WHUFC.com
Blair Turgott's England are heading home from the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico
04.07.2011
Blair Turgott's England are out of the FIFA U-17 World Cup following a dramatic 3-2 quarter-final defeat by Germany. Having helped the Young Lions to get past Argentina in a penalty shootout in the previous round, West Ham United attacking midfielder Turgott had a watching brief for the last-eight tie. Germany have swept into the quarter-finals courtesy of emphatic wins over Ecuador, Burkina Faso, Panama and the United States, and raced into a three-goal lead before Charlie Magri and Hallam Hope made for an exciting finish with goals in the 67th and 83rd minutes. However, the equaliser was not forthcoming and it means Turgott will be heading back to England from Mexico.
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Kevin keen on Hammers
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will be back in the Premier League this time next year, says Kevin Keen
05.07.2011
Kevin Keen has tipped West Ham United to secure automatic promotion at the first attempt having left the club to join Liverpool. Keen left his role as first-team coach last week to take up a similar position at Anfield, but is expecting to return to the Boleyn Ground with his new club sooner rather than later. He is tipping Sam Allardyce and his new coaching staff to have the fans celebrating again next May. "I am extremely confident with the squad that is there, that even if West Ham lose a couple of top players, this time next year Liverpool will be playing West Ham in the Premier League and I can't wait to be back."
Having served the club for nearly 20 years as player and coach, Keen admitted he would miss the close connection with the passionate Hammers faithful and said they would always be close to his heart. "The supporters have always been fantastic. I thank them for their support. "I have been at the club for nine years as a player and nine years as a coach and I have learned so much from good managers, the likes of Paul Heffer and Tony Carr and also from those people who don't always get the credit. A part of me will always be claret and blue. "It is the right time for me to move on but you never know what will happen in the future."
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Two changes to fixtures
WHUFC.com
The matches in August against Leeds United and Nottingham Forest have been moved
05.07.2011
West Ham United can confirm two more fixture changes to the 2011/12 npower Championship schedule.
The home match against Leeds United will now kick off at 1.15pm on Sunday 21 August, with the following week's fixture away to Nottingham Forest also starting at 1.15pm on Sunday 28 August.
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Millwall away match update
WHUFC.com
The club can confirm the Championship fixture away to Millwall on 17 September will kick-off at 12.30pm
05.07.2011
Following discussions between Millwall and West Ham United, it has been agreed that the Championship fixture between the two clubs at The Den on Saturday 17 September will kick-off at 12.30pm.
The match will be all-ticket with no sales on the day of the game.
West Ham will receive an allocation of 2,000 tickets in the upper tier of the North Stand at The Den. Millwall will sell tickets to their own fans only to Supporters Club members (in addition to Season Ticket holders).
Further ticket information related to the West Ham allocation will be confirmed in due course via whufc.com.
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Allardyce on England trio
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 5th July 2011
By: Staff Writer
Sam Allardyce has revealed that he is to sit down with West Ham's English internationals before making a decision on their future. Scott Parker, Carlton Cole and Robert Green had all been expected the leave the club this summer. However the new West Ham manager revealed in an interview with Talksport this morning that no final decisions had yet been taken. "One or two players have ambitions to continue to play in the Premier League and I'm not so sure I can persuade them to stay with us because the lure of the PL is so great," said Allardyce. "So I need to deal with that as early as possible, in the next week or two. "Certainly when the international players are back by the end of this week I will ask them what their ambitions are. Is there a possibility they can stay at West Ham, or do you really want to leave?
"So it's a possibility. I don't think it's inevitable - I haven't spoken to those players yet. But I don't think speaking on the phone or communicating by email or text is the right forward in this situation. "I need to sit down with them face to face and discuss - outside of their agents - what their feelings are. If I can persuade them to stay that'll be fantastic - but I'm not sure about that at this moment."
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OPLC open internal investigation
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 5th July 2011
By: Staff Writer
The Olympic Park Legacy Company have announced that they are launching a private investigation into the cash-for-stadium row. Last weekend's edition of the Sunday Times ran with a story claiming that West ham had paid OPLC employee Dionne Knight some £20,000 in consultancy fees. West Ham hit back immediately by announcing they will be taking legal action against the newspaper and Tottenham Hotspur, who the club accuse of contravening data protection laws. Today the OPLC responded to the newspaper's claims by confirming that they will be staging their own enquiry. A statement on their website read: "Auditors Moore Stephens have been appointed to carry out this investigation into our procedures. They have put together a team led by their specialist forensic unit. "We are also investigating the nature of the consultancy work that Dionne Knight undertook without our knowledge or permission. An independent barrister will be instructed to conduct the employment elements of this investigation. "We will communicate the outcome of both investigations when the work is complete. We remain confident that the integrity of our processes has not been compromised."
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Guest Post by Charles Myers: It's Up To Us To Set The Olympic Stadium On Fire
July 5th, 2011 - 4:02 pm by Iain Dale
By Charles Myers
West Ham Till I Die
Having been an avid reader of West Ham Till I Die for many years, I often read about the Golden Era of our once lauded and decorated club. Being too young (at 22) to remember any of this, I persevere through the hard times, knowing that my love for the club isn't based on the trophies we were promised from the Icelandic owners, or even our current owners, but my support is based on the traditions held by our beloved club.
Recently, with our impending move to the Olympic Stadium I read many comments from our West Ham community and the debate regarding the impact it will have on the support on the future generations of West Ham supporters. Ignoring the repeated arguments we read from animated bloggers on this site, I wanted to provide an insight from a young Hammer's point of view.
Undoubtedly the atmosphere at the Boleyn Ground is the best in the country, and if there is to be any legacy left at the OS, it will be up to the younger generations to make this so. Many younger Hammers who I speak to are as equally divided regarding the move. As a club we are guiltier than most looking back to the "Golden Era", I even own a Bobby Moore replica shirt myself having been too young to see him play for our club. But we run a great risk of becoming the next Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds or Nottingham Forrest, holding onto a history and forgetting the ever present risk which our club now faces of bankruptcy and a diminishing fan base. It is now when our club needs to find the 'working class spirit' which football has lost and I firmly believe that the move to the OS could bring football back to the common fan. Ask any Liverpool fan who attended the CL final in Rome, a ground with a running track, if the atmosphere was dead. I'm sure if you could understand their reply they'd tell you it was anything but dead. Whilst that may be an extreme example, the fact remains that despite obvious problems with a running track, lower ticket prices would give the club back to the fans who have been priced out of following their beloved club, taking nothing away from the dedicated followers who attend games today.
West Ham has had a great tradition, and if we are to replicate the passion which has become synonymous with our club, it will be the improved transport and cheaper ticket prices we have been promised which will allow a new generation of fans to continue the legacy and reject the commercialisation of sporting institutions which Tony McNulty highlighted so well in a previous post. Ever since I've supported our club we have failed to achieve our obvious potential, but we have never failed to instill a passion into our sport which most fans envy. The Arsenals of this world play envious football, but a Saturday afternoon in the Emirates is as lifeless as an Avram Grant half time team talk. Our club has the tools in place with the OS move to continue the legacy of our club, ensuring we will have many young fans to proudly help keep our club what it is, a family club, one which gives dreams to younger fans and joys to generations of Londoners, ones which my children will helpfully follow. By then Upton Park would only be a distant memory, one which we should never let our fans forget, but ensure that the ideas which made this club as great as it once was, continue on into modern times, whether we like it or not.
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Hines poised to pen new West Ham contract
By talkSPORT
Tuesday, July 5
West Ham striker Zavon Hines is set to agree a new contract with the club this week. Hines, 22, is currently a free agent after he turned down the club's first offer of a new deal at the end of last season. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is keen to keep the talented forward at Upton Park and hopes he can play a major role as they look to gain promotion straight back into the top flight. With Demba Ba having left the club and Carlton Cole set to leave during the summer, Allardyce could be left with a shortage of strikers. Hines was forced to miss a large part of last season after recovering from knee surgery, but he has now made a full recovery and is desperate to get his career back on track. West Ham are hoping that a new contract can be finalised in the near future and Hines can put pen to paper on a new deal before the squad jet away on their pre-season tour of Switzerland
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London 2012: OPLC reviews Olympic Stadium bid process
The decision to award the stadium to West Ham after the Games is being challenged in court
BBC.co.uk
An independent review will be held into the process of awarding the Olympic Stadium to West Ham, the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) has said. An OPLC employee, Dionne Knight, was suspended after it emerged she carried out consultancy work on behalf of the club without her managers' knowledge. The OPLC said she took no part in the process and it was confident its integrity had "not been compromised". Tottenham Hotspur have demanded a judicial review after failing to win.
They have applied to the High Court, asking for permission to force the OPLC, Newham Council, London's mayor and government ministers to explain their decision to select West Ham. They have made a fresh approach to the court after an initial attempt to secure a judicial review was rejected. The OPLC board voted 14-0 in February to back the Hammers over Spurs as first choice to move into the £486m venue once next year's Games are over. It emerged last week that Ms Knight had declared "a personal relationship" with a West Ham employee when she started at the OPLC. It was not until Thursday evening, however, that she told the OPLC of her work at the club.
The OPLC said she was being suspended while any possible conflict of interest was investigated. The company has appointed auditors Moore Stephens to investigate its own internal stadium procedures. It has also asked an independent barrister to consider the nature of the consultancy work which Ms Knight did "without our knowledge or permission". On Sunday West Ham said they were taking legal action against Tottenham and The Sunday Times over allegations about the Olympic Stadium bidding process.
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Big Sam rules out Lee move
Tuesday 5th July 2011 11:48
TeamTalk
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has ruled out bringing his former Bolton assistant Sammy Lee to Upton Park. Allardyce has a hole to fill in his backroom staff after Kevin Keen's recent departure for Liverpool, who parted company with Lee last week. But he admitted the role he was looking to fill would be lower down the pecking order, not the first-team coach role Lee would be most suited to. "We are looking to bring in one more coach, but it will not be Sammy," Allardyce said. "Sammy is a first-team coach, but I have Neil McDonald and Wally Downes here already. "The only place I need to fill is that of someone to link the Academy and developing players to the first-team squad. "We are looking at people at the moment and hopefully we will have someone in place in time for the trip to Switzerland at the end of the week."
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Exclusive - Allardyce admits Cole and Parker could leave this summer
TalkSport
By Nick Rostron-Pike
Tuesday, July 5
Sam Allardyce has admitted he might have to let Carlton Cole, Scott Parker and Robert Green leave West Ham this summer. All three England internationals have been linked with moves to Premier League clubs following the Hammers demotion to the Championship and 'Big Sam' told the Sports Breakfast he is not hopeful of keeping any of them at Upton Park. When asked whether he expected the trio to leave before the start of this upcoming season, Allardyce said: "Yes, that's a possibility. If I can convince them to stay then fantastic but I'm not sure about that. "When you fall out of the Premier League there is a financial shortfall of about £45million in revenue even though you get your parachute payments. We have to address that. "One or two players have ambitions to play in the Premier League and I'm not so sure I can convince them to stay with us. The lure of the Premier League is so great that we might not be able to keep hold of them."
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Exclusive - Allardyce: Money motivated Mackail-Smith's Brighton move
TalkSport
By Nick Rostron-Pike
Tuesday, July 5
Sam Allardyce has claimed Craig Mackail-Smith's move to Brighton has been motivated by money. The Hammers had a bid accepted for the Peterborough striker only for the Scot to sign a four-year-deal with Gus Poyet's men. And 'Big Sam' has admitted his shock that the 27-year-old chose the Championship newcomers over his Hammers side. He told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: "We did table a bid for him and strangely enough he chose Brighton so I'm not quite sure what went on there.
"No disrespect to Brighton but it seems more of a financial move than a football move."
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Kevin Nolan sold because he wasn't long-term prospect
5 Jul 2011
Evening Standard
Alan Pardew has admitted Newcastle decided to sell captain Kevin Nolan because they did not believe he had another five years in him at the top level. The 29-year-old left for relegated West Ham in a £4million move last month after failing to win the long-term contract he was looking for, much to the horror of Magpies fans who saw their team's inspirational captain contribute 12 goals to the cause last campaign. Pardew was disappointed to lose Nolan, who had two years remaining on his existing deal, but insisted there would have been little point in keeping a disgruntled player. "Kevin didn't want to stay, that's the end of the debate," said Pardew. "Kevin couldn't get a contract for four or five years. "My opinion is that we couldn't give Kevin a five-year contract because if Kevin isn't playing first-team football, he isn't going to be the leader that we want, I am convinced of that. "Kevin is so full-on as the captain of a football club and at the level he has gone to now, he will easily cope with that and he will come back to the Premier League. "But in four or five years' time, Kevin needs to be doing the business in the first team, and we couldn't and I couldn't see that possibly happening here at Newcastle, and we had to make a decision on that."
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It's Hines 'n dandy here
Published: Today
The Sun
WEST HAM striker Zavon Hines, 22, is set to agree a new Hammers deal.
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BIG SAM'S CHEEKY £2M BID
Transfer Tavern
Date: 5th July 2011 at 4:14 pm
Author: Chris Smith
New West Ham boss Sam Allardyce will place a £2m bid in the hope of securing former Hammers favourite Joe Cole. Considerably down the pecking order at Anfield, and with manager Kenny Dalglish scanning the market for further reinforcements, it is likely the bid will succeed.
Cole started his career at Upton Park where he caught the eye of fans as an exciting, direct attacker. After being made captain at the age of 21, Cole moved on to bigger and better things with a high profile move to Chelsea, winning several titles during his time there.
A free transfer to Liverpool last summer gave Cole the chance to rejuvenate his career after failing to hold down a starting place at Stamford Bridge. But a culmination of injury and lack of confidence have dictated a poor showing from the former England man so far.
Allardyce is keen to bolster his ranks in order to give West Ham a good go at promotion this year, and is shrewd enough to know that Premier League experience will be key to that, as evidenced by the laudable signing of Newcastle's Kevin Nolan.
Still aged only 29, Cole has a fair few years left in him, and may view a move to Upton Park as just what he needs to get back playing regularly and performing to his true ability. It is difficult to see Dalglish fighting too hard to keep a player who contributed so little last year.
The Liverpool boss is seeking wide players to provide ammunition to star signing Andy Carroll, frequently being linked with Aston Villa's Stewart Downing and recently to Valencia's Juan Mata. With fan favourite Dirk Kuyt occupying the other wing, it is again difficult to see where Cole fits in to the starting line-up, and so a move to West Ham, despite connoting a drop down to the Championship, could be best for all concerned.
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Hammers always in my heart! United ace Rio hopes Big Sam will lead promotion charge
By MATT LAWLESS
Last updated at 6:37 PM on 5th July 2011
Daily Mail
Rio Ferdinand will be looking for West ham to climb out of the Championship at the first attempt - after the Manchester United star revealed he will always look out for them. The England defender, 32, rose through the ranks at the Hammers famous Academy and into the first team as a teenager under Harry Redknapp in 1996.
Ferdinand spent seven years in total at Upton Park before completing a then record £18million move to Leeds - another club he hopes will return to the top flight in 2012. 'West Ham was the team I grew up in as a kid and to see them relegated out of the Premier League was disappointing,' he told MUTV. 'It was always nice to go back and play against them and see old faces and old friends but this is football and things change, things happen. 'My other old team Leeds are in the Championship now as well so times change. I just hope they come back up again next season.'
Earlier this summer Ferdinand's younger cousin Kane was linked with a move to Sam Allardyce's side from Southend, while his brother Anton was part of the club's 2006 FA Cup final team. But whether there is a Ferdinand family claret and blue influence in east London or not, Rio insists he will always hold the Hammers dear to his heart. 'I'll always look out for West Ham's results,' he added. 'When I was young they gave me my chance to become a professional footballer and I'll always keep the club close to me. 'More importantly now, I'm a Manchester United player so this is my club. I look out first for us and the secondly for the other teams.'
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Queens Park Rangers to make move for Carlton Cole
Hammers would want £6m for striker
DJ Campbell may replace Cole at Upton Park
Jamie Jackson
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 July 2011 18.53 BST
Queens Park Rangers have inquired about Carlton Cole, with the newly promoted Premier League club set to make an offer for the West Ham United striker. West Ham would listen to a bid of around £6m plus add-ons, or even consider a further payment should Neil Warnock's side avoid relegation next season. Cole, 27, has two years remaining on his contract at Upton Park and has already attracted the interest of Stoke City, who recently had a £3m offer rejected by the Hammers. Tony Pulis has yet to return with an improved bid.
While West Ham are also yet to receive any offers for Scott Parker after the 30-year-old midfielder rejected a £10m move to Fenerbahce, the east London club are still attempting to sign DJ Campbell from Blackpool after a month-long pursuit of the striker. Having agreed to trigger his £1.25m release clause the stumbling block is whether Campbell, who scored 14 goals last season, is prepared to drop to the Championship. The striker favours a move to a Premier League club.
Warnock, meanwhile, has admitted that Adel Taraabt, his captain and the Championship player of last season, may leave QPR. The manager stated that a move back to France could be on the cards thought he also hinted Arsenal may be interested. Warnock said: "PSG [Paris St-Germain] have made an inquiry and they obviously offer him the chance to be nearer to home, although there is a Spanish club being mentioned as well. As far as his talk of wanting to go to Chelsea or Arsenal, I know he has a lot of friends at Arsenal. He is missing his family in Marseille. If we get a big offer from a club in France that obviously gives him a chance to be closer to them. That would be a big pull. "Flavio Briatore [the QPR co-owner] is dealing with the negotiations. He is keeping me informed of the situation and at this precise moment [Adel] won't be leaving because no one has met the asking price."
Taraabt joined QPR from Tottenham Hotspur last summer, following a loan spell at Loftus Road, and Warnock claimed he has worked hard to bring the best out of the midfielder, who can be temperamental. "I don't think I have ever spent so much time trying to get the best out of one individual and I think he will regret leaving. My advice to him is to stay until Christmas, get some experience and show people what he can do. That may fall on deaf ears unfortunately. It's sad."
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Olympic Stadium bidding process to be scrutinised as row escalates
OPLC launches two independent investigations
Director worked for West Ham during bidding process
Owen Gibson
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 July 2011 22.06 BST
The Olympic Park Legacy Company has launched two independent reviews into how one of its directors ended up working for West Ham United during the bidding process for the Olympic Stadium. The quango, which awarded the 250‑year lease on the Olympic Stadium to West Ham over Tottenham Hotspur, last week suspended its director of corporate services, Dionne Knight, on full pay after it emerged she had been paid by the east London club to carry out consultancy work during the bidding phase.
"The Olympic Park Legacy Company has launched an independent investigation into its internal stadium procedures as a result of the allegations made concerning employee Dionne Knight," the OPLC said in a statement.
"The auditors Moore Stephens have been appointed to carry out this investigation into our procedures. They have put together a team led by their specialist forensic unit."
An independent barrister will also be appointed to conduct the "employment elements" of a separate investigation into how Knight came to be working for West Ham on the procurement process for the conversion work the club needed to do on the stadium.
The OPLC has said that it had no knowledge that she was working for West Ham. The club were told by the West Ham Olympic Stadium project director, Ian Tompkins, with whom Knight was in a long‑standing relationship of which all parties were aware, that she had obtained permission from the OPLC. Tompkins has also been suspended pending an investigation.
"We will communicate the outcome of both investigations when the work is complete," said the OPLC. "We remain confident that the integrity of our processes has not been compromised."
The OPLC is believed to be confident that Knight was isolated from the Olympic Stadium decision-making process once she declared her relationship with Tompkins. The process was handled by a separate team based at its law firm Eversheds.
Spurs will return to the high court this month in an attempt to force a judicial review of the decision-making process. The OPLC board voted 14-0 in favour of the joint bid from West Ham and Newham Council, with the decision rubber-stamped by the government and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
West Ham have said they will sue the Sunday Times for claiming the payments to Knight were "secret" and have claimed they will also take legal action against Spurs, who have used a security firm to investigate the bidding process.
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