Finally a win!! Zamora, Bellamy & Ljungberg.

Goals courtesy of dailymotion



Ashton saved for Tuesday 's game against former club Norwich presumably.


Southend United: Flahavan (Collis 72), Hunt, Clarke (Liptak 82), Barrett, Gower (Lokando 88), Maher (Moussa 72), Hooper (McDonald 45), Bailey (McCormack 61), Black (Foran , Hammell (Wilson 64), Harrold (Paynter 64). Subs unused: Ademeno.

West Ham United: Green; Neill, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, McCartney; Ljungberg (Reid 72), Noble, Bowyer (Mullins 64), Etherington (Pantsil 78); Zamora (Cole 59), Bellamy. Subs unused: Wright, Spector, Upson, Collins, Davenport.

Referee: G Hegley
Att: 9,522

Welcome home Lucas.

27/07/2007 15:25 West Ham United is delighted to announce that Lucas Neill has been appointed as our new Team Captain by manager Alan Curbishley.

The 28-year-old Australian defender, who is also captain of his national team, displayed impressive leadership qualities during our successful fight against relegation at the end of last season, and was seen by many as the natural successor to Nigel Reo-Coker, who recently joined Aston Villa. Alan Curbishley says: "I'm pleased to confirm Lucas as the new team captain of West Ham United. He has all the qualities needed to captain a Club of this stature. "He understands the role, has been used to it with Blackburn Rovers and Australia, and I'm sure it is an appointment that everybody at the Club is happy with."

Lucas, who returned to pre-season training at Upton Park today following international duty with Australia in the Asia Cup, says: "I'm absolutely overwhelmed and truly honoured to be named as captain of West Ham United. "This is a Club with so much great history and so many great players who have led the team out - and to see my name up alongside those people is a fantastic feeling. "It's an opportunity that I am going to relish. I will try to lead by example on and off the field and I promise all West Ham United supporters that I will lead their team out with immense pride."

"There's six or seven new owners who are spending money, but are they getting the type of player that the top four want? I don't think so. If I was going to spend a fortune on breaking the bank, I would be going after the players Liverpool or Manchester United wanted to sign. But, in the middle, people are fighting each other and raising the prices for the same players. You can see it with West Ham and Portsmouth. The agents are having an absolute 'beano'. It's like a property market, where estate agents own half the property or, in West Ham's case, it looks like all the property. What horrifies me is people who have made money out of property or biscuit tins telling a class act who's managing their club who they should be signing. That's for the birds, but it happens in a lot of cases. I see players signing and chairmen standing there with the jersey and their arms around the player and I say 'Oh my God, what are they doing?' It's their call, they may be like that and may be in it for that, but it's not right. If I start telling Roy Keane who to sign, I'm going against my own doctrine. Football is football, administration is administration. I'm 100% behind Roy on this. People are being pressurised into signing players from videos and giving agents lots of money. We won't do that. We have to keep our heads when this is going on."

Right OK - so Eggy's choosing our players is he? What evidence does he have?


By the way:

Sunderland
Ins: Dickson Etuhu (Norwich, £1.5m), Kieran Richardson (Manchester United, undisclosed), Greg Halford (Reading, £2.5m), Russell Anderson (Aberdeen, £1m), Michael Chopra (Cardiff City, £5m), Paul McShane (West Brom, £2.5m).
Outs: Kenny Cunningham (released), Tommy Miller (Ipswich, released).
Total £12.5m out not including Richardson spending.

West Ham United
Ins: Scott Parker (Newcastle, £7m), Julien Faubert (Bordeaux, £6.1m), Richard Wright (Everton, free), Craig Bellamy (Liverpool, £7.5m), Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham, £3m).
Outs: Paul Konchesky (Fulham, £3.25m), Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa, £8.5m), Tyrone Mears (Derby, £1m), Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, undisclosed), Marlon Harewood (Aston Villa, undisclosed).
Total £10.85m out, not including Benayoun and Harewood fees (income) at probably about £6m total, so my guess is we've spent just under £5m.

OK so you need to spend more coming up from the Championship, but I think Quinn's being a bit of a dick if he thinks we're pushing the spending up.

Jebus..things might be encouraging off the field but our form ain't that confidence inspiring on it.

Our goals came via Ephraim & an Upson free kick.

Dean Ashton scored a belter and apparently their goal wasn't so shabby either.

Highlights from Fred54....

Scott Parker picked up a slight knee injury against Lazio. The midfielder tweaked ligaments in his left knee in the final moments of the 2-0 defeat. He hopes to resume training within 7-10 days.

And on injuries, journo Ken Dyer who is a big West Ham fan said something along these lines on Talksport :-

"the training camp at the moment is like an out patients department. Lots of "walking wounded" if you like. It's a bit of a concern to the coaching staff. There are one or two players who are looking to be wrapped up in cotton wool. These players need to toughen up, both physically and mentally. No names mentioned. "

Additionally he said :-

* Thinks West Ham won't get much of the money from Tevez sale
* Thinks Kieron Dyer is not coming
* Thinks another striker & creative midfielder are still on the shopping list
* Says that people are excited by how sharp Zamora is looking
* Says the club have pretty much just broken even on the transfer front so far and could spend another £20million
* People at club are looking at a top half finish, anything else is a bonus.
[thanks to Peter Robinson & Peter Powell from the WHU Yahoo list.]

In team news for upcoming friendlies, Curbs is to split the squad between this week's two friendlies. Apparently he wants the majority of them to get through 90 mins. :-

Squad to face Leyton Orient: Green, Pantsil, Ferdinand, Davenport, Dailly, McCartney, Etherington, Bowyer, Mullins, Ashton, Cole, Stech, Stokes, Hines, Jeffery, Widdowson, Fitzgerald, Collison.

Provisional squad to face MK Dons: Wright, Spector, Gabbidon, Collins, Upson, Noble, Collison, Boa Morte, Ljungberg, Reid, Bellamy, Zamora, Ephraim, Walker.

UPDATE - Orient Game was 1-1, with a wonder strike by Deano. Theirs was top shelp too apparently

It appears MSI & JSI have instigated proceedings to sue us. From Setanta UK.

"I can confirm the companies have begun High Court proceedings against West Ham," said Teacher Stern Selby solicitor Graham Shear, the law firm representing MSI and Just Sports Inc.

The statement continued: "A High Court writ was served on the football club's solictors.

"The Companies seek the court's intervention to compel West Ham to release the registration of Carlos Tevez in accordance with contracts entered into between the parties."We are asking the court to intervene so that Tevez can be registered to play with Manchester United as soon as possible."

Personally this turn of events has me worried as I have always wondered how we could legally terminate a contract without the other parties consent and absent a clause allowing us to do so. Sure we have the PL on side in terms of registration but the courts may take a very different view.

In the realm of gossip, one of the Brisbane Hammers has connections with the UK press and passed on this snippet :-

"...tells me Eggy spent a month in Brazil & helped the prosecutor lay charges against the Iranian bloke. Apparently he never paid Corinthians a penny for either Mashpotato or King Carlos but did a bunk with them and they only ended up at Upton Park because “bent” Brown was the only bloke to show any interest. Remember they were hawked everywhere at the time but no-one was willing to take them on."

He also passed on something I've seen suggested elsewhere, namely that Eggy has had a gutful of Sky's Sports OTT anti West Ham / pro Manc reporting bias and has broken off communications with them.

I had actually heard this was just limited specifically to Sky Sports News and not Sky Sports in general.

In any case lets hope it doesn't have downstream ramifications for our games being shown here.

I think it's beyond all doubt now how serious Eggy and Curbs are about taking the club forward.



West Ham swoop to sign Ljungberg
By Chris Bevan

West Ham have completed the signing of Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, BBC Sport understands.

The Hammers will unveil the 30-year-old Sweden international at a press conference at 1400 BST.

Ljungberg, who was also a target for Fiorentina, joined the Gunners in a £3m deal from Halmstads in 1998 and scored 72 goals in 325 games for the club.

He had two years left on his contract at the Emirates Stadium but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger decided to sell him.

Ljungberg, who was Arsenal's longest serving player, struggled with injury last season and played just 26 games.

c&p's

West Ham United were unfortunate to slip to a 2-0 defeat against Lazio in their third pre-season friendly of the summer on Saturday evening. In a tough encounter in the small Austrian village of Lebring, near Graz, goals either side of the break earned victory for the Italians, who are slightly ahead of Hammers in their pre-season preparations. Despite facing sharp opponents, though, Alan Curbishley's men were unlucky to end up on the losing side, after Craig Bellamy missed a 68th minute penalty and Carlton Cole had two efforts superbly saved by veteran Lazio goalkeeper Ballotta.

Striker Dean Ashton came comfortably through another 45 minutes, while Bellamy played the full 90. Mark Noble and Bobby Zamora were rested after picking up slight knocks in training.
Despite the result, Alan Curbishley will have been satisfied by another strenuous work-out and will look back on their week in Austria as a valuable fitness exercise ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

West Ham United: Green; Spector (Collins 45), Davenport (Upson 45), Ferdinand (Dailly 60), McCartney (Gabbidon 45); Bowyer (Collison 65), Mullins (Boa Morte 45), Parker, Etherington (Reid 70); Ashton (Cole 45), Bellamy.

==================

And good news on Ashton's state of fitness :-


Dean Ashton has revealed he is straining at the leash for next season to get underway and has warned Premier League defences that he will be the fittest and strongest he has ever been. Ashton missed the whole of last season after a cruel ankle break in an England training session and after such a long spell on the side-lines the powerful striker feels as if he is a "forgotten man" but has vowed to remind fans of his quality. Ashton said: "You can't describe how difficult it has been - it was horrible. Playing for England was everything you have dreamed of and the next minute it has gone. "I don't think there will be a hungrier player in the Premier League this season than me. "I've got to prove myself again and prove that I'm not a forgotten man and that I'm the same player I was. I want to show people how well I have come back form this injury. "I can definitely say that by the start of the season I will easily be the fittest I have ever been and the strongest I have ever been and I am excited by how I will feel. "I think my football won't be a problem. My brain hasn't got tired or hurt - that is going to be the same."

The cultured forward also has England's next Euro 2008 qualifier in his sights, saying: "I want to get back involved with England as soon as I can.

"There are plenty of strikers who will be fit and raring to go but if I am in Steve McClaren's plans then brilliant."

Bad - Faubert out for 6 months with ruptured archilles :( He is off to a top surgeon who has previously operated on the likes of Zidane. Curbs had been wrapped in what he had seen of him.

Good - Keiron Dyer being lined up for 2 mil & pay for play. Some might disagree its good but a few factors make it good to me. 1) Faubert's injury leaves us light. 2) He is speedy, can play either side. 3) 2 mil is fuggin cheap

Bad - Mark Hughes is after Bobby

Good - We are after Nicky Shorey from Reading. Bid of 5 mil in the works.

Good or Bad? - we are apparently interested in Lua Lua

Czech side got the better of us.


Hammers: Wright (Walker 45), Spector (Ferdinand 60), Collins (Davenport 45), Upson (Gabbidon 45), McCartney (Dailly 45); Faubert (Collison 35), Parker (Noble 45), Bowyer (Mullins 45), Reid (Boa Morte 45); Ashton (Bellamy 60), Cole (Zamora 60).


Good news, Ashton played 60 mins and Bellamy came on for him and hit the bar. Bad news, Faubert came off with an achillies injury and will have a scan tomorrow. FFS!!

This is what we want to see! Ghanian international midfielder Stephen Appiah has told his club Fenerbache that he will go on strike if he is not allowed to discuss a possible move with West Ham.

He said he was loyal when he could have left previously and now its time for the club to replay that loyalty after all he has done for them.

He may even refuse to go on the pre season tour to Austria.

Get stuck in Stevie!

Paul Konchesky has signed for Fulham for an undisclosed fee beleived to be around the 4m GBP mark. It has been apparent since Curbishley arrived at the club that Paul's days were numbered at West Ham. I know many will be pleased to see Paul leave but I think he had some good games for West Ham and I will remember him for those performances rather than the less than convincing ones. He will go down in our history as having scored in an FA Cup final albeit a bizare goal.

Also on his way out is Marlon Harewood. We have accepted offers from both Wigan and Villa and he is beleived to be currently in talks with Martin O'Neill. I don't think Marlon got much of a chance to shine under Alan Curbishley and again this is player I will remember for his positive contribution rather than a negative one. Things didn't work out so well for Marlon this year but his contribution in terms of goals in our promotion campaigns and our first season back ion the premiership will remain in my memory. He scored the goal that got us in the FA Cup final and gave us a rare shot at European competition.

We can't hate all our ex players and I think we should reserve the booing for NRC & Yossi next season and give these 2 a warm welcome when they come back to face us next year.

Dean Ashton got through 45 mins of football include an early crunching tackle as West Ham beat neighbours Dagenham & Redbridge 2-0 in their 1st pre season friendly. Goals were from a Mark Noble free kick and a Dagenham own goal.

West Ham United (first half): Green; Pantsil, Collins, Gabbidon, McCartney; Reid, Mullins, Bowyer, Etherington; Hines, Cole.

West Ham United (second half): Wright; Pantsil (Ferdinand 82), Davenport, Upson, Spector; Faubert, Parker, Collison, Boa Morte; Cole (Noble 67), Ashton.


Highlights from dailymotion...

Konchy's gone to Fulham, Sheff U have lost their appeal to be heard by the high court, the little fucker Yossi's gone to Liverpool AND taken a pay cut for it, and man-on-the-lam Kia Joorabichiachittybangbang is threatening to reveal evidence that would relegate West Ham!

Plus we might be buying Stephen Appiah from Fenerbahce...

Breaking news. Kia Joorabchian has a warrant out for his arrest . He has been charged with money laundering and being part of a criminal gang.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/article2067289.ece

Not sure what this means to any Tevez deal yet...

Bruce reveals move for Konchesky (c+p BBC)

Birmingham boss Steve Bruce's has confirmed that he wants to sign West Ham's Paul Konchesky.

However, West Ham are understood to want double the £2m the Blues have offered for the 26-year-old England international defender.

Bruce said: "Paul Konchesky is someone we're looking at, we put in a bid three weeks ago and it hasn't changed.

"I've got to be creative. I've got money to spend but not vast sums, which is why I'm wheeling and dealing."

Bruce has made room in his squad and freed up some funds by moving players on.

Stephen Clemence and DJ Campbell are set to join Leicester, while winger Julian Gray has joined Coventry on a free transfer.

Bruce said: "I'd like to bring in a bit of experience. We're after someone at the moment, a big name, so we'll see what happens."

Yossi Benayoun is set to leave West Ham after the club agreed a fee with Liverpool beleived to be in the region of 4m GBP. The transfer is set to infuriate fans as the player had gone back on his word to sign a 5 year improved contract and it would appear that Liverpool are guilty yet again of tapping up other clubs players.

To me the fee seems a little light if reported amounts are correct. We need some flair in our side to replace Yossi and it will cost us a lot more than 4m and in today's market I think this transfer is daylight robbery. I'm disgusted with Liverpool for their arrogance and for unsettling one of our most creative players as he was about to put pen to paper on a long term deal with the club.

In other news Craig Bellamy has completed a 7.5M GBP deal to West Ham. I beleive he will be a good signing for the club and we will have a very strong front line next season. We just need some flair now to add to the steel.

Deserved it's own post.



Direct link

(embedded -ed.)

Although I'm not a big Bellamy fan, he will score goals, he can play the game and he will work his arse off. If Curbs can keep him in check, and he conentrates on football, he could become a pretty good player for us. That is, if the deal goes through?

Given the different styles of Ashton and Bellamy, I'm inclined to think this might develope into a tidy little partnership.

Never a dull moment!

Tevez has reportedly agreed terms with Man U and is quoted: "I am a player who thrives on challenges. I went to England to triumph in the Premiership and with West Ham I have achieved that first stage. Now I'm ready to move on to the next stage. To be a member of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad will be absolutely spectacular. My dream is to be an idol in English football and I can achieve this now."

Kia J's lawyers have said: "We confirm that Carlos Tevez has, with the knowledge and permission of West Ham, been in discussions with other clubs. Subsequently, personal terms have now been agreed with Manchester United. Carlos Tevez's representatives will work during the course of next week so that a move to Manchester United can be finalised as quickly as possible. The process for finalising the player's registration with Manchester United will be undertaken in accordance with appropriate procedures."

However - and this is where I get really confused - Eggy has said: "Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham player, contracted to the club until June 2010. There is no agreement with West Ham for Carlos Tevez to leave the club and we expect him to return in time for next season's preparations. No decision on his future can be reached without the agreement of West Ham."

From the Telegraph: "The Joorabchian camp also claim Magnusson was offered the chance to renew the club's deal with Tevez for a fee of £40 million three weeks ago but that he declined, freeing the player to start talking to other clubs... Only once the truth of this tangled contractual web is established by a judge will United be able to negotiate a deal for Tevez to join them. But the Premier League have made it clear they will only sign off Tevez's move to United if West Ham handle the deal and get a slice of any transfer fee agreed."

Joorabchian may then have to sue for his share of the deal from West Ham.

Obviously the question is still who actually "owns" the player - Eggy thinks West Ham does, and Kia clearly thinks Dodgy Brothers Pty Ltd owns him. So who gets the final say, and who gets the money?

Not only all that but the Telegraph has now reported: "West Ham were successful in luring one striker to Upton Park yesterday but failed in attempts to sign another. With Carlos Tevez set to move to Manchester United, West Ham have signed a Welshman, Craig Bellamy, to replace the Argentine but were beaten to the signature of Liverpool's Djibril Cisse by Marseille. Bellamy has agreed terms but the Wales captain must wait while the two clubs hammer out a transfer fee, with Liverpool holding out for £9 million. Hopes of adding Cisse seemed high during the day when Liverpool confirmed that they agreed a fee but Marseille later claimed that they had agreed 'in principle' to sign a player they had had on loan last season."

And the Guardian has added: "[Liverpool] would prefer to have swapped Benayoun, who they rate at £6m, with Djibril Cissé, although Marseilles last night announced they had agreed a deal "in principle" to sign the French international permanently after his season-long loan. Liverpool have offered £4m for Benayoun, who has infuriated officials at West Ham with his behaviour once he was made aware of Rafael Benitez's interest. Benayoun shook hands on a new five-year contract to stay at Upton Park - doubling his wages to £50,000 a week - but then stalled on signing the deal, saying he needed a holiday and wanted to wait until his wife had given birth. He then returned and insisted he wanted a clause inserted in his new contract that he could leave if Liverpool bid £5m for him. West Ham reacted by withdrawing the contract offer, while Benayoun has apparently now responded by saying he will never play for the club again."

Plus Shaun Newton has gone to Leicester on a free.

Oh, and Charlton and Reading are both showing an interest in Hayden Mullins.

It's all happening!

Oh, FFS.

"We are going to the High Court to appeal, and that date is 13 July," confirmed Blades chairman Kevin McCabe. "I still believe Sheffield United have a legal case that can now be taken from what I loosely term the sporting courts to the commercial courts. Where that will take us I really don't know."

They are not seeking reinstatement to the EPL, but instead around 50 million squid in damages!

1) Did West Ham do something wrong? - we already know that the answer is yes.
2) Did they do it willingly? - yes.
3) Did West Ham benefit from doing this? - probably. You could argue that if the deal hadn't been made as it was then Tevez would not have signed, and you could further argue that if we hadn't had Tevez then we might have been relegated instead of Sheffield United. This is obvious but I think would need to be proved in court.
4) Did Sheffield suffer? if West Ham benefited, then yes, most likely.
5) If the above is all true, then the other club would have legal rights to seek damages from either/both West Ham or the EPL since West Ham have not honoured a contract (i.e. the contract they signed to "do the right thing" by the other clubs in the league).

I'm no legal eagle but I do think Sheffield have a civil case here. It's quite a different set of rules between fines/docking points and a civil litigation case so I'm concerned about it. The basis for EPL vs West Ham is contractual, but the basis for SUFC vs WHUFC is legal, which is different (and "higher").

As good as signed for Man U apparently....

Times

This is London

Not quite sure why anybody really thought he'd be at West Ham next season - some people on here even sure of it. :-(

..you know he's got a Wright to stay

Sorry, just had to go one up on dave :-)

Your wright arm out, we've sold Reo-Coker and we've turned the club around that's what it's all about! Ohhhhhhh Cheerioker!

So it's 1 in 2 out today as we snap up Richard Wright from Everton on a free transfer as back up keeper to the ever consistent Robert Green and Tyrone Mears leaves for Derby in a 1M GBP deal. Who was the other bloke that left???? Oh yeah see ya Nigel - shut the door on your way out son! 8.5 Million squid - now spend it wisely Mr Curbishley.

Well I could have sworn it was over but many sources are reporting that Sheffield United have launched an appeal in the High Court! This is all getting a bit silly, but it doesn't reflect well on West Ham even though the club's new owners have been completely blameless and open.

However I checked out the SUFC website and lo, they released this statement: "Appeal NOT made. As a point of clarification for our supporters (and media), Sheffield United have NOT lodged an appeal following the Arbitration decision on Tuesday - despite reports to the contrary. The accurate explanation is that Sheffield United's lawyers had to inform the Premier League that the Club has applied to find out if the club can lodge an appeal through the Civil Courts."

So they haven't... yet.

In other news, Teddy Sheringham's off to Colchester for free because he'll be able to get out his walking frame more often, and Nigel Cheerioker is staying in claret and blue but a slightly dodgy version (i.e. Villa) for 8.5 million times what he's worth.

Not there was ever any doubt :)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/6252310.stm

Full decision here.

Summary here.

The full decision is definitely worth a read..it outlines the full background and sequence of events.

Key point for me is that WHU (under new ownership) disclosed the breaches voluntarily in *January* and yet a decsion was not made until the end of *April*. During that time Tevez played a lot more than he did prior to January. WHU could have rectified the 3rd party contract in January (similar to the way Liverpool legally negotiated Mascherano's contract) if we had not had to wait for the tribunal's decision. The new owners clearly had the desire to obey the rules evidenced by their voluntary disclosure of the breaches.

Tevez should have and would have been playing legally for us from Jan onwards (the majority of his actual playing time for us) had the PL & the tribunal not taken over 3 months to rule.

There was a scary bit in there...the new tribunal made the comment that they would likely have deducted points from us if they had been the original tribunal since they would have placed more weight on the club's deliberate deceit. Jebus.

With the cloud lifted hopefully it will help attract quality players...

I've been doing some research on Julien Faubert as I have not previously heard of him but understand him to be a promising prospect from the various reports of us acquiring his signature. These reports also suggest he is a midfielder but during my investigations I have found that most of the French sites have him listed as a defender.

The reason being is that he originally played in midfield but played the entire last season for Bordeaux at right back and has excelled there prompting his International call up for France at the same position last August.

I got this information from an article when he was linked to Rangers which read....

"Born in Le Havre, Faubert started off his career at National side Cannes, before moving on to Bordeaux in 2004. He has been a regular feature in the Bordelais side, winning many plaudits for his attacking style of play. However, last season Ricardo Gomes, the Brazilian trainer of the club, moved him from the right wing to right full-back, encouraging Faubert to curb his attacking instincts.

Although his skills were dreadfully stifled at the back, he performed admirably, his foraging runs, electric pace and brusque technique have had him compared with Roberto Carlos.

Raymond Domenech called him into the French squad last August to fulfil a role at his preferred full-back position and Faubert responded with a goal in a 2-1 win over Bosnia. Faubert managed five goals in 32 appearances for Bordeaux last season."

So initially it would have seemed Julien Faubert was signed to replace Yossi but is he to be a fixture on our right wing or is he our new right back? A couple of months ago I read that if West Ham stayed up Lucas Neill would be moved to Central defence next season as it is his preferred position. Would it make sense to play him on our right wing in a position he has not held in over a year? At right back he has been compared to Roberto Carlos so it would make sense for him to retain this position. I guess versatility is a quality highly sought after but I do wonder what plans Curbishley has for the 'new' Julien.

Just saw somewhere that the arbitration decision is due today at 2.30pm UK time (11.30pm here) Methinks that Sheff Utd will get some compensation and that'll be it but I'm still nervous about the outcome. Just wanna get it over with and get on with the season.

c/p The Times UK

West Ham last night outbid Glasgow Rangers to sign France midfielder Julien Faubert from Bordeaux in a £6m deal, but only after the French club blocked a late attempt by Rangers to rescue a signing they thought they had in the bag. Ten days ago, 23-year-old Faubert had agreed in principle to join Rangers and went on a three-day strike after Bordeaux rejected an initial £4m offer from the Ibrox club. Rangers were ready to increase their bid to £5m but West Ham’s straight cash offer was accepted by Bordeaux president Jean Louis Triaud, who warned Faubert he could be frozen out by the French side if he didn’t accept a move to London. Faubert’s agent Philippe Sol said: ‘West Ham’s offer was substantially more and Julien was given an ultimatum by Bordeaux — West Ham or nowhere’

You Tube clips here







looks quality ;-)