashton's appearance after half-time was wildly welcomed and he was
immediately involved, seeing a piledriver thrust over by Gianluca Curci.
West Ham equalised just past the hour when George McCartney rose
impressively to Freddie Ljungberg's corner to strike a clean header into the
roof of goal. Two minutes later came Ashton's thumping contribution,
executed as he cut in past one defender and drove the ball through Curci's
legs.
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Committed Tevez has bright future at United - The Times
Brian Glanville
FOR THOSE of us who frequently watched Carlos Tevez playing last season for
West Ham United, after he was so belatedly selected, it is hard to believe
he will be anything but a salient success with Manchester United. Not only
because he has such a splendid repertoire of gifts, technique, flair, pace
and courage, but because he is irrepressibly committed.
Nothing seems to demoralise him during a game. Perhaps he has not reached
the apex of international football, having somewhat mixed fortunes both in
the recent Copa America in Venezuela, and for Argentina in last year's World
Cup in Germany. But there is no doubt that, whether or not they have been
lucky to stay up in the Premiership, West Ham would never have done so
without Tevez.
Like Diego Maradona, the outstanding Argentine footballer of recent years,
Tevez comes from the back streets of Buenos Aires, in his case from a
notoriously violent slum. If he does not possess — and who does? — the
spectacular brilliance of Maradona, he has the same colossal commitment, no
doubt forged in early years when both had to battle for success. Though in
Maradona's case, it came a good deal earlier, as a mere 16-year-old.
In retrospect, it is almost inexplicable that both West Ham's managers last
season, first Alan Pardew, then Alan Curbishley, should have been, initially
at least, so reluctant to use Tevez. In Pardew's case, the motivation seemed
to be his displeasure that both Tevez and his fellow Argentine World Cup
international, Javier Mascherano, were, so to speak, foisted on him and the
team, threatening, as he may have felt, to disrupt its balance should he use
them.
By the time Curbishley took over, though under Pardew West Ham had achieved
the first leg of what transpired to be a sensational double in the
Premiership against Arsenal, things looked pretty bleak. Yet weeks went by
before Curbishley at last decided to make use of Tevez, and those of us who
were there will not forget how the tides turned when the Hammers found
themselves at home to Manchester City at the turn of the year, beaten
impotently in a thoroughly mediocre game. Early in the second half the West
Ham crowd, long connoisseurs of good football, voiced a persistent chorus,
chanting Tevez's name. After 55 minutes, Curbishley at last conceded, and
brought on the Argentine.
Almost at once, his sheer determination and ubiquitousness galvanised what
had previously been a flaccid team. Neither he nor any other Hammer could
score, but he came closer than anyone on 77 minutes when, exchanging passes
with the Israeli international, Yossi Benayoun, he cut in from the left to
send a shot whistling over the bar. But the Hammers were doomed to a 1-0
defeat.
Two days later, again inexplicably and surely self-destructively, Curbishley
left Tevez out of a team that played and wretchedly failed at Reading. After
the Manchester City game, he had remarked almost plaintively: "They're
calling for Tevez, who's not scored!" At Reading, Tevez never got off the
bench and West Ham, beaten 6-0, never got off the ground.
One heard the excuse that by half-time the game was lost and won, and there
was little point in bringing on Tevez, which blatantly begged the question
of what might have happened to improve the abject display had a never
demoralised Tevez been on the park from the first, to inject some heart and
determination into the rest of the team.
Shortly after the Reading debacle came an FA Cup tie at home to Brighton, an
easy 3-0 win in which Tevez, increasingly incisive as the game went on, set
up a goal for young Mark Noble with a deft flick, driving the ball across
from the right to create another. Once, the typical skill and determination,
he held off no fewer than four defenders before having a shot saved.
In the week before West Ham sensationally beat Arsenal at the Emirates,
Curbishley opined that Tevez had been playing too deep. In a match utterly
dominated by Arsenal, where only the superb goalkeeping of Robert Green kept
West Ham afloat, Tevez was tirelessly active. In first-half stoppage time,
he played the ball back to the defender Lucas Neill, whose long cross from
the right was lobbed in by Bobby Zamora for the one goal of the game. Later,
of course, breathlessly at the 11th hour, came Tevez's goal at Old Trafford,
where West Ham saved their skins.
At the 2006 World Cup, the Argentina coach Jose Pekerman didn't use Tevez in
the opening group game, narrowly won against the resilient Ivory Coast. When
Serbia & Montenegro were thrashed 6-0 in the second game, he came on only as
a 59th-minute substitute, to score his only goal of the tournament. But he
played the whole game against Holland as a lone striker, and both teams
seemed happy with a goalless draw.
In the next match against Mexico in Leipzig, arguably the best of the whole
competition, Tevez was a 76th-minute substitute, played on through extra
time with his habitual energy, Pekerman gave him a full game against Germany
in the quarter- finals, but after a 1-1 draw, Argentina went out on
penalties.
In the recent Copa America, this time under the aegis of veteran coach Alfio
Basile, Tevez was largely firing blanks. His one goal — among the four
Argentina scored against the USA in their opening qualifier — came after his
introduction as a substitute in the 79th minute. A full game against
Paraguay, beaten narrowly 1-0, and 78 minutes in the semi-final when Mexico,
previously resourceful, were beaten easily 3-0.
Alas, it was a false dawn for Argentina. In the final, where Tevez played
the full game and was booked on 79 minutes, his team mysteriously collapsed,
humiliated 3-0 by their eternal rivals, Brazil.
Some wonder how Tevez will combine with Wayne Rooney who, when on form,
shows much of the same skill, persistence and drive, though he is a good
deal more dangerous than little Tevez in the air. Will they, perhaps,
encroach on one another's space? It seems more likely they will find a modus
vivendi, especially if Tevez opts to wander to the right wing. Above all,
despite his manifold talents, he is a team man rather th<NO1>e<NO>an a prima
donna, always ready to run; and with unusual purpose.
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