Life doesn’t get any better for West Ham after being on the end of another comprehensive defeat this evening. Avram Grant is struggling to get any sort of performance from his players and the subsequent points to drag the Hammers off the bottom of the table. A gap is starting to appear and Grant needs to find the winning formula sooner rather than later.
This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of West Ham blogs which has included…Five potential replacements for Grant, is David Gold right to take this stance and whatever happened to Samassi Abou?
Plus we have taken a look at the best West Ham stories on the Web this week.
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Hola bebé – Carles’ lady puts Premiership WAGS in the shade
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Coaching role could prove just the tonic for Dean Ashton
Who’s between the sticks in West Ham’s Ultimate XI
A breath of fresh air, or an annoying addition to the Premiership?
Are football club’s history being demolished?
West Ham top TEN transfer faux pas
FIVE Potential Replacements to take the reins at Upton Park
Whatever Happened to Samassi Abou?
Is David Gold right to take such a stance?
VIDEO: Top TEN Audacious Penalties
The Top TEN club returns from hell
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Click on PAGE 2 to see the BEST WEST HAM ARTICLES around the Web this week
The Barracking of Luis Boa Morte – West Ham Till I Die
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Why we SHOULD have sold Parker in the summer. – The Game’s Gone Crazy
What the Olympic Stadium could look like if we move in [IMAGES] – The West Ham Process
Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Danny Welbeck will return to Manchester United at the end of the season.
The 20-year-old striker is currently on loan at Sunderland and is in fine form, having scored four goals in his last three games.
Steve Bruce has publicly expressed his hope that Welbeck would be allowed to stay at the Stadium of Light on a permanent basis but this has now been scotched by Ferguson.
Speaking in the People, the United manager said: "He's doing brilliantly and he comes back to us at the end of his loan."
Ferguson is delighted with the way Welbeck is progressing having had limited opportunities at Old Trafford. He is particularly pleased with the way his strength has improved with regular first team action.
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The announcement will be disappointing news to Black Cats boss Steve Bruce but he readily admitted that the chances of signing him permanently were slim.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Manchester City are set to complete the signing of Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, and the deal could be sealed by the end of the week, according to reports.
The Wolfsburg striker has been the subject of a lot of speculation recently with Tottenham and Manchester United both rumored to be interested, but it is City who appear to have stolen a march on their rivals by signing the much sort after player.
Dzeko has been in fine form again this season with ten goals in 17 games, and while Wolfsburg will be reluctant to let their star man leave, City’s offer of around £30 million will be too good for the German side to turn down.
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Should Dzeko arrive at Eastlands the likes of Jo and Emmanuel Adebayor are likely to be shown the door to make way for the new signing. It is thought that Spurs could rekindle their interest in Adebayor in the window while Everton could retake Jo on loan.
Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has voiced his support for new Reds boss Kenny Dalglish.
Benitez left Anfield in June and endured a tough six-month stint with Italian and European champions Inter Milan, who sacked him on December 23.
The man who replaced Benitez at Liverpool, Roy Hodgson, had a torrid time in his spell at the club – also dismissed after just six months in charge and replaced by Dalglish, who Benitez said is a perfect fit for the club.
“It will be much better with Kenny because he knows the club and what the fans want,” Benitez told the BBC.
“He can talk with the players and they will feel and understand what it means to be a Liverpool player.”
“I think that Kenny has been a very good appointment and, hopefully, it will be successful.”
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Dalglish is held in high esteem by the Liverpool faithful after winning eight top-flight titles there as a player and then manager from 1977 until 1991.
Czech midfielder Rudi Skacel scored the only goal as Hearts beat St Johnstone at Tynecastle on Saturday.
The win enabled the Edinburgh side to close the gap on second-placed Rangers to two points and five behind leaders Celtic.
The home side were in front as early as the third minute after Skacel slid home at the end of a swift breakaway.
Suso Santana, Skacel and Stephen Elliott had chances to give Hearts a more commanding lead.
Steven May had a couple of efforts for St Johnstone, his second forcing a save from Marian Kello late on.
Hearts next face an away match with Rangers on Wednesday, with the Ibrox side having two games in hand over Jim Jefferies’ side.
The Tynecastle side were looking to bounce back from the midweek 4-0 defeat by Celtic and scored with their first attack after goalkeeper Kello collected a St Johnstone corner and released the ball upfield.
Gary Glen flicked the ball on to the overlapping Craig Thomson, who burst down the right flank and crossed low for Skacel to slide in and slam the ball into the net.
Hamilton and Kilmarnock shared the points in a 1-1 draw.
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Irish international Connor Sammon, the league’s leading goalscorer, gave the Killies the lead after 15 minutes with his 15th goal of the season.
But Kilmarnock’s win was soured by the sending-off of midfielder Jamie Hamill after 28 minutes for a foul on Flavio Paixao for a second bookable offence,
Mickael Antoine-Curier equalised for the home side in the 79th minute with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Premier League veteran Frenchman Louis Saha scored four goals for Everton in their incredible 5-3 win over Blackpool, who were up 3-2 until the last 15 minutes of the match.
32-year-old Saha, who could have had five but for the referee’s failure to give Everton the advantage following a foul, had never even scored a hat-trick in England’s top flight before.
Saha has so far scored 8 goals for Everton in all competitions, all of his goals scored in his last six matches, performing as one of the most in-form strikers in England lately.
Saha ended last season with 13 goals for Everton, and was rewarded with a two-year extension to his contract, keeping in him at the Toffees until 2012.
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The former Fulham and Manchester United striker usually starts for Everton as a lone striker in a 4-4-1-1 formation.
Real Madrid eased to a 2-0 La Liga victory over Levante to mark another milestone for incomparable manager Jose Mourinho.The win meant the Portuguese manager has not lost a league match at home for nine years as a manager in four different leagues, with FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.The last time Mourinho was in charge of a losing team on home territory was Porto’s 3-2 loss to Beira Mar 3-2 on February 23, 2002.Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the seventh minute against Levante, before former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho scored just his third goal of the season four minutes before half-time to help record Mourinho’s 122nd home win in his past 147.The victory also maintained Real’s push to catch leaders Barcelona, cutting the gap to two points with the Catalans to play on Sunday.Sporting Gijon continued their rich vein of form when they held third-placed Valencia to a scoreless draw at the Estadio de Mestalla.The result meant Gijon have secured 11 points out of their past six league matches – including a draw against leaders Barcelona – to leave them two clear of the drop zone.Atletico Madrid beat Real Zaragoza 1-0 at the Estadio de la Romareda courtesy of Sergio Aguero’s 66th-minute goal, helping Atletico into seventh spot on the table.
When the news of Robin van Persie’s injury broke, it was to no great surprise to hear Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner proclaiming himself ready and confident to step in against Barcelona (however, the Dutchman has made the squad). I think by now we’ve all become used to the Dane’s self-indulgent ways, but if there was ever a time to walk the walk, it’s now. Arsene Wenger’s men travel to the Catalan giants battered and bruised, but could it be Bendtner’s time to shine?
I’ve criticised the 23-year-old in the past. But like many, if I was really to analyse why I find the striker so irritating, it’s not because he is wasteful on the pitch or a cheat or anything like that, it’s because he continues to believe he really is the best striker in the world. If it was Cristiano Ronaldo who continued to fill our newspapers eulogising about how good he is, then fair enough. But I’m afraid only a handful of Premier League starts and a hat-trick against Leyton Orient doesn’t really justify such a tag. What would convince us all of his ability is to upstage the real crème of the crop: Lionel Messi, David Villa and co on the biggest stage of them all.
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Bendtner does have all the attributes of a quality striker. He’s a real handful, is good in the air and links up with the rest of Arsenal’s attacking flair well-enough. He is going to have to be patient on Tuesday night, but against a make-shift defensive partnership, there is no reason why Bendtner can’t finally come of age in the Nou Camp, if he plays. Van Persie has travelled, but I doubt whether he has 90 minutes in his locker straight after an injury which was supposed to rule him out for the best part of a month. Bendtner has overtaken Marouane Chamakh in the pecking order so you’d imagine he will at some stage get his wish to be playing on the stage he sees fit for his talents.
If Bendtner can prove himself against Barcelona, he may go some way to finally making us all see what he is all about, or what he pretends to be at least. It will be interesting to see if Wenger has as much faith in the Dane as he has in himself, or whether the Frenchman will opt for a half-fit Van Persie to lead the line. Whatever the case, at some point or other, Bendtner will have his turn. The game represents a chance for him to give Arsenal another option for the rest of the season. As good as Van Persie is, at times he looks as though he’s made of glass, so there has to be a plan B.
He may not be too happy with being the back-up plan, but it’s certainly better than getting the odd run-out against League One opposition. According to the striker himself, Bendtner is good enough. Starting with Barcelona away, he now has between now and May to prove it.
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Many of us moan about the standard of football reporting in this country, and the standard especially of the tabloid press. And no one has moaned about it more than me. Nothing encapsulates the shoddy professionalism of some of those in “fleet street” though than a story that was broken by Alan Nixon at The Mirror on the 6th March.
Alan reported on a new player on Harry Redknapp’s radar. The astonishing thing was the level of detail in the report – how he preferred to come to the Premier League, how he is known as the “new Messi”, how his family were furious over contract deals, and so on. There was only one problem. All this was for a person that doesn’t seem to exist.
Sam Kelly on the In Bed With Maradona site wrote about it last week.
The first I heard about Juan José Vea Murguia was when I got asked about him on Twitter a few days ago. ‘Do you know anything about this kid at River, or will we get to see him at the South American Under 17s?’ was the question, more or less. I was confused. A quick Google search made me even more so. Even journalists in England seemed to know about this hot young talent. He’d been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, and one rumour site I found even went as far as to say that his work permit for the EU had been granted. Given that I’m not only living in Buenos Aires, but also a supporter of the club whose youth ranks he’s in, how could I have missed him?
Something didn’t seem right, so I decided to delve a little deeper. And I really don’t mean delving very deep. I switched my search to Google Argentina, and all became clear. One of the most prominent results was from Olé, the country’s only sports daily, who in mocking tones were reporting that the Daily Mirror, who they somewhat amusingly (or perhaps worryingly) called ‘one of the most prominent newspapers in the United Kingdom’ had come up with a transfer story about a player who appeared not to exist – Read the full article at ‘In Bed With Maradona’ by clicking here
But despite the British media making up transfer stories and now seemingly inventing players too, they have nothing on the Spanish newspapers, that are often nothing more than mouthpieces for a particular club.
Sid Lowe recently wrote on the subject. He commented:
“There are four main daily sports newspapers, all of which claim varying degrees of objectivity. None of which should claim any at all. El Mundo Deportivo and Sport are openly pro-Barcelona. Marca and AS, while projecting an image of national papers, are increasingly pro-Madrid. They support their teams and campaign on behalf of them. They are fanatical and manipulative. They like to see themselves as an arm of their clubs — part of the fabric. They have become propaganda outlets, not newspapers. And, they think, being that way works. In that, sadly, they are right. One editor claims that every Madrid win is an extra 10,000 in sales; one editor of a Catalan radio station, pandering to the most fanatical Barcelona agenda, publicly applauds the recent decision to cheer Madrid’s opponents as an “ingenious” way of getting closer to the supporters. Never mind getting closer to the truth.
They have created, or tapped into, a kind of footballing fundamentalism. Many supporters are so used to a virulent, agenda-driven media, one that sucks up to their side and seeks to sink their rivals, that those who are remotely critical of Madrid or Barcelona are now dismissed as anti-Madrid or anti-Barcelona. You’re obviously a Madridista or obviously a culé, a Barcelona fan. You’re not allowed to be neutral. You’re not allowed to not care one way or the other. “
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Don’t ask Alex Ferguson about Marca either – he has been involved in an ongoing feud with the paper, quite feasibly alleging that the paper is “a vehicle to unsettle players” on behalf of Real Madrid, a reference to the alleged tapping-up of Christiano Ronaldo. And it was another recent incident that shows the length papers will go to to project a certain stance and opinion that Sid Lowe commented on.
David Villa gave Barcelona a 1-0 lead against Athletic Bilbao the other weekend, but he shouldn’t have. Or so said AS. Alves, who made the telling pass to Villa, was miles offside. Definitive “proof” came in AS the following morning — a photographic reproduction of the move, showing Alves a good few yards ahead of the last defender. There was just one problem. AS had gone and deleted a player from its picture. Athletic Bilbao’s Koikili had mysteriously vanished, seemingly airbrushed from the face of the earth. By doing so, Alves looked far more offside than he actually was. The newspaper were forced to apologise, blaming it on a computer glitch, but the whole affair goes to show just how far the newspapers will go to besmirch the “other” team. And the ridiculous thing in all this was that Alves was offside anyway.
This was extreme, but nothing that new – lines have been placed curved on still images to try and show players to be offside when they weren’t. Individuals have had smear campaigns against them by editors who disliked them, such as Pellegrini at Real, or particular players that weren’t purchased by the current president. This is how quality player slike Sneijder end up slipping away for appreciation elsewhere. Of course the British tabloids are perfectly capable of this, as seen by the Sun’s continual hatchet job on Capello, highlighted this week by their pathetic overreaction and fake disgust at his rumoured change to the captaincy of our national team (as if anyone cares). And where we talk about flat-track bullies to try and lessen the achievements of high scoring forwards who we don’t want to admit are good, in Spain the papers talk of Benzema’s “ghost goals” against lesser teams, suggesting they don’t really count. Then there’s the photoshopping that our own newspapers are prone to, a favourite being putting shirts on players that the newspaper would like Real/Barca to sign, as if it had somehow already happened.
Back to Manuel Pellegrini, who is a pleasant man who avoids controversy at all costs. Or “politically correct,” as Marca called him, in yet another in a long line of disparaging remarks aimed at the former Madrid manager in a year-long personal vendetta from the paper’s director, Eduardo Inda. Not everyone accepts this bias. Many Madrid fans have set up opposition to Inda’s bias and campaigns, with the obligatory Facebook page of course. And the campaign against Pellegrini was one that appeared to backfire. So vicious was the vitriol from Marca, so keen were they to ignore facts, twist stories and just plain lie, that Pellegrini actually garnered extra support as a result.
But everyone in Spain seems to have a preference regarding Madrid or Barcelona – they dominate the sporting landscape, and even supporters of other teams still have a leaning towards one of the two. And yet the likes of Marca portray themselves as national newspapers, whilst concentrating almost solely on one thing only. But like any newspaper, they are there to sell copies, and to make money, and they know how to do it.
But when these papers look to set their agenda, to twist the stories to suit their needs, there is only one place to go. As Sid Lowe explained:
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“Bias is reflected in all aspects of football, but perhaps mostly clearly when it comes to referees. In Spain, a country where fouls are blown more readily and cards come out quicker than anywhere else in Europe, being a referee is a nightmare. Some believe every single contact is a foul. Most appear never to have actually read the rules at all. Diving is just another highly polished skill. And every decision is pawed over by “experts,” tapes rewound and replayed over and over again. Every decision is “obvious.” And serious, match defining. It doesn’t matter if a team wins 10-0; if there is a questionable penalty, that will be front-page news the next day. Writers at papers on both sides of the divide are told to look for controversy when they report on their rivals’ matches…. – Continue reading Sid Lowe’s full article at Sports Illustrated by clicking here
And that’s then thing with agendas – they are easy to follow when you cherry-pick statistics and ignore all the evidence that doesn’t support your argument. We’ve all done it when defending/attacking a team or player, but the Spanish newspapers take this many steps further down the road to oblivion. As someone once commented on a football message board, with the kind of ‘friendship’ Marca provides, who needs enemies?
We are giving you the chance to win a Chelsea shirt signed by Fernando Torres! The £50 million transfer of Torres from Liverpool to Chelsea in January dominated the football news headlines as the transfer window slammed shut and the Spanish striker hasn’t been out of the back pages of the newspapers since.
This is largely because Fernando Torres is still yet to score a goal for Chelsea, but as the saying goes, ‘good things come to those who wait’. Carlo Ancelotti, Roman Abramovich and the Chelsea fans will be hoping that they don’t have to wait too much longer and that Torres could open his Chelsea account in the Champions League Quarter Final against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
You get the feeling that as soon as Fernando Torres scores the floodgates will open and one goal will be followed in quick succession by a few more, a bit like London buses. If that happens sooner rather than later Chelsea will be in with a decent chance of winning the Champions League and could even make a late attack on retaining their Premier League title. When he does score, wouldn’t it be great to be wearing a signed Torres shirt?
We are giving you the chance to win a Chelsea shirt signed by Fernando Torres in our footy competition!
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This fantastic prize is donated by Soccer Speaker, the hugely successful After Dinner Speaking company.
SoccerSpeaker can arrange after dinner speakers for any size event from a small gathering to a 3 course sportsmans dinner or star studded golf days, with an extensive range of speakers.
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To enter the competition you just have to answer this simple question…
With which Spanish club did Fernando Torres start his career?
A) Barcelona
B) Real Madrid
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C) Atletico Madrid
Email your answer to [email protected] to be in with a chance of winning this great prize.
The competition closes on Friday 29th April at 12pm so make sure you get your answers in now!
For the FootballFanCast.com Competition Terms and Conditions click here.