Source: Team_Talk
Hammers boss promises more new faces
West Ham manager Avram Grant hopes to add more players to his squad before the start of the new Premier League campaign.[LNB] Grant has signed Thomas Hitzlsperger, Frederic Piquionne and Pablo Barrera since being appointed as Hammers boss on June 3.[LNB]Co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan are keen to add more depth to the squad after the team only just managed to escape relegation under previous manager Gianfranco Zola last term.[LNB]Moves for defender Tal Ben Haim, who Grant used to manage at Portsmouth, and France international striker Loic Remy have failed to materialise so far while the club's audacious attempt to sign Joe Cole on a free transfer ended in failure when he opted to sign for Liverpool.[LNB]Grant held his first training session with the whole of the first-team squad at the club's training ground this morning, with Matthew Upson, Robert Green, Jonathan Spector and Valon Behrami all returning from World Cup duty.[LNB]The Israeli has been pleased with how the team have performed in pre-season but is still determined to add more players to the ranks before the club's season-opener against Aston Villa on August 14.[LNB]"The squad is not complete yet, we told the players we want to make the squad as strong as we can," Grant told the club's official website.[LNB]"Even if the club are limited with money, because we are in debt, we know what we are doing and we know we want to do.[LNB]"The owners are trying to give their best for the team so we will buy or loan a few more players. Even if I don't like loans so much - most players here will be players for the long term."[LNB]West Ham are unbeaten in pre-season having followed up an away win over Peterborough with victories over Borussia Monchengladbach and Panathinaikos while on the club's pre-season tour of Germany and Austria.[LNB]Grant has been pleased with his team's efforts so far, but admits they will have to step up a gear if they are be ready to take on Martin O'Neill's side at Villa Park in just under three weeks' time.[LNB]"We set ourselves a few targets in Germany and the players were good and positive," Grant added.[LNB]"They showed quality and many things for the future. Our aim is to be prepared for a long season.[LNB]"It is about stepping it up. In three weeks we will play Aston Villa so we have done what we needed to do.[LNB]"Now we will go to the next stage. We will work on tactics and the style of the team. The physical side was very good.[LNB]"Also we needed to deal with the international players that have only just started to train and they are looking good."
