Allardyce coy on Diame contract clause

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce refused to reveal any details about Mo Diame’s release clause amid rumours and whispers that multiple Premier League clubs are interested in the monster of a midfield players signature.

Diame arrived at The Boleyn on a free transfer from Wigan Athletic during the summer and has been one of the signings of the seasons not just for West Ham but the Premier League.

When Big Sam brought him on as a half-time substitute against Chelsea he forced the Blues onto the back foot and inspired his fellow Hammers’ to a well deserved 3-1 victory over our London neighbours and capped off a great performance with West Ham’s second goal.

However buoyed by Diame’s excellent form there have been rumours galore that the claret and blue beast has an escape clause in his contract which would allow him to leave West Ham for a knockdown fee in the region of £7m.

Allardyce would not confirm whether or not this is the case before expressing his belief that scouts are monitoring the Senegal star and trying to drum up some business.

He said: “I can’t discuss personal contracts, obviously. But when people start playing consistently well scouts are always watching and agents get very busy.”

Let’s hope there is nothing to this rumour and we don’t have another Demba Ba situation where every man and his dog knows about his release clause which gives the fans clenched bum cheeks every transfer window!

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Carlton Cole tipped by Nolan to fill Carroll void

Carlton Cole will fill the void left by Andy Carroll’s injury as he has been chomping at the bit to get some game time according to team-mate and captain Kevin Nolan.

Carroll looks to be sidelined for up to two months after picking up a knee injury in the recent defeat to Manchester United.

Cole returned to the starting eleven in Carrol’s absence and even though I am not his biggest fan he played very well and scored the equalizer in what turned out to be a 3-1 rout of the Champions League holders.

Nolan has been singing Cole’s praises and insists if Carlton keeps up his good form then loss of Carroll wont really be felt, speaking to SkySports Nolan said:

Carlton has been chomping at the bit to get the chance to prove himself. Hopefully his performance against Chelsea will be the standard he sets himself.

I’m sure there will be more of the same coming up, so Andy will not be too missed for us.

Hopefully Mr. Cole will keep up the form he showed against Chelsea with West Ham hosting Liverpool at home in the Premier League this weekend.

Liverpool will be without inform goal machine Luis Suarez which is a blessing for West Ham as he looks in great touch and would have been a real threat to The Hammers’ goal.

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Guy Demel retires from Ivory Coast duty

West Ham United defender Guy Demel is understood to have announced his retirement from international football with the Ivory Coast.

Demel has decided to hang up his boots for his country to concentrate on his club career with West Ham.

Guy Demel West Ham

This news will come as a welcome boost for manager Sam Allardyce as he was set to lose Demel for the Ivory Coast’s African Nations Cup campaign in January.

Demel was a part of the Ivory Coast squad which included Didier Drogba that reached the 2006 and 2010 World Cup finals and he also helped them qualify for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

After signing for West Ham injury prevented Demel from playing a full 90 minutes for The Hammers’ for 9 months which came in the play off final against Blackpool.

The fullback signed a two-year-deal with West Ham when he joined from German club Hamburger, the deal expires next summer but West Ham have the option for a further 12 months which Demel may have his eye on.

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

West Ham to find out Olympic Stadium fate

West Ham United will today find out if their Olympic Stadium proposal has been successful but the Hammers’ look set to be named preferred bidders.

Talks on securing a deal that would allow West Ham to be named as the preferred bidders are expected to continue right until the start of tomorrow’s meeting of the London Legacy Development Corporation board.

The Hammers’ latest offer is believed to be a £15m up front contribution, a £5m improvement on the original offer, as well as rent of £2.5m-a-year and £6m-a-year income for the LLDC from revenue from stadium naming rights and catering.

West Ham United Blog reported last week that sources close to the deal remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached that covers a funding gap of around £20m for the retractable seating, with West Ham United and Newham Council already putting in £20m to bring the cost down from £40m.

Olympic Stadium London

West Ham United are one of four bidders hoping to be chosen as the new tenants of the Olympic Stadium, which has already cost £486m so far and has been vacant since hosting the closing ceremony of the Paralympics in September. The other bidders are League One side Leyton Orient, a football business college and a proposal to bring Formula One racing to the Olympic Park.

In other Olympic Stadium related news, London Mayor Boris Johnson is seeking assurances from West Ham owners David Gold and David Sullivan that they will not be looking to sell the club on after moving into the Olympic Stadium or prepare to share the profits if they do as he believes West Ham will be a far more valuable club if they do indeed move in to the Olympic Stadium.

UPDATE:

West Ham have now been announced as the preferred bidder, read the clubs statement here.

What do you guys think? Leave us a comment with your thoughts.

Iron Bobby – West Ham United Blog

Hammers upset Rafa’s Chelsea fiesta

cole celebrates against the chelsea of rafa benitez

The Hammers “nailed” Chelsea yesterday afternoon and might have also “hammered” the final nail in our favourite Spanish waiter’s coffin by trouncing them by a very agreeable 3 goals to one.
I don’t think Rafa Benitez had too much to say after the match and I’m sure that big Sam Allardyce is not his glass of sangria at the moment especially as the two didn’t exactly see eye to eye when the Spaniard was in charge of Liverpool and Allardyce was Bolton’s boss.

Chelsea’s Juan Mata drew first blood on 13 minutes with a nice strike to beat Jussi and was assisted by none other than Torres. Torres left Winston Reid for dead and put an inch perfect cross to fellow compatriot Mata who rifled his shot past Jussi. Maybe Rafa thought it was the start of a Spanish style fiesta at Upton Park and who could have blamed him as Chelsea had a lot of the ball and showed great technique. West Ham were defending pretty solidly but were unable to turn things around in the first half.

After the break, the Hammers made 2 changes. Diame and Taylor came on for Tomkins and O’Neil. Chelsea got the game underway but West Ham United were quickly on the attack. Taylor started to play wide right and Mo Diame slotted into the midfield, with the welcome sight of Noble dropping to his usual anchor role.

On 63 minutes West Ham got the goal they were looking for. The irons attacked down the left with Nolan finding Jarvis, who was just onside. Jarvis’ cross hit Cahill on the head and looped high into the air. Carlton Cole managed to get the better of Ivanovic and nutted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.

Carlton Cole did look like he was all over Ivanovic actually,  but as you know – “all’s fair in love and football”  🙂

With the game at one apiece, things started to look up for the Hammers, although with a quarter of an hour to go, Jaaskelainen threw the ball straight to Eden Hazard. The keeper was on the floor but the Belgian got too much on his shot and it cleared the crossbar. What a “let off ” as Hazard doesn’t usually screw up from that distance.

On 89 minutes and the game looking like a draw, Cole collected a pass onto his chest from Joey O’Brien. The big number 9 laid the ball off for Mo Diame, who found the time and space to pick his spot to perfection and rifle a low shot into the net from 16 yards out.

The Hammers took the lead and there was a smile on big Sam’s face. They say it’s not over till the fat lady sings and there was more to come. Late into extra time on 91 minutes, Maiga intercepted a clearance and a ridiculous faux pas from Ashley Cole and waited for the overlap of Matt Taylor. Maiga’s low first-time shot is palmed away by Chelski stopper Petr Cech and Maiga followed up to bury the ball in the net from ten yards.

To coin a phrase from Sebastian Vettel; “This is what I’m talking about”. The lads proved yesterday that they don’t have to rollover for the big guns. We put our chances away and the defense was pretty solid to boot. It was a great game and I’m still laughing, not at the result but Ashley Cole’s hairstyle. Suddenly Rafa Benitez looks like he’s on the way out before getting started. It’s no wonder the Blues’ fan dislike him! Come on you Hammers!

Attendance was a rather solid 35,000.