Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Ready Teddy!
Teddy Sheringham (not Sherrington as some dodgy eBay sellers would have you believe) is raring to go for the new season and intends to battle for a regular place in the first team. The sprightly youngster said, "I feel in great shape and I'm ready to play against Blackburn on Saturday."
Teddy has also dismissed rumours of him going into management, saying that he wants to remain on the pitch. "Why haven't I gone into management? Because I don't want grey hair! Seriously, I am enjoying myself playing football at the moment and why I am still doing that I see no reason why I should stop. Management is a stressful job and you have to take a lot on. I don't want that at this moment in time. Maybe I will look down that route in the future, but right now I have a very exciting time at West Ham United to concentrate on."
Alan Pardew explains the strategy behind playing Teddy in the Premiership. "Last season we tried to play Teddy as much as we probably could, and I think his return on that of 20 goals proved what an influence he had on the squad. Of course, we missed him for the final games of the season and we'll learn from what we did last season to make sure Teddy is looked after and we get the best out of him. It will be a different challenge this season and I'm sure the number of games will help, plus there will also be more time between games to rest. Teddy is certainly important to us and we're hoping he can have another good season."
In other news, yesterday we failed to report that Petr Mikolanda signed a permanent contract with the Hammers. The Czech U21 striker enthused, "I am very happy to have signed at West Ham United. Teddy Sheringham was my hero when I was growing up. I remember watching his goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final. I never dreamed that I would meet him, let alone be training alongside him. It's a fairytale."
West Ham Academy player James Tomkins has been called up to the England U17 squad for the upcoming Pepsi Tournament, against Italy, Portugal and the United States. I don't know anything about him but maybe in a couple of years time...
Finally, KUMB reckon that Melville, Lomas and Sofiane are all out of the Boleyn for good, and that Pardew is definitely interested in (gawd 'elp us!) Fredi Kanoute. More on this as it happens.
