Daily WHUFC News - 21st June 2014

Hammers line up Sampdoria date
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will host Italian Serie A side UC Sampdoria for the
Marathonbet Cup on Saturday 9 August
20.06.2014

West Ham United are pleased to announce that Italian giants UC Sampdoria
have been confirmed as the opposition for the first-ever Marathonbet Cup,
which will be held at the Boleyn Ground on Saturday 9 August at 3pm.
Four-time Italian Cup winners and 1991 Serie A champions, 'i Blucerchiati'
will provide the Hammers with their final pre-season test ahead of the
2014/15 Barclays Premier League campaign. Managed by former Yugoslavia
defender Siniša Mihajlović, Sampdoria finished 12th in Serie A last season
but will be hopeful of challenging for a European place next term. The
Genoa-based club possesses a cosmopolitan squad featuring the likes of Italy
striker Manolo Gabbiadini, Serbia midfielder Nenad Krstičić, Iceland
midfielder Birkir Bjarnason and Poland duo Bartosz Salamon and Paweł
Wszołek, while Mihajlović's team is captained by Daniele Gastaldello. Two
Sampdoria players have experience of English football - Germany
international defender Shkodran Mustafi spent two years with Everton as a
youngster, while Italian forward Stefano Okaka scored Fulham's winner in a
3-2 Premier League victory against West Ham at Craven Cottage in May 2010.

West Ham have met il Doria just once previously, but Hammers fans will be
hoping for better than the 6-1 Makita International Tournament defeat
suffered at Highbury in August 1991. That day, Renato Buso scored four times
and Toninho Cerezo and Attilio Lombardo once each for the Italians, with
George Parris netting the Hammers' consolation goal.

In all, Sampdoria won the Makita Tournament in three straight seasons
between 1990 and 1992, beating Arsenal in two finals before overcoming Leeds
United in the third. The Italian club will be visiting England for the first
time in seven years, with Alan Smith scoring Newcastle United's winner in a
1-0 victory at St James' Park in August 2007 during their last visit to the
country. The visit of Sampdoria completes a rich and varied pre-season
schedule for Sam Allardyce's squad, which includes fixtures against seven
teams from six different countries.

Tickets for this game will be priced at £15 for adult Season Ticket Holders
and £5 for Under-16s with a Season Ticket. Non-Season Ticket Holders can buy
their tickets in advance at £20 for adults and £10 Under-16s. Matchday
prices rise by £5 in both categories. Season Ticket Holders can buy their
tickets now by clicking here.

Pre-season fixtures 2014/15
Sat 12 July v Stevenage (Lamex Stadium, 3pm)
Wed 16 July v Ipswich Town (Portman Road, 7.45pm)
Wed 23 July v Wellington Phoenix (Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, 7.45pm
local time)
Sat 26 July v Sydney FC (Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand, 2pm local
time)
Sat 2 Aug v Schalke 04 (Schalke 04 Cup, Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen,
Germany, 5.30pm local time)
Sun 3 Aug v Malaga (Schalke 04 Cup, Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany,
3.30pm local time)
Sat 9 Aug Marathonbet Cup v UC Sampdoria (Boleyn Ground, 3pm)

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Adrian can't wait for season opener
WHUFC.com
Hammers goalkeeper Adrian is already looking ahead to the game with Spurs on
16 August
19.06.2014

West Ham United's signing of the season from 2013/14, goalkeeper Adrian,
cannot wait to get his second campaign as a Hammer underway. The Spaniard
could not have asked for a better debut season in E13, first arriving as
understudy to Jussi Jaaskelainen before dislodging him from between the
posts, then going on to claim a hat-trick of awards at the end-of-season
gala dinner. He is looking forward rather than back, however, and wants to
claim a fourth victory of his still embryonic Hammers career when the north
Londoners visit the Boleyn Ground on the opening day of the new season. "I
am looking forward to what will be my second season at West Ham," he said.
"We will be looking to work hard to have a strong season and will be trying
to do our best from the start, against Tottenham in the first game at home.
"It is a busy start to the season for us, but we will take each game and try
to do our best in each one and hopefully as our fans will see, the team will
be working hard for each other to get good results. "For myself, I have
adapted and knowing the game here now more, I will be looking to add to my
game and I am sure with any new arrivals to our team, this will make us
stronger. "We will be looking forward to having our fans behind us again at
the Boleyn Ground in what will be a great atmosphere for the first match -
their support helps us, everyone is behind us to try and get the right
result in the match and I can't wait for it to begin."

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On this day - 21 June
Ex-Hammers forward Stuart Pearson turns 64 today
WHUFC.com
21.06.2014

Anniversary
Name: Stuart Pearson
Born: Cottingham, 21 June 1949
Clubs: Hull City, Manchester United, West Ham United
International: England - 15 caps, five goals

Former England international and West Ham United forward Stuart Pearson was
born on this day 65 years ago. A skilful forward who played in three FA Cup
finals - two for Manchester United and one for the Hammers - he started his
career in his home county of Yorkshire with Hull City. After 44 goals in 129
league games, Manchester United signed him for a £200,000 fee in 1974 and he
was instrumental in getting them promoted back to the top flight, notching
17 times in his first season. He was in the Red Devils side that lost the
1976 FA Cup final to Southampton, but helped them make up for it the
following year when they beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley. Pearson moved on to
the Hammers in 1979 and his cross-shot set up Trevor Brooking's winning goal
in the 1980 FA Cup final victory over Arsenal. He notched six goals in 34
league appearances for West Ham before being forced to retire in 1982 due to
a knee injury.

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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce hoping for big start from Andy Carroll
Last Updated: 20/06/14 2:19pm
SSN

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is hoping Andy Carroll's heartache of missing
out on the World Cup finals will help him begin next season in style.
Carroll failed to make the final 23 for England's squad, only being placed
on standby after an injury-plagued season which limited him to just 12
league starts. Allardyce, though, is looking for Carroll to use his summer
off to help him be in peak condition for the new season. "It will have hurt
Andy not being out in Brazil," he said.
"And if he has any burning ambition - both at club level and internationally
to get to the European Championship in 2016 - he'll use this experience to
go forwards. "What he needs to do now is to establish himself as a
high-quality Premier League striker and to give me 30-plus games and 12-15
goals minimum next season. "There is a place for him in the England squad.
There is no other player like him. "He's compared to Rickie Lambert but
they're not the same. Rickie drops off, out of the box, and goes deep. "Andy
is a threat in and around the penalty area with his head and his feet as he
has good technique. "The other thing Andy has in his favour is his
relatively young age."

Allardyce is looking for Carroll to stay injury free. "For both the seasons
we have had Andy, it has not been fantastic and he needs to change that," he
continued. "He got the injury and then we had the misdiagnosis on it and
that meant a long spell out. "When he first came we saw the best of him with
a good run of goals in the last few matches. Now we want that consistently."

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IS ENNER VALENCIA A BETTER TRANSFER BET AND COULD GLEN HODDLE BE RIGHT ON
ENGLAND?
By S J Chandos 21 Jun 2014 at 08:00
West Ham Till I Die

There has been a lot of recent conjecture linking West Ham with a £5m bid
for Ecuadorian wide man, Jefferson Montero. From the Ecuadorian group
matches, Montero has looked pacy and direct, but is he the quality prospect
that we have been led to believe? The club need to carefully consider
whether it is the right deal and the best use of our resources. The last
thing we need is a another Pablo Berrera type of mistake! So far, Montero is
not the outstanding player for his nation. That accolade rests with Enner
Valencia, a useful striker/attacking midfielder, who can also play wide if
required. He has scored three goals in these Finals, to date, and (as of 20
June 2014) seven in 12 international appearances. At club level, Valencia
presently plays for Pachuca in the Liga MX, for whom he has scored 18 goals
in 23 appearances. Overall, his career statistics are 45 goals in 147 league
appearances, figures that, at 25 years of age, he can be expected to improve
upon as he approaches his peak playing years.

Anyone watching yesterday evening's Ecuador Vs Honduras World Cup fixture
will have seen both Jefferson Montero and Enner Valencia perform in their
2-1 win. Which of the two do WHTID readers feel looked the better prospect?
I know that neither are the strongest international teams at these Finals,
but it might be instructive to remember the gems that Wigan have uncovered,
in recent years, from these type of nations. Perhaps there is a seam of
quality to be mined there? Or is the verdict that neither player is ideally
equipped for the Premier League?

Glen Hoddle gave an interesting interview on ITV yesterday evening. In it he
suggested that this tournament should not necessarily see the end of Gerrard
and Lampard's England careers. He even suggested that he would have taken
John Terry to these Finals! Is he right? Personally, I think that we have
done the correct thing by taking and playing the young players. Yes, the
results have been disappointing, but they have also been harsh. England were
very competitive in both matches and, hopefully, there will be a legacy in
terms the top-level experience that our young team have received. And that
will stand us in good stead for the future. Having started down that road,
we must now continue. That means sticking with the youth policy and seeing
it through to Euro-2016 and beyond. Yes, we need experience in the squad to
assist the youngsters and that could possibly mean an international
extension for Gerrard and one or two others. However, Lampard's
international career is now surely over and there is unlikely to be a way
back for Terry. Do WHTID readers agree?

It is interesting that Sir Trevor Brooking certainly appears to be taking
the long-term view in the aftermath of England's exit from Brazil 2014. He
feels that by developing the youngsters in this squad, and bringing others
(in the pipeline) through in the next 2-4 of years, England can make serious
challenges at both Euro 2016 and Russia 2018. In fact, this has been Sir
Trevor's view for some considerable time. I well recall him being quoted a
couple of years ago stating that Brazil 2014 might prove difficult for
England, but recent changes and hard work should start to bear fruit
thereafter. Lets hope he is right! Certainly if that is how events unfold,
then Sir Trevor will deserve great credit for the hard fought battles that
he has fought, over a number of years, to reform key aspects of the English
game, including those at grass root level.

Finally, if Roy Hodgson is to remain England Manager up to Euro-2016 (which
arguably he should), then how about him looking beyond the usual top clubs,
plus Southampton and giving some other players a chance. In West Ham terms,
Carroll should force his way back in to England contention, surely Tomkins
and Noble must be given a chance and (if he realises his potential) then
Ravel Morrison is an obvious future international. Because has we all klnow
(and this tournament has confirmed it once again) England need at least
three Hammers in the squad to win a World Cup! A partisan point of view I
know, but one clearly supported by the facts.

SJ. Chandos.

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THE WAITING GAME
By Sean Whetstone 20 Jun 2014 at 19:22
West Ham Till I Die

West Ham's new director of recruitment in waiting Tony Henry will not
feature in this transfer window while he tends to his garden.

Henry is on 'gardening leave' from Sunderland under the terms of a contract
clause which states he must serve out a six month notice period.
West Ham had hoped to have him installed in time to take an active role in
the summer transfer market but the terms of his contract will prohibit him
from doing so.

The point of these types of clauses is to prevent competitors from getting
an advantage. This our case I assume Sunderland want to preserve recent
scouting missions or deals Henry may of recently completed or setup for the
Black cats in advance of this transfer window.

background

Henry was formally a professional footballer in the seventies and eighties
playing in the midfield or as a full back for the likes of Manchester City,
Bolton Wanderers, Oldham Altletic and Stoke City. He hung up his football
boots after 441 appearances and 71 goals in 1992 after short spells in Japan
& Wales.

After finishing playing the beautiful game Henry became both a scout and
agent working for the Formation Group founded by Paul Stretford. During his
time at Formation he came into contact with agent Jorde Mendes who he helped
bring Portuguese players to the Premier League.

Henry later gave evidence in a court case with Super Agent Mendes "I gave
two and a half years of my life to Mendes," said Henry "I worked non-stop,
introducing him to people, trying to get his players into clubs. We shared
our fees honourably, but then once he knew people, and got Mourinho into
Chelsea, he went on his own."

Henry went to become chief scout for Chelsea before joining Everton in the
same role before moving to Sunderland in March this year as head of British
scouting under Steve Houston. He resigned in May after agreeing to join West
Ham meaning he will be free to join us in November.

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Udinese buy Armero from Napoli
By Football Italia staff

Udinese have bought Colombia international Pablo Armero outright from
Napoli. The player had been co-owned between the sides, even though he spent
this season on loan at West Ham. Udinese released a statement announcing
they have agreed to buy the remaining 50 per cent of Armero's contract from
Napoli.
However, a deal was not reached between Udinese and Torino for the future of
striker Paulo Vitor Barreto. Udinese will therefore go into a blind auction
for Barreto, where both clubs place a bid in a sealed envelope and the
highest figure wins the remaining half of his contract. There is a similar
situation between Udinese and Modena for Andrea Mazzarani.

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