JAMES COLLINS has completed his £2.5million move from Aston Villa to West Ham.
The former Hammers defender returns to Upton Park on a four-year deal after leaving for Villa Park in 2009.
Collins, 28, said: “It’s great to be back. Having been here before and coming back and seeing some of the same old faces is great.
“As soon as I knew the interest was there from West Ham I couldn’t wait to get down and sign.
“I had a great affinity with the club and the fans when I was here the first time and I enjoyed my time here so much last time that it wasn’t a hard decision to make, to be honest.
“I think everyone knew that I didn’t really want to leave because I was enjoying my time here so much.
“I’ve come back and I’m a much better player this time around so I can’t wait to get cracking and show the fans that I am a better player and can put in the performances on the pitch.”
the mirror
The rest is history: Carroll's omission from Europa squad shows move is on
The official story is that the West Ham and Newcastle target has a groin problem but Rodgers is scared he'll suffer an injury that will put kibosh on £20m sale
Brendan Rodgers has brought the curtain down on Andy Carroll's Liverpool career by scratching the striker from the squad that has travelled to Belarus for their Europa League qualifier.
New Anfield boss Rodgers finally showed his hand on Wednesday, with the striker's omission from the trip into the unknown to face FC Gomel signaling that a deal to end his disappointing 18 months on Merseyside is imminent.
Carroll was originally named as a member of the squad and was slated to travel, but sources within the club have suggested Rodgers did not want to expose him to the risk of injury with a deal now firmly on the cards.
The official explanation as the squad touched down following their five-hour flight into eastern Europe was that the striker had felt a twinge in his groin.
But the reality for Carroll is that his Liverpool career is over, leaving West Ham and Newcastle to fight for his signature.
It was originally planned that the big Geordie would take part in the game, because Europa League preliminary round rules mean he wouldn't be cup tied for any other club playing in the competition proper.
However, Rodgers is keen to avoid an injury severe enough to scupper a deal he is keen to see go through.
The Nothern Irishman wants to sell Carroll to raise funds for new signings, and he will do so if any club matches his valuation of around £20million.
West Ham have come closest to that figure with a package that would see the 23-year-old move to east London following an initial 12-month loan spell.
While Carroll has made his preference for a return to former side Newcastle clear, they have yet to get close to Liverpool's valuation and the Reds will push through an agreement with the Hammers unless that changes.
While figures at St James' Park have been bullish in their assertion the player will only move to them, the reality is that Carroll shares an agent with West Ham boss Sam Allardyce and his mentor is the London club's skipper Kevin Nolan, who he played alongside at Newcastle.
the mirror
Flirty Sanchez: Will the Colombia midfielder choose Hammers or Trotters?
Carlos whisper: West Ham plot cheeky swoop for Colombia's Sanchez
Allardyce has topped his former club Bolton's offer to the free-agent midfielder known as The Rock - and a decision is expected within 24 hours
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is trying to gazump his old club Bolton by signing Colombia World Cup midfielder Carlos Sanchez.
Allardyce has approached Sanchez, who played for French side Valenciennes, via his own agent and made an offer to join his Premier League bound side that tops the deal the Championship Trotters have put on the table.
Bolton have become fed up with delays after spending weeks chasing the powerful star, who's nicknamed The Rock.
Sanchez, who has talked to several clubs as he looks for a new home and been linked with Reading, has had trouble getting a visa to travel.
West Ham have already landed ex-Wigan star Mohamed Diame on a Bosman this summer to beef up midfield for their return to the top flight.
the mirror
Back to the Boleyn: Collins returns to West Ham as Villa cash in with Bosman looming
Wales defender had 12 months left on his £40k/week deal in the Midlands and re-joins Hammers on four-year contract
East End face: James Collins played for West Ham between 2005-09 before joining Aston Villa East End face: James Collins played for West Ham between 2005-09 before joining Aston Villa
West Ham have re-signed James Collins from Aston Villa for a fee reported to be £2.5million, the London club have announced.
The Wales defender has agreed a four-year contract, three seasons after leaving Upton Park for the midlands.
"It's great to be back. Having been here before and coming back and seeing some of the same old faces is great," he told West Ham TV.
No factor at all! The relentless sunshine of Birmingham played no part in the decision of baldy James Collins to return to the pea-soupers of the East End No factor at all! The relentless sunshine of Birmingham played no part in the decision of baldy James Collins to return to the pea-soupers of the East End
Collins, capped 39 times by Wales, was part of the West Ham side that narrowly escaped relegation from the Premier League in 2007.
The 28-year-old will compete with James Tomkins and Winston Reid for a place in central defence.
"As soon as I knew the interest was there from West Ham I couldn't wait to sign," he said. "I had a great affinity with the club and the fans when I was here the first time.
"I enjoyed my time here so much that it wasn't a hard decision to come back. Everyone knew that I didn't really want to leave when I did in 2009 because I was enjoying my time here so much.
"I can't wait to get cracking and show the fans that I am a better player now and can put in the performances on the pitch."
the daily express
JAMES COLLINS MAKES A POINT TO WEST HAM
Aston Villa defender James Collins
Aston Villa defender James Collins
JAMES COLLINS vowed to show West Ham they should never have let him go three years ago, after rejoining them yesterday from Aston Villa in a £2.5m deal.
"As soon as I knew the interest was there from West Ham I couldn’t wait to sign,” said the defender.
“I had a great affinity with the club and the fans when I was here the first time.”
the mail
Wanted: West Ham are interested in Sporting Lisbon midfielder Silva (right)
Big Sam in bid to beat old club Blackburn to Sporting ace Silva by launching £1m raid
West Ham have launched a bid to sign Sporting Lisbon midfielder Adrien Silva.
The 23-year-old has been a target for Blackburn, who were desperate to persuade him to join their Portuguese contingent.
However, Sam Allardyce has moved to beat his former club with a £1million offer.
Silva is a box to box style player who impressed on loan at Academica last season.
Meanwhile, West Ham target Sebastian Boenisch has held talks with Wolves.
west ham till i die
No Ramis, No Problem!
It has been confirmed today that Ivan Ramis has completed a remarkable 'about-face-turn' and signed for Wigan. You will recall that Ramis originally rejected a deal to join Wigan because 'the deal was not right for him.' Besides which, he had also received an 'interesting offer' from another PL club. That club was West Ham Utd FC and we quickly agreed a fee with Real Mallorca, terms with the player and all that remained was the formality of a medical in London. Ramis duly passed the medical, eliminating the final obsacle to the move, and all that was required was his signature on the contract. At that juncture, things suddenly changed!
It would appear that Wigan persuaded Ramis that their club was a better destination for him. How did they do it? By using their Spanish manager, Martinez, to personally intervene to influence the player.. From today's comments by Dave Whelan, it would appear that they played on his lack of English language skills and the fact that Ramis would feel more at home with the Spanish speakers at Wigan. Least ways, that is my take on why Ramis so suddenly embraced a deal with a club, that 2 or 3 days earlier, had not been 'right for him.'
It all seems very strange, but we must remember that Ramis has hitherto been a 'one club man' at Real Mallorca. And he had previously pulled the plug, at the last moment, on deals to move to Everton and Celtic. Presumably, on both occassions he got cold feet at the last minute and clung to the familiar! Against that background, is his sudden change of heart really that surprising? Probably not. However, in basing his decision on the need to have Spanish speakers around him, lets hope that he also did his homework on Wigan. Or, on second thoughts, perhaps not! Whatever, we do not need a player who could potentially fails to settle and then demands an early move back to Spain; those type of complications we can do without.
And the club have moved quickly to secure an alternative target in the form of Villa's James Collins. He is a decent centre-half and will increase our options and provide experienced cover for Tomkins and Reid. Collins' form dipped at Villa last season and he was probably ready for a move away from the claret and blue side of Birmingham. He now needs to train hard, apply himself and regain both his fitness and form. He is on familiar ground, at West Ham, and he should do well playing under Sam Allardyce. So, lets hope it proves to be an inspired signing. Or at the very least a decent signing who does a solid job!
So, as far as I am concerned it is a case of no Ramis, no problem. We now have a replacement who is experienced in the PL and familiar with the club. Those are significant added bonuses. Now, who is next up to sign for the mighty Hammers?
SJ. Chandos.
forever west ham
The Great Olympic Stadium debate
by Matthew Hagland
Well we saw what the potential future home of the Hammers looks like in action, it looked fantastic and I am opposed to the move so that was hard for me to admit!
The atmosphere was great and the modern stadium was packed to the rafters, the occasion had the crowd singing and cheering till voices were hoarse, it was a momentous display and showed that the years of planning were worth it and I take my hat off to the planners of the ceremony, it got all the problems that the London Olympics has endured picked them up like a pair of screaming babies and tucked them into bed ready for the Olympics to be kicked off and the cauldron, which was nothing short of superb, to be lit!
One question was heated up by the Olympic flame, is this move right for us?
I have always been of the opinion that it is a bad idea ever since that Golivan and Brady announced their intentions for a move to the multi-million pound stadium, my reasoning behind this is best listed:
• The cost- It has been quoted that the move will cost us a staggering £90 million and we already have debts although they are not affecting the operation of the club. I don’t believe we should be spending huge amounts of cash especially when it’s being financed by a loan from Newham Council
• The stadium- It is the wrong shape for a start, it has a running track around it and if you buy a season ticket any further back than the middle row it come with a free set of binoculars for men and opera glasses for females!
• The ownership- It worries me that we won’t own the stadium, it rarely works to rent a stadium and we shouldn’t be in a position that if our finances go down the toilet and we can’t keep up with the rent payments that we find ourselves with no place to call home and nowhere to watch our glorious claret and blue boys!
• Cheaper options- We still have planning permission on the chicken run so why not build the stand up then fill the corners in with seats so we get a sea of claret and blue? The noise at Upton Park is already immense imagine, if you will, it as I described nowhere for sound to escape but up it would make it an even more intense ground to visit for away teams than it already is! The other option is to build a purpose built stadium, I believe we still own the land of the old gas works near west ham tube station? Rotherham spent £25 million building the New York Stadium it seats 12,000 fans so if we are spending £90 million on a
conversion surely we could have a fantastic stadium
So those are my reasons against which are mirrored by a fairly large portion of supporters, but as with everything there is another side some of which I agree with so here we go:
World class facilities- Even if we did spend money on a stadium we wouldn’t be able to have the facilities that not only the stadium has to offer but what the park has to offer.
Transport links- I can’t think of any club in the UK that will have the transport links that we will have if we move to the OS and with rail, tube and busses available as means of transport you won’t be short of ways of getting there and on top of that supporters from further afield can fly in to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead and Luton Airports all no more than 35 miles away from the OS.
Potential- The stadium has the potential to take West Ham from being mid table to challenging for European places, with increased interest comes more fans, more money and more investment! We will attract larger names and key investors which is vital if we have the stadium and the money we should be all set!
There was talk of doing an all events season ticket (following suit of Wembley) which with talks of twenty20 cricket, concerts and rugby finals just a few of the events being talked about it would prove enticing to many so long as the cost isn’t sky high, this only benefits certain fans though but may bring in fans who would otherwise spend their mone
So if this is a good idea remains to be seen but I believe we need to put some trust into what Golivan and Brady are saying it’s the least we can do after they saved us from the brink of being well and truly buggered ad have time and time again invested their own cash into the club! So let’s wait and see who the OPLC decide are the best candidate and then watch as the tale is told.
Robin van Persie has already signed a contract with Juventus according to Fifa agent Fabio Parisi.
Metro
Barcelona have joined Chelsea and Real Madrid in the race to sign Brazilian star Neymar, 19.
Daily Express
Chelsea will have to bid at least £8m to land 22-year-old Spanish right-back Cesar Azpilicueta who currently plays for French Ligue 1 side Marseille.
The Sun
Three clubs are looking at Brazilian star Neymar
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is believed to have made a fresh bid for Lille's 27-year-old full-back Mathieu Debuchy.
Daily Mirror
Tottenham Hotspur are making a bid for Roma's Dutch international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, 29.
Daily Mail
Manchester City's Slovakian winger Vladimir Weiss, 22, is set to be loaned out to Pescara in Italy's Serie A.
talkSPORT
Lazio are interested in signing Newcastle's 21-year-old defender Davide Santon.
talkSPORT
Wolves have hinted that 25-year-old striker Steven Fletcher will be sold, despite rejecting a £10m bid from Sunderland.
Daily Mirror
Fulham want to boost their forward options by moving for Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes and Andrey Arshavin of Arsenal.
Metro
Jordan Rhodes is also believed to be a target for West Ham and Blackburn
The Cottagers midfielder Moussa Dembele, 25, is also believed to be a £10m target for La Liga champions Real Madrid.
The Sun
Swansea's Joe Allen is close to agreeing a lucrative contract with Liverpool.
South Wales Evening Post
Malaga midfielder Santi Cazorla, 27, could fly into London this week for a medical with Arsenal once a £17.3m fee is agreed.
Daily Mail
Southampton midfielder Richard Chaplow, 27, looks set to snub a move to Championship side Crystal Palace to fight for his future at St Mary's.
Daily Star
Everton manager David Moyes has been to Copenhagen to assess Danish left-back Bryan Oviedo, 23.
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool insist that Andy Carroll has been left out of the squad for Thursday's Europa League game against FC Gomel because of injury.
The Guardian
FA chairman David Bernstein has vowed to step up the fight against racism in football.
Daily Star
Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton is staying calm despite the threat of the club being liquidated.
The Independent
West Brom have given their backing to a proposal for a statue in honour of their three black players of the 1970s, Cyril Regis, Brendon Batson and the late Laurie Cunningham.
babe of the day
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