Daily WHUFC News - 17th July 2012

Nolan happy with Jussi arrival
WHUFC.com
Kevin Nolan was delighted to see the Hammers sign his former team-mate Jussi
Jaaskelainen
15.07.2012

Kevin Nolan believes West Ham United have signed a top-class goalkeeper in
Jussi Jaaskelainen. The Hammers captain knows exactly what Jaaskelainen can
do, having spent ten years playing in front of the Finn at Bolton Wanderers.
The pair shared great times at the Reebok Stadium, achieving promotion to
the Premier League, reaching the League Cup final and twice competing in the
UEFA Cup. Having lined up in the same team more than 300 times for the
Trotters, Nolan believes Jaaskelainen possesses the experience and ability
to help West Ham to consolidate their place in the Barclays Premier League.
"Obviously Jussi's record speaks for itself," he told West Ham TV. "When we
were at Bolton and were at our height finishing in the top-eight in four
straight seasons, he was probably easily worth 12 points a season to us and
that was just in games that he won for us on his own by pulling off saves
when our backs were against the wall. "He is that type of keeper who can
pull of great saves. He is a good lad to have around the place too. "There
was no-one more disappointed than me to see Rob Green go. I was close to him
and consider him a good friend and we've stayed in touch. I wish him well in
his move but was disappointed not to see him stay because it would have been
interesting to see those two going at it for the No1 jersey. "Jussi is
someone the gaffer knows really well and I'm sure he'll warm the West Ham
fans' hearts quickly because he is that type of player and character."

Nolan was also pleased to see the Hammers acquire Senegal midfielder Mohamed
Diame following his departure from Wigan Athletic. The pair have enjoyed a
number of battles in the Barclays Premier League over the past few seasons
and the skipper believes Diame will also prove to be a shrewd acquisition
over the course of the season. "I don't really know much of Mohamed but I've
played against him and seen him on the TV. What I've seen of him over the
past week is that he is a good lad who has mixed in with the boys and I'm
sure he'll be a good signing for us. "He seems a very good player and is a
young kid - well, he's younger than me! I'm sure he's going to be a very
good player for us this season."

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Hall relishing Oxford return
WHUFC.com
One-time Oxford United loanee Rob Hall is looking forward to Tuesday's
pre-season match
16.07.2012

Rob Hall is looking forward to showing Oxford United supporters more of his
undoubted talent on Tuesday evening. The West Ham United forward enjoyed two
fruitful loan spells with the npower League Two club last season, scoring
six goals in 14 appearances and dazzling the U's faithful with his quick
feet and elusive dribbling and movement. Tuesday's pre-season fixture at the
Kassam Stadium - kick-off 7.45pm - will give the 18-year-old an opportunity
to illustrate again why he is considered one of English football's
most-promising young players. The player himself told West Ham TV he is
desperate to be involved in a fixture that is set to be attended by dozens
of his friends and family members, many of whom hail from Hall's hometown of
Aylesbury just 20 miles from Oxford. "Hopefully I'll be involved but I have
to take it step-by-step," he said modestly. "We're back in training today
and I'll work hard to try to get into the squad. "It would be great to go
back there and play again in front of the Oxford fans and nice to be in and
around the team and the club because I really enjoyed my time there."

Hall caught the eye during a 30-minute run out in Saturday's 3-0 pre-season
victory at Southend United - less than 48 hours after he had played 120
minutes in England's agonising 2-1 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
semi-final defeat by Greece. The Hammers teenager's disappointment was
compounded by the fact he saw his penalty saved with the scoreline standing
at 1-0 to Greece just before half-time. While Hall was naturally upset at
England's exit, he has vowed to learn from the experience and bounce back a
stronger character and a better player. "I got back from Estonia at about
6pm on Friday after a long day of travelling, but it wasn't too bad. I got a
nice 30-minute burst and felt fresh. "It was a long time away from home but
I learnt a lot out there. I had a lot of experience, some bad of course such
as getting knocked out in the semi-finals, but it was a good all-round trip.
"You see different cultures and learn to live different ways. We had a lot
of down-time out there where you have to look after yourselves, so you have
to learn from that. "I heard I was only playing 30 minutes on Saturday and I
thought it would be at the end of the game, but I came into the changing
room and saw my name in the starting XI and I thought I did alright.
"England-wise, I feel I am a penalty taker but I've missed my last two so
the next one needs to go in! I might have to change my technique but I'm
confident it will go in. "You've just got to step up and keep your head and
on the day the Greek keeper read where I was going to go, so I'll learn from
it and move on from that."

Tuesday's fixture will be the first meeting between West Ham and Oxford
since 24 August, when Scott Parker's late goal saw the Hammers beat the U's
1-0 in the League Cup second round at the Boleyn Ground. The Hammers will be
making their first-ever visit to the Kassam Stadium. *An allocation of 500
tickets will be on sale (cash only) to West Ham United supporters from the
Kassam Stadium North Ticket Office from 6.30pm on Tuesday evening.

Tickets are priced at £18 for Adults, £14.50 for Students (NUS card required
and in full-time education) and £10.50 for Over-65s/Under-16s.

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Maiga in London to seal switch
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 16th July 2012
By: Staff Writer

Modibo Maiga has arrived in London to rubber-stamp his move to West Ham. The
Malian forward, who is set to cost United up to £7million arrived in the
capital late this afternoon before being whisked away to a hotel where he
will be staying ahead of meeting with Hammers chiefs and undergoing a
medical. The 24-year-old forward, who currently plays for French Ligue 1
club Sochaux began his footballing career in his home country with Stade
Malien before moving to Moroccan club Raja CA Casablanca in 2004. Having
been part of the Arab Champions League-winning side when Casablanca beat
Egyptian outfit ENPPI Club 2-1 in 2006, Maiga moved to France when Le Mans
came calling in 2007. Following three years with MUC 72, he was signed by
current club Sochaux, for whom he scored 15 goals in his first season. A
year ago last month Maiga looked set to move to Newcastle but he eventually
failed a medical ahead of a £7million deal. Having returned to France he
went on to score another 15 goals last season as he helped Les Lionceaux to
fifth place in Ligue 1.

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Sam on Andy
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 16th July 2012
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce is still hopeful of landing Liverpool's Andy Carroll on loan -
despite the England striker's former club entering the race to sign him.
Newcastle United, who sold Carroll to Liverpool last January for a
record-breaking £35million are said to be ready to pay around £13million to
re-sign the Gateshead-born striker on a permanent basis - whilst West Ham
are hoping to take him on loan with view to a permanent deal. Key to West
Ham's bid is the close relationship between Carroll and West Ham captain
Kevin Nolan - and the fact that both are represented by agent Mark Curtis,
who has become an increasingly influential figure at West Ham in recent
months. The controversial Curtis also represents West Ham's central
defender James Tomkins - for whom he recently negotiated a new bumper
contract - and manager Sam Allardyce. Speaking to the local press earlier
today, Allardyce reiterated his desire to bring the 6'3" hit man to east
London. "We would dearly love to have Andy Carroll with us but it is a
complex situation and he is in no hurry," he said. "He doesn't have to make
a quick decision if he doesn't want to. If Andy is going to leave Liverpool,
he can wait and see how many are interested. "The fact, though, that Kevin
is a good friend of Andy's is a slight positive because, if he came here, he
wouldn't be going into a strange environment which would make it easier for
him to integrate."

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Sam 'frustrated' at lack of activity
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 16th July 2012
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce is becoming increasingly frustrated at West Ham's inability to
land any of his favoured transfer targets, KUMB has learned. The West Ham
manager has seen a string of deals fall through already this summer due to
the board's unwillingness to pay high wages and is said to be disappointed
at the lack of backing he has received from the club's co-owners, Davids
Sullivan and Gold. Sunderland's Kieran Richardson, ex-Tottenham defender
Ryan Nelson (now QPR) and former Rangers forward Steven Naismith (now
Everton) are three of the players who Allardyce has failed to land having
seen negotiations fall through due to the board's insistence on refusing to
accede to extortionate demands. Sullivan - and to a lesser degree, Gold -
have refused to sanction such transfers, preferring instead to wait in the
hope that some of their targets remain available until later in the transfer
window when they are more likely to accept more agreeable terms. "We've
identified a number of players but, as yet, we've not been able to sign them
because of their demands," Big Sam said earlier today. "At the moment, we
have signed two out of 12 players we have gone for but I believe we need
another four. "I still believe we will sign the players we need but every
day that goes by makes me more anxious."

27-year-old Richardson, for example, is thought to have demanded circa
£45,000-per-week to join West Ham despite having failed to stand out since
moving from Manchester United to Sunderland for £5.5million in July 2007.
Despite the lack of activity in the past fortnight, West Ham have already
signed four players since confirming their return to the Premier League -
Stephen Henderson, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Momo Diame and George McCartney -
whilst Modibo Maiga is expected to join within the next few days. Allardyce
is seeking a full back, a central defender, a wide forward and a central
striker.

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Ferdinand: no match for West Ham
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 16th July 2012
By: Staff Writer

Former Hammers target Kane Ferdinand says his Southend United team were
distinctly second best against Sam Allardyce's side at the weekend. West Ham
recorded their first win of pre-season with Saturday's 3-0 success at Roots
Hall; the goals coming from Nicky Maynard, Jordan Spence and Sam Baldock,
who maintained his record of having scored in every game of pre-season. And
Ferdinand - who was first linked with a move to Upton Park in June 2011 -
admitted that the two teams were a class apart. "I think the difference in
class between the two teams was there to see but it was good for us to get
out there again," the relative of former Hammers Rio, Anton and Les
Ferdinand told the Echo. "West Ham have been back in training a few more
weeks than we have and that showed as well, but it was nice to get a game
in. The matches help to break up the hard runs and training we're doing and
I'm sure this will have done us good."

Meanwhile West Ham's assistant manager Neil McDonald was once again pleased
with efforts of the team. They're getting stronger and they're getting
fitter which is what pre-season is all about," he told whufc.com. "It was
nice to get some goals as well, which was great. With another good week of
work under their belts and having played two games this week, it's building
up well in pre-season. "We passed the ball really well and kept it moving.
We've been working on keeping the ball and passing and moving during the
past two weeks and we now just need to build their fitness up. We played
some really nice stuff at times."

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Cole: days numbered?
KUMb.com
Filed: Monday, 16th July 2012
By: Staff Writer

Carlton Cole's days at West Ham could be numbered after he was told that he
may not necessarily be part of Sam Allardyce's first team plans for next
season.
KUMB understands that the former England striker, who scored the first goal
in West Ham's 2-1 play-off Final win against Blackpool back in May has been
informed that he will not be guaranteed a first team spot next season. With
West Ham chasing the likes of Liverpool's Andy Carroll and Sochaux's Modibo
Maiga - who some sources have suggested will complete a move to West Ham
this week - Cole is likely to be second choice, at best, for the lone
striker's role under Allardyce's system.
And the 28-year-old, who moved to West Ham from Chelsea six years ago has
been told to seek a new club should he wish to guarantee first-team football
on a regular basis. The Hammers are still in line to sign Mali striker Maiga
this week, with the club still seeking to land Carroll on loan from
Liverpool. However the Hammers face stiff competition from his former club
Newcastle.

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And the Latest Player Allegedly Being Pursured by West Ham is - Dimitar
Berbatov!
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die

The Daily Mirror have reported that West Ham's latest transfer target is
allegedly Manchester Utd's Dimitar Berbatov. It seems that Berbatov's time
at Old Traford is nearing its conclusion and there is speculation that he
could be allowed to move for a £5m fee. West Ham could undoubtedly afford
that level of transfer fee, but about his his wage package? Berbatov is
still a PL quality striker and he needs regular first team football. Are
West Ham genuinely interested in him? Perhaps, but it does begs the question
will the Board meet his wage demands?

Sam Allardyce's recently reported comments about his fustrations at failing
to secure the club's summer transfer targets have been illuminating. It
appears, as many of us have suspected, that potential deals are breaking
down because the Board will not meet the wage demands of the players. That
is a double edged sword, because while it is essential that the club is
competitive in the transfer market, no one wants to see the club paying
decidely average players heavily inflated wages. The truth is that quality,
above and beyond what we already have, will cost the club. As a general
rule, there is no getting away from that harsh reality. Yes, it is probably
right to take a stand on inflated player wages, but if you are doing it in
isolaion, as one PL club, there is every prospect that you will only end up
disadvantaging yourself in the transfer market.

Everyone knows how important the summer transfer window is in having a good
season. Get it wrong, and you need up on the back foot, trying to pull it
out of the fire with expensive and desperate transfers in January. That's
exactly what happened in 2010-11, we never recovered from a poor start and
the January transfers did nothing to turn the club's fortunes around at the
11th hour.

When history repeats itself, its first as tragedy and then as farce. This
club cannot afford another relegation farce this time around. Surely
everyone can agree on that? Personally, i am not overly pessimistic about
our current squad, the likes of Noble, Collison, Tomkins and Nolan give us a
reasonable fighting chance in the coming the season. Especially if the team
spirit and togetherness that emerged last season is carried over in to the
new season. But to perform better than expected we probably need an
injection of extra quality in key positions.

Hopefully, the quality in the current squad, the much improved team spirit
and Sam Allardyce's managerial nous will keep us out of any real trouble.
But would it not be nice to do a bit better and secure a top ten finish.
That is a quality often sorely missing at Upton Park over the decades
....... ambition.!

SJ Chandos.

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Hammers bid for Berbatov: New boys want the Manchester United misfit
The Mirror

West Ham have made an audacious bid to rescue Dimitar Berbatov from his
Manchester United hell. The promoted Hammers have moved for the Bulgarian
hitman as it appears Newcastle are set to win the race for another of their
targets, Liverpool and England striker Andy Carroll. Berbatov, 31, has made
public his desperation to quit the Reds in search of regular first-team
football next season. But United have taken out an option to extend his
contract by another 12 months in the hope of landing a fee for the striker
of around £5million. The east Londoners want to hand Berbatov a chance to
return to London, where he made his name with Tottenham, on loan – at least
initially – whereas the deposed champions are looking for a sale. Berbatov
took to Facebook at the weekend to make clear he'd rather cut his losses
than stay on the bench for another season at Old Trafford. Signed for £30m
from Spurs four years ago, Berbatov hit 14 goals in his first season at
United and 12 in his second. In his third, he rattled in 20 Premier League
goals to share the Golden Boot with Carlos Tevez of Manchester City.
However, the emergence of both Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez at United,
has since seen Berbatov plummet down the pecking order.

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Show me the way home! Miffed Carroll ready for Toon return after snub
By DOMINIC KING
PUBLISHED: 23:00, 16 July 2012 | UPDATED: 06:22, 17 July 2012
Daily Mail

Andy Carroll has paved the way for a dramatic return 'home' by admitting
that he wants to re-join Newcastle. Having harboured hopes he would be able
to convince Brendan Rodgers of his suitability for the new Liverpool,
Carroll has now been forced to reluctantly accept that he must move on to
play regular football. Newcastle had an approach to take the England
international on a season-long loan firmly rebuffed by Liverpool on Sunday
night but they will now be expected to come back with another offer after
receiving encouraging noises from Carroll's entourage. West Ham United,
Fulham and Aston Villa have all stated their interest to varying degrees but
it would appear Carroll would only want to go back to the Sports Direct
Arena. According to an unnamed friend, who was quoted in Monday's Newcastle
Evening Chronicle, Carroll is annoyed that he hasn't had an opportunity to
impress Rodgers. 'From a professional point of view Andy is miffed that he
wasn't given the chance to show what he can do in front of new manager
Brendan Rodgers,' a close friend of Carroll's said. 'He was expecting to get
at least pre-season to show what he could offer him. He ended last season on
a high and wanted to continue that. 'Now Newcastle are interested and Andy
wants to come home. He's already told Liverpool that too. He's surprised
Liverpool don't want him anymore and doesn't want to be where he is not
wanted.'
Former Newcastle captain Alan Shearer believes returning to Tyneside would
be a 'great move' for Carroll

The 41-year-old said in The Sun: 'Andy is an England centre-forward and I
wouldn't say he has been a flop at Liverpool by any means. 'Yes, it took him
a bit of time to settle there but he finished the season strongly and
considering he only started one game at the Euros, I thought he did well.
'Make no mistake, he is a very good footballer. I can fully understand why
Newcastle are in for him and I think it would be a great move. 'When he was
there before he benefited from the fact that the team was always working to
get him the ball - and he thrived on that. That hasn't always been the case
at Liverpool and perhaps at times he suffered.' He added: 'There is an old
saying that you should never go back but, in Andy's case, I don't think it
would be a mistake at all. 'He was hero-worshipped by the crowd first time
around and they would warm to him again. Andy loved playing there and
whatever the fans felt about him leaving to join Liverpool, I'm sure he
would win them over quickly.'

As Liverpool paid £35million for Carroll in January 2011, they will play
hard ball with any club enquiring about the striker and will not sell him on
the cheap.
Liverpool would be looking to recoup at least half of what they initially
paid for Carroll and will only do business if they receive a serious
permanent offer or a loan deal with a commitment to buy. Rodgers is looking
to make additions to Liverpool's squad and is keen on both Fulham's Clint
Dempsey and Joe Allen of Swansea but he admitted last week that his
restructuring would not be done with huge amounts of cash. Were Liverpool to
offload Carroll, then, they would have more room for manoeuvre in the
transfer market but no deal will be done until their valuation is met.
Carroll was not on Liverpool's flight to Boston on Monday, as he is still on
holiday and is expected to report back next week following his exertions at
Euro 2012.

There is no suggestion that this saga will be resolved quickly and West Ham
boss Sam Allardyce is refusing to give up hope of luring Carroll to Upton
Park, despite the 23-year-old's reticence. 'We would dearly love to have
Andy Carroll with us but it is a complex situation,' said Allardyce. 'He is
in no hurry; he doesn't have to make a quick decision if he doesn't want to.
If Andy is going to leave Liverpool, he can wait and see how many (clubs)
are interested.'

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