West Ham United’s 4-0 loss at Bolton on Saturday all but sealed the fate of manager Alan Pardew, who was fired yesterday by the club’s new chairman, Eggert Magnusson. The Times’ Alan Curbishley and Gary Jacob join the chorus predicting former Charlton Athletic boss Alan Curbishley will soon take over at Upton Park.
Curbishley, 49, has the threefold advantage of being a former West Ham player who hails from the area, schooled in the Premiership and available to start immediately after Pardew™s dismissal yesterday. Formal talks are scheduled in the next 24 hours and he could be in charge for Sunday™s match against Manchester United at Upton Park.
Curbishley has turned down approaches from West Ham in the past and has rejected offers from at least three Coca-Cola Championship clubs since stepping down at The Valley at the end of last season. Having lost out on the England job, he took a break from the game, but the West Ham vacancy should appeal. The new owners want their man in place before the January transfer window opens and are thought likely to hand him at least £10 million for new signings. Sven-Göran Eriksson™s advisers quickly distanced the former England head coach from the job.
Congratulations, Freddy Adu. You’re now an employee of Dave Checketts. Toiling in relative anonymity for the MLS’ Salt Lake City side is a far cry from a rumored transfer to a European superpower, but look at it this way — there’s not one club in the Premiership, Serie A or La Liga that can provide the opportunity for a cameo appearance on “Big Love”.
ABC and “the ESPN family of channels” will broadcast Euro 2008 in the United States, which is probably a blow to Setanta U.S.’s hopes of attracting further subscribers. The tournament will no doubt provide all sorts of excitement and controversy, much of it over Dave O’Brien’s battles with internet know-it-alls.