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added: Fri, 17th February 2006 | 280 views | 0x in favourites
feed url: http://westhamfc.blogspot.com/atom.xml
The latest West Ham news and gossip.
Lucas Neill, who is in contract negotiations with West Ham, claims he has other offers,
"Officially I’m on my last year of my contract," he said. "I’ve had preliminary talks and there’s been interest from elsewhere. But I'm captain of West Ham and very proud of that and I don’t see it being any different this season."
Neill is perceived to be one of the highest earners at West Ham and despite being club captain now has serious competition for his right-back slot from Behrami.
I don't know if this is anything to crow about considering tonight's performance was one of England's worst ever displays, (Joe Cole has to start) but Capello could have almost fielded an England eleven with former and current West Ham players against Slovakia.
Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, David James, Jermain Defoe and John Terry (West Ham youth) all started whilst Joe Cole featured in the second half. Add to that Matthew Upson who was in the initial squad but not named today and Dean Ashton, who would probably have been in the squad if he wasn't injured at the weekend then you are getting to the better part of a full team.
Mind you how Lampard still gets picked is beyond me.
According to today's Daily Mirror West Ham are due to have talks with Chilean striker Sebastian Pinto. They claim he has been invited for a brief trial with a view to a year long loan.
The paper says Pinto, who currently plays for Brazilian club Santos, has fallen out with his present coach and is available on a season-long loan. He is keen to come to England and has accepted the West Ham invitation despite rival offers.
Elsewhere, Sp#rs have ruled themselves out for any bid for Anton Ferdinand. Ferdinand is said to be considering an offer from Sunderland.
James Collins and Nigel Quashie both completed 45 minutes in a behind closed doors game against QPR. The game ended 2-2 with Boa Morte getting both of West Ham's goals.
Mark Noble had a good game in England U-21's 2-1 win against Slovakia. Noble played the full 90 minutes and was captain for the second half, after Milner was substituted at half-time.
After telling the world that West Ham had accepted a bid for Anton Ferdinand from Sunderland the newspapers are now saying that West Ham turned down the bid. The Daily Mail however say that Sp#rs are preparing their own bid for the player. After their performance on Saturday they certainly do need to shore up their defence.
Dean Ashton has been given the all clear after a medical on Sunday. It was feared that Ashton had pulled a hamstring but a scan to his leg has confirmed that he only suffered severe cramp.
"It was just cramp," Ashton said. "I should be training with the team on Tuesday. I am really glad that is not a bad injury. I am looking forward to joining in training tomorrow and getting on with playing. Overall, I am really pleased with how pre-season has gone for me and then to get off to a good start in the first game - especially with two goals. Hopefully I can keep that going on Sunday."
According to The Independent West Ham and Sunderland have agreed an £8 million fee for Anton Ferdinand. However the paper says it is not clear if Ferdinand will want to move to the North-East.
Even though Ferdinand has not been a particular favourite of the fans over the last couple of years I think things could turn very ugly for the Icelandic owners if this goes ahead. I'm pretty sure we were promised that the club would no longer be selling off it's best young players. If Ferdinand goes and no more players are brought in I think it will be a clear signal that the new owners are out to milk the club.
There have been rumours floating around about West Ham being prepared to sell Anton Ferdinand for most of the summer. The latest rumour comes from The News of the World which says that Sunderland have tabled an £8m bid for the West Ham centre-half.
The paper repeat the rumour that Ferdinand has recently turned down a contract offer and say West ham are therefore willing to offload him.
Most of the newspapers noticed that West Ham had the better of the first half yesterday but Wigan had the better of the second. Most of the newspapers were obviously impressed by Ashton and most point out that he will be undergoing a medical this morning - quoting Curbs saying 'We hope it is cramp.'
The Daily Mail think Ashton is looking slimmer this season. They say Wigan looked 'disinterested' before the half-time break but 'were as impressive in the second half as they were awful in the first'.
The Telegraph believe that Ashton furthered his England claims by scoring twice in front of Capello. They say his first goal was the best moment of the game.
The Guardian called it a 'classic game of two halves'. "West Ham could not have made a better start - and Ashton could not have done more to impress Capello."
The Independent say that "until Ashton limped off in the 72nd minute, he was the significant figure of a bright match. ... Exuding style and panache, Ashton scored twice within the first 10 minutes."
The Times say West Ham "were immensely lucky to hold on to a 2-1 lead that seemed more fragile from minute to minute." Although The Times do concede that West Ham for the first "10 minutes ... looked irresistible."
The first day of the season and Match of the Day upholds one of the oldest traditions in the English national game by putting the West Ham game on last. By ensuring the West Ham game was the only one not discussed by the panel as well I think the BBC may be starting another proud tradition. It's enough to bring a tear to the eye.
I'm sure it must be possible now to just digitally remove the West Ham players from the screen. It hardly seems fair on the other teams in the league for them to have to miss out on their highlights just because they happen to be playing West Ham that week.
Dean Ashton has not been named in the England squad for Wednesday's friendly against the Czech Republic. Capello watched Ashton and Heskey play today and decided not on the player who got two goals but the one firing blanks.
Presumably this means that Ashton, who was subbed with a calf problem today, has been made unavailable through injury. The BBC say he "has been ruled out" which seems to confirm Ashton is injured once again. Hopefully he will be fit again for next Sunday.
Matthew Upson, on the other hand, obviously did enough to impress the England manager as he has been recalled to the squad. Robert Green was ignored once again, whilst Robinson, who apparently continued his poor form of the last year today, was recalled.
Wigan looked good for the first two minutes of this game then West Ham won the ball in their own half and broke quickly down the right wing. The ball came to Faubert who crossed and found Ashton on the edge of the Wigan box. Ashton received the ball with his back to goal and turned and shot to get the first goal of this Premier League campaign.
It took West Ham just seven minutes to extend their lead. West Ham won a corner on the left. Cole met the corner on the edge of the five yard box and flicked the ball on, Davenport hooked the ball goalwards and Ashton had a fairly easy tap-in on the far post for his second of the game.
Wigan scored a minute into the second half. Amr Zaki volleyed the ball past Green left-footed from the centre of the penalty area, 12 yards out. After the goal West Ham created a couple of chances. Cole headed wide and Faubert shot wide from a Behrami pull back from the right wing.
However, from about the 55th minute, Wigan bombarded the West Ham penalty area. In the 71st minute Sears was brought on for Ashton and Mullins for Parker. In the 75th minute Green was forced to make a good save from a Palacios shot from just outside the area.
In the 86th minute Davenport had the chance to secure the points from a corner. However his header from 5 yards just missed right. In the 92nd minute, with seconds remaining and after some more sustained pressure from Wigan Zaki had a golden opportunity to square the match. The ball came to him five yards out but he managed to fire over.
So it was a far from convincing win for West Ham. They should be a little worried at the way Wigan looked the better side for much of this match but thanks to Ashton they did enough to get the points. On the positive side Behrami and Faubert showed glimpses of what looks to be a very good pairing down the right and Ashton is looking deadly.
West Ham also look dangerous from corners for the first time in a long while.
According to The Sun there are 'powerful' people at West Ham who think that Harry Redknapp is the Son of God and are looking forward to the Second Coming of 'Arry. The paper claims that an 'insider' (although they don't say inside what) told them,
"There are powerful people here who would love to see Harry make a comeback. It would be like the return of the messiah for them."
So The Sun say that when Curbishley is given the push West Ham will go for Croatian manager Slaven Bilic.
I know it doesn't make sense but we are talking The Sun here.
LiveFooty have a SopCast link for today's game.
FSIcrew have TVAnts and SopCast links for TrueSport 5 and Balldee Sports 5 channels.
Alan Curbishley says that Lucas Neill will play at left-back tomorrow in place of the injured McCartney. Calum Davenport looks set to replace the hamstrung Ferdinand in the centre of defence.
The rest of the starting line up is likely to be very much as started against Villareal. For Wigan Chris Kirkland and Emile Heskey have been passed fit.
Predictions
Lawro says he worries for West Ham this season but that 'Wigan will be fine'. Therefore he predicts a 2-0 win for West Ham. Go figure. What a .... (fill in the blank).
Setanta think that with Ferdinand absent for West Ham, Heskey will run riot. Setanta predict a 1-1 draw.
Sky think that Wigan have bought well this summer and also predict a 1-1 draw.
West Ham feature today in The Guardian's Premier League Preview. The analysis of West Ham's current strengths and weaknesses is pretty fair - it is a bit surprising then that the paper ends up predicting a 16th place for West Ham in the league this season. Especially when they also say,
"The quality is there in West Ham's squad to make a decent fist of things among the second tier of Premier League clubs, and maybe even to push on for a Uefa Cup spot."
The Guardian notice that West Ham lack decent cover up front, "If Ashton is absent and Bellamy is having one of his leaner spells, it's still hard to see exactly where the goals are going to come from."
The analysis is rather let down however by the claim that the squad's weakness "is the continuing absence of a regular left-back.". Actually McCartney was hardly ever absent last season.
Elsewhere captain Lucas Neill says that West Ham are aiming for a top eight finish,
"Tenth was probably more than we deserved. But this season you will probably see the West Ham everyone wanted to see last term.
"Finishing in the top six is achievable but we're going to focus on the top eight and hope we're there or thereabouts.
"The squad - on paper - can compete with the teams around us trying to obtain fourth, fifth or sixth spot."
Sky Sports say West Ham, Man City and Fulham have all made bids for Nigerian teenage defender Dele Adeleye. Adeleye has looked impressive playing for Nigeria in the current Olympic games and seems to have caught the interest of a number of clubs.
The 19-year-old currently plays for Sparta Rotterdam in Holland but has attracted interest from clubs in Germany, France and England.
West Ham have drawn Macclesfield Town at home in the second round of the Carling Cup. I understand the ticket office has been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of enquiries since the draw was announced.
The game will be played in the week commencing Monday 25th August.
The bookies have Alan Curbishley down as the first manager to be sacked this season. Which presumably means they think we will struggle.
Mark Lawrenson says that the 'great problem' for West Ham is 'the wage bill' and consequently West Ham will finish in the bottom third. Presumably the players will be weighed down by their bulging wallets and be unable to perform. What a ... (fill in the blank).
The Times say West Ham should have a top half finish this season and Joe Lovejoy's prediction is 8th.
Sky Sports think West Ham will have a similar season this year to last. Strangely they say that the majority of West Ham's rivals have been busy in the transfer market. I thought that most sides had been fairly quiet in the transfer market this year. Anyway Sky predict West Ham will finish 11th this year.
Listening to what the West Ham management and players have been saying over the summer I think the club have earmarked 7th position as the target for this year and this looks achievable.
West Ham have not been that active in the transfer market over the summer. Despite what the club says about players returning from injury being like new signings I'm afraid it is unlikely to be true. Bellamy, Dyer and Parker aren't likely to suddenly become less injury prone and will probably all miss large chunks of the season through injury. However Etherington and Behrami and Faubert I think will give us more pace and width this season and if Ashton remains fit then we certainly shouldn't struggle.
I think that our main rivals this season are the teams that finished fifth to twelfth last year. Of those sides Newcastle and Sp#rs will probably have better seasons than last year and City and Blackburn could struggle to match last year's performance.
Villa have been active in the transfer market and look to have improved their squad.
Everton have sold Johnson but haven't brought anyone in. However Everton are solid and should be around 5th and 6th spot again this year.
Man City have got rid of a lot of squad players and bought in three new signings. The team looks to have slightly improved but off the field problems are likely to affect their season. I can see City slipping back this year.
I keep reading predictions of Sp#rs doing well this season. However they look like they will have sold their best two players in Keene and Berbatov and whilst they have bought well on paper their new players outside of Bentley are unproven in the Premier League. Much may rest on Darren Bent being able to step up this season and he has been looking good in pre-season.
Newcastle look to have brought in Coloccini which means their defence should be a lot better this season. Up front Owen still seems plagued with injuries. It looks like Newcastle will have their normal roller coaster ride with Keegan in charge.
Blackburn have lost Bentley and not really brought in any quality. More importantly they have lost Hughes and replaced him with Ince. I suspect Blackburn will move backwards this season.
Portsmouth have bought Crouch and will probably be challenging for fifth, sixth or seventh this season.
West Ham should be in this group. I think sixth position is possible this season but so is 12th, however eighth or ninth is most likely.
According to KUMB West Ham have made an approach for Joe Cole. Apparently Cole is out of favour at Chelski under Scolari and is facing a season on the sidelines. Presumably West Ham's approach is a loan offer, I'm sure the club wouldn't stump up the transfer fee.
KUMB say Liverpool are also considering an offer.
The Daily Mirror claim that Anton Ferdinand has turned down a new contract offer from West Ham. The paper says that West Ham and Ferdinand have been negotiating an extension for the past few months and the defender's snub leaves his long-term future at the club in doubt.
However The Mirror claim that the offer Ferdinand has turned down would have trebled his wages. I thought everybody knew West Ham were trying to reduce the wage bill.
West Ham have handed a trial to Trinidad & Tobago international Keon Daniel. The 21 year old midfielder whilst a teenager had a trial with Man Utd. The trial is due to take place after the 20th August, when T&T; face Cuba in a World Cup qualifier.
"It's going to be a great opportunity for me and it's one I'm looking forward to," said the United Petrotrin midfielder. "I'm not worried as once I get over there I will give it my best and show what I can do."
They [West Ham] actually wanted me to come earlier this month but I couldn't because of the matches we have now leading up to Cuba. So arrangements have been made for me to go up after the Cuba game.
"If things work out for me we also have to look at the transfer deadline which is August 31."
It looks like West Ham might be avoiding another PR blunder by not signing Ben Thatcher. Ipswich manager Jim Magilton says that Thatcher is set to sign for him today,
"It's moving forward now and we hope to bring it to a conclusion on Wednesday."
Thatcher was given a place in West Ham's starting line up at the week-end so it was presumed by many fans that West Ham were going to sign the free agent. However Thatcher was taken off at half-time and Lucas Neill replaced him at left-back.
West Ham will probably now start against Wigan with Neill at left-back, Behrami at right-back and Faubert on the right-wing.
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