Daily WHUFC News - 5th November 2012

Nobby and The Big Man
WHUFC
Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll have given West Ham TV an exclusive
two-part interview
07.11.2012

Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll have been almost inseparable since
joining forces at Newcastle United in 2009.
The duo quickly became close friends and unstoppable allies on the
pitch as the Magpies romped to the Championship title in 2009/10. The
following season, the pair both scored in a 2-1 Premier League victory
at West Ham United before Carroll joined Liverpool in a
record-breaking £35m deal in January 2011 - the same month Nolan
scored in a 5-0 win over the Hammers at St James' Park.
Six months later, Nolan was on his way to east London, captaining the
Hammers to promotion in his first season at the Boleyn Ground. In
August, the skipper was joined at West Ham by his close friend
Carroll, immediately striking up the same fearsome partnership they
had forged at Newcastle.
This Sunday, the duo return to the North East as Sam Allardyce's side
travel to St James' Park for what promises to be a mouth-watering
Barclays Premier League fixture - and an extra-special one for Nolan
and Carroll.
Known as 'Nobby' and 'The Big Man' to everyone at the club, the
Hammers pair sat down to record a special two-part West Ham TV
interview ahead of their return to Newcastle. The pair discuss their
close friendship, their outstanding partnership on the pitch and their
feelings ahead of their return to St James' Park. Part One will be
screened on Thursday and Part Two on Saturday.

WATCH NOBBY AND THE BIG MAN ON WEST HAM TV

"It's going to be tough and we know that," said Nolan. "With the way
Alan Pardew has them set up, Newcastle are not going to give anything
away too easily. I know they have got a few injuries and suspensions
and we hope to take advantage of that.
"I'm just really looking forward to it, to be honest. We had some
fantastic times there, to be fair. It was a top-notch place to play
football so I'm looking forward to going back and getting a bit of
stick, but it's all good banter!"
Carroll has been inundated with ticket requests from friends and
family for Sunday's game, but found another of West Ham's Geordie
ex-pats had already snapped up the club's allocation.
"I'm looking forward to going home," confirmed the Gateshead-born No8.
"I went back when I played for Liverpool [in April 2012] and I got a
few boos and a bit of stick but it was all good. I'm looking forward
to going back and hopefully we'll win this time because last time I
went back we got beat. It would be much better if we could go back up
there and get a win.
"I've tried to get a few tickets but Macca (assistant manager Neil
McDonald) has already took them all! He's tried to get them all
first!"

The captain has had no such difficulties securing seats for his own
group of supporters.
"Macca has bought about 20-odd as it's the first time he has been up
there in Newcastle for years," confirmed Nolan. "It's been the normal
people for me. I used to have a box up there so I got ten for every
game and this Sunday will be the same. There will be a load of my
friends going for me, just like they always do.
"It's going to be interesting for Andy going back because he's a
Newcastle lad and he grew up there. Fifty thousand people are going to
boo us on Sunday but if we went out in the evening they would probably
be around wanting pictures! It's all going to be good."

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Potts targets first-team return
WHUFC
Dan Potts is hoping to force his way into Big Sam's plans by
impressing for the Development Squad
06.11.2012
Dan Potts is hoping to propel himself back into first-team action for
West Ham United.
Still just 18, the left-sided defender made four appearances for Sam
Allardyce's side last season and featured in two Capital One Cup ties
earlier this term. Having impressed on his regular run-outs for the
Development Squad, Potts is now eyeing a Barclays Premier League
debut.

"The first-team is where I want to be," he said. "I played a few games
in the Championship but now we are in the top flight performances need
to be that little bit higher.
"I am training with the first-team and I feel that it is improving my
game every day so hopefully I will be back in the squad soon because
that is where the experience is going to come."
For now, Potts is concentrating on Friday's Barclays U21 Premier
League fixture at Arsenal and looking to bounce back from last week's
3-0 defeat at Reading.
"It was obviously a very disappointing performance and a poor result
but we matched them in the first-half until we lost our concentration
and conceded a sloppy goal from a set piece. Our defending has been
excellent from set pieces in recent weeks and we knew we were still in
the game at half-time, but then we lost our concentration once more
and conceded from a corner."
The defender also believes that bad luck played its part with Reading
scoring at crucial times in the game.

"Their second goal came at a really bad time for us because we were
searching for a route back into the game and it came as a real
sucker-punch. Third goal on the counter was the same. We have been
performing very well as a team but on Friday there were periods of the
game where we were not as together as we have been and that was
definitely part of our downfall."
Jordan Spence, Leo Chambers and Rob Hall all missed the defeat due to
being away on first-team duty, but Potts refused to believe there
absence directly resulted in the Development Squad's downfall.
"We were without three very good players and if you take three good
players out of any team it will have an impact but they were not with
us the previous week either and we beat Everton [1-0].
"It was the same team on Friday but Reading showed us that, if you are
not on your game, you will be punished. They also had some very good
senior players on show [in the shape of Alex Pearce, Adam Le Fondre
and Ian Harte].

"We came up against some experienced Premier League players on Friday
but that type of player is who we need to match if we want to be
playing at the top level. It was a difficult afternoon but playing
against established players will only benefit us and help us to
improve in the future."
Next up for Ian Hendon's side is a trip to Arsenal on Friday
afternoon, with kick-off at 1pm. The Gunners sit second in the Group 1
table, two points behind the Hammers, so Potts knows he and his
team-mates will have to rise to the challenge at London Colney.

"It is a very big game against Arsenal this week because when they
came to Rush Green we put in one of our best performances of the
season and won 4-1, so they will be looking for revenge. Like Reading,
Arsenal are also near the top of the league. It will be a tough game
but we know what they are about and how they like to play, so
hopefully we can come away with a positive result."

Following Friday's fixture, Potts will report for international duty
after he and Blair Turgott were selected in Noel Blake's England
Under-19 squad to face Finland in Telford on 13 November. The teenager
is hoping to impress and earn his place for the UEFA European U19
Championship Elite Round qualifiers next year.
"Blair and I have been selected by the England Under-19s to play in a
friendly against Finland and it will be very nice to be involved again
after a good experience earlier this season against Germany. I was
also selected to play in the EURO qualifiers but was held back by the
club [as I was in the first-team squad]. Thankfully, the lads did
qualify and I hope to be involved in the tournament at the end of the
season."


_____________________________________________________________________

Double boost for Big Sam
KUMB
Filed: Wednesday, 7th November 2012
By: Staff Writer
Sam Allardyce's injury worries could be eased by the return of two key
first team players ahead of this weekend's trip to Newcastle.

The Hammers boss spoke of his concerns following last weekend's
goalless draw against league champions Manchester City, a game in
which he lost two more players to injury - defenders James Tomkins and
James Collins.

That left him without six players following earlier injuries to Jack
Collison, Ricardo Vaz Te, Matthew Taylor and Guy Demel - the
equivalent of one quarter of his existing first team squad.

However Big Sam's fears could be assuaged somewhat by the impending
return of Matt Taylor and James Tomkins.

The former, who last played in the 3-1 home defeat against Arsenal on
October 6th is back in full training having recovered from injury and
hoping to be involved against Newcastle this weekend - although will
almost certainly have to settle for a place on the bench, at best.

Meanwhile Tomkins, who sustained a groin strain in training last
Friday morning and subsequently failed a late fitness test ahead of
the Manchester City match is set to be declared fit to play this
weekend according to club Chairman David Gold.

When asked about the seriousness of the Basildon-born defender's
injury via Twitter earlier this week, Gold replied: "He should be okay
for Saturday."

James Collins, who tweaked a hamstring in the closing stages of
Saturday's draw with the Citizens underwent a scan on Sunday to
determine the extent of his injury.

_____________________________________________________________


Three more years at the Boleyn - at least
KUMB
Filed: Wednesday, 7th November 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's proposed move to Stratford will not happen until
2015 at the very earliest, it has been revealed.

At a press conference this morning Dennis Hone, the new London Legacy
Development Corporation chief executive announced that the Olympic
Stadium will not re-open before August 2015 - with a further year's
delay possible.

That announcement all but ends West Ham's hopes of moving to the
stadium in time for the start of the 2014/15 season, as previously
planned.

"We are currently going through the four bids that we have for the
Olympic Stadium and we are now reaching the end of that process," said
Hone. "We need to make a decision on which of the four, if any, will
provide the best long-term option and the best value for money.

It is important to remember that this is a 100-year lease we are
talking about with the Stadium so we have to get it right. We don't
want to look back in three or five years at a decision we regret. So,
if this process takes a few months longer than it is scheduled to
take, so be it; a few months will not make a big difference.

"We are looking carefully at reconfiguring the Stadium but we can't
really do anything on that until we know who the tenant is and I don't
want to speculate. Each bidder has a requirement of the LLDC for
converting the Stadium so there will be costs. But I cannot say what
they will be until we know exactly what we are doing and the cost will
depend on the tenant."

Elsewhere this morning, an advisor for London mayor Boris Johnson
revealed that recent talks with the National Football League - the
organisation that oversees 'gridiron' in the United States - were not
used to discuss the possibility of the league taking over the Olympic
Stadium.

Instead, it has been claimed that the meetings were used to obtain
tips on how best to utilise the stadium. LLDC confirmed that there had
been no bid from the NFL with regards to using the arena.

The area surrounding the stadium, to be named the Queen Elizabeth
Olympic Park, is due to open to the public in July 2013. The North
Park, which includes parklands and a 7,500-capacity 'multi-arena' will
be the first area open to the public with the rest of the site -
namely the South Plaza - due to open the following Easter (April
2014).


_________________________________________________________________________

Delays on the track: Olympic Stadium will remain shut until at least August 2015
Mirror
7 Nov 2012 17:54
An expected reopening in 2014 was "completely out" due to fine-tuning
needed on the four bids, the stadium chief said today

AFP
The Olympic Stadium will remain shut until August 2015 at the earliest.

An expected reopening in 2014 was "completely out" due to fine-tuning
needed on the four bids, stadium chief Dennis Hone said today.

He said the amount of work needed to fine tune the bids would make
August 2015 or even August 2016 the most likely reopening date.

West Ham United FC is among the bidders but Mr Hone said the NFL had
not applied – despite talks with London mayor Boris Johnson.

Money spent so far in the process has looked at the design options.
Talks have been held with the bidders but none of the adaptation work
has been taken to the market yet.

Mr Hone told a London Assembly budget committee: "We have no formal
bids outside of the competition or otherwise by American Football to
go in to the stadium.

"We are running a competition and we have four bidders. There are no
bids outside that."

He did not rule out the prospect that a stadium built to include an
athletics track in legacy could also work with the winter sport of
American Football.

The combination would be "a challenge definitely," he noted.

Whichever bid wins, the venue could have multiple uses and the stadium
will host the World Athletics Championships in 2017.

A venue with a capacity of around 50,000 seats might be needed for
those championships, Mr Hone predicted.

No date has been set for when a new tenant will be announced.

A decision is not expected before December.