CaughtOffside » West Ham United

The Hammers were awarded the stadium earlier this year only for the deal to collapse last month due to legal challenges by Tottenham and Leyton Orient, as well as an anonymous complaint to the European Commission.

A new tender process is being launched by the Olympic Park Legacy Company and the venue, complete with an athletics track, will now be rented out after the London 2012 Games with West Ham seemingly the most likely tenants.

But Gold today revealed that while the club remain desperate to leave their current Boleyn Ground at Upton Park, there is now a doubt surrounding their plans to move into the Stratford site.

“I have mixed feelings,” Gold told talkSPORT. “The Olympic Stadium is very exciting, but we need a consultancy procedure with our fans, that is important.

“I am ruling out developing the Boleyn, that would be pouring money down the drain. But what we can’t do is nothing. West Ham have been at the Boleyn for over 100 years.

“I believe we are the eighth largest supported club in the country, and yet we perform more like the 20th biggest, and that’s because we are at the Boleyn.

“So we have to change that. The obvious change that everyone is looking at is the Olympic Stadium. But there is a doubt, there are issues unresolved.”

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Marseille Look to Resolve Scoring Problems With £6m Carlton Cole Bid?!

The Newshound — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:41:15 +0000

Yes, that makes a hell of a lot of sense doesn’t it!

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CARLTON COLE is a target for Marseille.
The French giants are bossed by Didier Deschamps, who spent the 1999-2000 season at Chelsea, while Cole was in the Blues’ academy.

Deschamps now wants the West Ham and England hitman to boost a Marseille side that has just 17 goals in 16 Ligue 1 games this term.

Championship outfit West Ham value Cole, 28, at £6million. But Marseille, who can offer Champions League football, are not willing to go that high.

SOURCE: The Sun

OK, so how does this work? Marseille, who are competing in the Champions League and finished last season as runners-up in the Ligue 1 title race, need a striker so where does Didier Deschamps look for the answer? Why in the English Championship of course. Where does he think he can find the answer to his goalscoring woes? That’s right, 28 year old Carlton Cole.

This is the same Carlton Cole who is not even a regular in Sam Allardyce’s Hammers starting eleven, the same Carlton Cole who has notched up a whopping 35 goals in 152 appearances for West Ham.

We can only imagine that this rumour is either the result of a rather drunk journalist or an over enthusiastic agent keen to get his 10%!

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QPR, West Brom And West Ham On Alert As Andy Johnson Rejects Fulham Contract Extension

Jack Atchinson — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:09:47 +0000

Craven Cottage set to lose striker.

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Fulham striker Andy Johnson has rejected the club’s offer of a one-year extension on his contract as he is holding out for a two-year-deal.

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The 30-year-old can leave Craven Cottage for free this summer but the west London club may decide to cash in on him in January if he does not commit his future soon.

The England international will be available for a nominal price, possibly as little as £2million, which will alert a number of clubs.

He cost Fulham £10.5million in 2008 and has endured a topsy turvy career with the Cottagers mainly because of injury.

Former boss Roy Hodgson would love to take him to West Bromwich Albion but it is understood the in-form poacher would prefer to stay in London where his family is settled.

This could put Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United in the driving seat but Johnson wants to continue playing Premier League football, and that is not guaranteed at either club.

Fulham manager Martin Jol wants to keep him and is trying to convince Johnson to change his mind and sign on the dotted line.

“I talk to him almost every day,” said Jol. “I tell him there isn’t much difference between one and-a-half and two years, but he doesn’t agree.

“He wants this year and another two years. That is the only thing we are arguing about.”

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John Hartson: I Owe £400k To Bookmakers

Jack Atchinson — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:25:55 +0000

Former Celtic Park and Emirates star reveals true cost of gambling.

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Former West Ham United and Celtic striker John Hartson admits he is being hounded by bookmakers who he owes £400,000 too.

The 36-year-old is being hounded by bookmakers who want him to continue betting despite his battle to pay back his gambling debts.

He revealed he once owed over £300,000 to bookmakers, as well as banks and friends he had borrowed money from to feed his addiction.

Hartson, who has recovered from testicular cancer, is attempting to turn his life around and is living off £250-a-week until he settles his debt.

“Some people just can’t let it go and they are still hassling me,” he told The Sun.”They are still offering me the opportunity to bet, trying to make a way into my friendship.

“I don’t want to go down that road again. I’ve paid back as much as I can of my debts. I cannot physically afford to pay any more.”

Hartson has seen his pension taken away to pay off creditors and has also entered into an Individual Voluntary Agreement to repay 12p in the pound of his remaining debts.

“At one point I owed between three and four hundred grand,” he added. ”I have done my best to pay back what I can because I have never knocked anyone in my life.

“I’m a good guy, I was struggling with an illness – gambling.”

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50 Of The Sexiest Female Fans From World Football

Jack Atchinson — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:18:06 +0000

We have all seen stunning women in the stands or on TV, now we bring you them all in one place.

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West Ham To Re-Bid For Olympic Stadium After Newham Council Withdraw £40m

Jack Atchinson — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:35:58 +0000

Legal challenges block legacy plans for London 2012.

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West Ham United will not take over the Olympic Stadium after London 2012 as Newham Council has withdrawn £40million of funding due to legal challenges.

Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient both sought judicial reviews over the awarding of the stadium to the Hammers.

Now an anonymous complaint, claiming the money being provided by Newham to West Ham represented “state aid”, to the European Commission, have led to fears that court action could drag on for years while the stadium remains empty.

There were also fears that the application for a judicial review by Spurs and Orient could drag on and even if their bids failed they could appeal.

The government is expected to announce today the stadium will remain in public ownership and leased out to an anchor tenant following a new tender process.

It is understood that no contract has been signed with West Ham, allowing the move to a fresh tender process, but the club will be encouraged to bid again.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company will rent out the stadium to a tenant, which could prove less costly for West Ham.

The move also removes doubts about the removal of the running track ahead of the 2017 world athletics championships bid.

The government, the Mayor of London and the OPLC have scrapped the current deal in order to try to end the legal challenges over the stadium’s ownership.

A joint statement by Karren Brady, West Ham vice-chairman, and Kim Bromley-Derry, Newham chief executive, said they welcomed the move and would bid again to become tenants of the stadium.

“We understand Ministers will make a statement later and will not pre-empt that,” the statement said.

“Uncertainty caused by the anonymous complaint to the European Commission and ongoing legal challenges have put the Olympic legacy at risk and a stadium may not be in place by 2014 because of the legal delay.

“We welcome a move by OPLC and Government to end that uncertainty and allow a football and athletics stadium to be in place by 2014 under a new process.

“If the speculation is true, West Ham will look to become a tenant of the stadium while Newham will aim to help deliver the legacy.

“Our bid is the only one that will secure the sporting and community legacy promise of the Olympic Stadium – an amazing year-round home for football, athletics and community events of which the nation could be proud.

“The true legacy of London 2012 will be the creation of jobs and a generation of young people inspired by sport based around a community home for all by 2014.

“We remain committed to help deliver that legacy promise to the people of London and the nation.”

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