West Ham block out old sponsor

West Ham will have removed all trace of former sponsors, travel operator XL, from their stadium, shop, website and programme before next Saturday's home match against crisis club Newcastle.

West Ham owner and chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, through Icelandic bank Landsbanki, helped fund XL and will lose significant money after the company went into liquidation. A club spokesman said the situation would not impact upon the team and that the Premier League club had already received several new offers of sponsorship, particularly following the appointment of Gianfranco Zola as manager.

Zola watched his new team lose 3-2 at West Brom on Saturday and will be even more keen to recruit Steve Clarke from Chelsea as his No2 following a disastrous defensive display.

Even club captain Lucas Neill admitted: "Some of the things we did defensively were criminal.

"There were positives, though, and if we can create that many chances again and tighten things up at the back then we will win a lot more than we lose away from home."

Neill admitted the squad were "excited" about the prospect of playing under Zola. "He has already expressed his desire to play out from the back and play a more creative brand of football. He'd like a bit more patience and passing, which we all want to play anyway."

Neill also paid tribute to former manager Alan Curbishley when he said: "We can be grateful for what he did for us because he kept us up, had a difficult time last year with the squad and got us off to a good start this year."