Monday 21 May 2007

Scandalous And Derogatory

Mervyn Day believes the West Ham players and staff have not received enough praise for the impressive run of results that ultimately saved their season. Speaking on the official site, Day stated: "I feel sorry for the players for the fact that they haven't been given the credit for what was arguably an even better escape than Portsmouth managed to pull off last season." No arguably about it Merv. Statistically it was the greatest escape act in English football history; a fact that seems to have been lost in all the negative publicity of the last few weeks. "We were very mindful about things that were being said about us as a Club, not so much about us as individuals, but about what had gone on behind the scenes before we came and you can't influence that," exclaimed the exasperated Hammers assistant. "I think what has happened since we beat Man United in the final game has been nothing short of scandalous and derogatory. The players have not been given enough credit for the achievement of winning seven out of nine games. Most people seem to have failed to grasp the fact that Tevez's registration was always correct, that wasn't the issue."

Speaking of Tevez, The Independent claim Chelsea have entered the bidding to sign the striker although they are facing strong competition from Real Madrid. The two clubs are the only ones to have made serious inquiries about the 23-year-old Argentine, although West Ham are hoping he will stay at Upton Park for at least one more season. Tevez's representative Kia Joorabchian has yet to inform West Ham of his intentions - or what transfer fee he wants for the player - although it is hoped that a meeting may take place as early as this week with Eggert Magnusson. The article suggests it could be that if neither Chelsea nor Real meet the asking price - which sources claim could be anywhere between £20m and £40m - that a deal may be structured to keep Tevez at Upton Park. Despite the problems caused by his arrival, West Ham have made it clear they want Tevez to stay and believe it may be in his interests to do so. He has settled and, having avoided relegation, there are ambitions plans in place to push for Europe next season.

There are two further pieces of transfer news, both emanating from sources abroad. Firstly there is a report in the Israeli press that Yossi Benayoun has received a very lucrative contract offer that would run until 2012 and he is very close to agreeing terms. The story quotes Benayoun's agents as saying: "West Ham made it clear to us that they very much want Yossi and have therefore offered him a much improved long term contract. They stated that they want to build a team around him and therefore he received an offer never matched by any Israeli player previously. In any case, we have not yet decided and will not talk to any other club until we have concluded with West Ham. A decision will be made by the end of the week." The other story comes from the Icelandic media where it is claimed we are considering making a move for young midfielder Teddy Bjarnason. The Icelandic youngster made his impressive debut for Celtic yesterday but is yet to decide on a new contract offer. In perhaps a sign of things to come, Bjarnason is the second such talent to be linked with club following our earlier reported interest in striking sensation Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.

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