West Ham accept Ferdinand offer

[pething101]

West Ham accept Ferdinand offer (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/7580244.stm)

And Curbs claims it was out of his hands.

The boys upstairs just shortened the odds on Curbs being the first to get the ax.

[norwaytips]

He wouldn't even negotiate a new contract. He laid his demands on the table, via his agent, and said it was non negotiable. IMO the board made the right descision.

[west_ham]

Are the board controlling every transfer in and out then? This has caused disagreements and departures in the past with many clubs and would not help us attract a quality replacement should AC leave.

In the meantime we have a tight, skint board and a manager known only for buying average players on the cheap. It's a miracle we have managed to sign anyone at all this summer.

[speedy808]

Anyone notice how that Sunderland roster's looking pretty decent these days?

[hammer_scout51]

I have heard the same as Tony. Anton wanted x amount and wouldn't budge.
He is no Rio at this stage of career. Eggy went berserk on excessive contracts, right or wrong at the time. We stayed up and saved a fortune. However Curbs is feeling the force of the crackdown.
Bar Sunderland and Spuds there isn't a team who have spent over the top to date.
A lot of teams are suffering financially at the moment. Wages are far to high, the board had to make a choice re Anton i think they got it right. They do have to invest in the squad this week. If they don't expect Curbishley to be made the scapegoat if we don't keep winning.

[west_ham]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11685_4050823,00.html

Also:

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11685_4047388,00.html

[Footstomper]

I have heard the same as Tony. Anton wanted x amount and wouldn't budge.
He is no Rio at this stage of career. Eggy went berserk on excessive contracts, right or wrong at the time. We stayed up and saved a fortune. However Curbs is feeling the force of the crackdown.
Bar Sunderland and Spuds there isn't a team who have spent over the top to date.
A lot of teams are suffering financially at the moment. Wages are far to high, the board had to make a choice re Anton i think they got it right. They do have to invest in the squad this week. If they don't expect Curbishley to be made the scapegoat if we don't keep winning.

Who is bank rolling sunderland (and I dont mean Quinn}?

[blainehammer]

I think the Hammers got this decision right.

Anton has been a foolish lad in the past and shows no inclination of modifying his behavior. Although I hope he does as it would be a shame to waste that talent.

Good luck to him.

[norwaytips]

Faces will miss him more than us.:mad:

[lesliemoss]

He may not be the best of the best, but he's done well for us! The current state of our defence is so bad, that the team had better get a good replacement fast, or we'll see another series of 3-0 or 4-0 games. The back four as it stands is not good enough, and it seems as though it will be a while before we get Gabbidon, Collins, Tompkins, or Spector etc back.
I think we have a serious problem. As for the attack, where are Ljungberg and Solano when we need them!!!!!

[amancalledmikey]

I've heard different. I've heard he wants to stay. The club are putting out negative propaganda so they can sell him and get public opinion on their side. Looking at what is being written here, it looks like they're doing a good job. I know somebody who talked to Anton who said "I don't want to leave but they're forcing me out, there's nothing I can do". This is a guy who grew up when his brother was a hero and is very attached to the club. I'm not the biggest fan but we're not going to replace him with anybody better. Pretty much every time we sell a young player that has broken the first team, we end up regretting it. I can't remember a good deal involving a homegrown first teamer since we got Unsworth and 1m for Danny Williamson. The squad is small enough as it is. We can't get away with selling players when we have a small squad, a third of which is injured.

"When the gods seek to punish us they grant us our wishes" - Applies to West Ham in my view.

[Footstomper]

it seems as though it will be a while before we get Gabbidon, Collins, Tompkins, or Spector etc back.

That looks a pretty good championship defence:(

[hammer_scout51]

Stomper, i would love to know who is bankrolling Sunderland.
Will they be the next Leeds if it is borrowed money. Was talking to someone who had a drink with Anton, Dyer, Collins, Faubert and Gabbbidon last season. Anton said then he wasn't going to sign a new deal unless it was a very good one for him.
I've known this guy for years and can't see why he would lie.

Dyer couldn't wait for this season to start, poor bugger is said to be deverstated.
Gabbidon wanted out after he got fit, Collins and Faubert loved the club.

Look at the geordies 70-80K on wages for 1st team players. 120K for Owen, it can't be sustainable long term. Sunderland are supposed to be offering Anton 60k plus a week. I wish he would stay and commit but seeing the damage Eggy must have done on contracts. I would rather see the club survive and strengthen.

[claret50]

Ferdinand has joined Sunderland, and is available for their game with Man City this weekend.

[amancalledmikey]

I would rather see the club survive and strengthen.

Right now, those things feel mutually exclusive.

[west_ham]

I can't find any confirmation of the move yet, nothing on the OS anyway. Although I expect we will hear something today.

On paper I don't think we have any problems in defence. We have Upson, Davenport (who I rate), Tomkins, Collins and Gabbidon in central defence alone. Add to that Spector and Neill who can cover in that position. Also this excludes any youngsters who may be ready to break through.

The problem is (altogether now) injuries. At least three of the seven above are injured and haven't played for a long time.

So what should the club do? Improve the medical facilities and staff and try to nurse these players back to full health? Or throw money at the situation and buy more defenders? Remember the latter is the method AC used last summer when our right wingers were all getting injured. We ended up with four, all of whom could walk straight into the first team.

I think Upson and Davenport are good enough to get us through this season. We won't win medals with the team as it is but I think it's clear we are still in transition, or going through another one. Also they will need cover but I understand that Collins is on the way back to fitness.

As for Sunderland all I know at present is that Quinn is leading a consortium of rich Irishmen so I expect it is them who are pumping all this money into the club. Can't help but feel that it will come to an abrupt end at some point. I just hope for Sunderland's sake that they don't leave the club in financial ruin.

[amancalledmikey]

Thing is, west_ham, Gabbidon is indefinitely injured, Tomkins is out til November and Collins coming back from a serious injury that has robbed him of a season. I like Upson but Davenport hasn't convinced at this level. Either way, neither have the rosiest of injury records. Also, the key thing about Ferdinand is that he blended well with other players. Any way you slice it, we have four injury prone players and a youngster covering two slots in the team. This does not bode well. We now need to be as lucky with injurioes as we were the first season we got promoted.

[west_ham]

Confirmed by the OS:

http://www.whufc.com/page/News/0,,12562~1376634,00.html

[Mill City Iron]

Noticed that Lucas Neill wasn't named for tonight's Carling Cup clash. Upson will be handed the captain's armband.

I realize that Curbs won't want to chance any more injuries, but the rest of the squad is quite strong. Anybody heard anything about this? Injury? Watching his future squad in Bucharest? Neill was obviously name for the Socceroos World Cup qualifying match against Uzbekistan on September 10th.

[west_ham]

Stomper, i would love to know who is bankrolling Sunderland.
Just a hunch but the Irish based company Setanta have offices in Sunderland and managed to show just about all of Sunderland's preseason fixtures this year...