Daily WHUFC News - 25th June 2012

Chairman comes to Fry's aid
WHUFC.com
Joint-Chairman David Gold was quick to come to close friend Barry Fry's aid
when he fell ill
24.06.2012

Larger- than- life Barry Fry has West Ham United Joint-Chairman David Gold
to thank for making a speedy recovery from serious illness. Fry was taken
very ill whilst attending the Football League Chairmen's' Conference in
Portugal with a serious kidney infection. So alarmed was Gillingham chairman
Paul Scally for the Peterborough United Director of Football that he
contacted their mutual friend Gold asking for help. And the the
Joint-Chairman did not hesitate in rushing his private jet out to Faro
Airport where Fry was airlifted home and taken straight to hospital.

Fry said: "I will be forever grateful to David. It was a tremendous thing to
do. I thought I was going to die and needed help fast and he was there for
me. I worked as DG's manager at Birmingham City and know him to be a
wonderfully kind-hearted man but that was a magnificent gesture. "I was in
an awful lot of trouble with what was a severe and painful kidney infection
and he was there for me."

Mr Gold added: "Barry is a very good friend of mine and I was pleased I was
in a position to help. My jet was airborne within minutes of getting the
call. "I have been in the same position - feeling ill abroad and the only
place you want to be is back home fast. I was just glad I could help and
delighted he's now made a full recovery. He's promised to buy me dinner but
then again he's been promising to do that for years!."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Wynning formula
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid was happy to host some fellow Kiwis at the Boleyn Ground
24.06.2012

New Zealand football legend Wynton Rufer was a welcome guest of fellow Kiwi
Winston Reid at the npower Championship visit of Brighton & Hove Albion last
season.
Rufer, who was voted Oceania Footballer of the Century and enjoyed a
successful playing career in Germany, Japan, Switzerland and his homeland,
was a pioneer of New Zealand football when he signed for Norwich City in
1981. Unfortunately, the teenager did not receive a work permit to move to
England, opting instead to join Swiss club FC Zurich in May 1982.

Later the same year, the striker appeared for the All Whites at the FIFA
World Cup in Spain, appearing in group-stage defeats by Scotland, the Soviet
Union and Brazil. After seven seasons in Switzerland, where he scored a
total of 87 goals for Zurich, FC Aarau and Grasshopper-Club Zurich, Rufer
joined German Bundesliga high-fliers SV Werder Bremen in the summer of 1989.
The forward proved a hit at Werder, forging a potent partnership with Klaus
Allofs as the club won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1992. The following
season, 1992/93, he finished joint-top scorer in the UEFA Champions League
and helped Werder to the league title. After a short but successful spell in
Japan with JEF United Ichihara in 1995 and 1996, Rufer returned to Germany
with Kaiserslautern before finishing his career in his homeland with Central
United and North Shore United and Australian National Soccer League club
Kingz. The former Werder Bremen striker came along to the 6-0 win over the
Seagulls complete with a group of talented players from the Wynton Rufer
Soccer School of Excellence. The school has been running for more than 15
years in New Zealand, with bases in Auckland, Wellington, Hawkes Bay,
Christchurch and Dunedin offering coaching for youngsters aged five to 17.
Rufer also has contacts at Academies in Germany and Japan.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
What We Can Expect From Mohammed Diame?
By Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die

Martin Tarbuck edits the excellent Wigan Athletic fansite, the Mudhutter and
he has written a very interesting piece on what West Ham can expect from our
new midfield signing, Mohammed Diame. Clearly Wigan fans would have liked to
keep him.

When Mo joined it's fair to say, he didn't exactly set the place alight. A
£3m joint signing in the summer of 2009 from Rayo Vallecano along with
centre half Antonio Amaya, an absolute rock of a man, rugged, handsome,
sturdy but with the ability to turn into a gibbering wreck when put under
moderate pressure by the likes of Lee Hughes and Johan Elmander. Diame
though looked the real deal and soon enough he was. We nearly didn't sign
him at all due to a heart scare, which is supposedly still around in that he
has an irregular heart beat but the more games he played for us, the more
ludicrous it became to believe that this midfield powerhouse could possibly
have a dicky ticker.

Whereas Amaya barely made a handful of appearances leading us to conclude he
had just been signed as a friend to keep Momo company, Diame was always in
the team under Martinez and his performances broadly reflected the direction
of Wigan Athletic as a whole. In the first year when we suffered many large
reversals, Diame was symbolic of those games: a shoulder shrugging, lost
sheep with bags of ability but no heart (no pun intended), one of many
foreign mercenaries to wear the shirt of Wigan Athletic at a time when we
seemed to be destined for the drop.

Yet in many ways, Diame was a pioneer of the resurgence at the business end
of the season. Capable of matching the best in the game. A rangy, box to box
midfielder with energy, drive, sublime ball skills and passing range, long
legs perfect for taking the ball off his more illustrious opposite numbers
and driving goalwards. Of course, forming an opinion off youtube is
dangerous but what's not to like about this?


Apart from the music. The one weakness has always been his shooting and
indeed a year or two ago at a fans' forum, a fan asked Martinez whether it
would be possible for Momo to stay behind for a bit of extra shooting
practice to up his goal tally. "The problem there is, if Momo gets ten goals
a season, then he's off." Therein lies the quandary of modern football, we
nurture our players, accept their flaws and watch then develop and then get
forced to flog them because they are commanding bigger wages.

The strange thing in Diame's case is that he hasn't actually featured much
since Christmas. Essentially he was a pivotal part of the team that amassed
a whopping 15 points in 23 games until the end of January but barely
featured in a team that went on to get 28 points from the remaining 15
beating Liverpool, United, Arsenal and Newcastle in the process. This is
merely a crumb of comfort from a Wigan fans' perspective in the future and
not intended to ignore Diame's undoubted talent.

His contribution to the run in was to come off the bench and miss a pair of
sitters against Norwich and West Brom which cost us four points when we
really looked doomed. It may just be that Roberto knew both Hugo and Momo
were leaving and chose to use them sparingly whilst thinking of next
season's continuity. They could have both been flogged in January with this
in mind but that would have been akin to waving the white flag at the time
with Latics rooted in the relegation zone. As it happens, players like
McArthur and Maloney came to the fore and Momo struggled to get back in the
team, understandably as they were playing out of their skins.

This is not to detract from a fantastic player who will be sorely missed by
most Wigan Athletic fans, many of whom are asking why West Ham? I think we
know the answer to the question and it comes in paper and shiny gold form.
Again, we know our place, we know Wigan Athletic are a small club and West
Ham won the World Cup and are a far bigger and more illustrious club than
our own, but is this a step up? How will West Ham's aspirations and likely
achievements differ from Wigan Athletic's? Why join a newly promoted club
and leave an established Premier League club of eight years?

Apart from the music. The one weakness has always been his shooting and
indeed a year or two ago at a fans' forum, a fan asked Martinez whether it
would be possible for Momo to stay behind for a bit of extra shooting
practice to up his goal tally. "The problem there is, if Momo gets ten goals
a season, then he's off."

Therein lies the quandary of modern football, we nurture our players, accept
their flaws and watch then develop and then get forced to flog them because
they are commanding bigger wages.

The strange thing in Diame's case is that he hasn't actually featured much
since Christmas. Essentially he was a pivotal part of the team that amassed
a whopping 15 points in 23 games until the end of January but barely
featured in a team that went on to get 28 points from the remaining 15
beating Liverpool, United, Arsenal and Newcastle in the process. This is
merely a crumb of comfort from a Wigan fans' perspective in the future and
not intended to ignore Diame's undoubted talent.

His contribution to the run in was to come off the bench and miss a pair of
sitters against Norwich and West Brom which cost us four points when we
really looked doomed. It may just be that Roberto knew both Hugo and Momo
were leaving and chose to use them sparingly whilst thinking of next
season's continuity. They could have both been flogged in January with this
in mind but that would have been akin to waving the white flag at the time
with Latics rooted in the relegation zone. As it happens, players like
McArthur and Maloney came to the fore and Momo struggled to get back in the
team, understandably as they were playing out of their skins.

This is not to detract from a fantastic player who will be sorely missed by
most Wigan Athletic fans, many of whom are asking why West Ham? I think we
know the answer to the question and it comes in paper and shiny gold form.
Again, we know our place, we know Wigan Athletic are a small club and West
Ham won the World Cup and are a far bigger and more illustrious club than
our own, but is this a step up? How will West Ham's aspirations and likely
achievements differ from Wigan Athletic's? Why join a newly promoted club
and leave an established Premier League club of eight years?

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Gary gets his Irons out
The Sun
By DAVID READING
Last Updated: 25th June 2012

WEST HAM ace Gary O'Neil is getting his Irons out as he eyes a place in
golf's Open Championship. The Hammers midfielder tees up in a qualifying
event today in a bid to make the field at Royal Lytham & St Annes next
month. And although he is unlikely to leave Rory McIlroy quaking in his
spikes, O'Neil is dreaming of turning professional when his football days
are over. He said: "I am realistic enough to know I need to improve a lot
but if I could be a pro golfer when my football career ends it would
definitely be something I would look to do. "But my problem at the moment is
consistency. My bad shots can go 50 yards off line and that will cost you
two shots straightaway. "I don't think there is anything major that needs
changing, it's just about having the time to be able to practise." O'Neil,
29, is battling 118 golfers in a regional qualifer at The London Golf Club.
But the scratch golfer has an advantage over most of the field as he is a
member at the Kent layout. He said: "It's my home course so hopefully I'll
feel quite comfortable. "I know the course well but it is only 18 holes so
you need to have a good day — but you never know."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

http://vyperz.blogspot.com