WHUFC.com
Former England striker Teddy Sheringham considers the fortunes of the club's Three Lions hopefuls
01.03.2010
Teddy Sheringham has spoken exclusively to WHUTV about West Ham United's trio of England hopefuls and their chances of being on the plane to South Africa. The former England striker, who served the club to distinction with 28 goals in 76 league games between 2004 and 2007, is the latest big name to catch up with the WHUTV cameras in recent weeks. Log on now to hear his thoughts including on Carlton Cole's progress since the pair were strike partners in claret and blue.
Sheringham, who also considers Robert Green and Matthew Upson's international ambitions, said: "Carlton has sorted himself out as a person and made sacrifices in his life to realise he wants to be a pro footballer. He is doing very well. "I saw him at first hand for England away to Holland and in other games and he has done himself no harm in the games he has played. It is just about maintaining the performances he has for West Ham and keep getting on the score-sheet."
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Big week for Behrami
WHUFC.com
Valon Behrami may be on international duty this week but he is already prepared for Bolton Wanderers
01.03.2010
Valon Behrami is looking forward to returning to international action in midweek - but insists his priority is on keeping West Ham United in the Barclays Premier League. The Switzerland international is set to be involved in Wednesday's home friendly with fellow 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Uruguay. If selected, the fixture will mark Behrami's 26th cap for his country since making his debut in a 1-1 2006 World Cup qualifier draw with France on 8 October 2005. However, the 24-year-old will be keeping his focus on Saturday's vital league visit of Bolton Wanderers to the Boleyn Ground, which comes after the 2-0 and 3-0 successes in the last two home matches against Birmingham City and Hull City respectively. "This is a game like the Hull one, against a team on the same level and they are a physical team. We need to win as we are at home and keep playing like we played against Birmingham and Hull. This is a very, very important game."
Behrami is the subject of the main interview in the official matchday programme for Saturday's match. The midfielder talks candidly about his childhood, which saw him move from Kosovo to Switzerland at the age of five, his closness to his family, the forthcoming World Cup finals and enjoying life in London at West Ham United.
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Download the accounts today
WHUFC.com
West Ham United have published the club's accounts for the 2008/09 season for all whufc.com users
01.03.2010
West Ham United are today publishing on whufc.com the club's accounts for the 2008/09 season as part of the new board's determination to keep supporters as informed as possible. The new accounts have been submitted to Companies House after being signed off by independent auditors. Fans wanting to read the 35-page document, before they are available anywhere else, can do so by clicking HERE : http://www.whufc.com/staticFiles/a2/4a/0,,12562~150178,00.pdf
In his chairman's statement, David Sullivan said: "It is a great honour to be reporting to shareholders as joint-chairman of West Ham United with my colleague David Gold, following our acquisition of a 50 per cent shareholding in the company.
"These results testify to the amount of work that has to be done to restore this club to a position of financial strength. Our new board will work ceaselessly to put the club back on a stable financial footing and I believe that it has the expertise and experience to achieve this."
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Behrami braced for Bolton
Hammers ace ready for crunch clash
By Chris Burton Last updated: 1st March 2010
SSN
West Ham to win 2-1 7/1, draw 1-1 6/1 or lose 1-0 9/1
1st Goalscorer - Cole 9/2, McCarthy 11/2 or Noble 16/1
Valon Behrami admits West Ham's meeting with Bolton this weekend is a 'very, very important game'. The Hammers have given themselves breathing space in the battle to beat the drop, opening up a three-point cushion on the drop zone.They are, however, far from assured to be playing Premier League football next season and know there is still a lot of hard work to be done.Back-to-back successes on home soil, over Birmingham and Hull City, have helped their cause considerably and results at Upton Park could go a long way to determining their fate.Next up in the capital are fellow strugglers Bolton on Saturday, with both sides desperate to take something from a crunch contest. A number of those on display will have been away with their respective countries in midweek, including Swiss midfielder Behrami, but the match is already weighing heavy on the mind of many of those set to be involved. "This is a game like the Hull one (a 3-0 win), against a team on the same level and they are a physical team," Behrami told West Ham's official website. "We need to win as we are at home and keep playing like we played against Birmingham (a 2-0 win) and Hull. "This is a very, very important game."
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Sullivan: Hammers planned player fire sale
By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent
ESPN
March 1, 2010
West Ham United would have been forced to sell £8 million worth of players in January, £16 million in the summer and £20 million if they were relegated had the club not fallen into new hands, co-owner David Sullivan told Soccernet. On the day Portsmouth were due back in court for a Revenue winding up order, having already gone into administration, the true extent of the financial meltdown at Upton Park was disclosed by the club's new co-owner. Sullivan told Soccernet: "The strategy for survival was in place in case there wasn't a takeover, and we were told that it meant that £8 million worth of players had to be sold in January, which would have meant a player like Scott Parker or Carlton Cole going, or maybe even both. "Then in the summer, the club would have needed to sell £16 million worth of players to carry on surviving, having budgeted to finish 10th in the Premier League, but it might have been more like £20 million if they had been relegated. "It would have reached the stage where the club would have had no one left of any consequence, but when people are desperate they had to design desperate measures. "For West Ham it wouldn't have been long before they would have run out of players to sell. Yet Straumer had put in £7.9 million to keep the club afloat on top of all the debts."
When Sullivan and David Gold took over the running of the club in January there were debts of £110 million. Sullivan said: "We have already trimmed that down to £95 million, as we have paid of some of the debts with a few little deals, so slowly we are making some progress. "But we have to look at the situation in realistic terms. This club had lost £20 million, £40 million and £20 million in the last three years and there are another £20 million losses this year. "Ultimately we have to break even, but that is going to take some effort as we are heading for £20 million losses this year again. So, you can see the first big task is to stabilise the club to give it a brighter future. "We came in and bought players, saved the club from being forced to sell players, and now we are quite capable of staying up, and quite capable of surviving."
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Premier League clubs borrowing from money lender
By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent
ESPN
March 1, 2010
A private individual has loaned three Premier League clubs "tens of millions" as some of the elite have already sold TV revenues and season tickets for forthcoming seasons. Top-flight clubs are turning to a money lender to buy players, pay off debts or simply survive and stave off the kind of predicament that has hit Portsmouth. Peter Storrie revealed to Soccernet that one of the biggest problems was that the banks called in their £40 million loans, and in the recession clubs have turned to this unnamed money lender of some considerable wealth. West Ham co-owner David Sullivan told Soccernet: "A private individual has loaned three Premier League clubs tens of millions. I am not going to name him or say exactly how much he has loaned the clubs, but it is a considerable amount. "A very rich private individual is making these loans based on the clubs' agreed payments from TV income. When we came to West Ham, we found that the club had sold its season tickets for two years in advance. "We are also aware that financial institutions are buying up football debt at big discounts. One such financial institution bought some of the Portsmouth debt, but they are going to have to wait for their money now, if they ever get it all back."
Sullivan, though, does not necessary feel that the Premier League is in the kind of perilous state that has been suggested following Portsmouth's move into administration.
Much is made of the enormous debt at the top end of the Premier League, but Sullivan said: "Arsenal have just posted fantastic figures. Manchester United are the club most quoted as having the biggest debt, but big business does run on debt - look at Marks & Spencer. "Chelsea and Manchester City can be taken out of the equation because their owners are running those clubs as hobbies. "The real pressure is down the bottom, where the lesser clubs fear the financial effects of relegation, when whole income flows are no longer guaranteed if they go down. It creates sheer panic. "That is why I would like to see a full parachute payment for the first season and half for the following two seasons. I have not advocated it, but it makes more sense to me. The fear factor at the bottom has to be addressed, because it is down there that clubs are pushing the financial panic button, and that leaves them wide open to doing things they might not wish to do."
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David Sullivan lifts lid on West Ham's financial plight
Hammers had budgeted to sell £28m worth of players
Sullivan and Gold took over club with £110m debts
James Callow guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 March 2010 16.10 GMT
David Sullivan claims West Ham United would have been forced to sell the majority of their playing staff had he and David Gold not bought the club in January. Now West Ham's joint chairman along with Gold, Sullivan believes the east London club was in such bad financial shape that they would have had to sell £8m worth of players last January, £16m in the summer and £20m if they were relegated to avoid financial ruin. "The strategy for survival was in place in case there wasn't a takeover, and we were told that it meant that £8m worth of players had to be sold in January, which would have meant a player like Scott Parker or Carlton Cole going, or maybe even both," Sullivan told Soccernet.
"Then in the summer, the club would have needed to sell £16m worth of players to carry on surviving, having budgeted to finish 10th in the Premier League, but it might have been more like £20m if they had been relegated. "It would have reached the stage where the club would have had no one left of any consequence, but when people are desperate they had to design desperate measures. "For West Ham it wouldn't have been long before they would have run out of players to sell. Yet [Icelandic bank] Straumur had put in £7.9m to keep the club afloat on top of all the debts."
When Sullivan and Gold took over the running of the club it had debts of £110m. "We have already trimmed that down to £95m," Sullivan said, "as we have paid off some of the debts with a few little deals, so slowly we are making some progress. But we have to look at the situation in realistic terms. This club had lost £20m, £40m and £20m in the last three years and there are another £20m losses this year. "Ultimately we have to break even, but that is going to take some effort as we are heading for £20m losses this year again. So, you can see the first big task is to stabilise the club to give it a brighter future. We came in and bought players, saved the club from being forced to sell players, and now we are quite capable of staying up, and quite capable of surviving."
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West Ham's David Sullivan Petrol Station to King Of Canning!
Date: 1st March 2010 at 5:43 pm |
Transfer Tavern
David Sullivan, West Ham's co-owner, has caused quite a stir during his time with the club. This was mainly because he warned that the players and management would have to take a pay cut even if the club avoids relegation. Sullivan, along with David Gold, bought Birmingham City in 1993 and has been involved in football ever since. So, just how did Sullivan end up where he is today? Let's find out about the man. There are some surprising details along the way…
■David Sullivan was born on the 1st of February in 1949, in Cardiff. He graduated from the Queen Mary's university with a degree in economics. That degree was put to use with a 21 year ownership, from 1986-2007, of the Sunday Sport and Daily Sport.
■Apart from being the joint-chairman of West Ham, he is also a British pornography entrepreneur. Believe it or not, this helped him in the initial stages of his career. After working at a petrol station that paid him £30 a week, he entered the porn market at 21 by producing weekly pictures that and selling photos that earnt him around £800 a week.
■On to the football then. Sullivan happened to buy Birmingham when it was advertised in the Financial Times. He helped to transform the club from being bottom of the second tier in English football to where they are now.
■In 2007, Sullivan seemed to have had enough by stating that he wanted to leave Birmingham. If that had alerted potential buyers, then the news of 2008 alerted the police. He and managing director, Karren Brady, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy which was to do with an alleged corruption in English football. Luckily for the pair, no action was to be taken.
■The long stay as co-owner of Birmingham looked to be taking its toll on him as he blamed previous manager Steve Bruce's player signings for the club's relegation from the Premiership in 2008.
■In January of this year, Sullivan and Gold accquired the 50% stake that was needed to take control of West Ham.
■Amongst Sullivan's other interests, he likes horse racing and with all the money he has it is not surprising to hear that he lives in a house that cost £7.5m to build. He is Britain's 68th richest man.
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West Ham admit to "ill-judged" spending
Fifa.com
(PA) Monday 1 March 2010
The scope of West Ham's "ill-judged" spending over recent seasons has been been revealed in the club's latest accounts, which were published this evening.
West Ham's decision to award injury-plagued striker Dean Ashton a new contract in December 2008 backfired, leaving them liable for a £5.81million payment when he was forced to retire in December. Freddie Ljungberg and Kieron Dyer will have cost the club £34m over the terms of their contracts, having only started a combined total of 32 matches for West Ham since the summer of 2007.
For two years under the ill-fated Icelandic regime, West Ham's wages totalled around 80% of their annual turnover, nearly 20% higher than the Barclays Premier League average. The club's finance director Nick Igoe wrote in the accounts that the club's subsequent on-field performances were unsatisfactory following such major investment.
"It is a truism to observe that a club's playing success (and almost certainly long term financial success) is largely dependent on how wisely it invests its available resources," Igoe wrote in the accounts. "It has to be concluded that many of the group's investment decisions in the last two to three seasons have been ill-judged. Two players who signed in the summer 2007 transfer window, one of whom has since left the club, have started a combined total of 32 games and will have cost the group £34m over the term of their contracts.
"No football club can sustain this level of expenditure on underperforming members of its squad," it continued. "It must be concluded that the investment in the playing squad has not generated an appropriate return, either financially or in terms of performance. It follows that an eighth and 10th place league finish, one Carling Cup last eight and one FA Cup last 16 represent an unsatisfactory return on this expenditure. Clubs with fewer resources and lower levels of expenditure on their squad have achieved a greater level of league and cup success."
The figures also reveal the major belt-tightening programme which West Ham undertook last season in the hope of staving off financial meltdown. The wage bill was reduced. and West Ham made £10.8m from player sales. However, that still accounted for less than a quarter of the transfer expenditure from the previous two seasons.
"2008/09 saw the group take steps to generate essential cash flow by a programme of player sales and wage savings," wrote Igoe. "This comprised a reduction in the size of the playing squad and the trading of certain players for less costly replacements."
The club's turnover was down to £76.1m, due mainly to the collapse of title sponsor XL but the wage bill also dipped. West Ham's losses before tax of £16.2m were not helped by "exceptional expenses" such as the Ashton pay-out - but the figure was still half what it had been the year before.
The club's bank debt of £45m is not considered "excessive" for a company generating £75-80m of annual turnover. But West Ham say the debt "is challenging because it is relatively short term in nature, expiring as it does in August 2011, and has to be viewed alongside other liabilities such as the Sheffield United settlement and net transfer fee creditors of £14.4m."
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West Ham keen on Peterborough keeper Lewis
02.03.10 | tribalfootball.com
West Ham United are being linked with Peterborough United goalkeeper Joe Lewis. The Hammers could be in the market for a new No1 if Robert Green gets a move to a top four club. A highly-placed source at Upton Park told the News of the World that claims Manchester City's Joe Hart, currently on loan at Birmingham, will be on his way to West Ham if Green leaves are "the product of a fertile imagination". "That theory came from the fact that the Hammers' current owners took him to St Andrew's," he added. "His name hasn't been mentioned. "Peterborough's Joe Lewis at £3.5million would be a far more realistic proposition."
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