THERE could scarcely have been a more popular signing among the
Hammers faithful over the summer than goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.
A favourite of the Upton Park crowd during his four-year first
spell at the Boleyn Ground between 1998 and 2002, the likeable
Trinidad & Tobago international's return is sure to go down
well with the army of Hammers fans who made him their Hammer of the
Year in 1999.
Shaka left the Club in the summer of 2002 to join Portsmouth, where
he helped the Fratton Park club not only make an improbable return
to the Premier League, but survive two seasons in the top-flight.
Having been released from Pompey over the summer, the 35-year-old
was in search of a new club when he got the surprise call from
Hammers boss Alan Pardew asking him to make an unlikely return to
Upton Park.
And, as Shaka reveals, he did not hesitate in accepting the
invitation to return to East London.
"When the opportunity came up there was no doubt in my mind
that it was the right move for me," he said while relaxing in
the familiar surroundings of the Club's Chadwell Heath Training
Ground.
"West Ham United has always remained very special to me. I had
some great times here during my first spell at the Club and I'm
extremely excited about getting the chance to come back and play
for them again.
"The interest did come as a bit of a surprise. I was training
with Crystal Palace at the time with a view to moving there when I
got a call from West Ham's goalkeeping coach Ludo Miklosko
saying that they wanted someone to push Roy Carroll for the number
one shirt and would I be interested.
"Once I had spoken to Ludo I didn't hesitate to commit
myself to the Hammers again. This felt like the right club at the
right time for me and everything was sorted out within the space of
a week.
"Out of respect I spoke to Iain Dowie, discussed the
situation, both theirs and mine, and told him that there was
another offer. Palace weren't in a position to make an offer
and they understood my decision to want to move back to West
Ham."
Despite his four years living in Essex, Shaka must now reacquaint
himself with London life after three years on the South Coast.
"Disappointingly I actually sold my house up here," he
smiles. "I moved my family down to Portsmouth when I joined
them. I still have plenty of friends in this area and used to come
back fairly regularly, but now it'll be a few weeks of looking
around for houses, schools and all that other fun stuff that
footballers have to go through when they move clubs."
Nevertheless, Shaka was greeted by one or two familiar faces when
he reported for his first day back at Chadwell Heath.
"On the playing staff there is Stephen Bywater, Christian
Dailly and Tomas Repka who were here from my first spell at the
Club," he explained. "Of course, I know Teddy Sheringham
from our time together at Portsmouth, and Anton Ferdinand and
Elliott Ward were young trainees when I was last here, and they
have both done extremely well to come through into the first-team.
"I've kept in touch with Stephen Bywater since I left and
he's become a very close friend of mine, but coming back into
the training ground you see plenty of familiar faces amongst the
staff and in many ways it felt like coming home for me."
Shaka has travelled with Alan Pardew's squad to Holland for
this evening's game against FC Den Haag and could make his
first start in a Hammers jersey for more than three years.
The 6ft 6ins goalkeeper last played in the Hammers first-team back
in November 2001 in a 4-4 draw at Charlton, and having been brought
to the Club to fight Roy Carroll for the goalkeeper's jersey,
Shaka is determined to get another chance between the sticks for
West Ham United.
"It will be a tough task for me to get into the team,"
admitted Shaka. "Roy is a very talented goalkeeper who has
come from arguably the biggest club in the world. He's got a
wealth of experience playing on some of the biggest stages in
football and that's going to be invaluable to the Club
throughout the season.
"But I've been brought here to push the other goalkeepers
and if my presence can make sure that Roy is playing at the top of
his form every week then my job will be done, even if I don't
play a game all season.
"Having said that, I would love to play at Upton Park again.
The fans here were fantastic to me, the Boleyn Ground is one the
greatest places to play football and obviously I'll be doing
all I can to get into the team and play for them again.
"My final 12 months at the Club were disappointing. I picked
up a bad injury, and perhaps came back too quickly, which meant my
form suffered and I couldn't get up to the standard that I
expected of myself.
"I'd like to put that right, but first I have to get down
to some hard work in pre-season and make sure I'm ready to go
come the start of the season.
"Settling in won't be too much of a problem, because
I'm used to the area and I know plenty of people around the
Club anyway.
"There have been some changes, certainly the training ground
and facilities have been redeveloped and looks great and the
coaching set-up is different.
"But from the first moment I came to West Ham United the Club
always had a very homely feel. It's in essence a family
orientated club and I like that.
"I already feel pretty settled to be honest and now I just
can't wait for the season to start."
Shaka helped Portsmouth to promotion in 2003 and then Premier
League survival in their first season back in the top-flight. Now
he has a similar brief back at Upton Park and is confident Alan
Pardew's squad has what it takes to stave off a return to the
Championship.
"West Ham United is a great club and it deserves Premiership
football. Now that we are back in the top-flight the aim is to stay
there, and from what I have seen already we have the squad to do
it.
"I came up and survived with Portsmouth and I know it
isn't easy. There will be some tough times during the season
and the fans will have to understand and help the team through
that.
"But I'm sure they will and I'm confident West Ham
United will survive in the Premiership this season."
Hislop Comes Home
2nd August 2005