GodHamnation - A West Ham Story

[Jack F]

They say that love is between two human beings.
They say that marriage is a bond between two human beings.

But what about a football club?

When I walked up those steps into the plush office that once belonged to the now departed managerial legends that had taken the reign at this famous club, I was overwhelmed. And now was mine.

I had spoken to Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson extensively over the past weeks about joining; he had been clear and left little untold. The club financially would be unable to back me financially in the transfer market as the state of the club was hardily churning out mega bucks. I guess the reccession had hit us all pretty hard. Any income from players sold would unfortunately not find its way to me, but into the club directly, I would be lucky to get much extra cash. So I would have to look for free transfers, loan signings and the like.

The press conference was a nervy experience. Yes, my name is Jack Franklin. Yes, this is my first venture into management. Yes, I am confident. I thought maybe my past would be exposed, how I started as a 15 year old with Arsenal, before they let me leave to West Ham in the 1990s. It was a costly decision; I matured, grew, developed into a natural star, with a gift for leadership, before retiring early at the age of 28 in 1998 to take a break from the game. I briefly returned to play at Newport County for two seasons in 2003 but then left. Now, out of the blue, I was the manager of a premier league side.

I sat down in my office after a day of meetings, press conferences and a whole lot of paper work. I sat in my office, looking out at the training facilities that we had. They were good. The club's current staff, all of whom I was happy to keep, said that we had some great youngsters coming through the ranks, and they seemed delighted when I told them that I intended to persue the development of young stars for as long as I remained at the helm. After a short chat, I went off to jorgolfur Gudmundsson's office to discuss the club's goals.

I wanted to ask if he was kidding but I think the look in his eyes suggested not. A comfortable, mid table finish was the main priority, and I had expected as much. Personally I wanted Top 10 but the gist of what I was told was that comfortably staying clear of the drop zone would be fine. They wanted to get to the Last 8 of the FA Cup, and as far as possible in the Carling Cup. "The Carling Cup is great for our youngsters" Bjorgolfur said, "So we don't mind how far we go in that one, but obviously if we get to the stage were we think we can win it, we play our strongest side. The FA Cup is much more serious, so treat it so please". I nodded, and said I would. Just before I left on one of the busiest yet exciting days of my lif,e he told me that the new kit design was in tomorrow and I would be at the shop launching it myself.

[Barnett's Right Foot]

Good start

[Rooneyetmanu]

Really good start mate, kiu this up

[Addickted4Life]

Good start mate, well done.

Originally Posted by Rooneyetmanu

Really good start mate, kiu this up

KIU this up? Keep it up this up? lool

[jt1109]

jack said i had to post here. lol

good start jack can't wait to see the kit designs i wonder who will be the sponser.

[Jack F]

Even I had to admit I liked the kits. The usual purple kind of colour on one with a bit of white, and a white/grey striped one. Unusually for a club hardily flush with money, they had elected not to have a sponsor, so on the home shirt the logo was enlarged and placed centrally; but had agreed to support the English bid for the 2018/2022 World Cup and the logo for that was placed on the away shirt. To be fair, the kit could be horrible and I wouldn't really care:

I'd had time by now to look over my squad, however paper thin it was. I had been given £4 million to spend on new players, and I would need to use it all. My assistant, the ever wise Steve Clarke, pointed out the major concerns

Robert GREEN - Keeper.
Jan LASTUVKA - Keeper [Loan]
Rob is a classic keeper who is capped internationally and deservedly so as he is world class. I will be able to rely on him this season for sure.
-----
Herita ILLUNGA - Defender/Left Back
James COLLINS - Defender
Daniel GABBIDON - Defender
Matthew UPSON - Defender
Lucas NEILL - Right Back
Julien FAUBERT - Right Back [On Loan at R. Madrid]
This is where the squad lacks depth and needs addressing. Our central defence is solid but one injury and we are struggling. Another fullback would be very handy as well.
------
Valon BEHRAMI - Right Midfield
Radoslav KOVAC - Central Midfield [Loan]
Scott PARKER - Central Midfield
Mark NOBLE - Central Midfield
Luis BOA MORTE - Left Wing
Savio - Left Wing
Walter LOPEZ - Left Wing/Striker
------
My central midfield is I believe, Top 6 quality with Scotty and Noble providing the pace, skill and power to dictate a game. Again we are lacking on strength in depth out wide. Savio and Walter are not up to scratch in my opinion, I may shift them out to try and generate some more funds.
------
David DI MICHELE - Striker [Loan]
Dean ASHTON - Striker
Carlton COLE - Striker
Diego TRISTAN - Striker
If we can keep Deano fit we have a lad who can score goals for us, and Carlton Cole is very powerful, just what we need upfront. Not a great front line, but certainly one with enough to score some goals for us.

Having looked at my squad, I felt a 4-4-2 would best suit.

Green
Illunga - Collins - Upson - Neill
Boa Morte - Parker - Noble - Behrami
Ashton - Cole

With that First 11, I think we will match anyone on our day and certainly a Top 10 finish should be in our grasp. My concern is what happens when not all our Top 11 players are available, we lack some depth which is what I need to attempt to address. I then headed off to watch my Reserve and U19 squads in action to see if there was anyone worth of a place in my first team.

[OrangeKenny]

Another great update, nice kits also I must admit.

[jt1109]

only 1 sponser i am dissapointed lol no there really nice hope you can have a good season.

[Barnett's Right Foot]

Loving the look of the kits

[Walrus Rocker]

Lovin the updates jack, Great Kits, and Excelent Writing Quality KIU

[Jack F]

I sat down, pleased to be back in my office after our trip to Oldham for our final friendly of the season. We are also managed to give lots of game time to our new signings and overall they had been very pleasing.

West Ham 3 Genk 0 [Behrami 2, Collison]

West Ham 1 Nice 1 [Boa Morte]

Morton 1 West Ham 2 [Di Michele, Savio]

Brentford 1 West Ham 0

Oldham 0 West Ham 2 [Noble, Cole]

I was hardily full of confidence however when surveying our opening to the season. A trip to Old Trafford, followed by a home match against Liverpool and then a trip to newly promoted Stoke. I decided to browse over recent newspaper clippings involving myself:

HAMMERS SIGN TORRES

West Ham have completed the signing of Miguel Torres, signing a 3 year deal for a fee of £2, 000, 000 from Real Madrid. Torres, who was transfer listed at Real Madrid is said to be pleased to be in a side which he feels he can get regular first team football. Franklin had this to say: "I'm delighted to welcome Miguel to the club. He can play on the left or right which makes him a very versatile and therefore useful player which is why I was happy to spend half of my budget on him. We all have great hopes for him".

HAMMERS MOVE FOR MIHAEL

West Ham have signed ex Dundee Utd centre back Mihael Kovacevic for a reporte 300k fee which could rise to 700k based on performances. Very much an unknown quantity, Hammers fans are said to be intrigued but a bit irratated that Franklin did not try to bring in a higher quality of player. "Everyone knows we need more strength in depth and in defense we were especially weak. Mihael can play in the middle or out on the right which again means he is very useful. I can understand the fan's feelings but I assure them that this lad will prove you all wrong. If we had more money to spend I may well have gone for a more expensive and maybe well-known player but for the money we have spent Mihael represents a good value for money."

MIJTA AND MARKO WHO?

West Ham have shocked fans today, announcing their third and fourth transfers of the season as two Slovenian internationals, Mitja Viler for a reported 95k and Marko Drevensek from Drava for a reported 80k. We did some research and both players were highly respected at their former clubs. Viler, a 21 year old midfielder and Drevenske, a 20 year old central midfielder are both future prospects who should get a good run in West Ham's side. We caught up with Tony "The Hammer" Johnson, our resident fan to see what he thought: "Well, it's surprising for sure. But Frankers [Jack Franklin] has not got much money to spend so he will have to do some wheeling and dealing and that seems exactly what he's done. For such a low fee, even if they don't do that well there is not much pressure on them".

Divided opinions obviously. Nothing changes. I had one more target, a striker, and with £1.3mil left in the bank I was positive of getting one. I sighed as Mail popped up with two more notices. Blackburn had tabbed a 3.2mil bid for Jack Collison, our midfield wonder kid. I sighed once more, this was their fifth offer. I had told them already that no amount of money would get him. But secretly I thought if they could come up with 6 or 7 million, I would take it. There was also much interest in Matthew Upson, who again I didn't want to leave, but if someone did bid £10million we could do a lot of strengthening with that cash, so I would accept it.

[Barnett's Right Foot]

Very good update and some nie signings. Don't sell Collison! He's immense for me at Everton

[Jack F]

Manchester Utd vs West Ham Utd

Odds:
Man Utd: 4/5
West Ham: 18/1
Draw: 8-1
Best Bet: Rooney to score and Utd to win 2-0 9-1

Man Utd Squad:
van der Sar
O'Shea - Brown - Ferdinand - Neville
Giggs - Carrick - Scholes - Fletcher
Rooney - Berbatov

West Ham
Green
Illunga - Collins - Upson - Neill
Savio - Parker - Noble - Behrami
Cole - Di Michele

I had spent much time over my starting 11. The decision not to include any of my 4 new signings in the First XI was found surprising by some journalists but for me it was an easy call. We would need all the hard work and squad harmony we could call on to have any hope of stopping Utd, so I went for a group of players who know each other very well. I did include Viler, Kovacevic, Torres and Drevensek on the bench however, along with Jan Lastuvka, Jack Collison and DIego Tristan. As far as transfers go Scott Parker was the latest to be linked with a move away, but I was not prepared to let that happen. I was in the market still, looking for a pacey striker to play upfront. I was not a fan of Tristan.

HAMMERS HAMMERED BUT CANNOT BE BROKEN
Man Utd 0-0 West Ham

Man Utd's first campaign was a major let down for the thousands of Red Devil fans packed inside Old Trafford as they failed to break down a West Ham side playing their first Premier League match under new manager. The first few minutes saw both sides go close, Carlton Cole's looping header hitting the top of the bar before going over, and Robert Green producing a fine save low to his right hand side to stop Wayne Rooney scoring the first goal. As the game went on West Ham had their moments, Mark Noble firing close from 20 yards and Di Michele having his shot blocked on the line. Paul Scholes was Man Utd's catalyst, with everything good going through him, but unfortunately it was not to be in the first half. For all their possession, Man Utd were limited to shots from outside the area as West Ham proved difficult to break down, rarely did Man Utd get in behind the defence partnership of James Collins and Matthew Upson, who, if rumours are to be believed, has played his last game for West Ham. Once change was made at the break, Diego Tristan replacing Carlton Cole, who had picked up a small knock. Truthfully West Ham's front pairing did not have much to do in the 2nd half as Man Utd showed their undoubted quality, with some terrific football. Berbatov, largely in-effective throughout, set up Wayne Rooney, only for his shot to be scuffed. As Utd piled on the pressure a moment of pure frustration from Michael Carrick saw him leave the field 20 minutes early, as he lashed out at Valon Behrami. Man Utd then made 3 changes, taking off Neville, O'Shea and Wes Brown, with Possebon, Evans and Vidic entering the field, as they went 4-3-2 to try and find a goal. West Ham made changes of their own - Behrami, hurt in the tackle by Carrick, was replaced by Miguel Torres who made his debut for the club, and Savio was taken off for the very impressive youngster Jack Collison. Man Utd had most of the play but never really threatened, and so it finished goalless at Old Trafford.

[Barnett's Right Foot]

Great result KUTGW!