West Ham in the Papers

The Daily Mirror says Craig Bellamy is "facing a lengthy lay-off." They also claim Scott Parker has "suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury." However the claims come in an article entitled "We're Jinxed" so I think there is an element of stretching the truth to fit the story.

The Daily Mail say Dean Ashton could profit from Emile Heskey's injury, "If Steve McClaren wants to persist with the big man-little man approach in attack he could do worse than casting an eye over the resurgent Ashton."

The Independent were also impressed with Ashton, "there is no doubting Ashton's importance to the team and his popularity among supporters, who greeted his goal – a mere tap-in – that crowned Saturday's victory over Middlesbrough almost as enthusiastically as they had his previous strike, in the 2006 FA Cup final defeat by Liverpool."

The Daily Telegraph report that Curbishley wants a "nice, solid" season and that Dean Ashton had attained near mythical status at West Ham during his injury.

The Guardian were impressed by Cole's second half performance especially as "for the fickle fan Cole is a natural fall guy."