West Ham thread
�18m for Mauro Zarate 21 striker
�10m for Thierry Henry 30 striker
�12 for Marco Zambelli 22 fb (4 Knee Ops already)
�2 Willy Sagnel 31 fb
But wait...
Last updated at 23:49pm on 23rd April 2008
Sheffield United plc chairman Kevin McCabe has revealed his intention to stand down at the end of the season � raising doubts over the long term future of manager Kevin Blackwell.
Blackwell took over from the sacked Bryan Robson in February and is hoping to secure a permanent contract in the summer, but McCabe's decision to leave the club means Blackwell is not guaranteed to get what he wants.
McCabe said: "We are still seeking compensation from West Ham United and it is an on-going legal process which should be resolved in June. I don't plan to be chairman for much longer.
"I need to hand over the reins and we need more fresh ideas. Had we not been relegated 'unjustly' last season it could have been the right time. I will always be a supporter, but I don't intend to become a dinosaur."
Why, when we reached 10th place 4 months ago, did we not push on to greater things?
Cant be injuries. We had those when we were beatring teams on the first round to achieve 10th.
It's because from day 1, Curbishly told the world, including his players, Dont expect better than 10th. That is what we are aiming for.
This guy can not motivate players and needs to go if we are going to become a regular UEFA Cup contender or better.
All the talk about being top four in five years, attracting world stars and building a new stadium seem to have suddemly disappeared and we are now pleased with a 10th place in the league. Well this guy isnt!!!!
The club have officially registered the agreement with the Premier League, but have declined to reveal specific details of the deal, such as length or payment structure.
Joorabchian is likely to recoup the funds over the next few years through agent�s fees, both for players he represents or �owns� (via his company Media Sports Investments) and for negotiating the sale of West Ham players.
SOOOOO..... if he is still Tevez agent and the only way he is going to get his money from WHU is through agency fees, then............... NA! It's not going to happen. Tevez & Bellamey running off Ashton!!!
1. Bjorgolfor Gudmundsson, who has publicly commented in the past that he is not a football enthusiast, has lined up a buyer for a couple of years out.
2. The agreement is that Kia will get 5% of any player he brings to the club as agent, or any that he sells, as agent. This might mean that he comes in for Noble etc, becomes his agent then sells him off. May also mean that he may work on getting rid of some of the deadwood in the short term to free up Cash.
3. Getting him on board avoids a a court case which we would almost certainly have lost
4. With Kia comes his partner in crime, Pini Zahavi, one of the best agents in the world
5. This presents WHU with top connections in Middle East, South America and (Gianluca Nani) in Europe
6. With Sheffield talking of suing us, they have just lost their star witness
7. Tevez is still owned by Kia
and totally unrelated
Barcelona has now given Gudjohnson permission to go for 4 mill, while we are asking 5mill for zamora.
uiron2008-06-07 09:54:38
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23855919-23215,00.html
Neill fights for Sydney's west
By Ray Gatt
June 13, 2008
IT won't have the glitz of Clive Palmer's Gold Coast United bid, but the group behind a proposed western Sydney A-League club can boast Australia skipper Lucas Neill in their ranks and are claiming they will change the country's sporting landscape.
Details are still sketchy, but the bid looms as a serious threat to the dominance of Sydney FC.
The club, which is nine months into development, has impressed Football Federation Australia and has the inside running to join Sydney FC as the second Sydney-based side in an expanded A-League competition.
Socceroos and West Ham United captain Neill is said to be part of the club, although the exact level of his involvement is uncertain. Lucas' Australian-based manager Paddy Dominguez confirmed the company he works for, Inspire Sports Group, is behind the bid.
"We have been working tirelessly on this for nine months and we are ready to go as soon as the 2009-2010 season," Dominguez said. "It is an exciting concept and we believe it will be great for the sport in this country."
Dominguez revealed part of the plans, including:
* Signing "a massive" marquee player;
* Splitting home matches between Parramatta Stadium and CUA Stadium (Penrith);
* Playing marquee home games at ANZ Stadium;
* Building a clubhouse and a state-of-the-art training venue;
* Incorporating a junior club from under-6s up.
Dominguez promised the club would bring "unrivalled football experience and expertise" to Australian football.
"Some of the people who will be involved have a wonderful background in the game, especially at a world level," Dominguez said. "It is the sort of expertise that will only benefit Australian soccer. As far as Lucas is concerned, he is determined to put something back into the game in this country.
"I can't talk about the financial aspect, but he already has a huge emotional attachment to this.
"Needless to say, when he eventually quits Europe, he'll come back here to play for the franchise. Lucas has shown with his player scholarship scheme in the Manly district that he wants to make a significant contribution. He wants to leave a lasting legacy for Australian soccer."
Dominguez said while one of the key platforms is to bring quality players to the club, the emphasis will be on developing local players.
"It is important to bring in the right players, especially when it involves the marquee position," he said.
"I can tell you that some of the names we are dealing with at the moment will blow your mind. But the real aim of the club is to develop and foster local football. Our charter is to have, within three or four years of our existence, a starting line-up made up of at least eight local players. That's the dream, that's the intention."
Dominguez added that negotiations are well under way for the purchase of land for a training complex and clubhouse.
"We are very enthusiastic to get the club house up and running," Dominguez said. "We want a meeting place for the fans, the community ... something they can call their own. It's important to build up that sense of togetherness and create a huge, happy family."
West Ham EPL Fixtures available on WHUFC website 10 am Tuesday NZ time.
Full draw on Official Website along with a very encouraging report on injuries. Lets hope we get thru the preseason ok.
These players are on our books now and would be 30 years old or younger in five years time. Is this the nucleus of our European inspirations
Marek Stech
Bondz N�Gala James Collins James Tomkins Jonathon Spector
H�lmar �rn Eyj�lfsson
Jack Collinson Mark Noble
Julian Faubert Dean Ashton Freddie Sears
Reserves: Jordan Spence CB Junior Stainslas M Jack Jeffery S Zavon Hines S
Galatesory wants Neill. Take Him .
RELEASE FUNDS. Get someone in that does not regularly put us at risk and that will be there after next season. Painstal will do to start.
uiron2008-07-05 20:56:38
Michael Laudrup will be interviewed by West Ham officials today but Gianfranco Zola has moved into pole position in the race to be the club's next manager.
Danish legend Laudrup resigned as manager of Spanish club Getafe at the end of last season despite impressing during his year in charge, and is looking for a new challenge.
However, former Chelsea favourite Zola had a second interview for the job in Rome yesterday and the 42-year-old is set to be recommended to the Hammers board today.
Zola hugely impressed West Ham chief executive Scott Duxbury and also has the support of club technical director Gianluca Nani, his fellow Italian.
According to club insiders, Zola's enthusiasm, his experience of the Premier League, his commitment to entertaining football and his coaching experience with the Italy Under-21 side have pushed him to the top of the list.
Former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni also impressed but Slaven Bilic's chances look to have receded dramatically after question marks over when the Croatia coach would be available led to some doubts about his commitment.
Duxbury and Nani will meet with Laudrup, 44, who had spells as Denmark's assistant manager and as boss of Brondby before joining Getafe in 2007.
While he remains a contender, the same cannot be said for former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier and the ex-Scotland midfielder John Collins, plus former Ajax boss Martin Olsen - who was Denmark coach when Laudrup had his spell as assistant.
Club director Mike Lee confirmed yesterday Zola and Donadoni were leading candidates.
Lee told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We have a very strong shortlist and it's going to be a tough decision with some exciting candidates.
"From the meetings that have taken place so far the two that have really shone have been Donadoni and Zola.
"We have been surprised and pleased by the number of applications we have had and we are moving towards a short shortlist and (will) ideally have a manager in place in time for the West Brom match next week.
"Slaven Bilic could potentially be on that shortlist but it depends very much upon his availability.
"If, for whatever reason, he was not available until January in terms of working with us, I'm afraid that will rule him out."
Bilic's Croatia side face England on Wednesday in Zagreb in their next World Cup qualifying match.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/stevewilson/2008/09/zola_to_bring_style_to_upton_p.html
And some classic thoughts by one of West Hams fans......am sure there's plenty of grass roots English footie supporters who feel similar to this too...
7. At 9:18pm on 11 Sep 2008, trevor4491 wrote:
Zola
has been engaged, regardless of the fact that he has no experience of
managing a club side at any level and doesn't even have the necessary
licence.
Has it come to the stage where British managers are considered so useless that a foreigner, any foreigner, has to be better?
There
have been at least as many foreign failures as successes in the
Premiership. In fact Wenger and Mourinho stand out as the only true
successes, I certainly can't see that Benitez has achieved more than he
should have, taking into account all the resources he has had. If you
compare the situation Benitez inherited at Liverpool, with what 'arry
took over at Portsmouth, it makes one wonder if Chelsea and Man U.
would have had such an easy ride if 'arry had been managing Liverpool.
I've now lost all interest in West Ham. They no longer bear any resemblance to the club I've followed for forty years.
How can foreign owners and a foreign manager possibly relate to someone from the East End?
They
can't and I doubt that they'd even want to. All they want is our money
and unfortunately there are too many mugs prepared to give it to them.
I'm
looking forward to the day when all Premier League clubs are owned and
managed by foreigners with a fully foreign playing staff, none of whom,
like Berbatov, owes any allegiance to the club they serve.
They can then play the 39th game abroad, together with the other 38 for all I care.
I
know that most of you will think that I'm a traitor and will continue
to follow West Ham regardless of who owns them, who manages them or who
plays for them, even if the players can't understand a word of what
you're chanting.
Trigger from Only Fools And Horses claims that he's
had his road sweeper's broom for 20 years. "It's had 17 new heads and
14 new handles" but it's still the same broom. At least his broom looks
the same, "your" team regularly changes its strip so that you have to
spend more money to keep up to date.
West Ham could be facing a �50m claim for damages from Sheffield United over the Carlos Tevez affair.
<!--proximic_content_off--> <!--proximic_content_on--> United were initially aiming to seek damages in the region of �30m but, after further legal advice, they are now reportedly set to increase it by a further �20mTo start with, before there had ben a ball kicked this season it was known that 43 players was too many to have in a squad and once the injured returned then some would go. Fire Sale? I dont think so.
The hypocrites at Sheffield are clutching at straws. There is going to be no decision made as to how much we will pay, if any until mid 2009. By then there will be quite a few other clubs hoping it all goes away because if West Ham get a hearing it will open up a massive can of worms in several divisions, The FA will be wanting to let this lie, and certainly not have their dirty laundry hung out. There are some big clubs who arent exactly whiter than white.
Latest is now that Manure may not offer Tevez a contract. Kia is still his agent and third party owner, (hang on, isnt that illegal). But he is still sniffing around WHU.
We are 12,000 miles from the club we hang out to dry for, we are there or there abouts on the table, the club we hate most is holding up the rest of the league, Sheffield think that you can win a game with only one player on the field, the fanciest footballer in town is telling our kids how to do it, Bobby is still our main man,Our top profile fan is currently running for the US Presidency. In one month, Obama will reside in the Claret & Blue House. Iceland is the coolest place around, but the fifth richest guy in the world is wanting to heat things up, the Boylen pub is still buzzing seven days a week, and apart from Wigan, and Sheffield, we are still everybodies second favourite team. Just try and get a ticket at Upton Park these days.
So, could you all just give a one word response to this posting at least, to let us know that you are still alive and we will try and organise a day/night out some time to celebrate our strength.
The Bubbles are for ever being blown And they look very pretty in the air.
(I know there are a pultis of you guys out there at North Wellington and Chotey D.has a Hammers son.)
still it is hull city
The red tops have been having a field day at our expense lately, at the end of the day they know as much as us about the club. Only time will tell if BG will sell up and it seems every man and his dog has been linked to buy us.
i reckon it would be good business to get rid of sick note Ashton in jan if someone comes in for him. god only knows if Dyer will ever come back. on the physio room web site he's back 1st Nov and apparently has played in training.
cant see us getting much change from the arse this week
very good effort by you guys this morning.