You are here: Home / Archives for Iron Bobby

Preview: West Ham vs Chelsea

November 30, 2012 By Iron Bobby 1 Comment

West Ham host London neighbours Chelsea in the Premier League this Saturday with the game being shown live on SkySports 2 for a 12:45 ko.

Sam Allardyce’s men are coming off two straight away defeats in the Premier League, having lost 3-1 to Tottenham last weekend and 1-0 to Manchester United midweek in a much improved performance with Robin van Persie’s fortunate deflected goal being the difference between the teams.

Chelsea will be under the charge of new interim boss Rafa Benitez, with Chelsea having failed to score since the Fat Spanish Waiter took over from Roberto Di Matteo with both previous outings ending in a goalless draw.

West Ham will need to keep an eye on Fernando Torres, even though he can’t hit a barn door against anyone else it seems the Spaniard has netted 6 times in 6 appearances against the Hammers’. However we have Andy Carroll who will be looking to build on his first goal for the club which he scored against Tottenham last week.

Interesting stat is that Torres and Carroll have netted just 18 league goals in 114 games combined since they fetched £85million in transfer fees! Makes your eyes water!

There will also be no love lost between Allardyce and Benitez with the two far from friends during their Bolton and Liverpool days.

West Ham News

Mark Noble is back from suspension and will be a welcome addition to the teamsheet as we missed him at Old Trafford.

Ricardo Vaz Te, Alou Diarra and Jack Collison all remain sidelined, while Yossi Benayoun is not available for selection due to loan restrictions from his parent club Chelsea.

Chelsea News

Chelsea will be without Englan trio John Terry, Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge through injury while Brazillian defender David Luiz is suspended.

It looks like a good time to be playing Chelsea but with the quality of individuals they have you can never be too sure, lets hope we can something out of this game and start moving up the able again. COYI!

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: , ,

West Ham to be named preferred bidder for Olympic Stadium

November 29, 2012 By Iron Bobby Leave a Comment

West Ham are set to be named as the preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium next week after fresh efforts were made bridge the gap in funding required to convert the venue into a football ground.

The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) board is meeting on Wednesday December 5 with some sources saying they expect The Hammers’ will take a major step towards becoming the stadium’s tenants.

Preferred bidder status will not involve the signing of any contracts but will put West Ham in the driving seat to securing a new home away from The Boleyn under a 99-year lease.

olympic-stadium-londonThe gap in funding to convert the stadium into a football ground with retractable seating over the running track is understood to now be down to around £20million after West Ham and Newham Council agreed to put in more money.

West Ham are one of four bidders trying to secure tenancy in the Olympic Stadium, which has cost £486million so far and has been vacant since hosting the closing ceremony to the Paralympics at the start of September.

We are competing against League One side Leyton Orient, a football business college and a group keen to bring Formula One racing to the Olympic Park.

West Ham’s latest offer is believed to be a £15m upfront contribution, a £5million improvement on the original offer, as well as rent of £2.5m a year and £6m-a-year income for the LLDC from stadium naming rights and catering revenues.

The LLDC confirmed this month that the stadium will not re-open until 2015 at the earliest and possibly the summer of 2016 – which would be two years later than expected.

The retractable seating means the Olympic Stadium will be far better suited to hosting Premier League football matches than the original plans we saw where the fans would need binoculars to see the players. If this goes through then along with the sale of The Boleyn ground it could push West Ham onto the next level and attract further investors.

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: ,

West Ham to bid for Irish starlet Sean Maguire

November 29, 2012 By Iron Bobby 1 Comment

sean maguire west ham targetWest Ham United have reportedly mad a transfer bid to sign Waterford United teenage striker Sean Maguire.

Irish starlet Maguire has caught the eye of West Ham’s coaching staff after impressing during a trial spell at The Boleyn.

18-year-old Sean Maguire has been attracting the interest of a host of other clubs after his impressive displays with Waterford United over the past year.

Maguire scored 12 goals in 24 starts for Waterford this term and he is regarded as one of the best young prospects to emerge from Ireland in recent years.

SkySports believe the Hammers have now made a firm offer which Waterford are considering with West Ham hoping to tie up a deal in time for the January transfer window.

I don’t confess to know much about the Sean Maguire but more exciting young talent for the club can’t be a bad thing.

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: ,

Tottenham V West Ham preview

November 25, 2012 By Iron Bobby 1 Comment

West Ham head to White Hart Lane today looking to build on their impressive start back in the Premier League.

Sam Allardyce’s high flying Hammers are currently 2 points ahead of Tottenham in seventh place, and only a further one point off a Europa League spot.

West Ham will be in a positive frame on mind having won their last away game in the Premier League up at Newcastle and will got to Tottenham looking to build on their solid start. West Ham fans will also hope that Andy Carroll can break his Hammers duck and get on the score sheet today or at least supply his old mate Kevin Nolan.

West Ham News

Yossi Benayoun is still struggling with a hip injury, so is unlikely to start but may make the bench, however there is better news on the Matt Jarvis front, with the winger returning to training this week and pushing for a starting berth.

Matt Taylor also returned from a spell on the sidelines against Stoke on Monday, so Modibo Maiga and Gry O’Neil will be looking nervously at the starting sheet with both Taylor and Jarvis looking to get back in to the starting eleven.

Tottenham News

Tottenham have had a difficult week, having lost the North London Derby at the weekend,  then their fans had terrible trouble in Rome with one of them being stabbed and more injured.

Emmanuel Adebayor will begin his three-match ban having been sent off against Arsenal, Mousa Dembele is back to full fitness and our old friend Defoe looks set to start in Adebayor’s absence.

Let’s hope it turns out to be an exciting match with West Ham taking 3 points of course!

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

 

 

Filed Under: Latest News

Diame: West Ham move the right decision

November 16, 2012 By Iron Bobby 3 Comments

West Ham midfielder Mo Diame believes he made the correct decision in moving to The Boleyn after some critics questioned his decision to snub interest from Champions League clubs.

The 25 year-old Senegal international was reported to have attracted interest from several Champions League clubs after his contract with Wigan expired in July, but he chose to join newly promoted West Ham United.

However, with Sam Allardyce’s men positioned nicely at 6th place in the Premier League, Diame feels his choice has been fully vindicated.

People did say ‘Why are you going to West Ham when you can play in the Champions League?’ but they can see why I did now, he told West Ham TV.

It is a very big club in England and I am very happy to be here, now I am hoping that our good performances will continue.

That is why I came here. When I spoke to the club I knew they were trying to build a very good team.

We are working very hard every day on the training ground and you can see it is paying off.

Diame has been exceptional for The Hammers this season and has been our stand out player along with his midfield partners Noble and Nolan.

It was reported in the press this week that he may have a £7 Million release clause in his contract, I hope this is not true or that we get this rectified sharpish as on current form we will have a lot of clubs sniffing around for him in January.

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog 

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: