Hammers complete Dubai stay
WHUFC.com
West Ham United ended their four-day trip to the UAE with a lively training
session at Dubai Sports City
16.02.2014
West Ham United ended their four-day trip to the UAE with a lively training
session at Dubai Sports City on Saturday afternoon. The players pulled on
their training kit and boots for the final time for a practice match at the
facility as they completed a hugely beneficial visit to the Emirate. Manager
Sam Allardyce, who organised the trip through his friendship with Dubai
Sports City Football Academy director of football and former Blackburn
Rovers defender Michel Salgado, said the players enjoyed the opportunity to
train in shorts and t-shirts, rather than the hats, gloves and tracksuits
needed back home at Chadwell Heath. "You can see from the mood of the
players how much they enjoy it," said Big Sam. "The amount of games we have
to play in December and January is our peak time so the players, physically
and mentally, are very tired. So getting out in the sun, relaxing in the
sun, training in the sun and enjoying each other's company is extremely
important. "We are the only country in Europe that does not have a
mid-season break sadly, so we have to try and fit the trip to Dubai in at
times like this. "The lads can recharge their batteries and experience has
taught me that after trips like this the lads' energy levels have
increased."
Big Sam has brought the Hammers to Dubai in each of the last three seasons,
with the team going on to achieve big things on their return in each of the
past two years. In 2012, West Ham went on to gain promotion via the
Championship Play-Offs. A year ago, they went on to finish tenth in the
Barclays Premier League. The manager said the use of state-of-the-art
facilities in Dubai for the past few days will, hopefully, lead to his squad
completing a hat-trick of strong finishes. "We contacted Michel and asked if
we could come and train here and, as always with Michel, he has been more
than helpful giving us these good facilities and in particular the grass,"
said Big Sam. "As everyone knows, it is not easy to grow grass in Dubai but
this is a very good surface for us. "Now the training facilities are
exceptionally good and with the warm weather you are guaranteed the sun as
well as the exceptional service."
Dubai Sports City were equally happy to welcome West Ham to the Emirate for
another successful trip. Salgado was proud to welcome a couple of very
familiar faces in Big Sam and assistant Neil McDonald, saying: "It was easy.
I worked with both the manager and the assistant manager at Blackburn
Rovers, they called me, told me they were coming to Dubai and asked if we
could organise training at our facilities. "I told them 'Look, we have got
amazing facilities, the best in Dubai, I think', and of course it is great
to have them here. Having West Ham United here after Swansea City and
(Russian side) Anzhi Makhachkala, it is one of the reasons why we have got
these facilities. "Having sides like this here makes the Dubai Sports City
Football Academy talked about and stand out - and rightly so given what we
have got here. We are absolutely delighted."
Dubai Sports City General Manager (Sports Business) Maqbul Dudhia explained:
"We are extremely proud to be hosting West Ham United at the Dubai Sports
City Football Academy and I know they have been delighted with what they
have found here - with world-class turf and artificial pitches and, of
course, perfect weather."The club's presence with us is another illustration
of Dubai Sports City's growing reputation around the sporting world and we
look forward to hosting more top clubs in the future. "The Dubai Sports City
Football Academy is just one of a host of outstanding, world-class
facilities we have, with others including the ICC Academy, The Els Club, the
Butch Harmon School of Golf and the Dubai International Stadium. All of them
are available to everyone, but the fact elite athletes are using them in
greater and greater numbers tells you all you need to know about the quality
of what we have to offer."
Having won their previous three matches without conceding, West Ham return
to action on Saturday 22 February, when they host Southampton at the Boleyn
Ground in the Barclays Premier League. Tickets are still available here.
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Lennox lauds Hammers' fight
WHUFC.com
West Ham United had Lennox Lewis in their corner as they floored the
Canaries on Tuesday evening
16.02.2014
Lennox Lewis has praised the battling qualities of his boyhood team West Ham
United after they went toe-to-toe with Norwich City on Tuesday. Lewis was at
the Boleyn Ground to cheer on the Hammers as they won 2-0 thanks to James
Collins' header and Mo Diame's last-minute sucker punch. Big Sam's side's
quick one-two pleased the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the
world, who was invited in to the dressing room to deliver some words of
encouragement before the game. "It felt great coming back," Lewis said.
"I've been away from West ham for a long time and I'm finally back. The guys
looked focused and pumped. "[When I went in the dressing room] I told the
boys that they should go out there and knock this team out, simple as that,
and if they need any help I'm here!"
Lewis' affection for West Ham can be traced back to his formative days
growing up as a youngster just around the corner from the Boleyn Ground.
Although he is now based in Jamaica, the 43-year-old insists his love for
the Club has not diminished and he will be a member of the Claret and Blue
Army for life. "I grew up in West Ham and I used to love West Ham United -
they were always my team. Just because I've got older it doesn't mean
they're not my team any more. I am West Ham for life! "Even if I'm in
Jamaica or in Miami I'm trying to find where I can watch a game so it
doesn't matter where I am, I'll always follow West Ham."
Lewis made his name by becoming Olympic Champion in 1988 before moving on to
a professional career that delivered an outstanding 41 wins from 44 fights.
His football team have Olympic ambitions of their own, with a move to the
iconic Olympic Stadium in 2016 on the horizon - a switch that excites the
most recent undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. "I'm very excited
about the move to the Olympic Stadium. I'm glad they got it - I don't know
what all the fuss was about," he concluded.
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Cole unveils new MRI scanner
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's Joe Cole has officially opened a new 3-Tesla MRI scanner
at Holly House Hospital
16.02.2014
West Ham United midfielder Joe Cole has officially opened a new £1.5m
3-Tesla MRI scanner at Holly House Hospital in Buckhurst Hill. The
revolutionary machine is the first of its kind in Essex and the surrounding
area and means Holly House can provide more detailed images with greater
resolution and also scan smaller lesions and anatomy, particularly in
musculoskeletal, oncology and brain imaging. Cole cut the ribbon to open the
scanner, making Holly House one of only a handful of independent hospitals
outside central London to have a 3-Tesla - tesla is the unit of magnet
strength - MRI scanner. The Hammers use diagnostic services at Holly House
to assess the fitness and health of players through diagnostic
investigation, meaning Cole has been a regular visitor since his return to
the Club in January 2013. He said: "On behalf of West Ham United Football
Club, I would like to thank Holly House for all the help they have given us
over the years. We know how the MRI scanner can help with hamstring strain,
ankle problems and so on. But, we also understand how important the scanner
is to the local community's health."
Patients can enter the new MRI either feet or head first, so along with the
larger magnet bore the whole experience of having an MRI is far more
comfortable and less claustrophobic for patients. The process is also far
quicker and faster on a 3-Tesla scanner. The higher resolution imaging means
that it will no longer always be necessary to inject a dye into patients to
pick up internal images for certain examinations. Holly House imaging
services manager Michele Fox said: "The 3T MRI scanner is a new generation
in imaging technology - the imaging quality is very advanced and enables us
to see very fine bone and joint detail. We can even look at fine detailed
imaging of the brain. "Cancer patients will benefit from this advanced
technology greatly and for the first time ever our diagnostics team will now
be able to undertake cardiac work - which opens up a whole new world of
imaging for us."
This additional investment follows a major £20m expansion project at Holly
House in 2013, which doubled the size of the hospital's premises. New
facilities within the £20m development include a new outpatients department,
with 23 consulting rooms, as well as three new integrated theatres, a
pharmacy, pathology lab and endoscopy unit.
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It's time to mobilise
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 13th February 2014
By: Tom Kilbey
The scene is being set for the real conversation about safe standing in
English football grounds to begin.
Bristol City have this week become the first team to install safe standing
at their stadium, Ashton Gate. While the facilities will only initially be
used for rugby games that are played at the venue, it is another small step
in the journey. As a result of this, as well as some good work from lobbying
groups, the Football League have agreed to take up the discussion with the
government.
It's a start, albeit a small one.
It's time that fans come together to make it happen. What we lack in
legislative power, we make up for in numbers. Multiple groups have been set
up, and have collected signatures on various e-petitions. A quick Google
search took me to an e-petition which has collected 12,000 signatures from
football fans in support of safe standing at football grounds. This may
sound respectable at first glance, but I argue that this is a drop in the
ocean when compared to the number of fans who actually are in favour of safe
standing.
Consider for instance, that at every game at Upton Park, around 5,000 fans
stand throughout the entire game – and that's not even including away
supporters. It is safe to assume that each of them would be in favour of
safe standing, for multiple reasons which I shall come to in a moment.
Considering Upton Park is an average-sized Premier League ground, as an
extremely rough estimate, 20 lots of 5,000 fans is 100,000. And that's
before you factor in the thousands of fans from outside the Premier League,
and the inevitable thousands of fans who wish they could stand up at games,
and are forbidden to do so by stewards.
So while this is an appeal that applies to football fans across the country,
us West Ham fans have the potential to make the biggest difference. We have
a chairman who is fiercely in favour of introducing safe standing. We have a
body of hugely passionate fans who stand every game anyway. And most
importantly, we are moving into a new football stadium in the coming years,
which will require the building of new seating to incorporate the innovative
solution which will bring fans closer to the pitch. We have the potential to
lead the charge in making something happen.
Signing e-petitions is a start, but there's something hollow about adding
your name and email address to a list. You don't really have to be
passionate about something to sign an e-petition, and politicians and public
figures know this. Nor will complaining on Twitter make a difference. No
number of re-tweets will make your view heard by the people who really
matter. What's important is that we target those concerned directly. Local
MP's are a fantastic place to start. Plenty of clubs would, in theory, be in
support of the scheme. However, the reason it is not discussed is that it is
currently against the law to do so.
We can follow suit and take the "it's illegal so why waste time discussing
it?" approach. Or we can do something about it.
The main concerns with the lobbying attempts thus far are two fold; the
first, which I have already mentioned, is that not enough is being done to
target those who matter – in particular MP's. Secondly, there still appears
to be some misconception among fans about what safe standing will involve.
There remains a negative stigma attached to the phrase.
Some people envisage the idea as a return to the 1980s, a time when
hooliganism was rife in football and 96 people lost their lives on that
fateful afternoon of 15th April 1986. It is completely understandable why
people may have reservations, and the important thing is to acknowledge
these issues, and explaining why these would not be a problem under the
proposed solution by continuing to emphasise the key word – "safe".
The misconceptions of safe standing have been well emphasised by the
Football Supporters Federation. They key point regarding the Hillsborough
Tragedy is that standing fans did not cause the disaster per se. A report
cited overcrowding and poor policing as the main causes. This clearly would
not apply with safe standing, as the numbers of people being let into the
stadium would be just as regulated as for anywhere else in the stadium.
One key point that I would add is that, as I mentioned earlier, tens of
thousands stand at football games in areas designed for seating every single
week. This is caused by an overwhelming dismissal of current regulations
which forbids standing. In short, the current system is broken, and clearly,
standing in areas designed for sitting is far more dangerous than standing
in areas which are designed for standing. Introducing safe seating into
areas of some stadiums would surely make them a safer place to be.
The Football Supporters' Federation claim that every notable survey on the
issue has conclusively shown that fans are in favour of safe standing at
football ground. It is the perfect way to galvanise home atmospheres in a
safe and regulated environment. They cite a recent survey which was
completed by over 4,000 fans. 92 per cent of fans said that supporters
should have the option the stand at football grounds. The issue is that this
majority does not voice their opinion enough on the issue, and while groups
such as the FSF are pro-actively trying to change that, so much more needs
to be done.
This evening, I plan to write a letter to my local MP, Angela Watkinson,
asking for her support in the issue. I pledge for other West Ham fans who
are passionate about the issue to do the same. We need to bring the issue
into the limelight, and start to win over the people who have the potential
to make a difference. If we can do so, in 2016, when West Ham move into
their new home at the Olympic Stadium, we could be in a safe standing area
of the stadium.
And we can be proud that we helped make it happen.
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Reality Finally Kicks In
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 11th February 2014
By: Paul Walker
It all came as a bit of a shock in the end, something you always knew was
going to happen but up until now it had been a rather remote, distant dream.
So when that annoying little yellow strap-line across the bottom of the SSN
channel kicked into life, I was only half paying attention. More interested
in my morning coffee and a good old laugh at Manchester United's painful
decline.
But there it was. West Ham have sold the Boleyn ground. Ouch! I must admit
to feeling like I had been stabbed, and I was momentarily overcome by a
cold, sinking feeling. So my second home for more than 50 years was really
going to be bulldozed, the football ground that has been so very special to
four generations of my family, has been flogged off, seemingly not even to
the highest bidder.
Reality is such a painful thing. We all know that nobody really wants to go
to Stratford, but the vast majority of us have accepted the need for growth,
expansion and a bigger modern, new home. And yes, I voted that way too.
I have listened to Ms Torygirl CBE waffling on about how wonderful it will
be, well 'she would say that, wouldn't she?' with us paying her £1.6m for
seemingly doing her job… Planning and organising our move to the Olympic
Park was part of the job description so why the vast bonus? Wish I'd been
paid a bonus whenever I did my job properly.
I sense dear Karren will be around just long enough for the final details to
be sorted out before she is off to become the prospective Tory party
candidate for Cannock Chase, just up the road from where she lives. She
could even find herself with Stan Collymore as her very own constituent. Now
there's a thought.
Of course I see the sense in the move to Stratford, I just hope the £40m
plus we will get from the sale is used to pay off our debts. But there are
still nagging worries.
With the detail of the financial fair play regulations making it clear that
a small club will no longer be able to find a rich sugar daddy to pump in
Manchester City style billions, and with Barry Hearn still an annoying
sideshow, I just hope we get to the Olympic Stadium without any more
hiccups. And, of course, when we get there we will have sold our home, our
land and our memories.
And that is the real point for me. I had the chance recently to drive past
what used to be Manchester City's old Maine Road site, somewhere I have not
visited for ten years. It is a shock really, the place is a mess of tiny
white boxes (sorry, modern estate social housing) with bricked up roads
stopping traffic flow through it, and those rather nasty allyways that cut
through the area. Absolutely no Manchester City heritage.
We can only trust that the developers of Upton Park and Green Street will
provide a very different legacy, the say they will and it all sounds very
nice with statues and green space with buildings named after our past
heroes.
It is hard to visualise it parachuted into the space between the flats
behind the east stand and the old north bank, the school, church and
supporters club premises.
So while we are on the subject of legacy, I challenge our club not to make a
mess of three very important anniversaries coming up in the next few years,
dates that really underline exactly what our true history is.
One of them, the 50th anniversary of our first trophy victory, the 1964 FA
Cup Final win over Preston, is just a few weeks away now and so far I have
only noted Tony McDonald's excellent Ex magazine showing, not surprisingly,
any real interest.
But May 2 this year, the day before our final home game of the season
against Spurs, should be marked with every respect. It was the first great
occasion of our golden 60s era, for me a magical day watching the heroes of
my youth triumph at Wembley.
This weekend, in fact, will be the exact day 50 years ago that West Ham won
3-1 at Swindon in the fifth round. Of course we are just watching this
season's tournament from the sidelines after abdicating all interest in
proceedings after that shameful third round defeat at Nottingham Forest,
when the youth team were made to look silly on TV.
But I can remember that '64 run in detail. We had already beaten Charlton
and Leyton Orient--after a replay--when the Os were still a proper football
club that saw 36,000 crammed into Brisbane Road when it was still a real
stadium rather than Hearn's lego ground.
The Swindon victory was followed by a stunning 3-2 quarter final victory
over Burnley, when I can still see John Sissons squeezing the ball home from
a ridiculous acute angle, two goal Johnny Byrne did the rest.
The memorable mud lark in Sheffield followed when a truly great Manchester
United side were beaten 3-2 in the semi-finals, Ronnie Boyce's double doing
the damage that time. The Preston final did not live up to the billing, but
it was still a memorable day.
I didn't have a ticket until a few hours before kick-off, but my late father
got a phone call from a mate and we drove like lunatics from west London to
Slough to lay hands on the precious ticket(it had come south with a friend
of former Burnley owner Bob Lord).
So I found myself being driven at breakneck speed back to Wembley, dumped
there by my dad at the top of Wembley Way, only to find myself the only
person in claret and blue in the Preston end. I was still all on my own
there when Sir Bobby and the boys paraded the cup round the ground,
seemingly just for me in a near-empty section.
I was too excited to be properly grateful to my dad. It was only a long
while after that it dawned on me that he had given me his ticket for the
final and gone home to watch it on TV with mum, who had also been to Slough
and Wembley just for the ride! Not sure I could have done that.
That season saw Hurst and Byrne score 59 goals between them, with Sir Geoff
scoring seven in the cup run. And we only managed to finish 14th. A really
remarkable partnership.
The next 50th anniversary will be on May 19 next year, the day of our
European Cup Winners' Cup final victory over TSV Munich at Wembley. Dad even
got mum a ticket for that one, the only time she ever went to a football
match, when seemingly the whole of east London was there.
Dad and me saw all the home matches of the European run, tremendous
occasions that will live me forever.
Now there are six players left alive of the seven who played in both cup
final victories, Jim Standen, Jack Burkett, Ken Brown, Ronnie Boyce, Geoff
Hurst and John Sissons. Sadly Mooro is no longer with us. To me these seven
players are truly the greatest in our history by virtue of being in those
two final line-ups, 12 fantastic months apart.
They need to be remembered in the planned memorial gardens at the Boleyn
when we have all moved to Stratford, as well as in our new home. We used 15
players in those two finals, they must never be forgotten.
The final 50th anniversary will be on July 30, 2016 which marks the day we
won the World Cup. It is hard to believe those wonderful days were 50 years
ago, and I can recall them in great detail.
It should not be lost on our owners that the World Cup glory co-incides with
our move to the Olympic Stadium, give or take a couple of months. It surely
is not beyond the talents of our owners to build a tribute to our World Cup
heroes into the celebrations that will mark our move to Stratford. It should
nicely mark our legacy to England and to our great club.
I leave it in your hands lady and gentlemen. You need to get these three
days spot on, anything else will disrespect the legacy of our club you keep
on about.
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Sam Allardyce hopes West Ham will be raring to go after 'relaxing' Dubai
trip
Feb 16, 2014 16:07 By Alex Richards
The Mirror
West Ham's players have been put through their paces at Dubai Sports City in
the UAE in the last four days, a move which manager Sam Allardyce says will
rejuvenate them ahead of their final 12 Premier League matches. The Hammers
headed to Dubai on a trip organised by former Blackburn and Real Madrid
defender Michel Salgado, as they went for warm weather training ahead of the
season's run-in. The Irons went to the Emirates in high spirits after three
successive wins - which have moved them into 11th, four points clear of the
drop zone. And Allardyce believes that the enjoyment and relaxation enjoyed
in Dubai will help his players recharge after a busy New Year period. "You
can see from the mood of the players how much they enjoy it," said
Allardyce, speaking to West Ham's official website. "The amount of games we
have to play in December and January is our peak time so the players,
physically and mentally, are very tired. "So getting out in the sun,
relaxing in the sun, training in the sun and enjoying each other's company
is extremely important. "We are the only country in Europe that does not
have a mid-season break sadly, so we have to try and fit the trip to Dubai
in at times like this. "The lads can recharge their batteries and experience
has taught me that after trips like this the lads' energy levels have
increased."
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THE TWO SIDES OF RAVEL MORRISON & WHY HE IS OFF TO QPR
By ExWHUemployee 16 Feb 2014 at 19:50
West Ham Till I Die
It was yesterday that I brought my version of the Ravel Morrison story in my
Ironviews column. For those of you who haven't seen it, it may be a good
start point before reading this article. Here is the link at Ironviews
I wrote the article knowing that The Guardian were planning to release a
story that evening. I was informed that their column would be very one sided
and be backing the "mistreatment" of Morrison. I am led to believe that the
information provided for the article had been passed on via someone very
close to Ravel, so naturally it will be written to support their side to the
story and not the club's. The agent story has been around for at least two
months so you have to question how and why The Guardian has only just got
hold of the story as Ravel is due to leave. Read The Guardian story and make
up your own mind. I intend to give a more balanced view to the debate.
As I stated in yesterday's Ironviews article, Mark Curtis is the agent for
Big Sam as well as Nolan, Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Collison, Demel, Jarvis,
Tomkins and Andy Carroll. As well as this, he is also credited with being
the man who brought our new goalkeeping sensation Adrian to the club. You do
not have to look far for articles on Sam's relationship with Mark Curtis. A
simple search on Google brings up a list of allegations dating back way
before Sam's spell at West Ham.
So according to The Guardian, Ravel's imminent departure to QPR has been
blamed on the fact that Big Sam and Nolan (amongst others) have been putting
constant pressure on Ravel to switch agents. As I have stated previously
Ravel (and of course his agent) found this to be very offensive and
unprofessional such is the close relationship of Nick Rubery and Ravel
Morrison. The Guardian says West Ham have put this to the relevant people
and they strenuously deny it. Mark Curtis says it is "nonsense", and there
is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.
As has been well documented Ravel had been through a lot previous to joining
West Ham and during his time here and he feels Mr Rubery has helped him
through this. The pressure was apparently constant with threats of not being
picked for the team if he didn't change and promises of big contracts if he
did.
Of course if this is true, and I am merely speculating, then it is a very
worrying position for us to be in as a club. In my opinion no signing should
be dictated by who their agent is. The sheer amount of money spent on agents
in the game in itself is wrong, let alone if it is dictating transfer
policy.
It has been well documented that Ravel has had some difficulties before he
joined the club, which it was felt were behind him but almost immediately he
joined there was an incident which the club understandably tried to 'hush
up'. It occurred at a pre-season training camp in Germany where there was an
altercation between Morrison and one of the coaches, in which there was a
physical bust-up. Ravel was then sent home to get "his teeth fixed" and
promptly moved on loan to Birmingham.
He settled down and did well during this loan spell and his talent meant he
was deservedly given a chance to impress this season and he did. After the
3-0 win at Spurs there were claims for him to be a surprise selection in the
World Cup team and things seemed to be going really well at the club.
Morrison and his agent have put his problems down to the agent situation but
I believe there are other reasons.
I was told that Ravel went to see the manager and demanded that he started
in front of Nolan, due to his captain's poor form. This naturally upset both
the manager and the captain and they believed this had been prompted by his
agent. Ravel was unhappy at never being played in Nolan's position and
having to settled for being on the wing or in a deeper role. I am also
informed that he questioned the team's style of play and this is backed up
by Nick Rubery's comments during the Chelsea game, where he tweeted that
only one team was trying to play football and it wasn't us.
I've just witnessed some serious anti-football tonight from one team. No
need to guess which one it was.
The tweet was promptly deleted.
Naturally these sorts of demands have turned a number of players against
Ravel. He has upset quite a few high profile players at the training ground,
one of which is Mr. West Ham, Mark Noble. You can also see players getting
frustrated during games. Matt Jarvis showing his frustration with during the
Nottingham Forest cup game being the last that I can remember. One or two
players voiced the view that they didn't want him in the team and that he
was having a negative impact.
Indeed, the straw which broke the camel's back for the West Ham management
was an alleged bustup in training last week between Winston Reid and Ravel
Morrison. It was a few days after this, a week ago tonight, that West Ham
Till I Die broke the exclusive that he would be sent out on loan.
There has also been speculation that some of Ravel's off-pitch antics have
continued. It has been said that after the Manchester United away game that
he didn't return to training like the other players and that he was
impossible to get hold of over Christmas. It has also been suggested that he
was recorded not being too complimentary about the manager in public and
that the video surfaced on the internet before being quickly removed,
although I didn't see it myself. This is not the only story that I have
heard regarding incidents off the pitch, but due to the nature of them and
not having concrete evidence I will not disclose them here.
It is clear that there is no "groin" injury. This has been an excuse used by
either the club or Ravel to hide the true goings on. The club may be using
it to hide why he isn't being selected, Ravel may be saying it in order to
prevent his selection. Either way of looking at it, it is hiding the real
reasons for his absence.
Ravel clearly has some attitude issues that I feel may always be with him,
possibly even medically related, but if you look at some of the best players
produced in Britain: George Best, Paul Gascoigne, John Terry and Tony Adams
all have had difficulties in their personal lives but their clubs stuck by
them and ultimately the benefits out-weighed the negatives.
The timing of the article in The Guardian is really unfortunate as always
seems to be the way with the club. There is a good positive mood at the club
and the results are showing this. We do not need these stories coming out
now. I had decided not to share these stories and a few others publicly
because I don't like the negative publicity that inevitably ensues, but in
light of The Guardian's story I felt I had to write. It would be interesting
to see what the club say in the coming days about the situation.
One thing is for certain the story really does split opinion.
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Morrison departure confirmed
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 16th February 2014
By: Staff Writer
It was confirmed tonight that Ravel Morrison will join Queens Park Rangers
on loan for the rest of the season later this week. As revealed here last
week, the hugely-talented 21-year-old is on his way to the Championship a
mere matter of months after his stunning solo goal at White Hart Lane helped
West Ham United to a memorable 3-0 Premier League win. Jack Sullivan, son of
co-owner David Sullivan confirmed tonight [Sunday] that Morrison will join
Harry Redknapp and co at Loftus Road on a "93 day loan", which will coincide
with the Championship play-off Final on May 24.
The reasons behind Morrison's departure have been hotly debated across the
web all day following the publication of an article in the Guardian that
repeated claims first made here on KUMB.com last November revealing a rift
between the midfielder and manager Sam Allardyce. It was claimed that
Morrison - who has enjoyed a close relationship with agent Nick Rubery for
several years - reacted angrily to a suggestion that he should consider a
change of representation. Despite this, the England Under 21 international
was picked for a string of matches immediately following the incident in
question.
The relationship between Club and player/agent worsened when Rubery posted a
message on Twitter indirectly criticising West Ham's style of play under Sam
Allardyce, although this was removed shortly after. A proposed transfer
window move for Morrison to Fulham fell through after the Cottagers failed
with a derisory bid.
Since moving to Upton Park on the final day of the 2012 winter transfer
window, the former Manchester United youngster has made just 22 appearances
for West Ham (including six substitute appearances).
As well as scoring that memorable strike at Tottenham back in October,
Morrison also hit the target against Cheltenham, Everton, Cardiff and
Norwich prior to Christmas. His last appearance in a West Ham shirt came in
the 3-0 Capital One Cup semi final, second leg defeat at home to Manchester
City.
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