The impressive form of Scott Parker and Hayden Mullins has fired up Mark
Noble
18.12.2007
Mark Noble is eager to win back his place in the West Ham United starting
lineup but admitted to WHUTV that he has a fight on his hands.
The 20-year-old midfielder had missed out on the three previous fixtures
before Saturday's home game against Everton, but was an energetic presence
when he came on for last 30 minutes. Noble lost his spot in the side
initially because of injury but, since recovering, has had to bide his time
because of the impressive form of Scott Parker and Hayden Mullins.
"I have come back from my hernia operation and Hayden and Scotty have been
playing well," he told WHUTV. "Hopefully I will get my chance soon and get
my place back and crack on and play as well as I can do." Noble will hope to
have done enough to be in the manager's thoughts for the trip to
Middlesbrough next Saturday, when the club look to maintain their impressive
away run.
Alan Curbishley's faith in Noble was underlined at the weekend when, with
Everton one-up, he sent on the youngster to try and add some attacking
impetus. "He just said - 'Go on and do what you can. Get involved in the
game' and it was nice to get on and get playing again.
"Obviously I am disappointed with the result, I think all the boys are but
we have got to pick it up and get a result at Boro next week. We had a few
chances. We really piled it on the second half but they defended well and we
couldn't get a goal. We didn't take our chances in the first half which paid
at the end of the game."
Noble, who said he didn't think "injuries are to blame" for two defeats in a
week by Everton at the Boleyn Ground, added that he fully expected the club
to start picking up more points at home to go with the fine away form.
"Sometimes it works like that - towards the end of last season our home form
was unbelievable. We were just punishing teams but it works like that and we
are trying our best to change it around.
"We have got enough players, we have got enough ability to be beating the
likes of Everton at home. Obviously the fans will stick by us and we will
always get a good travelling away support. We just need to pick up our
points at home and then I am sure we will be all right."
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Cohen on the up - KUMB
Filed: Tuesday, 18th December 2007
By: Matthew O'Greel
Former Hammer Chris Cohen has revealed that he is enjoying life with his new
club Nottingham Forest. The former Hammers youth star left West Ham for
Yeovil in the summer of 2006 (having spent much of the previous season there
on loan) before joining Forest a year later in a deal worth £750,000. Cohen,
now 20, admitted that he was sad to leave Upton Park where many felt he had
a chance of making the grade after breaking into the first team during the
2003/04 season. However he revealed that he was happily settled in
Nottingham, where he is helping his new side chase promotion to the
Championship.
"Leaving West Ham was difficult but it was also a wake-up call," he told
Forest's website. "I was stuck in the reserves when Yeovil offered me the
chance to join them. "A lot of young lads don't always take opportunities to
go out on loan and it's good that so many of our reserve players elected to
do so. "There were other lads in the reserves at West Ham who didn't go out
on loan and found themselves at the age of 23 or 24 with just 15 first team
games to their names. "You can't buy that kind of experience - I'm 20 now
and have played more than 100 games and I think I'm a better player for it."
Cohen made 22 appearances for the Hammers, with 18 of those coming from the
bench. His final appearance for West Ham came in the 4-2 League Cup win
against Sheffield Wednesday in September 2005.
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Curbs blasts 'big four' - KUMB
Filed: Monday, 17th December 2007
By: Matthew O'Greel
Alan Curbishley has blamed the 'big four' for England's failure to produce a
manager worthy of leading the national team. The FA confirmed earlier today
that Italian Fabio Capello would succeed the sacked Steve McClaren in the
role. And Curbishley has laid the blame for the lack of outstanding English
candidates on the country's biggest clubs. "Until a manager takes charge of
a top-four side he just won't get the vital experience that he so
desperately needs," said Curbs.
"Champions League football in this country is contested by men who are not
English, so you tell me how an English manager gets the necessary experience
to step into an international job? "Steve McClaren sheltering under his
umbrella as England lost to Croatia last month may well be the last image we
have of a national manager from this country. "I don't believe we will ever
give the job to anybody from England again. The FA have made the position
redundant as far as an English manager is concerned. A proud tradition may
well have come to an end."
Curbishley was interviewed for the post 18 months ago when Swede Sven Goran
Eriksson received his marching orders. However he was completely overlooked
by the FA this time around, after the game's ruling board declared that they
would be looking overseas for a successor to McClaren.
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Green targets win at Middlesbrough - TeamTalk
West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green believes West Ham have to take maximum
points from this weekend's trip to Middlesbrough. The Hammers suffered two
home defeats to Everton in the space of four days last week, and Green
insists it is imperative that they respond well against the Teesiders. He
told the club's official website: "We have got to put it right. "They were
two poor defeats and it is really disappointing. "The game on Saturday is
going to be pretty hard - they have had two great wins and they will be
coming all guns blazing at us. "We are going to need to do a job and it is
probably not going to be pretty, but it is a game where we have got to win
and create a bit more daylight between us and the teams below, and hopefully
catch up with the people above."
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Prem Trio hunt £8m ace - SoccerBlog.org
12.19.2007 by Amaresh in Premiership
Newcastle, Manchester City and West Ham have all been alerted Eidur
Gudjohnsen could quit Barcelona in the New Year. The former Chelsea striker
is growing increasingly frustrated at his lack of first-team football at the
Nou Camp. And his father, Arnor, revealed the player will decide in the next
two weeks whether to move in the January transfer window or wait until the
end of the season. Arnor said: "Eidur has enjoyed his time at Barcelona but
now he must decide what he is going to do in the New Year. "He will take his
time to consider his future. I think he will probably stay until the summer
but nothing is yet certain." Gudjohnsen, 29, cost £8million when he moved
from Chelsea 18 months ago but has started just two league games for the
Spanish giants all season. Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard was ready to let
the Icelandic international leave last summer and accepted an £8m offer from
the Hammers. But Gudjohnsen vowed to stay and fight for his place, despite
finding himself behind Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. Now he is
having second thoughts after Rijkaard promoted youngsters Giovani Dos Santos
and Bojan Krkic above him as well. He still has 2½ years of his
£70,000-a-week contract to run but knows he can easily match those wages by
returning to the Premier League. Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce is at the head
of the queue and will make a £6m move for Gudjohnsen as soon as the transfer
window opens next month. But he will face stiff opposition from Manchester
City, where Sven Goran Eriksson has been promised the funds for the proven
goalscorer he wants to bolster his team's bid for a shock Champions League
place.
Hammers boss Alan Curbishley is also ready to try again, in spite of his
summer snub from Gudjohnsen and the recent departure of the club's Icelandic
chairman Eggert Magnusson. It was Magnusson who led the chase for the player
back then and promised Gudjohnsen an £80,000-a-week contract to move to
Upton Park. He is unlikely to be offered that salary again this time, after
owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson questioned some of the wages being paid to the
club's recent signings.
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West Ham, Newcastle to pounce for Barcelona's Gudjohnsen
tribalfooball.com - December 18, 2007
West Ham United and Newcastle are ready to pounce for Barcelona striker
Eidur Gudjohnsen. The former Chelsea striker has found it difficult breaking
into the star-studded forward line at the Nou Camp and has attracted
interest from Premier League clubs including West Ham and Newcastle. The
29-year-old Iceland international signed from Stamford Bridge for £8million
last year and his father and representative Arnor Gudjohnsen said: "He is
perfectly happy with life at Barcelona but he is not ruling anything out.
"He has fought his way back into the team and has been showing some good
form. "Eidur believes he will play more for Barcelona, but in football you
can never be certain."
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Noble determined to win back West Ham place
tribalfooball.com - December 18, 2007
Mark Noble refuses to give up his battle to win back his West Ham place. "I
have come back from my hernia operation and Hayden (Mullins) and Scotty
(Parker) have been playing well," he told WHUTV. "Hopefully I will get my
chance soon and get my place back and crack on and play as well as I can
do."
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Young Hammers prepare for Bolton with comeback win - Harlow Citizen
By Guardian-series
West Ham U18s 2
Portsmouth U18s 1
(Premier Academy League)
WEST Ham U18s warmed up for tomorrow night's important FA Youth Cup tie by
beating Portsmouth at the weekend. The youngsters take on Bolton in the
third round fixture at Upton Park tomorrow (Wednesday). Kick off is at 7pm.
Tony Carr's side had the perfect preparation in the league with a comeback
win at Little Heath. Pompey took a first half lead through Matt Ritchie's
35-yard screamer that whistled past keeper Marek Stech. The Hammers stopper
then had to make some good saves to deny Tom Kilbey and Jordan Hughes. At
the other end, Zavon Hines saw his spot kick saved after Pompey's Marlon
Pack had handled in the area. But Hines made amends on the hour mark with a
neat lob for the equaliser. And, with only moments remaining, Matt Fry won
it for the hosts with a stunning strike from the edge of the box to make it
three games unbeaten.
West Ham: Stech, Payne, Ashman (Miller), Blackwell, Brooks, Fitzgerald, Fry,
Collison, Kearns, Hines.
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No knee-jerk signings for Curbishley! - caughtoffside.com
December 18, 2007
West Ham boss Alan Curbishley claims that he wont be lured into making any
panic buys during the January transfer kerfuffle. West Ham currently have a
host of players battling back from some pretty tough injuries with their big
three summer signings Kieron Dyer, Julien Faubert and Craig Bellamy all
consummating their West Ham relationships on the treatment table. Even
striker Dean Ashton is hobbling around woefully lacking in match fitness.
But Curbs will not be tempted to buy in January (probably out of fear that
any new players will get crippled).
Curbishley said: "The answer isn't just to go out and buy more players. The
right ones might not even be available and I'm not even looking down that
road at the moment."
But Curbishley did have positive news about Faubert and Ferdinand: "There
are players who are chasing their fitness in the first team and some who
won't be fit for some time but at least Julien Faubert is not far off full
training while Anton Ferdinand will also start his comeback this week,"
There is no doubting that West Ham have a good squad, when fully fit, but
the question is how to get all the big money lummoxes back in training and
off the treatment tables they have become so attached to!
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