1. Rafa Benitez attempted to throw his weight behind the Roberto Di Matteo protests by encouraging his team to score 16 goals against Aston Villa. 2. You know you're in trouble when you've lost 8-0, your goalkeeper has saved a penalty and was your best player by a mile. 3. Puffa coat-wearing manager watches his [.
West Ham United skipper Kevin Nolan has hoped to re-ignite the Andy Carroll transfer saga,
insisting that he would be "delighted" to team up with the Liverpool striker once again.
Nolan and Carroll became close friends during the pair's time at Newcastle United, with their
camaraderie also resulting in a strong on-field showing during the resurgence of the Magpies
following relegation.
West Ham United skipper Kevin Nolan has hoped to re-ignite the Andy Carroll transfer saga,
insisting that he would be "delighted" to team up with the Liverpool striker once again.
Nolan and Carroll became close friends during the pair's time at Newcastle United, with their
camaraderie also resulting in a strong on-field showing during the resurgence of the Magpies
following relegation.
When Tottenham comes to the United States for their preseason tour next month, they could very
well be led by Andre Villas-Boas.
According to reports from England, Villas-Boas could be named Spurs coach as soon as this
weekend as the club finalizes plans to find Harry Redknapp's successor.
Reports on Tuesday suggested the deal struck between the club and the Olympic Park Legacy
Company (OPLC) has come to a halt after complaints from the Premier League outfit, with the OPLC,
the Mayor of London and the government agreeing instead to keep the stadium in public
ownership.
West Ham captain Kevin Nolan has done his best to bring any Hammers hanging on to the memories of their 'World Cup-winning' squad by saying manager Sam Allardyce deserves to be a top club. The midfielder, who had previously played under Allardyce at Bolton, reckons Big Sam deserves to leave the East London minnows behind [.
It seems that a loan deal has been agreed between West Ham and Liverpool for Andy Carroll, and
the Geordie striker is in London taking a medical,  before he signs up for the season long
loan deal in east London. Andy Carroll going on loan to West Ham It had been clear for a few weeks
now that Andy has [.
The following is an amalgam of a couple of related articles liberated from the Times paywall
dungeon when the sentinels averted their gaze a few weeks ago...
The vice-chairman of West Ham is trying to be nice, and she needs to be, because the last time she
met Times journalist Andrew Davidson it all ended badly, with her promising that he would never
work in journalism again.
West Ham co-chairman David Gold has played down suggestions Joe Cole could make a 'romantic' return
to Upton Park this summer.
Liverpool midfielder Cole's future looks set to be discussed again this summer following the end of
a season-long loan at French club Lille.
The 30-year-old insists he has unfinished business at Anfield amid speculation linking him with a
second spell at the recently-promoted Hammers.
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is hoping that he will be able to persuade Joe Cole to make an
emotional return to the club after securing promotion to the Premier League at the first time of
asking.
Cole left the Hammers in 2003 to join Chelsea but is still a firm fan favourite after coming
through the academy at the east London club and going on to become a regular England player while
still with West Ham.
West Ham's comfortable 5-0 aggregate play-off victory over Cardiff City ought to have been cause
for celebration in East London last night. But not for 'Chris'. 'Chris' was busy trying to draft in
a second-choice best man at short notice. OTP can deduce that 'Chris' is due to tie the knot on May
19, the [.
West Ham's comfortable 5-0 aggregate play-off victory over Cardiff City ought to have been cause
for celebration in East London last night. But not for 'Chris'. 'Chris' was busy trying to draft in
a second-choice best man at short notice. OTP can deduce that 'Chris' is due to tie the knot on May
19, the [.
So one of the most exciting days of the season is over, and Jim White's excitable gossip-hungry
clone can go back into suspended animation until next year. Yet spending is down nearly 70% versus
last year's January deadline, where Torres and Carroll dominated the headlines.
Our latest guest post sees us welcome Tom Victor. Tom is the Major League Soccer Correspondent for
Footy Matters and you can read a selection of his missives here. He's also a proud Hammer and here
brings his attention to the extraordinary development of family tradition at that storied east
London club.
Looks like George John is getting the best of both worlds.
The FC Dallas center back will soon be playing at Upton Park
as part of West Ham. But it won't be as part of a full transfer as previously believed. Not just
yet, at any rate.
I don't have many details, but it looks like the first step
here is a loan to West Ham through the end of February.
So, West Ham unveiled their new mascot 'Hammerhead' before their 1-0 win over Barnsley at Upton
Park on Saturday...
Saints be praised, it looks like he's got a back story too:
"Foundered in the Thames Iron Works many decades ago, the workers who crafted a new champion
drew on the spirits of heroes old and new to create the ultimate goal machine.
West Ham are the latest club to be linked with a move for Crystal Palace's in-demand forward
Wilfried Zaha, who has also been linked with a move to Liverpool in recent weeks.
The teenage forward caught the attention last season when he burst into the Palace first team and
this season has once again proved his quality with a string of impressive performances.
-
-- From The Bushman Collection: Photo Memories of Rodney Marsh in His QPR Days
- The ever-growing QPR Report Messageboard Marks Its Third Anniversary today. (Almost!) All Very
Welcome to Come visit and post!
-
- Throughout the day, the QPR Report Messageboard has news updates,
comments and perspectives - even links to other board comments of interest re QPR matters (on and
off the field) along with football (and ONLY football) topics in general.
Whilst the Team GB athletics team were (to coin a phrase of da yoof) 'smashing it' in east
London and Daily Mail readers were choking on their own racist bile, Stuart Pearce's football side
were struggling against a very decent South Korean side at the Millennium Stadium.
The Olympic concept has broken free of any shackles that might have once tied it to some
impression of sanity, and is rampaging wildly across East London, the watching world, and the
United States on primetime delay. There are the butchers forbidden from fashioning Olympic rings
out of links of sausages, but my objection runs beyond them.
Okay, maybe 'leaps out' is a tad over-dramatic. It's just that 'Becks repeatedly sidles
sheepishly into a photobooth with a rubber duck in his hand' didn't make for a particularly snazzy
headline. Don't hate the player and all that...
Any road up, as part of Adidas' pre-Olympic #takethestage promo, they rigged up a photobooth in
a shopping centre next to the Olympic Park in East London for fans to get their photos taken in
Team GB clobber and show their support that was until some Hairy Herbert kept wandering out into
every shot.
Hartlepool are at Charlton for their final League One fixture of the season this afternoon, and
nearly 200 of their travelling fans have decided to descend on East London in full Smurf regalia
which has certainly made for interesting scenes on the underground.
Leyton Orient FC is an English professional soccer club based in east London currently playing in
League One of the Football League. The team is often known to its fans...
DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE 0-5 CHELTENHAM TOWN
Saturday 18th February 2012
Football League 2
The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Stadium
Today is the 35th birthday of the editor / big chief of All Roads Lead Somewhere and this was spent
in east London. It had been suggested around Christmas time about going out for the day with my
wife (Angela), mum (Christine) and her partner Dave but the question was where?
In Affectionate Remembrance
of
ENGLISH FOOTBALL,
which died at the Southwark Crown Court and the Football Association
on
8th FEBRUARY 2012,
Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing
friends and acquaintances
R.I.P.
N.B.—The body will be cremated and the
ashes taken to the Asian Underground.
In Affectionate Remembrance
of
ENGLISH FOOTBALL,
which died at the Southwark Crown Court and the Football Association
on
8th FEBRUARY 2012,
Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing
friends and acquaintances
R.I.P.
N.B.—The body will be cremated and the
ashes taken to the Asian Underground.
The don't call it "the Beautiful Game" for nothing. Soccer is art. A great Lionel Messi goal
or a stunnig David Beckham free kick is a thing of beauty.
These small moments in soccer can create life-long fans of the sport (with the help of a
beer or two, perhaps?) and the memories of such sporting excellence can hang in our memories like
fine art in a gallery.
Regular readers of this site may have noticed - in the last week - a slight drop-off in the
frequency of posts. Like most of Great Britain, our attention has been otherwise occupied by
events in East London and beyond. With Jessica Ennis et al accumulating an stunning haul of
medals for Team GB, it's been difficult to prioritise the countdown to the new football season.
Despite spending the best part of the week holed up in bed with the dreaded lurgy, Benoit
Assou-Ekotto dragged himself from his pit on Saturday night, wandered into an East London pub,
ordered himself a little pink cocktail and then completely obliterated all comers over on the table
football.
At 30 a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his
defects and qualities, know how far he can go, foretell his failures - be what he is. And, above
all, accept these things.
Robert Green has agreed to join Queens Park Rangers on a two-year deal after rejecting an improved
West Ham United contract offer.
(Author's Note: This is the first of a four-part series highlighting the major football stadiums in
London, as well as their surrounding environs. Today's feature is on grounds in West London, with
pieces on North, South, and East London still...
TweetBolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba could be back in training within a month should his recovery
continue to go smoothly. Muamba has been recovering at the London Chest Hospital in East London
following his cardiac arrest during Bolton's FA Cup clash with Tottenham last month. Having been
clinically dead for over 78 minutes, prompt medical treatment [.
Coaches from Liverpool Football Club this morning touched down in Mumbai ahead of the start of the
latest LFC-Standard Chartered Football Clinic and GOAL exchange program.
The clinic, which kicks off in India's most densely populated city on Thursday, is the fourth such
venture Liverpool have participated in since Standard Chartered became the club's main sponsor with
over 500 poor or disadvantaged children receiving expert coaching in Nairobi, East London and Seoul
since last August.
