Daily WHUFC News - 7th June 2014

World Cup Countdown - James Tomkins
WHUFC.com
Hammers defender James Tomkins is the latest to give his thoughts on the
upcoming FIFA World Cup
06.06.2014

James Tomkins chose the patriotic route when opting for his favourites to
win this summer's FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The Hammers defender, capped 10
times by England at U21 level earlier in his career, would love to see the
Three Lions triumph, although he admits that will be no easy task. "Am I
allowed to say England or not?" he smiled. "Let's say if it's not England,
then Spain because of their style of play and their attacking threat.
"Belgium would pose an outside threat, they've got some great players. I can
see them getting to the quarters or the semis. "They're not a massive
country, but people might see team as a threat because of the players
they've got. "As for England, hopefully they don't get any injuries to the
starting XI, and I think they can pose a threat because they've got players
who are involved in the Premier League week in, week out, and that's the
best league in the world."

With Spain one of his picks to challenge for the title, Tomkins also expects
one of their midfield stars to shine on the biggest stage too. He added: "I
reckon Iniesta will be the outstanding player of the tournament. I love him
as a player, and playing for Spain if they go all the way then he'd be in
the looking for the Player of the Tournament."

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Big Sam ready for Soccer Aid
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce will lock horns with Jose Mourinho in the Soccer Aid charity
match this Sunday
06.06.2014

Sam Allardyce will make an early return to the dugout this Sunday when he
takes charge of the England side in the biennial Soccer Aid charity match at
Old Trafford. Soccer Aid pits a mixture of celebrities and former
professionals together in an England v the Rest of the World fixture played
out in front of over 65,000 fans to raise money for Unicef. Big Sam led
England to victory last time out in 2012 and he is confident of getting one
over opposite number Jose Mourinho to retain the trophy. "This is the second
time I've been invited to be the England manager for Soccer Aid for the
Unicef charity," the Hammers boss explained. "I'm sure West Ham fans would
have seen a couple of years ago that we regained the Soccer Aid trophy for
England at Old Trafford. There were 65,000 there that evening and we expect
that crowd again. "We've been training the celebs and legends at Fulham's
training ground this week, then we travel up to Manchester on Saturday to
play on Sunday."

Allardyce's team brings together star names from the worlds of showbiz and
football and the manager thinks he has found the right blend. He added:
"There are some well known faces in our team, from both the legends and
celebs point of view. It's nearly the same as two years ago - Teddy
Sheringham's back with us, we've got John Bishop, Jack Whitehall and Paddy
McGuinness so we should have some fun. "We're looking okay and there's a lot
of excited celebrities about. Robbie Williams is going to stand alongside me
as assistant manager and not participate in playing this time - we've got a
good squad together, hopefully they'll all stay fit and we'll get another
victory at Old Trafford."

The opposition are sure to put up a fight with a number of notable
international names among their ranks. Allardyce added: "We're a little
concerned about the legs of our legends compared to the legs of the legends
on the Rest of the World side, because they've popped Del Piero, Seedorf and
Jaap Stam in there and they're all extremely good. "It's going to be a test
for us, but we think with our legends and celebs combined and with the team
spirit we'll hopefully re-clinch the trophy. "It's a bit of fun, but it's
very serious when it comes to the last couple of days and we actually get to
Old Trafford. The reception the celebs get when they get out on the pitch
stands the hairs up on the back of the neck. "We ask the legends to calm
them down, play as a team and try to enjoy the occasion. At the end of it
all these lads want to win, that's all they talk about - winning."

We live in a world with enough food and where most life-saving vaccines for
children cost pennies. Yet millions of children still die of malnutrition
and deadly diseases every year. Donate to Soccer Aid and help the world's
most vulnerable children get life-saving food, medicine and clean water.
Every pound donated to Soccer Aid 2014 will be doubled by the UK government,
up to a total of £5 million, so together we can reach even more children.

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On this day - 7 June
WHUFC.com
West Ham United played their latest-ever league match on this day in 1941
07.06.2014

Classic match
West Ham United 2-3 Queens Park Rangers
Southern Regional League
Saturday 7 June 1941, Boleyn Ground
By 7 June, modern-day footballers have usually packed their boots away for
the summer in favour of flip-flops and swimming trunks. Back in 1941, at the
height of the Second World War, it was a different story. West Ham United
arrived on this day in 1941 still playing for the Southern Regional League
title. The Hammers knew, however, that they would have to overcome Queens
Park Rangers at the Boleyn Ground to overhaul leaders Crystal Palace on goal
average.
This task proved impossible as the visitors won a thrilling match by the odd
goal in five, with the prolific Alec George Foreman and 1940 War Cup final
hero Sam Small on target for the hosts. Foreman's goal was his 34th in 39
games that season, but it was not enough to hold off the Hoops in front of a
brave crowd of just 2,100. The title was decided on goal average as
hostilities left many fixtures unfulfilled. The following season, 1941/42,
West Ham competed in a London-only competition to save on resources and
costs.

Anniversary
Brazil 1-0 England
FIFA World Cup Group 3
Sunday 7 June 1970, Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico
Today marks the anniversary of 'that tackle' by West Ham United and England
legend Bobby Moore MBE. Moore was captaining England at the 1970 FIFA World
Cup finals in Mexico when they faced Brazil in their second group-stage
fixture in Guadalajara. Playing alongside fellow Hammers Martin Peters and
Geoff Hurst in stifling heat, England started well before Brazil countered
and Pele forced Gordon Banks into what is considered to be the greatest save
of all time. Peters himself then missed a headed chance, while Brazil's
attacks were repeatedly repelled by the imperious Moore. Moore's performance
was a highlight reel in itself, but the West Ham defender's greatest moment
arrived when he bent down on one knee to make a perfect block tackle to deny
Jairzinho. Unfortunately, the same player would score Brazil's winner just
before the hour-mark to secure the narrowest of victories for the South
Americans. England would go on to beat Czechoslovakia 1-0 in their third
group fixture but were edged out 3-2 by West Germany at the quarter-final
stage.

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Hammers tracking Swiss international
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 6th June 2014
By: Staff Writer

West Ham are interested in signing Napoli's Swiss midfielder Blerim
Dzemaili.

Dzemaili - who worked with Hammers boss Sam Allardyce at Bolton as a young
youngster - has been linked with a move to United's Premier League rivals
Tottenham in recent weeks but fresh reports suggest that whilst London still
appears to be a likely destination, it's West Ham who could land the
28-year-old.

* West Ham's prolonged interest in Leeds United striker Ross McCormack could
be coming to an end after it was claimed that Newcastle United had made a
hugely-generous £8million offer for the 27-year-old Scottish international.
McCormack was strongly linked with a deadline day move to the Boleyn Ground
back in January.

* Further to our news in Wednesday's transfer bulletin regarding Dortmund
striker Julian Schieber, it is reported that although the player is keen to
move to the Premier League West Ham want to take the 25-year-old on loan -
something Die Borussen, who are looking to sell Schieber, are not willing to
accept. The former German Under 21 international made 20 starts for Dortund
last season, scoring just one goal.

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West Ham loan offer for Niang rejected
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 6th June 2014
By: Staff Writer

M'Baye Niang will not be moving to West Ham, according to his agent Stephane
Courbis. Talks between West Ham and Niang's representatives took place in
London earlier this week but the 19-year-old was only offered a season-long
loan deal; not good enough, according to Courbis. "On Monday I met with
West Ham, who were interested in the player," the agent told TMW. "I talked
to, Sam Allardyce but I did not find him willing to make a better offer. The
Hammers would like to loan Niang, but I don't think that is the right choice
and therefore rejected the offer."

Despite rejecting West Ham's offer, Courbis - who recently replaced Oscar
Damiani (who was also Julian Faubert's former agent) as Niang's chief
representative - maintained that his client will almost certainly leave
Milan this summer. "It's definitely a possibility," he added. "Milan already
has many strikers in the team and did not qualify for Europe so spaces will
be reduced. We were told to find another team because in Milan, Niang's
growth path could not proceed according to plan. "The important thing now is
for him to play with continuity, perhaps even in a team at a level slightly
lower at Milan. He needs a coach who believes strongly in him."

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A well-deserved rest
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 6th June 2014
By: Staff Writer

Sir Trevor Brooking is stepping down from his role with the Football
Association after a decade in the post. Now 65, the West Ham United legend
has decided to call it a day when the 2014 World Cup Finals - at which he
will be part of the official England party - end. Speaking to The FA,
Brooking revealed that he felt it was a good to resign. "I believe now is
the right time to step away from my full-time role at The FA and I feel
extremely positive about the future of Football Development moving forward,"
he said. "Under the leadership and guidance of Dan Ashworth and Gareth
Southgate we have now put in place a strong, credible, elite structure to
support the professional game. "They also appreciate how crucial it is to
work in tandem with our grassroots infrastructure who've always been a
consistent supporter of our work programmes across coaching and player
development. "I'd also like to convey massive thanks for the tremendous
efforts of all FA staff, who often don't get the public recognition they
deserve, and good luck to everyone in the future."

Brooking - who was a key figure in the planning and development of the new
national football centre at St George's Park - joined the FA as Director of
Development in December 2003. A year later he was knighted for his
dedication to sport.

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SAB members jump ship over NDA dispute
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 6th June 2014
By: Staff Writer

Several members of the Supporter Advisory Board have declared their
intention to leave the focus group as a result of the club's insistence that
all members sign an NDA before attending meetings. Every member of the fans'
group, which currently numbers around 200 was once again asked to sign a
non-disclosure agreement ahead of Tuesday night's meeting at the Boleyn
Ground at which a possible change to the club crest was one of several
sensitive subjects aired.
The NDAs prohibit fans from sharing the content of the meeting with fellow
supporters - something that has sparked major criticism of the entire
process from both members, who believed they were appointed to represent and
report back to their fellow fans, and non-members of the group.

One former SAB member spoke passionately about the subject via the KUMB
Forum this morning, insisting that he would never return unless the entire
process, which he referred to as a "sham", changes. "I was once proud to act
as a voice for those season ticket holders that supported my application and
to represent their (and other supporters) interests," said the ex-member
this morning. "The NDA's are nothing new, and have been sprung on SAB
members before, with little opportunity to review or read what they were
being asked to sign (copies were not circulated in advance of previous
meetings). Now the club asks that phones and other potential recording
devices, are handed in at the door too. It all stinks."

Another member who spoke to KUMB intends to remain in the SAB, but is under
no illusion as to the exact role of the group. "The SAB is a box ticking
exercise to comply with UEFA," he claimed. "Basically we're a glorified
focus group. There's influence to be had, but on major decisions who in
their right mind believes that David Gold, David Sullivan and Karren Brady
will not back their own calls? With regard to the NDAs, they're bog
standard. I don't have a problem signing them."

However another member of KUMB/the SAB spoke out in defence of the
organisation. "I believe the SAB does a good job," he said. "I've only
spoken to a few [members], but those that I have spoken to are decent fans
who are passionate about the club and want to take part in constructive
dialogue."

The club itself revealed some details of the top-secret meeting earlier
today after the news that a change to the club's crest, which was last
redesigned in 1999, was met with dismay by a number of supporters who had
learned of the planned changes.

"The evening's agenda focused on how the Club could look at better
communicating West Ham United's values and how best to recognise and
celebrate our history as we move to a new iconic home," read a statement
posted on whufc.com.

"This included discussions regarding evolving the Club's crest, an
initiative which had been fully endorsed by the SAB at their AGM."

However the club's claim of unequivocal backing from those in attendance has
been disputed by another member of the SAB who attended the meeting. "This
is a misrepresentation," he told KUMB. "It was not fully endorsed. There was
a presentation and a few comments, but no show of hands."

Those attending the meeting were shown several new design mock-ups of the
club crest, most of which were rejected by those present. It was
subsequently agreed that the entire fan base should be consulted over any
changes that may take place.

Concern by fans over plans to change the club's crest - fears that emerged
after details of the meeting were leaked - prompted Jack Sullivan, son of
co-owner David to take to Twitter last night.

"Contrary to rumours there is ZERO possibility of the club's name changing
to incorporate London," he wrote. "We will always be West Ham United.
'London' could be added to the club badge IF supporters vote in favour of
it. NOTHING will change for the coming season."

* DID YOU KNOW? A castle first appeared on West Ham's crest in 1904.

The castle depicted was a replica of Green Street House, a building with
turrets that stood in Green Street before it was demolished in 1954. The
Green Street House turrets also regularly featured in the Club's programmes
between the 1920s and 1950s. Visit Steve Marsh's 'They Fly So High' website
for more information about the history of West Ham's castle.

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New West Ham signing Mauro Zarate hopes to emulate Carlos Tevez
Last Updated: 06/06/14 1:28pm
SSN

New West Ham United striker Mauro Zarate hopes to emulate fellow Argentine
and former Upton Park favourite Carlos Tevez. Zarate has signed for the
Hammers on a three-year contract from Velez Sarsfield, after finishing as
top scorer for the Argentine side last season with 20 goals in 35
appearances in all competitions. The 27-year-old first graced the Premier
League while on loan at Birmingham City in 2008, where he scored four goals
in 14 appearances for the struggling Blues. The Argentine striker now hopes
to make an impact at Upton Park, following in the footsteps of Tevez, who
dramatically inspired West Ham to Premier League safety in 2006. "Carlos is
a fantastic player and a fantastic person," Zarate told the club's official
website. "I don't think I can do the same as he did, but I hope I can become
as big a favourite at this club as he was. "I hope I will play good football
and reach the highest possible level. I am very confident I am going to
succeed here. "I have played with Lazio and Inter Milan in Serie A and the
Champions League and now I am looking forward to playing in the Premier
League for a second time." "I have played with Lazio and Inter Milan in
Serie A and the Champions League and now I am looking forward to playing in
the Premier League for a second time. "English football is beautiful. I
always said I wanted to come back to England to play and now I have this
chance and I don't want to lose it." Zarate is looking forward to teaming up
with target man Andy Carroll next season, and both players will hope to
benefit from new attacking coach and former West Ham striker Teddy
Sheringham, who has been appointed by manager Sam Allardyce in a bid to help
the Hammers play more attractive football. "I know Andy Carroll," said
Zarate. "He is a fantastic player and a centre forward who is physical and
very important for the team." The 5ft 9in forward hopes his performances
could see him earn a call-up to the Argentina national team, but he remains
realistic over his chances.
"It will be very difficult for me to break into the squad because it is so
strong and we have so many good strikers, but I will certainly try," said
Zarate.

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AC Milan forward M'Baye Niang rejects loan move to West Ham
By Nadia Carminati and Simone Bargellini | Last Updated: 06/06/14 5:00pm
SSN

West Ham have failed in a loan bid for French forward M'Baye Niang, who is
set to leave AC Milan this summer. Niang's agent Stephane Courbis confirmed
that he held talks with Hammers boss Sam Allardyce but did not think a move
to Upton Park was the 'right choice' for the 19-year-old, who spent last
season on loan at Montpellier. The talks came after the teenager was told he
was surplus to requirements by the Serie A side following the club's failure
to qualify for Europe. In comments reported by TMW, Courbis is quoted as
saying: "On Monday I met with West Ham, who were interested in the player.
"The Hammers would like him on loan, but I don't think it is the right
choice, so I excluded it. "We prefer a permanent deal and we seek a coach
who strongly believes in Niang." Courbis added he met AC Milan vice
president Adriano Galliani about three weeks ago, who informed him to find a
new team for Niang. "Milan, he told me, have many forwards in the group and,
with not playing in Europe, there will be reduced places. "For this reason,
we were told to find another team. M'baye could leave on a permanent move."

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WEST HAM CHASE KOLO
By Sean Whetstone 6 Jun 2014 at 18:58
West Ham Till I Die

West Ham are in talks with Nice left back Timothee Kolodziejczak known as
Kolo . The 22 year old Frenchman has been linked with West Ham for some time
but he now appears to be confirmed as one of the four left backs we are
talking to. Kolo's senior career started at Lyon when he made 9 appearances
until he moved to Nice in 2012 where he has made 64 appearances scoring one
goal. French media outlet Le 10 Sport claim West Ham made an offer of £2.5m.
The left back is valued at 6 million euros by Nice but a bid of 4 million
euros could tempt them to sell him as they are currently suffering from
financial troubles. We are likely to have competition from Southampton who
see him as a perfect replacement for Luke Shaw who looks likely to leave
them in the summer. Kolo was being tracked by David Moyes when he was
Manchester United boss as a replacement for Patrice Evra. But Manchester
United have instead decided to pursue Southampton's Luke Shaw.

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OLSSON IN TALKS WITH WEST HAM
By Sean Whetstone 6 Jun 2014 at 13:00
West Ham Till I Die

Norwich defender Martin Olsson is back in talks with West Ham to fill the
left back position, The Sweden international is highly likely to leave
Carrow Road this summer following the club's relegation to the Championship.
Allardyce has identified left-back as key position to strengthen this summer
and Olsson is one of four targets the Hammers are looking at.

Back in January last year Allardyce made attempts to sign Olsson from his
old club Blackburn but it is alleged they were reluctant to sell to their
former manager.

At that time Allardyce said: "If they have made Martin available I would
definitely be interested because I worked with the lad at Blackburn when I
was there for two years. I had a really good time developing him into what I
consider to be quite a good player."

As Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce previously reprimanded Martin Olsson for
cheating to win a crucial penalty against Burnley. Olsson provoked outrage
among Burnley fans when he appeared to dive over goalkeeper Brian Jensen,
only for referee Mike Dean to award a spot-kick.The Swede then compounded
his offence by admitting it publicly and revealing that he targeted Dean in
advance because he has awarded more penalties than any other referee this
season. Olsson somehow escaped FA censure at the time.

The 26-year-old made 117 appearances for Blackburn scoring 3 goals including
the one below. He was sometimes deployed as a defensive midfielder. He
joined Norwich in 2013 making 27 appearances and scoring one goal. He is
also a member of the Swedish national team since 2010 earning 22 caps and
scoring 5 goals.

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A WHIZZ BANG IDEA - APPROACH WITH CAUTION!
By S J Chandos 6 Jun 2014 at 08:00
West Ham Till I Die

So, are there major corporate/rebranding changes afoot at West Ham United
FC? It is notable that we were the first of the capital's Premier League
clubs to secure one of the new london.com web addresses. One must wonder if
there are some specific marketing/commercial reason for this haste? Is
reviewing the badge part of some wider 'whizz bang' proposal to align the
image of the club with that of the Olympic Stadium? Over the last 24 hours,
social media has been speculating that some sort of change of corporate
identity is on the cards, whether that is a name change, a revised club
badge or both and more beside. This has been partly fuelled by the recent
SAB meeting and news that its members were required to sign another
non-disclosure agreement in order to be privy to the club's latest thinking.
The club website has subsequently rushed to counter the wilder conjecture,
denying that a name change was ever planned and reassuring the Hammers
faithful that no updating/revising of the badge will be implemented without
the prior agreement of the wider fan base.

This re-assurance, that any such changes will be subject to fan approval, is
comforting and the club should be praised for providing that guarantee. They
have said the club name is sacrosanct. Anyway, I suppose that the chances of
obtaining FA approval for a name change are minimal in the aftermath of the
'Hull Tigers' episode. So, that one is not a runner and is probably just a
distraction. The actual issue is likely to be a change in the club badge and
possibly the incorporation of 'London' in to a revised design. But how
radical might that redesign be? Will it be a Arsenal type re-styling of the
traditional club badge or might it prove to be more of a departure from the
past? It seems that there is now an emerging view online that the plans
revolve around phasing out the castle. Obviously, this makes sense if the
castle symbolises our current stadium. The rationale presumably being, no
Boleyn Stadium, no castle in the badge! Although I cannot speculate in
advance on anything they may seek to add in its place.

This issue does not worry me unduly. Let the club commission a new design
and it will take its chances against the current badge. If it is too radical
a departure, then it will be rejected by the fans, there is no doubt about
that. After all, how can some ad agency effort possibly compete with the
current badge? It will an unequal contest between history and tradition,
1964, 1965, 1975, 1980, Moore, Hurst, Peters, Bonds, Brooking, Devonshire,
Di Canio, et al, and something (worst case scenario) off a drawing board. My
gut instincts are to stick with the current version (albeit maybe restyled),
but I am open to being convinced otherwise and while we fans are the final
decision-makers (as the club have promised) I am relaxed about the issue.

However, what does interest me is this emphasis upon 'London.' Yes, we are a
London club, but as we all know, we are far from having an exclusive status
in that respect. Being geographically included since 1965 in the London
urban conurbation is a fact, and it has had an impact, but by far the
strongest formative influences on our club pre-dates that event. Firstly, we
are West Ham, that is our core identity, secondly we recognise ourselves as
an 'East London' club and thirdly we increasingly see ourselves as an Essex
club. That is our triple layered identity and it directly reflects the
historical development of the club, and indeed its fan base, since its
formation in 1895.

Yet, on page 13 of yesterday's Evening Standard an advert was published by
makeit.london. The advert featured West Ham Utd players, against the
backdrop of the OS, and contained a club statement that effectively revised
the history of the club. It stated:

'Since 1895, the Hammers have been at the heart of London. Our web address
and new stadium keeps us there.'
Apart from the first sentence being historically inaccurate, it is
interesting that we are portrayed, in the second, as being at the 'heart' of
London by moving to the OS. Is this advert just a product of a lack of
historical knowledge and an innocent zeal for london.com? Or is there
something more subtle and interesting at play here. Namely, the opening
shots in a shift to identify a relocated club with 'London' as a whole and,
thereafter, consistently market themselves on that basis? After all, in
marketing and commercial terms, it probably makes sense. Aligning the club
name with London will make the club more instantly recognisable in lucrative
overseas markets, with their potential new fan base and merchandising sales
potential. Might it also be highly attractive to all those
corporate/multi-national interests with their huge sponsorship and
commercial revenue to invest? It is also interesting that it mirrors a
significant corporate change made by Newham Council, in the run up to London
2012, when they rebranded the borough Newham-London. Is there a bit of a
trend there?

Everyone wants the club to succeed commercially when it moves to the OS. It
is perfectly understood that new revenue streams improve our chance of
becoming a bigger, more successful PL club. The club must get those new
external income streams flowing and also, closer to home, fill those
c.60,000 seats on a consistent basis. That probably means selling seats
across the capital, including to tourists, occasional spectators, business
interests and alike. Fair enough. But at the same time, most fans will
instinctively oppose processes that contribute to the dilution of West Ham's
strong identity and history in some sort of pan-London acid. Many fans are
fearful of just that, the move to the OS resulting in a loss of the club's
hitherto strong and unique identity. The club must be aware of this and
steer a course that both preserves the clubs identity/heritage and employs
strategies that maximize the marketing/commercial potential of the move to
the OS. Is it possible to square this particular circle? One hopes so.

'Whizz bang' ideas, if ill conceived and/or mis-managed, do have an
unfortunate habit of flaring up suddenly and burning fingers. Forewarned is
forearmed!

SJ. Chandos

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com



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