West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed the club are in talks with former Chelsea winger Salomon Kalou, as reported by Sky Sports.
The Hammers are keen to bring the Ivorian back to the Premier League after he impressed for Lille last season in France.
The versatile 27 year old has a £2.8million buy-out clause in his current contract and has admitted that he wants to return to England.
West Ham want the former Chelsea man to use either out wide or down the middle if and when summer signing Andy Carroll gets injured.
West Brom are also interested in signing Kalou and have also been in contact with the players agent but Allardyce is confident the East London club can get a deal done.
“As far as I know, back at West Ham, I think the chairman is speaking with the player’s agent,” Allardyce told Sky Sports News.
“We understand the player wants to come back and play in England, whether that is with us or with whoever, we are having a look at it.
“Obviously from his record at Chelsea, and his goalscoring record this season in France, and his age, he is very appealing to us.
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“But whether that will come off or not in terms or what regular position he wants to play, may be the stumbling block.”
Hartlepool United’s belated and thin retained list epitomises everything about the club at present: blindness, needless stubbornness and failure of bravery.
Releasing just one of the first team regulars – Evan Horwood – of the catastrophic relegation season and renewing the contract (or soon to be renewed in the case of Sam Collins, Andy Monkhouse and Ritchie Humphreys) of Neil Austin and not dispensing of the failures is a recipe for another season awash with defeats. And let’s not forget, last season’s relegation was not just a combination of poor effort attributed by the players earlier on, or luck or any other excuses, it is the harvest of poor player recruitment and turnover the past 3 years. It’s been coming and the signs are that there are very little plans in place to right the wrongs and that’s worrying.
Nine wins in one season does not see “winners” emblazoned across the players’ forehead. No, there is an imprint of losers, of failures, of players who have not been good enough in the past so what’s to say they will be good enough in the future?
The refusal to cleanse the squad of the players that are responsible for the team’s demise stinks of ignorance to their entire situation. And the wonderful season ticket offer of £150 will not cover the damage the club have done. People will not part with that amount of money – however small – if they do not believe they will get a return for their investment. And with the continuation of the same players who have delivered such sparse forms of entertainment for the past three years on offer again, gates will fall beneath the 3000 barrier, possibly even further. The club have only got themselves to blame.
Unfortunately, though, it is what we can now expect of HUFC. Expect the unexpected. The club is afraid of making brave decisions, of releasing players who fit the Clarence Road furniture. The club have a policy of not discussing players’ contracts until the season has reached its climax. In a season of more lows than highs and when fans are as disillusioned as they have ever been in the IOR era – now was the time to scrap those policies and act in the best way to help move the club forward and recover from the wreckage of the past seasons.
Decisions on who went and who stayed was made 11 days after the season had finished, seven more than most clubs in League One and League Two had waited. Not for the first time this season, the club were languishing behind the rest.
Manager John Hughes had talked about rebuilding the club in March, identifying his targets for the next season and coming to conclusions about who should make up the playing staff come August. His appeals, via the media, for a meeting with chief executive Russ Green were rejected. Hughes was then forced to make a rather embarrassing u-turn, stating that “now isn’t the time.” Had he been warned by Green that the club must not deviate from their polices? It certainly appears that way. It’s child-like. Hughes adhered to the club’s stringent rules; is he going to be made to walk because his views and ways do not marry those of IOR’s?
Football success is dependent on making bold, correct decisions and Tuesday’s retained list was distant to the factors that conjure up success.
In Hughes Pools have a manager who has already demonstrated in 2013 that he can evoke a wining formula out of a group of players who had come so accustomed to losing. He has shown his credentials, but he MUST be allowed to carry that onto next season. One fears that will not be the case and it will be another case of the club shooting themselves in the foot.
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Hughes’ appointment was huge, for the club desperately needed to resurrect the flailing ship. However, failure to back Hughes with trust, judgement and with finance (as much as can be afforded for the finance restrictions at HUFC limits over spending) over the summer months for his squad assemblage will only eventuate with more failure, declining attendances and increasing fan unrest
To obey a fan’s wish is not always encouraged, see the return of Neale Cooper. But to also remain stubborn and blind to the reasons behind the previous failures without correcting them is also not encouraged. It’s plain stupidity. I hope I have ill-perceived the current going-ons at HUFC.
West Ham United loanee Yossi Benayoun is set for a return to action against Everton this weekend, hoping to lessen the consequences of an injury crisis currently in full swing at Upton Park.
On loan from Premier League rivals Chelsea, Benayoun suffered an injury setback last week with a knee complaint.
The Israeli’s injury troubles has restricted his appearances for the Irons this term to only four starts following his loan move to East London.
After breaking down in training last week Sam Allardyce noted that the player would go “back with Chelsea to recover from that injury.” The player’s availability for next weekend will come as a huge wave of relief for Big Sam who noted last week “Our big problem with Yossi at the moment is to try and get him fit.”
The Hammers manager was missing several key first-team players last week, including Andy Carroll, in-form Mohamed Diame and Ricardo Vaz Te.
“Ricardo Vaz Te is probably another couple of weeks before he’s training and that will be 12 weeks he has been out.” As for Benayoun, Allardyce feels quietly confident that he “will be back with us this week” after convalescing at Chelsea.
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West Ham currently sit at 11th spot in the Premier League table and level on points with Swansea in 10th place. With Everton’s visit on the weekend and a trip to Arsenal on boxing day, the Irons will be hoping that Benayoun can provide some much needed relief during a busy Christmas period.
Former Sky Sports pundit Andy Gray has told talkSport that he believes Arsenal do have enough quality to win a trophy this season, despite hitting a recent slump in form.
The Gunners lost to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, with a poor display that eventually finished 2-1 after Santi Cazorla scored a late concellation goal to spare the London club’s blushes. Arsenal are now 7th in the Premier League, lying nine points adrift of the top.
“They are in real bad spell at the moment, an unsure spell” said Gray. “But I don’t think it’s as bad as many people I heard at the weekend portraying it to be.
“They just seem to have lost the goal habit. They had a blank against Norwich, a scruffy last minute winner against QPR, [Santi] Cazorla’s consolation against Manchester United, and against Schalke they didn’t score.
“But if you look at the side that they put out and take the top six, for instance, you are looking at Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Lukas Podolski, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud. It’s hardly shabby.
“Lukas Podolski has 100 caps for Germany and has scored over 50 goals. Santi Cazorla is renowned as a fantastic player. We know that because when we were in Spain recently they couldn’t believe how he was allowed to leave when Real Madrid wanted him.”
Andy Gray admits that the league title may be beyond the Arsene Wenger’s men this season, but has tipped them as outside contenders for the Champions League.
“They are not good enough at the moment. I don’t think that team can win the Premier League, but they can win a cup. Trust me, they can win a cup.
“People will laugh but make no mistake about it, as Chelsea showed last year and Monaco showed a few years ago, it is not always the best team that wins [the Champions League].”
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Arsenal will be in Champions League action tonight as they take on Schalke at the Veltins Arena. When Arsenal took on the German Club at The Emirates in October, they were victim to a surprise 2-0 defeat.
Such is the nature of the digital age that we currently live in, it seems that no realm of society is immune from the globalized phenomenon that is social media. Be you a notorious celebrity, fame seeking reality star or merely even a long haul truck driver, there is no walk of life that hasn’t been seemingly invigorated by the power of Twitter, Facebook and the like.
And unless you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere for the past five years, you’ll be very aware of the efforts those in the footballing world have made to dine at the table of Twitterati prestige. But far from boosting the already inflated egos of the Ashley Cole’s and Rio Ferdinand’s of this world, it’s served a far greater purpose by cultivating the rebirth of football’s cult hero.
Within all the doomy analysis of the state of the game within the 21st century, the penchants for nostalgia among us can’t help but look back to the game of yesteryear. Even just ten years ago, ticket prices didn’t involve the remortgaging of homes, simulation was used to describe PlayStations, not players, and a prawn sandwich was a culinary delicacy that had yet to morph into the footballing antichrist.
But perhaps just as poignantly, cult heroes rightly got the recognition they deserved.
The Manchester City attack may currently be inhibited by a quartet of multi-millionaire, precociously gifted talents, but ten years ago, one Shaun Goater was still lining up for The Citizens. Which begs a good question, in that where have all the Shaun Goaters gone?
Enter the 90’s and beyond, and football seemed to bestow such a wealth of characters, adored by fans not because solely on footballing ability, but because they harnessed more than one iota of personality.
The likes of Jason Lee, Efe Sodje and Marc Bircham were more famous for what was going on with their heads, than down at their feet, but you knew you were in for a bit of entertainment going to watch them every weekend. John Jensen, Julian Dicks and Steve Stone were never the most technically accomplished of footballers, but they always wielded an affectionate response from fans.
Their cult statuses were forged by fans, within the grounds; not because they banged in 30 goals a year, but because they had a little something more about them. In the PR sanitized world of the modern day Premier League which we currently live in, it does sometimes feel like these characters are no more than a distant motif of yesterday’s game.
But although it does feel like there are generally a lot less silly haircuts and eccentric personalities within the English game, this isn’t necessarily to say that the practice of the cult hero doesn’t still exist. It’s just that today, perhaps, cult heroes are forged more in the digital domain than the physical one.
Take Emile Heskey, for example. During his time in the Premier League, he came in for a bit of stick for a suspect goal scoring record, but such was his relatively serious public demeanor, you could never coax much in the way of humour out of the big man, on or off the pitch.
Type his name into Google, however, and you become instantly exposed to something of a digital underworld of cult practice. Indeed, the first three related searches for the ex-England striker, include ‘Emile Heskey jokes’, ‘Emile Heskey drinking game’ and ‘Emile Heskey Twitter’; the latter of which produces a page of four parody accounts with near on 30,000 followers in total. He’s even got his own parody rap song, which has around 2,500,000 views on You Tube and counting.
The cult hero phenomenon isn’t dead – it’s just experiencing a rebirth.
Again, take Mario Balotelli as another example. With an off field resume that includes the lighting of pyrotechnics in his own mansion, the racking up of £10,000 in parking fines and various tales of random acts of generosity, he’s got all the trappings of a classic cult hero. Yet he feels somewhat maligned by the frowning corporate face of today’s Premier League. But in the digital domain, he’s the stuff of urban legend.
Balotelli himself can boast two parody accounts on Twitter to the combined tune of half a million followers. His iconic, hulking celebration after his second goal against Germany in the European Championships has produced hundreds of memes and comedy photoshopped images that have spawned the world over. You could argue that the cult of Balotelli, despite his obvious higher profile than your archetypal cult hero, has gone further than anything we could have ever imagined ten years ago.
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Some will of course argue that it’s not the same and that the social media fuelled revolutions of Heskey, Balotelli and the like, can’t be compared to yesterday’s heroes. But there’s no need to fear, as even they’re now joining in on the fun.
Are you a QPR fan craving a bit of Marc Bircham related banter? His bio says he enjoys having a cheeky few drinks now and again, and you can ask him all about it here. Former Spurs Uefa Cup winner turned London cabbie Micky Hazard is a prolific Tweeter and he loves nothing more than interacting with fans.
Still not enough cult heroes for you? You can get nuggets of Dean Windass related wisdom on Twitter, legendary cult left-back Rufus Brevett would be only too happy to have you on board and if that’s still not whetting the appetite, then why not add to ex-Plymouth Argyle and Nigerian legend Taribo West’s 5,254 followers?
Football has changed in almost ever respect within recent times, and even something as trivial and as organic as the creation of a cult hero, isn’t quite the same as it used to be. But it’s still there and in one guise or another, it most certainly always will be.
How do you feel about the evolution of the Cult Hero? Have I missed any social networking phenomenons or do you just want to fire a few Eoin Jess’ at me? Tell me all on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and get involved.
Ben Foster has warned West Brom should not “go crazy” when signing new players in the summer but trusts boss Steve Clarke’s judgement.
The Baggies, currently eighth in the table, look on course to achieve their highest-ever Barclays Premier League finish in what has been an impressive first season with Clarke in charge.
Foster, who is among only a handful of signings the head coach has brought in since his appointment last June, certainly sees no need for a radical overhaul of the playing staff after the campaign finishes.
And the England international is sure that even with the prospect of some considerable money to play with, it is not something Clarke will be looking to do as he contemplates potential transfer targets.
Foster told the club’s website: “The fans probably think we can bring 10 or 12 different players in with the new TV deal!
“There’s going to be a lot more money being pumped into the Premier League next season but you don’t want to go crazy. You don’t want to add too many players because you might upset the good balance that we’ve got going at the minute.
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“I’m sure the gaffer will be sensible and maybe add three, four or five faces.”
Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has questioned the direction that the club are taking after another summer of high-profile exits at the club and with that in mind, will he be the next key player to leave Arsene Wenger’s side in pursuit of silverware?
Ever since moving from French outfit Auxerre back in 2007, the 29-year-old right-back has been an integral part of the side, making over 150 league appearances in his five seasons at the club so far. His presence was sorely missed last term, during which he sustained two separate broken leg injuries as he bids to keep up his comeback to full fitness this term.
Speaking in French publication L’Equipe, Sagna, rather worryingly for the club’s fans, questioned the wisdom of letting both Robin van Persie and Alex Song go this summer: “Everyone was expecting Robin Van Persie to leave, but Alex Song, that was a surprise. I don’t understand that at all. It is a big loss for the club. When you see two of the best players from last season leave, you ask a lot of questions. I understand why the supporters are nervous. I am the only starting player left from 2007. In May, I watched City’s parade on TV. I saw Samir and Gael lift the trophy. I want that (feeling). For the moment, I want to play with Arsenal, and find my level again.”
The most alarming point to take from that is the declaration of professional jealousy at the likes of Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy for achieving success while at Manchester City, proving that their respective moves to the current Premier League champions for trophies were entirely vindicated last campaign.
Arsenal have routinely been labelled a ‘selling club’ recently under Wenger and the club have been accused of putting fiscal concerns above footballing matters, often choosing short-term financial gain to the detriment of the side out on the pitch. However, what this fails to take into account is that Arsenal under Wenger have always been a ‘selling club’, dating right back to Nicolas Anelka’s move to Real Madrid in 1999, while the likes of Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and then Cesc Fabregas followed a similar path – it’s a far more long-term trend than previously assumed, as opposed to a new idea since the stadium move.
If you look at Arsenal’s expenditure since Wenger took over the club back in 1996, while they may have spent £385m on new players, they’ve also recouped £363m from sales during the same time, to give the club a net spend of just £22m over 16 years, which is a truly staggering statistic.
If Sagna were to leave, the only likely destinations would have to be either Manchester United or Manchester City if he wanted to remain in the Premier League. Real Madrid are in need of another right-back to compete with Alvaro Arbeloa while Barcelona’s Daniel Alves has been linked with a departure for quite some time, so there are certainly options open to the highly-regarded defender.
The summer transfer saga that envelopes the club is almost a yearly ritual now, though, and even if they allowed Alex Song to leave for Barcelona on their own terms, they have acted like a feeder club in recent times for both the Catalan giants and Roberto Mancini’s side and there’s nothing to suggest that this will change in the future. Is Sagna the next obvious player to make the move out of the club over Arsenal’s perceived lack of ambition?
Jack Wilshere is the next logical player in mind other than Sagna and he’s likely to be a player that will be coveted by a whole host of top clubs throughout his career. However, after missing an entire year out through injury at such a crucial stage in his development, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to return to his best this season and he may need time to feel his way back into the side and any sort of form, so Arsenal should be safe for the foreseeable future at least.
Other than Sagna and Wilshere, the club’s next most highly-valued prospect is perhaps Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with the 19-year-old catching the eye with a series of bright displays last season. His performance against AC Milan during the team’s 3-0 win over them at home in the Champions League last term will have been duly noted all across the continent as he delivered a virtuoso display in a more central role with a maturity well beyond his years which suggests he’s capable of becoming a player of genuine class in the future and big things are expected of him, but whether that will be at Arsenal remains to be seen.
Cast your eye around the remainder of the Arsenal squad, though, and the club’s shift in transfer policy to recruiting more experienced players with proven European experience should see an end for a while at least to the destructive policy of selling on your best player every summer.
Unless the likes of Lukas Podolski, Thomas Vermaelen or Wojciech Szczesny have an absolutely storming season, they are probably at a club that matches their ambitions and talent level. You suspect that Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla could attract attention in the future from bigger clubs, but perhaps not to the same extent as the aforementioned trio.
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This myth that Arsenal have only just become a ‘selling club’ is a false one and the club’s fans must come to terms with the likelihood of key players leaving at crucial times unless they start to challenge for silverware more at the end of the season; there’s no reason why that’s not possible, but until the seven-year trophy drought is ended, players like Sagna will always have a wandering eye towards other clubs and the thought in their mind that the grass may in fact be greener on the other side.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed that the club are looking to add yet more players to their squad despite their arrivals count for this window standing at a whopping six.
The Reds have spent close to £90m this summer to snap up a host of talented players, with the sale of Luis Suarez offsetting £75m of the splurge.
Southampton trio Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert have been joined at Anfield by Lazar Markovic, Emre Can and Divock Origi – the latter will return to Lille on loan – in a hectic few weeks on Merseyside.
WANT MORE? >> Liverpool transfer news | Latest transfer news
Spanish defenders Alberto Moreno and Javier Manquillo are expected to become Liverpool players in the coming weeks, but beyond them even more names are being linked with the club.
Although Rodgers admitted that he’s happy with both his concluded and imminent business, the Northern Irishman says that he has more areas of his squad he wants to strengthen:
“It’s just purely on the back of us having a really thin squad last season where we were very, very short.” He is quoted by Goal.
“The players did remarkably well and it was incredible what they achieved but they need help this year – they need assistance.
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“We’ve got the belief this year we can go on and do well in all of the competitions. Especially after the Christmas period on the back end of a World Cup year, we need to make sure we have freshness in every game we play because of the nature of our game.
“There are still one or two areas to look at. There’s no point mentioning numbers or positions – we want a couple of positions strengthened and if we can do that, I’ll be really, really happy.”
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After the departure of last season’s highest goalscorer Robin Van Persie to Manchester United, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants more goals to be shared around his squad.
Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Gervinho played up front in Arsenal’s goalless draw against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium and despite a strong performance in midfield, they lacked a vital cutting edge in front of goal. Wenger’s side also battled out a 0-0 draw with Sunderland on the opening day of the Premier League season. Having not scored in their opening two Premier League fixtures following the departure of Dutch striker Van Persie, Wenger remains confident his side will adapt and spread the goalscoring duties.
Talking to Sky Sports, the Frenchman declared his solution to the issues his side face in front of goal:
“We have to find a way to get around that by sharing more of the goals than we did before with Van Persie. Giroud scored 20 (last season), Podolski scored 20. We will get some goals I’m convinced from (Abou) Diaby, (Aaron) Ramsey, (Theo) Walcott, Gervinho, so we have of course to share it around a bit.”
Wenger also threw his support behind French striker Giroud, who made his first start against Stoke, and played down what he called a lack of “understanding” between his front men. Wenger said about the lack of goals,”I think Giroud has not to think he has to replace Van Persie with the number of goals he has to score. We want to play well as a team and if you play well as a team you score goals.”
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