“LADS “2009”: E’ ancora possibile acquistare il volume collegandosi al link a sinistra alla voce “Lads 2009”, scrivendoci all’ indirizzo italianlads@gmail.com o contattandoci su Facebook.Tutte le copie prenotate anticipatamente sono state spedite dalla casa di distribuzione entro il quinto giorno lavorativo successivo all’ ordine. Per i tempi e le modalità di consegna consultare il sito della medesima; infatti essi variano a seconda dell’ opzione scelta ( economy,standard, veloce etc…).
Mister Zola, la cui stagione al West Ham è stata, fino a qui, decisamente soddisfacente, si dichiara fiducioso circa la possibilità di rinnovare il proprio contratto con il club. L’ allenatore italiano ha dichiarato di volere portare a termine il progetto appena intrapreso con questo campionato ma gli “Hammers” devono prima allontanare le nerissime nubi che pendono sul bilancio della società. Infatti, il proprietario del West Ham Gudmundsson, travolto dalla crisi economica mondiale, sta disperatamente cercando di cedere il club ad un compratore, diversamente a giugno la situazione della società potrebbe precipitare, con possibili gravi sanzioni anche dal punto di vista sportivo ( penalizzazione, retrocessione o mancata iscrizione al campionato di competenza ). Ovviamente i tifosi ( bandiera in foto ) trepidano e confidano in una veloce conclusione delle trattative per il cambio di proprietà. Le migliaia di persone scese in strada per le celebrazioni del ventennale, l’ ampio spazio dedicato dai media alle novantasei vittime e l’ indignata protesta di tanti cittadini che pretendono di conoscere i nomi dei responsabili, potrebbero, finalmente, fare sì che le autorità si decidano a raccontare tutta la verità sulla strage di “Hillsborough”. Dopo tanto tempo le responsabilità penali dei colpevoli difficilmente verrano perseguite ma tutti concordano che il Paese ma, in primis, le famiglie degli sfortunati supporters del Liverpool conoscano tutta la verità circa la tragica imperizia dei preposti all’ ordine pubblico che determinò una starge che colpì indiscriminatamente e trasversalmente tutta la tifoseria dei “Reds”, dalla frangia più calda fino ad alcuni incolpevoli bambini. Basta omertà e segreti, questa è la richiesta legittima di tutti gli appassionati di calcio e di tutte le persone di buon senso.
Zola chasing new Hammers contract
Zola succeeded Alan Curbishley as Hammers boss in September 2008
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West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola is confident of signing a new deal despite the off-field uncertainty at the club.
“Owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is trying to sell the club and will have to hand it over to his major creditor, the bank Straumur, if he cannot do so.Despite this uncertainty, Zola told the Evening Standard newspaper: “I have started something here and hopefully there will be no contract problems.”Zola took over from Alan Curbishley as Hammers boss in September.The Italian has reiterated that his coaching team, including assistant Steve Clarke, must stay intact in order for him to remain at the club.”The club knows that is the first condition,” he said. “This is not just about me but the whole team.”The secret this season has been that everybody has done a great job together and now we must go forward as a team, otherwise we will stay where we are.”Zola has guided the Hammers to seventh place in the Premier League and within touching distance of a Europa Cup place.“We know that if we play in Europe we will need more players, but I am not going to have more than a maximum of 22 players,” Zola said.”I know I risk a little bit when I go for a small number like that but I believe I gain something else.”Maybe I will have three, four or five very good young players in the reserves who are ready to come in when they are needed.”Staumur hopes Gudmundsson can sell West Ham and return the cash his holding company, Hansa, owes to it.If this does not happen, Staumur, which is now run by government-appointed officials after itself going into administration, will take control of West Ham.There is currently a moratorium preventing any of Hansa’s creditors seizing West Ham before 9 June” (BBC Sport)
Not ‘justice’ but full truth may finally be possible for Hillsborough victims
A tribute to the Hillsborough victims at the Shankly Gates. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
“This was an extraordinary week in the tortured history of the Hillsborough disaster. It offered, amid the grief and protest, just a glimmer that some form of “justice” might, after 20 terrible years, be possible for the families of the 96 people who died.The huge crowd attending Wednesday’s memorial service at Anfield, and the respectful tone with which the media covered the anniversary, seemed finally to bury the lies and infamy spread in the disaster’s aftermath. Hillsborough this week was a major national story, and nobody trotted out the old smears that the fans were to blame. Lord Justice Taylor’s official report was cited everywhere, and his judgment that police mismanagement caused the disaster.Sympathetic airtime was given to the families and their grievances about what happened afterwards, that the police treated them appallingly and they were failed by the inquest. Public opinion swung behind the families, and the understanding was established: that the people who died were wholly innocent, that many fans behaved heroically, that the bereaved have kept on fighting only out of love.Of the calls for justice Margaret Aspinall, vice-chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, whose 18-year-old son, James, died in the disaster, has come to a subtle view. Well before this week she concluded that “justice” does not quite describe what she needs. She talks instead about the still unanswered questions, the outrage of the police operation to blame the fans, and the hated “cut-off” imposed by the coroner, which limited the inquest to 3.15pm on the day of the disaster. “All the families have ever wanted is the full truth,” Aspinall said, “and an acknowledgement by those responsible.”Many calls for justice focussed on the feeling that none of those responsible have been held accountable but, in a limited way, they have. Taylor clearly allocated blame: the inexperienced match commander, chief superintendent David Duckenfield, made the “blunder” of not directing fans away from the overcrowded central Leppings Lane pens, then he “froze” and instigated the lie that the fans had rushed a gate. Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield City Council were also culpable for the safety failings of the ground. Those three organisations admitted liability for negligence and paid compensation.Police disciplinary charges were laid against Duckenfield and superintendent Bernard Murray, but Duckenfield retired on medical grounds before facing them. Murray was excused on the rationale that it would be unfair to pursue him alone. That rankled terribly with the families, as did the director of public prosecution’s decision not to charge anybody. So the families raised the money, and the legal support, and prosecuted Duckenfield and Murray themselves.In July 2000 Murray was acquitted and the jury failed to reach a verdict on Duckenfield. There is no right of appeal, so that was the end of that road. Phil Hammond, the HFSG chairman, whose 14-year-old son, Philip, died at Hillsborough, always recognised that seeing the officers in a courtroom, with magistrates having ruled there was a case to answer, was a landmark.Trevor Hicks, the HFSG president who lost his two daughters, Vicky, 15, and Sarah, 19, at Hillsborough, said on Wednesday he had heard that the current chief constable of South Yorkshire police, Meredydd Hughes, had acknowledged the force’s full responsibility. Hughes did that, and he agreed to publicly release all possible remaining Hillsborough documents.Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, had a torrid time delivering a speech of government sympathy in the face of chants for justice but he is, in fact, trying to help. Burnham and Maria Eagle, the junior justice minister, have called for the police, ambulance service, West Midlands police and other public bodies responsible for aspects of Hillsborough to make their internal documents publicly available. Burnham raised the issue in the cabinet yesterday and the government agreed to consider it.If the government delivers that, bringing forward the release of documents which would otherwise remain confidential for 30 years, families will be able to read the full record of what happened, including after 3.15pm, in that hellish chaos, and what the police did afterwards. There is a hope that some of their lingering questions will find their answers.If that is combined with a genuine acceptance of responsibility, publicly, by all the authorities which failed, there may just be a chance of some form of resolution. And that could open the possibility for what the families have always wanted: the chance to grieve for the 96, without the torment of lingering injustice.” (“The Guardian”)