Rav completes awards double
WHUFC.com
Ravel Morrison made it a whufc.com awards double by scooping October's Goal
of the Month
17.11.2013
Ravel Morrison completed a clean sweep of West Ham United awards for October
by winning the whufc.com Goal of the Month vote. Having already taken the
Player of the Month honours, he polled a whopping 89% of the Official
Website vote to land the prize for October's best goal. The youngster's
stunning strike against Tottenham Hotspur, for which he picked the ball up
on halfway before beating Michael Dawson and clipping over goalkeeper Hugo
Lloris, caught the eye to win by a huge margin. Ricardo Vaz Te's overhead
kick against Manchester City took second place with 7%, while Elliot Lee's
effort for the U21s against Cambridge United was third.
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Rav does it again
KUMb.com
Filed: Sunday, 17th November 2013
By: Staff Writer
Ravel Morrison gave his fellow team mates another glimpse of his outrageous
talent this morning during an England Under 21s training session. Morrison,
who is currently with the Young Lions in preparation for their forthcoming
clash with San Marino wowed team mates by chipping goalkeeper Jack Butland
from just six yards out during a training session last month. And he went
one better today at St.George's Park earlier today when he left onlookers
audibly gasping with a cheeky backheel volley, that you may see below. The
young Hammer, who is strongly tipped to break into Roy Hodgson's full
England squad for next summer's World Cup Finals in Brazil has made three
appearances for the under 21s. All three games - against San Marino,
Lithuania and most recently, Finland last Friday - have resulted in wins for
England. England face San Marino this Tuesday - 19th November - in a
European Championship clash at Greenhous Meadow Stadium, Shrewsbury.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hONKlo6HGWM
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West Ham and Leyton Orient criticised over Olympic Stadium dispute
Last Updated: November 18, 2013 12:13am
SSN
Lord Harris, the chair of the House of Lords Committee into the Olympic and
Paralympic legacy, has criticised West Ham and Leyton Orient following their
dispute over the future of the Olympic Stadium. West Ham will become anchor
tenants of the stadium - the centrepiece for London 2012 - from August 2016
after being awarded sole use of the venue by the London Legacy Development
Corporation. Leyton Orient wanted to share the venue with West Ham but lost
their bid to win a judicial review into the decision in September. The House
of Lords Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Committee was appointed to look into
the impact of the Games in London, particularly regarding regeneration and
sporting development, and although it did not specifically re-examine the
awarding of the Olympic Stadium to West Ham, Lord Harris did have some
strong opinions on the situation.
He told Sky Sports News: "We've not tried to re-visit the process. What we
are saying is that the rather unedifying spectacle of West Ham and Leyton
Orient fighting among themselves like two school children in the playground
arguing about who can go down the slide first is not really helpful. "The
Olympic Stadium is a national asset. We want to make sure that asset is used
to the full and that the community at large gets the widest possible
benefit."
When asked if that could potentially mean Leyton Orient ground sharing or
playing some of their games at the Olympic Stadium, he replied: "We want to
make sure all the different parties sit down and talk properly. We think it
may be possible to work in a different way. "It has to be economically
viable. You can't open up a huge stadium if there aren't going to be enough
people going into it to make it worthwhile. But the most effective use of
that stadium has to be in the national interests. It is a national asset -
let's make sure it is used as a national asset."
The committee's report into the legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic
Games has now been published and Lord Harris has revealed there has been no
major increase in sporting participation in the country - one of the key
aims - since the Games finished. He said: "The London Games were probably
the most successful ever in terms of planning for a legacy. We could be
achieving even more and we have to work hard to continue to meet the
aspirations that were set in the first place. "Clearly there was a hope in
there was going to be a step change in sporting participation. In the event,
the long-term general improvement in sports participation has continued but
there is no evidence of a step change in the last year. "If anything,
figures have gone down. We can only continue to achieve the long-term
improvement in sports participation by sustained leadership and by making
sure there is investment in facilities and proper investment in physical
education. "I don't think the aspiration to improve sporting participation
has yet been delivered. It is still possible. It needs continued investment
- both in terms of physical education of school-age children and also in
terms of the improvements of local sporting facilities. "It is undoubtedly
the case that more should have been done more quickly to capitalise on the
enthusiasm. A lot of that momentum has been lost. Is it too late? Well, we
are embarking on a "decade of sport". Let's see what we can do to make sure
the "flame is kept alive"."
The committee has recommended two key changes going forward.
Lord Harris added: "First, it has to be made explicit which cabinet minister
has got responsibility taking forward all the aspects of the Olympic legacy.
There should be proper focus from the Government on that.
"Secondly, as far as London and east London is concerned, the Mayor of
London's office should take on the responsibility of the regeneration of the
area and be responsible for delivering that regeneration."
Lord Harris signed off by rating the legacy. "Good effort - could do an
awful lot better," he said.
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OLYMPIC STADIUM MAY INCLUDE 'OCCASIONAL USE' BY ORIENT SAY LORDS
By Sean Whetstone 18 Nov 2013 at 00:01
West Ham Till I Die
The House of Lords report on the Olympics is published today (Monday)
including their review of the legacy of the Olympic Stadium which both
Karren Brady and Barry Hearn gave evidence on.
It must be emphasised that although the House of Lords committee made a
number of recommendations, they have no legal powers to enforce their
recommendations are followed up or implemented.
The House of Lords select committee said was It is not for them to comment
on the fairness or otherwise of the OS bidding process, which has recently
been subject to a failed application for judicial review. In examining the
arguments over the Stadium's future use, they said 'we are concerned that
the central point is being missed: the Stadium is a national asset and the
focus should be on making the best use of it for the community and for the
taxpayer'. They also go on to say there is also the issue of the important
morale and leadership role two successful football clubs can have in their
local community, particularly in encouraging the motivation and aspirations
of less motivated children in education. 'Ongoing conflict and bad
relationships will only hinder the impact they can have on this vital work'
Lord Harris in the video interview below said "We were slightly disappointed
about the rather playground behaviour of some of the football clubs around
the future use of the Olympic Stadium'
Ongoing dispute
"The ongoing dispute over the Stadium has been a disappointing distraction.
We urge those concerned to think further on how the two most local football
clubs might work together, including whether any difficulties can be
ameliorated through wider community use of the Stadium, which may include
its occasional use by Leyton Orient FC if appropriate financial arrangements
can be agreed". They list this as Recommendation 12 in their report.
"We are reassured by West Ham United's firm guarantee that the quality and
quantity of seating for spectators with disabilities will not be compromised
by the re-design of the stadium. We hope that the Olympic Stadium will set a
gold standard for accessibility. We are concerned that by contrast the
position at many Premier and Football League stadia is unacceptable for
spectators with disabilities."
"We urge the Government to work with the football authorities and the Sports
Grounds Safety Authority to revise the licensing conditions under the Safety
of Sports Grounds Act 1975 to ensure appropriate and improved standards of
access and facilities for disabled spectators. They list this as
Recommendation 13 in their report.
Hindsight
Lord Coe defended why the Stadium wasn't designed with football in mind from
the beginning arguing that "nobody went into that bidding process saying
that this would be a single-use stadium". "We needed to build an Olympic
stadium. We were committed to a stadium in East London. That is where we had
proposed for the Games to go. We did speak … to football at the time that we
were putting the bid together. I am choosing my words carefully; there was
not a massive amount of interest, when we were thinking about what that
stadium might look like, post the Games, from football. By the time we got
to Singapore, we had a judgement to make, and that is why of course the
Stadium was in extremis designed to be reduced to a 25,000-seater
track-and-field facility with usage for other sports."
Chairman of London 2012 Forum, Richard Sumray argued that West Ham had in
fact been interested in taking over the stadium when he discussed the issue
with the Club in 2001. He regretted the counter proposals, which aimed to
put athletics "into the mix", which in his view "made the whole process of
finalising the ownership and uses of the stadium much more difficult. Early
on a decision should have been made to use the main stadium for football,
converting the warm up track to an athletics stadium. This would have been a
more sustainable and appropriate use of that part of the Park."
Barry Hearn & Karren Brady Evidence
Barry Hearn argued that the impact on Leyton Orient would be mitigated by
the option of a ground-sharing agreement to be reconsidered by LLDC. Karren
Brady confirmed that West Ham had entered its bid with the willingness to
share with other users but was not able to give a view on whether the club
felt another football club would be a feasible tenant. Mr Hone said that
Leyton Orient "was given ample opportunity to clarify and revise the
financial structure of its offer to share the ground but did not do so" His
view was that it "would have cost the public sector money to open the gates
to Leyton Orient for each of its games", in a 60,000 capacity stadium
because of the club's relatively low existing gates.
Is this Game Over
There you have it! I am sure Barry Hearn will grab onto the 'occasional use'
comment in recommendation 12 but it would be up to the LLDC & Newham to
agree what "appropriate financial arrangement" would allow this to happen
and the word 'occasional' seems to confirm they do not see it as a permanent
home for Leyton Orient.
I have no problem with Leyton Orient fans but surely this is finally the
time to give up on this pointless quest!
Barry Hearn failed in his second Judicial review. He also failed in an
attempt to lobby the Premier League saying they broke their own rules.
The Premier League insists its rules do not require it to veto such moves
but merely consider any negative impact in its overall deliberations.
His last throw of the dice could be to take this to the European courts.
He believes the LLDC's decision to hand West Ham tenancy of a £600-million
plus stadium for just £2m-a-year rent amounts to illegal state aid.
He is quoted as saying: "This is a huge sponsorship of a major commercial
enterprise, which we believe is against EEC rules."
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BIG SAM'S TRANSFER POLICY
By ExWHUemployee 17 Nov 2013 at 16:00
West Ham Till I Die
I am sorry that I haven't written an article for a while but work
commitments have really stepped up recently. The international break has
given me a little window of freedom so I felt now was a good time to return
to the 'West Ham Till I Die' scene. I had been considering what my next post
would be for a while and wasn't certain until last night. I went to the pub
to watch the England game and the topic of Big Sam's transfers and whether
he has bought well or not came up and I thought yes let's take this to a
wider audience.
Sam's transfer successes are an interesting debate as there have been some
very successful ones and some not so successful. Those that follow me on
twitter know that I have always backed Sam and his two season record of a
promotion and a 10th place premiership finish would suggest it has been very
productive transfer policy. This season however a few questions have been
asked. The decision to spend the majority of our budget on an "injured"
forward and then spend the remaining budget on a winger as opposed to
another forward has been questionable to say the least. In this article I
will discuss who I believe are his best 5 signings and follow up next week
with his worst 5.
Here are my top 5 Sam successes.
1) Ravel Morrison. The talent was undeniable, the attitude and commitment
were major worries. Sam has successfully developed Ravel's mindset and we
now have a real gem on our hands. The potential of this young lad is huge. A
lot of credit must also be given to Birmingham City for their role in his
development whilst on loan there. The fact that Morrison is an outside
contender for a World Cup squad space shows how well he has performed this
year. The player joined for an initial £650,000 with appearance related
additions made for each game that he plays up to a total of approximately
£1.5m. If we were to sell the player tomorrow I think we would make a very
impressive profit, let alone in a few years times, but of course this is
something we should not consider and do our utmost to hold onto to him for
as long as possible.
2) Jussi Jaaskelainen. The timing of this article is not great for Jussi, as
it has been written on the back of a disappointing defeat to Norwich where
it is fair to say Jussi played a large part in snatching defeat from the
jaws of victory. There was a lot of criticism on twitter of Jussi and
references made to an article I wrote when he first joined. I was told and
wrote that he didn't figure for Bolton towards the end of his time there
because they felt he had real physical difficulties when diving to his
right. I was at first very worried about his presence between the sticks but
from January onwards I thought he was extremely consistent. My fellow
hammers clearly did too as he was voted the runner up in the Hammer of the
Year award. Until the Norwich game we had an extremely good defensive
record, especially away from home and I believe Jussi played a large part in
this. I thought we would miss Robert Green, we haven't.
3) Guy Demel. One of our most underrated performers. Signed on a free, he is
a vastly experienced full back having played in the top flight in Germany
and on the international scene for the Ivory Coast. He has been very solid
this season and been a part of an impressive back line. He is hardly a
spectacular performer but I would regularly grade his performances as 7/8
out of 10. He has performed consistently well in the premier league for the
club and should continue to do so until 2015 when his contract expires. The
fact that Guy retired from international football to prolong his West Ham
career when asked, shows the commitment he has to the club.
4) Kevin Nolan. I was really torn as to include him in the top 5. There are
times when I barely notice him in games, times when I pray for him to be
substituted and with our current midfield options, times this season where I
do not want him to start. His contribution to the club since he has been
here however cannot be underestimated. The club was in a very bad way under
Grant with team morale and squad harmony at an all-time low. Kevin changed
this. He is a great captain and has created a very positive atmosphere
around the club, he is valued by all. He has been a positive influence on
Ravel and in the past has done the same for Andy Carroll. He scored 12 goals
in the championship and 10 in the premiership from midfield and those goals
were crucial to our successes of both years. The return of one goal this
season has been very disappointing and if he wasn't captain I think he would
have been dropped. Let's hope the much needed return of Andy Carroll will
reignite Nolan's form too.
5) Joey O'Brien. Another free transfer signing who has been a very valuable
squad player. He is predominately a right back but has played the early part
of the season at left back and is also there to cover centre back if needed.
When Joey started his career he was a midfielder so to have player as
versatile as him in our squad is very useful for cover. The times that we
have had to call on Joey he has rarely let us down. He is another popular
player at the training ground and someone who has certainly given us value
for money. Again, like Demel, he is hardly a world beater or the most
exciting player but he is consistent and has represented value for money.
Other players who for me just missed out on the top 5 are:
James Collins: Another player who received a lot of stick following the
Norwich defeat. Whilst he is prone to giving away needles free kicks, I felt
he was very solid last year. The fact that Luis Suarez was completely in his
pocket at Anfield was one example of his strong performances. I think he has
been a good signing and was unlucky to not make my top 5.
Ricardo Vaz Te: Again, I was torn between his inclusion. Of course during
the playoff winning season he was absolutely vital. He justified his
transfer fee ten times over that year. He didn't perform for me last year
and hadn't this year either until the last few games before his injury. He
wanted out and it wasn't until his deadline day transfer deal to Norwich
fell through that he started to hit some form, the timing of his injury was
very unfortunate.
Andy Carroll. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was delighted by the deal to
bring Andy back. Most fans were singing "we want you to stay" and I was one.
When fit he is the best target man we could have got and the perfect forward
for our system. At this moment the 15m looks an expensive gamble that has
gone very wrong. I will not write this deal off yet and I am still delighted
we have him on our books, I just pray he returns from injury soon and stays
fit for the rest of the campaign.
Joe Cole. The returning hero who on his day still has the same class that
used to excite us so much in the earlier part of his career. Injuries and a
lack of games during Sam's reign meant he didn't make the top 5.
I know many will not agree with a lot of my choices and believe me I changed
this article a number of times. The differing of opinions is what makes
football so easy to talk about and I look forward to reading some of your
views when commenting on my post. Come on you Irons.
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JOB INJURED AGAIN?
By Sean Whetstone 17 Nov 2013 at 09:30
West Ham Till I Die
Joey O'Brien has been sent for a hamstring scan after suffering a problem
before the Republic of Ireland friendly win over Latvia.
JOB was forced to pull out from Ireland's warm-up ahead of their 3-0 victory
in Dublin.
"He's going for a scan. We are not sure," Republic of Ireland manager Martin
O'Neill said on Sky Sports News. "He just felt a little bit last night in
the warm-up. So even though there was an opportunity last night to play him,
we wouldn't have done so just because there might be some risk, so he is
going for a scan later on. It's his hamstring. He just felt a little bit
sore and it is just precautionary."
This is latest setback in a long string of injuries for Joey. Over almost
three years at Bolton battled knee & hamstring injuries, undergoing
operations which threatened to finish his career at one point.
He joined West on a free transfer on 30th July 2011 after being released by
Bolton.
In 2012 He told whufc.com: "It is sorted. It has been a long time since the
last operation on my knee and I think the main thing with long-term injuries
is just about playing as many times as you can and keeping on the pitch and
in the end the pain just goes. It is obviously something I still manage
every day in training with the staff here, but it just great to be back and
playing football again is amazing, it is great to be at the top again."
However his injury record at West Ham has included knee hip/thigh problems,
two hamstrings and a head injury.
Injury Record
Hamstring Scan West Ham United 15th November 2013
Knee Injury West Ham United 24th August 2013
Hip/Thigh Injury West Ham United 10th February 2013
Hamstring Injury West Ham United 1st January 2013
Hamstring Injury West Ham United 1st October 2012
He made 27 starts in 2011/2012 and 32 starts in 2012/2013 season and 6
starts in 2013/2014 despite his injury record.
UPDATE
A subsequent scan on Sunday has revealed no serious damage to the muscle but
JOB has been sent back to West Ham for treatment.
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