Daily WHUFC News - Web Item

West Ham's 'spoilt' players may not put their bodies on the line to keep
club up says David Sullivan
Daily Telegraph
By Jason Burt 11:00PM BST 28 Apr 2011

David Sullivan has questioned the commitment of some West Ham United players
as the club battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

In a frank and heartfelt interview with The Telegraph, the club's co-owner
and chairman also rated the team's chances of survival at just "25 per cent"
and said he personally will have "let down" the supporters if the demotion
happens. Sullivan, clearly frustrated, questioned whether some modern-day
footballers cared enough because they are "spoilt" by the huge amounts of
money they earn and this can affect their performances. West Ham are bottom
of the Premier League with just four matches to go, starting with Sunday's
trip to Manchester City, and Sullivan said that this season's struggles have
shocked him. "We didn't come here to be relegated, we didn't think at the
start of the season that we would be relegated and we have to put it right
next season," he said. "If we are in the Premier League we have to make sure
we are not fighting relegation, if we are in the Championship we have to
make sure we are in the top two this time next year."

Sullivan has thought about addressing the squad for the season's run-in, to
ram home the importance of not getting relegated, but admitted: "I've been
thinking about it but I think the players might think it's a joke. "I could
go in there and give them a Churchill speech but whether it's going to do
any good, I don't know. "I think some players are spoilt, I don't say just
with our players, I'm saying with all clubs. How do you motivate
millionaires? It's a problem all managers have. "Alex Ferguson has got that
fear factor and I do think that a manager needs that fear factor. You look
at Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger and Jose Mourinho. The players are a little
bit frightened of them. "But I'm sure a few of the players are already
looking at where they will be next season — their contracts are up, they'll
be off. "It means the manager [Avram Grant] might have a hard decision to
make if we go into the last game of the season needing a win to stay up — do
you trust the fate of the club to them or do you make the decision that you
will not play those players? "It's a very difficult decision. Do you go for
players who are committed to the club? If you look at that last game and
someone is on a Bosman [free transfer], will that player risk injury? Some
will, some won't. It depends on the mentality of the player."

There is a clear frustration in Sullivan's voice – and a personal toll also.
The 62 year-old said he wakes up "10 times a night" worrying about the fate
of the club he acquired in January 2010, but insisted he would rebuild the
squad over the summer — with an exodus of players expected. "I'm battling
on," he said. "Obviously we are facing the reality that 70-75 per cent we
are likely to be in the Championship next year. But there is still a 25-30
per cent chance we won't be. "We have to be realistic. The bookmakers put
our chances at 28 per cent and you have to accept that. "I feel for the
supporters. We have fantastic supporters and I feel myself and David [Gold,
the co-chairman ] have let them down. We have failed to deliver and the
bottom line in football is that it's a delivery business. "Forget all the
excuses – the bad luck, the good luck, the injuries – because over a season
it sort of averages out. OK, it probably hasn't quite averaged out for us
this year but you can't blame that. "I can't sleep at night. It hasn't
affected my health but it has affected my mind. I wake up 10 times a night
thinking about the state of the club. I ask myself, 'What can we do?' I know
there is only so much you can do. "But I can't switch off at all. I'm sure
most of our supporters can't either. We are supporters also. Supporters who
have made a huge investment, but that is secondary, and we, as supporters,
are gutted at the way things have developed. "We can scramble and stay up
and salvage something but we can't delude ourselves it's been a good season.
But at least we are in a better position to re-form for next season. "There
is no point denying it, but we are very depressed and we are very depressed
for the club's supporters. I feel I have let them down. I'm not a loser in
life and to get relegated is a serious loss. "It's not the end of the game
but it's like a boxing match and you take a bashing for three rounds. It's a
12-round fight and there are nine rounds to go, but you are in serious
trouble."

Sullivan insisted that he did not regret acquiring West Ham and inheriting
the perilous financial state of the club he now runs. "We haven't gone to
West Ham to make money," he insisted. "We would have bought Sheffield
Wednesday for £3 million or £4 million if we wanted to make an investment.
But we are not Sheffield Wednesday supporters; we are in this for the long
haul. Whatever it takes, we will turn this around."

Sullivan's and Gold's experience at their former club, Birmingham City, will
help. On the two occasions they were relegated from the Premier League, they
immediately returned to the top flight each time. "I hope that will count
for something," he said. "If it comes to it, we know what needs to be done
and we can put together a side to get us back up straight away. "I don't
accept it has come to that yet and there is a long way to go still. But
there is certainly no point being in denial and declaring 'we won't be
relegated'. "Against that the club is in a worse financial state. We will
have to shed a few players and a few players will not want to stay. We will
have to bring in new players to bring us back up. "I think a lot of the
players at West Ham will not want to play in that division [the
Championship]. I don't think it's going to be easy and you need players who
are proven in that division plus some young players who are fearless and who
have the energy to play 46 games a season. "We have some players who find 38
games very difficult. "I'm anticipating bringing in players who are £2
million, £3 million. I can't name names but you are looking at players who
might be, for example, the leading goalscorers in the Championship. "If you
buy two guys who can get you 25 goals each, well that's 50 goals and gives
you the basis for going straight back up."

Grant's future will also be decided. "We sit down at the end of every
season, and whatever club we have been in, with the manager and hear what
his thoughts are, what our thoughts are and we decide on the future at that
point in time," Sullivan said.

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com

Daily WHUFC News - 29th April 2011

Carlton banks on Scott
WHUFC.com
The latest to add to the accolades for Scott Parker has been is club-mate
Carlton Cole
27.04.2011

Carlton Cole has paid tribute to the outstanding Scott Parker after he won
the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year award. Parker will
be honoured at a special gala dinner in London in a fortnight's time, and
Cole said the No8 deserved all the accolades. Parker, like hernia-victim
Mark Noble who was hurt at Chelsea last Saturday, is battling to be fit for
the final three weeks of the season. Positive news has come with Jack
Collison's second successive 90 minutes in a run of four games for the
reserves, while Junior Stanislas is close to a first-team training return
after his own hernia issues. Winston Reid has also been back in action on
the practice pitches after a knock. It is Parker, though, that Cole said
everyone was looking to. "Scotty is one of those players that is a leading
player on the pitch, he leads by example, he will say how he feels," Cole
said. "Scotty won't shy away from anything, from a challenge, those are the
sort of characters you need in your team. "Especially when we are fighting
relegation as well, Scotty as a player and a person, is someone who will
always stand up and be counted - you need people like him. "Any accolade he
gets, any pat on the backs, Scotty deserves. That is how I look at it. I
hold him highly up there as one of the best players in the league at the
moment. "For the last three years, as soon as he got over the niggly
injuries he had when he was first here, once he started getting momentum, he
has not stopped. He is like a juggernaught."

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West Ham's Daniel Gabbidon charged over Twitter post
BBC.co.uk
Page last updated at 17:18 GMT, Thursday, 28 April 2011 18:18 UK

West Ham's Daniel Gabbidon has been charged by the Football Association in
relation to recent comments he made on social networking website Twitter.
The Welsh defender, 31, was charged on Thursday with improper conduct and/or
bringing the game into disrepute. Gabbidon, who made the comments after a
2-1 defeat at home by Aston Villa on 16 April, has until 1600 BST on
Wednesday 4 May to respond to the charge.
Team-mate Carlton Cole was fined last week for comments made on Twitter.
Gabbidon posted the message - which included swearing - in the wake of the
defeat at Upton Park, where Gabriel Agbonlahor scored an injury time winner
to keep West Ham deep in relegation trouble. The West Ham player ended his
final Twitter entry by writing: "U know what.... u will never get another
tweet from me again, you just don't get it do you. Bye bye."

Striker Cole was sanctioned by the FA for comments he made on Twitter about
Ghana fans during their friendly against England. He was also charged with
improper conduct and fined £20,000, as well as being warned about his future
conduct. In January, Dutch winger Ryan Babel was fined £10,000 and warned
about his future conduct by the FA over a post he made on Twitter.

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Mark targets Blackburn
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 28th April 2011
By: Staff Writer

Mark Noble could yet figure in West Ham's season-defining final three games
after it was revealed that initial injury fears were unfounded. The
23-year-old midfielder is set to undergo treatment on a hernia problem that,
it had been suggested, could rule him out for the remainder of the season.
However Noble is set to return for the home games against Blackburn and
Sunderland plus the visit to Wigan according to latest reports - although it
is thought that this weekend's trip to Manchester City comes too soon. With
Scott Parker also unlikely to feature at the City of Manchester Stadium and
with Gary O'Neil out until next season, Avram Grant's midfield options are,
once again, extremely limited. Jonathan Spector - who had the game of his
career against the other Mancunian club earlier in the season - is a likely
candidate to start, as is Freddie Sears who has impressed out wide in recent
outings.

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Sullivan says 75% chance of relegation
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 28th April 2011
By: Staff Writer

David Sullivan has spoken for the first time about the possibility of West
Ham being relegated from the Premier League this season. The club's
co-chairman - unusually quiet in recent weeks, in stark contrast to the same
stage of last season when Gianfranco Zola was battling to avoid the drop -
talked about the massive financial implications of relegation, whilst
gloomily predicting that Avram Grant's squad only have 'a 25-30 per cent
chance of staying up'. "There would have to be a dramatic change in players
coming and going as we could only keep those who are committed to the club
and willing to play in the Championship," he told tonight's Standard. "We
would also be totally committed to getting promoted immediately. "It would
be a huge setback if we were to go down but this is the club we support and
David [Gold] and I see it as a long-term project. Whatever happens we will
be sticking with the club. There is no more pressure than the pressure we
put on ourselves. "David and I took over a club £110m in debt. We are
keeping the club afloat and paying down the debt. We remain totally
committed to the club."

Sullivan also claimed that the club's existing '£10-12million [annual] hole
in the cash flow' would rise to £40million should West Ham drop into the
Championship.

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Here we go again...
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 28th April 2011
By: Staff Writer

Danny Gabbidon has become the latest recipient of an FA charge after he was
accused with 'bringing the game into disrepute'. Hot on the heels of team
mate Carlton Cole and manager Avram Grant, the Welsh defender was hit with
the charge after telling followers of his Twitter account 'f*ck the lot of
you will never get another tweet from me again' following the recent 2-1
home defeat to Aston Villa. Gabbidon's outburst is thought to have been in
reaction to a string of negative 'Tweets' from disappointed supporters
immediately following the game which was lost to an injury-time winner.
Unsurprisingly the FA were swift to sniff the opportunity for another
£20,000 boost to their bulging coffers and hit Gabbidon with the charge this
evening. A statement on the FA's site read: "West Ham United defender Daniel
Gabbidon has today been charged with Improper Conduct and/or bringing the
game into disrepute by The FA. "The charge follows media comments made on
Twitter on 16 April 2011. Gabbidon has until 4pm on 4 May 2011 to respond."

Carlton Cole was fined £20,000 and warned over his future conduct for a
Tweet made during the 1-1 draw between England and Ghana at Wembley last
month.
The heinous crime perpetrated by the West Ham striker was to imply - albeit
in jest - that immigration officers were preparing to swoop on the
20,000-strong away support.

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The story of Billie the grey
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 28th April 2011
By: Staff Writer

88 years ago today West Ham faced Bolton in the first ever FA Cup Final
staged at the new Wembley Stadium.

Delayed for over 40 minutes due to the massive crowds estimated to be in
excess of 200,000 (the stadium had a capacity of 127,000) - and by a
compulsory, rousing and heartfelt 'three cheers' for the attending King
George V - the game was eventually - and controversially - won by Wanderers
courtesy of goals from David Jack and Jack Smith.

Jack gave the Trotters an early lead amidst farcical scenes; West Ham
half-back Jack Tresadern became entangled in the crowd, pushed right up
against the touchline after taking a throw-in and Bolton profited from the
resulting space; Jack's shot was hit so hard that it rendered a supporter,
standing behind the net, unconscious upon impact.

More farce followed on the quarter-hour mark as a crowd surge behind one end
led to another charge from the mounted police in order to clear the playing
area. After the Red Cross had attended to a number of injured fans, play
resumed; Dick Richards' shot was cleared off the line as Bolton clung on to
their slender advantage.

The crowd problems - and obvious threat to public safety - forced West Ham
captain George Kay, ironically a former Bolton player, to request an
abandonment of the game; a request Kay persisted with throughout the match,
to no avail. Half-time followed - and went after just five minutes, as the
players were forced to take refreshment on the pitch as the heaving crowds
rendered access the the changing rooms impossible.

Vic Watson - United's biggest attacking threat on the day who remains, to
this day, the club's greatest goalscorer of all time - failed to take
advantage of any half-chances afforded him which proved to be the Irons'
ultimate undoing. The game was won after Wanderers added a controversial
second as referee David Asson adjudged a Smith shot to have carried over the
line.

West Ham protested bitterly; initially the ball had been kept from leaving
the field of play by a spectator on the touchline to Bolton's advantage
before hitting the post and bouncing clear of goal, according to them. Asson
insisted that the ball had instead crossed the goal-line and rebounded off a
spectator, much to the Irons' annoyance.

Charlie Paynter, West Ham's manager was left to rue the impact police horses
had had on the pitch: "It was that white horse thumping its big feet into
the pitch that made it hopeless. Our wingers were tumbling all over the
place, tripping up in great ruts and holes," he reflected.

Despite going home as the losing team, West Ham United's part in football
history was cemented by the appearance of the aforementioned and
now-legendary mounted 'white horse' that appeared amongst the vast throngs
in order to disperse the crowds.

However a little known fact is that the horse - Billy* - was actually grey,
and only appeared white due to the quality of the film used to record the
event.

Billy's mount, PC George Scorey of the Metropolitan Police later recalled
how his job on the day was made easier by the massive crowd's 'good nature'.

Sadly our equine friend passed away just seven years after the match with
which he will forever be remembered; former partner Scorey was subsequently
presented with one of Billy's hooves, mounted, in memory of his former
companion.

Meanwhile, West Ham had to wait another 42 years before finally getting
their hands on the FA Cup...

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Spector - We're stronger now
Hammers star confident of survival
Last Updated: April 28, 2011 10:15am
SSN

Jonathan Spector rates the current West Ham team as superior to the one that
staged a great escape under Alan Curbishley four years ago. The Hammers
looked set to be relegated in 2007 before embarking on a magnificent late
charge, winning seven of their last nine games to beat the drop.
Curbishley's side contained the likes of Carlos Tevez, Yossi Benayoun, Bobby
Zamora and Lucas Neill, but Spector feels West Ham are stronger this term.
The American, one of the few survivors from 2007, is confident the Hammers
can find their best form during the remainder of the season and avoid the
trapdoor once again. "It is a very different team from the one we had that
stayed up four years ago," Spector said in the Daily Mirror. "It is a strong
team that we have right now, probably stronger than we had back then. "It
hasn't happened for us this season but now we have to come together as a
group and get some points."

Massive games

West Ham may be in a better position than they were at the equivalent stage
four years ago but they remain two points adrift of safety with just four
games to go.
The next challenge is a clash with high-flying Manchester City on Sunday,
and Spector is determined to rise to the occasion. "They are massive games
coming up and it is a big stage for us," he told the club's official
website. "There is certainly the added pressure of that Premier League
status, which we definitely want to hang on to.
"Every player wants to play. There could be quite a few players who could
have an important role and have a massive impact on the games we have left.
"There have been times when we have played really good football and a lot of
people have been looking at us and saying: 'They are too good to go down'.
"They were saying that about Newcastle a couple of seasons ago and we don't
want to repeat what they did. "I am not sure there is a secret. It is about
hard work and determination and the guts to want the ball, to want to play
and to stick to your gameplan even if it is not going well for you."

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Jacobsen rallies Hammers
Defender pinpoints Blackburn & Wigan games
By Pete O'Rourke - Follow me on Twitter @skysportspeteo. Last
Updated: April 28, 2011 9:30pm
SSN

West Ham defender Lars Jacobsen insists they can still get out of trouble in
the fight for survival. The Hammers find themselves rooted to the bottom of
the table, two points adrift of safety with only four games left in the
campaign. West Ham face Manchester City, Blackburn, Wigan and Sunderland in
their final four games and Jacobsen admits the games against fellow
strugglers Blackburn and Wigan are games they cannot afford to lose. "As I
see it there are five teams that can be relegated and several of the teams
will meet each other," Jacobsen told onside.dk. "So there can be many
things. We still believe, although it will be difficult.

Must-win

"We cannot afford to lose to either Wigan or Blackburn - they are games we
need to win. "So it is clear that they will be two key battles as they are
two teams who are also struggling and perhaps the two teams we can catch.
"We cannot afford to lose to either Wigan or Blackburn they are games we
need to win. "

First up for West Ham is a trip to Champions League-chasing Manchester City
on Sunday and Jacobsen believes they can get a result at Eastlands. "If we
go with the same attitude we showed against Chelsea I think we have a good
chance to get something from City," added Jacobsen. "I know we lost 3-0 to
Chelsea, but we could have got something from there if we had been a little
sharper as we had many chances."

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com