Daily WHUFC News - 3rd June 2013

Cottee welcomes Big Sam stay
WHUFC.com
Former West Ham United striker Tony Cottee says Sam Allardyce is the man to
deliver more success
02.06.2013

Hammers legend Tony Cottee was delighted to see manager Sam Allardyce pen a
new contract with the Club before the end of the 2012/13 campaign. The West
Ham United boss has enjoyed great success in his two years at the Boleyn
Ground, winning promotion to the Barclays Premier League in the first
campaign before guiding his team to a top half finish this term. Cottee, who
notched 146 goals for the Club in 336 games across two spells, has been
mightily impressed with West Ham's achievements over the past couple of
seasons, and is backing Allardyce to deliver more success. He told West Ham
TV: "I'm delighted that Sam has signed a new contract. Above all else, the
Club needs stability - we can't keep getting rid of managers, firing
managers and appointing someone else. "We need it to be like the good old
days and for somebody to be here for four, five, six, seven years, and I
think that's what we'll get with Sam, we'll get the stability. "I was always
confident that we would finish between tenth and 15th this season. To
actually be in the top part of that scale is a great achievement. "To be in
the top ten of the Premier League in any season is a good achievement by any
club, so it's great that we did it at the first attempt back.
"But I think it's important to keep our feet on the floor - I remember when
Alan Pardew's team came up, we finished ninth and reached the FA Cup final,
but then the next season was a real struggle. "The second season can often
be harder than the first season back, because you've got the momentum for
getting promotion. "I'm not telling Sam or Macca anything new, they know
that anyway. There's a good bunch of players in the squad, I'm sure they'll
be given a bit of money and perhaps most importantly of all if we can sign
Andy Carroll we've got a real chance of giving it a big go next season."

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Season in Seconds: Dan Potts
WHUFC.com
The West Ham United youngster reviews his 2012/13 campaign
02.06.2013

Young defender Dan Potts is the latest West Ham United player to be featured
in our Season in Seconds series.

How would you sum up the season?

DP - "On a personal note, I've developed and progressed well in the season
just gone. Obviously it's a step up for the whole club in the Premier
League, the objective for me was to play in the Premier League. I did that
this year and next year I'll be hoping to try and get more minutes under my
belt."

What was the highlight?

DP - "The Man United game here. That stands out for all sorts of reasons,
not only personally but for the game itself. For a neutral it was
entertaining, and I felt if we had gone through nobody could have denied
that we deserved it."

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Former player tours to begin
WHUFC.com
Hammers greats Phil Parkes and Alan Taylor will lead special Boleyn Ground
Tours this summer
02.06.2013

West Ham United legends Phil Parkes and Alan Taylor will lead special Former
Player Tours of the Boleyn Ground this summer. Goalkeeper Parkes signed for
West Ham for a world-record fee in 1979, lifted the FA Cup in 1980 and
helped the Hammers to finish third in Division One in 1985/86. Striker
Taylor joined West Ham from Rochdale in January 1975 before scoring the
goals that carried the Club to FA Cup glory at Wembley five months later.
Parkes and Taylor will lead the unique Tours, which will be held between
26-28 July. Fans will be led on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Boleyn
Ground by one of the two greats, visiting the tunnel, dugouts, dressing
rooms, Chairmen's Suite and Directors Box before sitting down for a
traditional East End feast of pie, mash and liquor*.
Participants will also be invited to take part in a West Ham United quiz,
with signed prizes available to the winners, while photographs taken
pitchside will be emailed to those taking part in the Tour.

Former Player Tours will take place on the following dates:
*Friday 26 July - 9am and 1pm
*Saturday 27 July - 9am and 1pm
*Sunday 28 July - 9am and 1pm

To book your unique Former Player Tour now, call the Ticket Office on 0871
529 1966 (calls 10p/minute plus network extras) and select Option 3 or visit
the Alpari Stand Ticket Office in person. Alternatively, you can book online
here.
For further information - not for booking - email
stadiumtours@westhamunited.co.uk
*Vegetarian option is available, but participants must email
stadiumtours@westhamunited.co.uk with the name and address the Tour was
booked under at least 72 hours prior to the Tour.

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More silverware for youngsters
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 2nd June 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham Ladies Under 16s recently secured their second trophy of the season
with a 2-0 win against Eastern Avenue in the League Cup Final. The West Ham
girls were calm and collected ahead of the game but took nothing for granted
as EA had shown their physical style of play in previous meetings. As the
game unfolded, Eastern tried to disrupt West Ham's flow of well-constructed
and penetrating moves with exuberant challenges. The series of free kicks
that followed only served to benefit the Hammers, giving them the great
spells of possession and forcing Eastern to defend deep. The match enjoyed
spells of high-quality counter-attacking football by both squads. The
majority of Eastern's first half chances were however well dealt with by
West Ham's dominating back four of Morgan Difalco, Courtney Peverill,
Danielle Sillitoe and Natalie Strange. As the second half began, the Hammers
showed terrific quality as they forced their way past Eastern's defences
with fleet-of-foot runs down both wings by Shellie Sumpter and Sarah Wilson
- whilst Ciara Bland and Aleah Headley demonstrated both textbook tackles
and pinpoint dissecting passes to feed the formidable strike force of
Rafaela Cavahlo and Kacie Winsor-Claydon.

A free kick at the edge of the Avenue box proved their undoing as the rising
ball caused frantic jostling in the area, leaving Wilson open at the far
post for a determined header into the net. Eastern replied with a committed
attack and a breaking run that put their striker one-on-one with the West
Ham 'keeper. Hodges came flying out to close the angle, and with a heroic
save threw her body onto the ball. The loose ball rolled teasingly close to
the goal line as Peverill swooped it away to safety. Ten minutes later West
Ham doubled their lead with a well-crafted, individual goal. Cutting in from
the left side, Headley struck a superb effort from 20 yards that tucked in
under the bar. Eastern came close to clawing one back only to see their
effort pushed wide by Hodges. West Ham rejuvenated their attacking power
with Nicole Witham and Sarah Dick, who continued to create further chances
for the Hammers right up to the final whistle.

Manager Ray Wood was extremely proud of the girls' performance both today
and throughout 2012/13. With a lack of pre-season friendlies and only a
handful of last season's players remaining in the squad, his young team have
exceeded his expectations - and finished the season on a real high.


West Ham Utd: Ciara Bland, Rafaela Cavahlo, Morgan Difalco, Aleah Headley,
Georgie Hodges, Courtney Peverill, Danielle Sillitoe, Natalie Strange,
Shellie Sumpter, Sarah Wilson, Kacie Winsor-Claydon.

Goals: Aleah Headley, Sarah Wilson.

Subs: Nicole Witham, Sarah Dick.

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'Keeper to sign three-year contract?
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 2nd June 2013
By: Staff Writer

Reports emanating from Spain this afternoon suggest that Real Betis
goalkeeper Adrian has agreed a three-year deal with West Ham. KUMB.com
revealed a fortnight ago that West Ham had been keeping tabs on the
26-year-old stopper. Now unconfirmed reports claim that a deal worth in the
region of £20,000-per-week has been struck, with Adrian poised to complete a
move to the Premier League upon the expiry of his current deal which ends
later this month. Adrian was missing from the Betis squad that drew 1-1 with
Levante in last night's La Liga clash at Ciutat de València - a result that
guaranteed the Andalusia-based club a seventh-place finish and European
football next season. It is understood that all parties agreed an official
announcement on Adrian's future would be delayed until Betis ended their
2012/13 La Liga campaign. The 6'2" goalkeeper is a home-grown player who
emerged from the Betis youth ranks before turning pro in 2006. He played
more than 30 times for Verdiblancos in 2012/13 and was recently voted Man of
the Match in their 1-0 win over Real Madrid.

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Why Sam Allardyce deserves more credit
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 2nd June 2013
By: Raymond Doyle

What a different two years makes at a football club. On 15th May 2011 Wigan
Athletic came from 2-0 down at half time to beat West Ham United and confirm
the Hammers' relegation from the Premier League.

The board decided to sack then-manager Avram Grant and appoint former
Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United manager Sam
Allardyce. The 58-year-old quickly went about rebuilding a side capable of
not only getting promoted back to the Premier League but also staying there.
The signing of Kevin Nolan proved to be a masterstroke for Allardyce as the
former Bolton captain scored 13 goals for the club in his first season from
midfield.

The Hammers finished third in the 2011–12 Football League Championship with
86 points, missing out on automatic promotion by two points. However the
Hammers put that disappointment behind them when they beat Blackpool in the
play-off final thanks to a late winner from Portuguese striker Ricardo Vaz
Te.

In the summer of 2012, Allardyce was once again busy in the transfer market
bringing to the club 11 new players including on-loan striker Andy Carroll
from Liverpool. Although Allardyce has often spoke of his plan to play
attractive football, with the addition of Carroll and club record signing
Matt Jarvis from Wolves, West Ham have played a direct style of football
which saw them finish in the top half of the Premier League table this
season.

Highlights for the Hammers this season were their 3-1 win over Chelsea,
their 0-0 draw with Manchester City (in which they were denied victory by a
bad call from the assistant referee) and a 2-2 draw with champions
Manchester United.

Big Sam was rewarded following West Ham's fine performance in the Premier
League this season with a new two-year deal. David Gold, the West Ham
co-owner, announced that the 58-year-old would stay on at Upton Park on his
personal Twitter account.

"I am delighted to announce that our manager Sam Allardyce has signed a new
two year contract," Gold said.

Allardyce himself said: "There were processes we had to go through and put
it together in the right way, which it has now. I never thought there would
be any problem – and there hasn't. There has been some issue with the legal
jargon in the contract which I couldn't understand so that has to go to both
sides' lawyers to agree and then it gets signed. The size of a manager's
contract is pretty substantial in terms of responsibilities."

Say what you like about the playing style of West Ham, results this season
have shown it to be effective. Many pundits applaud the likes of Roberto
Martinez and Wigan for their "easy on the eye" football style but many Wigan
fans may well swap positions with West Ham despite their FA Cup success.

This summer will no doubt be another busy one for West Ham as Allardyce
looks to secure the permanent signing of Carroll along with a number of new
faces. The Hammers will look to push on next season to try and compete with
the likes of Swansea and West Brom and try and snatch a European place but
credit must go to Allardyce for the turnaround at Upton Park since that dark
day against Wigan two years ago!

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The curious case of Joe Cole
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 2nd June 2013
By: Jason Eves

'Boomerang players', as they are known, are a curious topic; some regard
these players returning to their former clubs as a homecoming, a triumphant
return as you will.

But usually the case with a returning player they have reached the ends of
their playing career and want to see it out in a comfortable environment,
none more so than a club they have previously turned out for.

Even our famous ground has had its fair share of players leaving, to only
return again to grace the Boleyn Ground. From former players such as Frank
McAvennie, Pop Robson, Julian Dicks and Tony Cottee to more recent cases
such as James Collins and George McCartney. Collins, I believe didn't want
to leave West Ham in the first place, with much rumours circulating he was
sold to Aston Villa (a notable West Ham graveyard) to free up funds to pay
SBOBet for the transfer of the flop turned Italian International Alessandro
Diamanti.

The 'Ginger Pele' has excelled this season, forming a formidable partnership
with the resurgent Winston Reid, keeping out homegrown (Russell Brand
lookalike) James Tomkins who has been left kicking his heels on the fringes
of the first team.

Although Collins has been suspect with a few notable blunders (look no
further than the Swansea away game) he more than redeemed himself by
shutting out the rampant Luis Suarez during West Ham's visit to Anfield,
where Luis was left chomping at the bit to add to his impressive tally.
McCartney left the club on personal terms allegedly with his girlfriend
seeking a return up north for family issues. His departure also left a
bitter taste, with then West Ham manager Alan Curbishley admitting that
George was sold without his permission.

Following a decent two year spell with the Hammers, his move to Sunderland
didn't bear as much fruit as he had hoped and he was then subsequently
loaned to Leeds for a year, before linking back up to his familiar
surroundings. Brought initially on loan he helped us claim promotion to the
Premier League, where he earned himself a permanent return.

But it seems he has now become a squad player, with Joey O'Brien preferred
on the left for the majority of this campaign and with news of our latest
signing, Romanian captain and Champions League-experienced left back Razvan
(Roland) Rat joining our ranks, George's days at the Boleyn may be numbered.

Now this brings me to Joe Cole, the last of the trio brought in for his
second spell at West Ham. He ticks all the boxes fans look for in a player:

a) He was brought up through the academy,
b) He got the crowd out of their seats with his electric performances and
c) He is an East End boy through and through.

You could almost see the faithful swelling with pride whenever Joe graced
the pitch, knowing he was one of their own. Unfortunately, the powers that
be love to toy with our emotions. With that ill-fated 'too good to go down'
season that condemned us to be stripped of all our finest talent, with Joe
being plucked up by the newly installed Soviet regime at Chelsea.

We all wished him well and hoped his move worked out for him, but alas he
never fulfilled his early potential at Chelsea, making a meagre 180
appearances over the course of seven years at the club. Injuries and manager
preferences plagued his time at Chelsea and obviously knocked the confidence
and halted his nurturing through reserve games and sitting on the bench for
long periods.

He was offered pastures new at Liverpool, a move he later regretted in light
of moving to us. This was his last crack at the big time (before Liverpool
became the faltering giants they are today). Again it was another move that
just didn't work out for him, he started brightly but once again the
injuries took hold and he couldn't force his way back into the fold.

Following a successful spell with French club Lille (where he played
alongside Chelsea star Eden Hazard) Cole returned to Liverpool for one last
roll of the dice. Again with a bright start to the season, he suffered a
reoccurring hamstring problem was left on the sidelines, allowing talent
like Jonjo Shelvey and Raheem Sterling a chance to break into the Liverpool
side. Though as we all remember earlier this season Joe came on against West
Ham and showed us what we were lacking by scoring at Upton Park earning
Liverpool a 3-2 win.

Joe finally made a return to claret and blue during this year's January
transfer window, drafted in on a free transfer with Liverpool keen to get
his relatively high wages off their bill. He has showed flashed of his early
brilliance with a masterclass performance in his debut in the FA Cup match
with Manchester United, putting them to the sword with two assists to his
name.

Following this dream debut, renewed optimism was conjured up at the Boleyn
of the prodigal son returning to take us to the next level, with another
impressive performance against doomed relegation candidates QPR. With
questions once again raised over his fitness Cole was left to sit on the
bench for the duration of the campaign, fulfilling a role as an impact sub
to try and change the game for us in the dying minutes.

His return in general has brought mixed reviews, I for one am happy to see a
player of his calibre join our ranks, even if he is on the wrong side of
thirty I believe with the right approach employed at Manchester United to
prolong legends such as Giggs and Scholes, I think Joe can always offer
something with his vision, passing and other qualities.

I can't help but think he was more of a board signing than an Allardyce
signing as he just doesn't fit Sam's brief when it comes to players. But Sam
has a known reputation for rejuvenating seemingly doomed players (look no
further than Jay-Jay Okocha, Ricardo Gardner etc.) so we may have got a coup
from Liverpool. Of course I'm sure when Joe hangs up his boots he will be
promoted to an ambassadorial role similar to one taken up by Tony Cottee,
where we can use Joe's wisdom to bring the new youth to the famous academy.

But for the short-term, I would take an injury free season for Joe Cole any
day; only time will tell if he is the second coming we all hope he will be.

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Adrian In, Tomkins Out?
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die

There is a report this evening that Betis Keeper, Adrian San Miguel, is due
in London this week to undertake a medical ahead of a move to West Ham.
Apparently, the Betis No1 has been in fine form this season and has
attracted significant interest from La Liga rivals Espanyol and Getafe. If
the report is true then Sam Allardyce has stolen a march on them to sign
Adrian to a three year deal. Even sweeter for the West Ham hierarchy is the
fact that they are likely to have secured the player on very reasonable
terms, given Betis current financial issues. It is anticipated that Adrian
will start as No. 2 to Jussi and be given time to acclimatise to the more
frenetic pace of the Premier League. Following on from Ravzan Rat's signing,
this could prove to be yet another good deal for the club.

While, in the Sunday People, it was reported that Sam Allardyce may be
prepared to sell James Tomkins to Newcastle Utd to finance his summer
transfer deals. The rationale underpinning this old, recycled report is that
money is tight for West Ham's transfer dealings and the majority of what is
available has been hear marked for the signing of Andy Carroll. Therefore,
West Ham may have to sell to buy players to strengthen the squad in other
positions. I personally do not believe that there is a basis to the report.
If they sell Tomkins they will still have to sign a replacement.
Furthermore, James Tomkins is rightly seen as a future star at the club and
I would be amazed if they were prepared to sell. He did not have a great
campaign last season, but there is every expectation that he will get back
on track next season. I know it is fashionable to write players off when
they have a loss of fitness and/or form. You only have to look at Winston
Reid's case to see how impatient and wrong fan opinion can be about players.
If it had been down to the majority fan opinion, the current Hammer of the
Year would have been out the door after our relegation.Thankfully, Sam
Allardyce knew better on that one! And it is a similar situation with
Tomkins.

Well done to the England players who secured an encouraging 2-2 draw with
Brazil this evening. The two England goals were outstanding and, although
they were under the cosh in the first half, their organisational discipline,
hard work and Hart's goal keeping kept them in the game. Actually, it is
funny how black and white our football press see issues pertaining to
England, either jingoistic nationalism or deep pessimism. I had the occasion
to read the Sports Section of the Daily Mail today and it was full of dark
pessimism about England and English football. Particularly Sir Trevor
Brooking's alleged comment about England needing another 10 years to emulate
the recent resurgence of German football. But there was also an article in
which the author stated that the England Team had never had a golden age!!
Funny that, I could have sworn that England were the premier footballing
power from the late 19th century, right through to the early 1950s? Was not
the 3-6 defeat to the Hungarians in 1953 the first time that a team from
outside the British Isles had beaten England on home soil? The first England
away defeat to a foreign side was Spain's 4-3 victory in Madrid in 1929.
England's win record in the period 1930-1949 (even allowing for WW2) was
excellent, suffering only 9 overseas defeats. Today it often forgotten that
until 1968, a German national side had never beaten England home or away.
While Italy's first victory over us was as recently as 1973, Argentina's in
1964 and and Holland in 1977.

To say that England never had a golden age is contrary to historical record
and an insult to great English players such as Lofthouse, Finney, Matthews,
Lawton and, our very own, Len Goulden. In truth the author is not looking at
the issue in terms of the overall historical record, but rather only in
terms of our more recent World Cup/post 1950 record. We did not contest the
first three World Cup competitions in the 1930s due to England's
disaffiliation from FIFA in 1926. It is a virtual certainty that had England
participated they would have won those competitions comfortably, such was
our dominance in that period. However apart from 1966, 1970 and 1990, our
modern World Cup record has been a disappointment. While, our overall win
record since 1970 has declined significantly. So, it would be more accurate
to state that yes there was a golden age for the English national football
team, but (apart from the Oasis of 1966) it was a very long time ago. And in
the modern period a number of other footballing nations have consistently
out- performed us. That is the true position.

Hopefully, the new National Football Centre at Burton and the newly
introduced EPPP Scheme will pay dividends for English youth development. It
will take time to have an impact, but in the meantime we must continue to
compete and make the best use of the talent currently at our disposal. Much
as we did this evening against Brazil. So far from being totally gloomy, we
should be glad that the FA have now made the type of changes that increase
the chances of our national side getting back to the pinnacle of
international football once again. It is long overdue!

Finally, back to West Ham, there are reports this evening that Andy Carroll
will accept West Ham's offer and sign from Liverpool, this coming week, for
a fee of £15m. Lets see what transpires? If he does, that is a major boost
to the club. But we must still be mindful that recent reports have stated
that Carroll is unlikely to be available for selection for at least the
first month or so of the new season. As we saw last season, getting off to a
good start is usually key to having a successful season. So, the emphasis
will then switch to who else will be brought in to give us greater
strength-in-depth up front and see us through Carroll's initial period of
absence?

SJ. Chandos.

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Sam Miguel
Published: 6 hrs ago
The Sun

WEST HAM are set to nab Real Betis keeper Adrian San Miguel on a free
transfer this week. The out-of-contract stopper, 26, is expected to travel
to the capital to sign a three-year contract. Hammers boss Sam Allardyce has
tracked the Spaniard, who wants out of Betis, for some time.

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West Ham swooping for Spanish keeper Adrian San Miguel on free transfer
2 Jun 2013 22:30
The Mirror

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is swooping for Spanish keeper Adrian San Miguel
on a free transfer from Real Betis. Allardyce spotted the highly-rated
26-year-old who will sign for three seasons if he passes a 'test' with the
Hammers. The West Ham chief wants competition for veteran Jussi Jaaskelainen
and San Miguel fits the bill perfectly as his contract is up. San Miguel
will not be coming to settle for life in the reserves. He played 32 times
for the Seville-based outfit.
His arrival puts Jaaskelainen under pressure, but the Finn will fight to
keep his place - although the younger keeper looks set to eventually be
number one.

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