West Ham United: Hammers News..!!

Gale says that Joe Cole can leave West Ham with his head held high - but insists the club had to sell him now rather than let his contract run out next summer.

"Most of the supporters will be gutted about the news that Joe has gone - but if he was to go we had to get good money for him," he explains.

"To get �6.6m is not a bad deal in the end. Despite the club wanting to re-sign him in the last 18 months or so, he didn't want to - so there was no option otherwise it would have been the Sol Campbell scenario.

"If his contract was up, and he wasn't going to sign a new one in the summer, we weren't going to get much money for him at all.

"I don't think anyone is blaming him because he is going into Champions' League football with Chelsea and now West Ham are in the first division."

Tony says that Joe, who leaves as the reigning Hammer of the Year, really put in effort in the last campaign, particularly after being named captain.

"He is not one of the players you could label as having showed a lack of effort last season. I thought his performances, particularly in the second half of the season, were very good for West Ham, and he wasn't one of those players that you could say was not putting it all in."

Sebastien Schemmel Portsmouth 14/08/2003 Undisclosed Amount
Joe Cole Chelsea 06/08/2003 ?6,600,000
Frederic Kanoute Tottenham Hotspur 04/08/2003 Undisclosed Amount
Trevor Sinclair Manchester City 21/07/2003 ?2,500,000
Glen Johnson Chelsea 15/07/2003 ?6,000,000
Les Ferdinand Leicester City 11/07/2003 Free Transfer
Lee Bowyer Newcastle United 01/07/2003 Free Transfer
Gary Breen Out of Contract 10/06/2003 Free Transfer
Clive Delaney Out of Contract 10/06/2003 Free Transfer
Paolo Di Canio Out of Contract 10/06/2003 Free Transfer
Ezomo Iriekpen Out of Contract 10/06/2003 Free Transfer
Scott Minto Out of Contract 10/06/2003 Free Transfer
John Moncur Out of Contract 10/06/2003 Free Transfer
Raimond van der Gouw Out of Contract 10/06/2003 Free Transfer
Nigel Winterburn Out of Contract 10/06/2003 Free Transfer
David Forde 29/04/2003 released
Grant McCann Cheltenham Town 28/01/2003 ?50,000
Billy Mehmet Out of Contract 01/03/2003 Free Transfer
Titi Camara Al Ittihad 20/01/2003 Free Transfer

Well we can add the manager to the list now Glen Roeders contact has been cancelled and Trevor Brooking is now the temporary manager..

I thought Roeder was not too bad,but his tacticle game wasnt up to scratch and sometimes he made the wrong decisions..The board have to take some blame for not releasing money to him but maybe they didnt trust his judgement..

Well i know Brooking will do a great job and i hope he gets it permantly.

Well, looks like the Hammers got a total overhaul. I see they lost 19 players and now their manager. Hopefully with their new cast of players and interim manager they can get back to the Premier league where they belong.

Well lets hope so.Trevor Brooking was a fantastic football player for west ham and england and he took over as the tempory manger for the last 3 games of last season,he did a great job..

Former West Ham forward Iain Dowie has admitted he would be interested if the club approached him to take over from Glenn Roeder.

Dowie brushed off suggestions he did not have the necessary experience - he was promoted from assistant manager at Oldham in May 2002 after previously coaching at QPR - to take on the job of returning the Hammers to the top flight.

More on future managers......

Manchester City coach Stuart Pearce linked with West Ham job.

Well i went to the game today it was a 7:45 pm kickoff i just made it to my seat in time..

West Ham were playing Bradford the last time we played each other we beat them 5-4 a few years ago now..So it was our first game without Glen Roeder as manager and Trevor Brooking was in charge,the atmosphere in the ground was fantastic their was a real buzz..The amount of people at the game was just over 34,000 so it was nearly full..We created loads of chances and Jermaine Defoe put us in the lead with a fantastic solo goal,one for the scrapbook..

We continued to create chances in front of goal but the score stayed the same and we won the game 1-0..

Charlton boss Alan Curbishley has ruled himself out of the running for the vacant manager's job at West Ham.

The Hammers are searching for a permanent replacement for Glenn Roeder who was dismissed last Sunday after the 1-0 defeat by Rotherham, with fans favourite Trevor Brooking taking over on a caretaker basis.

Curbishley's ties with West Ham - he began his playing career at Upton Park - have seen the 45-year-old linked with a switch to the First Division club once again.

He was rumoured to have turned down the job in 2001 before Roeder was given the nod, but this time he has confirmed a return to east London is not on the agenda as he looks to build Charlton into a top 10 Barclaycard Premiership side.

Glenn Roeder insists he is not bitter over his sacking as the manager of West Ham.

Roeder was fired after an indifferent start to the Hammers' life back in Division One following their Premiership relegation last season.

But the former Newcastle defender is adamant he bears no grudges and offered lavish praise for his former club.

Trevor Brooking has described the search for Glenn Roeder's permanent replacement at West Ham as "the impossible job".

Brooking is still unbeaten in two spells as caretaker-manager, but he hopes Saturday's trip to Ipswich will be his last game in charge following Roeder's sacking three league matches into the season.

And he believes that finding a candidate with all the right qualities to take the job on full-time is fraught with pitfalls for a club without the funds to lure a big-name manager.

He said: "We had our monthly board meeting yesterday (Thursday) and had a general discussion about how we go about it.

"The impossible job is to get a person who when we announce it everyone will say 'that's the right one', because you will have a range of candidates.

Nigel Winterburn reckons he is not a serious contender for the West Ham manager's job despite being among the favourites to succeed Glenn Roeder.

The former Arsenal full-back left West Ham in the summer but is being linked with a return as boss, and he has been backed down from 100-1 to 7-2 with some bookies, who have stopped taking bets on him.

Trevor Brooking was welcomed back as caretaker manager of West Ham with open arms by the Upton Park faithful during the 1-0 win over Bradford - but the harsh realities of the job were sinking in on Wednesday after Rob Lee added to a growing injury crisis.

Over 30,000 roared the Hammers to a victory earned courtesy of Jermain Defoe's spectacular matchwinner, chanting Brooking's name, but Lee handed their hero his first managerial headache of the season with a knee injury which could be serious.

Lee pulled up in the 49th minute and will go for a scan to determine whether he will join Steve Lomas and Rufus Brevett as long-term absentees from a squad already at breaking point following the loss of 16 players this summer.

Brooking said: "It could be ligament damage. He's jarred his right knee quite badly. He will definitely miss Ipswich on Saturday.

"Midfield is an area which is quite thin so I could have done without it. We will try to battle on with what we've got."

West Ham defender Rufus Brevett faces up to five months on the sidelines after a scan revealed a broken bone in his foot.

West Ham have signed Leeds defender Matthew Kilgallon on a three-month loan after missing out to the Elland Road club on Jermaine Pennant.

Centre-half Kilgallon, 19, made his Leeds debut against the Hammers last February...

Caretaker-manager Trevor Brooking has ruled himself out of the running for the West Ham job but Hammers fans may soon be urging him to change his mind after he led his side to a second successive victory at Ipswich.

Since Glenn Roeder's sacking earlier this month, the Hammers have enjoyed an upturn in fortunes under Brooking.

And their charge up the table continued in earnest today as Jermain Defoe and David Connolly were on target to give them the points.

West Ham went into the game without Rob Lee, who missed out with a knee injury while Ipswich were boosted by the inclusion of goalkeeper Kelvin Davis.

He played despite suffering a dislocated finger in the defeat at Wigan and was immediately involved as the visitors started well.

It took West Ham just three minutes to warm the hands of the former Wimbledon goalkeeper when Matthew Etherington burst clear down the left, but Davis was up to the early test as he gathered Neil Mellor's looping header.

Having survived that scare, Ipswich burst into life and three minutes later they could have gone ahead themselves when Pablo Counago drew a point-blank save from David James.

However, as the half progressed West Ham stepped up the pace.

After Michael Carrick had flashed a long-range effort wide, the visitors had the ball in the net on 18 minutes only to see Connolly's effort ruled out for offside.

But three minutes later they did break the deadlock thanks to Defoe's fine solo strike.

Bryan Robson is interested in taking over as the new manager of West Ham.

The Hammers, relegated from the Barclaycard Premiership last season, dismissed Glenn Roeder seven days ago after only three games of the new campaign.

Caretaker boss Trevor Brooking has steered the side to consecutive wins since and Robson would like to build on his former England team-mate's work.

The ex-Manchester United captain, out of work since he left Middlesbrough over three years ago, told Sky Sports: "I've applied for the (West Ham) job.



Now this would be a good choice if Trevor Brooking doesnt take the Job..

Trevor Brooking has been urged to succeed Glenn Roeder permanently by his West Ham players.

Brooking has so far ruled himself out of doing the job full-time despite his record of four wins and a draw in two spells as caretaker.

But Hammers captain Christian Dailly insists everyone at Upton Park wants him to take over.

"There is no doubt about it, we would like Trevor to take it - everyone at the club feels that," he said.

"The only thing is, Trevor is his own man and is going to make his own decision.

"It doesn't matter what sort of pressure he is put under, he will make the decision he feels is right.

"If he doesn't take it he will have a hand in making sure whoever comes in is the right man.

Alan Pardew has denied reports that he has signed a contract to become the next manager of West Ham.

The Reading boss is one of the favourites to succeed Glenn Roeder as the 10th manager of the Hammers.

Alan Pardew is "flattered" by West Ham's interest in him and would have spoken to them about the vacant Upton Park manager's job had Reading not rebuffed an approach, according to his agent.

The Hammers finally made their approach this morning as they look to replace the sacked Glenn Roeder.

Reading chairman John Madejski turned down their request but agent Barry Neville revealed Pardew would have wanted to speak to West Ham.