West Ham United Blog | Analysis & News
News, Results, Transfers, Gossip
A couple of years back West Ham signed exciting young goal poacher Sam Baldock from Mk Dons for an undisclosed fee, held in a high regard at Stadium Mk he was going to be missed by the club.
On arrival many were left bemused, as this wasn’t your average Sam Allardyce striker. [Read more…]
Baldock, 23, joined West Ham from MK Dons in August 2011 and made 22 appearances and scored five goals for the Hammers, has joined Bristol City on a three-year contract.
Speaking to WHUFC.com Baldock said:
I would like to thank the fans for always supporting and encouraging me. The fans are what make the club so special and are the driving force behind its success.
There are some really great people involved in the football club who I wish every success for, and I also wish the team every success in the future.
The striker is believed to have cost Bristol City in the region of £1.5 Million plus add-ons.
Having started off very well for West Ham the goals dried up for Baldock, coupled with injury and the signings of Ricardo Vaz Te and Nicky Maynard in January, Baldock never really threatened playing for the first team again.
Piquionne departing?
Fredi Piquionne, remember him? Well hopefully he will also be on the move soon with offers apparently being accepted from both Brighton and Leeds United.
Lets start with Ivan Ramic, reports started surfacing over the weekend that West Ham were looking to gazump Wigan to his signature, and this was backed up on Sunday with Mallorca stating on their website they accepted a bid from West Ham for the player – Read More Here – but this morning I am hearing reports that Roberto Martinez has personally got involved and has now swayed the players decision to instead move to the JJB. Could it be like Eidur Gudjohnsen all over again!
Andy Carroll
From being the man Brendan Rodgers couldn’t wait to show the door to, with Rodgers seemingly willing to carry the player on his back to any club that batted it’s eyelids at him, there now seems to be a bizarre U-turn from the Liverpool boss who was quoted saying:
“There has been a lot written about Andy, but you saw today he’s happy to be here and he’s worked very well since he’s been here.
“The reality is he’s still a Liverpool player, he can fit into how I want to play, and he’s happy here.
“I’m certainly not wishing to push him out of the door.”
Bit of an odd turn around, seeing as Carroll was deemed a player who would not play the beautiful football Rodgers wants to implement, maybe it’s a case of the reds manager trying to use an industrial sized drum to drum up some more interest in the player?
James Tomkins Performances
I was expecting good things from our young CB at the Olympic Games, telling all and sundry who didn’t know about him that West Ham have a classy defender coming through and that their teams can keep their grubby little mits off him. Well I think Tomkins must not want any interest in himself as he has hardly covered himself with glory, I hope he has some better games as we don’t really need a player coming back for the start of the new season low on confidence!
Weekend Friendly Game
This weekend saw The Hammers come up against the mighty German team Energie Cottbus and walk away with a 2-2 draw after being 2-0 down to Ze Germans.
Sam Baldock was on target again which is becoming a familiar sight this pre-season, however it was the on trial Colin Kazim-Richards who scored the goal of the match with a volley from outside the box, cheeky!
Sam Baldock
Speaking of the little man, reports circulating today are that Bristol have had a bid of £1.5 Million accepted for him, if true I am assuming Allardyce only has room for one striker of his type and chose to keep Nicky Maynard.
Finally, Bubbles!
Did anyone else see the rendition of I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles at the Olympics Opening Ceremony? If not check this out:
West Ham won at Hull today 2-0 to keep up the good recent form and in particular the excellent away form.
Carlton Cole we the man behind both goals, nodding on for Bladock to bury a chance from close range, and then slipping Jack Collison through to dispatch his shot past the keeper.
“It is a difficult place to come and play,” the manager said, acknowledging that Hull had not lost at home since August and that he was so limited in options that promising 17-year-old defender Danny Potts – son of Steve – was on the bench.
“We know how good Hull are and we set out to see what they had to offer. We defended very well in the first half but apart from Julien Faubert’s three crosses down the side, which were very good and we didn’t get on the end of, I think we could have done a bit more in possession.
“We changed it around in the second half by bringing Carlton Cole on and dropping Kevin Nolan deeper into midfield. We wanted to get control and we said let’s go and score first, let’s go and attack Hull City from the very start.”
That second-half salvo, with the Hammers roared on by 2,500 travelling fans, was what finished off the home side’s hopes. “It allowed us to win the game. First the corner – a good ball, great header, great finish with Sam pulling off to score. The second goal was great passing and movement and resulted in a one-on-one and a very composed finish from Jack.
“We had won the game so we don’t need to go and chase it. We can sit and let the opposition have possession in front of us and see the game out. We broke when we got the opportunity.
“We didn’t do that as well as I would have liked but it was a fantastic result and a great performance in terms of how we changed tactically throughout the game. We were ruthlessly clinical when it came to our good period. We nailed Hull and come away with a well-earned 2-0 victory.”
Good to see another very professional away performance, it’s certainly something I am not used to seeing from The Hammers, before if we went past Watford it was like we were jinxed not to get any points. This season has allowed us to rebuild with a new manager, new players and new outlook!
West Ham United have confirmed the signing of striker Sam Baldock from MK Dons.
The 22-year-old striker put pen to paper on a four-year deal, with an option for a fifth year following a successful medical that took place earlier in the day.
Baldock, who has been in fine goal scoring form for The Dons could just be our new Tony Cottee. When I have seen him play he looks lively and sharp and always sniffing out a chance, he could be the perfect foil for Carlton Cole. I have always been a fan of little man big man strike partnerships.
“I am pleased to be here,” he told whufc.com. “I am just excited to be coming to such a great club, caked in so much history. I just want to hit the ground running.
“I want to show [the fans] what I can do and hopefully everyone will be proud of me.”
Southampton came in at the death with a bid apparently to land Baldock, but West Ham won the race and are thought to have paid around £2million to secure his services, although the exact figure remains undisclosed.
