07/09/2007 13:05
Several Hammers stars are in action for their respective countries over the next few days and many will be looking for vital victories to help them on their way to qualifying for the Euro 2008 Championships.
Mark Noble is in the starting line-up for this evening's England under-21 match against Montenegro, the opening match for their UEFA Euro 2009 Championship qualifying campaign. The match is being played at the City Stadium in Podgorica and kicks off at 7.45pm. This is a new-look squad to the one that reached the semi-finals against Holland in the Summer and Noble says: "It's been a very good week training with the new lads that have come in, everyone has got to know each other and getting on well. "It's a sell-out for this evening's match so we are expecting a tough game in front of a fired-up crowd. We have been to the stadium this morning and the pitches are not the best for the sort of game we play but we know what to expect now and are focused on getting this campaign off to a good start."
Welsh trio Craig Bellamy, James Collins and Danny Gabbidon are all expected to start in tomorrow's match against group leaders Germany at the Millenium Stadium, Bellamy missed training today to spend time with his new-born baby but a spokesman for the Welsh FA said he is still included in Josh Toshack's plans.
George McCartney, whose international career has been revived since the appointment of Nigel Worthington as the Manager will be hoping to feature in their must-win match away to Latvia. George said about the game: "These next two matches are massive for Northern Ireland. We are sitting there in second place at the moment so if we can get some more points on the board things will be looking very good for qualifying which will be a massive achievement for this squad but no less than we deserve after the way we have played. "We are going to take each game as it comes starting with Latvia tomorrow, it is going to be a really tough match but we are all confident we can get the right result."
Jonathan Spector is in the USA squad to host Brazil in friendly on Sunday and new signing Nolberto Solano went straight off to train with Peru after putting pen to paper with the Hammers, to prepare for their friendly at home to Columbia.
Hammers Captain Lucas Neill will be leading out the Socceroos in Melbourne on Tuesday night in front of a sell-out crowd for their friendly against Argentina where he will come up against former teammate Carlos Tevez.
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West Ham Academy launch new partnership - WHUFC
07/09/2007 15:44
On Thursday 6th September in the Trevor Brooking suite the West Ham Academy launched their two day release programme for the Under 15/16 squad in partnership with Havering College. The evening was attended by West Ham staff Tony Carr (Academy Director), Nick Haycock (Head of Education and Welfare) Paul Hilton (Assistant Academy Director/Under 15/16 coach. Jo Rigby (Head of Schools Liasion) and Paul Tighe (Course Leader attended on behalf Havering College. The scheme has been set up to give players in the Under 15/16 age group an opportunity to experience full time training on a two day a week basis. Within this programme the boys will train on Tuesday evening, all day Thursday and Friday morning. The educational part of the programme will take place on a Friday afternoon at Upton Park in the learning zone, where the boys will study a Btec First Certificate/Diploma in Sport delivered by Havering College.
The scheme will allow the boys to train at a more suitable time as they do on the continent and enhance their chance of success in gaining a scholarship.
The programme would not be able to go ahead without the help of all the boys schools and they have all co-operated and developed flexible timetables to allow this to happen. Havering College have played an important role in developing an education strand to the scheme which is paramount to its success so that the boys understand the importance of achieving in their studies as well as their football. The staff at West Ham Academy and Havering College are looking forward to a long and successful partnership.
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Bellamy misses training session - BBC
Premiership pair Craig Bellamy and Jason Koumas are the latest players causing concern for Wales coach John Toshack. Bellamy did not train with the squad due to an overnight issue with his new-born baby and Koumas has a calf strain and is being closely monitored. Meanwhile it is expected that Toshack will deploy Gareth Bale as a wing-back for Saturday's game with Germany. Elsewhere Freddie Eastwood is expected to play his first home game for Wales.
An FAW spokesman said: "It's a relatively routine issue with the baby, and Craig won't be training today."
West Ham striker Bellamy missed the friendly in Bulgaria because of his wife's pregnancy and she gave birth to a girl on Monday. But it is hoped though that both Bellamy and Koumas will be available for Saturday's game with Germany at the Millennium Stadium. Toshack is already without several players, but has decided against drafting players from the Under-21s to cover for injury worries. Striker Daniel Nardiello (back) and defender Steve Evans (ankle) will miss the Euro 2008 qualifier in Cardiff. Defender Danny Collins had already pulled out citing an injury. But Toshack has decided to stick with what he has got, although David Vaughan and some Under-21 players could come in for the Slovakia match next Wednesday. The Under-21 squad, which includes full capped internationals David Cotterill, Chris Gunter and Neal Eardley, flew out to France on Wednesday to prepare for Friday's Uefa Championship qualifier in Grenoble.
With fit defenders at a premium, Toshack breathed a sigh of relief on Monday when Hull full-back Sam Ricketts joined the rest of the squad after he was an unused substitute in the Tigers' defeat to Blackpool. The first casualty was Sunderland's Collins, who opted to stay with his club to allow an ankle injury to settle down, although his withdrawal was not well received by Toshack. Evans lasted only 17 minutes of Wrexham's 2-0 defeat to Hereford and has been undergoing intensive treatment ever since. The towering centre-back's problem appears to be a recurrence of the ankle injury that he originally suffered in the last minute of the pre-season friendly at Newtown. Evans also had further problems with it in the reserve team outing at Airbus UK Broughton where he lasted only a few minutes. Striker Nardiello was sent back to his club Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday to have treatment on a back injury. Wales chief Toshack is expected to opt for the more defensive Carl Robinson, who would win his 40th cap in midfield, which would mean Bale being used on the left of a five-man defence, with Cardiff's Joe Ledley on the substitutes' bench. Simon Davies is also likely to win his 43rd cap
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Collins rejects loan switch - KUMB
Filed: Thursday, 6th September 2007
By: Matthew O'Greel
James Collins has rejected the opportunity to return to former club Cardiff on loan, according to reports. The South Wales Echo claims that Collins was offered the chance to return to the club from whom he joined the Hammers in the recent transfer window, but rejected the opportunity in order to concentrate on his United career. "I need to be in London pushing for a place back in the side and still training with the first team," he said. "Not a couple of hundred miles away out of the thick of it."
Collins has been plagued with injuries since moving to West Ham two years ago last month. But for those, it is not inconceivable that he would be commanding a first team berth on a regular basis. As it is, Collins - along with fellow Welshman Danny Gabbidon - have to convince Alan Curbishley that they are good enough to displace either Anton Ferdinand or Matthew Upson, whose own fledgling partnership is beginning to look promising. Both Collins and Gabbidon are set to face Germany at the Millennium Stadium tomorrow. Tickets, should you wish to pop along, are plentiful given that the Welsh FA has sold less than 25,000 just 24 hours ahead of kick-off.
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Anton sticks up for Man Utd's Rio
tribalfooball.com - September 07, 2007
West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand has jumped to the defence of big brother Rio over criticism of his England form. Anton says of the Manchester United star: "The criticism is unfair but it is expected nowadays. People forget that in two World Cups Rio has been one of England's best players. Football people know that. "But he is not bothered about what people have to say. He is a strong-minded person. The Ferdinand family is very strong. "There is a tight bond between us so things said outside the family don't really bother us. "Rio's football has spoken for itself and been unbelievable. "Last season he played some of the best football of his career and won the title with United. But then you have one bad game for England and people jump on your back. That might be the reason why the England team is not doing so well at the moment."
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Gudjohnsen An Outcast After West Ham Refusal - Goal.com
Eidur Gudjohnsen has become a virtual outcast at FC Barcelona after refusing to join West Ham United in the final week of the summer transfer window.
The Icelandic international was given an ultimatum by Frank Rijkaard to join the Hammers, but was not convinced by the move, according to Catalan daily Sport. Thierry Henry's arrival allied with the rise to prominence of Giovani Dos Santos and Bojan Krkic has seen the former Bolton and Chelsea star pushed down the pecking order. Injury to Samuel Eto'o looked to have eased Gudjohnsen's cause, but Krkic is set to edge ahead of the blond forward when he returns from the Under-17 World Championships. With Henry, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi, Dos Santos and Krkic all vying for a place, the 28-year-old will find himself sixth in the queue for a place in the team. While West Ham stated that they withdrew their interest because Gudjohnsen had an injury, Barça were prepared to give the London club guarantees over his fitness. The players though refused to the transfer and stated that he would prefer to stay at Camp Nou and fight for a place. Gudjohnsen earns around €3m-a-year at Barça and that puts his salary out of reach of many interested parties who made enquiries about his availability over the summer.
Lucas Brown
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Shorey cagey over Royals future - Maidenhead Advertiser
8:25am Fri 7th September :: Written by Sport
Nicky Shorey hasn't ruled out a moved away from the Madejski Stadium during the January transfer window, with West Ham his likely destination. The 26-year-old international left-bak was the subject of a late bid from Alan Curbishley's side last week that was rejected and branded 'derisory' by the Royals.
Shorey, who has two years left on his contract, said: "It would be daft for a player to say where they will be next year. "All I know is I will continue to work as hard as I can and give my all to Reading this season." The Royals have revealed they may be forced to sell Shorey after he refused to sign an extension to his current deal. Reading's director of football Nicky Hammond said: "We offered him an exceptionally good contract that takes into account that this is an England international. "It is just an issue of him wanting to take time and look at his options. You have to respect that. "I would certainly hope to keep him here beyond January, but you can never say never in this game. "Whether he wants to leave, you would have to ask him that, but he's a good boy, he has been here a long time. Sometimes opportunities arise and players may want to move on."
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Defender rules out loan switch - ESS
Last Updated: Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:34
West Ham defender James Collins passed up the chance to join Cardiff on loan to concentrate on trying to break into the first team. The defender has been at Upton Park for two years but his time at the club has been plagued by injuries and Cardiff tried to lure him back to South Wales during the transfer window.
According to the South Wales Echo, though, Collins turned down the opportunity to re-join the Bluebirds in order to concentrate on breaking into the Hammers first team. He said: "I need to be in London pushing for a place back in the side and still training with the first team. "Not a couple of hundred miles away out of the thick of it."
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