Hendon gearing up for new season
WHUFC.com
Development Squad coach Ian Hendon is having a busy summer as he prepares
for the 2012/13 campaign
11.06.2012
While his players enjoy a well-earned summer break, West Ham United
Development Squad coach Ian Hendon is already busy preparing for the 2012/13
season.
Hendon and his players only completed their 2011/12 campaign on 20 May, when
they defeated host club Hong Kong FC to win the Plate competition at the
HKFC Citibank International Soccer Sevens. The Development Squad will return
to training on Monday 25 June before heading to Russia for the VTB Lev
Yashin Cup in Moscow in early July. After a host of pre-season fixtures, the
Hammers' second string will compete in the newly-formed Professional
Development League. whufc.com caught up with Hendon at Chadwell Heath this
week to discuss his and his team's preparations for the new season.
Hendo, you finished the season with a trip to the HKFC Citibank
International Soccer Sevens in Hong Kong, where you won the Plate
competition. How did the trip go?
IH - We had an end-of-season trip to Hong Kong. I know West Ham had played
there a few times before and I've played there myself in the Veterans
tournament. It's a good competition and is unbelievably well organised. It
was good for the players to go and face some foreign opposition and some
strong British sides, including Leicester City and Celtic. It was a good
trip all-round.
I understand that the boys had a bit of a late night celebrating the
Play-Off final victory, but were up early on the Sunday morning to take to
the pitch themselves?
IH - That's right. We were always going to celebrate getting to the Premier
League, that's for sure. We did enjoy the evening but credit to the boys
because they got up in the morning and won their quarter-final against Hong
Kong Dragons 3-0, won the semi-final against Kitchee FC 2-0 and the final
3-0, so they acted professionally on the day and played very well.
While the players are enjoying their summer break, you will be at work
earning your coaching badges?
IH - I will. I am off to Belfast in Northern Ireland to continue my own
development on a coaching front. I'll be on a week-long course and I'm quite
looking forward to that and to adding another string to my bow. It's always
good to continue your personal development and this will go towards me
getting my UEFA Pro Licence. The gaffer [Sam Allardyce], Macca [Neil
McDonald] and Wally [Downes] have all done it and I'm working towards it
myself now.
The Development Squad are back in a week before the first team as you are
off to Russia in early July?
IH - Yes, we have to come in early as we're off to a pre-season tournament
in Moscow. Having spoken to the physios and sports scientists they feel it
would be beneficial to come back a week early in preparation for that. We
can get a bit of fitness work into the lads and prepare properly for the
trip. We don't want to go over there and get injuries because the lads are
not ready for it.
The VTB Lev Yashin Cup should be a good challenge for the Development Squad,
with some good teams taking part?
IH - We'll be in a foreign country, which is something different in itself.
I've never been to Russia myself, so it'll be all new for me. We have had
someone go over and visit and take part in a press conference and it looks
like a big, well-organised tournament. We have spoken to the German club
Freiburg, who won it last year and are taking part again, and their
representatives told us how well it was run last time. We're in good hands
there and it will be a good test for us during the six
days that we're there. Hopefully we'll do well and enjoy it.
You have also organised a number of pre-season fixtures against non-league
and npower Football League opposition, which will get the boys ready for the
2012/13 season, haven't you?
IH - The Moscow trip, if we're honest, has probably come a week or two
early, but we can't be choosy and it is a good tournament for us to go to.
We're going to come back and settle into games against non-league opposition
and then build-up to playing against strong League Two sides. My group is
predominantly young players so the pre-season will be a good test for them.
In total, I think we have got about eleven games, so it'll be tough. But
that's what we want because we want to be fit coming out of the end of it
and ready to go when the new Professional Development League starts.
Finally, can you tell us about the Professional Development League, which
will replace the Premier Reserve League in the new season?
IH - The Premier Reserve League has been done away with and this will be
replaced by the Professional Development League, which will mainly be for
Under-21 players. It has not been decided how many over-age players will be
allowed in each team, but I'm sure it will be three or four. It's a reserve
league, as such, but under a different title. Initially, I think it will be
regionalised up until Christmas. Then, if you are in the top two you go into
another group for after Christmas. The higher you finish in the regional
league, the stronger the opposition you will be playing later in the season.
It's important we do well in that. It will add some structure and
competition to our season, rather than us going here, there and everywhere
playing friendlies.
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Grays game confirmed
WHUFC.com
A West Ham United XI will help mark the opening of Grays' new Rush Green
Stadium
11.06.2012
A West Ham United XI will take on Grays Athletic on Friday 20 July on a
special night for the Essex side. Before the match, which kicks-off at
7.45pm, Joint-Chairman David Sullivan will open Grays' new Rush Green
Stadium. Hakan Hayrettin's side, who finished fifth in Isthmian League
Division One last season, will welcome West Ham for the fourth time in five
years, having beaten the Hammers 2-1 in 2008, lost by the same scoreline in
2009 and gone down to a 5-1 defeat a year ago.
Tickets will be priced at £10 for Adults and £5 for Concessions.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Five Players You Want West Ham to Sell
By Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die
Five hundred of you have voted since 9am this morning, and these are the
five players you think West Ham should sell over the summer. No great
surprises as to who 98% of you think should be flogged off, but I am
slightly surprised by number 3, Joey O'Brien.
1. Freddie Piquionne 98%
2. Freddie Sears 88%
3. Joey O'Brien 38%
4. Gary O'Neil 30%
5. Marech Stech 29%
Other interesting stats were...
24% Guy Demel
22% Jordan Spence
17% Sam Baldock
8% Carlton Cole
0% Ricardo Vaz Te
And if the single person who voted for James Tomkins to be sold would like
to own up, I will happily certify them insane.
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QPR snap up England keeper Green on £50k-a-week following West Ham exit
By LAURA WILLIAMSON
PUBLISHED: 22:51, 11 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:51, 11 June 2012
Daily Mail
Robert Green is set to join QPR after agreeing a £50,000-a-week deal to move
across London. The England goalkeeper, 32, is a free agent after West Ham
refused to meet his pay demands and failed to agree a new contract. QPR are
anxious to bolster their defence after narrowly avoiding relegation last
season and opted for Green after briefly considering Tottenham goalkeeper
Heurelho Gomes. The current No 1 at Loftus Road, Paddy Kenny, looks likely
to re-join former boss Neil Warnock at Leeds United.
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West Ham set to increase offer to £4m for Norwich striker Holt
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:50, 11 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:50, 11 June 2012
Daily Mail
West Ham are set to raise their offer for Norwich City striker Grant Holt.
Sam Allardyce had a £3.5million bid rejected but will now offer £4m for the
31-year-old.
Allardyce is also keen on a defender, with Dijon's former France Under 21
centre back Samuel Souprayen, 23, Charlton's Chris Solly and Newcastle's
Danny Simpson among his targets.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hearn hits back at 'patronising' West Ham
Guardian Series
2:39pm Monday 11th June 2012 in Waltham Forest News By Daniel Binns
Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn described West Ham's comments as
patronising. LEYTON Orient Chairman Barry Hearn has hit back at rival club
West Ham after it mocked his suggestion that the two football teams could
share the Olympic stadium after the Games. The O's fear they will lose fans
and go out of business if a high-profile team moves into the arena, which is
less than a mile from their current ground in Brisbane Road, Leyton. In an
earlier interview with the Waltham Forest Guardian, Mr Hearn said sharing
the stadium in Stratford would be a "lesser of evils" and ensure the
survival of Leyton Orient. But West Ham responded in a statement by saying
it was "amused" by Mr Hearn's "ever-changing position". Mr Hearn previously
said the stadium was not suitable for watching football but has changed his
mind following suggestions that retractable seating could be built over the
athletics track. In a new statement released at the weekend, Mr Hearn
attacked West Ham and called on Olympic legacy bosses to take him seriously.
He said: "West Ham's statement last week which referred to my 'ever-changing
position' is patronising to say the least. "A major club moving on to our
doorstep would undoubtedly damage us." He added: "I am glad West Ham think
we are providing them with a constant source of amusement - we are a small
community club with 130 years of history fighting to stay in business and
they need to understand that we shall continue to challenge any decision
that places the future of our football club in doubt. "We deserve proper
consideration and respect."
Mr Hearn said he is due to meet and discuss his proposals with Olympic
legacy bosses, who will make the final decision on who runs the stadium
after the Games.
He added that fans will be fully consulted on any possible changes. A deal
on who will run the stadium post-Games is expected to be signed in October.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham eyeing move for Charlton defender
By talkSPORT | Monday, June 11, 2012
West Ham are poised to make a move for Charlton defender Chris Solly. Sam
Allardyce is looking to bolster his defence and has been impressed with the
performances of Solly, who was voted Charlton's player of the year last
season. With Julien Faubert leaving the club during the summer, Allardyce
wants to sign another right sided player and give his side every chance of
staying in the top-light. Solly, 21, played a major role in helping Charlton
gain promotion into the Championship and the south London club will want a
sizeable sum to part with their star defender.
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Conman who fleeced former Aston Villa star John Carew must pay £45k
by Nick McCarthy, Birmingham Mail
Jun 11 2012
A CROOK who fleeced former Aston Villa star John Carew in a deal for two
Porsche supercars has been ordered to hand over £45,000 of his ill-gotten
gains – or face more jail time. Richard Esprit will spend another 16 months
in prison unless he coughs up the cash. The demand came after he was jailed
for an original 40 months in January last year for duping Carew out of
almost £250,000 in deals for a Porsche Cayenne Gemballa and a 997. A judge
at Birmingham Crown Court said Esprit used "the verbal equivalent of smoke
and mirrors" to steal from the ex-Holte End favourite. His trial heard the
45-year-old befriended the striker and took payment for the cars. But he
failed to deliver the Gemballa, took back the 997 after problems with its
paperwork and pocketed £46,000 from the sale of a BMW belonging to the
Norway international. Judge Rupert Mayo, who also heard the Proceeds of
Crime hearing in Northampton, condemned him during sentencing last year for
taking advantage of someone who regarded him as a friend. He told the car
dealer: "In March to June of 2007 you obtained nearly a quarter of a million
pounds from John Carew by fraud. "You sought to hide the raw truth with the
verbal equivalent of smoke and mirrors. "This case truly crosses the custody
threshold." Esprit, of Wraysbury, near Staines, west London, was said to
have used some of the stolen money to make mortgage payments while ignoring
the parlous state of his car dealer business. He was jailed after being
convicted of two counts of theft and two of fraud following a trial in
December 2010 at which Carew gave evidence. Judge Mayo gave Esprit four
months to hand over a total of £45,234.72.
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Bolton Wanderers keeper Jaaskelainen joins West Ham United
by Kieran Evans. Published Mon 11 Jun 2012 09:13, Last updated: 2012-06-11
Click Lancashire
According to reports departing Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Jussi
Jaaskelainen has agreed a deal with West Ham United. The Sunday Mirror
claims the Finn has agreed a two-year deal with old boss Sam Allardyce to
join West Ham. The veteran keeper has accepted terms after rejecting an
offer to stay with Wanderers on a reduced salary following their relegation
to the Championship.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 12
Monday, June 11
Daily WHUFC News - 11th June 2012
Championship? No thanks!
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 10th June 2012
By: Matthew Kemp
Following promotion to the Premier League, I thought it would be interesting
to see what happened to the players that left following our relegation to
the Championship the previous season.
One of the most high profile players to leave was Thomas Hitzlsperger who
had originally signed a lucrative three year contract with the Hammers, yet
only played half a season due to injury. It was suggested that he wanted to
repay the club's loyalty by staying, yet within weeks of Sam Allardyce being
appointed as club manager, he left, releasing a relegation clause in his
contract.
Such was his urgency to find another club, he was caught speeding, yet was
spared a driving ban as he was at the time unemployed, and claimed he needed
the car to drive around the country to look for another club.
Wolves were earmarked as a possible destination, yet the player instead
opted to return to his homeland, signing a three year deal with Wolfsburg.
Bizarrely, after the 2011-2012 season his contract was terminated. Thomas
had played a total of six games, five less than an injury plagued season
with West Ham!
At the age of 30, the player is now looking for a new club once again.
Danny Gabbidon repaid the loyalty of the club that supported him through
injury plagued seasons, by leaving for QPR on a one-year contract. He
suggested that the club had not offered him a new contract, and subsequently
made 17 appearances for the Hoops, scoring an own goal on his debut.
Following the end of the season, QPR have released the former Welsh
international.
Kieron Dyer played a total seven minutes for QPR following his release from
West Ham, and has been offered a new one year contract by the Rs. Matthew
Upson left West Ham in May 2011 after his contract expired. He was linked to
a number of clubs, yet signed for Stoke City on a two year contract. He made
14 league appearances for the club in 2011-2012 season.
Demba Ba triggered a relegation clause in his contract, turning down a
suggested contract of £50k a week. He joined Newcastle United, although he
did also have talks with Everton. He was booed by the Toon army faithful
following some uninspired performances during the early season, yet scored a
hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers on 24th September 2011 and by January was
the second top scorer in the league behind Robin Van Persie with 15 goals.
He was voted as the best signing for 2011-2012 by Premier League managers in
March 2012. In May 2012, the tabloids have suggested that he has a £7m
release clause in his contract, with Tottenham being linked to the Senegal
international.
Radoslav Kovac, with twelve months left on his contract joined Swiss Super
League Club, F.C. Basel for an undisclosed fee on a two year contract. At
the end of the 2011-2012 season he had won the League Championship and Swiss
Cup.
Lars Jacobsen was released by West Ham following his one year contract
expiring. He was linked to a number of clubs including AS Saint Etienne but
opted for his former club FC Copenhagen - and featured for Demnark in their
surprise 1-0 win over the Netherlands in Euro 2012 last night.
Jonathan Spector was released by West Ham and joined Birmingham City on a
two year contract, playing 30 games in the 2011-2012 season. Pablo Barrera
was loaned out to Real Zargoza following a season where he made six Premier
League appearances (making no assists). He made 20 appearances for the
Spanish club, scoring once. He has since returned to West Ham with two years
left on his contract.
Luis Boa Morte's contract was cancelled by mutual consent and he teamed up
with one of his ex managers, Chris Coleman at Greek outfit, Larissa in
August 2011. Although he signed a two-year contract, he left by January 2012
due to financial problems at the club. He joined Orlando Pirates on a
18-month deal, yet after only two starts departed on 14th May 2012.
Benni McCarthy agreed to terminate his contract after West Ham gave the
player an alleged £1.5m pay off. He made only two Premier League starts and
14 appearances in all competitions scoring no goals. On 2nd August he joined
Orlando Pirates on a two-year contract and scored on his debut.
Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson, who never made a first team appearance for West Ham
joined German side VfL Bochum. Jermain Defoe's cousin, Anthony Edgar - who
made his first team appearance versus Arsenal in the FA Cup, 3rd January
2010 - was released and joined Yeovil Town on a two-year contract. He made
ten appearance in 2011-2012, scoring one goal.
Loan players Wayne Bridge made eighteen appearances for West Ham, and
returned to Manchester City before joining Sunderland on loan in January
2012.
Robbie Keane made his debut for West Ham scoring against Blackpool in a 3-1
win. The club had an option to extend the deal by two years, if they avoided
relegation from the Premier League. The player returned to Tottenham
following West Ham's relegation. He joined LA Galaxy and had a brief loan
spell at Aston Villa in January 2012, making seven appearances, scoring
three times.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Setting Our Sights High
By Iain Dale
West ham Till I Die
KUMB have a fascinating analysis of the players who left the club when we
were relegated. With one or two notable exceptions they don't seem to have
done very well. And if you look down the list, is there a single one, apart
from Demba Ba, who you'd want back? Do read the full article HERE, but
here's the list of players...
Thomas Hitzlsperger
Danny Gabbidon
Demba Ba
Jonathan Spector
Wayne Bridge
Matthew Upson
Kieron Dyer
Radoslav Kovac
Lars Jacobsen
Luis Boa Morte
Benni McCarthy
Robbie Keane
I think we need to be setting our sights higher than these sort of players
now. Thats why when I see rumours of the likes of Kenwyne Jones, I shake my
head with a sense of disbelief. Grant Holt? Yes, he got 15 goals last season
but he's 31, with maybe two decent seasons ahead of him. I think not. We
need to be looking at young players with proven track records or loads of
potential. Step forward Jordan Rhodes. Six million for him of £4.5 million
for Grant Holt? I know what I'd do.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham to step up Holt bid with improved £4.2m offer for wantaway Norwich
striker
The 31-year-old has handed in a transfer request and remains determined to
leave Carrow Road, despite the Canaries' reluctance to sell
10 Jun 2012 09:45:00
Goal.com
EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart
West Ham will step up their pursuit of Norwich City striker Grant Holt with
an improved bid of £4.2 million on Monday, Goal.com can reveal. The Hammers
have already had a £3m offer for Holt rejected as they look to bolster their
strikeforce after securing promotion to the Premier League. Norwich are
believed to have set their asking price for Holt at £6m and remain deeply
reluctant to sell the 31-year-old, who scored 15 Premier League goals last
season. The Canaries rejected a transfer request from Holt last month but
the player remains desperate to leave the club after falling out with chief
executive David McNally. Holt, who is also attracting interest from Paul
Lambert at Aston Villa, claims he was told by McNally that he did not
deserve a new contract because he was too old. West Ham are ready to double
Holt's current salary to £30,000-a-week and have been trying to open
dialogue with Norwich over a move for the targetman. Holt's resolve to leave
Carrow Road has strengthened following the appointment of Colin Calderwood
as assistant to new manager Chris Hughton. While Hughton has made it his
priority to convince Holt to stay at the club, the striker has a poor
relationship with Calderwood, who he worked under when the Scot was manager
of Nottingham Forest. "Holt will never kick a ball for Norwich again," a
source told Goal.com. West Ham remains the most likely destination for Holt,
despite Lambert's appointment as Villa manager earlier this month after he
quit Norwich. Hammers boss Sam Allardyce is eager to strengthen his
attacking options and has made Holt his top target, with former Chelsea
striker Nicolas Anelka also on the Londoners' radar. Holt joined Norwich
from Shrewsbury for £400,000 in July 2009 as has been voted as the club's
player of the year in all of his three seasons at Carrow Road. He played a
key role in the Canaries achieving back-to-back promotions before finishing
in mid-table in the Premier League last season.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 10th June 2012
By: Matthew Kemp
Following promotion to the Premier League, I thought it would be interesting
to see what happened to the players that left following our relegation to
the Championship the previous season.
One of the most high profile players to leave was Thomas Hitzlsperger who
had originally signed a lucrative three year contract with the Hammers, yet
only played half a season due to injury. It was suggested that he wanted to
repay the club's loyalty by staying, yet within weeks of Sam Allardyce being
appointed as club manager, he left, releasing a relegation clause in his
contract.
Such was his urgency to find another club, he was caught speeding, yet was
spared a driving ban as he was at the time unemployed, and claimed he needed
the car to drive around the country to look for another club.
Wolves were earmarked as a possible destination, yet the player instead
opted to return to his homeland, signing a three year deal with Wolfsburg.
Bizarrely, after the 2011-2012 season his contract was terminated. Thomas
had played a total of six games, five less than an injury plagued season
with West Ham!
At the age of 30, the player is now looking for a new club once again.
Danny Gabbidon repaid the loyalty of the club that supported him through
injury plagued seasons, by leaving for QPR on a one-year contract. He
suggested that the club had not offered him a new contract, and subsequently
made 17 appearances for the Hoops, scoring an own goal on his debut.
Following the end of the season, QPR have released the former Welsh
international.
Kieron Dyer played a total seven minutes for QPR following his release from
West Ham, and has been offered a new one year contract by the Rs. Matthew
Upson left West Ham in May 2011 after his contract expired. He was linked to
a number of clubs, yet signed for Stoke City on a two year contract. He made
14 league appearances for the club in 2011-2012 season.
Demba Ba triggered a relegation clause in his contract, turning down a
suggested contract of £50k a week. He joined Newcastle United, although he
did also have talks with Everton. He was booed by the Toon army faithful
following some uninspired performances during the early season, yet scored a
hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers on 24th September 2011 and by January was
the second top scorer in the league behind Robin Van Persie with 15 goals.
He was voted as the best signing for 2011-2012 by Premier League managers in
March 2012. In May 2012, the tabloids have suggested that he has a £7m
release clause in his contract, with Tottenham being linked to the Senegal
international.
Radoslav Kovac, with twelve months left on his contract joined Swiss Super
League Club, F.C. Basel for an undisclosed fee on a two year contract. At
the end of the 2011-2012 season he had won the League Championship and Swiss
Cup.
Lars Jacobsen was released by West Ham following his one year contract
expiring. He was linked to a number of clubs including AS Saint Etienne but
opted for his former club FC Copenhagen - and featured for Demnark in their
surprise 1-0 win over the Netherlands in Euro 2012 last night.
Jonathan Spector was released by West Ham and joined Birmingham City on a
two year contract, playing 30 games in the 2011-2012 season. Pablo Barrera
was loaned out to Real Zargoza following a season where he made six Premier
League appearances (making no assists). He made 20 appearances for the
Spanish club, scoring once. He has since returned to West Ham with two years
left on his contract.
Luis Boa Morte's contract was cancelled by mutual consent and he teamed up
with one of his ex managers, Chris Coleman at Greek outfit, Larissa in
August 2011. Although he signed a two-year contract, he left by January 2012
due to financial problems at the club. He joined Orlando Pirates on a
18-month deal, yet after only two starts departed on 14th May 2012.
Benni McCarthy agreed to terminate his contract after West Ham gave the
player an alleged £1.5m pay off. He made only two Premier League starts and
14 appearances in all competitions scoring no goals. On 2nd August he joined
Orlando Pirates on a two-year contract and scored on his debut.
Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson, who never made a first team appearance for West Ham
joined German side VfL Bochum. Jermain Defoe's cousin, Anthony Edgar - who
made his first team appearance versus Arsenal in the FA Cup, 3rd January
2010 - was released and joined Yeovil Town on a two-year contract. He made
ten appearance in 2011-2012, scoring one goal.
Loan players Wayne Bridge made eighteen appearances for West Ham, and
returned to Manchester City before joining Sunderland on loan in January
2012.
Robbie Keane made his debut for West Ham scoring against Blackpool in a 3-1
win. The club had an option to extend the deal by two years, if they avoided
relegation from the Premier League. The player returned to Tottenham
following West Ham's relegation. He joined LA Galaxy and had a brief loan
spell at Aston Villa in January 2012, making seven appearances, scoring
three times.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Setting Our Sights High
By Iain Dale
West ham Till I Die
KUMB have a fascinating analysis of the players who left the club when we
were relegated. With one or two notable exceptions they don't seem to have
done very well. And if you look down the list, is there a single one, apart
from Demba Ba, who you'd want back? Do read the full article HERE, but
here's the list of players...
Thomas Hitzlsperger
Danny Gabbidon
Demba Ba
Jonathan Spector
Wayne Bridge
Matthew Upson
Kieron Dyer
Radoslav Kovac
Lars Jacobsen
Luis Boa Morte
Benni McCarthy
Robbie Keane
I think we need to be setting our sights higher than these sort of players
now. Thats why when I see rumours of the likes of Kenwyne Jones, I shake my
head with a sense of disbelief. Grant Holt? Yes, he got 15 goals last season
but he's 31, with maybe two decent seasons ahead of him. I think not. We
need to be looking at young players with proven track records or loads of
potential. Step forward Jordan Rhodes. Six million for him of £4.5 million
for Grant Holt? I know what I'd do.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham to step up Holt bid with improved £4.2m offer for wantaway Norwich
striker
The 31-year-old has handed in a transfer request and remains determined to
leave Carrow Road, despite the Canaries' reluctance to sell
10 Jun 2012 09:45:00
Goal.com
EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart
West Ham will step up their pursuit of Norwich City striker Grant Holt with
an improved bid of £4.2 million on Monday, Goal.com can reveal. The Hammers
have already had a £3m offer for Holt rejected as they look to bolster their
strikeforce after securing promotion to the Premier League. Norwich are
believed to have set their asking price for Holt at £6m and remain deeply
reluctant to sell the 31-year-old, who scored 15 Premier League goals last
season. The Canaries rejected a transfer request from Holt last month but
the player remains desperate to leave the club after falling out with chief
executive David McNally. Holt, who is also attracting interest from Paul
Lambert at Aston Villa, claims he was told by McNally that he did not
deserve a new contract because he was too old. West Ham are ready to double
Holt's current salary to £30,000-a-week and have been trying to open
dialogue with Norwich over a move for the targetman. Holt's resolve to leave
Carrow Road has strengthened following the appointment of Colin Calderwood
as assistant to new manager Chris Hughton. While Hughton has made it his
priority to convince Holt to stay at the club, the striker has a poor
relationship with Calderwood, who he worked under when the Scot was manager
of Nottingham Forest. "Holt will never kick a ball for Norwich again," a
source told Goal.com. West Ham remains the most likely destination for Holt,
despite Lambert's appointment as Villa manager earlier this month after he
quit Norwich. Hammers boss Sam Allardyce is eager to strengthen his
attacking options and has made Holt his top target, with former Chelsea
striker Nicolas Anelka also on the Londoners' radar. Holt joined Norwich
from Shrewsbury for £400,000 in July 2009 as has been voted as the club's
player of the year in all of his three seasons at Carrow Road. He played a
key role in the Canaries achieving back-to-back promotions before finishing
in mid-table in the Premier League last season.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Sunday, June 10
Daily WHUFC News - 10th June 2012
Vaz Te at the double
WHUFC.com
The spectacular Ricardo Vaz Te won both Goal and Signing of the Season at
the Player Awards
09.06.2012
Few players can have made an impact on joining West Ham United as big as
that made by Ricardo Vaz Te. After starring for Barnsley throughout the
opening half of the 2011/12 npower Championship season, the Portuguese
forward was snapped up by Sam Allardyce at the end of the January transfer
window. In just 18 appearances, Vaz Te has scored 12 goals, including the
Hammers' first league hat-trick in more than six years and an unforgettable
Wembley winner in the npower Championship Play-Off final victory over
Blackpool. Such has been the impression made by the No12 on the club's
supporters that he collected the Goal of the Season, sponsored by Mulalley,
and Signing of the Season, presented by S.14 Limited director Mark Pryke,
trophies at the recent Awards Dinner. "For myself I am pleased with the way
I have started my career at West Ham," the 25-year-old told West Ham TV.
"I'm happy overall and I think everyone should be because it's been a great
season overall. It's been very competitive and people shouldn't take credit
from Southampton or Reading because they have been brilliant. "It's been a
tough season but overall it has been very positive."
Winning two awards and scoring a Wembley winner were testament to the hard
work Vaz Te has put in to rebuild his career following his release by Bolton
Wanderers in 2010 - a club he had originally been brought to by Sam
Allardyce seven years previously. He played professionally in Greece and
Scotland in a bid to rediscover his best form and was rewarded first by
Barnsley last summer and then when he was reunited with Big Sam in January.
A haul of 24 goals in 42 appearances - just 30 of them starts - this term is
a statistic that speaks for itself. "Behind the scenes, people don't really
know what I've been through, but I don't feel sorry for myself. I did what I
had to do. Some people had a word with me and told me what I should do and I
did what I thought was right and now it's paying off, luckily! "I just want
to carry on, keep improving and stay humble and keep my feet on the ground."
One of those 24 goals was the sensational scissor-kick that completed his
hat-trick in the 6-0 home victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on 14 April -
a strike that won him the Goal of the Season award. "It was a fluke!" joked
Vaz Te, with a trademark wide smile on his face. "It was all right!"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Barrera starts with a win
WHUFC.com
Pablo Barrera's Mexico started their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign
by beating Guyana 3-1
08.06.2012
Pablo Barrera started for Mexico in their opening 2014 FIFA World Cup
CONCACAF third round Group B qualifying win over Guyana on Friday. The West
Ham United winger had been a regular for El Tri in recent weeks, starting
victories over Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Brazil in the United States at
the end of May and beginning of June. That run continued as Barrera played
for 65 minutes as Guyana were beaten 3-1 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico
City. Former Fulham full-back Carlos Salcido and Tottenham Hotspur winger
Giovani Dos Santos were among the scorers. Barrera has now earned 48 senior
caps for Mexico since making his debut at the age of 20 in a friendly
meeting with Guatemala in October 2007, scoring six goals. He appeared three
times at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa and was part of the
squads which won the 2009 and 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cups. Mexico are seeking to
qualify for their 15th FIFA World Cup finals, having reached the tournament
every time it has been held since 1994. Guyana, who feature former Newcastle
United striker Carl Cort up front, have never reached the tournament.
Next up, Jose Manuel de la Torre's side travel to El Salvador on 12 June and
Costa Rica 7 September before welcoming the latter on 11 September. The
third round concludes with a trip to Guyana on 12 October and the visit of
El Salvador on 16 October. The CONCACAF region also contains previous FIFA
World Cup finals participants United States, Jamaica and Canada, as well as
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Honduras. The top two nations in each of
three third-round groups will qualify for the fourth round group-stage,
where six teams will battle for three automatic qualifying places and one
intercontinental play-off berth against the first-place Oceania side -
likely to be Winston Reid's New Zealand.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Busy pre-season for Development Squad
WHUFC.com
Ian Hendon's side will play a host of warm-up fixtures at home and abroad
09.06.2012
West Ham United's Development Squad have a busy pre-season schedule to look
forward to ahead of the 2012/13 campaign. Ian Hendon's side will return to
Chadwell Heath on Monday 25 June before flying to Russia for the VTB Lev
Yashin Cup tournament in Moscow on 11 July. On their return to England, the
Development Squad will embark on a series of fixtures against non-league and
npower Football League opposition. The domestic fixtures will start with a
trip to Grays Athletic on Friday 20 July. Before the match, which kicks-off
at 7.45pm, Joint-Chairman David Sullivan will open Grays' new Rush Green
Stadium. Hakan Hayrettin's side, who finished fifth in Isthmian League
Division One last season, will welcome West Ham for the fourth time in five
years, having beaten the Hammers 2-1 in 2008, lost by the same scoreline in
2009 and gone down to a 5-1 defeat a year ago. Tickets will be priced at £10
for Adults and £5 for Concessions.
The following afternoon, the Development Squad will travel to Ship Lane to
take on Ryman League Premier Division side Thurrock on Saturday 21 July. The
Fleet have recently appointed Mark Stimson as manager as they seek to bounce
back from relegation from Blue Square Bet South last season. Tuesday 24 June
will see Hendon's team travel to Blue Square Bet Premier new boys Dartford
for a 7.45pm kick-off. The Darts finished second in the table and were
promoted following a 1-0 Play-Off final win over Welling in front of a crowd
of more than 4,000 at their Princes Park home. Welling will provide the
opposition for the Development Squad on Saturday 28 July at 3pm, when the
Development Squad will visit Park View Road.
August will see the Hammers travel to npower League Two AFC Wimbledon and
Northampton Town. The Dons will welcome Hendon's team on Saturday 4 August
for a 3pm kick-off at Kingsmeadow. Terry Brown's side finished 16th in
League Two last season and boast Academy graduate Callum McNaughton among
their ranks.
The Cobblers will play host to a West Ham XI at Sixfields on Tuesday 7
August at 7.45pm. Managed by Aidy Boothroyd, Northampton recovered from a
difficult start to the 2011/12 season to finish 20th in the League Two
table. Supporters should keep a close eye on whufc.com, @whufc_official on
twitter and the Club's official Facebook page for ticket details as and when
they are confirmed.
Development Squad pre-season fixtures
(All matches AWAY)
12-15 July - VTB Lev Yashin Cup (Moscow, Russia)
20 July - Grays Athletic (Rush Green Stadium, 7.45pm)
21 July - Thurrock (Ship Lane, 3pm)
24 July - Dartford (Princes Park, 7.45pm)
28 July - Welling (Park View Road, 3pm)
4 Aug - AFC Wimbledon (Kingsmeadow, 3pm)
7 Aug - Northampton Town (Sixfields, 7.45pm)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
What About Stech, Barrera & Montenegro-Martinez?
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die
Amidst the ongoing speculation about incoming deals, there are three players
contracted to the club who have major question marks over their future. The
players in question are Marek Stech, Paulo Barrera and Brian
Montehegro-Martinez. Stech is a young Czech keeper of unquestioned
potential. He has first team experience, mostly in cup matches, and he has
always given a very good account of himself. For some reason Ruud Boffin
seemed to get ahead of Stech in terms of covering for Rob Green over the
last couple of seasons. Latterly, he has found himself out on serial loans
to lower divison clubs.The rumour circulating was that he had refused a
contract extension and the terms of his move to West Ham meant that one more
first team appearance triggered a clause necessitating a £700,00 bonus
payment to the selling club in the Czech Republic. Is that true? I have no
idea, but it does seem to explain why he was not brought back from loan last
season, even after Boffin fell out of favour.
So, what is his contract situation? Is he just seeing out his current
contract before moving on a Bosman? I for one hope that this is not the
case. I would like to see him stayat the club and compete with Henderson and
Jaaskelainen for the keepers jersey. That would be an interesting stable of
keepers, with two good, young keepers backing up one of vast experience.
Would it work? I do not see why not. Both Henderson and Stech would learn a
great deal from working with Jussi and the incentive will be there for both
of them to compete to succeed him in the first team. I know that there is a
strong case of going for a third, more experienced keeper like Robinson or
Gordon, but if Stech stays we could possibly end up with
Jaaskelainen-Henderson-Stech as our first team squad goal keepers.
Pablo Barrera's situation is also intriguing. After a poor first season
under Grant's management, the club loaned Barrera to Spanish club, Real
Zaragosa, for the whole of last season. If he was signed on a three year
contact, then that means he is coming in to the final year of his current
deal. It is interesting that his recent performances with the Mexican
national team have been closely followed by the club website. It could just
be a 'filler' to put new news on the web in the quiet early summer period or
it could be a conscious policy to raise his profile with fans ahead of a
return next season. The latter scenerio seems unlikely, but stranger things
have happened. Certainly, if Barrera is in his final year then the club will
either be looking to agree an extension or will move him out for a fee of
some sort. If interested club cannot agree a deal with West Ham and decide
to wait for his contract to expire, then the club will have the choice of
either utilising him next season or getting him off the wage bill with
another season long loan. Barrera's situation is interesting and we will
have to see which way that one goes?
A third player with a current question mark over his future is South
American loanee Brian Montenegro-martinez, whose one year loan deal is due
to expire soon. No doubt the loan deal came with an option to buy this
summer. Montenegro-Martinez is only 18 years of age and featured regularly
for the Development Squad last season. During those games he impressed with
his skill, pace and goal scoring ability. I would hope that the club will
have seen enough to agree a deal for the young goal scoring winger, but we
shall have to see? It would seem that Christian Montano has earnt a new
cotract with the club, so it remains to be seen if there is room for both of
them at the club?
Finally, a word on Sam Baldock's position. There are various rumours that
the club will either sell Baldock or put him out on loan next season. The
strongest speculation is that Baldock's future is tied up with West Ham's
negotiations for Palace's Wilfred Zaha. The story is that Palace want
Baldock on a permanent deal, in part-exchange for Zaha. While the Hammers
are offering a higher fee for Zaha and Baldock on a one year loan. I could
certainly see West Ham being tempted to sacrifice Baldock in order to land a
player of Zaha's ability, but it all depends how highly Allardyce and co
rate Baldock's potential. We shall see, but there is little doubt that
Baldock would benefit from a season of regular football at Championship
level. It would probably answer many of the questions about his potential,
but if a part-exchange deal was the only way that we could land Zaha, would
that force the club's hand?
SJ. Chandos.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sport Football Transfer News QPR transfer news
By Brian McNally 1 Comment 9 Jun 2012 21:30
Tug of War: Hughes and Allardyce battle for Bhoys star
The Mirror
London rivals Queen's Park Rangers and West Ham United are set to bid for
Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama. The 20-year-old Kenyan international has
stunned the Scottish Premier League champions by telling them that he wants
to test himself in England's top-flight after a successful first season at
Parkhead. But Celtic will slap a £7million fee on Wanyama, a bargain
£900,000 buy from Belgian outfit Beerschot AC last summer, as he still has
three years to run on his contract. Now QPR's Mark Hughes and Hammers boss
Sam Allardyce will go to head-to-head to try and lure him to the Capital.
Wanyama's preferred position is central midfield anchor man but he also
starred in defence when Celtic boss Neil Lennon used him as a centre back.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Going Green: West Brom in the hunt for keeper
Now the Hawthorns outfit join a long list of clubs courting West Ham's out
of contract stopper
The Mirror
Steve Clarke wants West Brom to join the cluster of clubs chasing England
goalkeeper Robert Green. New boss Clarke starts work at The Hawthorns
tomorrow knowing he has to sort out a replacement for Ben Foster, after
his loan spell from Birmingham. Albion fear they can't afford the £5m fee
that their Championship neighbours will be seeking and won't be able to
match the wages Foster will be offered by Queen's Park Rangers. So Green,
available on a free transfer from West Ham, is the answer. Newly-promoted
Southampton are also keen on the 32-year-old, but Clarke worked closely with
him during his time as No2 to Gianfranco Zola at Upton Park. He believes he
can convince Green that Albion can build on last season's top 10 finish.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jussi the man for the Hammers
Football365
Jussi Jaaskelainen has rejected Bolton's new contract offer, and will link
up with old boss Sam Allardyce at West Ham, according to reports. The
Icelandic stopper has reportedly penned a two-year deal at Upton Park, after
rejecting the Wanderer's offer to stay in Lancashire on less money,
according to reports in the Daily Mirror.
The veteran keeper is set to leave the Reebok stadium after 15 years with
the Trotters, where he has made over 500 appearances in all competitions.
Allardyce has chosen Jaaskelainen to replace the outgoing England goalkeeper
Robert Green, who failed to agree a new deal with the Hammers. Bolton boss
Owen Coyle will now look at several options to give competition to current
number one Adam Bogdan, with Leed's Andy Lonergan a reported target.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
The spectacular Ricardo Vaz Te won both Goal and Signing of the Season at
the Player Awards
09.06.2012
Few players can have made an impact on joining West Ham United as big as
that made by Ricardo Vaz Te. After starring for Barnsley throughout the
opening half of the 2011/12 npower Championship season, the Portuguese
forward was snapped up by Sam Allardyce at the end of the January transfer
window. In just 18 appearances, Vaz Te has scored 12 goals, including the
Hammers' first league hat-trick in more than six years and an unforgettable
Wembley winner in the npower Championship Play-Off final victory over
Blackpool. Such has been the impression made by the No12 on the club's
supporters that he collected the Goal of the Season, sponsored by Mulalley,
and Signing of the Season, presented by S.14 Limited director Mark Pryke,
trophies at the recent Awards Dinner. "For myself I am pleased with the way
I have started my career at West Ham," the 25-year-old told West Ham TV.
"I'm happy overall and I think everyone should be because it's been a great
season overall. It's been very competitive and people shouldn't take credit
from Southampton or Reading because they have been brilliant. "It's been a
tough season but overall it has been very positive."
Winning two awards and scoring a Wembley winner were testament to the hard
work Vaz Te has put in to rebuild his career following his release by Bolton
Wanderers in 2010 - a club he had originally been brought to by Sam
Allardyce seven years previously. He played professionally in Greece and
Scotland in a bid to rediscover his best form and was rewarded first by
Barnsley last summer and then when he was reunited with Big Sam in January.
A haul of 24 goals in 42 appearances - just 30 of them starts - this term is
a statistic that speaks for itself. "Behind the scenes, people don't really
know what I've been through, but I don't feel sorry for myself. I did what I
had to do. Some people had a word with me and told me what I should do and I
did what I thought was right and now it's paying off, luckily! "I just want
to carry on, keep improving and stay humble and keep my feet on the ground."
One of those 24 goals was the sensational scissor-kick that completed his
hat-trick in the 6-0 home victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on 14 April -
a strike that won him the Goal of the Season award. "It was a fluke!" joked
Vaz Te, with a trademark wide smile on his face. "It was all right!"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Barrera starts with a win
WHUFC.com
Pablo Barrera's Mexico started their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign
by beating Guyana 3-1
08.06.2012
Pablo Barrera started for Mexico in their opening 2014 FIFA World Cup
CONCACAF third round Group B qualifying win over Guyana on Friday. The West
Ham United winger had been a regular for El Tri in recent weeks, starting
victories over Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Brazil in the United States at
the end of May and beginning of June. That run continued as Barrera played
for 65 minutes as Guyana were beaten 3-1 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico
City. Former Fulham full-back Carlos Salcido and Tottenham Hotspur winger
Giovani Dos Santos were among the scorers. Barrera has now earned 48 senior
caps for Mexico since making his debut at the age of 20 in a friendly
meeting with Guatemala in October 2007, scoring six goals. He appeared three
times at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa and was part of the
squads which won the 2009 and 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cups. Mexico are seeking to
qualify for their 15th FIFA World Cup finals, having reached the tournament
every time it has been held since 1994. Guyana, who feature former Newcastle
United striker Carl Cort up front, have never reached the tournament.
Next up, Jose Manuel de la Torre's side travel to El Salvador on 12 June and
Costa Rica 7 September before welcoming the latter on 11 September. The
third round concludes with a trip to Guyana on 12 October and the visit of
El Salvador on 16 October. The CONCACAF region also contains previous FIFA
World Cup finals participants United States, Jamaica and Canada, as well as
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers Honduras. The top two nations in each of
three third-round groups will qualify for the fourth round group-stage,
where six teams will battle for three automatic qualifying places and one
intercontinental play-off berth against the first-place Oceania side -
likely to be Winston Reid's New Zealand.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Busy pre-season for Development Squad
WHUFC.com
Ian Hendon's side will play a host of warm-up fixtures at home and abroad
09.06.2012
West Ham United's Development Squad have a busy pre-season schedule to look
forward to ahead of the 2012/13 campaign. Ian Hendon's side will return to
Chadwell Heath on Monday 25 June before flying to Russia for the VTB Lev
Yashin Cup tournament in Moscow on 11 July. On their return to England, the
Development Squad will embark on a series of fixtures against non-league and
npower Football League opposition. The domestic fixtures will start with a
trip to Grays Athletic on Friday 20 July. Before the match, which kicks-off
at 7.45pm, Joint-Chairman David Sullivan will open Grays' new Rush Green
Stadium. Hakan Hayrettin's side, who finished fifth in Isthmian League
Division One last season, will welcome West Ham for the fourth time in five
years, having beaten the Hammers 2-1 in 2008, lost by the same scoreline in
2009 and gone down to a 5-1 defeat a year ago. Tickets will be priced at £10
for Adults and £5 for Concessions.
The following afternoon, the Development Squad will travel to Ship Lane to
take on Ryman League Premier Division side Thurrock on Saturday 21 July. The
Fleet have recently appointed Mark Stimson as manager as they seek to bounce
back from relegation from Blue Square Bet South last season. Tuesday 24 June
will see Hendon's team travel to Blue Square Bet Premier new boys Dartford
for a 7.45pm kick-off. The Darts finished second in the table and were
promoted following a 1-0 Play-Off final win over Welling in front of a crowd
of more than 4,000 at their Princes Park home. Welling will provide the
opposition for the Development Squad on Saturday 28 July at 3pm, when the
Development Squad will visit Park View Road.
August will see the Hammers travel to npower League Two AFC Wimbledon and
Northampton Town. The Dons will welcome Hendon's team on Saturday 4 August
for a 3pm kick-off at Kingsmeadow. Terry Brown's side finished 16th in
League Two last season and boast Academy graduate Callum McNaughton among
their ranks.
The Cobblers will play host to a West Ham XI at Sixfields on Tuesday 7
August at 7.45pm. Managed by Aidy Boothroyd, Northampton recovered from a
difficult start to the 2011/12 season to finish 20th in the League Two
table. Supporters should keep a close eye on whufc.com, @whufc_official on
twitter and the Club's official Facebook page for ticket details as and when
they are confirmed.
Development Squad pre-season fixtures
(All matches AWAY)
12-15 July - VTB Lev Yashin Cup (Moscow, Russia)
20 July - Grays Athletic (Rush Green Stadium, 7.45pm)
21 July - Thurrock (Ship Lane, 3pm)
24 July - Dartford (Princes Park, 7.45pm)
28 July - Welling (Park View Road, 3pm)
4 Aug - AFC Wimbledon (Kingsmeadow, 3pm)
7 Aug - Northampton Town (Sixfields, 7.45pm)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
What About Stech, Barrera & Montenegro-Martinez?
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die
Amidst the ongoing speculation about incoming deals, there are three players
contracted to the club who have major question marks over their future. The
players in question are Marek Stech, Paulo Barrera and Brian
Montehegro-Martinez. Stech is a young Czech keeper of unquestioned
potential. He has first team experience, mostly in cup matches, and he has
always given a very good account of himself. For some reason Ruud Boffin
seemed to get ahead of Stech in terms of covering for Rob Green over the
last couple of seasons. Latterly, he has found himself out on serial loans
to lower divison clubs.The rumour circulating was that he had refused a
contract extension and the terms of his move to West Ham meant that one more
first team appearance triggered a clause necessitating a £700,00 bonus
payment to the selling club in the Czech Republic. Is that true? I have no
idea, but it does seem to explain why he was not brought back from loan last
season, even after Boffin fell out of favour.
So, what is his contract situation? Is he just seeing out his current
contract before moving on a Bosman? I for one hope that this is not the
case. I would like to see him stayat the club and compete with Henderson and
Jaaskelainen for the keepers jersey. That would be an interesting stable of
keepers, with two good, young keepers backing up one of vast experience.
Would it work? I do not see why not. Both Henderson and Stech would learn a
great deal from working with Jussi and the incentive will be there for both
of them to compete to succeed him in the first team. I know that there is a
strong case of going for a third, more experienced keeper like Robinson or
Gordon, but if Stech stays we could possibly end up with
Jaaskelainen-Henderson-Stech as our first team squad goal keepers.
Pablo Barrera's situation is also intriguing. After a poor first season
under Grant's management, the club loaned Barrera to Spanish club, Real
Zaragosa, for the whole of last season. If he was signed on a three year
contact, then that means he is coming in to the final year of his current
deal. It is interesting that his recent performances with the Mexican
national team have been closely followed by the club website. It could just
be a 'filler' to put new news on the web in the quiet early summer period or
it could be a conscious policy to raise his profile with fans ahead of a
return next season. The latter scenerio seems unlikely, but stranger things
have happened. Certainly, if Barrera is in his final year then the club will
either be looking to agree an extension or will move him out for a fee of
some sort. If interested club cannot agree a deal with West Ham and decide
to wait for his contract to expire, then the club will have the choice of
either utilising him next season or getting him off the wage bill with
another season long loan. Barrera's situation is interesting and we will
have to see which way that one goes?
A third player with a current question mark over his future is South
American loanee Brian Montenegro-martinez, whose one year loan deal is due
to expire soon. No doubt the loan deal came with an option to buy this
summer. Montenegro-Martinez is only 18 years of age and featured regularly
for the Development Squad last season. During those games he impressed with
his skill, pace and goal scoring ability. I would hope that the club will
have seen enough to agree a deal for the young goal scoring winger, but we
shall have to see? It would seem that Christian Montano has earnt a new
cotract with the club, so it remains to be seen if there is room for both of
them at the club?
Finally, a word on Sam Baldock's position. There are various rumours that
the club will either sell Baldock or put him out on loan next season. The
strongest speculation is that Baldock's future is tied up with West Ham's
negotiations for Palace's Wilfred Zaha. The story is that Palace want
Baldock on a permanent deal, in part-exchange for Zaha. While the Hammers
are offering a higher fee for Zaha and Baldock on a one year loan. I could
certainly see West Ham being tempted to sacrifice Baldock in order to land a
player of Zaha's ability, but it all depends how highly Allardyce and co
rate Baldock's potential. We shall see, but there is little doubt that
Baldock would benefit from a season of regular football at Championship
level. It would probably answer many of the questions about his potential,
but if a part-exchange deal was the only way that we could land Zaha, would
that force the club's hand?
SJ. Chandos.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sport Football Transfer News QPR transfer news
By Brian McNally 1 Comment 9 Jun 2012 21:30
Tug of War: Hughes and Allardyce battle for Bhoys star
The Mirror
London rivals Queen's Park Rangers and West Ham United are set to bid for
Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama. The 20-year-old Kenyan international has
stunned the Scottish Premier League champions by telling them that he wants
to test himself in England's top-flight after a successful first season at
Parkhead. But Celtic will slap a £7million fee on Wanyama, a bargain
£900,000 buy from Belgian outfit Beerschot AC last summer, as he still has
three years to run on his contract. Now QPR's Mark Hughes and Hammers boss
Sam Allardyce will go to head-to-head to try and lure him to the Capital.
Wanyama's preferred position is central midfield anchor man but he also
starred in defence when Celtic boss Neil Lennon used him as a centre back.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Going Green: West Brom in the hunt for keeper
Now the Hawthorns outfit join a long list of clubs courting West Ham's out
of contract stopper
The Mirror
Steve Clarke wants West Brom to join the cluster of clubs chasing England
goalkeeper Robert Green. New boss Clarke starts work at The Hawthorns
tomorrow knowing he has to sort out a replacement for Ben Foster, after
his loan spell from Birmingham. Albion fear they can't afford the £5m fee
that their Championship neighbours will be seeking and won't be able to
match the wages Foster will be offered by Queen's Park Rangers. So Green,
available on a free transfer from West Ham, is the answer. Newly-promoted
Southampton are also keen on the 32-year-old, but Clarke worked closely with
him during his time as No2 to Gianfranco Zola at Upton Park. He believes he
can convince Green that Albion can build on last season's top 10 finish.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jussi the man for the Hammers
Football365
Jussi Jaaskelainen has rejected Bolton's new contract offer, and will link
up with old boss Sam Allardyce at West Ham, according to reports. The
Icelandic stopper has reportedly penned a two-year deal at Upton Park, after
rejecting the Wanderer's offer to stay in Lancashire on less money,
according to reports in the Daily Mirror.
The veteran keeper is set to leave the Reebok stadium after 15 years with
the Trotters, where he has made over 500 appearances in all competitions.
Allardyce has chosen Jaaskelainen to replace the outgoing England goalkeeper
Robert Green, who failed to agree a new deal with the Hammers. Bolton boss
Owen Coyle will now look at several options to give competition to current
number one Adam Bogdan, with Leed's Andy Lonergan a reported target.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Saturday, June 9
Daily WHUFC News - 9th June 2012
Frank backs Big Sam to flourish
WHUFC.com
Frank McAvennie believes Sam Allardyce is the perfect manager to lead the
Hammers in the Premier League
08.06.2012
West Ham United great Frank McAvennie believes Sam Allardyce will help the
Hammers to consolidate their place in the Barclays Premier League next
season.
McAvennie, who was back at the Boleyn Ground recently to host his annual
11-a-side Tournament, believes Big Sam has the experience and knowledge
required to ensure his beloved West Ham don't spend next season battling
against relegation. Speaking exclusively to whufc.com. the Scot was also
delighted to meet so many smiling supporters still enjoying Saturday's
npower Championship Play-Off final win at Wembley.
It's a good time to be a West Ham United fan, isn't it Frank?
FMc - It's a great time! I came down here for my tournament but I couldn't
make it down for the final, so I watched it on TV. We didn't play too well
but we won and Big Sam is happy, I'm happy and everyone is happy. It'll be a
good summer for everyone. It's great for me and my tournament. I had three
tournaments on the Wednesday and played and scored in the morning! It was
brilliant. We won 1-0 and Macca did it again! It was the first time my team
had won in about five years! We played against some Spurs fans and I got a
few kicks, but it was worth it. I played for a team of Celtic fans who came
down from Scotland too, which was fun but tiring. Never mind, though, I'll
get by!
So, did you watch the final at home and hide behind the sofa when Blackpool
equalised?
FMc - I spent the whole day watching West Ham at home. I watched the whole
game, I suffered it! It was worth it. They had a couple of chances but over
the course of the season we deserved to go up and Blackpool didn't. I'm
happy. We didn't play too well. Blackpool were the better side, but
sometimes to win trophies you need luck and we rode ours! Over the course of
the season, I thought we deserved to go up. We beat Blackpool twice and the
way we played against Cardiff City [in the Play-Off semi-finals] was enough
to show me we deserved to go up. If you asked West Ham fans if they wanted
to go up automatically or if they could guarantee going up in the Play-Offs,
they would rather go through the Play-Offs and have a day out at Wembley. It
was a nerve-wracking time for sure. West Ham is a Premier League club and
Big Sam is at home in the Premier League so I'm looking forward to see what
he brings to the table next year.
What do West Ham United need to do next to consolidate their position in the
Barclays Premier League?
FMc - I think everyone knows we have got to spend a bit of money and bring
in some quality players. We have got to bring in good players because we
have got the nucleus of a good side. I like the boy [James] Tomkins, I think
he is an excellent player. There are a few boys who Big Sam can build his
team around so I'm looking forward to seeing who he'll bring in. Jack
Collison has been playing well and Mark Noble has been running miles for us.
I went to see Sam a lot when he was in charge at Bolton and he brought some
quality players in. He knows what he is doing. He said he was going to get
us out of the Championship and he's done it. Now we can build for future and
consolidate because if we are going to the Olympic Stadium then we need to
stay in the Premier League.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Pre-season details confirmed
WHUFC.com
Ticket prices for trips to Southend United, Colchester United and Ipswich
Town have been finalised
08.06.2012
Ticket details for West Ham United's pre-season matches at Southend United,
Colchester United and Ipswich Town have now been confirmed. The Hammers will
travel down the A13 to take on npower League Two side Southend on Saturday
14 July before heading up the A12 to face npower League One outfit
Colchester United a week later on Saturday 21 July.
After spending a week in Germany, the squad will return to England and head
for Portman Road to take on the npower Championship Tractor Boys on Saturday
4 August. All three fixtures will kick-off at 3pm.
Paul Sturrock's Shrimpers enjoyed a decent 2011/12 season, finishing fourth
in the table and just a point shy of automatic promotion. Southend were
beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Crewe Alexandra in the Play-Off semi-finals.
John Williams' Colchester also had a productive campaign last term,
finishing in an impressive tenth position in League One, while Paul Jewell's
Ipswich did the double over West Ham on their way to finishing 15th in the
Championship table.
West Ham supporters have been allocated 2,100 tickets for the visit to Roots
Hall, 1,700 for the Club's first-ever trip to the Weston Homes Community
Stadium and up to 4,000 for the journey to Suffolk.
With tickets starting from as little as £10 for Adult Season Ticket holders
and £15 for non-Season Ticket holders, all three fixtures are set to see
high demand following the Hammers' promotion to the Barclays Premier League.
Full details of for the Southend match can be found here, information
regarding the Colchester fixture can be found here, while Ipswich ticket
details can be found here.
Supporters planning to travel to Germany to watch the prestige pre-season
fixture at 2.Bundesliga side SG Dynamo Dresden on Friday 27 July can
purchase tickets for the game at the Glucksgas Arena by clicking here.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Barrera starts World Cup quest
WHUFC.com
Pablo Barrera's Mexico start their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign
against Guyana tonight
08.06.2012
Pablo Barrera will hope to start when Mexico host Guyana in Mexico City in
their opening 2014 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF third round Group B qualifying
fixture this evening. The West Ham United winger has been a regular for El
Tri in recent weeks, starting victories over Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Brazil in the United States at the end of May and beginning of June. Barrera
has earned 47 senior caps for Mexico since making his debut at the age of 20
in a friendly meeting with Guatemala in October 2007, scoring six goals. He
appeared three times at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa and
was part of the squads which won the 2009 and 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cups.
Mexico are seeking to qualify for their 15th FIFA World Cup finals, having
reached the tournament every time it has been held since 1994. Guyana, who
feature former Newcastle United striker Carl Cort up front, have never
reached the tournament. After Friday's visit of Guyana, Jose Manuel de la
Torre's side travel to El Salvador on 12 June and Costa Rica 7 September
before welcoming the latter on 11 September. The third round concludes with
a trip to Guyana on 12 October and the visit of El Salvador on 16 October.
The CONCACAF region also contains previous FIFA World Cup finals
participants United States, Jamaica and Canada, as well as 2010 FIFA World
Cup qualifiers Honduras. The top two nations in each of three third-round
groups will qualify for the fourth round group-stage, where six teams will
battle for three automatic qualifying places and one intercontinental
play-off berth against the first-place Oceania side - likely to be Winston
Reid's New Zealand.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers eye full back
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 8th June 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham have made an enquiry into the availability of Charlton Player of
the Year Chris Solly. The 21-year-old right-sided defender was a regular
fixture in Chris Powell's League One-winning side last season and made 48
appearances for the Addicks as they romped to the third division title.
KUMB.com understands that the Hammers approached Athletic earlier in the
week with view to taking Solly on a permanent basis - however Charlton are
keen on taking the out-of-favour Sam Baldock to the Valley in part-exchange.
Rochester-born Solly made his debut for Charlton at the age of 18 on the
final day of the 2008/09 season, but it was only when regular right-back
Carl Jenkinson fell out of favour in March 2011 that he became a regular
member of the first team. Also named as Young Player of the Year by the
club's management team, Solly is the first Charlton player to win both
accolades in the same season since Addicks legend Richard Rufus back in
1995. Meanwhile the Hammers are understood to have been similarly frustrated
in their purported interest in Crystal Palace winger Wilfred Zaha. The
highly-rated 19-year-old is said to have been the target of interest from
West Ham but Palace are not thought to be interested in parting company with
the Ivorian unless a substantial transfer fee is involved. Zaha, who had
been watched by a number of Premier League teams in recent months is
understood to be valued around the £10million mark by the Palace board.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Something old, something new
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 7th June 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are set to confirm the signing of two new players within the next
72 hours. Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and young full-back Nathan
Mabi-Mavila are both on the verge as being announced as the club's latest
recruits having agreed terms within the past few days. The veteran Finnish
goalkeeper agreed terms last week and earlier this week completed a medical
ahead of his free transfer from relegated Bolton Wanderers. Meanwhile news
of the arrival of Mabi-Mavila - who is less than half the age of his fellow
new Hammer - was announced on the KUMB Forum earlier this afternoon.
The young left-sided full-back, who arrives at West Ham from Wycombe
Wanderers' youth team confirmed confirmed via his Twitter account yesterday
that a deal had been struck, although heis yet to undergo a medical. Having
featured for the Chairboys in the Youth Alliance South East Conference last
season, West Ham have high hopes that Mavila can make the step up in class.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Top Twenty West Ham Transfer Rumours
By Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die
So, here is a roundup of the latest transfer rumours from the papers,
Bradley Palmer and Clunge. I do think some false hares are being set
running. But that's all the fun of the transfer window. The one thing we do
know is that eight or nine new players will be coming in and I'd bet there
will be the odd sale as well...
1. We're apparently in negotiation with Crystal Palace for Zaha and are
offering Sam Baldock on a one year loan, as part of a £5 million deal.
2. Hull City are set to table a £3.5 million bid for Sam Baldock.
3. We are bidding for Yakubu and/or Kenwyne Jones.
4. We are bidding for Real Madrid reserve strike Joselu, plus an unnamed
foreign striker, according to Jack Sullivan.
5. Tottenham want to steal, sorry sign sign James Tomkins for £5 million.
6. QPR, West Brom, Southampton and Tottenham are all interested in Rob
Green.
7. If Rob Green leaves, West Ham will try to sign Paul Robinson, giving us
an impressive trio of goalkeepers.
8. We are looking at Leeds winger Rob Snodgrass as an alternative to Zaha.
9. Matt Jarvis and Michael Kightly from Wolves are said to be of interest.
10. Charlton full back Chris Solly is said by KUMB to interest the Hammers,
but Charlton are demanding Sam Baldock in part exchange.
11. Sixteen year old Wycombe left back Nathan Mabi-Mavila is close to
signing for West Ham.
12. Yossi Benayoun could return to Upton Park, or, depending on who you
believe, he is heading for Ajax.
13. Celtic striker Gary Hooper and Rangers forward Stephen Naismith are also
said to interest West Ham, as does Norwich hitman Grant Holt.
14. Demba Ba .... no, it's really stupid to even contemplate it, but some
people believe he may come back. And pigs might fly.
15. Argentine International Claudio Yacob is said to be interesting West
Ham, Arsenal and Manchester United.
16. Loic Remy, a previous target for West Ham and Spurs is said to be the
subject of a £12 million bid from West Ham. Er, right....
17. Freddie Sears will be sold, possibly to Colchester United.
18. Christopher Samba is a defensive target. He is apparently not happy in
Russia.
19. Nicolas Anelka wants to join us but won't take a cut in wages from £200k
to £40k a week. Who'd have thunk?
20. If Sam Baldock goes, we will try to sign Jordan Rhodes.
How many of those are true? I'd guess 3 or four of them.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WEST HAM AS A DESTINATION MAY NOT BE AN ENTIRELY BAD IDEA
Date: 8th June 2012 at 7:33 pm Transfer Tavern
Yossi Benayoun is seemingly on the move from Chelsea but possibly not to
Arsenal, as West Ham and Ajax eye up returns for the Israeli star. Benayoun
is out of favour at Stamford Bridge and is set to continue his career
elsewhere, though a move to Arsenal, where he was on loan last season, seems
unlikely as progress over a permanent deal has been slow.
So now it seems Benayoun is firing up the Delorean and heading back to one
of his former clubs – West Ham, Ajax and even Maccabi Haifa want their
former play-maker to return after some years away.
West Ham's return to the Premier League has led to a number of established
Premier League players being linked with a move to Upton Park – from Jussi
Jaaskelainen to an audacious move for Nicolas Anelka. Now a move for
Benayoun is being mooted, which is a sign that Allardyce wants more
creativity from his side and a conscious attempt to shake the 'long ball'
tag from his name.
Being based in London with Arsenal and Chelsea in recent times, I'm sure
that Benayoun would relish a return to Upton Park but also the opportunity
to further his career whilst staying in London.
It makes a lot of sense for Benayoun to return to West Ham at this point in
his career, but I'm sure that moves back to Ajax and Maccabi Haifa will also
appeal to him – particularly Ajax where he could end up replacing the superb
young talent Christian Eriksen, who is attracting interest from many of the
world's best sides.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham United closing in on Bolton Wanderers keeper Jaaskelainen
by Kieran Evans. Published Fri 08 Jun 2012 14:00, Last updated: 2012-06-08
ClickLancashire.com
According to reports Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper will become a West Ham
United player within the next 24 hours. With Rob Green leaving Upton Park on
a free transfer, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce has been on the lookout for a
quality replacement. Big Sam has had his eye on the veteran Finn who he
worked with when he was manager at Wanderers and talkSPORT claims he is set
to get his man. The 37-year-old is set to end his 15-year association with
Wanderers after turning down a new contract as he is keen to stay in the
Premier League.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers to test Hughton's resolve
by Setanta Staff , 08 June 2012
setanta.com
West Ham will reportedly test new Norwich boss Chris Hughton's desire to
keep striker Grant Holt by making an improved bid. The newly-promoted
Hammers have reportedly already had one bid snubbed for the 31-year-old
hitman, who impressed in his debut Premier League campaign for the Canaries
with 15 goals. And, while Holt made it clear that he would like to quit
Carrow Road before Paul Lambert departed to take over the managerial reins
at Aston Villa, it seems he is still intent on moving on to pastures new
this summer after his agent Lee Payne claimed the club have refused to give
him a new three-year deal. Norwich have rejected Holt's initial transfer
request, but it seems West Ham will return to make an improved offer in an
effort to prise the player away from the Norfolk outfit. In the meantime,
53-year-old Hughton has stressed that it is aim to ensure Holt is still a
Norwich player when the new season kicks off in August. "He is a quality
player, no doubt about that," Hughton said. "With his record - to score the
goals he did last season - there wouldn't be any manager coming in who
wouldn't want to keep a player of that quality. "I've only just come through
the door a few minutes ago so I have not had the opportunity to speak with
him but that will be one of the priorities. "He is contracted to this club.
He won player of the season for the last three seasons so I absolutely would
like him here." It is also being suggested that if Holt does press for a
move then Hughton could turn to his former club Birmingham to snap up
towering striker Nikola Zigic as a replacement.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Frank McAvennie believes Sam Allardyce is the perfect manager to lead the
Hammers in the Premier League
08.06.2012
West Ham United great Frank McAvennie believes Sam Allardyce will help the
Hammers to consolidate their place in the Barclays Premier League next
season.
McAvennie, who was back at the Boleyn Ground recently to host his annual
11-a-side Tournament, believes Big Sam has the experience and knowledge
required to ensure his beloved West Ham don't spend next season battling
against relegation. Speaking exclusively to whufc.com. the Scot was also
delighted to meet so many smiling supporters still enjoying Saturday's
npower Championship Play-Off final win at Wembley.
It's a good time to be a West Ham United fan, isn't it Frank?
FMc - It's a great time! I came down here for my tournament but I couldn't
make it down for the final, so I watched it on TV. We didn't play too well
but we won and Big Sam is happy, I'm happy and everyone is happy. It'll be a
good summer for everyone. It's great for me and my tournament. I had three
tournaments on the Wednesday and played and scored in the morning! It was
brilliant. We won 1-0 and Macca did it again! It was the first time my team
had won in about five years! We played against some Spurs fans and I got a
few kicks, but it was worth it. I played for a team of Celtic fans who came
down from Scotland too, which was fun but tiring. Never mind, though, I'll
get by!
So, did you watch the final at home and hide behind the sofa when Blackpool
equalised?
FMc - I spent the whole day watching West Ham at home. I watched the whole
game, I suffered it! It was worth it. They had a couple of chances but over
the course of the season we deserved to go up and Blackpool didn't. I'm
happy. We didn't play too well. Blackpool were the better side, but
sometimes to win trophies you need luck and we rode ours! Over the course of
the season, I thought we deserved to go up. We beat Blackpool twice and the
way we played against Cardiff City [in the Play-Off semi-finals] was enough
to show me we deserved to go up. If you asked West Ham fans if they wanted
to go up automatically or if they could guarantee going up in the Play-Offs,
they would rather go through the Play-Offs and have a day out at Wembley. It
was a nerve-wracking time for sure. West Ham is a Premier League club and
Big Sam is at home in the Premier League so I'm looking forward to see what
he brings to the table next year.
What do West Ham United need to do next to consolidate their position in the
Barclays Premier League?
FMc - I think everyone knows we have got to spend a bit of money and bring
in some quality players. We have got to bring in good players because we
have got the nucleus of a good side. I like the boy [James] Tomkins, I think
he is an excellent player. There are a few boys who Big Sam can build his
team around so I'm looking forward to seeing who he'll bring in. Jack
Collison has been playing well and Mark Noble has been running miles for us.
I went to see Sam a lot when he was in charge at Bolton and he brought some
quality players in. He knows what he is doing. He said he was going to get
us out of the Championship and he's done it. Now we can build for future and
consolidate because if we are going to the Olympic Stadium then we need to
stay in the Premier League.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Pre-season details confirmed
WHUFC.com
Ticket prices for trips to Southend United, Colchester United and Ipswich
Town have been finalised
08.06.2012
Ticket details for West Ham United's pre-season matches at Southend United,
Colchester United and Ipswich Town have now been confirmed. The Hammers will
travel down the A13 to take on npower League Two side Southend on Saturday
14 July before heading up the A12 to face npower League One outfit
Colchester United a week later on Saturday 21 July.
After spending a week in Germany, the squad will return to England and head
for Portman Road to take on the npower Championship Tractor Boys on Saturday
4 August. All three fixtures will kick-off at 3pm.
Paul Sturrock's Shrimpers enjoyed a decent 2011/12 season, finishing fourth
in the table and just a point shy of automatic promotion. Southend were
beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Crewe Alexandra in the Play-Off semi-finals.
John Williams' Colchester also had a productive campaign last term,
finishing in an impressive tenth position in League One, while Paul Jewell's
Ipswich did the double over West Ham on their way to finishing 15th in the
Championship table.
West Ham supporters have been allocated 2,100 tickets for the visit to Roots
Hall, 1,700 for the Club's first-ever trip to the Weston Homes Community
Stadium and up to 4,000 for the journey to Suffolk.
With tickets starting from as little as £10 for Adult Season Ticket holders
and £15 for non-Season Ticket holders, all three fixtures are set to see
high demand following the Hammers' promotion to the Barclays Premier League.
Full details of for the Southend match can be found here, information
regarding the Colchester fixture can be found here, while Ipswich ticket
details can be found here.
Supporters planning to travel to Germany to watch the prestige pre-season
fixture at 2.Bundesliga side SG Dynamo Dresden on Friday 27 July can
purchase tickets for the game at the Glucksgas Arena by clicking here.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Barrera starts World Cup quest
WHUFC.com
Pablo Barrera's Mexico start their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign
against Guyana tonight
08.06.2012
Pablo Barrera will hope to start when Mexico host Guyana in Mexico City in
their opening 2014 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF third round Group B qualifying
fixture this evening. The West Ham United winger has been a regular for El
Tri in recent weeks, starting victories over Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Brazil in the United States at the end of May and beginning of June. Barrera
has earned 47 senior caps for Mexico since making his debut at the age of 20
in a friendly meeting with Guatemala in October 2007, scoring six goals. He
appeared three times at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa and
was part of the squads which won the 2009 and 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cups.
Mexico are seeking to qualify for their 15th FIFA World Cup finals, having
reached the tournament every time it has been held since 1994. Guyana, who
feature former Newcastle United striker Carl Cort up front, have never
reached the tournament. After Friday's visit of Guyana, Jose Manuel de la
Torre's side travel to El Salvador on 12 June and Costa Rica 7 September
before welcoming the latter on 11 September. The third round concludes with
a trip to Guyana on 12 October and the visit of El Salvador on 16 October.
The CONCACAF region also contains previous FIFA World Cup finals
participants United States, Jamaica and Canada, as well as 2010 FIFA World
Cup qualifiers Honduras. The top two nations in each of three third-round
groups will qualify for the fourth round group-stage, where six teams will
battle for three automatic qualifying places and one intercontinental
play-off berth against the first-place Oceania side - likely to be Winston
Reid's New Zealand.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers eye full back
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 8th June 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham have made an enquiry into the availability of Charlton Player of
the Year Chris Solly. The 21-year-old right-sided defender was a regular
fixture in Chris Powell's League One-winning side last season and made 48
appearances for the Addicks as they romped to the third division title.
KUMB.com understands that the Hammers approached Athletic earlier in the
week with view to taking Solly on a permanent basis - however Charlton are
keen on taking the out-of-favour Sam Baldock to the Valley in part-exchange.
Rochester-born Solly made his debut for Charlton at the age of 18 on the
final day of the 2008/09 season, but it was only when regular right-back
Carl Jenkinson fell out of favour in March 2011 that he became a regular
member of the first team. Also named as Young Player of the Year by the
club's management team, Solly is the first Charlton player to win both
accolades in the same season since Addicks legend Richard Rufus back in
1995. Meanwhile the Hammers are understood to have been similarly frustrated
in their purported interest in Crystal Palace winger Wilfred Zaha. The
highly-rated 19-year-old is said to have been the target of interest from
West Ham but Palace are not thought to be interested in parting company with
the Ivorian unless a substantial transfer fee is involved. Zaha, who had
been watched by a number of Premier League teams in recent months is
understood to be valued around the £10million mark by the Palace board.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Something old, something new
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 7th June 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are set to confirm the signing of two new players within the next
72 hours. Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and young full-back Nathan
Mabi-Mavila are both on the verge as being announced as the club's latest
recruits having agreed terms within the past few days. The veteran Finnish
goalkeeper agreed terms last week and earlier this week completed a medical
ahead of his free transfer from relegated Bolton Wanderers. Meanwhile news
of the arrival of Mabi-Mavila - who is less than half the age of his fellow
new Hammer - was announced on the KUMB Forum earlier this afternoon.
The young left-sided full-back, who arrives at West Ham from Wycombe
Wanderers' youth team confirmed confirmed via his Twitter account yesterday
that a deal had been struck, although heis yet to undergo a medical. Having
featured for the Chairboys in the Youth Alliance South East Conference last
season, West Ham have high hopes that Mavila can make the step up in class.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Top Twenty West Ham Transfer Rumours
By Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die
So, here is a roundup of the latest transfer rumours from the papers,
Bradley Palmer and Clunge. I do think some false hares are being set
running. But that's all the fun of the transfer window. The one thing we do
know is that eight or nine new players will be coming in and I'd bet there
will be the odd sale as well...
1. We're apparently in negotiation with Crystal Palace for Zaha and are
offering Sam Baldock on a one year loan, as part of a £5 million deal.
2. Hull City are set to table a £3.5 million bid for Sam Baldock.
3. We are bidding for Yakubu and/or Kenwyne Jones.
4. We are bidding for Real Madrid reserve strike Joselu, plus an unnamed
foreign striker, according to Jack Sullivan.
5. Tottenham want to steal, sorry sign sign James Tomkins for £5 million.
6. QPR, West Brom, Southampton and Tottenham are all interested in Rob
Green.
7. If Rob Green leaves, West Ham will try to sign Paul Robinson, giving us
an impressive trio of goalkeepers.
8. We are looking at Leeds winger Rob Snodgrass as an alternative to Zaha.
9. Matt Jarvis and Michael Kightly from Wolves are said to be of interest.
10. Charlton full back Chris Solly is said by KUMB to interest the Hammers,
but Charlton are demanding Sam Baldock in part exchange.
11. Sixteen year old Wycombe left back Nathan Mabi-Mavila is close to
signing for West Ham.
12. Yossi Benayoun could return to Upton Park, or, depending on who you
believe, he is heading for Ajax.
13. Celtic striker Gary Hooper and Rangers forward Stephen Naismith are also
said to interest West Ham, as does Norwich hitman Grant Holt.
14. Demba Ba .... no, it's really stupid to even contemplate it, but some
people believe he may come back. And pigs might fly.
15. Argentine International Claudio Yacob is said to be interesting West
Ham, Arsenal and Manchester United.
16. Loic Remy, a previous target for West Ham and Spurs is said to be the
subject of a £12 million bid from West Ham. Er, right....
17. Freddie Sears will be sold, possibly to Colchester United.
18. Christopher Samba is a defensive target. He is apparently not happy in
Russia.
19. Nicolas Anelka wants to join us but won't take a cut in wages from £200k
to £40k a week. Who'd have thunk?
20. If Sam Baldock goes, we will try to sign Jordan Rhodes.
How many of those are true? I'd guess 3 or four of them.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
WEST HAM AS A DESTINATION MAY NOT BE AN ENTIRELY BAD IDEA
Date: 8th June 2012 at 7:33 pm Transfer Tavern
Yossi Benayoun is seemingly on the move from Chelsea but possibly not to
Arsenal, as West Ham and Ajax eye up returns for the Israeli star. Benayoun
is out of favour at Stamford Bridge and is set to continue his career
elsewhere, though a move to Arsenal, where he was on loan last season, seems
unlikely as progress over a permanent deal has been slow.
So now it seems Benayoun is firing up the Delorean and heading back to one
of his former clubs – West Ham, Ajax and even Maccabi Haifa want their
former play-maker to return after some years away.
West Ham's return to the Premier League has led to a number of established
Premier League players being linked with a move to Upton Park – from Jussi
Jaaskelainen to an audacious move for Nicolas Anelka. Now a move for
Benayoun is being mooted, which is a sign that Allardyce wants more
creativity from his side and a conscious attempt to shake the 'long ball'
tag from his name.
Being based in London with Arsenal and Chelsea in recent times, I'm sure
that Benayoun would relish a return to Upton Park but also the opportunity
to further his career whilst staying in London.
It makes a lot of sense for Benayoun to return to West Ham at this point in
his career, but I'm sure that moves back to Ajax and Maccabi Haifa will also
appeal to him – particularly Ajax where he could end up replacing the superb
young talent Christian Eriksen, who is attracting interest from many of the
world's best sides.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham United closing in on Bolton Wanderers keeper Jaaskelainen
by Kieran Evans. Published Fri 08 Jun 2012 14:00, Last updated: 2012-06-08
ClickLancashire.com
According to reports Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper will become a West Ham
United player within the next 24 hours. With Rob Green leaving Upton Park on
a free transfer, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce has been on the lookout for a
quality replacement. Big Sam has had his eye on the veteran Finn who he
worked with when he was manager at Wanderers and talkSPORT claims he is set
to get his man. The 37-year-old is set to end his 15-year association with
Wanderers after turning down a new contract as he is keen to stay in the
Premier League.
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Hammers to test Hughton's resolve
by Setanta Staff , 08 June 2012
setanta.com
West Ham will reportedly test new Norwich boss Chris Hughton's desire to
keep striker Grant Holt by making an improved bid. The newly-promoted
Hammers have reportedly already had one bid snubbed for the 31-year-old
hitman, who impressed in his debut Premier League campaign for the Canaries
with 15 goals. And, while Holt made it clear that he would like to quit
Carrow Road before Paul Lambert departed to take over the managerial reins
at Aston Villa, it seems he is still intent on moving on to pastures new
this summer after his agent Lee Payne claimed the club have refused to give
him a new three-year deal. Norwich have rejected Holt's initial transfer
request, but it seems West Ham will return to make an improved offer in an
effort to prise the player away from the Norfolk outfit. In the meantime,
53-year-old Hughton has stressed that it is aim to ensure Holt is still a
Norwich player when the new season kicks off in August. "He is a quality
player, no doubt about that," Hughton said. "With his record - to score the
goals he did last season - there wouldn't be any manager coming in who
wouldn't want to keep a player of that quality. "I've only just come through
the door a few minutes ago so I have not had the opportunity to speak with
him but that will be one of the priorities. "He is contracted to this club.
He won player of the season for the last three seasons so I absolutely would
like him here." It is also being suggested that if Holt does press for a
move then Hughton could turn to his former club Birmingham to snap up
towering striker Nikola Zigic as a replacement.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Friday, June 8
Daily WHUFC News - 8thJune 2012
Hammers heading for Russia
WHUFC.com
The Development Squad will take part in the 2012 VTB Lev Yashin Cup in Moscow
07.06.2012
West Ham United's Development Squad are to visit Russia for a prestigious pre-season tournament. Ian Hendon and his players have been invited to take part in the 2012 VTB Lev Yashin Cup, which will be hosted by Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow. The Hammers are one of six teams taking part in the competition, which will take place between 12-15 July in the Russian capital - the other five being hosts Dynamo, Spanish club Malaga, German side Freiburg, Turkish outfit Besiktas and the Mexico Under-19 national team. Named in honour of the legendary Dynamo and Soviet Union goalkeeper Lev Yashin, the tournament was launched in 2008 and is now in its fifth year. James Saban from West Ham's famed Academy visited Moscow earlier this week to represent the Club at a press conference ahead of the 2012 competition, which will see group-stage matches held at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex and the final take place at the Yantar Stadium in Strogino.
"It is a huge honour for the Club to be involved in such a prestigious tournament and I know everybody is looking forward to coming to Moscow next month," said Saban. "Coming to Russia will be a fantastic new experience for West Ham United." West Ham and the other participating clubs were all welcomed to Moscow by Dynamo's Vice-President and Executive Director Yuri Lyubimov. "We hope that all participants will show us an interesting and informative game, gain new friends and will return to Russia [for the FIFA World Cup finals] in 2018 as members of their national teams," said Lyubimov. "I wish on behalf of Dynamo to thank all the teams that have agreed to participate in this tournament. Good luck to you all and may the best team win!"
The draw for the tournament will take place on 3 July, with the group-stage kicking-off at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex on Thursday 12 July at 7pm local time.
West Ham have never played a competitive fixture in Russia, but the Hammers did visit the old Soviet Union twice for UEFA Cup Winners' Cup fixtures, transferring in Moscow en route to Ararat Yerevan in Armenia and Dinamo Tbilisi in Georgia in 1975/76 and 1980/81 respectively.
For more information about the 2012 VTB Lev Yashin Cup, click here.
2012 VTB Lev Yashin Cup schedule
Thursday 12 July
6pm-6.45pm - Opening ceremony at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
7pm - First group-stage matches at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
Friday 13 July
6pm - Second group-stage matches at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
Saturday 14 July
6pm - Third group-stage matches at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
Sunday 15 July
3pm - Fifth/sixth-place match at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
3pm -Third/fourth-place match at Yantar Stadium
6pm - Final at Yantar Stadium
8pm - Closing ceremony
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Dresden ticket details confirmed
WHUFc.com
West Ham United fans can purchase tickets for the 27 July trip to SG Dynamo Dresden now
07.06.2012
West Ham United fans can purchase tickets for the pre-season match at German club SG Dynamo Dresden now. The Hammers will travel to the Glucksgas Stadium for what promises to be a mouth-watering fixture against the 2.Bundesliga side on Friday 27 July, with kick-off at 8.30pm local time. West Ham supporters have been allocated the S-Gast terrace at the Glucksgas Stadium, with all standing tickets priced at €10 with a €1 convenience fee. Tickets must be bought using a credit card, which may incur an extra charge. Once purchased, fans can choose to receive an email to print out their tickets or a different delivery method. Demand for the fixture has already been huge in Germany, with Dresden club members having already snapped up more than 8,500 tickets. The club had an average home gate of 26,215 during the 2011/12 season. The match is one of three taking place during West Ham's pre-season trip to Germany. Sam Allardyce and his squad head to mainland Europe on 23 July before taking on 3.Liga club FC Rot-Weiss Erfurt (25 July), Dresden and FC Energie Cottbus (29 July). The Hammers have a number of links with Germany, having beaten TSV 1860 Munich 2-0 in the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup final at Wembley and been represented by German international Thomas Hitzlsperger. While they have never met Rot-Weiss Erfurt or Energie Cottbus previously, the Hammers met Dresden in August 1986, when John Lyall's side defeated the then-East German giants 2-1 at the FC Groningen Tournament in the Netherlands through goals from Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie. Twenty-six years later and the two sides will meet again. The match is part of Dresden's 'Summer of Champions' series, which will also see Spanish giants FC Barcelona travel to Hamburger SV as part of the German club's 125th anniversary celebrations.
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Hammer Hearts United in support
WHUFC.com
A Germany-based supporters' club cannot wait to welcome West Ham United in July
07.06.2012
The Hammer Hearts Deutschland cannot wait to welcome West Ham United to Germany in July. The supporters' club is one of three in Germany and hundreds formed to cheer on the Hammers from all over the world. West Ham are set to travel to the east of the country for three pre-season matches against 3.Liga club FC Rot-Weiss Erfurt (25 July) and 2.Bundesliga sides Dynamo Dresden (27 July) and FC Energie Cottbus (29 July). The Hammers have many links with Germany, having beaten TSV 1860 Munich 2-0 in the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup final at Wembley and been represented by German international Thomas Hitzlsperger. While they have never met Rot-Weiss Erfurt or Energie Cottbus previously, the Hammers met Dynamo Dresden in August 1986, when John Lyall's side defeated the then-East German giants 2-1 at the FC Groningen Tournament in the Netherlands through goals from Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie. whufc.com spoke to Hammer Hearts spokesman Dennis Muller about the Hammers' visit to his homeland and the club's hopes for the 2012/13 Barclays Premier League campaign.
Why West Ham United?
DM - Because we love it. It is a passion and you cannot learn it. You have to feel it. Come on Claret and Blue Army!
What is your reaction to the news that West Ham United will be coming to Germany in July?
DM - It is a nice opportunity for us to see our team playing in our country. Every one of us is looking forward to this games with a heart full of joy. But, in fact, nothing can beat the Upton Park feeling or following West Ham over land and sea.
How many Germany-based West Ham United supporters do you expect to attend the matches at Dynamo Dresden, Energie Cottbus and Rot-Weiss Erfurt?
DM - We have really no clue how many will attend to the matches, but it is sure that a lot of members of our supporters' club will be there to support the team we love from London. We have many people in Germany who like the English football and especially West Ham.
When did the Hammer Hearts Deutschland last visit the Boleyn Ground to watch a match?
DM - The last match we watched at the Boleyn Ground was the Cardiff City Play-Off semi-final. Last season some of us had visited Upton Park to support the team in nearly every home game. We also support our team in away matches. This season we took part at Brighton and Hove Albion, Millwall, Ipswich Town, Peterborough United, Cardiff City, Burnley and our last away game at Wembley against Blackpool!-
Did many fans get together to watch the Championship Play-Off final at Wembley?
DM - Yeah, four of us, Pascal, Dieter, Michael and me flew to London to watch it live with our friends from Essex at Wembley, while many others had watched it together in pubs in Germany. It was a wonderful day out at Wembley and it has delivered so much fun, a fantastic atmosphere and an unbelievable feeling which you can't buy with all the money in the world. In one word, it was wonderful.
What are your expectations for the 2012/13 season in the Premier League?
DM - We expect nothing special. We hope that we hold our place in the league and can beat the Spurs twice. It is for sure that the 2012/13 season will be a tough one. We want to see a team which is fighting and will play aggressive and offensive football. We are back where we belong to. So, keep on fighting West Ham.
Which West Ham United players are the most popular in Germany and why?
DM - Mark Noble, Carlton Cole, Robert Green, James Tomkins... In fact we like everyone from the squad. We are one team on the pitch and in the stands. Don't forget the old ones like Sir Trevor Brooking, Sir Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters, Bobby Moore, Billy Bonds and all the other legends. Bobby Moore is the most popular West Ham United player in Germany.
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Holmes back home
WHUFC.com
Former Hammers winger Matty Holmes is bringing through promising youngsters at AFC Bournemouth
07.06.2012
Matty Holmes may have been forced to hang up his boots early through injury, but he is now attempting to unearth the next big thing at AFC Bournemouth. Holmes, who was welcomed back at the Boleyn Ground by the same West Ham United fans who cheered him down the wing back in the early 1990s during a recent visit to east London, is coaching the schoolboy teams at the npower League One club. Now a youthful-looking 42, Holmes is working alongside former Hammers senior coach Paul Groves, who is now in charge at Dean Court. "It was great to be back five years after my last visit," said Holmes, who was back at the Boleyn for the visit of Reading in March. "Coming in and seeing some of the old fans and having a couple recognise me was wonderful. I'm down in sleepy Bournemouth at the moment and it's miles different than up here."
Holmes was forced to retire from the professional game at the age of 30 in 2000, having suffered a serious leg injury in a tackle two years earlier. After four years playing non-league football with Dorchester Town, the wideman embarked on a coaching career and launched his own soccer school in Dorset. Now, he is working full-time coaching youngsters at AFC Bournemouth - the same club where he started his own career in 1986 and made more than 100 league appearances. "I'm full-time at AFC Bournemouth where I look after the Under-7s up to Under-11s," Holmes told West Ham TV. "It's quite a responsibility developing players for the first team and to push up into the youth team. "It's a wonderful role and it's nice to be full-time in football. I tried to do other things when I retired but didn't quite find the happy medium. "I got offered to go in at Bournemouth and look after the little ones and it's been great passing on my experiences and trying to get the boys to play the way I tried to play at West Ham - the passing game. "They are coming along really well and I'm really enjoying it. I'm quite lucky that I have a role where I can dictate how we play and put a philosophy in place. "You can get them to play out from the back and into midfield and if they lose the ball and a goal that way, we don't care. Obviously we tell them why they have made that mistake, but we want them to play with freedom going forward. "That's the way I like to play because I was quite small and technical and I'll always have that influence if I have this role."
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Prem eyes on Wolves starlet
Fulham, QPR & West Ham eye Ismail
By Pete O'Rourke - Follow me: @skysportspeteo. Last Updated: June 7, 2012 2:56pm
SSN
Sky Sports understands several Premier League clubs are keeping tabs on highly-rated Wolves starlet Zeli Ismail. Ismail, who has come through the ranks at Molineux, is regarded as one of the most exciting talents in England after catching the eye for Wolves and England's youth sides. The talented winger has been talked about since the age of 14 when he burst onto the scene with England's Under 16s at the Milk Cup tournament in Northern Ireland. he likes of Chelsea and Manchester City have been credited with an interest in Ismail in the past and a number of other clubs are also tracking his progress. Ismail is entering the final year of his contract at Wolves and as yet no new deal has been discussed alerting his suitors to his possible availability. The likes of Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham are all thought to be weighing up moves for the skilful midfielder as they look to lure him from Molineux. Wolves would be loath to lose their prize asset, but they could face a fight to keep hold of him if they fail to tie him down to a new deal with Premier League clubs waiting in the wings to snap him up.
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SOUTHAMPTON READY TO SIGN ROBERT GREEN
The Daily Star
8th June 2012 By Daily Star Reporter
SOUTHAMPTON are ready to sign Robert Green, 32, instead of his England Euro 2012 team-mate Jack Butland, 19, to strengthen their keeper options
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West Ham United chase Manchester United and Arsenal target Yacob
by Pat McGatt. Published Thu 07 Jun 2012 18:30, Last updated: 2012-06-07
According to reports West Ham United are interested in Manchester United target Claudio Yacob. The Argentine is a free agent and was linked with Manchester United and Arsenal last season. The Daily Mail claims The Hammers are now interested in 24-year-old who recently played for Racing Club in his homeland.
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West Ham United interested in signing Chelsea and former Arsenal midfielder
Guardian Series
5:17pm Thursday 7th June 2012 in News
West Ham United are reportedly interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun. The Israeli is out of favour at Stamford Bridge after spending last season on loan at Arsenal. The 32-year-old could be interested in a move back to Israel but a switch to Upton Park may also appeal.
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YOSSI BENAYOUN SET FOR WEST HAM RETURN AFTER CHELSEA EXIT?
Express.co.uk
Thursday June 7,2012
By Charlie Dubuck for express.co.uk
YOSSI Benayoun could be set for a return to West Ham as he is expected to announce his departure from Chelsea. The midfielder who is currently on loan at Arsenal has had interest from his previous club West Ham and Dutch Ajax. It has grown increasingly unlikely that the midfielder will be signed by the Gunners and West Ham are hoping that they will be able to convince him to make a move back to the club now they have returned to the Premier League. Benayoun took to Twitter last night and wrote: "I hope I will have some news about my future soon." New West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is keen to bring new talent to the team after their promotion.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham wait to pounce on Chelsea outcast Benayoun and free agent Yacob
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:51, 6 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:51, 6 June 2012
Daily Mail
Yossi Benayoun is expected to announce his departure from Chelsea this week, with West Ham, Ajax and Maccabi Haifa all keen. The Israel midfielder, who spent almost all of last season on loan at Arsenal, posted on Twitter: 'I hope I will have some news about my future soon.' West Ham are interested in Argentina midfielder Claudio Yacob, 24, a free agent after leaving Racing.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
The Development Squad will take part in the 2012 VTB Lev Yashin Cup in Moscow
07.06.2012
West Ham United's Development Squad are to visit Russia for a prestigious pre-season tournament. Ian Hendon and his players have been invited to take part in the 2012 VTB Lev Yashin Cup, which will be hosted by Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow. The Hammers are one of six teams taking part in the competition, which will take place between 12-15 July in the Russian capital - the other five being hosts Dynamo, Spanish club Malaga, German side Freiburg, Turkish outfit Besiktas and the Mexico Under-19 national team. Named in honour of the legendary Dynamo and Soviet Union goalkeeper Lev Yashin, the tournament was launched in 2008 and is now in its fifth year. James Saban from West Ham's famed Academy visited Moscow earlier this week to represent the Club at a press conference ahead of the 2012 competition, which will see group-stage matches held at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex and the final take place at the Yantar Stadium in Strogino.
"It is a huge honour for the Club to be involved in such a prestigious tournament and I know everybody is looking forward to coming to Moscow next month," said Saban. "Coming to Russia will be a fantastic new experience for West Ham United." West Ham and the other participating clubs were all welcomed to Moscow by Dynamo's Vice-President and Executive Director Yuri Lyubimov. "We hope that all participants will show us an interesting and informative game, gain new friends and will return to Russia [for the FIFA World Cup finals] in 2018 as members of their national teams," said Lyubimov. "I wish on behalf of Dynamo to thank all the teams that have agreed to participate in this tournament. Good luck to you all and may the best team win!"
The draw for the tournament will take place on 3 July, with the group-stage kicking-off at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex on Thursday 12 July at 7pm local time.
West Ham have never played a competitive fixture in Russia, but the Hammers did visit the old Soviet Union twice for UEFA Cup Winners' Cup fixtures, transferring in Moscow en route to Ararat Yerevan in Armenia and Dinamo Tbilisi in Georgia in 1975/76 and 1980/81 respectively.
For more information about the 2012 VTB Lev Yashin Cup, click here.
2012 VTB Lev Yashin Cup schedule
Thursday 12 July
6pm-6.45pm - Opening ceremony at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
7pm - First group-stage matches at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
Friday 13 July
6pm - Second group-stage matches at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
Saturday 14 July
6pm - Third group-stage matches at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
Sunday 15 July
3pm - Fifth/sixth-place match at Luzhniki Olympic Complex
3pm -Third/fourth-place match at Yantar Stadium
6pm - Final at Yantar Stadium
8pm - Closing ceremony
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Dresden ticket details confirmed
WHUFc.com
West Ham United fans can purchase tickets for the 27 July trip to SG Dynamo Dresden now
07.06.2012
West Ham United fans can purchase tickets for the pre-season match at German club SG Dynamo Dresden now. The Hammers will travel to the Glucksgas Stadium for what promises to be a mouth-watering fixture against the 2.Bundesliga side on Friday 27 July, with kick-off at 8.30pm local time. West Ham supporters have been allocated the S-Gast terrace at the Glucksgas Stadium, with all standing tickets priced at €10 with a €1 convenience fee. Tickets must be bought using a credit card, which may incur an extra charge. Once purchased, fans can choose to receive an email to print out their tickets or a different delivery method. Demand for the fixture has already been huge in Germany, with Dresden club members having already snapped up more than 8,500 tickets. The club had an average home gate of 26,215 during the 2011/12 season. The match is one of three taking place during West Ham's pre-season trip to Germany. Sam Allardyce and his squad head to mainland Europe on 23 July before taking on 3.Liga club FC Rot-Weiss Erfurt (25 July), Dresden and FC Energie Cottbus (29 July). The Hammers have a number of links with Germany, having beaten TSV 1860 Munich 2-0 in the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup final at Wembley and been represented by German international Thomas Hitzlsperger. While they have never met Rot-Weiss Erfurt or Energie Cottbus previously, the Hammers met Dresden in August 1986, when John Lyall's side defeated the then-East German giants 2-1 at the FC Groningen Tournament in the Netherlands through goals from Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie. Twenty-six years later and the two sides will meet again. The match is part of Dresden's 'Summer of Champions' series, which will also see Spanish giants FC Barcelona travel to Hamburger SV as part of the German club's 125th anniversary celebrations.
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Hammer Hearts United in support
WHUFC.com
A Germany-based supporters' club cannot wait to welcome West Ham United in July
07.06.2012
The Hammer Hearts Deutschland cannot wait to welcome West Ham United to Germany in July. The supporters' club is one of three in Germany and hundreds formed to cheer on the Hammers from all over the world. West Ham are set to travel to the east of the country for three pre-season matches against 3.Liga club FC Rot-Weiss Erfurt (25 July) and 2.Bundesliga sides Dynamo Dresden (27 July) and FC Energie Cottbus (29 July). The Hammers have many links with Germany, having beaten TSV 1860 Munich 2-0 in the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup final at Wembley and been represented by German international Thomas Hitzlsperger. While they have never met Rot-Weiss Erfurt or Energie Cottbus previously, the Hammers met Dynamo Dresden in August 1986, when John Lyall's side defeated the then-East German giants 2-1 at the FC Groningen Tournament in the Netherlands through goals from Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie. whufc.com spoke to Hammer Hearts spokesman Dennis Muller about the Hammers' visit to his homeland and the club's hopes for the 2012/13 Barclays Premier League campaign.
Why West Ham United?
DM - Because we love it. It is a passion and you cannot learn it. You have to feel it. Come on Claret and Blue Army!
What is your reaction to the news that West Ham United will be coming to Germany in July?
DM - It is a nice opportunity for us to see our team playing in our country. Every one of us is looking forward to this games with a heart full of joy. But, in fact, nothing can beat the Upton Park feeling or following West Ham over land and sea.
How many Germany-based West Ham United supporters do you expect to attend the matches at Dynamo Dresden, Energie Cottbus and Rot-Weiss Erfurt?
DM - We have really no clue how many will attend to the matches, but it is sure that a lot of members of our supporters' club will be there to support the team we love from London. We have many people in Germany who like the English football and especially West Ham.
When did the Hammer Hearts Deutschland last visit the Boleyn Ground to watch a match?
DM - The last match we watched at the Boleyn Ground was the Cardiff City Play-Off semi-final. Last season some of us had visited Upton Park to support the team in nearly every home game. We also support our team in away matches. This season we took part at Brighton and Hove Albion, Millwall, Ipswich Town, Peterborough United, Cardiff City, Burnley and our last away game at Wembley against Blackpool!-
Did many fans get together to watch the Championship Play-Off final at Wembley?
DM - Yeah, four of us, Pascal, Dieter, Michael and me flew to London to watch it live with our friends from Essex at Wembley, while many others had watched it together in pubs in Germany. It was a wonderful day out at Wembley and it has delivered so much fun, a fantastic atmosphere and an unbelievable feeling which you can't buy with all the money in the world. In one word, it was wonderful.
What are your expectations for the 2012/13 season in the Premier League?
DM - We expect nothing special. We hope that we hold our place in the league and can beat the Spurs twice. It is for sure that the 2012/13 season will be a tough one. We want to see a team which is fighting and will play aggressive and offensive football. We are back where we belong to. So, keep on fighting West Ham.
Which West Ham United players are the most popular in Germany and why?
DM - Mark Noble, Carlton Cole, Robert Green, James Tomkins... In fact we like everyone from the squad. We are one team on the pitch and in the stands. Don't forget the old ones like Sir Trevor Brooking, Sir Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters, Bobby Moore, Billy Bonds and all the other legends. Bobby Moore is the most popular West Ham United player in Germany.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Holmes back home
WHUFC.com
Former Hammers winger Matty Holmes is bringing through promising youngsters at AFC Bournemouth
07.06.2012
Matty Holmes may have been forced to hang up his boots early through injury, but he is now attempting to unearth the next big thing at AFC Bournemouth. Holmes, who was welcomed back at the Boleyn Ground by the same West Ham United fans who cheered him down the wing back in the early 1990s during a recent visit to east London, is coaching the schoolboy teams at the npower League One club. Now a youthful-looking 42, Holmes is working alongside former Hammers senior coach Paul Groves, who is now in charge at Dean Court. "It was great to be back five years after my last visit," said Holmes, who was back at the Boleyn for the visit of Reading in March. "Coming in and seeing some of the old fans and having a couple recognise me was wonderful. I'm down in sleepy Bournemouth at the moment and it's miles different than up here."
Holmes was forced to retire from the professional game at the age of 30 in 2000, having suffered a serious leg injury in a tackle two years earlier. After four years playing non-league football with Dorchester Town, the wideman embarked on a coaching career and launched his own soccer school in Dorset. Now, he is working full-time coaching youngsters at AFC Bournemouth - the same club where he started his own career in 1986 and made more than 100 league appearances. "I'm full-time at AFC Bournemouth where I look after the Under-7s up to Under-11s," Holmes told West Ham TV. "It's quite a responsibility developing players for the first team and to push up into the youth team. "It's a wonderful role and it's nice to be full-time in football. I tried to do other things when I retired but didn't quite find the happy medium. "I got offered to go in at Bournemouth and look after the little ones and it's been great passing on my experiences and trying to get the boys to play the way I tried to play at West Ham - the passing game. "They are coming along really well and I'm really enjoying it. I'm quite lucky that I have a role where I can dictate how we play and put a philosophy in place. "You can get them to play out from the back and into midfield and if they lose the ball and a goal that way, we don't care. Obviously we tell them why they have made that mistake, but we want them to play with freedom going forward. "That's the way I like to play because I was quite small and technical and I'll always have that influence if I have this role."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Prem eyes on Wolves starlet
Fulham, QPR & West Ham eye Ismail
By Pete O'Rourke - Follow me: @skysportspeteo. Last Updated: June 7, 2012 2:56pm
SSN
Sky Sports understands several Premier League clubs are keeping tabs on highly-rated Wolves starlet Zeli Ismail. Ismail, who has come through the ranks at Molineux, is regarded as one of the most exciting talents in England after catching the eye for Wolves and England's youth sides. The talented winger has been talked about since the age of 14 when he burst onto the scene with England's Under 16s at the Milk Cup tournament in Northern Ireland. he likes of Chelsea and Manchester City have been credited with an interest in Ismail in the past and a number of other clubs are also tracking his progress. Ismail is entering the final year of his contract at Wolves and as yet no new deal has been discussed alerting his suitors to his possible availability. The likes of Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham are all thought to be weighing up moves for the skilful midfielder as they look to lure him from Molineux. Wolves would be loath to lose their prize asset, but they could face a fight to keep hold of him if they fail to tie him down to a new deal with Premier League clubs waiting in the wings to snap him up.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SOUTHAMPTON READY TO SIGN ROBERT GREEN
The Daily Star
8th June 2012 By Daily Star Reporter
SOUTHAMPTON are ready to sign Robert Green, 32, instead of his England Euro 2012 team-mate Jack Butland, 19, to strengthen their keeper options
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West Ham United chase Manchester United and Arsenal target Yacob
by Pat McGatt. Published Thu 07 Jun 2012 18:30, Last updated: 2012-06-07
According to reports West Ham United are interested in Manchester United target Claudio Yacob. The Argentine is a free agent and was linked with Manchester United and Arsenal last season. The Daily Mail claims The Hammers are now interested in 24-year-old who recently played for Racing Club in his homeland.
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West Ham United interested in signing Chelsea and former Arsenal midfielder
Guardian Series
5:17pm Thursday 7th June 2012 in News
West Ham United are reportedly interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun. The Israeli is out of favour at Stamford Bridge after spending last season on loan at Arsenal. The 32-year-old could be interested in a move back to Israel but a switch to Upton Park may also appeal.
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YOSSI BENAYOUN SET FOR WEST HAM RETURN AFTER CHELSEA EXIT?
Express.co.uk
Thursday June 7,2012
By Charlie Dubuck for express.co.uk
YOSSI Benayoun could be set for a return to West Ham as he is expected to announce his departure from Chelsea. The midfielder who is currently on loan at Arsenal has had interest from his previous club West Ham and Dutch Ajax. It has grown increasingly unlikely that the midfielder will be signed by the Gunners and West Ham are hoping that they will be able to convince him to make a move back to the club now they have returned to the Premier League. Benayoun took to Twitter last night and wrote: "I hope I will have some news about my future soon." New West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is keen to bring new talent to the team after their promotion.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham wait to pounce on Chelsea outcast Benayoun and free agent Yacob
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:51, 6 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:51, 6 June 2012
Daily Mail
Yossi Benayoun is expected to announce his departure from Chelsea this week, with West Ham, Ajax and Maccabi Haifa all keen. The Israel midfielder, who spent almost all of last season on loan at Arsenal, posted on Twitter: 'I hope I will have some news about my future soon.' West Ham are interested in Argentina midfielder Claudio Yacob, 24, a free agent after leaving Racing.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Thursday, June 7
Daily WHUFC News - 7th June 2012
Potts happy to be a part of it
WHUFC.com
Dan Potts completed an unfortgettable season by travelling with the squad to
Wembley
06.06.2012
Dan Potts might not have been directly involved in the npower Championship
Play-Off final victory over Blackpool, but the young defender could not keep
the smile of his face at Wembley. The 18-year-old began 2011/12 as the
youth-team captain but ended it as a West Ham United first-team player,
full-time professional and England Under-18 international. Potts was part of
the Hammers' 21-man squad that travelled to the Home of Football for the big
game, enabling the teenager to soak up the atmosphere in front of a crowd of
nearly 80,000 fans.
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Boxers ready for Boleyn showdown
WHUFC.com
Dereck Chisora and David Haye cannot wait to settle their differences in an
east London ring
06.06.2012
With Saturday 14 July fast approaching, David Haye and Dereck Chisora have
both come out fighting ahead of their bout at the Boleyn. 'Licensed to
Thrill' takes place at the Boleyn Ground, with British heavyweights David
Haye and Dereck Chisora topping the bill as they look to settle their
differences once and for all. West Ham TV caught up with both fighters ahead
of the crunch encounter. Chisora was looking forward to stepping into the
ring at the Boleyn once more, having previously defeated Danny Williams back
in May 2010, knocking out the former British and Commonwealth champion after
nine seconds of the second round. "The Boleyn Ground has a great atmosphere,
I really like this place," said Chisora. "This is the second time I've
fought here I'm looking forward to this one. I'm ready for it and I can't
wait to get in that ring. "David and I have some unfinished business but
after 14 July it will be done and I will be the happy one."
Haye, who has come out of retirement for the bout, was also in fighting mode
as he suggested that Chisora was not the fighter he believes he is. "Dereck
talks a lot but I'm not sure he actually understands boxing. He's got a good
chin but I certainly don't think he has enough to beat me. I believe Chisora
is going to come out slinging bombs and that will suit me perfectly. "It's
going to be entertaining. You'll see some stuff from me that you haven't
seen for a while. A new improved Hayemaker."
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Transfer latest
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 6th June 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are this morning being linked with a move for Wolves winger Michael
Kightly. The 26-year-old was part of the team relegated from the Premier
League last season and is this morning being linked with a return south,
having spent the last five-and-a-half years in the Midlands with the
Wanderers. Originally from Basildon, Kightly began his career playing part
time for Basildon United before moving to Southend United, having been
dumped by Tottenham as a youth player.
After a brief spell on loan at Farnborough Town he joined Grays Athletic
where he became known as 'the Ryan Giggs of non-league football'. Having
helped the Gravelmen win the FA Trophy, he moved to Wolves - initially on
loan - in November 2006, before making the transfer permanent in January
2007.
Elsewhere the Hammers have been cited as a potential suitor for Rangers
forward Steven Naismith, who is reported to have a clause in his contract
allowing him to speak with any club prepared to offer £2million for his
services.
Other players who continue to be linked with a move to east London this week
are Wigan's out-of-contract Mohamed Diame, Stoke's out-of-favour Kenwyne
Jones and former Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka - who at least one source has
stated is in London for transfer talks with an unnamed party.
Meanwhile the individual (or individuals) responsible for the Twitter
account in the name of David Sullivan's 12-year-old son have been busy once
again.
When asked whether West Ham are considering signing Sunderland's Egyptian
winger Ahmed Elmohamady, 'Sullivan' replied: "We are no trying to sign
Elmohamdyu (sic) from Sunderland", before clearing up any potential doubt
over a missing character by adding, "We are not" - and later, "we never
wanted him".
Then, when asked to confirm whether reports stating that Sam Allardyce's
summer war chest equated to just £10million, the account holder replied,
"double that".
In terms of potential departures, there is still no news with regards to
Robert Green's position following David Gold's recent Tweet confirming that
"Robert is out of contract and is currently a free agent" - although one
source close to the player has told KUMB.com that the England stopper will
not make any decision on his future until after the forthcoming European
Championships.
Finally, Tottenham's purported £5million bid for KUMB.com's Player of the
Year James Tomkins appears to have been laughed off in most quarters.
However keen-eyed KUMB readers will no doubt recall that Tomkins recently
changed agents and is now part of the Mark Curtis stable.
Curtis, for the uninitiated, was accused by Andy Carroll's former agent
(Peter Harrison) of stealing his client and subsequently brokering the deal
that saw the England international move to Anfield for a record-breaking
£35million last year.
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That Was The Season That Was 2011/2012 - Part Four
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 6th June 2012
By: Gordon Thrower
He's cleared his domestic football inbox and written it all down so he can
concentrate on watching the Euros. Well for three games anyway. Here's the
final part of Gordon Thrower's end of season review. Let's see who he can
annoy this time.....
March
Defender George John returns to FC Dallas having failed to impress during
his loan spell which consisted of two Development squad matches and no
appearances in the first team squad.
Southampton manage a 1-0 win at Leeds despite being played off the park, the
home side failing to take any of the numerous chances that coe their way.
This gives Southampton a four point lead making it rather important that we
get something out of our international trip the following day. This we do in
decent style beating Cardiff 2-0 with goals from Nolan and a collector's
item from McCartney, whose 50 yard run finishes with him putting away a
rebound. With his right foot. The disembodied head of Ray Winstone explodes
as the bookies for whom he does those adverts struggle to compute the
astronomical odds of Linda scoring at all, multiplied by the even more
astronomical odds of such a goal coming from his right foot.
There's more fun to be had at the expense of Chelsea as Abrahamovic decides
that AVB (as I can't be bothered to look up the spelling of his name) is not
the man to run the club after all. AVB has lasted just about as long as it
takes to conceive and give birth. There's little sympathy for him however
given the no doubt large payoff that he receives for going. In any case,
people are too busy laughing at Chelsea to have any time for sympathy.
Southampton drop two home points to the in-form Ipswich whose goal comes
from Jason Scotland. This is possibly the first time ever I can recall
smiling at a Scotland goal. However, despite dominating our match against
Watford we fail to take the opportunity to go top, as the clock ticks on.
Sub Ricardo Vaz Te notches a late equaliser but try as we might we fail to
net the winner, despite 9 minutes of stoppage time being added for a
serious-looking (but thankfully not as serious as it looked) injury to
Watford defender Dale Bennett who is stretchered off with his neck in a
brace.
With Winston Reid still feeling the effects of serious concussion obtained
playing for the Kiwis against Jamaica we look a bit short handed at the back
and Stoke defender Danny Collins comes in on loan, though quite how he'll
adapt to playing football after his move from Stoke is anyone's guess.
Another loan signing is set to be 'keeper Stephen Henderson who will come in
from Pompey. Henderson's signing is made with a view to a permanent deal,
something that renews speculation as to the future of Rob Green, whose
presence at the club is said to be dependent on what division we are in next
season. So the deal is in no way a clever way of saving Pompey a few bob to
make sure they don't disappear before the end of the season with our six
points then.
As if to underline the feeling that Portsmouth must survive, because it
would get just too complicated if they went under, the Football League
promises £800,000 in staggered payments to get them through to the close of
the regular season on 28 April. After which, presumably, nobody will give a
monkey's.
We draw at home for the third consecutive match as Doncaster Rovers come to
the Boleyn and leave with a point after a 1-1 draw. Nolan scores early on as
it seems that only referee Andy D'Urso's long-standing grudge against us
will prevent us running up a cricket score. However, the loss of Ricardo Vaz
Te with a hamstring injury sees us struggle to show any type of creativity
and Doncaster pick up a deserved equaliser. It could have been worse, Green
pulls of a remarkable save to stop us leaving empty-handed.
Reading close the gap between second and third to goal-difference whilst
Southampton's win means that a win in the game in hand over Peterborough
will be sufficient to see us reclaim top spot. As long as we can muster
eleven goals in the process.
A difficult trip to Leeds follows as 3,000 travelling Hammers see us go a
goal down with seven minutes left. On-loan Danny Collins pops up in stoppage
time to rescue a point which is a decent return from Elland Road, though
when taken in the context of wins for both Reading and Southampton , the
point is not enough to keep us in the automatic promotion places.
Southampton's 3-2 win at Millwall is particularly galling coming as they do
from 2-1 down with two more laughable penalties.
Such matters put into perspective by events at White Hart Lane as Bolton's
Fabrice Muamba collapses with a heart attack during the first half of his
side's FA Cup Quarter Final. The player's heart stops for 78 minutes and a
defibrillator is used as the medics perform heroics to keep the player
alive. Ref Howard Webb abandons the match at 1-1 with players and spectators
visibly upset at the whole affair.
Meanwhile, we return to action at home to Boro' and draw. 1-1. Again. We go
1-0 up (again) through a deflected Faye header but a baffling series of
substitutions sees us try to shut up shop rather than try to exploit the
space created by opponents drawn out of their shell. With predictable
consequences. Ogbeche's curled drive levels the scores late on. Despite the
indifferent form we remain in the mix for automatic promotion as Reading
slip up at Peterborough leaving us two points adrift with a game in hand.
The turgid 90 minutes against Boro' contrasts hugely with events at Elland
Road on the same night where Colin's side are trounced 7-3 by Forest, for
whom McCleary nets four. Leeds take the lead but by half time Forest are 2-1
up. Forest then go 3-1 up before Leeds peg them back to 3-3. Then Forest
score again. And again. And again. And again. Colin is understandably
embarrassed. "I'm embarrassed" he says, before going on to blame Carlos
Tevez for the defeat.
Things don't improve much for the Irons in the first half up at Burnley.
Despite dominating and missing a succession of chances (pardon me if we've
been here before) we somehow find ourselves 2-0 down at the interval. Things
perk up in the second half as Nolan (now in double figures for the season)
and Tomkins level but yet again the forwards miss a number of opportunities
to give us all three points. Ten unbeaten then, the last five of which are
draws.
The impressive away form continues with a midweek trip to Peterborough where
second half goals from Vaz Te and O'Neil give us all three points. The win
is our eleventh on the road, which equals the club record.
All looks set fair for the big showdown with Reading whose inexplicable run
of victories despite playing poorly has put them in a strong position for
promotion. We start well with Cole putting us 1-0 up early on. We dominate
the first half so much that boxing referees are seen on the sidelines
begging to be allowed to intervene. However, we discover a clue to their
form in the shape of Premiership referee Chris Foy who allows a blatant
handball from ex-Hammer McAnuff to set up the equaliser. Things get worse as
a flukey deflection plays in Hunt to put them 2-1 up at the Interval. A Noel
Hunt dive over the nearest leg is enough for Foy to give them a penalty
which is converted by Harte. Vaz Te gives us a bit of hope with a header
that makes it 3-2 but Foy caps a dismal match by repealing the offside law
for a three yards offside Hunt to play in Leighterwood to give them a 4-2
win and leave us four points off the promotion slots.
April
The final month of the normal season begins with a Good Friday trip to
Barnsley where goals from Nolan, Noble (a clever chip after a goalkeeping
error), Maynard and Vaz Te give us a morale-boosting 4-0 win, thus setting a
new club record of 12 away wins.
Leeds kick lumps out of Reading and for once the rest of the league turns a
blind eye. Despite being reduced to ten men Leeds look the better side but
Reading dig up two late goals from somewhere to maintain the gap.
The Boat Race becomes interesting for once as a privately-educated
privileged idiot halts proceedings by swimming in front of the boats as a
protest against, er, privately-educated privileged idiots or something.
Still it distracts everyone from making the "funny how Oxford & Cambridge
always make it to the final" joke. Well apart from this time anyway.
There's another big one at the Boleyn where Birmingham come to visit. Awful
defending sees us go 2-0 down before Vaz Te makes it 2-1 in the third minute
of first half stoppage. Even hanging on to that position is beyond us as
Birmingham add a third in the fifth minute of the stoppage period, the extra
time being caused by lengthy treatment to George McCartney following a clash
of heads. We storm the second half and a 70th minute effort from Cole and a
last minute penalty from Vaz Te give us a deserved point.
Reading beat Southampton at St Mary's yet again taking three points from a
thoroughly unconvincing performance. This means that a win against Brighton
is a must. We get the win and then some, as one of the performances of the
season sees us run in six without reply. Goals from Vaz Te (3), Nolan, Cole
and an og give us the points and do the goal difference a power of good as
well. Vaz Te's third is a bit special, a mid-air scissor kick instantly
propelling him to the top of the "goal of the season" nominations.
Unfortunately hopes of automatic promotion are dealt a major blow in our
next match. We go 1-0 up through a Tomkins effort but an uncharacteristic
slip from Rob Green gives relegation threatened Bristol City an equaliser.
Once more a plethora of missed chances cost us dearly and the draw leaves us
needing snookers to have any chance of avoiding the playoffs.
Elsewhere Didier Drogba creates a world record for the number of dives in a
match during Chelsea's So-Called Champions League Semi Final against
Barcelona. Southampton players are seen pouring over their Sky+ machines for
tips. Drogba gives Chelsea the lead in one of the three minutes of stoppage
time added for treatment to his non-existent injuries and, despite Barcelona
playing them off the park, Chelsea take a 1-0 lead into the second leg.
Drought hits this part of the country prompting the traditional hosepipe
ban, followed by the even more traditional heavy rain. Which proceeds to
last for weeks. And weeks.
Results elsewhere mean that Reading, despite their obvious limitations, have
somehow become Champions. There is dancing in the streets of Derby as Rams'
fans look forward to finally losing the embarrassment of being tagged the
worst Premier League team ever.
There is still an outside chance of automatic promotion for us but a win
away at Leicester is required to keep that particular flame alight. The home
side take the lead against the run of play but the lead lasts less than 4
minutes as Reid turns in a Taylor cross. A rejuvenated Jack Collison buries
a spectacular 25-yarder to give us all three points.
Chelsea are yet again played off the park by Barcelona as the home side take
a 2-0 lead. John Terry ("the greatest Captain England have had ever" – M
Lipton) knees Sanchez in the back and then has the cheek to deny any
wrongdoing claiming "he must have backed into me". Terry eventually concedes
that it might just possibly look like he was guilty from a certain angle –
that angle presumably being one where you were facing the screen. Ramires
gives Chelsea the advantage, Messi (suspiciously) hits the bar from a
penalty and even more suspiciously Torres scores late on to send the
Pensioners through to the final v Bayern Munich. It's almost worth seeing
Chelsea qualify in the realisation that Terry will be suspended.
The following morning's newspapers are full of the news that enquiries into
the phone hacking scandal that doesn't involve Spurs have resulted in the
conclusion that Rupert Murdoch is not a "fit and proper" person to run a
newspaper, something which, apparently, is news. One paper which doesn't run
with the story is the Sun whose front page simply states "Torres Scores!"
Back in the realms of proper football we go into the final match of the
season needing a win and some goals, if Southampton draw, or just a win if
they lose. The only problem with that scenario is that Southampton are
playing already-relegated Coventry. Coventry are so poor that Southampton
don't require any dives to win 3-0 and leave us in the playoffs. A Carlton
Cole double either side of half time puts us 2-0 up but as the news filters
through from Southampton we sit back and important players are wisely
substituted in advance of the extension of the season. Hull pull a late goal
back after a bizarre cock-up from Guy Demel.
We finish in third place a mere three points from top spot. The club record
13 wins away from home contrasts with the home form where too many draws
have cost us automatic promotion. However, possibly significantly, we've won
two on the trot at home – which will be handy in the playoffs won't it where
Cardiff lie in wait…..
May
The month starts with the tabloids being outwitted by the FA as Roy Hodgson
is appointed England boss. Redknapp's journo mates cry foul as their man is
ignored in favour of someone with a proven track record of coaching at
international level and no recent court appearances.
At first the English public seem to follow the redtops' lead but the Sun
scores a spectacular own goal by publishing a front page taking the mickey
out of Hodgson's speech problem. The FA complains and any thoughts that the
Sun might have a lucid and coherent case are immediately dispelled when they
trot out Jonathon Ross as witness for the defence.
We pay another visit abroad for the playoff semi-final first leg against
Cardiff City. Tickets are again collectable from somewhere really
inconvenient. For some reason everyone connected with Cardiff seems to feel
it necessary to go into print regarding how awful we must be feeling about
missing out on automatic promotion and how much pressure we must be under.
We are under so much pressure that Jack Collison puts away two first half
goals in a performance that has the word "professional" stamped right
through it.
Cardiff boss Malky Mackay puts a brave face on the demolition job carried
out on his team. "We've got them worried now – 2-0 is a really dangerous
lead". It's a warning partially heeded by Blackpool in the other playoff who
take care to only take a 1-0 lead into their second leg against Birmingham.
A major dilemma faces the nation on FA Cup Final day where Chelsea face
Liverpool. On the one hand there was a side with dodgy owners, ignorant fans
and racist players whilst on the other hand, er…
The final is hidden away on Saturday evening to hide the embarrassing nature
of the participants. Prior to kick-off the charmless scousers whistle and
jeer the National Anthem. The match ends up 2-1 to Chelsea with Liverpool
being denied an equaliser by a Carroll effort that doesn't cross the line,
despite all efforts of the TV pundits to stir up controversy. The best thing
about the final is the way that we are allowed to see the look on the faces
of the likes of Gerrard picking up their losers' medals before turning off
before the obnoxious Terry picks up the cup. The scouse supporters in the
stadium further display their lack of class by legging it before the trophy
is presented.
Cardiff come to London via a detour to Turkmenistan to pick up tickets for
the second leg of the semi final. We cop a deaf one on Mackay's "2-0's a
dangerous lead" comment and render the point academic by half time, taking a
2-0 lead through a close range header from Nolan and a powerful Vaz Te
drive. Maynard's first goal at home towards the end makes it 3-0, with
another fine performance to send us to Wembley for the first time in 31
years.
The chicken dance that accompanies Nolan's goal is emulated at Ewood Park
where supporters lob a live chicken on the pitch in protest at the
stewardship of the poultry farmer owners Venkeys. Blackburn lose 1-0 to
Wigan and are relegated in the process while Liverpool immediately place a
£35m bid to sign the chicken.
The other playoff semi final sees Blackpool throw away a 2-0 lead to draw
2-2 against Birmingham. It's still enough to get them through to face us at
Wembley but they are holding on at the end.
Fed up with continually having to order their employees to apologise for
stuff, and annoyed at the fact that their club hold an end of season lap of
honour following their sixth home win of the season, Liverpool's owners sack
Dalglish. "He's not been close enough to the fans" they comment. "However,
now that he's unemployed he will be".
Ticketing arrangements for the playoff final start to turn a bit daft as
it's revealed that Blackpool have been given the same 39,000 or so
allocation as us, despite having a much smaller average gate. Rumours of
poor ticket sales in the north-west abound despite every supporter being
able to take two or three mates each. If they have any.
Idiot of the pre-playoff week award goes to the tool who publishes a
two-year old photo of an away kit, announces it as a new kit and uses the
existence of the Premier League badges on the sleeves as examples of our
supposed pre-playoff "arrogance". When caught out, the idiot goes one
further by replacing the old photo with a supporter's mock-up from the
kumb.com forums. Worse still, Seasiders' defender Ian Evatt is dumb enough
to fall for it and makes a tit of himself by repeating the stuff as fact.
The build-up to the big match concludes with Blackpool sending back a record
7,000 tickets. Because of the way they've been dished out all attempts to
reallocate the spares fall on deaf ears due to segregation issues.
The big day finally arrives. Everyone sings the National Anthem (scousers
please note) and, Collison's shoulder injury having healed it is an
unchanged eleven that starts the match. We take a half time lead through
Carlton Cole but Blackpool restore parity after the interval. Although we
don't play nearly as well as we have been of late we still have good chances
to win the match before Vaz Te's effort with but two minutes left is enough
to take us up in front of 40,000+ Hammers and as many waifs and strays that
Blackpool could muster.
John Terry turns up in full kit offering to help out with lifting the trophy
but security tell him to sling his hook. Undeterred, England's Greatest Ever
Captain (©M Lipton) jets off to Munich where he is able to pick up another
trophy that he had sod all to do with winning.
Big Sam admits to having taken a Beta Blocker before the final to control
his nerves. Sheffield United's lawyers' ears prick up at the thought of
suing over a potential failed drug test.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the defeat, Blackpool's Alex Baptiste
delivers the most hilarious of sour grapes tirades against West Ham. "I know
which team I'd rather play for" he says, conveniently ignoring the fact that
nobody is likely to give him the option. "Their players are all 8ft tall"
says the 5ft 11in tall Baptiste who, despite the fact that he himself is
taller than several Hammers, seems dreadfully upset at having been made to
play football against the bigger boys. Sep Blatter, who has been quiet on
the "really stupid ideas" front, muses over introducing boxing-style height
divisions in football before the realisation that John Terry would still
probably turn up to pick up the trophy in the women's 5ft and under
tournament.
The play-off season (yes there were others) continues and there isn't a dry
eye in the house as Sheffield United play Huddersfield Town in one of the
dullest matches ever seen anywhere. A bizarre penalty shoot-out takes place
which, after an incredibly poor first five penalties, finishes at 2-2. It
then gets silly as all the players considered not good enough to take any of
the first lot, bury their spot-kicks in brilliant style, leaving just the
'keepers to go. Town 'keeper Smithies dispatches his and, is able to put his
feet up as Hypocrite's net-minder Simonsen becomes an honorary Hammer by
thumping his kick into the stands. I expect we'll stop laughing eventually.
As contracts come up for renewal, it's farewell Abdoullaye Faye, John Carew,
Papa Bouba Diop, Olly Lee and Julien Faubert. Unlike last time he left these
shores, Faubert is not expected to pitch up at Real Madrid, despite having a
fine 20 minutes in the play-off final.
Rob Green is in Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad amidst rumours that he'll be
on his way. The tensions between Rio Ferdinand and "England's Greatest Ever
Captain" (according to M Lipton who either needs psychiatric help or a good
slap) mean that Hodgson decides that he has room for only one of them. Terry
gets the nod meaning that he'll be there to pick up the trophy when Spain
win it. Terry warms up with a trip to Azerbaijan where he is on hand to take
a bow as Sweden win the Eurovision song contest.
In typical cack-handed style season tickets go on sale for the 12/13 season.
Season ticket holders due a 20% discount for having renewed for five
consecutive seasons are baffled by the lack of mention of the discount in
any of the stuff appearing on the official site. Eventually there's an
announcement. Sort of. "All will be revealed in the renewal packs which
we're sending out, er, soon". Another period of silence follows before an
email goes out to supporters. The dreadfully drafted missive points out that
the proposed discount would cost a lot of money and it was those beastly
Icelandic chaps that had made it in the first place. The email appears to
suggest that the original offer is invalid – though cleverly it stops just
short of actually saying so – and suggests supporters take 5% off over the
next four years instead. Crucially, it is implied that the original offer is
somehow off the table and supporters are given only the option and ability
to renew at the club's preferred rate.
When challenged again the club, realising that they are on dodgy ground
legally, finally concede that they have to honour original offer, though
even this admission is limited to those who bothered to ask and is laden
with so much emotional blackmail that one would think supporters had asked
to take money from the mouths of starving Africans, rather than simply
asking what the position was. Ironically many supporters now claiming the
20% claimed that they might have accepted the revised offer had the club not
apparently attempted to mislead them. All in all, not the finest hour for
the board who came on board with a wave of promises of openness and
transparency.
Barry Hearn is in the news again. Having at various stages been in favour of
Tottenham taking over the Olympic Stadium, then nobody taking it over, Hearn
graciously decides that we can move in after all and that he'll let us share
the place with Leyton Orient. Gosh thanks Barry. Mind if we get back to you
on that one?
Despite the discount fracas, there apparently remains enough in the coffers
to put in a £1.2m bid for Yakubu, who is seeking a Premiership club after
Blackburn's relegation. George McCartney, available on a free from
Sunderland, is also offered a permanent deal. Rob Green looks for a reported
£50k a week. This is an amount that the management seems to baulk at and the
player goes to the Euros with nothing decided as to his future.
With the goalkeeper situation in a state of flux, transfer speculation links
us with Blackburn's Paul Robinson and Bolton's Jussi Jaaskeleinen. JJ, as he
is known to anyone who has to type his name, spent much of 2011/12 on the
bench having failed to regain his place after injury. The down side for JJ's
replacement Adam Bogdan was that Bolton 'keepers have to wear pink shirts.
Which is a bit of a nightmare if you are as red-headed as Bogdan is.
Rumours of possible riots amongst fat people in velour tracksuits start to
gather pace as the Government issues a consultation document that raises the
possibility of adding VAT to Cornish pasties. The Sun newspaper leads a
campaign that is short on quotes from those against the proposed tax due to
their mouths being full every time someone calls to ask them a question.
The Soccer Aid charity match takes place at Old Trafford where the usual
70,000 crowd of people who know sod all about football is replaced by a
70,000 crowd people who know sod all about both football and music, coming,
as most of them have, to scream at Robbie Williams (once memorably described
by one of the Gallagher brothers as "that fat dancer with Take That"). The
England XI, managed by Sam Allardyce, prevails over a Rest Of The World XI
3-1. The first half highlight is the ROW's goal scored by Kasabian guitarist
Serge Pizzorno, whose chip finds David Seaman stranded off his line (how
odd, not). The second half highlight involves tv chef Gordon Ramsey who
leaves a foot in on Paddy McGuinness prompting a spot of ball throwing.
Teddy Sheringham exacts revenge by ploughing straight through the
foul-mouthed ex-Rangers (yeah right – and I played for Barcelona)
defender/chef, putting him in hospital with a shocking tackle that we really
ought to condemn but can't quite bring ourselves to do so.
There's dancing in the streets of, er, Copenhagen, as the much improved
Winston Reid picks up the award for New Zealand Footballer Of The Year,
beating off strong competition from all the other New Zealand footballers
who were in contention. Whoever they were.
Robert Mugabe comes out as a Chelsea supporter which tells you all you need
to know about both him and them. Mugabe instantly overtakes John Terry in
the list of most obnoxious people in the world with Chelsea connections,
though he fails to dislodge Tim Lovejoy from top slot. M Lipton's article
"Why Mugabe is football's greatest ever supporter" is put on hold after even
he can't get past the opening line of "Ok so he may be a ruthless dictator
with genocidal tendencies but......"
Premiership manager news and Liverpool appoint Swansea boss Brendon Rodgers
as their new manager which comes as a shock to "Dodgy" Dave Whelan who had
been mentally spending the compensation cash that he, er, sorry Wigan, would
have received had he not priced Roberto Martinez out of the market.
Following his discussion with Wigan, Liverpool supremo Ian Ayre refers to
Whelan as "a comedian" – something that confuses us on the grounds that
Whelan has never made us laugh. Then we remember the likes of Tom O'Connor,
Stan Boardman, Ken Dodd etc and realise that "being funny" isn't a
prerequisite for comedian status on Merseyside. (By the way, if anyone who
knows "Premier League Manager" Neil Warnock is reading this, can you pop
over and tell him that he can stop waiting by the 'phone now).
England's preparations for Euro 2012 are thrown into turmoil as Gareth Barry
and Frank Lampard (jr) are both ruled out by injury. Lampard (jr)'s injury
causes suspicion, coming as it does as the Government announces a U-turn
with regard to the proposed "pasty tax". Those that might otherwise be
dancing in the streets at the news that pasties will remain tax-free (if not
warm) decline the opportunity to do so on the grounds that dancing looks an
awful lot like exercise.
Lampard's withdrawal from the squad means that Hodgson at least doesn't have
to wrestle with the age old question of whether Gerrard and Lampard can play
in the same side that has troubled England managers ever since the great "do
we have room for two ludicrously overrated players in the team?" question
first came to light.
Carlsberg run a competition to give ordinary fans a chance to become part of
the England squad by completing the sentence "I think I should play for
England because...." . Mr J Henderson of Liverpool wins with his entry that
reads "some of my mates are going and they're no good at football either".
Emile Heskey considers an appeal at the decision on the grounds that
Henderson had help from his mum with the spelling, but he falls over on the
way to the post box and the appeal never makes it to Carlsberg, who, since
I've now mentioned them twice in a paragraph, ought really to think about
sending me some product.
England's final warm-up games see victories away to Norway and at home to
Belgium both by 1-0. Gary Cahill withdraws from the squad with a broken jaw.
Hodgson allows him to be replaced by Carlsberg (I'm getting thirsty here)
competition runner-up Martin Kelly (competition answer: "so I can hold my
friend Jordan's hand").
Cardiff's Malaysian owners resurrect a plan to change the club's colours
from blue to red which will make them, er, easier to see in Asia or
something and will be the solution to all their problems. Presumably nobody
called Liverpool before thinking that one up.
The final transfer speculation of the period leaves us looking at Wolves'
Michael Kightley, Wigan's Mohammed Diame, Nicholas Anelka (lately of
somewhere in China), Rangers' Stephen Naismith, Stoke's Kenwyne Jones, and,
bizarrely, Ronaldinho who has fallen out with his current employers over a
disagreement over wages, Ronaldinho believing his contract entitled him to
some.
Tottenham are rumoured to have put in a £5m bid for James Tomkins. No
official confirmation comes of the bid which is too daft to be taken
seriously. Even they're not that stupid are they?
So, to summarise, we went up. We have the Euros and the Olympics to look
forward to in the summer. The fixtures are out on June 18th. The season
starts on 18 August so Sky have a whole two months to mess up your plans,
though as usual you can probably rely on them to leave it until an hour
after you have left for the match before announcing any revised dates. Our
tv coverage will be on a bit earlier – though on past form from the BBC
that'll only be by a minute or two.
And this time next year I'll be looking back at a really dull season and
won't have had a thing to write.
Which will make a change.
Have a good summer!
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Naismith agent - No Hammers bid
Frontman focused on returning to full fitness with Gers, says agent
Last Updated: June 6, 2012 9:01am
SSN
Steven Naismith's agent has denied reports West Ham have made an approach
for the Rangers striker and says he is fully focused on continuing his Ibrox
career.
Speculation has surfaced the frontman was the subject of a £2million offer
from the Premier League new-boys but his agent, Russell Kyle, has denied
such claims.
Kyle insists Naismith, who saw his season cut short after suffering a
cruciate ligament injury in October, is concentrating on regaining full
fitness in time for the new season with Gers. He told the Daily Record: "I
can say categorically that we have had no contact with West Ham and that no
one from Rangers has been in touch to tell us Steven has been the subject of
an inquiry from them. "Steven is on holiday and his primary concern is
returning to Rangers and being fully fit for the new season."
Naismith, who has three years left to run on his contract at Ibrox,
previously attracted a £2m bid from West Brom which was rejected by the
club's administrators, Duff and Phelps. The striker has previously stated he
is optimistic of continuing his career in Glasgow despite concerns over the
financially-stricken club's future.
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West Ham Linked with a Defensive Midfielder!
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die
One of the areas of the squad that defintely needs addressing this summer is
midfield anchor. Yet, so far, and it is admittedly early days, we have not
been linked with any players in that particular position. Numerous different
forwards yes, defnsive midfielders no! Until this evening that is, when it
was reported that Sam Allardyce is considering making a bid for former
Racing Club defensive midfielder, Cladio Yacob.
In the last season or two Yacob has been watched by both Man Utd and
Arsenal, without either making a move. The rumour being that they do not
feel that he is ideally suited to the frentic, fast pace of the EPL. Yet at
24 years of age, an Argentina international, and a free agent he may well be
worth a gamble.
Elsewhere, most Hammers fans were hoping for a bid for Wolves left-winger,
Matt Jarvis, but the latest rumours are that we may be going for the cheaper
option on Wolves' right wing, Micheal Knightley. He could be a good signing,
as long as he is over his past injury problems?
SJ. Chandos.
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West Ham, Southampton and Reading: Survival is the name of the game
Posted: June 5, 2012 by newshoes1984 in Reading, Southampton, West Ham
Ninetyminutesonline.com
Over the last few seasons teams coming into the Premier League from the
Championship have been more successful in avoiding relegation in their first
season. QPR, Norwich and Swansea all survived this season, whilst the likes
of Stoke, West Brom and Wigan have now established themselves as top-flight
teams. So what do the three teams that are joining this season need to do to
survive?
Reading
Reading are returning to the big time after relegation in 2008. There are
many similarities though between this team and the one that finished eighth
in their first season in the Premiership in 2006-2007. Just like that team
there are no real big stars and Reading's success comes from their solid
shape, organisation and ability to counter attack. They have experience at
the back in the shape of former Leeds man Ian Harte and Kaspars Gorkss,
Exciting wingers in Jobi McAnuff and Jimmy Kebe and hardworking strikers in
Jason Roberts and Noel Hunt.
The one different factor which may aid Reading's survival chances this time
is the backing of wealthy Russian Anton Zingarevich who recently bought 51%
of the club. Certainly Reading will need to spend and add some Premier
League experience and a proven goal scorer at the top level to the solid
base that they already have.
Southampton
The Saints last couple of seasons are very similar to that of Norwich City.
From struggling in League One Nigel Adkins has secured back-to-back
promotions to the Premier League just Like Paul Lambert did at Carrow Road.
This has been achieved by having a prolific goal scorer at Football League
level in Rickie Lambert just like Norwich has Grant Holt.
Much like Reading their success in the Championship was built on a solid
defensive unit marshalled by Jose Fonte and Jos Hooiveld with the
experienced Kelvin Davis in goal. Dean Hammond provides a good base in front
of the back four, which allows the likes of Lambert, Adam Lallana and Billy
Sharp to concentrate on scoring goals. With their current squad Southampton
have a good chance of survival but much like Reading some more Premier
League experience and strength in depth is required to give them an even
better chance.
West Ham
Everyone's favourites to bounce straight back up did it the hard way after a
2-1 play-off final victory over Blackpool. They are a side that is already
packed with Premiership and international experience with the likes of
Winston Reid, Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble and Carlton Cole to name just a few.
Despite scoring 81 goals last season ,which was the second highest in the
division, a prolific striker is still needed as they created so many chances
to win games which they drew in the Championship.
West Ham also have an advantage by having the experienced Sam Allardyce in
charge. Allardyce has been there and done it with both Bolton and Blackburn,
making Bolton a stable Premier League club and also taking Blackburn to a
comfortable mid table position. Whilst many of the West Ham fans may not
like the style of football that Allardyce plays, they cannot argue that it
gets results and his meticulous planning may be what keeps West Ham afloat
next season.
All three teams will have to spend to survive, with greater strength in
depth being an issue for all three to cope with the rigours and pace of the
top division. With three managers though who are very tactically astute and
some exciting forward players Reading, Southampton and West Ham all have a
great chance of making an impact in the Premier League next season.
By Chris Newman
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West Ham wait to pounce on Chelsea outcast Benayoun and free agent Yacob
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:51, 6 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:51, 6 June 2012
Daily Mail
Yossi Benayoun is expected to announce his departure from Chelsea this week,
with West Ham, Ajax and Maccabi Haifa all keen. The Israel midfielder, who
spent almost all of last season on loan at Arsenal, posted on Twitter: 'I
hope I will have some news about my future soon.' West Ham are interested in
Argentina midfielder Claudio Yacob, 24, a free agent after leaving Racing.
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West Ham United keen on Wolves winger Michael Kightly
Guardian Series
5:34pm Wednesday 6th June 2012 in News
West Ham United are reportedly keen on bringing Wolves winger Michael
Kightly to the club. The Hammers are interested in taking the former Watford
loan midfielder to Upton Park following their promotion to the Premier
League. The 26-year-old could be available for a reasonable price after
Wolves suffered relegation to the Championship.
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West Ham midfielder sets out on pro golf journey - 05/06/2012
Europrotour.com
West Ham United midfielder Gary O'Neil is eyeing a career in professional
golf once his footballing days are over. The 29-year-old has been getting a
feel for the sport by taking part in two events on the 888poker.com PGA
EuroPro Tour. The Your Golf Travel Classic at Bovey Castle in Dartmoor and
the Ulster Bank Open at Galgorm Castle in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, were
O'Neil's first appearances in professional golf and gave the former England
Under-21 international an insight to life on a pro tour.
At Bovey Castle he carded a first-round score of 79 on the par-70 course and
struggled in his second round, signing for 89 to total 28 over par for the
tournament.
However, he improved at Galgorm Castle and achieved a two-over-par 74 in his
first round and 80 in his second. "I've loved playing golf since I first
took it up," said O'Neil, who played in the two events as an amateur. "I am
realistic enough to know I need to improve a lot but if I could be a pro
golfer when my football career ends it would definitely be something I would
look to do. "Bovey Castle was my first ever professional golf event. It was
nice of the EuroPro Tour to invite me to come see what it is all about and
it was a good experience. "I play of scratch at the London Club in Kent but
it is a bit different playing there on a Sunday morning with friends than it
is playing on the EuroPro with the professional lads who are on tour doing
it week-in, week-out. "I found it difficult at Bovey but I tried to enjoy it
anyway. It was tough going and it was quite nerve-racking as well. I was
hoping to get a few weeks of practise in before I came but with West Ham
being in the play-offs I didn't have the chance. "I love my golf and I know
some of the EuroPro Tour players. I was invited to come and play a couple of
weeks and see what it is all about. It's something that, if I can get good
enough at, I'd be interested in doing once I get to 35 and stop playing
football. It's a chance to see what it was all about and how my swing would
stand up under pressure. Unfortunately it wasn't great at Bovey! "Galgorm
was slightly better; I did quite well in my first round and proved to myself
that I can shoot a half-decent score even though I didn't play great golf. I
need to do more practise; the pro golfers are fantastic and are working on
their game day in, day out. I didn't expect to go and do anything special,
it was just for the experience and I really enjoyed it. "I think my
perception of how good the pro lads are was fairly accurate. I have played
with a few of them socially before and I knew they were good. I knew I
needed to improve to reach their level and that remains the same. I don't
think there is anything major that needs changing, it's just about having
the time to be able to practise.
"A few of the guys said how good my short game is but my problem at the
moment is consistency. My bad shoots seem to be a lot worse than the bad
ones the pro lads are hitting. I hit a couple of loose ones with my driver
at Galgorm which were 40 or 50 yards off line and that will cost you two
shots straight away. For the pro lads their bad shots are sneaking into the
rough and that is about as bad is it gets. I need to repeatedly hit the ball
and try and find some more consistency. "Playing in my first professional
golf tournaments has been similar to my football debut. I don't get that
nervous anymore ahead of football matches but when I think back to how
nervous I was for my debut and for my second game it's probably quite
similar to how nervous I was at Bovey Castle and at Galgorm."
The newly-promoted Premier League football is now taking a well-earned
family holiday but will be back on the golf course at the end of June in a
bid to win a place at this year's British Open. "I'll be playing in the
British Open qualifying at the end of June," he said. "I did it two years
ago and hopefully playing on the EuroPro will stand me in good stead. I
found that more nerve-wracking than Open qualifying was two years ago, and
that will be at my home course as well, so hopefully I'll feel quite
comfortable for that. I know the course well but it is only 18 holes so you
need to have a good day, but you never know. "I love playing golf and I am
really grateful to the guys at the EuroPro Tour for inviting me to play
these two events and if they invite me next summer I'd like to get a couple
in, and then you may see me full time in about seven years!"
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West Ham United chasing Blackburn Rovers keeper Robinson
by Jack Failsworth. Published Wed 06 Jun 2012 14:30, Last updated:
2012-06-06
clicklancashire.com
According to reports West Ham United is interested in Blackburn Rovers
goalkeeper Paul Robinson. The Lancashire Telegraph claims Hammers boss Sam
Allardyce is eyeing the former England keeper. Robinson is understood to be
high up on Allardyce's wish list of replacements, having been a big admirer
of him during their time together at Ewood Park. However, it is believed
that Big Sam has other names on his short list though, including free agent
Jussi Jaaskelainen from Bolton Wanderers.
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Elior pitches up at Upton Park
Fm-world.co.uk
6 June 2012
Elior has taken over catering at Upton Park, the home of Premier League team
West Ham United, in a deal worth nearly £10 million. Elior's UK division
took over from Compass Group this month under a two-year contract, a
statement from Elior said. West Ham joins Queens Park Rangers as the second
premiership club for Elior, which also handles catering for Brighton & Hove
Albion, Rangers and Port Vale, as well as for the Murrayfield rugby pitch.
Elior is providing all match day and non-match day food and hotel services
at Upton Park, where the executive boxes are turned into bedrooms on
non-match days.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
Dan Potts completed an unfortgettable season by travelling with the squad to
Wembley
06.06.2012
Dan Potts might not have been directly involved in the npower Championship
Play-Off final victory over Blackpool, but the young defender could not keep
the smile of his face at Wembley. The 18-year-old began 2011/12 as the
youth-team captain but ended it as a West Ham United first-team player,
full-time professional and England Under-18 international. Potts was part of
the Hammers' 21-man squad that travelled to the Home of Football for the big
game, enabling the teenager to soak up the atmosphere in front of a crowd of
nearly 80,000 fans.
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Boxers ready for Boleyn showdown
WHUFC.com
Dereck Chisora and David Haye cannot wait to settle their differences in an
east London ring
06.06.2012
With Saturday 14 July fast approaching, David Haye and Dereck Chisora have
both come out fighting ahead of their bout at the Boleyn. 'Licensed to
Thrill' takes place at the Boleyn Ground, with British heavyweights David
Haye and Dereck Chisora topping the bill as they look to settle their
differences once and for all. West Ham TV caught up with both fighters ahead
of the crunch encounter. Chisora was looking forward to stepping into the
ring at the Boleyn once more, having previously defeated Danny Williams back
in May 2010, knocking out the former British and Commonwealth champion after
nine seconds of the second round. "The Boleyn Ground has a great atmosphere,
I really like this place," said Chisora. "This is the second time I've
fought here I'm looking forward to this one. I'm ready for it and I can't
wait to get in that ring. "David and I have some unfinished business but
after 14 July it will be done and I will be the happy one."
Haye, who has come out of retirement for the bout, was also in fighting mode
as he suggested that Chisora was not the fighter he believes he is. "Dereck
talks a lot but I'm not sure he actually understands boxing. He's got a good
chin but I certainly don't think he has enough to beat me. I believe Chisora
is going to come out slinging bombs and that will suit me perfectly. "It's
going to be entertaining. You'll see some stuff from me that you haven't
seen for a while. A new improved Hayemaker."
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Transfer latest
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 6th June 2012
By: Staff Writer
West Ham are this morning being linked with a move for Wolves winger Michael
Kightly. The 26-year-old was part of the team relegated from the Premier
League last season and is this morning being linked with a return south,
having spent the last five-and-a-half years in the Midlands with the
Wanderers. Originally from Basildon, Kightly began his career playing part
time for Basildon United before moving to Southend United, having been
dumped by Tottenham as a youth player.
After a brief spell on loan at Farnborough Town he joined Grays Athletic
where he became known as 'the Ryan Giggs of non-league football'. Having
helped the Gravelmen win the FA Trophy, he moved to Wolves - initially on
loan - in November 2006, before making the transfer permanent in January
2007.
Elsewhere the Hammers have been cited as a potential suitor for Rangers
forward Steven Naismith, who is reported to have a clause in his contract
allowing him to speak with any club prepared to offer £2million for his
services.
Other players who continue to be linked with a move to east London this week
are Wigan's out-of-contract Mohamed Diame, Stoke's out-of-favour Kenwyne
Jones and former Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka - who at least one source has
stated is in London for transfer talks with an unnamed party.
Meanwhile the individual (or individuals) responsible for the Twitter
account in the name of David Sullivan's 12-year-old son have been busy once
again.
When asked whether West Ham are considering signing Sunderland's Egyptian
winger Ahmed Elmohamady, 'Sullivan' replied: "We are no trying to sign
Elmohamdyu (sic) from Sunderland", before clearing up any potential doubt
over a missing character by adding, "We are not" - and later, "we never
wanted him".
Then, when asked to confirm whether reports stating that Sam Allardyce's
summer war chest equated to just £10million, the account holder replied,
"double that".
In terms of potential departures, there is still no news with regards to
Robert Green's position following David Gold's recent Tweet confirming that
"Robert is out of contract and is currently a free agent" - although one
source close to the player has told KUMB.com that the England stopper will
not make any decision on his future until after the forthcoming European
Championships.
Finally, Tottenham's purported £5million bid for KUMB.com's Player of the
Year James Tomkins appears to have been laughed off in most quarters.
However keen-eyed KUMB readers will no doubt recall that Tomkins recently
changed agents and is now part of the Mark Curtis stable.
Curtis, for the uninitiated, was accused by Andy Carroll's former agent
(Peter Harrison) of stealing his client and subsequently brokering the deal
that saw the England international move to Anfield for a record-breaking
£35million last year.
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That Was The Season That Was 2011/2012 - Part Four
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 6th June 2012
By: Gordon Thrower
He's cleared his domestic football inbox and written it all down so he can
concentrate on watching the Euros. Well for three games anyway. Here's the
final part of Gordon Thrower's end of season review. Let's see who he can
annoy this time.....
March
Defender George John returns to FC Dallas having failed to impress during
his loan spell which consisted of two Development squad matches and no
appearances in the first team squad.
Southampton manage a 1-0 win at Leeds despite being played off the park, the
home side failing to take any of the numerous chances that coe their way.
This gives Southampton a four point lead making it rather important that we
get something out of our international trip the following day. This we do in
decent style beating Cardiff 2-0 with goals from Nolan and a collector's
item from McCartney, whose 50 yard run finishes with him putting away a
rebound. With his right foot. The disembodied head of Ray Winstone explodes
as the bookies for whom he does those adverts struggle to compute the
astronomical odds of Linda scoring at all, multiplied by the even more
astronomical odds of such a goal coming from his right foot.
There's more fun to be had at the expense of Chelsea as Abrahamovic decides
that AVB (as I can't be bothered to look up the spelling of his name) is not
the man to run the club after all. AVB has lasted just about as long as it
takes to conceive and give birth. There's little sympathy for him however
given the no doubt large payoff that he receives for going. In any case,
people are too busy laughing at Chelsea to have any time for sympathy.
Southampton drop two home points to the in-form Ipswich whose goal comes
from Jason Scotland. This is possibly the first time ever I can recall
smiling at a Scotland goal. However, despite dominating our match against
Watford we fail to take the opportunity to go top, as the clock ticks on.
Sub Ricardo Vaz Te notches a late equaliser but try as we might we fail to
net the winner, despite 9 minutes of stoppage time being added for a
serious-looking (but thankfully not as serious as it looked) injury to
Watford defender Dale Bennett who is stretchered off with his neck in a
brace.
With Winston Reid still feeling the effects of serious concussion obtained
playing for the Kiwis against Jamaica we look a bit short handed at the back
and Stoke defender Danny Collins comes in on loan, though quite how he'll
adapt to playing football after his move from Stoke is anyone's guess.
Another loan signing is set to be 'keeper Stephen Henderson who will come in
from Pompey. Henderson's signing is made with a view to a permanent deal,
something that renews speculation as to the future of Rob Green, whose
presence at the club is said to be dependent on what division we are in next
season. So the deal is in no way a clever way of saving Pompey a few bob to
make sure they don't disappear before the end of the season with our six
points then.
As if to underline the feeling that Portsmouth must survive, because it
would get just too complicated if they went under, the Football League
promises £800,000 in staggered payments to get them through to the close of
the regular season on 28 April. After which, presumably, nobody will give a
monkey's.
We draw at home for the third consecutive match as Doncaster Rovers come to
the Boleyn and leave with a point after a 1-1 draw. Nolan scores early on as
it seems that only referee Andy D'Urso's long-standing grudge against us
will prevent us running up a cricket score. However, the loss of Ricardo Vaz
Te with a hamstring injury sees us struggle to show any type of creativity
and Doncaster pick up a deserved equaliser. It could have been worse, Green
pulls of a remarkable save to stop us leaving empty-handed.
Reading close the gap between second and third to goal-difference whilst
Southampton's win means that a win in the game in hand over Peterborough
will be sufficient to see us reclaim top spot. As long as we can muster
eleven goals in the process.
A difficult trip to Leeds follows as 3,000 travelling Hammers see us go a
goal down with seven minutes left. On-loan Danny Collins pops up in stoppage
time to rescue a point which is a decent return from Elland Road, though
when taken in the context of wins for both Reading and Southampton , the
point is not enough to keep us in the automatic promotion places.
Southampton's 3-2 win at Millwall is particularly galling coming as they do
from 2-1 down with two more laughable penalties.
Such matters put into perspective by events at White Hart Lane as Bolton's
Fabrice Muamba collapses with a heart attack during the first half of his
side's FA Cup Quarter Final. The player's heart stops for 78 minutes and a
defibrillator is used as the medics perform heroics to keep the player
alive. Ref Howard Webb abandons the match at 1-1 with players and spectators
visibly upset at the whole affair.
Meanwhile, we return to action at home to Boro' and draw. 1-1. Again. We go
1-0 up (again) through a deflected Faye header but a baffling series of
substitutions sees us try to shut up shop rather than try to exploit the
space created by opponents drawn out of their shell. With predictable
consequences. Ogbeche's curled drive levels the scores late on. Despite the
indifferent form we remain in the mix for automatic promotion as Reading
slip up at Peterborough leaving us two points adrift with a game in hand.
The turgid 90 minutes against Boro' contrasts hugely with events at Elland
Road on the same night where Colin's side are trounced 7-3 by Forest, for
whom McCleary nets four. Leeds take the lead but by half time Forest are 2-1
up. Forest then go 3-1 up before Leeds peg them back to 3-3. Then Forest
score again. And again. And again. And again. Colin is understandably
embarrassed. "I'm embarrassed" he says, before going on to blame Carlos
Tevez for the defeat.
Things don't improve much for the Irons in the first half up at Burnley.
Despite dominating and missing a succession of chances (pardon me if we've
been here before) we somehow find ourselves 2-0 down at the interval. Things
perk up in the second half as Nolan (now in double figures for the season)
and Tomkins level but yet again the forwards miss a number of opportunities
to give us all three points. Ten unbeaten then, the last five of which are
draws.
The impressive away form continues with a midweek trip to Peterborough where
second half goals from Vaz Te and O'Neil give us all three points. The win
is our eleventh on the road, which equals the club record.
All looks set fair for the big showdown with Reading whose inexplicable run
of victories despite playing poorly has put them in a strong position for
promotion. We start well with Cole putting us 1-0 up early on. We dominate
the first half so much that boxing referees are seen on the sidelines
begging to be allowed to intervene. However, we discover a clue to their
form in the shape of Premiership referee Chris Foy who allows a blatant
handball from ex-Hammer McAnuff to set up the equaliser. Things get worse as
a flukey deflection plays in Hunt to put them 2-1 up at the Interval. A Noel
Hunt dive over the nearest leg is enough for Foy to give them a penalty
which is converted by Harte. Vaz Te gives us a bit of hope with a header
that makes it 3-2 but Foy caps a dismal match by repealing the offside law
for a three yards offside Hunt to play in Leighterwood to give them a 4-2
win and leave us four points off the promotion slots.
April
The final month of the normal season begins with a Good Friday trip to
Barnsley where goals from Nolan, Noble (a clever chip after a goalkeeping
error), Maynard and Vaz Te give us a morale-boosting 4-0 win, thus setting a
new club record of 12 away wins.
Leeds kick lumps out of Reading and for once the rest of the league turns a
blind eye. Despite being reduced to ten men Leeds look the better side but
Reading dig up two late goals from somewhere to maintain the gap.
The Boat Race becomes interesting for once as a privately-educated
privileged idiot halts proceedings by swimming in front of the boats as a
protest against, er, privately-educated privileged idiots or something.
Still it distracts everyone from making the "funny how Oxford & Cambridge
always make it to the final" joke. Well apart from this time anyway.
There's another big one at the Boleyn where Birmingham come to visit. Awful
defending sees us go 2-0 down before Vaz Te makes it 2-1 in the third minute
of first half stoppage. Even hanging on to that position is beyond us as
Birmingham add a third in the fifth minute of the stoppage period, the extra
time being caused by lengthy treatment to George McCartney following a clash
of heads. We storm the second half and a 70th minute effort from Cole and a
last minute penalty from Vaz Te give us a deserved point.
Reading beat Southampton at St Mary's yet again taking three points from a
thoroughly unconvincing performance. This means that a win against Brighton
is a must. We get the win and then some, as one of the performances of the
season sees us run in six without reply. Goals from Vaz Te (3), Nolan, Cole
and an og give us the points and do the goal difference a power of good as
well. Vaz Te's third is a bit special, a mid-air scissor kick instantly
propelling him to the top of the "goal of the season" nominations.
Unfortunately hopes of automatic promotion are dealt a major blow in our
next match. We go 1-0 up through a Tomkins effort but an uncharacteristic
slip from Rob Green gives relegation threatened Bristol City an equaliser.
Once more a plethora of missed chances cost us dearly and the draw leaves us
needing snookers to have any chance of avoiding the playoffs.
Elsewhere Didier Drogba creates a world record for the number of dives in a
match during Chelsea's So-Called Champions League Semi Final against
Barcelona. Southampton players are seen pouring over their Sky+ machines for
tips. Drogba gives Chelsea the lead in one of the three minutes of stoppage
time added for treatment to his non-existent injuries and, despite Barcelona
playing them off the park, Chelsea take a 1-0 lead into the second leg.
Drought hits this part of the country prompting the traditional hosepipe
ban, followed by the even more traditional heavy rain. Which proceeds to
last for weeks. And weeks.
Results elsewhere mean that Reading, despite their obvious limitations, have
somehow become Champions. There is dancing in the streets of Derby as Rams'
fans look forward to finally losing the embarrassment of being tagged the
worst Premier League team ever.
There is still an outside chance of automatic promotion for us but a win
away at Leicester is required to keep that particular flame alight. The home
side take the lead against the run of play but the lead lasts less than 4
minutes as Reid turns in a Taylor cross. A rejuvenated Jack Collison buries
a spectacular 25-yarder to give us all three points.
Chelsea are yet again played off the park by Barcelona as the home side take
a 2-0 lead. John Terry ("the greatest Captain England have had ever" – M
Lipton) knees Sanchez in the back and then has the cheek to deny any
wrongdoing claiming "he must have backed into me". Terry eventually concedes
that it might just possibly look like he was guilty from a certain angle –
that angle presumably being one where you were facing the screen. Ramires
gives Chelsea the advantage, Messi (suspiciously) hits the bar from a
penalty and even more suspiciously Torres scores late on to send the
Pensioners through to the final v Bayern Munich. It's almost worth seeing
Chelsea qualify in the realisation that Terry will be suspended.
The following morning's newspapers are full of the news that enquiries into
the phone hacking scandal that doesn't involve Spurs have resulted in the
conclusion that Rupert Murdoch is not a "fit and proper" person to run a
newspaper, something which, apparently, is news. One paper which doesn't run
with the story is the Sun whose front page simply states "Torres Scores!"
Back in the realms of proper football we go into the final match of the
season needing a win and some goals, if Southampton draw, or just a win if
they lose. The only problem with that scenario is that Southampton are
playing already-relegated Coventry. Coventry are so poor that Southampton
don't require any dives to win 3-0 and leave us in the playoffs. A Carlton
Cole double either side of half time puts us 2-0 up but as the news filters
through from Southampton we sit back and important players are wisely
substituted in advance of the extension of the season. Hull pull a late goal
back after a bizarre cock-up from Guy Demel.
We finish in third place a mere three points from top spot. The club record
13 wins away from home contrasts with the home form where too many draws
have cost us automatic promotion. However, possibly significantly, we've won
two on the trot at home – which will be handy in the playoffs won't it where
Cardiff lie in wait…..
May
The month starts with the tabloids being outwitted by the FA as Roy Hodgson
is appointed England boss. Redknapp's journo mates cry foul as their man is
ignored in favour of someone with a proven track record of coaching at
international level and no recent court appearances.
At first the English public seem to follow the redtops' lead but the Sun
scores a spectacular own goal by publishing a front page taking the mickey
out of Hodgson's speech problem. The FA complains and any thoughts that the
Sun might have a lucid and coherent case are immediately dispelled when they
trot out Jonathon Ross as witness for the defence.
We pay another visit abroad for the playoff semi-final first leg against
Cardiff City. Tickets are again collectable from somewhere really
inconvenient. For some reason everyone connected with Cardiff seems to feel
it necessary to go into print regarding how awful we must be feeling about
missing out on automatic promotion and how much pressure we must be under.
We are under so much pressure that Jack Collison puts away two first half
goals in a performance that has the word "professional" stamped right
through it.
Cardiff boss Malky Mackay puts a brave face on the demolition job carried
out on his team. "We've got them worried now – 2-0 is a really dangerous
lead". It's a warning partially heeded by Blackpool in the other playoff who
take care to only take a 1-0 lead into their second leg against Birmingham.
A major dilemma faces the nation on FA Cup Final day where Chelsea face
Liverpool. On the one hand there was a side with dodgy owners, ignorant fans
and racist players whilst on the other hand, er…
The final is hidden away on Saturday evening to hide the embarrassing nature
of the participants. Prior to kick-off the charmless scousers whistle and
jeer the National Anthem. The match ends up 2-1 to Chelsea with Liverpool
being denied an equaliser by a Carroll effort that doesn't cross the line,
despite all efforts of the TV pundits to stir up controversy. The best thing
about the final is the way that we are allowed to see the look on the faces
of the likes of Gerrard picking up their losers' medals before turning off
before the obnoxious Terry picks up the cup. The scouse supporters in the
stadium further display their lack of class by legging it before the trophy
is presented.
Cardiff come to London via a detour to Turkmenistan to pick up tickets for
the second leg of the semi final. We cop a deaf one on Mackay's "2-0's a
dangerous lead" comment and render the point academic by half time, taking a
2-0 lead through a close range header from Nolan and a powerful Vaz Te
drive. Maynard's first goal at home towards the end makes it 3-0, with
another fine performance to send us to Wembley for the first time in 31
years.
The chicken dance that accompanies Nolan's goal is emulated at Ewood Park
where supporters lob a live chicken on the pitch in protest at the
stewardship of the poultry farmer owners Venkeys. Blackburn lose 1-0 to
Wigan and are relegated in the process while Liverpool immediately place a
£35m bid to sign the chicken.
The other playoff semi final sees Blackpool throw away a 2-0 lead to draw
2-2 against Birmingham. It's still enough to get them through to face us at
Wembley but they are holding on at the end.
Fed up with continually having to order their employees to apologise for
stuff, and annoyed at the fact that their club hold an end of season lap of
honour following their sixth home win of the season, Liverpool's owners sack
Dalglish. "He's not been close enough to the fans" they comment. "However,
now that he's unemployed he will be".
Ticketing arrangements for the playoff final start to turn a bit daft as
it's revealed that Blackpool have been given the same 39,000 or so
allocation as us, despite having a much smaller average gate. Rumours of
poor ticket sales in the north-west abound despite every supporter being
able to take two or three mates each. If they have any.
Idiot of the pre-playoff week award goes to the tool who publishes a
two-year old photo of an away kit, announces it as a new kit and uses the
existence of the Premier League badges on the sleeves as examples of our
supposed pre-playoff "arrogance". When caught out, the idiot goes one
further by replacing the old photo with a supporter's mock-up from the
kumb.com forums. Worse still, Seasiders' defender Ian Evatt is dumb enough
to fall for it and makes a tit of himself by repeating the stuff as fact.
The build-up to the big match concludes with Blackpool sending back a record
7,000 tickets. Because of the way they've been dished out all attempts to
reallocate the spares fall on deaf ears due to segregation issues.
The big day finally arrives. Everyone sings the National Anthem (scousers
please note) and, Collison's shoulder injury having healed it is an
unchanged eleven that starts the match. We take a half time lead through
Carlton Cole but Blackpool restore parity after the interval. Although we
don't play nearly as well as we have been of late we still have good chances
to win the match before Vaz Te's effort with but two minutes left is enough
to take us up in front of 40,000+ Hammers and as many waifs and strays that
Blackpool could muster.
John Terry turns up in full kit offering to help out with lifting the trophy
but security tell him to sling his hook. Undeterred, England's Greatest Ever
Captain (©M Lipton) jets off to Munich where he is able to pick up another
trophy that he had sod all to do with winning.
Big Sam admits to having taken a Beta Blocker before the final to control
his nerves. Sheffield United's lawyers' ears prick up at the thought of
suing over a potential failed drug test.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the defeat, Blackpool's Alex Baptiste
delivers the most hilarious of sour grapes tirades against West Ham. "I know
which team I'd rather play for" he says, conveniently ignoring the fact that
nobody is likely to give him the option. "Their players are all 8ft tall"
says the 5ft 11in tall Baptiste who, despite the fact that he himself is
taller than several Hammers, seems dreadfully upset at having been made to
play football against the bigger boys. Sep Blatter, who has been quiet on
the "really stupid ideas" front, muses over introducing boxing-style height
divisions in football before the realisation that John Terry would still
probably turn up to pick up the trophy in the women's 5ft and under
tournament.
The play-off season (yes there were others) continues and there isn't a dry
eye in the house as Sheffield United play Huddersfield Town in one of the
dullest matches ever seen anywhere. A bizarre penalty shoot-out takes place
which, after an incredibly poor first five penalties, finishes at 2-2. It
then gets silly as all the players considered not good enough to take any of
the first lot, bury their spot-kicks in brilliant style, leaving just the
'keepers to go. Town 'keeper Smithies dispatches his and, is able to put his
feet up as Hypocrite's net-minder Simonsen becomes an honorary Hammer by
thumping his kick into the stands. I expect we'll stop laughing eventually.
As contracts come up for renewal, it's farewell Abdoullaye Faye, John Carew,
Papa Bouba Diop, Olly Lee and Julien Faubert. Unlike last time he left these
shores, Faubert is not expected to pitch up at Real Madrid, despite having a
fine 20 minutes in the play-off final.
Rob Green is in Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad amidst rumours that he'll be
on his way. The tensions between Rio Ferdinand and "England's Greatest Ever
Captain" (according to M Lipton who either needs psychiatric help or a good
slap) mean that Hodgson decides that he has room for only one of them. Terry
gets the nod meaning that he'll be there to pick up the trophy when Spain
win it. Terry warms up with a trip to Azerbaijan where he is on hand to take
a bow as Sweden win the Eurovision song contest.
In typical cack-handed style season tickets go on sale for the 12/13 season.
Season ticket holders due a 20% discount for having renewed for five
consecutive seasons are baffled by the lack of mention of the discount in
any of the stuff appearing on the official site. Eventually there's an
announcement. Sort of. "All will be revealed in the renewal packs which
we're sending out, er, soon". Another period of silence follows before an
email goes out to supporters. The dreadfully drafted missive points out that
the proposed discount would cost a lot of money and it was those beastly
Icelandic chaps that had made it in the first place. The email appears to
suggest that the original offer is invalid – though cleverly it stops just
short of actually saying so – and suggests supporters take 5% off over the
next four years instead. Crucially, it is implied that the original offer is
somehow off the table and supporters are given only the option and ability
to renew at the club's preferred rate.
When challenged again the club, realising that they are on dodgy ground
legally, finally concede that they have to honour original offer, though
even this admission is limited to those who bothered to ask and is laden
with so much emotional blackmail that one would think supporters had asked
to take money from the mouths of starving Africans, rather than simply
asking what the position was. Ironically many supporters now claiming the
20% claimed that they might have accepted the revised offer had the club not
apparently attempted to mislead them. All in all, not the finest hour for
the board who came on board with a wave of promises of openness and
transparency.
Barry Hearn is in the news again. Having at various stages been in favour of
Tottenham taking over the Olympic Stadium, then nobody taking it over, Hearn
graciously decides that we can move in after all and that he'll let us share
the place with Leyton Orient. Gosh thanks Barry. Mind if we get back to you
on that one?
Despite the discount fracas, there apparently remains enough in the coffers
to put in a £1.2m bid for Yakubu, who is seeking a Premiership club after
Blackburn's relegation. George McCartney, available on a free from
Sunderland, is also offered a permanent deal. Rob Green looks for a reported
£50k a week. This is an amount that the management seems to baulk at and the
player goes to the Euros with nothing decided as to his future.
With the goalkeeper situation in a state of flux, transfer speculation links
us with Blackburn's Paul Robinson and Bolton's Jussi Jaaskeleinen. JJ, as he
is known to anyone who has to type his name, spent much of 2011/12 on the
bench having failed to regain his place after injury. The down side for JJ's
replacement Adam Bogdan was that Bolton 'keepers have to wear pink shirts.
Which is a bit of a nightmare if you are as red-headed as Bogdan is.
Rumours of possible riots amongst fat people in velour tracksuits start to
gather pace as the Government issues a consultation document that raises the
possibility of adding VAT to Cornish pasties. The Sun newspaper leads a
campaign that is short on quotes from those against the proposed tax due to
their mouths being full every time someone calls to ask them a question.
The Soccer Aid charity match takes place at Old Trafford where the usual
70,000 crowd of people who know sod all about football is replaced by a
70,000 crowd people who know sod all about both football and music, coming,
as most of them have, to scream at Robbie Williams (once memorably described
by one of the Gallagher brothers as "that fat dancer with Take That"). The
England XI, managed by Sam Allardyce, prevails over a Rest Of The World XI
3-1. The first half highlight is the ROW's goal scored by Kasabian guitarist
Serge Pizzorno, whose chip finds David Seaman stranded off his line (how
odd, not). The second half highlight involves tv chef Gordon Ramsey who
leaves a foot in on Paddy McGuinness prompting a spot of ball throwing.
Teddy Sheringham exacts revenge by ploughing straight through the
foul-mouthed ex-Rangers (yeah right – and I played for Barcelona)
defender/chef, putting him in hospital with a shocking tackle that we really
ought to condemn but can't quite bring ourselves to do so.
There's dancing in the streets of, er, Copenhagen, as the much improved
Winston Reid picks up the award for New Zealand Footballer Of The Year,
beating off strong competition from all the other New Zealand footballers
who were in contention. Whoever they were.
Robert Mugabe comes out as a Chelsea supporter which tells you all you need
to know about both him and them. Mugabe instantly overtakes John Terry in
the list of most obnoxious people in the world with Chelsea connections,
though he fails to dislodge Tim Lovejoy from top slot. M Lipton's article
"Why Mugabe is football's greatest ever supporter" is put on hold after even
he can't get past the opening line of "Ok so he may be a ruthless dictator
with genocidal tendencies but......"
Premiership manager news and Liverpool appoint Swansea boss Brendon Rodgers
as their new manager which comes as a shock to "Dodgy" Dave Whelan who had
been mentally spending the compensation cash that he, er, sorry Wigan, would
have received had he not priced Roberto Martinez out of the market.
Following his discussion with Wigan, Liverpool supremo Ian Ayre refers to
Whelan as "a comedian" – something that confuses us on the grounds that
Whelan has never made us laugh. Then we remember the likes of Tom O'Connor,
Stan Boardman, Ken Dodd etc and realise that "being funny" isn't a
prerequisite for comedian status on Merseyside. (By the way, if anyone who
knows "Premier League Manager" Neil Warnock is reading this, can you pop
over and tell him that he can stop waiting by the 'phone now).
England's preparations for Euro 2012 are thrown into turmoil as Gareth Barry
and Frank Lampard (jr) are both ruled out by injury. Lampard (jr)'s injury
causes suspicion, coming as it does as the Government announces a U-turn
with regard to the proposed "pasty tax". Those that might otherwise be
dancing in the streets at the news that pasties will remain tax-free (if not
warm) decline the opportunity to do so on the grounds that dancing looks an
awful lot like exercise.
Lampard's withdrawal from the squad means that Hodgson at least doesn't have
to wrestle with the age old question of whether Gerrard and Lampard can play
in the same side that has troubled England managers ever since the great "do
we have room for two ludicrously overrated players in the team?" question
first came to light.
Carlsberg run a competition to give ordinary fans a chance to become part of
the England squad by completing the sentence "I think I should play for
England because...." . Mr J Henderson of Liverpool wins with his entry that
reads "some of my mates are going and they're no good at football either".
Emile Heskey considers an appeal at the decision on the grounds that
Henderson had help from his mum with the spelling, but he falls over on the
way to the post box and the appeal never makes it to Carlsberg, who, since
I've now mentioned them twice in a paragraph, ought really to think about
sending me some product.
England's final warm-up games see victories away to Norway and at home to
Belgium both by 1-0. Gary Cahill withdraws from the squad with a broken jaw.
Hodgson allows him to be replaced by Carlsberg (I'm getting thirsty here)
competition runner-up Martin Kelly (competition answer: "so I can hold my
friend Jordan's hand").
Cardiff's Malaysian owners resurrect a plan to change the club's colours
from blue to red which will make them, er, easier to see in Asia or
something and will be the solution to all their problems. Presumably nobody
called Liverpool before thinking that one up.
The final transfer speculation of the period leaves us looking at Wolves'
Michael Kightley, Wigan's Mohammed Diame, Nicholas Anelka (lately of
somewhere in China), Rangers' Stephen Naismith, Stoke's Kenwyne Jones, and,
bizarrely, Ronaldinho who has fallen out with his current employers over a
disagreement over wages, Ronaldinho believing his contract entitled him to
some.
Tottenham are rumoured to have put in a £5m bid for James Tomkins. No
official confirmation comes of the bid which is too daft to be taken
seriously. Even they're not that stupid are they?
So, to summarise, we went up. We have the Euros and the Olympics to look
forward to in the summer. The fixtures are out on June 18th. The season
starts on 18 August so Sky have a whole two months to mess up your plans,
though as usual you can probably rely on them to leave it until an hour
after you have left for the match before announcing any revised dates. Our
tv coverage will be on a bit earlier – though on past form from the BBC
that'll only be by a minute or two.
And this time next year I'll be looking back at a really dull season and
won't have had a thing to write.
Which will make a change.
Have a good summer!
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Naismith agent - No Hammers bid
Frontman focused on returning to full fitness with Gers, says agent
Last Updated: June 6, 2012 9:01am
SSN
Steven Naismith's agent has denied reports West Ham have made an approach
for the Rangers striker and says he is fully focused on continuing his Ibrox
career.
Speculation has surfaced the frontman was the subject of a £2million offer
from the Premier League new-boys but his agent, Russell Kyle, has denied
such claims.
Kyle insists Naismith, who saw his season cut short after suffering a
cruciate ligament injury in October, is concentrating on regaining full
fitness in time for the new season with Gers. He told the Daily Record: "I
can say categorically that we have had no contact with West Ham and that no
one from Rangers has been in touch to tell us Steven has been the subject of
an inquiry from them. "Steven is on holiday and his primary concern is
returning to Rangers and being fully fit for the new season."
Naismith, who has three years left to run on his contract at Ibrox,
previously attracted a £2m bid from West Brom which was rejected by the
club's administrators, Duff and Phelps. The striker has previously stated he
is optimistic of continuing his career in Glasgow despite concerns over the
financially-stricken club's future.
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West Ham Linked with a Defensive Midfielder!
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die
One of the areas of the squad that defintely needs addressing this summer is
midfield anchor. Yet, so far, and it is admittedly early days, we have not
been linked with any players in that particular position. Numerous different
forwards yes, defnsive midfielders no! Until this evening that is, when it
was reported that Sam Allardyce is considering making a bid for former
Racing Club defensive midfielder, Cladio Yacob.
In the last season or two Yacob has been watched by both Man Utd and
Arsenal, without either making a move. The rumour being that they do not
feel that he is ideally suited to the frentic, fast pace of the EPL. Yet at
24 years of age, an Argentina international, and a free agent he may well be
worth a gamble.
Elsewhere, most Hammers fans were hoping for a bid for Wolves left-winger,
Matt Jarvis, but the latest rumours are that we may be going for the cheaper
option on Wolves' right wing, Micheal Knightley. He could be a good signing,
as long as he is over his past injury problems?
SJ. Chandos.
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West Ham, Southampton and Reading: Survival is the name of the game
Posted: June 5, 2012 by newshoes1984 in Reading, Southampton, West Ham
Ninetyminutesonline.com
Over the last few seasons teams coming into the Premier League from the
Championship have been more successful in avoiding relegation in their first
season. QPR, Norwich and Swansea all survived this season, whilst the likes
of Stoke, West Brom and Wigan have now established themselves as top-flight
teams. So what do the three teams that are joining this season need to do to
survive?
Reading
Reading are returning to the big time after relegation in 2008. There are
many similarities though between this team and the one that finished eighth
in their first season in the Premiership in 2006-2007. Just like that team
there are no real big stars and Reading's success comes from their solid
shape, organisation and ability to counter attack. They have experience at
the back in the shape of former Leeds man Ian Harte and Kaspars Gorkss,
Exciting wingers in Jobi McAnuff and Jimmy Kebe and hardworking strikers in
Jason Roberts and Noel Hunt.
The one different factor which may aid Reading's survival chances this time
is the backing of wealthy Russian Anton Zingarevich who recently bought 51%
of the club. Certainly Reading will need to spend and add some Premier
League experience and a proven goal scorer at the top level to the solid
base that they already have.
Southampton
The Saints last couple of seasons are very similar to that of Norwich City.
From struggling in League One Nigel Adkins has secured back-to-back
promotions to the Premier League just Like Paul Lambert did at Carrow Road.
This has been achieved by having a prolific goal scorer at Football League
level in Rickie Lambert just like Norwich has Grant Holt.
Much like Reading their success in the Championship was built on a solid
defensive unit marshalled by Jose Fonte and Jos Hooiveld with the
experienced Kelvin Davis in goal. Dean Hammond provides a good base in front
of the back four, which allows the likes of Lambert, Adam Lallana and Billy
Sharp to concentrate on scoring goals. With their current squad Southampton
have a good chance of survival but much like Reading some more Premier
League experience and strength in depth is required to give them an even
better chance.
West Ham
Everyone's favourites to bounce straight back up did it the hard way after a
2-1 play-off final victory over Blackpool. They are a side that is already
packed with Premiership and international experience with the likes of
Winston Reid, Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble and Carlton Cole to name just a few.
Despite scoring 81 goals last season ,which was the second highest in the
division, a prolific striker is still needed as they created so many chances
to win games which they drew in the Championship.
West Ham also have an advantage by having the experienced Sam Allardyce in
charge. Allardyce has been there and done it with both Bolton and Blackburn,
making Bolton a stable Premier League club and also taking Blackburn to a
comfortable mid table position. Whilst many of the West Ham fans may not
like the style of football that Allardyce plays, they cannot argue that it
gets results and his meticulous planning may be what keeps West Ham afloat
next season.
All three teams will have to spend to survive, with greater strength in
depth being an issue for all three to cope with the rigours and pace of the
top division. With three managers though who are very tactically astute and
some exciting forward players Reading, Southampton and West Ham all have a
great chance of making an impact in the Premier League next season.
By Chris Newman
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West Ham wait to pounce on Chelsea outcast Benayoun and free agent Yacob
By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:51, 6 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:51, 6 June 2012
Daily Mail
Yossi Benayoun is expected to announce his departure from Chelsea this week,
with West Ham, Ajax and Maccabi Haifa all keen. The Israel midfielder, who
spent almost all of last season on loan at Arsenal, posted on Twitter: 'I
hope I will have some news about my future soon.' West Ham are interested in
Argentina midfielder Claudio Yacob, 24, a free agent after leaving Racing.
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West Ham United keen on Wolves winger Michael Kightly
Guardian Series
5:34pm Wednesday 6th June 2012 in News
West Ham United are reportedly keen on bringing Wolves winger Michael
Kightly to the club. The Hammers are interested in taking the former Watford
loan midfielder to Upton Park following their promotion to the Premier
League. The 26-year-old could be available for a reasonable price after
Wolves suffered relegation to the Championship.
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West Ham midfielder sets out on pro golf journey - 05/06/2012
Europrotour.com
West Ham United midfielder Gary O'Neil is eyeing a career in professional
golf once his footballing days are over. The 29-year-old has been getting a
feel for the sport by taking part in two events on the 888poker.com PGA
EuroPro Tour. The Your Golf Travel Classic at Bovey Castle in Dartmoor and
the Ulster Bank Open at Galgorm Castle in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, were
O'Neil's first appearances in professional golf and gave the former England
Under-21 international an insight to life on a pro tour.
At Bovey Castle he carded a first-round score of 79 on the par-70 course and
struggled in his second round, signing for 89 to total 28 over par for the
tournament.
However, he improved at Galgorm Castle and achieved a two-over-par 74 in his
first round and 80 in his second. "I've loved playing golf since I first
took it up," said O'Neil, who played in the two events as an amateur. "I am
realistic enough to know I need to improve a lot but if I could be a pro
golfer when my football career ends it would definitely be something I would
look to do. "Bovey Castle was my first ever professional golf event. It was
nice of the EuroPro Tour to invite me to come see what it is all about and
it was a good experience. "I play of scratch at the London Club in Kent but
it is a bit different playing there on a Sunday morning with friends than it
is playing on the EuroPro with the professional lads who are on tour doing
it week-in, week-out. "I found it difficult at Bovey but I tried to enjoy it
anyway. It was tough going and it was quite nerve-racking as well. I was
hoping to get a few weeks of practise in before I came but with West Ham
being in the play-offs I didn't have the chance. "I love my golf and I know
some of the EuroPro Tour players. I was invited to come and play a couple of
weeks and see what it is all about. It's something that, if I can get good
enough at, I'd be interested in doing once I get to 35 and stop playing
football. It's a chance to see what it was all about and how my swing would
stand up under pressure. Unfortunately it wasn't great at Bovey! "Galgorm
was slightly better; I did quite well in my first round and proved to myself
that I can shoot a half-decent score even though I didn't play great golf. I
need to do more practise; the pro golfers are fantastic and are working on
their game day in, day out. I didn't expect to go and do anything special,
it was just for the experience and I really enjoyed it. "I think my
perception of how good the pro lads are was fairly accurate. I have played
with a few of them socially before and I knew they were good. I knew I
needed to improve to reach their level and that remains the same. I don't
think there is anything major that needs changing, it's just about having
the time to be able to practise.
"A few of the guys said how good my short game is but my problem at the
moment is consistency. My bad shoots seem to be a lot worse than the bad
ones the pro lads are hitting. I hit a couple of loose ones with my driver
at Galgorm which were 40 or 50 yards off line and that will cost you two
shots straight away. For the pro lads their bad shots are sneaking into the
rough and that is about as bad is it gets. I need to repeatedly hit the ball
and try and find some more consistency. "Playing in my first professional
golf tournaments has been similar to my football debut. I don't get that
nervous anymore ahead of football matches but when I think back to how
nervous I was for my debut and for my second game it's probably quite
similar to how nervous I was at Bovey Castle and at Galgorm."
The newly-promoted Premier League football is now taking a well-earned
family holiday but will be back on the golf course at the end of June in a
bid to win a place at this year's British Open. "I'll be playing in the
British Open qualifying at the end of June," he said. "I did it two years
ago and hopefully playing on the EuroPro will stand me in good stead. I
found that more nerve-wracking than Open qualifying was two years ago, and
that will be at my home course as well, so hopefully I'll feel quite
comfortable for that. I know the course well but it is only 18 holes so you
need to have a good day, but you never know. "I love playing golf and I am
really grateful to the guys at the EuroPro Tour for inviting me to play
these two events and if they invite me next summer I'd like to get a couple
in, and then you may see me full time in about seven years!"
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West Ham United chasing Blackburn Rovers keeper Robinson
by Jack Failsworth. Published Wed 06 Jun 2012 14:30, Last updated:
2012-06-06
clicklancashire.com
According to reports West Ham United is interested in Blackburn Rovers
goalkeeper Paul Robinson. The Lancashire Telegraph claims Hammers boss Sam
Allardyce is eyeing the former England keeper. Robinson is understood to be
high up on Allardyce's wish list of replacements, having been a big admirer
of him during their time together at Ewood Park. However, it is believed
that Big Sam has other names on his short list though, including free agent
Jussi Jaaskelainen from Bolton Wanderers.
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Elior pitches up at Upton Park
Fm-world.co.uk
6 June 2012
Elior has taken over catering at Upton Park, the home of Premier League team
West Ham United, in a deal worth nearly £10 million. Elior's UK division
took over from Compass Group this month under a two-year contract, a
statement from Elior said. West Ham joins Queens Park Rangers as the second
premiership club for Elior, which also handles catering for Brighton & Hove
Albion, Rangers and Port Vale, as well as for the Murrayfield rugby pitch.
Elior is providing all match day and non-match day food and hotel services
at Upton Park, where the executive boxes are turned into bedrooms on
non-match days.
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