Daily WHUFC News - 4th July 2013

Hammers take to the water
WHUFC.com
West Ham United headed for the pool on the second day of their pre-season
training camp in Cork
03.07.2013

West Ham United were up bright and early on Wednesday morning as the Hammers
continued their pre-season training camp in Cork. Having converged at 7am,
the squad was split into two halves, with one group enjoying a cycle ride
through the surrounding countryside and the other heading to the pool at the
Fota Island Hotel. There, under the guidance of physiotherapist Jon Urwin,
the players went through a series of movements in the main pool, hydropool
and walking river, designed to remove waste products from the body and
prepare them for the exertions of the day ahead. "In the main pool, the
depth of the water is more than 120cm - 1.2m - which is important because it
means the pressure of the water is potentially higher than the diastolic
(minimum) blood pressure in the players' bodies," Urwin explained.
"Basically, this means it helps to remove any waste products from the
training the previous day because it is really good for lymphatic drainage.
"We got them into the water as a first port of call and then we got them
moving. Generally, the first pool is a mobility and flexibility session and
it loosens them off from the previous day and gets them prepared for the
training session that starts a couple of hours later. "It's a lower tempo
than a warm-up and is a specific session set up to remove waste products
from the previous day and to set them up for the morning training session.
It's a preparation for their busy day ahead."

After spending 20 minutes in the main pool, Urwin took the group to the
hydropool and walking river. First, the players made use of the hydropool,
which contains nine different, specifically-designed areas to massage the
entire body. They then did a number of laps through the walking river, which
utilises different temperatures to reduce muscle fatigue. Urwin explained
that the different water temperatures and movements would again be
beneficial to the players ahead of a busy day of pre-season work on the
pitch. "We had a hot section in the hydropool and then a colder section in
the walking river. What we are trying to do there is to provide a contrast,
with the players spending a longer period of time in the warmer hydropool
and then walking through the colder section. "This again aids waste product
drainage, while the walking river also has a mobility aspect to it as well.
It's all preparing the lads for what they have got to do, not just today but
for the whole week and through the actual season. "We like to use pool
sessions as often as we can. The good thing about pre-season is that we have
the pool on-site, so the lads have ready access to it, so we will take
advantage of it as much as possible. We are going to do the same session
later in the week and get the lads into the pool as often as possible. "The
lads enjoy what they are doing, even though they aren't too keen on wearing
swimming caps and I wasn't too sure about some of their gear!"

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Hammers to play prestigious friendly
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will play Pacos de Ferreira on Saturday 10 August in aid of
the Bobby Moore Fund
03.07.2013

West Ham United are delighted to announce that Portuguese UEFA Champions
League qualifiers Pacos de Ferreira will provide the opposition for a
prestigious home pre-season friendly in aid of the Bobby Moore Fund for
Cancer Research UK. The Hammers will play host to Os Castores at the Boleyn
Ground on Saturday 10 August at 3pm, completing Sam Allardyce's side's
preparations for the 2013/14 Barclays Premier League season. Pacos de
Ferreira finished third in the Portuguese Primeira Liga last term, earning a
place in the play-off round for the UEFA Champions League, and reached the
semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup. The Board have again shown their
commitment to making football affordable for all, with ticket prices set at
£15 and £5 for Adult and Under-16 Season Ticket Holders and £20 and £10 for
Adult and Under-16 non-Season Ticket Holders respectively. Season Tickets
for 2013/14 are available to buy now at seasontickets.whufc.com

With Romania captain Razvan Rat set to make his first appearance at the
Boleyn Ground and the possibility of Andy Carroll appearing for the first
time on home turf since making his move to east London permanent, demand for
tickets is expected to be high. Click here to buy your ticket now. To keep
ticket prices as low as possible, the Club is giving supporters the
opportunity to choose their own level of voluntary donation, with options of
£1, £5 or £10 to the Fund when they buy tickets online, by telephone or in
person. A number of exciting fundraising events will also be held around the
match itself.

This season's match beneficiaries will be the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer
Research UK, with 50p from the sale of every Official Programme being
donated to the charity founded in memory of the late, great West Ham and
England captain. The players' matchday shirts will also be donated to the
Fund for auction with educational messages about the risks of bowel cancel
displayed on the big screens and in the programme.

West Ham have already raised in excess of £55,000 for the Bobby Moore Fund
this year thanks to generous donations and contributions from the Board,
partners, sponsors, staff, players and the Club's loyal supporters. Of the
money already raised, Joint-Chairman David Sullivan started the fundraising
ball rolling by making a personal donation of £10,000.

Manager Sam Allardyce has also made a sizeable contribution, donating the
proceeds of his weekly column in the London Evening Standard newspaper.
The Club showed their outstanding support for the Fund at the Barclays
Premier League visit of Tottenham Hotspur in February, with fans helping to
raise more than £14,000 through the sale of special commemorative programmes
and the auction of the specially embroidered shirts worn by the Hammers
squad.
Now, that amazing fundraising total is set to be boosted yet further when
West Ham take on Pacos de Ferreira in this prestigious pre-season friendly.

Since being established in 1993 in memory of the legendary West Ham and
England captain by his widow Stephanie Moore MBE, the charity has raised
over £20m for bowel cancer research, as well as working to raise awareness
of the disease which took the life of the great centre-back at the age of
51.
In the two decades since Moore's passing, around 300,000 people have lost
their lives to bowel cancer in the UK alone, enough to fill the Boleyn
Ground more than 10 times over. For more details about the Fund and how you
can get involved, visit www.bobbymoorefund.org"

The stage is set for an exciting afternoon of football, as Pacos de Ferreira
are sure to give the Hammers a stern test ahead of the start of the new
season, having qualified for Europe's premier club tournament for the first
time.

They have been involved in European competition twice before in recent
years, with appearances in the UEFA Cup in 2007/08 and UEFA Europa League in
2009/10 to their name. Last season's third place finish was the best in the
northern Portugal-based club's history, and former Porto and Monaco
midfielder Costinha has recently taken up the managerial reins following
Paulo Fonseca's move to champions Porto.

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Reid-son to celebrate!
WHUFC.com
Winston Reid celebrated his 25th birthday with the new West Ham United
adidas home shirt!
03.07.2013

Winston Reid is a man who thought he had it all - the Hammer of the Year
trophy, the New Zealand captain's armband and a regular place in the West
Ham United starting XI - but he was wrong! On Wednesday, Reid celebrated his
25th birthday by becoming the first West Ham player to receive the new
2013/14 season adidas home shirt, which will go on sale to supporters from
9am on Thursday. The new claret and blue proved to be a popular gift for the
No2.
"Obviously I saw the shirt a couple of months back when we did the
photoshoot and I think it's a nice shirt," he told West Ham TV. "It's a
good-looking shirt and I'm looking forward to playing in it!"

Aside from his new home shirt, Reid's celebration options are rather limited
as he is currently in the middle of the Hammers' pre-season training camp in
Cork. However, he still plans to make the most of his birthday. Thankfully
for the centre-back, he was able to relax during the summer break, spending
time with family, friends and a number of his West Ham team-mates while on
holiday. "I might order some room service later tonight - a big cake, maybe
- but apart from that, everything is good!" he revealed. "I have been used
to having my birthday while I'm away so it's all cool. "I just went back to
Denmark to see my friends and family and then I went to the United States
for three-and-a-half weeks, where I saw a couple of mates and a couple of
boys from the team who were over there as well, which was good. I had a good
holiday."

Now, Reid and his colleagues are fully focused on the hard work required to
prepare for the 2013/14 Barclays Premier League season, which starts with
the visit of Cardiff City to the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 17 August. The
defender was quick to praise the surroundings at the Club's base at the Fota
Island Resort in County Cork, where the players have on-site pitches,
swimming pools and gyms at their disposal. "I think I prefer pre-season when
it's not too hot and, so far, the weather and the facilities have been great
and hopefully that will continue. I think what you need as a footballer is
as little travel as possible and we've got everything here that we need, so
that's good."

Just a few days into their pre-season regime, the players have enjoyed some
sharp keep-ball sessions on the pitch, with banter and serious discussion
audible in equal measure. It is already clear that only the highest possible
standards will do as West Ham aim to start the new campaign the same way
they did in 2012/13. "I think the boys gave Macca [assistant manager Neil
McDonald] a little bit of stick because he shanked one and we lost the ball,
so I don't think we were too happy about that! "We want to start the same
way we did last year and, if we can do better, that would be good. We
acquitted ourselves well as a newly-promoted team and hopefully this year we
can do the same, if not better."

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, including the permanent
high-quality signings of Andy Carroll, Romania captain Razvan Rat and
Spanish goalkeeper Adrian. "They are exactly what you need and we obviously
want to try to improve and bring more quality into the side. We also have
players here who want to get better individually this year so we can push
even higher up."

Reid himself has achieved great things in a West Ham shirt, but he is not
going to rest on his laurels, despite being voted Hammer of the Year and
Players' Player of the Year and signing a new long-term contract earlier
this year. "I've got some other goals I want to reach. I want to get better
and to improve all the aspects of my game and try to develop more from last
year. I've got my goals and I'm looking forward to reaching them."

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West Ham eye Wilfried Zaha as Sam Allardyce plots cheeky loan bid for
Manchester United new boy
13 Jun 2013 12:09
The Mirror

West Ham are set to launch an audacious loan bid for Manchester United
winger Wilfried Zaha. Hammers boss Sam Allardyce has identified the England
Under-21 starlet as a key target as the Upton Park side as they look to
undergo their second season back in the top flight. Zaha has just returned
from the Under-21 European Championships, playing in England's final two
group games as the Three Lions crashed out after losing all three matches.
After a holiday, Zaha will join the Premier League winners for their
pre-season campaign. Allardyce hopes to secure the speedster's services
after he has completed the pre-season with the Reds. The 20-year-old was
signed from by Manchester United from Crystal Palace in the January transfer
window, but loaned back to the Eagles where he was instrumental in their
Championship Play-off win over Watford last month.

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