Daily WHUFC News - 4th June 2016

Special Barking screening for Bo66y movie
WHUFC.com

Last night The Broadway Theatre in Barking paid tribute to West Ham United
and England legend Bobby Moore with a special screening of Bo66y Moore – The
Movie. The new biopic, which celebrates 50 years since England won the World
Cup, premiered at Wembley Stadium last week, and has received widespread
praise. All proceeds from the special screening have gone to The Moore
Family Foundation, which strives to provide life-changing opportunities for
some 16,000 students in the local boroughs. Roberta Moore, Bobby's daughter
attended the screening, as did the film's producer Matthew Lorenzo. Speaking
ahead of the event, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, Cllr Darren
Rodwell, said: "Bobby was a Barking boy as well as an England and West Ham
legend. This screening kick starts our celebrations of the 50th anniversary
of England's world cup win. "Just as Hammers' fans can claim West Ham won
the world cup – Barking and Dagenham can say we helped raise the Jules Rimet
trophy too!"

For more information about The Moore Family Foundation, please click here.
http://www.whufc.com/Club/Charities/Principal-Partners/WHU-Moore-Family-Foun
dation

For more information on Bo66y Moore – The Movie, click here.
http://www.bobbymooremovie.com/

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Scully helps Ireland youngsters to win
WHUFC.com

The Republic of Ireland U18s were 3-1 winners over Hungary on Thursday night
and young Hammer Anthony Scully played his part in the win, assisting the
Boys in Green's second goal.
The fixture, held in Kestvallen, was the side's first in a three-team
tournament being held in Sweden this week and the young squad will face the
hosts on Saturday in their second match. Scully started for Tom Mohan's side
and completed 83 minutes before he was replaced by Shamrock Rovers youngster
Sean Boyd. Ireland took the lead after just 27 minutes when Wolves man Conor
Levingston fired home after the ball came to him from a corner kick. Just
before the break, Hungary drew level through Mate Kemenyffy but just ten
minutes after the restart Ireland were once again in front, as Scully
provided Ronan Hale to find the back of the net with a neat finish. And a
gloss was added to the scoreline in injury time as Dundalk's Michael
O'Connor grabbed Ireland's third, turning home Simon Power's right-wing
cross. The young Republic of Ireland side next face Sweden on Saturday at
Stålringens ishall with an 11am kick-off.

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Season Ticket payments due
WHUFC.com

Supporters are reminded that the deadline for paying the balance of their
2016/17 Season Ticket is 5pm on Sunday 5 June. As the Hammers prepare for
the historic first season at the new Stadium on Queen Elizabeth Olympic
Park, fans have snapped up Season Tickets in record-breaking numbers. With
over 50,000 fans getting behind Slaven Bilic's men at their new home, it
will be a campaign not to be missed and if you need to pay off your balance,
you can do so by clicking here and signing in to your account or by calling
us on 0871 529 1966* option 3.
Before signing in for the first time, you will need to activate your account
by clicking here. When activating your account or signing in, it is vitally
important that you use your client reference number which relates to your
Season Ticket. Once you have signed in to your account, you will see your
Season Ticket under 'reserved tickets'.
Although you may have purchased more than one Season Ticket, only your
ticket will be displayed on your account. To pay for other Season Tickets
you will need to add the selected supporter account to your network. Details
of how to do this can be found here.

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Ray Winstone looks ahead to the transfer window
WHUFC.com

Hammers fan Ray Winstone wants to see Slaven Bilic's side continue to add to
their British core by bringing through players from their famed Academy of
Football while also exploring other options during the transfer window. Last
season saw the emergence of hot prospect Reece Oxford, while a number of
other youngsters were also part of first team squads and Reece Burke was
Bradford City's Player of the Season while on loan with fellow Hammer Josh
Cullen.
And though Winstone believes the Club can find value for money in the
transfer market this summer, he reiterated the importance of a solid spine
to the team. "All the teams who don't seem to have longevity haven't got a
backbone and they haven't got British players there and they don't seem to
last too long," the actor said. "Chelsea, when they had just that with the
spine of their team being very British, stayed there and won things and
there was a bit more belief in the side, so I'd like to see our youth system
come through more than buy players. "Up front I suppose another
centre-forward would be great, so you'd love to buy [Jamie] Vardy, but
Leicester fans won't thank me for that. And he has [the Champions League]
beckoning, so let's develop one ourselves. I'm sure we must have kids in the
youth system."

West Ham ended their Premier League campaign in seventh – their highest
finish for 14 years – but will look to add to their squad this summer ahead
of a campaign which will see European football arrive at the new Stadium on
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. And like many supporters, Winstone has been
assessing the market and who might be on offer for the Hammers. "I'd like to
mix it up a bit, so who would you buy? Who would you get? We're talking
about looking for a forward and we've got £20 or £30 million. Of course,
you'd love to see someone like Vardy come in. "[I would strengthen] in
defence, and although I like Collins and Tomkins at the back, when we were
there with Reid, we looked mighty strong. Collins is a bit of a leader and
we've always looked a bit better in midfield when he's there, for some
reason. "In midfield, I love Marky Noble, and he's got better every year.
But I'd love to see some of the kids come through from the youth system a
bit more, like Reece Oxford, who is a good player and I'd like to see that
happen."

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UEFA Europa League field complete
WHUFC.com

West Ham United to enter UEFA Europa League at third qualifying round stage
Hammers will be among 29 seeded sides in the draw to be made on 15 July
Slaven Bilic's side have qualified for Europe for the second successive
season
The field for the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League is now complete!

West Ham United will enter the competition for the second successive season,
but this time around the Hammers have a little longer to wait until they
learn their opponents.

Slaven Bilic's side, who finished seventh in the Barclays Premier League
last term, will enter the Europa League at the third qualifying round stage,
joining 57 other clubs from across Europe.

Those clubs with the highest coefficients are seeded in each of the three
qualifying rounds, with winning unseeded teams taking the coefficient of
their vanquished opponent in the next round. This is because the draw for
the next qualifying round is made prior to the previous round being
completed.

However, while the exact nature of West Ham's opposition will not be
revealed until Thursday 15 July, the east Londoners are assured of being
seeded due to the Club's UEFA Team Ranking of 16.256.

This Ranking is calculated by adding together West Ham's UEFA team
coefficient in the last five years, with the Hammers receiving credit for
the performances of other English clubs during that period. England are
currently ranked third in the UEFA Team Ranking table behind Spain and
Germany.

So, who could West Ham face in the third qualifying round come Thursday 28
July?

As things stand before the competition begins, the club with the highest
coefficient that the Hammers could be drawn against is Grasshoppers Zurich,
who finished fourth in the Swiss Super League and enter the tournament at
the second qualifying round stage.

Also among the other recognisable names who could appear in the unseeded
half of the draw are AIK Stockholm and IFK Gothenburg of Sweden, AEK Athens
of Greece, Brondby IF and Midtjylland – Winston Reid's former club –
Scotland's Heart of Midlothian and Slavia Prague from the Czech Republic.

However, there are plenty of other well-known clubs looking to upset the
seeding system and make it through to tackle the Hammers, including League
of Ireland trio Cork City, Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic and
Scottish pair Aberdeen and Hibernian.

Welsh sides Bala Town, Llandudno FC and Connah's Quay and Northern Ireland's
Glenavon, Linfield and Cliftonville also also kick-off their challenges in
the first qualifying round.

The rank outsiders are Europa FC of Gibraltar, just behind Folgore of San
Marino and Estonia's Infonet Tallinn.

The two clubs beaten by West Ham last season, Lusitanos of Andorra and
Malta's Birkirkara, are both in the hat for the first qualifying round after
finishing second and third in their respective domestic leagues.

The Hammers' first-ever opponents in European football back in autumn 1964,
Belgian club AA Gent, are also seeded entrants to the third qualifying
round, while their compatriots and West Ham's 1976 European Cup Winners' Cup
final opponents Anderlecht will go straight into the group stage.

Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia, who humbled the Hammers on home turf in the
1980/81 European Cup Winners' Cup, are potential fourth qualifying round
opponents, while 1999 UEFA Cup opponents Steaua Bucharest of Romania are
seeded entrants at the same stage.

The 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup winners, West Ham have played 48 European
matches in total, winning 24 and losing 16.

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From the Newsroom
WHUFC.com

Italian sports journalist and author Gabriele Marcotti says Angelo Ogbonna
earned his place in Italy's Euro 2016 squad…

It's a big transition coming to the Premier League and playing for a club
like West Ham after being in a situation at Juventus where he trained a
certain way.

They would have double training sessions and there would be a lot more
tactical instructions and here the game is a bit different, so I think it
perhaps took Angelo a little bit of time to get used to it. Once he found
his measure, he started to contribute.

Something he has told me personally and that the senior players like Mark
Noble and James Collins, who have been at the club a long time, went out of
their way to make the newcomers feel welcome.

West Ham have had a lot of players from a lot of different parts of the
world over the last few years and the senior players have gone out of their
way to make them feel welcome and include them in the squad.

It's a credit to them and it's something we often under-estimate. Clubs sign
players on good wages but often dump them in a new city where they don't
know the language, but his transition to West Ham was made easily because
the leaders in the dressing room went out of their way to make Angelo feel
more comfortable.

Once that became clear and he got into the starting XI, I think he has
thrived.
Angelo has tremendous football and tactical understanding and is very
comfortable with managers who provide very complicated instructions
Gabriele Marcotti on Angelo Ogbonna

Angelo is one of four centre-backs who have been picked by Italy manager
Antonio Conte for Euro 2016, ironically alongside three of his old Juventus
teammates.

One of the reasons he left Juventus was to get more playing time at West
Ham, although ironically he came into a club with senior centre-halves in
Reid, Tomkins and Collins.

However, he is a very versatile player and that's a reason why he has been
included by Italy. He can also play at left-back and it's a position he
played when he was younger, but West Ham fans haven't seen that as they have
a fantastic left-back in Aaron Cresswell.

Angelo also has tremendous football and tactical understanding and is very
comfortable with managers who provide very complicated instructions, as
that's what he was used to in Italy. Conte knows he can drop fancy schemes
and Angelo is a very intelligent guy and can take those on board very
easily.

Without getting too granular, a lot of people see Italy playing 3-5-2 but
it's not quite like that – when they defend it's a back four and one of the
wing-backs will slot in and one of the centre-backs will go into a full-back
position. When they attack it is going to be a 3-3-4 formation with the
full-backs way up the pitch.

It's a hybrid system and not easy to take on board, but Angelo certainly has
the athleticism and intelligence to do it.

In my opinion this is the least-talented Italy squad in 50-60 years and
they've lost two certain starters in midfield in Claudio Marchisio and Marco
Verratti, so Conte has gone with a lot of versatile and intelligent players
who can play multiple positions.

Now, we will have to see how that formula works in practice at Euro 2016.

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Four Hammers in international action
WHUFC.com

West Ham star Dimitri Payet could feature for France on Saturday as they
take on Scotland in their final UEFA Euro 2016 warm-up fixture.

The tournament's hosts face Gordon Strachan's side, who did not qualify for
this summer's competition, in Metz at 8pm, hoping to head into their opening
match on 10 June on the back of a friendly victory.

France, who are favourites with the bookmakers at the Euros, have played
only friendlies since their quarter-final elimination from the 2014 FIFA
World Cup, but have been in good form, beating Portugal, Germany and Holland
in the last twelve months.

Payet was recalled by Didier Deschamps after a year out Les Bleus' squad
thanks to his dazzling displays in Claret and Blue, and he has recreated his
form in a France shirt, scoring stunning free-kicks against Russia and, more
recently, Cameroon on Monday.

With his side level at 2-2 heading into added time, Payet converted a superb
set-piece from a tight angle, finding the net via the post with the
goalkeeper beaten all ends up.

After the test against Scotland, France will play Romania in the
tournament's opener next Friday before Group A ties against Albania and
Switzerland.

Also in international duty on Saturday will be first team midfielder
Cheikhou Kouyate, who hopes to seal African Cup of Nations qualification for
his Senegal side against Burundi.

The Lions of Teranga need only a draw in Bujumbura to secure their place at
next year's tournament to be held in Gabon, as they currently top Group K
which also contains Niger and Namibia.

Kouyate has 25 caps for his country and has scored twice, most recently
against Namibia in the current AFCON qualifying campaign.

Finally, young Hammers Anthony Scully and Sam Howes could represent their
national sides at youth level on Saturday.

Scully's Republic of Ireland U18s play hosts Sweden in the second match of
their three-team tournament on Saturday. The midfielder set up Ireland's
second goal in the 3-1 win over Hungary on Thursday night.

Meanwhile Howes is one of three goalkeepers travelling with England U19s to
face Mexico on Saturday in the first of two matches being played just
outside Mexico City.

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New video of Man Utd crush revealed
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 3rd June 2016
By: Staff Writer

A new video of the crush in which several thousand West Ham supporters were
involved prior to the recent meeting with Manchester United has been
unveiled.

A Manchester United supporter posting on the KUMB Forum this afternoon has
uploaded the video which demonstrates Police ignoring calls from supporters
to disperse the rapidly-swelling crowds (from 25:00), as Manchester United's
team bus attempted to enter the Boleyn Ground car park.

" I already contacted West Ham United, the Met Police, Newham Council and
the Football Supporters Federation," wrote MUFC_Away on the KUMB Forum.
"Only the FSF cared to respond.

West Ham supporters were vilified by the media for angry scenes before the
game in which a small group of individuals hurled missiles at Manchester
United's team bus, which arrived late before attempting to drive through the
heaving crowds.

http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=129936

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Brown out
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 3rd June 2016
By: Staff Writer

West Ham youngster Jordan Brown has joined German side Hannover on a free
transfer. The 19-year-old, who signed for West Ham in June 2013 has joined
the German side who will play in the German second division (2. Bundesliga)
next season after finishing bottom of the Bundesliga in 2015/16. Brown, an
England Under 16 at the time joined West Ham from Arsenal having rejected
the opportunity to sign a scholarship with the Gunners, with whom he had
been since the age of eight. "Arsenal wanted to keep me, but I sat down
with my parents and my agents and we thought it was a better decision to
come to West Ham," he said at the time. "The opportunities are here and I
thought, at Arsenal, maybe I could have faded away; I've seen it happen
before. I thought the opportunity was there for me at West Ham and it has
the attributes for me to be what I want to be in football."

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Sunderland want Diafra Sakho from West Ham, say Sky sources
By Sky Sports News HQ
Last Updated: 03/06/16 3:45pm
SSN

Sunderland have made an £11m bid for West Ham forward Diafra Sakho,
according to Sky sources. Sam Allardyce is looking to strengthen the
Sunderland squad after narrowly avoiding the drop last season and knows
Sakho well from his time as Hammers boss. Sakho was signed by Allardyce from
Metz in the summer of 2014 and was the top scorer for the Londoners the
following season with 12 goals in 26 games. He was not as prolific last
term, finishing with seven Premier League goals after missing time between
November and March due to a thigh injury. The 26-year-old Senegal
international may be available this summer for the right price, as West Ham
are in the market themselves and have put in bids for several strikers.

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AC/DC gig looks another OS loser
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on June 3, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

The costs involved in preparing the Hammers' new home for the AC/DC concert
tomorrow are estimated to exceed any profit the gig may produce. The
legendary band will step on stage before thousands of fans but the work
involved in getting the OS ready has ruffled a few feathers among some of
those aware of what's been going on behind the scenes. Inside sources among
the builders told ClaretandHugh: "The entire building work had to stop for
seven days and contractors had to clear vast quantities of their stuff. It
looks likely to us the extra building costs created by this vacation of the
site will exceed any income from AC/DC and this forgets the fact things are
all delayed a week." We revealed earlier this morning that the stadium
recorded zero profit despite 12 major events being held there at a time when
the Hammers have long been unfairly criticised over their rent levels as new
anchor tenants.

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Exclusive: Twelve OS events yields zero cash!
Posted by Sean Whetstone on June 3, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

West Ham have been vilified right across the media after it was revealed we
will pay £2.5m per year index linked over 99 years to rent the Olympic
Stadium. The Guardian, followed by the BBC, egged on by the Charlton
Athletics Supporters Trust managed to convince many the Irons were fleecing
the taxpayer by paying so little. However, ClaretandHugh can now exclusively
reveal that according to official financial accounts released by the LLDC at
the end of May other stadium hirers appear to have paid absolutely nothing
in the last two years. Figures between 1st April 2014 and 31st March 2015
show zero income for the Stadium in rent while the same period for 1st April
2015 to 31st March 2016 show a minus figure of -£157,000 for income rental.

Meanwhile, the operating cost of running the stadium was reported as £2.62m
for the year finishing March 2015 and £1.176m against a budget of £705,000
for the year finishing March 2016. So the taxpayer has forked out £3.8m to
the run the stadium and appears to have received nothing back in rent. Last
year a total of 12 events were held at the Stadium on a paid for basis:

UK Athletics Anniversary Games over the weekend 24th-26th July 2015

Rugby match between Barbarians and Samoa on 29th August 2015

Rugby World Cup matches including France v Romania 23rd September 2015, New
Zealand v Namibia 24th September 2015, Ireland v Italy on October 4th 2015,
South Africa v United States on October 7th 2015 and the Rugby World Cup
bronze final on October 30th 2015

RaceTrackRugby League match between England and New Zealand on 7th November
2015

Race of Champions on weekend of 20th to 21st November 2015.

ClaretandHugh submitted a Freedom of Information request to the LLDC in
April to ask what rent other hirers had paid after the LLDC was forced to
reveal details of the confidential agreement between West Ham and the
stadium owners E20 Stadium LLP. That Freedom of information request has been
initially refused last month on grounds of protecting commercial interest of
the stadium owners, and another 20 days to consider the public interest case
in that request was requested. Maybe – and I am only speculating – they
don't want know other potential hirers to know they rented the stadium for
free between 2014-2016. ClaretandHugh asked the LLDC press office to
officially comment but we were told "We are looking into this for you and
will get back to you as soon as we can."

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Cost of OS transformation increases again
Posted by Sean Whetstone on June 3, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

The cost of converting the former Olympic Stadium has increased again by
another £5m financial accounts released by London Legacy Development
Corporation have revealed. The transformation program had previously hit
£272m after problems with the roof but the stadium owners have called off an
additional £5m from their contingency fund which is likely to fund the
alternative wrap comprising of 92 fabric panels and a giant TV screen which
was not previously budgeted for. It means the total cost of the initial
build and transformation of the Stadium rises to an eye watering £707m and
that doesn't include the millions spent by West Ham in replacing seats or
WestHamification or branding of the stadium.
Figures released in May show E20 LLP spent £90.11m of capital on stadium in
the financial year ending 31st march 2016 against an initial budget of
£72.3m, an over spend of £17.8m.
As we revealed this morning, income generated by the Stadium was recorded as
a minus figure of £157,000. Surely they didn't pay hirers to use the stadium
did they?

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Basildon store closes doors
Posted by Sean Whetstone on June 3, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

The West Ham club store in Eastgate Shopping Centre, Basildon has closed
it's doors for the last time due to the imminent grand opening of the new
club megastore in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford which three
times the size of the previous Boleyn ground store. An official West Ham
spokesman told Claret and Hugh this afternoon:
"The West Ham United Store at the Eastgate Shopping Centre was opened as a
pop-up to cope with high demand over the Christmas period. In response to
the store's popularity, the pop-up venture's run was extended but the store
has now closed as attention turns to the Club's new Megastore beside its
magnificent Stadium on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, due to open this
summer. "Details of the official new Club Store opening will be available
on whufc.com in the coming weeks."

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Slav confident top winger will sign
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on June 3, 2016 in News
C and H

Slaven Bilic is remaining confident that he can attract Gokhan Tore to West
Ham this summer but currently there is no deal in place. The West Ham
manager's admiration of the Besiktas winger is widely known and there have
been widespread reports of the player arriving as out latest signing within
days. But although that is not the case, sources inside the club remain
confident that the 24 year old Turkish international will join the Irons
this summer. The club's co chairman David Sullivan has been working hard
behind the scenes on various deals and has made it clear that no players
will be allowed to move on until they have been replaced with better. Tore
would certainy be a classy addition and although current reports about a
deal having been set up they are premature. However, we were told this
morning by a club insider: "The manager remains confident the player will
come to West Ham – he's always on our radar."

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Irons reject "joke" Sunderland Sakho bid
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on June 3, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

West Ham have told to Sunderland to stuff a "joke" offer they have made for
Diafra Sakho. Irons insiders told us earlier in the week that no offers have
been received for the Senegal front man but today it was reported by Sky
News that an £11m bid had been received. And just a few minutes ago a top
Hammers soure told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "It's a joke offer and
Sunderland know it – quite ridiculous." £11 million would not be acceptable
anyway and it was far less than that. To be honest it was almost as
unbelievable as it could possiby have got." We were told that Sunderland had
attached some totally ridiculous clauses to the offer which meant that to
reach the £11m mentioned they would have needed to have stayed up three
seasons in a row with Diafra starting a minimum of 30 games every season.
The Irons immediately explained that the offer was unacceptable at every
level!

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