Friday, December 30, 2011

West Ham in Bid for Whittingham

The Sun claim that West Ham have offered around £3 million for Cardiff midfielder Peter Whittingham. The paper says the offer has been turned down but that Allardyce is still chasing Whittingham and Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes.

Interestingly in another article in the very same edition, The Sun quotes Sam Allardyce, almost directly contradicting the paper's claim that West Ham are preparing an increased offer for Rhodes,

"Jordan Rhodes has only been an enquiry, not an offer or a bid by any stretch of the imagination. We've had a straightforward, absolute no, not for sale from Huddersfield Town so that's out of the equation.

I suppose if the bid was big enough they'd have to think about it, but I'm not so sure we've got that sort of money available."


The Mail claim that West Ham have told Newcastle that they will have to up their offer for James Tomkins to 'mega bucks' for West Ham to even consider the deal. The paper say West Ham have already knocked back a £3 million offer from Newcastle for the defender.


The Telegraph claim Fulham are preparing a £4 million offer for Carlton Cole.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

West Ham Chase Jordan Rhodes

The Sun and The Mail claim West Ham have made a £3 million offer for Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes.

21 year old Rhodes has scored 20 goals in 20 League One appearances this season. The Sun say West Ham's offer has been rejected but the club are preparing another offer.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

West Ham 1 Barnsley 0

Faye was injured during the warm-up to this game so Danny Potts was given his full debut at left back with McCartney moving to centre back. Up front Allardyce started with Cole, Piquionne and Carew.

West Ham made a great start to the game when Diop scored with a six yard header from a Noble corner in the sixth minute. In the 19th minute West Ham were denied the chance to grab a second by the ref. Piquionne was taken down in the area but the ref turned down what looked an obvious penalty kick.

In the 31st minute Noble played a good ball to Cole who did brilliantly to hold off two defenders and round Steele in goal but then from six yards the striker shot wide.

West Ham finished the half on the front foot. In the 43rd minute Piquionne and Faubert combined before passing to Noble. Noble brought the ball forward before shooting from 25 yards. The ball flew only just over the bar.



Barnsley came out firing at the start of the second half. A free kick was met by Edwards at close-range but Green got down well to divert the shot wide for a corner.

In the 56th minute Sears came on for Carew. In the 68th minute Allardyce was forced to make another replacement when Faubert was injured and replaced by Lansbury. The game remained evenly balanced without many chances for either side. In the 75th West Ham had a rare second half shot when Noble blasted over from outside the area.

In the 82nd minute Noble played Sears clear. Sears drove into the box and looked to be taken down. Again the referee decided against giving a penalty. The ref then ordered a livid Sam Allardyce to the stands.


In the end it was a hard fought win for West Ham. Allardyce will hope that the injuries to Faye and Faubert aren't too serious. It wasn't West Ham's greatest performance but they get the three points, Potts had a great debut game, Lansbury returned from injury and we go level on points with Southampton at the top of the league.

Friday, December 16, 2011

West Ham After Barcelona Striker

Alvin Martin is in good form in this Guardian interview today.

In other news talkSport claim West Ham are keen to sign Barcelona striker Jonathan Soriano. Soriano scored 32 goals in 37 games for Barcelona B last season. Borussia Monchengladbach are also reported to be chasing the striker.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Newcastle Bid for Tomkins

The Mirror say that West Ham have turned down a £2.5 million offer from Newcastle for James Tomkins. The paper say that West Ham are struggling to get Tomkins to sign a new contract. Although the paper also mentions in the same article that Tomkins has over two years left on his current contract.

The Sun claim that West Ham are after £5 million-rated Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha. However The Sun say West Ham will only offer £3 million for the 19 year old.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

January Transfer Rumours

talkSport say Fulham are keen on signing Mark Noble. They also claim that Noble was close to a £5m move to Sunderland before the sacking of boss Steve Bruce. Although they also claim in the same story that Allardyce wants to keep hold of Noble.

talkSport also say that Allardyce has decided not to sign Habib Habibou. Habibou scored two goals in a West Ham development game whilst on trial at the club.

Goal.com say West Ham have made an offer for Japanese striker Ryoichi Maeda. They say the the player has also received an offer of an extension on his contract by his current club, Jubilo Iwata, and is being chased by a number of other clubs.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Reading 3 West Ham 0

O'Brien, Taylor and Cole dropped to the bench for this game to be replaced with Demel, Diop and Piquionne. However Demel only lasted 90 seconds and had to be replaced with O'Brien after suffering what looked to be a pulled hamstring.

The first half hour of the game was fairly even with both sides struggling to create any chances in front of goal. In the 30th minute however Nolan played a square ball to Piquionne and the striker looked set to open the scoring from just 6 yards out but Federici in goal just managed to steal the ball from his feet in the nick of time for Reading.

In the 36th minute West Ham's best chance of the match fell to Diop but his shot on goal was cleared off the line. Reading's best chance came in injury time. A cross from the left wing found Karacan unmarked just 8 yards out. However the Reading player dived underneath the ball, the ball then just missed wide right of Green's goal.


Reading started the second half on the front foot. In the 53nd minute a Harte freekick from 30 yards out only just missed wide of the left hand post. In the 57th minute Piquionne should have opened the scoring when he was put clean through but from 5 yards he tamely passed the ball back to the keeper.

In the 65th minute Reading's day was made easier when O'Brien was sent off for a foul on McAnuff (I'm not sure if it was a straight red or a second yellow as minutes before O'Brien had picked up a yellow for a pointless argument with Hunt).

Minutes after O'Brien was sent off McAnuff just breezed through the empty space on the right where O'Brien might have been and pulled the ball back to Pearce who scored from eight yards.

In the 80th minute Reading made it 2-0 when a Le Fondre cross from the right floated over Green and Church headed in from only inches out. Things got even worse for West Ham in the 84th minute when Collison raked his studs down Kebe's leg and became West Ham's second player sent off.

From the resulting freekick Church got his second of the game with another headed goal.


Some pretty poor discipline for West Ham handed this game to Reading on a plate. All in all I think this is very much an afternoon that West Ham will want to forget.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Habib Habibou Training with West Ham

Sky Sports report that Habib Habibou is training with West Ham. Sky say West Ham tried unsuccessfully to buy the 24 year old striker in the summer from Zulte Waregem.

Zulte Waregem have now given the Central African Republic player permission to train with West Ham and Sky say he was the unnamed scorer of two of West Ham's goals in the development game against Brentford this week.

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Lansbury and O'Neill Back

Gary O'Neil and Henri Lansbury both played in a development squad game today against Brentford.

O'Neil's appearance, in a 3-0 West Ham win, was his first match action in nearly eight months.

George Moncur, Sears, Stech and Sergio Sanchez also got some much needed match time in the game.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

West Ham Draw Sheff Wed in Cup

West Ham have been drawn away to Sheffield Wednesday in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. The games will be played on the weekend of 7/8 January 2012.

The pick of the third round ties has to be Manchester City v Manchester United. Dagenham & Redbridge could face Millwall at home if they can beat Walsall in the 2nd round.

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