WHUFC.com
The countdown is on for supporters to renew with the club offering a special
finance option
03.07.2011
The season ticket renewal period has been stepping up ahead of an exciting
new campaign at West Ham United with Sam Allardyce hard at work and the
players looking the part. Fans have until 5pm on Tuesday 5 July to renew
their season ticket and make sure of their usual seat at the Boleyn, before
new applications are accepted. To make it easier for supporters to renew,
the club has partnered with Zebra Finance for those wanting to help make
payments more manageable via a monthly instalment option for all of our
loyal supporters.
With optimism high, fuelled by the manager's arrival and a busy summer of
transfers headed by Kevin Nolan, the ticket office expects another busy rush
until the close of play on Tuesday. Season ticket holders can get extra
benefits, including ten per cent off the new West Ham United Macron replica
kits for the 2011/12 season with the discount applying to all retail
purchases.
Brisk trade has been reported by the club's new Online Store, launched in
response to supporter feedback. Supporters have been flocking to pre-order
the stylish strips before the official launch on Thursday 28 July 2011. For
Allardyce, the priority is getting his players ready for the big kick-off,
with the prestigious pre-season date at home to Real Zaragoza of Spain
standing out on Saturday 30 July 2011 before the visit of Cardiff City in
the npower Championship opener on Sunday 7 August 2011.
"It is not a long time to gel a new team together," Allardyce said. "We are
going to have the legacy of players from last season and we have already
bought Kevin Nolan and added Abdoulaye Faye to the squad in terms of ability
and experience. "Both have been playing in the Premier League for many years
and are willing to step down and play in the Championship to help West Ham
get up at the first time of asking. "Hopefully the players that were here
last season will discard the disappointment they had of getting the club
relegated and get back to playing in a positive mental attitude. They will
show the ability and skills that they have got and help the club to get back
up."
Allardyce, who is meeting his staff at Chadwell Heath this week, was clear
once again a line should be drawn under last season and that everyone should
unite behind the promotion push. He is certain that his players will lead
the way and make the supporters proud to follow the team home and away.
"Hopefully they have had a good look at themselves in the summer and
realised the disappointment it has brought to everybody as well as
themselves and they come back fighting. They need to come back and show
everyone they are Premier League players by coming in and winning on a
regular basis in the Championship."
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Fanimo looking forward
WHUFC.com
Exciting winger Matthias Fanimo is fit again and ready to make up for time
lost to injury
01.07.2011
Matthias Fanimo is eager to make up for lost time and the disappointment of
missing out on appearing at two major international tournaments. Having
enjoyed a superb opening half of 2010/11, during which the winger netted
five goals in 16 youth team appearances and forced his way into the
reserves, Fanimo was sidelined with a leg injury in March. The setback
forced the 17-year-old out of action during the final two months of the
season, causing him to be omitted from England's Under-17 squad for the UEFA
European Championship and FIFA World Cup finals at that age level. While
Fanimo was understandably downhearted at being absent from the competitions,
he is ready to return to action in pre-season and enjoy a successful 2011/12
campaign. "It was a disappointment that I wasn't there with England at the
World Cup, but I've got to look forward from now because maybe other
opportunities will come," said Fanimo, who captained England U16s to Victory
Shield success 18 months ago and has been capped nine times at U17 level.
"Hopefully I can get through the new season without being injured so that
people can see a bit more of me, which I'm looking forward to. "It has been
difficult to deal with that disappointment. Because I'm at a young age, I
was looking forward to the European Championship and the World Cup, so when
I couldn't go the disappointment hit me pretty hard. "It was quite hard for
me, but now that it's gone I can look forward to different opportunities. I
have been watching the games and watching Blair Turgott, who's doing well.
Hopefully, they can go all the way! "Hopefully I can get myself back into
the England set-up, which won't be the easiest thing to do. I'm just going
to have to work on my game and improve on it and hopefully I can get a
recall."
While he may still be relatively young and inexperienced, Fanimo has faith
in his ability and is even eyeing the possibility of making his first-team
debut during the upcoming campaign. With a number of senior players having
departed and a fixture list packed with npower Championship and cup matches,
the teenager knows new manager Sam Allardyce will find a time to call upon
the club's Academy products. "It does open up a lot of opportunities for the
young lads coming through, so hopefully if I get the opportunity then I can
take it and get myself into the first team," he added. "I think it would be
a bit too soon for a loan move. I still have to get myself in and around the
first team here and I think that would be good for me. "It would be safe to
say that I won't be going anywhere."
Fanimo has another reason to celebrate - the signing of his first
professional contract with the club this summer. "It's a very proud moment.
All the hard work has paid off. It's been a long road, so I think this
professional contract will help me with my development and take me on to the
next level."
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'I'm really over the moon'
WHUFC.com
Callum McNaughton has big plans after signing a new professional contract
with West Ham United
05.07.2011
Eighteen months ago, Callum McNaughton was nursing a leg injury and facing
up to the very real prospect that he may be released by West Ham United.
This week, the tall centre-back sat down at the Boleyn Ground to sign his
second professional contract with the Hammers following an outstanding
2010/11 season. McNaughton, who joined the club at the age of 14, saw his
fitness and form improve markedly last season, enjoying a productive loan
spell at Blue Square South side Bishop's Stortford before being appointed as
West Ham's reserve-team captain. Showing leadership qualities, determination
and composure in equal measure, the 19-year-old has come on in leaps and
bounds and is now eyeing a first-team debut in the near future. "This is my
second contract now and I'm really happy to have signed it," said the
flame-haired defender. "It's what I really wanted so I'm really over the
moon and am excited about it and what I can do next season. "I felt like I
progressed throughout last year and did well, improved a lot and I really
enjoyed my football as well. It was positive and I hope to build on it this
year. "I think it was a learning curve and I learned more and more. The loan
spell at Stortford did me a lot of good because I got a lot of football -
eight games in a month - so that helped me a lot.
"My confidence and my play improved and it's really nice that I can enjoy my
football more and more."
Looking back at the dark days of the 2009/10 season, McNaughton could have
been forgiven for giving up on his dream of becoming a professional
footballer. He did not choose the easy way out, though, and has shown a huge
amount of desire to bounce back and establish himself in West Ham's reserve
team. Now, McNaughton naturally wants to take the final step. "I always knew
what I wanted and believed I could achieve it. It was just a case of proving
it and I've just come through this 18 months and felt like I've progressed
and I'm really happy. "I've got loads of small goals to meet to make it to
my big goal of making my first-team debut this season.
"I believe in myself and it's what I really want. It's what I have worked
hard for and it is my main goal to play for this club. "I'll keep working
hard and I'll keep progressing and I definitely hope to achieve that."
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Carr signs
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 4th July 2011
By: Staff Writer
Tony Carr has signed a new five-year deal with West Ham United. The Youth
Academy director, whose existing deal was up this summer has put pen to
paper on a contract that will keep him tied to West Ham United until 2016.
Carr, 60 - who was overlooked in favour of Sam Allardyce for the recent
managerial vacancy - has been employed by the club in a coaching capacity
since 1973. Only last year he was awarded the MBE for services to football
whilst a testimonial match saw a whole host of current and former
international stars turn up at the Boleyn. Speaking to KUMB.com last year
Carr admitted that despite the lure of offers from elsewhere, he intended to
see his career out at Chadwell Heath. "If the club want me to stay I'd like
to stay," he said. "I'd like to go on for another three or four years, if
I'm honest. I'm quite healthy, I still enjoy it, I still think there's work
to be done. "We've got good kids in the system and I want to see them
develop. I hope there's going to be some good players coming through in the
next three or four years and I want to be part of that. "Obviously there
comes a time when you go 'look Tone, as much as we love you you've got to
pack it in'. And I understand that. But whilst I'm still quite fit and
healthy... the day I stop enjoying it is the day I go 'thanks, but I've done
my bit'."
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Kurucz eyes regular action
Hammers goalkeeper linked with Baggies switch in homeland
By Juha Pal. Last Updated: July 4, 2011 11:38am
SSN
West Ham goalkeeper Peter Kurucz is keen to secure regular action after
missing all of last season with a serious knee injury. The Hungary Under-21
international, who moved to Upton Park from Ujpest FC on an initial loan
deal in January 2009, injured his anterior cruciate ligament in a reserve
outing last August. Reports in Kurucz's homeland claim that West Brom are
considering a summer swoop as they look to bolster their options following
the departure of Scott Carson to Bursaspor.
Boaz Myhill is expected to be Baggies boss Roy Hodgson's first choice in the
coming season and it remains to be seen if Kurucz would be prepared to move
on.
Optimistic
The goalkeeping situation at West Ham remains unclear, with England
international Rob Green tipped to depart and Marek Stech, Ruud Boffin and
youngster Jake Larkins also on the club's books. Kurucz, who has been
training with Ujpest recently but has ruled out a return to his former club,
is focused on getting back out on the pitch after his spell on the
sidelines. The 23-year-old told Nemzeti Sport: "The club signed the Belgian
Ruud Boffin when it became clear that I can't play for a while.
"I'm optimistic, but at the moment there is only one thing that I want to do
- I want to play."
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Stadium row causes concern
Newham mayor says controversy must not delay plans
Last Updated: July 4, 2011 5:28pm
SSN
Newham mayor Sir Robin Wales has stressed the importance of putting plans in
motion for the Olympic Stadium despite the protracted row over its
ownership. Wales does not believe the controversy triggered by the
suspension of an Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) director who also worked
for West Ham during their bid for the ground should be allowed to delay
plans for the venue. The east London Olympic borough won a joint bid with
West Ham to use the stadium after the Games. The OPLC board voted 14-0 in
February to back this bid, ahead of Tottenham, as first choice to move into
the stadium. The OPLC and West Ham said the woman had no involvement in that
decision. "The sooner we can get on with it the better for our country.
Anything that delays it is not good for our country," Sir Robin said. "It is
a seriously hugely popular bid. Everybody thought it was the best - let's
just get on with it. We are very keen to get started. "Our bid is way the
best. It works in every possible way. We will retain the stadium so we can
use it nationally and regionally. Our community will benefit enormously from
it. "Any rational person will say 'it is a no-brainer, this is by far the
best bid - let's get on with it'. "Things will happen as they happen. It is
the right bid for the stadium and we will work as quickly as we can to open
it."
The OPLC director was suspended on full pay on Friday after it was
discovered she had been doing paid consultancy work for West Ham. She was
later named as Dionne Knight. She had declared "a personal relationship"
with a Hammers employee when she started at the OPLC, but told the legacy
company of her work at the club only last week, they said. She was
immediately suspended while any possible conflict of interest was
investigated, the OPLC said. Both the OPLC and West Ham said the woman had
no involvement in that decision.
Johnson staying calm
The Hammers have said they are taking legal action against Tottenham and The
Sunday Times over allegations about the Olympic Stadium bidding process.
London mayor Boris Johnson believes the controversy should not allow the
plans for the stadium to be delayed or thrown off course. He said: "There is
no reason why there should be any deviation. The woman concerned made her
relationship known to the OPLC and was immediately excluded from having
anything to do with the bid process. "Obviously they took steps, quite
rightly, to exclude her of any involvement with the bid process and it now
transpires there was a financial relationship - that is a matter that is
currently under investigation. "I have no reason to believe that this in any
way will blow the decision off course. The OPLC have pondered the decision.
"Let's face it, two years ago no-one would have said we would have two top
London clubs fighting it out for the right to use the Olympic stadium. It is
a great tribute to everybody involved in the marketing of the Olympic Park
that we have got a situation where we have so much interest in the stadium.
Before then people were talking about mothballed white elephants."
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Fernandes 'no' to Hammers bid
Published: Today
The Sun
TONY FERNANDES has ruled out buying relegated West Ham after a row between
him and the current owners. Fernandes, the boss of AirAsia, made public his
offer to buy 51 per cent of the club on Twitter. That prompted an angry
response from David Gold and David Sullivan, who bought the Hammers 18
months ago. And Fernandes admits the reaction from the pair has put him off
in his attempts to form a takeover for the Championship side. He said: "The
relationship between the owners and myself ... I don't think we are meant to
be. "The Hammers possibility has probably gone."
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AirAsia's Fernandes says no longer in market for West Ham
KUALA LUMPUR | Mon Jul 4, 2011 1:34pm BST
(Reuters) - Tony Fernandes, the owner of Malaysia-based budget airline
AirAsia, said on Monday he was no longer in the market to buy into West Ham
United football club, with which he has long been linked. "The relationship
between the owners and myself ... I don't think we are meant to be,"
Fernandes told Reuters in a telephone interview from London. "The Hammers
(West Ham) possibility has probably gone." The 47-year-old Malaysian
millionaire, who was educated in Britain and owns the Team Lotus Formula One
squad, has long been a fan of the London football club, which was relegated
from the English Premier League at the end of last season.
Media reported last month Fernandes had put in an offer for West Ham and
that he wanted a 51 percent stake. However, the current owners were not
inclined to give him more than 35 percent, the reports said.
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West Ham move to tie down Collison amid Premier League interest
By talkSPORT
Monday, July 4
West Ham are confident of extending Jack Collison's stay at the club despite
a flurry of interest from a host of Premier League sides. West Brom are the
latest club to be linked with the fit-again midfielder following claims the
22-year-old was being tracked by Tottenham and Liverpool. Dan Ashworth, West
Brom's sporting and technical director, worked with Collison when he was a
schoolboy at Peterborough and is thought to be the driving force behind the
interest from the Hawthorns But Sam Allardyce's side are ready to offer the
Watford-born star a new and improved deal after he returned from a 14-month
lay-off with a knee injury. With Scott Parker and Thomas Hitzlsperger set to
leave the club following relegation to the Championship, Allardyce is keen
to keep Collison and combine him in the Hammers' midfield with Mark Noble
and new signing Kevin Nolan. Negotiations are ongoing but the east London
club hope to tie up a new deal for the youth-team graduate as early as this
week.
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Margetson quits Cardiff for West Ham role
By talkSPORT
Monday, July 4
West Ham have appointed Martyn Margetson as their new goalkeeping coach.
Margetson, 39, held the same position at Cardiff, but has left the Welsh
club to join Sam Allardyce's backroom team at Upton Park. Although Robert
Green is expected to leave the club during the summer, Margetson has been
handed the role of working with the new number one at the east London club.
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Brighton fend off competition from West Ham and Leicester to land £3.25m
Mackail-Smith
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 5:06 PM on 4th July 2011
Daily Mail
Brighton have won the race to sign Peterborough's Craig Mackail-Smith for a
fee which could rise to £3.25million. Leicester appeared favourites to
capture the sought-after striker, who has signed a four-year deal, while
West Ham also had a bid accepted by Peterborough for the 27-year-old. But
the Seagulls have underlined their intentions for the forthcoming npower
Championship campaign by beating the duo to Mackail-Smith's signature.
Mackail-Smith started out at Dagenham & Redbridge and moved to Peterborough
for an undisclosed fee in January 2007. He scored 99 goals for Posh during
his four-and-a-half-year stay, including one in the 3-0 play-off final win
over Huddersfield at Old Trafford in May. Poyet believes the capture of
Mackail-Smith 'shows we want to go places'. He told the club's official
website: 'Some thought it was a done deal that he would be heading
elsewhere, but we got the player which is good, as it shows that we want to
go places, to do better. 'A signing like that can only help us as we try to
bring more players in. 'He's a player that we can build our team around,
which is why I was so keen to bring him here, and one of the most pleasing
aspects for me is that we have signed him despite interest from some other
big, big teams. 'When I first sat down with the chairman, Craig was at the
top of my list, our number one target, so I'm absolutely delighted to have
signed him.'
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Boris Johnson says Olympic Stadium row will not delay West Ham move
'There is no reason why there should be any deviation'
OPLC carrying out investigation into consultancy work
Owen Gibson
guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 July 2011 20.03 BST
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has insisted the revelation that West
Ham United paid an Olympic Park Legacy Company director for consultancy work
will not derail the club's move into the Olympic Stadium. West Ham's Olympic
project director, Ian Tompkins, and the OPLC's director of corporate
services, Dionne Knight, have been suspended while both carry out internal
investigations. "There is no reason why there should be any deviation. The
woman concerned made her relationship known to the OPLC and was immediately
excluded from having anything to do with the bid process," said Johnson, who
rubber-stamped the OPLC's decision to choose West Ham's joint bid with
Newham council over a rival one from Tottenham Hotspur.
"Obviously they took steps, quite rightly, to exclude her of any involvement
with the bid process and it now transpires there was a financial
relationship – that is a matter that is currently under investigation," said
the London mayor. "I have no reason to believe that this in any way will
blow the decision off course."
The OPLC is expected to announce on Tuesday which firm will conduct the
independent audit. The legacy company suspended Knight on Friday. It said
she had not revealed she was also undertaking consultancy work for West Ham
on its procurement process. The club, due to move into the stadium in
2014-15, said that it believed Knight had authorisation from the OPLC to
carry out the project work on its behalf. The mayor of Newham, Sir Robin
Wales, whose board authorised a £40m loan to the joint venture company that
will operate the stadium, said the controversy should not derail its plans.
"The sooner we can get on with it the better for our country. Anything that
delays it is not good for our country," said Wales. "It is a seriously
hugely popular bid. Everybody thought it was the best – let's just get on
with it. We are very keen to get started."
Spurs will attend a high court hearing this month in a bid to force a
judicial review of the decision.
West Ham said on Sunday it would sue the Sunday Times over the claim that
the payments were made in secret and take legal action against Spurs over
its use of a firm of private detectives.
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Hammers add Margetson to backroom team as Allardyce continues rebuilding job
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 11:08 PM on 4th July 2011
Daily Mail
West Ham have appointed Martyn Margetson as their new goalkeeping coach.
Margetson, 39, held the same position at Cardiff, but has left the Welsh
club to join Sam Allardyce's backroom team at Upton Park.
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Pardew reveals Nolan disagreement
5 Jul 2011
Evenign Standard
Alan Pardew has admitted Newcastle decided to sell skipper Kevin Nolan
because they did not believe he had another five years in him at the top
level. The 29-year-old left for relegated West Ham in a £4million move last
month after failing to win the long-term contract he was looking for, much
to the horror of Magpies fans who saw their team's inspirational captain
contribute 12 goals to the cause last season. Pardew was disappointed to
lose Nolan, who had two years remaining on his existing deal, but insisted
there would have been little point in keeping a disgruntled player, and told
BBC Radio Newcastle: "Kevin didn't want to stay, that's the end of the
debate. Kevin couldn't get a contract for four or five years." He added:
"My opinion is that we couldn't give Kevin a five-year contract because if
Kevin isn't playing first-team football, he isn't going to be the leader
that we want, I am convinced of that. "Kevin is so full-on as the captain of
a football club and at the level he has gone to now, he will easily cope
with that and he will come back to the Premier League. "But in four or five
years' time, Kevin needs to be doing the business in the first team, and we
couldn't and I couldn't see that possibly happening here at Newcastle, and
we had to make a decision on that."
Pardew also has a decision to make with his goalkeepers with veteran Steve
Harper, Holland international Tim Krul and Fraser Forster, who enjoyed a
successful spell on loan at Celtic last season, all vying for the number one
spot. Indeed, one of the three is likely to be playing his football
elsewhere during the next campaign rather than operating as number three at
St James' Park. Asked if he would keep all three, the manager said:
"Probably not, actually, and that's a situation we have to be very careful
of. "They have all got a genuine, genuine chance to be number one, so when
you suddenly become number three, that's a major issue and that will be a
major issue for one of them."
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