WHUFC.com
Two wins in three days has left Frank Nouble looking forward to the UEFA U19
Euro Elite round
11.10.2009
Frank Nouble helped England Under-19s to set up a group decider with
Slovakia on Wednesday thanks to a 3-1 win against Slovenia on Sunday
afternoon. The West Ham United striker played his second game in three days
as England made it six points from six in qualifying Group 2 of the UEFA
European Under-19 Championship - and as such have definitely qualified for
the Elite round in the spring as one of the top two in the section. The No9
led the line alongside Aston Villa striker Nathan Delfouneso before both
were replaced for the closing stages - Nouble playing 58 minutes.Slovenia
are the mini-tournament hosts but proved no match for England, the goals
coming from Ryan Donaldson, Jacob Mellis and Roary Deacon. The Young Lions
had already beaten Finland with another 3-1 win last Friday. Slovakia have
achieved 4-0 and 1-0 wins against the same opponents respectively - which
means a draw in the decisive match in midweek would be enough for them to
top the group on goal difference. Should England come out on top after the
tie in Lendava they will clinch the group, a major confidence boost as they
look forward to the Elite round. If they then go all the way to the
eight-nation finals, they - and potentially the 18-year-old Nouble - will be
making a short trip across the channel to northern France in July.
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Okus earns Palace point
WHUFC.com
There was a welcome goal for midfielder Conor Okus on his first game back in
Tony Carr's first XI
11.10.2009
Crystal Palace U18s 1-1 West Ham United U18s
Conor Okus scored on his first full start of the season as West Ham United
earned a creditable draw away to Crystal Palace. The midfielder struck
midway through the first half after a good move involving Cristian Montano,
who was himself just back from injury troubles while Filip Modelski got
another game under his belt after his recent knee injury. The Hammers held
the lead until the hour when the Eagles capitalised on injured centre-half
Paco Craig being off the pitch to convert from a free-kick. Having drawn 3-3
last weekend at home to Southampton last weekend, Tony Carr's team will be
on the road next Saturday as well when they go to Portsmouth. Danny Purdy
could be back in contention after getting a late run-out against Palace
after his goalscoring exploits with the Republic of Ireland U17 side last
week.
West Ham United: Mehmet, Modelski, Brown, Craig (Lampe 65), Sanchez, Barrett
(Abdulla), Okus, Werndly, Subuola (Purdy 75), Wearen, Montano
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Diamanti would welcome Candreva
Hammers ace hails former team-mate
Last updated: 11th October 2009
SSN
Alessandro Diamanti admits West Ham would be well advised to follow up their
reported interest in Antonio Candreva. The 22-year-old playmaker spent last
season with Livorno, playing alongside Diamanti. He has seen his loan deal
extended by a further year, with pressure placed upon him to fill the
creative void left by his former colleague.
Candreva has revelled in that role, starring for Livorno in the opening
weeks of the Serie A season. His performances have not gone unnoticed, with
clubs across Europe believed to be keeping tabs on his progress. West Ham
are just one of those to have been impressed, with the Premier League outfit
already boasting a strong Italian contingent within their squad. Gianfranco
Zola could be persuaded to increase that number, with Diamanti revealing he
would welcome the opportunity to be reunited with Candreva at Upton Park
"Candreva is not a surprise, he has everything he needs to become a
champion," he said. The only sticking point in any potential deal could be
that Candreva is still co-owned by Udinese and any transfer would need to
receive clearance from them before being completed.
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Hines happy at England choice
Hammers ace insists it wasn't hard to pick England over Jamaica
By Richard Bailey Last updated: 11th October 2009
SSN
Zavon Hines insists it was not a difficult decision to opt to play for
England over Jamaica. The West Ham forward scored twice on his debut for
Stuart Pearce's Under-21s on Saturday when he came off the bench at
half-time against Macedonia. Born in Jamaica, the 20-year-old moved to
London when he was seven-years-old and although he has now firmly put down a
marker for England the youngster could have gone a very different path.
Hines was called up to the Jamaican senior squad for a friendly against
Nigeria back in February but failed to feature making him still eligible for
England if he wished. Asked whether it was a big decision to make, he
replied: "Not really to be honest, I grew up in England so England is always
part of my heart. "It wasn't hard even though I was born in Jamaica. I came
here when I was seven so Jamaica is still in my heart but England have done
a lot for me. "It's just good to be playing for England," he said.
Hines described his performance in the 6-3 win at the Ricoh Arena over the
weekend as 'a dream' and admitted he was delighted with his brace. "It's a
dream to be honest, a lot of young kids would like to play for their country
full-stop but to get two on your debut is even better. "Any goal is an
important one, it's just good to score for your country."
Hines has impressed as a winger for the Hammers this term, especially
against Liverpool where he ran rings around amongst others Jamie Carragher,
and he was grateful to Gianfranco Zola for giving him his chance. "It was
unbelievable but at the end of the day when it comes to football everything
is possible," he added. "Not a lot of clubs are producing young players but
every year West Ham produce one or two so it's just good to be playing
football. "I just know that West Ham have got belief in their young talent
so they will always give you a chance, it just depends whether the young
players take it or not."
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GOLD'S CLARET AND BLUES
The Star
11th October 2009 By Colin Mafham
FORMER Birmingham bosses David Gold and David Sullivan are lining up a
cut-price take it or leave it offer to buy cash-strapped West Ham. The pair
– they could also involve ex-Blues MD Karren Brady – have already held
preliminary talks with the Hammers' Icelandic owners, Straumur. Now they
hope to broker a cut-price deal after they leave St Andrew's this week when
the £80million takeover there by Hong Kong tycoon Carson Yeung is completed.
Gold and Co are understood to be offering less than what they got for
Birmingham and they will walk away if creditors who are owed more than £100m
refuse to do a deal. The Birmingham boys – and girl – made their move after
City's new owners decided to have a complete boardroom clear-out instead of
keeping Gold on as executive chairman. Both men have a lifetime affiliation
with West Ham, for whom Gold played as a youth. He tried to buy the Hammers
once before but the bid was blocked by former chairman Terry Brown but now
he and Sullivan have gone back with a bid that has considerable strings
attached. If that fails, Gold, 73, will look around for another challenge –
which could include managing his own non-league club. Sullivan wants to
spend more time with his young family and Brady is about to embark on a new
TV career. Gold said: "West Ham will always have a special place in my
heart. They didn't want us before and I wasn't particularly planning to go
back, but you never say never."
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Have Robert Green's England World Cup hopes gone up in smoke?
Published 21:51 11/10/09 By Simon Bird
The Mirror
As flares fizzed around his goal and the flames licked knee high, Robert
Green's hopes of being England No1 at the World Cup started to go up in
smoke. "Talking of flares, I like those jeans," was David James' relaxed and
assured response to questions about the intimidating spectacle of England's
goalmouth on fire, and a rocket hitting him early on during his substitute
appearance and 49th cap. Green's rush of adrenaline in conceding a penalty
and being sent off for fouling Artem Milevskiy in the 13th minute, hardly
suggested he was coping well with the partisan mob behind his goal. Or, to
be fair, the shaky uncertain defending in front of him that did him no
favours. Perhaps his own distress flare was required. Fabio Capello is not
as lucky as many of his predecessors in the goal keeping position. For two
generations England have a stopper that picks himself.
Gordon Banks, Ray Clemence, Peter Shilton and David Seaman largely securing
the position for 40 years and a collective 334 caps between them. The
Italian boss is assessing the current crop before a Finals decision, and on
Saturday emergency sub James proved himself the pick of the bunch, in
testing circumstances. He must surely have secured top billing, if he can
stay injury free. Capello has hinted that he knew six games ago who his No1
would be in South Africa. He's not saying who just yet, but it would be a
major surprise if younger challengers can dislodge James now. Even though
he's still recovering from a summer shoulder operation, knee trouble this
season, and is yet to get back to full training, he pulled off two stunning
saves from Yaroslav Rakitski and late on from Andriy Yarmalenko. At 39, with
49 caps behind him, and an England career that has spanned 12 years, James
says he is ready for anything thrown at him, including fireworks and
surprise call ups from the bench. There was a time when he'd be a sub, not
be switched on for action, and let himself down when called upon.
"Fortunately I was prepared and had even taken my Proplus!" he said. James,
who could seek a move to Spurs in January rather than stay at bottom placed
Portsmouth, wasn't happy when he discovered Green was starting for the fifth
game in a row. Four of those caps were in James' injury absence. He said:
"We went down to 10 men and lost our 100 per cent record which none of us
wanted. But also I did not want Greeny to get sent off. There was the Deal
or No Deal moment when the team went up and I was not in it. "You have to
respect the manager and he picked the side that he thought would win game.
"I just thought let's crack on and win the game anyway. I was ready to go on
but did not expect to. Greeny had done okay before hand and we have a squad
and it is not about the individuals. "
James has had no assurances from Capello, but put his marker down in the
week saying younger keepers wouldn't have come through the trials and
tribulations of his career with such longevity. He added: "I am happy that I
am in the squad as I said before and I think we are going to do well. As
long as we do well and I am in the squad we will worry about the rest
afterwards."
James was supporting his rival keeper: "Unfortunatly we were reduced to 10
men and had it been Rob green or anybody else it was always going to be
difficult. I thought our performance with 10 men was very good, we created a
lot of chances but unfortunately we did not score. "I have been told I was
also hit by a flare. Was it a terrifying experience!? What's the problem? I
noticed the ones in front of me. When I was on the bench I saw it too.
Suddenly we went down the other end and there were 20 flares on the pitch.
Greeny had more than I did but it was fine."
The alternatives are less convincing than veteran James, who has 3,528
minutes of England experience to his name and a career of ups and downs to
draw upon in the heat of battle. West Ham star Green, at 29, has only eight
caps, six starts, and just 554 minutes of playing time for his nation.
Capello may well admire Ben Foster, but after the Manchester United man was
quietly dropped from this squad amid concerns over his form and claims of an
"injury" his two caps amount to just 135 minutes playing time for England.
Not enough for a World Cup keeper. Paul Robinson is battling for the third
back up spot and his experience of 41 caps, the majority, 26 under Eriksson
a few years ago, and his good club form, should ensure he is on the plane.
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