False Clock Ticking

Oh a false clock tries to tick out my time
To disgrace, distract, and bother me
And the dirt of gossip blows into my face
And the dust of rumors covers me
But if the arrow is straight
And the point is slick
It can pierce through dust no matter how thick
So I’ll make my stand
And remain as I am
And bid farewell and not give a damn...

With promotion in the bag West Ham United have wasted no time in reshaping the squad for the forthcoming Premier League campaign. Ahead of the expected influx of new talent that will be needed to retain our regained top flight status, four players- Julien Faubert, Abdoulaye Faye, Papa Bouba Diop and John Carew- will be departing at the end of their current contracts on June 30th. A further two- Frank Nouble and Olly Lee- have been deemed surplus to requirements and will also be released. "We have sat down and resolved some issues with players," said manager Sam Allardyce. "We obviously need to strengthen some areas and although I would expect significant changes, it won’t be anything like last summer, when 26 players went and 19 came in."

Faubert is the longest serving player to be leaving the club. The Frenchman made 34 league appearances for West Ham this season, and is the only one of the six to have been involved in the Hammers' 2-1 win over Blackpool at Wembley on Saturday. The 28-year-old was signed for £6m from Bordeaux in 2007 under Alan Curbishley, and spent time on loan at Real Madridin 2009, but there is no room for him in Allardyce's squad next season.

Interestingly, three of those released were brought to the club on one year contracts by Allardyce. Carew and Diop have not started a game for West Ham since January, while Faye's last match for the club was the 3-3 home draw against Birmingham in April. Striker Carew only managed two goals in his 21 appearances for the club since his arrival from Aston Villa in 2011. The experienced Senagalese pair Diop and Faye, both 34-years-old, missed significant periods through injury.

Nouble spent much of West Ham's campaign on loan at Gillingham and Barnsley, but failed to score in his only league start for the Hammers against Derby on New Year's Eve. The 20-year-old had made a promising start to his West Ham career, and was handed his Premier League debut after signing from Chelsea in 2009. Young midfielder Olly Lee, the son of former Hammers and England star Rob Lee, never made a senior appearance for the club. They will now not be returning to the top-flight with West Ham, as neither has not done enough to impress Allardyce.

A statement on West Ham's official club website read: "Julien Faubert, Abdoulaye Faye, Papa Bouba Diop, John Carew, Frank Nouble and Olly Lee will all leave West Ham when their current contracts end on 30 June. The six professionals have all played their part in a successful 2011-12 season which saw the Hammers gain promotion back to the Barclays Premier League. West Ham would like to thank all of the aforementioned players for their hard work and dedication and wish them luck in their future careers."

Goalkeeper Rob Green is also out of contract and he was certain to leave if the club had stayed in the Championship. The Hammers hope he can now be persuaded to sign a new deal with promotion back to the Premier League having been secured. Co-chairman David Gold said today there was now a good chance of Green staying. "The offer we could have made to Rob would obviously not have met his requirements if we had still been in the Championship," said Gold. "But now there will be one on the table which should be acceptable and hopefully we will wrap that up in the next five weeks." There is bound to be other interest in England’s No2 choice goalkeeper this summer. Big-spending Spanish club Malaga have been linked with Green while Queens Park Rangers could also make a move.

Finally, Henri Lansbury has also left the club to return to Arsenal after a season-long loan. The England Under-21 international enjoyed his time at Upton Park last season, featuring in 22 league games over the course of their promotion campaign and was impressed with the quality that he saw within the squad. "There are some good players here and they all want to do well," Lansbury told West Ham's official website. "People were talking about pressure and being favourites for the final and all of that, but that has been around all season. I think the lads can do well next year, there is no reason why not."

Lansbury also praised the Hammers' fans for perservering through a season in the second tier and believes they have now been rewarded with a day out at Wembley and a return to top-flight football. "It is massive for the club obviously as it means being back in the Premier League. It is also massive for the West Ham fans," he continued. "You know they would have made sure they had a good day out at Wembley whatever happened as it is such a great place to come to. But the fact that their team won means so much and we are all glad that this could happen for them as they deserve it. They have certainly been fantastic in my time here." After helping Norwich and West Ham to gain promotion out of the npower Championship in consecutive seasons Lansbury will now be looking to establish himself in the Arsenal first team.

• John Carew - 21 appearances
• Julien Faubert - 121 appearances
• Abdoulaye Faye - 29 appearances
• Papa Bouba Diop - 16 appearances
• Frank Nouble - 19 appearances
• Olly Lee - 0 appearances

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