WHUFC.com
England Under-17s have rewarded Robert Hall for his continued good
performances for West Ham United
24.01.2010
Robert Hall's great year has continued with his inclusion in the England
squad for the annual Algarve Tournament in Portugal. The 16-year-old forward
is in fine form in the Academy, not least in helping Tony Carr's side earn
an FA Youth Cup fifth-round tie against Newcastle United on Wednesday 3
February. He has also shone on the international stage and, after great
strides with the U16s last year, is already established at U17 level. Hall
will travel with John Peacock's squad as they meet France, Ukraine and the
host nation over four days between 13 and 16 February. The round-robin group
will help the Young Lions prepare for the Elite round of qualifying for the
2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship which gets under way in March.
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Holmar on a high
WHUFC.com
On-loan Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson tasted victory on his third appearance for KSV
Roeselare
24.01.2010
Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson tasted victory for the first time in a KSV Roeselare
shirt as the Belgian side overcame Jupiler League relegation rivals KSC
Lokeren 4-1 on Saturday evening. The on-loan West Ham United defender was
making his third appearance for the club - also known as Roulers in French -
having previously turned out in a league defeat by KVV Mechelen and Belgian
Cup loss to KV Kortrijk. The news was much more positive this time around,
however, as two goals from Nikita Rukavytsya and strikes from Bertin Tomou
and Joeri Derquevy saw off Lokeren at the Daknamstadion. Victory for
Eyjolfsson's side lifted them three points above bottom-placed Lokeren. With
nine games remaining, Roeselare will maintain their top-flight status should
they remain in 14th place following the removal of Excelsior Mouscron due to
financial issues. Roeselare return to action in the return leg of their
Belgian Cup tie with Kortrijk on 27 January, hoping to overturn a 3-2
first-leg deficit.
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Maoulida keen on Prem move
Striker suggests it is 50/50 that he could leave Lens
Last updated: 24th January 2010
SSN
Lens striker Toifilou Maoulida has expressed an interest in moving to
England after admitting it is '50/50' that he could leave his current club.
Maoulida has struggled to establish himself in Lens' starting line-up this
season, although he did score the winner against Compeigne in the Coupe de
France on Saturday. He has been linked with a switch to the Premier League,
with Stoke City, West Ham United and Wigan Athletic mooted as admirers. The
30-year-old insists he is not desperate to quit Lens, but is tempted by the
opportunity to secure a transfer to English football. "I'm waiting to see,"
he told L'Equipe. "I've had a discussion with my managers recently. They
have set a deadline of Wednesday. "I am in favour of the Lens project but
the situation is complicated. "If an English club give me this opportunity
then why not? The English league has always interested me. It's 50/50 at the
moment." Maoulida, who also lists Montpellier and Marseille among his former
teams, joined from Auxerre in January 2008 and immediately made his mark
with a 40-yard goal on his debut. He opted to remain at Lens despite their
relegation and was the club's top scorer last season as he helped fire them
to promotion with one of the best goal hauls in Ligue 2.
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Beattie's Gold-dust for David
The Sun
By PAT SHEEHAN
WEST HAM are set to end James Beattie's Stoke hell by jumping in with a
£3million offer. The Hammers - who narrowly missed out on signing Ruud van
Nistelrooy last week - are pulling out all the stops to land a striker.
Beattie, 31, had a furious bust-up with boss Tony Pulis after a 2-0 defeat
at Arsenal last month. West Ham are desperate to bring a player in with
Carlton Cole struggling with a knee injury. New Hammers joint-owner David
Gold said: "I'd be hugely disappointed if we did not bring in a striker
before the window closes. "But it would have to be someone of quality or
there is no point."
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Portsmouth v West Ham United Match Preview
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 24th January 2010
By: Preview Percy
The club may have new ownership but Preview Percy is still here. Sadly......
And so a new era commences with a trip down the A3 to Portsmouth for a
7:45pm kick-off this Tuesday evening.
There's a large amount of "there but for the grace of God" about this one.
Financially they are in similar schtuck to that which we found ourselves in.
The good people of Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs have their finger
hovering over the switch to the life support machine, with a winding-up
order due to be heard in the High Court early next month. Players are
getting used to being paid late, an issue which may well cause the club even
more problems given that standard contracts usually allow for players to
give notice if they don't get paid. The Premier League have been using their
TV money to pay off debts direct to other clubs, and, whether not the
current transfer embargo gets lifted will depend upon their being able to
persuade the authorities that Udinese have, despite earlier protestations to
the contrary from the Italians, actually agreed a repayment schedule over
the transfer of Sulley Muntari back in 2007. Just to add to the mix Sol
Campbell decided that he wasn't unpopular enough within football by
commencing legal proceedings over unpaid bonuses and, hilariously, "image
rights". All in all it's easy to see why wags have renamed Fratton "Boracic
Park"
They are, of course, bottom of the league having garnered 14 points from
their 20 games thus far. Their last six league matches have brought them two
wins (at home to travel-sick Burnley and a dreadful Liverpool) one draw,
courtesy of a 93rd minute equaliser a Sunderland, and three defeats (home to
Arsenal and away to ourselves and Chelsea). What with it having been a bit
nippy of late, they have yet to play a league match this decade, their three
excursions of 2010 having come in the FA Cup where they took two matches to
overcome Coventry before coming from behind to beat Sunderland in front of
10,000 or so fed-up supporters in this weekend's 4th round. They will be
pleased with the draw for the next round where their share of the gate from
what will be a sell-out at St Marys will pay a bill or two.
It appears that we will be unlikely to see former Hammer David James take up
his position between the posts on Tuesday. The on-off talks between Pompey
and Stoke over the 'keeper's immediate future are, at the time of writing,
on, though, as ever, cash is something of a sticking point with both sides
haggling over the amounts to be paid and the end-date for the contract.
James will be on good wages on the south coast, or at least he would be if
they were to pay him, so a departure will suit both sides, giving as it
would Pompey a bit of financial respite and James the possibility of some
first-team football in advance of the World Cup. Begovic will continue in
goal as a result.
With the transfer window being closed to Pompey until the authorities can
find the keys to the security locks, there have been no new arrivals of
late. However the squad is beginning to look a little threadbare at the
moment. They were only able to muster five subs for the Mackems' visit at
the weekend and both Michael Brown and Papa Bouba Diop picked up knocks at
the weekend, though my deadline for this means that it's a bit early to say
whether they'll be available for Tuesday. The main problem for boss Grant
has been the African Cup of Nations which has rendered the likes of Belhadj,
Dindane, Yebda and Kanu unavailable for selection. It never rains as they
say.
Star man for them in the cup match was John Utaka who picked up a brace.
Utaka has not always been first choice this season, with many of his
appearances coming from the racing car seats. Another perennial bench-warmer
has been former Hammer Haydn Mullins, who was one of the five in the dugout
on Saturday.
French striker Frederic Picuionne has been starting up front of late. He
showed some decent form against us in the Boxing Day fixture, though, by all
accounts, he does blow hot and cold. He's been at the head of a 4-3-2-1
formation in recent weeks with Utaka and Diop playing just behind.
Meanwhile for us things would appear to be looking up for once. After months
of speculation the two Daves (shouldn't that be Rodneys?) have finally taken
over with the promise of a spot of much-needed stability on the financial
side of things. First priority would appear to be a striker. Though the bid
to lure Van Niestelroy to the Boleyn ultimately failed, as a statement of
intent it took some beating. The stated aim was to bring in a striker prior
to this game, though at the time of writing that seems to be a non-starter.
I also find it unlikely that we'll be able to rescue Robbie Keane from his
"Spurs Hell" but it's nice to be mentioned as a possibility.
We may see the return of a number of players from injury, with Ilunga,
Gabbidon, Parker and, crucially, Cole all said to be nearing a comeback.
Franco will be absent for another week or so and, if Carlton needs another
few days of rehab, expect Nouble to have another start. The youngster
started to show some promise up at Villa Park last week, though his
composure in front of goal obviously needs a bit of work. Still, early days,
as they say.
Predictions? Well they'll be on a mini-high after the cup win, though by
Tuesday their players will know whether or not they'll need to be taking a
closer interest in those Ocean Finance ads next weekend. Assuming that some,
if not all of our players who are said to be close to a return, make an
appearance I have a suspicion that we'll be to strong for them once more,
especially if the atmosphere is already on a downer. I shall therefore go
for a 2-1 victory as the players seek to impress the new bosses who, let's
face it, do not have the air of people who will tolerate a lack of effort!
Enjoy the game!
Last Season: Won 4-1 A Craig Bellamy-inspired yuletide performance served to
kick-start a season that saw us ultimately pushing for a European slot. Same
again please.
Referee: Andre Marriner – did the Halloween match up at the Stadium of
Light. Sent off two whilst Sunderland's Cerna was allowed to get away with
half a dozen awful challenges each of which could have merited a red card in
its own right.
Danger Man: Utaka He will have his tail up after his goals on Saturday.
Look out for: Pompey Owner Ali Al Faraj – if you do see him there are a few
Pompey fans who I am sure will reward you handsomely for the information!
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Can the Club Land Huntelaar?
West Ham Till I Die
There are various reports circulating that the club are seeking to get
Huntelaar from AC Milan on loan for the remainder of the season. Huntelaar
is a striker with a big reputation from his days in the Dutch league, but
has apparently failed to settle in the Spanish league and Italy's Serie A.
There is no doubt that he is quality and just the type of goal predator that
we so badly need. The only question will be whether he can adapt quickly
enough to the more physical nature of the PL to maximise his impact over the
remainder of the season. My view is if we can realistically get him then we
should go for it! It could be an inspired move!
However, this is only one of the rumours circulating at the moment. Other
sources have us signing McCarthy from Blackburn and/or Gudjonsson from
Monaco. I think that McCarthy will be a good signing in the short-term and
for a fee in the region of £1.7-2.5m you cannot really go wrong. Some
sources are stating that Blackburn are digging their heels in over a £3m
fee, but the player is clearly unsettled and, hopefully, this will prove
decisive in pushing a deal through.
There are also reports of Spurs proposing a player swop deal involving
Carlton Cole and Robbie Keane. Whilst I would consider Keane joining the
club, losing Cole is really too high a price to pay I am afraid. Similarly,
we should reject any offer from Man City of £15m or a lower fee and a player
exchange. Again, losing Behrami is just too high a price to pay in my book.
However, things have gone quiet on prior reports that we were setting up a
deal for Luke Young from Villa. I have to admit that I do hope that a good
quality right-back joins the club, as it is a position that really worries
me. We need to tighten things at the back and preserve/ improve our
current goal difference. The -9 goal difference could be worth an extra
point to us, seeing as most of our rivals at the bottom are c. -20.
Hopefully we will climb to mid-table and goal difference will not be a
factor, but just in case!
Zola also has to decide whether he is happy going with the two young reserve
keepers as cover for Green. Both are very good prospects, particularly
Stech, but do they have the experience to cope if Green got injured? As an
insurance policy it might be advisable to Bring in a veteran keeper on a
short-term deal. Similarly, improved cover for Upson and Tomkins might also
be a preferred option, but it has to be recognised that you can only do so
much business in what remains of the the January window. Perhaps we may
just have to go with Da Costa and Gabbidon as first line cover, with
promising prospects Spence and Ngala as our fall back?
Whatever, the next 7 days should be very interesting. Starting with,
hopefully, delivering on the club's stated objective of bringing in a
striker before Tuesday's match with Portsmouth. Interesting that Pompey
beat Sunderland yesterday. There is always one team every season that
starts off well and then ends up dropping in to the relegation mire, could
that team be Sunderland this season?
SJ. Chandos.
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Cheeky David Sullivan invites axed boss Alan Curbishley to invest in
debt-ridden West Ham
By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 12:40 PM on 24th January 2010
Daily Mail
David Sullivan has invited Alan Curbishley to invest his financial pay-off
from West Ham back into the cash-strapped Barclays Premier League club.
Former Hammers boss Curbishley won his case for wrongful dismissal against
the club in November and is still awaiting settlement. New West Ham
co-owner Sullivan admitted this week the club are £110million in debt, and
has been scathing in his criticism of the club's previous owners. Sullivan
and business partner David Gold face an uphill task to balance the books at
Upton Park and are seeking new investors, and the former Birmingham owner
believes Curbishley could go a long way to aiding those efforts. Sullivan
told the People: 'Alan will get somewhere between £1.25million and
£3.25million, and we'd love him to invest his settlement with us in West
Ham. 'It would be marvellous, I could think of nothing better, but I don't
think he's going to be doing it. We're hoping to start seeing people we hope
will invest with us by the middle of the week. 'We've got a few people
who've got a gold card who we're going to see and we're hoping they'll join
us in the battle to keep West Ham alive. 'We're talking about substantial
sums of money from some very rich people and we're hoping in a few months'
time that they will have signed up for the fight. 'We will show them what
we did at Birmingham, where all the investors doubled or quadrupled their
money.'
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