Sears - West Ham and England Hero

Freddie Sears scored both of England Under-19's goals in their 2-0 over Poland. It was Sears' first start for the Under 19's. His first goal came in the 29th minute, his second was from the penalty spot in the 85th minute.

James Tomkins also played, helping England to keep a clean sheet.

Sears & Tomkins for England

James Tomkins and Freddie Sears are in action this morning for England Under-19's against Poland. The kick-off is 11.30 (UK time).

It is England's first game in a four-nation Group mini-tournament, the winners of which will progress to the European Under-19 Championship finals this July in the Czech Republic. Serbia and Belarus are the other two teams in England's group.

West Ham Gossip

The News of the World say that West Ham are leading the chase for Everton striker Andy Johnson.

Various sources are linking West Ham, Liverpool and Sp~rs with Lazio's Swiss International Valon Behrami. Behrami's agent has said that Behrami "wants to play the Champions League" so it doesn't seem likely that he is bound for Upton Park.

In the run up to England's friendly against the USA Jonathan Spector has been praising West Ham team mate Dean Ashton,

"It was really disappointing for him to get such a serious ankle injury.

"It took him a long while to get back from it but in the last few games of the season he was in great form and it is great to see him back in the England set-up.

"He is very nearly back to his best, if not there yet. He is a great finisher - so who wouldn't want that on their team? He has great technical ability as well."

West Ham to Face Saints

It must have been my mention yesterday of two players who came through the Southampton youth set-up (Walcott and Bale) but today it has been announced that West Ham will play the Saints in a friendly.

The game is scheduled for Friday, August 1. Kick off is at 7.45pm.

These are the pre-season friendlies scheduled so far:

Thursday, 24th July: MLS AllStars XI (a)
Saturday, 26th July: Thurrock (a)
Tuesday, 29th July: Peterborough (a)
Friday, 1st August: Southampton (a)
Monday, 4th August: Ipswich Town (a):

West Ham's Sears the Rising Star of the Season

West Ham's Freddie Sears has been named in Sky's season selection as their 'Rising Star'. They say,

"Sears enjoyed what can only be described as a memorable debut for West Ham. Five minutes after his introduction against Blackburn, the young striker showed predatory instincts to score at the second attempt after Brad Friedel had saved his initial effort to secure a thrilling 2-1 victory. The latest product of the Upton Park Academy will be one to watch next term."

Sears' goal scored within five minutes of his debut and his amazing goal-scoring run for the reserves and youth teams last season ensured he became an instant hero at The Boleyn. I'm fairly hopeful that Sears will progress to be a first team regular in a couple of seasons. However I'm fairly surprised that he is Sky's pick of the young players who emerged last season.

I know I'm going to get slaughtered for this and I hate the club he plays for but Gareth Bale would actually be my 'rising star' of last season. I think Bale scored three goals in his first four games for Sp#rs. Maybe having had a successful year as a 16-17 year old in the Championship makes him ineligible.

And I know Theo Walcott seems to have been around for years but I actually think in the last couple of months of the season he actually began to live up to some of the excitement around his future.

I am going to get slaughtered aren't I?

Caution ... John Terry

When I was slagging off Terry last night for instigating a ruck that led to his own player being sent off I was going to say "... and I bet he is lauded as a hero in the British press tomorrow".

Of course that is exactly what happened.

All I can say is Rio for England captain.

Not that I give a flying ... it's just an excuse to post this picture.

Boa Morte to Sunderland

The only rumour this morning that seems to have even a shred of credibility is one linking want-away West Ham player Boa Morte with a move to Sunderland.

Black Cats boss Roy Keane is said to be keen on the Portugal international.

Shorey to West Ham

Reading have confirmed that long time West Ham target Nickey Shorey has been placed on the transfer list.

The irony for West Ham could be that now Shorey is available they might not have the money to buy him. It is believed that Aston Villa and Newcastle are both also interested in acquiring the full-back and probably have bigger war chests.


On a completely different tack it was nice to see Chelsea tonight finally reach their stated goal of becoming a global brand.

They are now hated in every country.

After John Terry created a ruck out of nothing which directly led to their top goal scorer being sent off - perhaps they will learn their lesson.

No, of course they won't.

Lanzafame Wants West Ham Move

Yesterday it seemed that Davide Lanzafame was going to move to Palermo as part of a deal that saw Amauri moving to Juventus. Apparently that deal would involve Lanzafarme becoming part owned by Palermo and presumably joining the Sicilian club next season.

However like most young footballers Lanzafame wants to play at West Ham. Today he is widely reported as saying,

"Palermo and West Ham are both huge clubs," he said. "But at my age I think it would be beneficial to get experience abroad, which would enhance me not only as a footballer, but also from a linguistic and lifestyle point of view."

Good on you lad.

Spector to Face England

Jonathan Spector has been named in the United States squad to play England in the international friendly at Wembley next Wednesday. On of Spector's duties could be to mark Dean Ashton, who has been named in the England squad.

West Ham to Sell Ashton for Johnson

The Daily Mirror obviously haven't been speaking to The Guardian. The Guardian say West Ham are buying Saha and El-Hadji Diouf.

Now The Daily Mirror say West Ham boss Alan Curbishley is selling Dean Ashton and Anton Ferdinand in a bid to fund moves for Everton striker Andrew Johnson and Newcastle defender Steven Taylor.

Despite West Ham being cash-strapped and not in the market it looks as if we are in for a long summer of silly and ridiculous rumours.

Of course West Ham would sell a player in the current England squad for one who struggles to get in the Everton team. That makes perfect sense.

West Ham Reasonably Happy

West Ham left back George McCartney believes that West Ham have had a reasonable season and admits to feeling tired after playing in every one of West Ham's games.

"If the injuries hadn't been so bad I think we'd have been challenging for Europe, but that wasn't the case," he said. "So tenth place is not the worst place in the world to finish."

"It's been a tough season and they're all good teams in the Premier League and we've managed to stay away from trouble.

"Everyone in the dressing room is reasonably happy with tenth place and we can go away and have a couple of months off and then come back in pre-season with everybody fit and hopefully we can push on and finish higher up the table."

"I've played 44 games this year and after about 35 I was feeling a bit tired, but it's great that I was able to get through all the games and compete in each one.

"I'm looking forward to a few weeks off now and re-charging my batteries."

The Guardian's April Fool's Day

The Guardian are a little late with their April Fool's joke this year - but it was worth the wait:

The paper says that West Ham are preparing a £10 million bid for over the hill and injury prone Louis Saha.

It made me laugh anyway.

However they slightly ruined the joke by taking it a step too far and claiming West Ham were after El-Hadji Diouf as well.

If only we had £10 million to spend.

In other news various sources are reporting that West Ham's loan move for Italian striker Lanzafame is off. It had been reported that the player was close to agreeing a one year loan deal with West Ham. This has apparently been scuppered by Juventus' bid to lure Palermo's Amauri to Turin.

Palermo are willing to part with the Brazilian-born forward, but are reported to want £10 million cash, ownership of midfielder Antonio Nocerino and 50 per cent ownership of Lanzafame as part of the deal.

It is reported that this deal will go ahead today and presumably means Lanzafame will be playing for Palermo next year.

SPARC Report on West Ham Injuries

West Ham have received a report from Roehampton University's Sports Performance Assessment and Rehabilitation Centre containing recommendations on how the club can reduce the number of injuries at the club.

SPARC spent a week at the club and investigated all aspects of the club, from diets to the training pitches. SPARC director and physiologist Jackie Dabinett said,

"A presentation of the main findings was made to the board on the Friday of the week that we were there and a full report was sent to the club last Friday.

"We are not in a position to disclose the findings but there are a number of recommendations, that if acted upon, should reduce the likelihood of injury in the future and also enhance performance."

Boa Morte Still Unhappy With West Ham

Boa Morte's weekly moan about life at West Ham has been released,

"I've got two years left [on my contract] at West Ham but I don't like the situation and we'll see what happens in the summer," said Boa Morte.

"I will sit down with the chairman and the manager and speak to them about it and find the best solution.

"Nobody likes to get booed every week when your name is read out and when you touch the ball, so it is not a good situation."

With West Ham being forced to reduce the size of their squad this summer it seems that Boa Morte wants to be the first out the door.

Ashton Keen to Stay at West Ham

With rumours of a possible £15 million bid for Dean Ashton from the small club in north London West Ham have issued a statement about Friday's talks with Dean Ashton. Whilst nothing has been signed the club are quick to point out that talks are on-going and both sides are eager to come to terms,

"We had a very productive meeting. Dean wants to stay and we want him to stay. We are committed to finding agreement on a new long-term contract," said West Ham United Chief Executive Scott Duxbury.

A second meeting between the club and Ashton's representatives is scheduled for the week after next.

West Ham Old Boy's Moscow Reunion

The Guardian today have noticed that nearly all of the English players in this week's Champion's League final emanate from one club, West Ham. They have interviewed West Ham Youth academy director, Tony Carr about the game,

"I don't know who to support," said Carr, who travels to Hong Kong tomorrow with West Ham's youth players. "We'll all be very proud at West Ham because the boys started out here and now they are at the top of their profession."

"Joe was always destined to be a very good footballer but the expectations were a big burden for him. When he was put in the team [at 17] everybody expected him to set the world alight immediately but that is not the reality for a young player.

In a strange way, though, all the hype surrounding Joe allowed Michael Carrick to develop. Michael had moved down from the north-east and was very homesick at first. If it wasn't for Bob and Val Rayson in our club house he might have gone home. But we felt the same way about Michael as we did Joe."

"It's a nice dream to think what might have happened if we could have kept them but it was never going to be a reality. We couldn't turn down Leeds' [£18m] offer for Rio; Frank's dad and uncle [Harry Redknapp] had just left the managerial staff when the offer from Chelsea came in for him and the harshest of relegations in 2003 meant that we had to sell our assets."

Oh well, that won't stop a lot West Ham fans wondering about what could have been.