U18s captain Josh Payne has spoken about his exciting start to the season
and his future plans
16.09.2008
West Ham United Under-18s captain Josh Payne is determined to build on his
solid start to his season after skippering the youths to an unbeaten run in
their first four matches and starting in the reserves' first match.
Payne has led the youngsters to some impressive opening results including
draws against Manchester United, Leeds United and Reading and then, most
recently, an emphatic 3-0 win over Aston Villa. Despite the promising
beginning he feels his side should have done better. "It was more of a
technical game against Manchester United; we should have won at Leeds but we
conceded a couple of sloppy goals and I feel we should have beaten Reading,"
Payne said.
Just two days after the youths' win against Villa on Saturday, Payne was
selected for the reserve team's opening fixture of the FA Premier Reserve
League South at Chelsea. That game ended in a 2-0 defeat and the hectic
schedule does not bother the 17-year-old as he 'just loves playing
football.' He said: "It's tough to play two games in three days. You could
tell I was getting tired towards the end and there were a few stray passes
which Kevin [Keen] noticed so he brought on fresh legs with Ollie [Lee]. But
I'll always play as I love playing football."
During the reserve defeat, the Blues proved stronger but Payne believes it
will have been a valuable experience for the youthful visiting side. He
said: "It's always going to be tough against a good team like Chelsea and
they had a couple of older players out there and we had quite a few young
players. I thought we pressed well and we held out but they scored two good
goals and then it was just about working hard to stop them scoring again."
Payne is hoping to eventually follow James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Kyel
Reid, Freddie Sears and of course Mark Noble in progressing from the Academy
through to the first team. For now though he is enjoying leading the
Under-18s and is hoping to cement his place in the reserves. He said: "I
used to always look up to Jordan [Spence] as captain last year and I always
wanted to be captain so it's nice to get the armband. I'm also looking to
get a few more reserve games under my belt this season."
Like many players at his age Payne is still testing himself in several
different positions. Having been used as a centre-half for the Under-18s
last season he is now playing in a central-midfield role for the reserves.
He said: "I played centre back last year but I prefer playing centre
midfield as you see more of the ball and you can show what you're about."
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Newcastle ticket latest - WHUFC
Fans wanting to see Gianfranco Zola's first game in charge need to hurry or
face missing out
12.09.2008
Time is running out if you want to join Gianfranco Zola and see West Ham
United in action against Newcastle United this Saturday.
Only a limited number of tickets are still available on general sale for the
Barclays Premier League encounter for what promises to be an entertaining
afternoon in east London. The new manager will be looking to continue the
team's 100 per cent home record following victories over Wigan Athletic and
Blackburn Rovers.
Prices start from £35 for adults and £17 for Under-16s with further
discounts available for Young Adult and Youth Academy members. Any remaining
tickets can be purchased either in person from the Dr Martens ticket office,
by calling 0871 222 2700 via option 1 or online by clicking here.
http://www.whufcboxoffice.com/
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Clarke gets started - WHUFC
Steve Clarke helped Gianfranco Zola take training at Chadwell Heath on his
first day with the club
16.09.2008
Steve Clarke was at Chadwell Heath on Tuesday morning for his first training
session since signing for West Ham United.
The new first-team coach joined Gianfraco Zola and the squad on a cloudy
morning and quickly set about helping the manager in getting his ideas
across. Clarke brings a wealth of experience with him having won several
major honours as a player and coach. New fitness coach Antonio Pintus was
also on hand following his first session with the players on Monday.
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Zola is bold appointment - Pearce - BBC
Former West Ham defender Stuart Pearce believes Gianfranco Zola being named
Hammers boss was a "bold appointment". Zola's only coaching experience was
as Italy Under-21 assistant. England Under-21 boss Pearce told BBC London
94.9: "It's a bold appointment as quite a few are of people who don't have
much managerial experience. "But the proof will be in the pudding. He's been
a fantastic ambassador to this country, playing for Chelsea. I think
everyone will wish him well." He added: "People speak very highly of him.
Hopefully he'll be successful there." Pearce was named as an early favourite
to replace Alan Curbishley after he resigned earlier this month following a
row regarding the make-up of the playing squad at Upton Park. The Londoner
added: "It's a fantastic club that he's involved in. I only spent two years
there but I enjoyed every minute of my time at West Ham and time will tell
whether he's successful."
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Hughton likely to still be in charge for Hammers trip - Echo
8:25am Wednesday 17th September 2008
CARETAKER manager Chris Hughton has admitted he does not know who will be in
charge of Newcastle United for Saturday's away game at West Ham. Hughton's
temporary reign got off to the worst possible start as Marlon King's double
condemned the Magpies to a 2- 1 defeat to Hull at a crisis-hit St James'
Park. Newcastle's listless performance underlined the need for a managerial
appointment ahead of the trip to East London, but with owner Mike Ashley
looking to sell the club as quickly as possible in the wake of vociferous
fans' protests, the likelihood of a new boss being installed in the next
five days would appear slight. When Newcastle visit West Ham this weekend,
Gianfranco Zola will take charge of his first game as the Hammers' new
manager. But as he prepares to take charge of training this morning, Hughton
has admitted that he does not know who will be sitting in the visitors'
dug-out at Upton Park. "Will I still be in charge of the team at West Ham?
That, I haven't got a clue," said Hughton, who is being assisted by Academy
manager Richard Money and coach Alan Thompson. "At this particular moment,
my thoughts are about picking up this group of lads. "We'll start preparing
for the next game, but whether it will be me taking charge of that game or
somebody else, at this moment I simply don't know. "Anything thought about
or done upstairs is something completely out of my hands or the hands of the
players."
Hughton has been forced to adopt a fire-fighting role at Newcastle just
seven months after he was appointed as firstteam coach, but the Londoner is
no stranger to unorthodox working situations at a football club. In October
2007, in his role as assistant manager at Tottenham, Hughton was sitting on
the bench at White Hart Lane as both himself and manager Martin Jol were
sacked during a UEFA Cup game with Getafe. He served under ten different
managers during his 14 seasons in North London, and was Spurs' caretaker
manager on two separate occasions. "I remember being at the (Getafe) game on
the day we lost our positions, and this type of thing is never easy," said
Hughton. "As a coach, the one thing you want is to be involved with a group
of lads with a bit of stability. "Sometimes, the circumstances are not as
you want them. I have been in lots of different situations, both as a coach
and a caretaker manager, but this is something different again."
Glenn Roeder was the last man to take caretaker charge of the Magpies, and
after impressing in his temporary role, the current Norwich boss went on to
spend 12 months in permanent control of the club. If Ashley pursues the
continental model of a head coach answerable to a director of football, it
is not inconceivable Hughton could be asked to fulfil his current role on a
similarly permanent basis. But while he has refused to rule himself out of
the running for such a post, the former Republic of Ireland international
insists he cannot afford to look that far into the future. "At this
particular moment, I'm not thinking of anything outside of the remit that I
have," he said. "And that is very much just looking after this group of lads
and preparing them for games.
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Zola appeal has Hammers fans flocking to Magpies showdown - Echo
8:18am Wednesday 17th September 2008
GIANFRANCO Zola's first match as West Ham United's new manager is set to be
a 35,000 sell-out. Crisis-club Newcastle United will provide the opposition
for Saturday's Premier League clash at Upton Park, with Zola keen to see his
side bounce back from last weekend's 3-2 defeat at West Bromwich Albion.
However, the manager-less Magpies will also be out to steal the three points
after they were also defeated by a newly-promoted side, going down 2-1 to
Hull City at St James' Park.
With Zola in the dug-out for the first time and both sides desperate for
victory, West Ham's supporters have snapped up more than 30,000 tickets for
the showdown.
Meanwhile, the fanatical Geordie fans have also sold-out their allocation of
3,000 and will pack out the Centenary Stand lower tier. Should the game
completely sell-out, it would be the first time Upton Park has been full
since the visit of Aston Villa on the final day of last season. Both of the
Irons' Premier League games so far this season – against Wigan Athletic and
Blackburn Rovers – have attracted crowds of under 33,000, while the Carling
Cup second round visit of League Two minnows Macclesfield Town attracted
just 10,055 fans to the Boleyn Ground. While the Hammers appear to be back
on an even keel following a fortnight of turmoil during which previous
manager Alan Curbishley resigned, Zola was appointed and shirt sponsors XL
Leisure Group went into administration, life on Tyneside continues to be
anything but. Geordie "Messiah" Kevin Keegan resigned from his role as
manager on September 4 – the day after Curbishley did likewise at the Boleyn
Ground – citing almost identical reasons for quitting, namely a lack of
influence over the buying and selling of players. Keegan claimed his
position had been undermined by the so-called "Cockney Mafia" of director of
football Dennis Wise, vice-president Tony Jimenez and managing director
Derek Llambias. Since Keegan's departure former Tottenham first-team coach
Chris Hughton has been in caretaker charge and, with no-body seemingly
willing to succeed "King Kev" into the hottest seat in English football, is
likely be again on Saturday.
In the boardroom, meanwhile, things are even more volatile. Owner Mike
Ashley, the sportswear retail tycoon, has put the club up for sale following
a fan backlash in reaction to Keegan's resignation. Ashley has travelled to
Dubai this week to search for potential investors but, as yet, he has failed
to find a buyer.
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Hammers youngster Sears wants time to show his talents - Echo
8:21am Wednesday 17th September 2008
I've got work to do - Sears FREDDIE Sears has asked West Ham United's
supporters to show patience with him this season. The 18-year-old striker
burst into the Irons' first-team squad after scoring 25 goals in just 24
youth and reserve team matches last term. But, after scoring a dramatic
winner on his Premier League debut against Blackburn Rovers at Upton Park in
March, the lifelong Hammers fan has failed to hit the net in nine
appearances since then. The Academy product has re-discovered his
goalscoring touch in recent weeks, however, banging in five goals in three
friendly and youth team games, but the teenager is still anxious that the
club's fans do not expect too much, too soon, from their newest home-grown
hero. "I'm just trying to get games under my belt," the speedy forward told
our sister paper the Basildon Echo. "With coming into the Premier League at
the end of last season, I was only playing 10 or 15 minutes at a time. "At
the start of this season, I've played and I've scored five goals in three
games, so it's obviously been good for me and good for my confidence. "I'm a
young player who is still learning the game and I just want to get better
and be as good as I can. "With the strikers we've got, I'm going to have to
work as hard as I can to get into the team, but I'm only 18 and I've got so
many years in the game still ahead of me. "I just need more time."
Despite his modesty Sears is, unsurprisingly, keen to catch the eye of new
manager Gianfranco Zola, who took control on Monday. And while he was a
favourite of previous boss Alan Curbishley, the diminutive striker admitted
he could not wait to start working with a coach who has already announced
his intention to play attacking football. "He seems alright. He might be
good for me because he's attacking-minded. It should be good," said Sears,
who was just 13 when Zola played his last game in English football for
Chelsea in May 2003. "I remember him as a good, skilful player and someone
you'd watch and look out for. "Obviously it's great to work with an
attacking coach. He's the same size and build as me, so he could take a
shine to me and really help me on. "It's been hard work so far. He just
wants to work hard and do our best and play attacking football. There has
been a bit of a buzz around the place, like there is whenever a new manager
comes into a place. It's obviously good for West Ham and hopefully he will
take the club forward."
Sears and his Hammers team-mates will take part in a first-team versus
reserves game at the club's Chadwell Heath training ground today.
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West Ham and Chelsea agree Clarke deal
Monday, 15 September 2008
Mike Hewitt
Independent.co.uk Web
Chelsea and West Ham have reportedly reached an agreement over compensation
for assistant coach Steve Clarke's move to the east London club. The deal is
set to be announced later today.
Clarke, 45, had two years left on his contract as assistant manager at
Stamford Bridge. Chelsea reportedly wanted £5m to allow him to move, but
West Ham were unwilling to pay the fee. An agreement is said to have been
reached at £1m compensation.
West Ham named Gianfranco Zola's as their new manager on Thursday. Clarke is
being lined up as Zola's assistant manager - the pair know each other from
their time at Chelsea together - Zola played for the club from 1996-2003.
Clarke joined Chelsea as a player in 1987 and retired in 1998. He was Rudd
Gullit's assistant at Newcastle before returning to Chelsea becoming Jose
Mourinho's assistant manager. He remained in the job during the reign of
Mourinho, and his successor Avram Grant. Clarke's role was said to have
diminished since Luiz Felipe Scolari took over at Stamford Bridge and he
attempted to resign on Thursday, hoping to set up his West Ham move.
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Sponsor crisis leaves West Ham looking a very sorry spectacle - Daily Mail
By Hatchet Man Last updated at 12:05 PM on 16th September 2008
Manchester United are still waiting for confirmation that the financial
problems of AIG will not impact on their shirt sponsorship deal. But if the
Old Trafford club's association with the insurance company does come to an
end prematurely there is surely no chance they will follow in the footsteps
of cheapskates West Ham.
After their sponsor, XL, went into administration they wanted to take the
name of the holiday company off their shirts. Instead of simply buying in
new ones without the sponsor's logo they taped up their shirts at West
Bromwich last weekend like a pair of old spectacles with the arms falling
off. Obviously a new set of shirts is beyond them so they need to secure a
replacement sponsors quickly to solve the problem at no extra cost. How
about approaching Autoglass, Coors or Commodore to go with their other
Chelsea cast-offs?
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Hammers winger can't wait for "fresh mentality" to kick in under Zola - Echo
12:02pm Tuesday 16th September 2008
WEST Ham winger Luis Boa Morte believes new boss Gianfranco Zola will bring
a 'fresh mentality' to Upton Park and admits he can't wait to start playing
under the Italian. Boa Morte fell down the pecking order under Alan
Curbishley but will have the opportunity to rekindle his best form with
Zola, who was appointed as Curbishley's successor last week. "We are excited
and looking to carry on the work we have done with Kevin (Keen) with the new
gaffer," Boa Morte told the club's website. "He [Zola] is a young manager
who I feel will bring a fresh and different mentality to our club. "We are
all looking forward to working with him because he did not stop playing that
long ago and so that knowledge will be very good. "For myself, I look
forward to working with Gianfranco and improving my game with him.
"I believe very strongly he can be a very good manager for us."
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Hammers now have 'the perfect coaching team' - but Newcastle are still in
disarray - givemefootball.com
By Ian Clarkson 16-09-08
West Ham's revolution continues after they appointed Steve Clarke as first
team coach after a compensation package was agreed with Chelsea. Clarke
handed in his resignation to join new Hammers' boss Gianfranco Zola last
Friday, but it was initially rejected as the clubs haggled over
compensation. However, a fee has now been agreed and Clarke has penned a
three-year deal to work alongside Zola and his team of coaches, Kevin Keen,
Ludek Miklosko and Antonio Pintus. "We are very pleased to welcome Steve
Clarke to the club," said West Ham Chief Executive Scott Duxbury. "Steve is
rightly regarded as one of the top coaches in Europe and his experience and
knowledge will be a huge asset to us. He recognises what we are trying to
achieve at West Ham United and wants to be a part of that. We have worked
very hard to bring him on board and are confident we now have the perfect
coaching team."
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Fans hoping for a DIC-style takeover should be careful what they wish for -
The Mirror
By Dan Silver, Mirror.co.uk 16/09/2008
Reports at the weekend that Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum had sounded out West Ham about a potential take-over in case his
long-standing interest in Liverpool fails to come to fruition provoked
extreme reactions in East London and Merseyside. Most Hammers fans were
cock-a-hoop at the prospect – however remote - of joining the Premier
League's mega-rich elite. Even though the club have effectively been
bankrolled by a billionaire since 2006, Icelandic Cod-father Björgólfur
Guðmundsson has been hit hard by the credit crunch, and West Ham had to sell
players to balance the books last month. Liverpool fans had a more downbeat
take on the news, the overall mood being summed up by this fan on the Red
and White Kop message board: "If Dubai go elsewhere, we will be in deep
s**t. Man City AND West Ham becoming billionaire clubs is really going to
mean that title challenges and CL qualification is going to be a nightmare
in a year or two!"
An over-reaction, perhaps, but then again it's a sensation that Chelsea fans
will surely have felt – however fleetingly – when the Abu Dhabi United
group's takeover at Eastlands meant that they were no longer the wealthiest
club in the Premier League. What the fans clamouring for the Arab dollar
don't seem to realise – or perhaps care about - is that while they might be
safeguarding their team's financial future in the short-term, they're just
as surely driving nails into football's coffin in the long-term. With more
and more billionaires – not to mention trillionaires, and quadrillionaires,
and what have you – being linked to Premier League clubs, we could be
heading towards a nightmarish scenario in which clubs might need a
multi-millionaire benefactor just to avoid the drop, let alone challenge for
honours.
Or, even worse, there might not even be a drop. Manchester City chairman
Gary Cook has already spoken of his desire for a smaller Premier League
without promotion or relegation – a horrific-sounding, NFL-style
super-league in which a small number of clubs owned by some of the planet's
wealthiest men play meaningless games against one another with the sole aim
of making those men even wealthier still. You probably think such a scenario
is so far-fetched that it will never happen. But then, 16 days ago, you
probably would have thought the same thing about Manchester City spending
£32.5m on Robinho. Fans will inevitably want their clubs to chase the Arab
dollar so as not to be left behind in the great Premier League oil rush.
Those same fans should be careful what they wish for, however. It might well
come true.
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West Ham's XL mistake - The Mirror
By Dan Silver, Mirror.co.uk 16/09/2008
Talking of West Ham, how's this for a prescient prediction from cone-headed
ex-chairman Eggert Magnusson, taken from a press release issued in June
2007: "West Ham United is delighted to announce XL.com as our new Principle
Partner. "They are an organisation very similar to ours in their values and
aspirations for the future and a brand that we are proud to be associated
with." Which arguably goes some way to explaining why Eggy sanctioned the
spunking of millions of pounds on 'talent' like Nigel Quashie, Calum
Davenport and Luis Boa Morte… And am I the only one who saw the 'West Ham to
drop XL for West Brom game' headlines and thought, well, that's not going to
do Dean Ashton's England chances any good, is it?
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