Daily WHUFC News - 21st March 2013

Brilliant Blair celebrates new deal
WHUFc.com
Blair Turgott marked a new two-year deal with a memorable triple at the
Boleyn Ground
20.03.2013

Blair Turgott is unlikely to forget the last two days in a hurry, as the
18-year-old winger put pen to paper on a new two-year-deal with an option
for a third, before promptly smashing a brilliant hat-trick at the Boleyn
Ground. They are the latest landmarks in an already momentous season for the
young man, who played his part in Bradford City's remarkable run to the
Capital One Cup final. Turgott's triple in a 3-1 friendly win over Queens
Park Rangers also marked his first strikes at the Boleyn Ground, and the
Hammers starlet is expecting Tuesday's goalscoring exploits to become a more
regular occurrence. "It's going well at the moment and that's a great way to
celebrate signing a new contract," he told West Ham TV. "It just shows that
I've got to really push on from now and then the hard work starts again. But
it's a good way to mark the new deal. "I've been at West Ham ever since I
was little, so to sign for another two years is a great opportunity for me
and just another stepping stone for me to push on in the future. "West Ham
is all I know, so this has been good for me, learning my trade here and
trying to make myself a better player. Ultimately, this is the club that I
want to be at and that's why I've signed the contract. "I thank the
management staff for giving me the opportunity to show what I'm about and
hopefully in these two years I can repay the favour and show what type of
player I am and hopefully push on from there."

Though Turgott opted not to celebrate any of his three goals in the
behind-closed-doors contest, he was nevertheless thrilled to impress in the
company of several senior players, as he basked in the glory of three
superlative strikes. "The first one, the ball just came to me on the edge of
the box and I thought why not, have a shot," he added. "The second one I
knew what I was going to do, I tried to get it onto my right foot, and like
the third, I just hit it really. Luckily every time I hit it, it went in!
"This is the first time I've scored at Upton Park, I've played in youth team
games and a couple of Development Squad games but it's good to get my first
goals here and hopefully the first of many. "I remember last season I scored
two against Dagenham and Redbridge. They were two good goals, but obviously
a hat-trick is even better and to get it here is even sweeter. "It's always
good to play alongside the senior boys and have that experience of seeing
what it's all about. QPR had a few senior players out in their team, so you
can measure yourself up against the first-team players, which is good.
Ultimately it's just about me, what I can do and showing what I'm about."

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The Big Interview - Matt Jarvis
WHUFC.com
West Ham United winger Matt Jarvis has been in impressive form in recent
Barclays Premier League matches
20.03.2013

West Ham United winger Matt Jarvis was in the thick of the action during the
visit to London neighbours Chelsea on Sunday. Although Hammers went down 2-0
on the day at Stamford Bridge, manager Sam Allardyce spoke in his post-match
press interviews of the threat Jarvis posed in the game, as the No7 provided
a succession of threatening crosses for his team-mates to attack. The
Hammers No7 himself echoed Big Sam's sentiments that the Hammers want to
pick up as many points as possible between now and the end of the season,
finishing as high up the Barclays Premier League table as possible.

We may have been defeated at Chelsea, but what do you take in positives from
the game?

MJ: "It is always a tough place to go and get a result at Stamford Bridge.
We created chances against them and that gives us confidence as a team, but
paid the price unfortunately for not taking them. They then scored two goals
out of the chances they had, which were enough to see them get the victory.
You know they are a top, top side, but we were boosted by the fact we
created a lot of chances, just unfortunately for us, we didn't put these
away in the game."

Why is so difficult to get a foothold in games against teams like Chelsea?

MJ: "They have fantastic players and they keep the ball well, Once we got
the ball they are pressing us, so it was harder to keep the ball. We managed
to win at home against them earlier in the season and we did well at times
on Sunday and created some really good opportunities and on another day, if
they had gone in, it might have been a different story."

You were among the players creating chances in the match. Tell us how you
felt about your own game against Chelsea?

MJ: "I was pleased to be able to try and get about creating opportunities
for the team. Especially in the first half, I was able to put in a few
crosses in to try and provide the chances for the boys in the box. We
carried on trying to do that in second half and at times, maybe we were a
bit unlucky they didn't come to anything for us. We just wanted one to have
gone in the back of the net and the game might have gone a bit in our
favour, you never know."

We go into another break in domestic matches this week, this time due to the
internationals being played. Is that frustrating or is it a good thing in
terms of getting injured players back?

MJ: "It is a bit frustrating. We had a good win at Stoke away at the start
of the month and then we had to wait two weeks before we played Chelsea on
Sunday. Now we go from this match to another fortnight before the next game,
which is against West Brom at home the end of the month, so it can be hard
to get momentum. But, it is a time when players who are injured can use that
space to work on their fitness knowing they haven't missed a match."

How do you as a player deal with those breaks in the match routine?

MJ: "You just get on with it. We must make sure we continue to work hard in
training over the next two weeks again and look towards getting a positive
result at home in our next game. You just focus on what is next and although
you want to get back out there, after winning or losing, whether it is to
keep a run going or put things right after a loss, you just focus on keeping
fit and well and looking towards the next game, whenever that may be."

What are your thoughts on the upcoming games? There are some tough fixtures
still but the team is confident in being able to get the results needed?

MJ: "They are all difficult games in this league. At this time of the season
you are facing sides fighting for different things before the end of the
season, titles or trying to escape relegation. For ourselves, and that is
all we are concentrating on, we want some more points on board to help us
reach a position as high as possible. In the next game, we would be looking
to try and get three points that will get us nearer to that target."

The manager has been asked several times about how many points are needed to
be absolutely safe. What's your view on what is needed?

MJ: "It is about taking one game at a time. We look at the next match coming
up, try to get three points in that and then build on that result in the
match that follows. Obviously the Gaffer knows what we have to do and what
he thinks will be the targets we need to go for and we will go out to put
the performances in which will hopefully be rewarded with good results."

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Full-time training model hailed
WHUFC.com
Under-15s manager Mark Phillips has hailed the Academy's new full-time
training model
20.03.2013

West Ham United Under-15s manager Mark Phillips has hailed the club's new
full-time training model. Having been granted Elite Player Performance Plan
(EPPP) Category One status, the Hammers accepted their first intake of
full-time schoolboy players last summer, with the Year 10 students being
taught and coached at the Academy's Rush Green base. A partnership with
Robert Clack School has led to the installation of classrooms at Rush Green,
with teachers from the school providing for the players' educational needs.
The system's full-time training model allows the club's coaches to spend
more time on the pitch with the players, with the hope that they will
develop and improve at a faster and higher rate than they would have
previously. "Robert Clack have been fantastic and it's worked out well,"
Phillips confirmed. "From the start of the season until now, I have seen a
marked improvement of the boys training every day on the full-time model -
every one of them has improved over the last eight or nine months."

In August, the number of players on the full-time model will double as this
season's Under-15s move up to Under-16s are joined by the next group of
Under-15s. "The more contact time we have with the players can only make
them better players - that's what it's all about from a football side. "The
education side is taken care of by Robert Clack, who have a very good
reputation in the area."

The Academy also test their players by measuring them up against foreign
touring sides. Recently, the Under-15s played host to Kleinburg Lions from
Ontario, Canada. Manager Phillips was delighted to see his team achieve a
5-1 victory. "Because we are on a full-time programme, we can accommodate
touring teams and play against them on a weekday afternoon at our facilities
at Rush Green," he confirmed. "We have played quite a few visiting teams and
sometimes they are from different age-groups to give us more of a test.
Kleinburg were a Canadian regional side comprising Under-16 and Under-17
players and although we won the game 5-1, it was still a good physical test
for us."

The Under-15s take on their counterparts from clubs such as Arsenal and
Tottenham Hotspur, but the matches are stand-alone fixtures rather than
being part of a league set-up. Phillips said the contrast in styles between
the Hammers' various opponents helped the club's youngsters to improve and
develop their own games. "At their age, it's all about development and their
learning curve, so we might play teams of Under-17 or Under-18 age-groups to
give them a more physical encounter, or we might play against a team like
Arsenal who bounce the ball about. "It's all about developing their game so
that hopefully, in five or six years, they are playing for the first team at
Upton Park and have an all-round game. "They will play against different
styles and it's about us teaching them to play against the various different
styles they will come up against."

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International call-ups galore
WHUFC.com
A host of West Ham United players will be in action for their respective
countries in coming days
20.03.2013

A host of West Ham United players have been called-up by their respective
nations over the coming fortnight:

• Jack Collison and James Collins are in the Wales squad for 2014 FIFA World
Cup European Group A qualifiers with Scotland in Glasgow on Friday 22 March
and Croatia in Swansea on Tuesday 26 March.
• Emanuel Pogatetz is in the Austria squad for 2014 FIFA World Cup European
Group C qualifiers with Faroe Islands in Vienna on Friday 22 March and
Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Tuesday 26 March.
• Mohamed Diame's Senegal host Angola in a 2014 FIFA World Cup African Group
J qualifier in Guinee Conakry on Saturday 23 March.
• Winston Reid is in the New Zealand squad for 2014 FIFA World Cup Oceania
Round 3 qualifiers against New Caledonia in Dunedin on Friday 22 March and
Solomon Islands in Honiara on Tuesday 26 March.
• Raphael Spiegel is in the Switzerland U21 squad for international friendly
matches with Germany in Cologne on Friday 22 March and Baden on Tuesday 26
March.
• Dan Potts is in the England U19 squad for a friendly international with
Turkey U19 in Telford on Thursday 21 March.
• Kieran Sadlier and Sean Maguire are in the Republic of Ireland U19 squad
for an international friendly with a Gibraltar Select XI in Malaga on Friday
22 March.
• Marcio Martins is in the Portugal U17 squad for UEFA European U17
Championship Elite Round Group 6 qualifiers with England, Slovenia and
Russia in Walsall and Loughborough between 23-28 March.
• Jamie Harney is in the Northern Ireland U17 squad for UEFA European U17
Championship Elite Round Group 7 qualifiers with Netherlands, Norway and
Italy in Uden and Echt between 21-26 March.

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Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn won't give up fight for Olympic Stadium
By Graeme Bailey - Tweet me: @graemebailey. Last Updated: March 20,
2013 2:35pm
SSN

Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn has told Sky Sports that he fully intends
on continuing his fight over the Olympic Stadium. Hearn is proposing a
ground share with West Ham and he is relying on the courts to rule in his
favour. West Ham are expected to be confirmed as the new tenants of the
Stadium on Thursday. "Obviously we have applied to the High Court for a
judicial review of the bidding process, they may well announce that West Ham
are going into the stadium but it would have to be subject to the judicial
review," he told Sky Sports. Hearn hopes that the decision on the judicial
review will arrive before the summer. "It is a question of weeks rather than
months," he said. "We think our case is straightforward, we see it is cast
iron and let us see if the judges agree and if they do then all bets are off
and we will have to sit down and start talking again. "This is a long
running process and I do apologise for the delay but until they get it right
I am not going to sit down and let someone steamroller my little football
club. "We are suggesting a ground share with West Ham but we are not getting
much support...so we are fighting our corner as we do from the East End."

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Olympic Stadium decision expected this week
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 20th March 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United's move to the Olympic Stadium is expected to be ratified
later this week. According to a source close to the deal, West Ham will be
confirmed as the Olympic Stadium's long-term tenants this Friday following
months of wrangling over the cost of converting the stadium. Speaking via
building.co.uk - a website dedicated to development and planning in the
building sector - the source said: "The costs of the conversion will be
split between West Ham, Newham Council and the London Legacy Development
Corporation. That's what the argument has been about all along."

The cost of converting the stadium into one fit for football are likely to
amount to around £150million. That's almost a third of the £429million it
cost to erect the stadium from scratch. West Ham were awarded preferred
bidder status for a second time in December 2012. The previous decision to
name the club as tenants of choice was overturned following legal action by
Leyton Orient and Tottenham Hotspur, the Premier League and Football League
clubs geographically closest to Stratford. Once confirmed as the
Stratford-based arena's tenants - West Ham are expected to sign a 99-year
lease agreement - the Club will plan towards moving into the Stadium in
2016, in time for the start of the 2016/17 season.

* Interested parties may tender for the contract to redevelop the Olympic
Stadium - including the installation of a new roof - at tendersdirect.co.uk.

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Hearn ready to throw in the towel
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 20th March 2013
By: Staff Writer

Orient chairman Barry Hearn has admitted that he expects to be defeated in
his latest battle to overturn the decision by the LLDC to award West Ham
United preferred bidder status for the Olympic Stadium. Hearn, who
successfully challenged the London Legacy Development Company's last
decision admitted tonight that whilst he will fight West Ham's move for as
long as possible, he is unlikely to prove ultimately successful. "Eventually
I will get beaten. They may go through the motions," he said. "If I lose the
judicial review, I have got to walk. "I've cost people a lot of money and
spent a lot of money myself but I don't regret it because I think I am in
the right. "We think they [the LLDC] are in breach of their own rules. We
are hoping the judge says 'no, these are the rules, you have not followed
them, you must sit down and talk about teaming'."

Hearn insists - with little to no evidence - that his own club will be put
out of business should West Ham be allowed to move into the Olympic Stadium.
Earlier this month he confirmed that he would be seeking a judicial review
over the LLDC's latest decision to grant West Ham preferred bidder status,
basing his decision on the Development Company's failure to explore a
ground-share option involving both West Ham and Orient. West Ham's move to
Stratford is a step closer tonight after it was revealed that the club are
set to be confirmed as the stadium's new tenants this coming Friday.

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