Transfer News Latest

Er, there is none, apart from the fact that tumbleweed could be seen blowing through the West Ham Transfer Signature Room this morning…

I reckon Barnes and Shorey are still the two most likely arrivals, but having written that, I’ve probably put a jinx on them. I see Glen Johnson has gone to Portsmouth. And Joe Cole has gone to West Ham… just joking.

Transfer Rumours Latest

I’m writing my Telegraph column (it’s political, so look away) this morning so little time to post, but here’s a roundup of the latest rumours…

* £15 million bid for Adriano accepted by Inter Milan
* Mullins to go to Reading as part of Shorey deal
* Giles Barnes bid resurrected
* Zamora to Fulham
* Roma’s Mancini is on the bid list

Enough to be going on with?

The Importance of Being Noel

An anecdote from a reader from the Man City game…

A mate of mine was waiting (with his son) to meet Curbs after the game v City. He’d been invited, naturallly. There in the car park (and he has a pic to prove this) was Noel Gallagher on his mobile. Several kids spot him and surround him at which point Noel says to his caller “I’m being surrounded by f****** West Ham fans”..the self-same fans (deliberately) start calling “Liam, can you sign this please…Liam can you write in my programme ” etc…at which point he hangs up his phone and shouts…”I’m not f****** Liam…I’m f****** Noel!”

Never liked him.

Shorey Deal on?

West Ham have tabled a £5 million bid for Nicky Shorey, according th 5 Live. Pundits reckon they will have to increase it by at least another million. Go for it, I say. We need another left back and he’s an England international.

West Ham Till I Die Blog Survey Results

A few weeks ago I invited people to take part in a reader survey about West Ham and what you like or don’t like about this blog., The main message is that you’d like more regualr posts. You may have noticed an increase in frequency of posts of late as I try to heed your wishes! Anyway, here are some of the other findings. More than 500 took part, of which 97% are Hammers fans…

* 23% of you are season ticket holders, but 40% go to fewer than half of the home games. 27% never go to a game.
* More of you sit in the Dr Martens Stand (23%) than anywhere else in the ground and 22% of you go to a pub before the game.
* 37% of you visit this blog at least once a day. I intend to get that figure up to 60% within 3 months!
* 34% of you expect Alan Curbishley to be sacked before the end of the season
* 35% believe Dean Ashton will be Hammer of the Year and 22% Lucas Neill
* 40% of you believe we should move to a new stadium in London Docklands. Only 14% reckon we should stay at Upton Park come what may, 13% want to go to the Olympic Stadium and 13% to a site nearer the M25
* 61% read the match day programme, 34% buy OLAS, 44% read Hammers News and 18% read Ex
* 88% of you visit the West Ham official site every day, 80% visit KUMB, 55% the West Ham News Now page, 35% teamtalk and 73% the BBC football pages
* 30% of you are aged between 36 and 45, the most popular age group. Only 3% are under 16. None of you are over 75!
* Rather shcokingly, only 3% of you are female!
* 50% of you thought Eggert Magnusson played a blinder in the Carlos Tevez affair, 29% thought we were lucky not to be relegated and 56% reckon the club should sue Terry Brown
* 40% voted for John Lyall as West Ham’s best ever manager with 34% opting for Ron Greenwood. Would the one person who voted for Glen Roeder please levae the room now?

This is the team you voted for as your best team of the last 15 years

Ludek Miklosko
Rio Ferdinand
Alvin Martin
Lucas Neill
Julian Dicks
Joe Cole
Michael Carrick
Frank Lampard
Trevor Sinclair
Paolo Di Canio
Carlos Tevez

* 33% of you named Tottenham as the team you most dislike in the Premiership.
* 15.3% of you voted for Portsmouth as your second favourite team, only 0.2% ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal (!)
* 59% voted for Phil Parkes as the best goalkeeper of the last 40 years, followed by Ludek Miklosko with 20%

And thank you to the 255 people who left comments and suggestions. They were all positive and constructive and I shall try to take most of the advice offered.

Dyer Suffers Bad Injury

Kieron Dyer has broken his leg. Could our injury jinx get any worse?

Adriano Approach Made

It’s being reported that we have made a bitd for Adriano, the Inter Milan striker, Sky Sports News are saying it’s for £17 million. What do people know about him?

His Wikipedia page is HERE.

As the Transfer Deadline Approaches

There are only three days before the transfer window closes. I think we all agree that we need another left back and a striker. In theor Danny Gabbidon and Jonathan Spector can play there bu for specialist positions like that we need two alternates. George McCartney hasn’t done anything wrong, but I am not sure he is the kind of class player we need there. Nicky Shorey still looks the most likely target, but I would also be happy with Matthew Taylor from Portsmouth.

As regards a striker, I just can’t see McCarthy or Anelka joining us and it’s difficult to see who else we’d want. I suppose we should remember that both Dyer and Ljungberg can play up front. Once Faubert is back in contention we’ll have three right sided players vying for one place, although Dyer can play anywhere across the middle.

It wouldn’t at all surprise me to see the club sign another tough tackling midfielder either.

As far as departures go, I can’t see any point in hanging on to Carlton Cole. I still think Pantsil is worth another try, but if he’s not going to be used, why keep him? And finally, I can see Hayden Mullins being included as part of the Shorey Deal.

Mystic Dale is putting away his crystal ball now.

Bobby Zamora: Usless fact of the Day No 94

The News of the World tells us this morning that Bobby Zamora has committed 14 fouls this season – more than anyother Premier League player. As if we couldn;t have guessed that for ourselves…

Wigan: Match Report

In theory we should all be moaning about the loss of two points and the fact that we have only scored one goal in open play in three games. In theory we should be worried that we haven’t been able to beat teams like Wigan and Manchester City. In theory. But I take a lot of positives out of today. We dominated the game in a way I have rarely seen. We passed. We looked like a team who had played together before, in stark contrast to the Manchester City game. We tackled as if we meant it and although the final pass sometimes didn’t come, there was great movement in the side.

I felt that our forward players did well, although Bobby Zamora lost out to often and his shooting boots had been left at home. Matty Etherington was simply outstanding at times and with Kieron Dyer wreaking havoc down the right it was a mystery as to how we didn’t score in the first half.

The other highlight of the game was Mark Noble. He was everywhere – taking free kicks, corners, shooting at will, tackling as if he meant it. Dean Ashton showed some delightful touches when he came on with half an hour to go. He should have been on from the beginning. If he had been, I’m pretty sure we would have gone in a goal up. He has such a great touch for such a big man. His body is simply awesome. When he took his training shirt off all you could see were rippling muscles under his stretch vest. He still looks a tad heavy, but he needs match practice, not half an hour here and there. It’s great news that Curbishley has said he will start against Bristol Rovers on Tuesday.

Anyway, much as I would like to have got another two points, let’s remember we are above Spurs and Man U are in the drop zone. We have four points out of nine. Thay ratio would give us 51 points at the end of the season…

And so to the points

Green 8 had little to do. Was not to blame for the goal
Ferdinand 8 Did brilliantly keeping Heskey quiet
Upson 7 Solid. Distribution a little poor at times
Neill 6 Weak first half. Never got close to the Wigan winger. Maybe back too soon?
McCartney 7 Some great runs going forward
Noble 9 Simply outstanding. Has put the Man City holiday behind him.
Mullins 7 Sublime pass in the first half was the pass of the game.
Etherington 9 Definitely back to his rampaging best
Dyer 8 He’s fast. Lack of final pass lets him down, but a great home debut
Zamora 6 A very average performance from Bobby
Bellamy 8 He’s fast too. Very committed. Loves a hard tackle. Subbed with a groin strain

Bowyer 7 Let’s hope his first goal leads to many more
Ashton 8 Made a real difference with his height and physical presence
Boa Morte 7 Several nice touches towards the end

Alan Curbishley 7 marked down for not playing Ashton from the start. Could have cost us three points.

Striker Killed

Newham born QPR striker Ray Jones has been killed in a car crash this morning. QPR’s match this afternoon has been postponed as a result. I’m sure I speak for all West Ham fans when I say our heartfelt wishes go out to his family and all QPR supporters this morning. What a terrible thing to happen.

Wigan: Match Preview

Today’s game at Wigan is crucial in a very different respect to last season’s. Then, we were fighting relegation. Today we could go into the top half of the league, even though we have played a game fewer than everyone else. And a victory keeps us above Man U! So in many ways it could help define where we go as a club this season. There will be no love lost from the fans. At the first home game of the season the crowd was really quiet and just didn’t get behind the team enough. Today, that shouldn’t be a problem despite the absence of the Wigan chairman Dave Whelan.

But we underestimate Wigan at our peril. Last season we did just that and lost to them at home. They have improved their team this season and are on a roll. Sibierski couldn’t hit a barn door at Newcastle, yet he is on fire for Wigan at the moment. And their defence has been shored up by the signing of Melchiot.

I don’t expect Alan Curbishley to make any changes to the team which beat Birmingham, apart from bringing in a (hopefully) fit again Lucas Neill to replace Jonathan Spector at right back. Ashton will again, for some unfathomable reason, start getting splinters, rather than in the centre circle where he ought to be. It is in games likes this where he will regain his match fitness.

Right, If any of you want to come and say hello, I’ll be in the Newham bookshop at 1.45 till about 2pm on the corner of Green Street and Barking Road. Always nice to meet readers!

Senor Zamora?

One of the more bizarre transfer rumours of the day concerns Bobby Zamora, who is apparently a target for Real Betis. Can’t see that somehow. Perhaps we could offload Carlton Cole to them instead…

A Message to Alan Curbishley

Dear Alan,

Should you seriously be thinking about making a move for El Hadj Diouf (which I can’t really bring myself to believe), could I make a plea on behalf of everyone that read this blog (on average 4-5000 a day) that you look elsewhere. Most of us won’t forget the time he spat at us at Anfield. And most of us believe him to be totally unsuited to the West Ham style of play. Don’t waste your money. Bellamy was a risk. We could just about put up with Anelka’s sulks because we know he can deliver the goods, but if Diouf isn’t good enough for a team like Bolton, surely we should be setting our sights a little higher. Just a thought.

Your Ever

Iain

Which Commentators do Hammers Fans Love to Love or Love to Hate?

I’ve set up a new survey to test which football commentators and presenters West Ham fans like best, or love to hate. There are ten questions. Click Here to take survey

I bet some clever dick will tell me all the names I have missed off the lists…

A Game of Two Chancellors

Just had this from a reader…

I need to vent my John Motson-fuelled rage at someone that understands (hopefully)…Last night, just before the national anthems, the BBC camera picked up Gordon Brown stood chatting to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Motty, in his wisdom said:”A current and a former Chancellor there *cue Motson chuckle*. Glad to say that one has been promoted in the past few months, the other still remains in that same position.”

Isn’t it about time Motty was pensioned off? His inane comments are only marginally less inane than those of his sidekick Mark Lawrenson. Martin Tyler and Andy Gray put them to shame.

Gabbidon Captains Wales

I was presenting my programme last night on 18 Doughty Street when I got an MSN message on my computer from a viewer informing me that Danny Gabbidon had had an absolute stormer of a match for Wales. Anyone else see it? Let’s hope it heralds a return to the kind of form he showed in the season before last.

West Ham v Germany

You know how West Ham won the World Cup? Well tonight the team to play Germany could include no less than eight players from the Academy of Football*.

David James
John Terry
Rio Ferdinand
Kieron Dyer
Joe Cole
Michael Carrick
Frank Lampard
Jermain Defoe

Ok,Ok, only one plays for us now, but stop nit-picking!

* I posted this earlier but for some reason WordPress has deleted it and shifted the comments to the beginning of the Yossi thread. Someone said in one of those comments that many of these players didn’t go through the Academy. Well, for the uninitaited West Ham itself is referred to as the Acacdemy of Football. I wasn’t referring to the Youth Academy!

Three Games in and Yossi Wants Out

From the Daily Mail website…

Liverpool midfielder Yossi Benayoun is already displeased at his lack of first team opportunities on Merseyside and his agent Ronen Katzav said: “He will think about moving to a medium-sized team if his chances remain restricted.”

Laugh? I nearly wet myself.

Take the Test

I hope you will spend a couple of minutes filling in my online survey. It’s partly about getting feedback on the blog and partly for you to give your views on what’s happening at West Ham at the moment. You also get to pick your best team of the last 15 years. I’ll be posting the findings of the survey on the blog over the next few weeks.

Click Here to take survey