WHUFC.com
Craig Bellamy has been impressed by the emergence of Jack Collison for both
club and country
21.11.2008
Jack Collison has made a big impact since being brought in to the side by
Gianfranco Zola and has received some warm words of encouragement from his
national captain.
That captain does, of course, happen to be West Ham United team-mate Craig
Bellamy, but the 20-year-old midfielder seems to have done enough for both
club and country to earn the praise of the forward. "Jack has been doing
very well with West Ham of late," Bellamy said. "We benefitted from that
with Wales. He has really stepped up in the last six weeks and he can still
push on as well. He is a talented lad. To make predictions on players is
very difficult. Fingers crossed, but Jack has the attitude to do well and
attitude is the key."
Indeed, it seems that it is not just in the Barclays Premier League and
international games that Collison is giving the West Ham United No10 reasons
for optimism. "I've seen him every afternoon at West Ham and he does extra
training. If you want to give this career a good go then you get the rewards
and that seems to be how Jack is looking at it," said Bellamy.
"When you come in from the youth system you can play with no fear because
the crowd are not going to get on your back. You are one of them. If Jack
works hard and conducts himself in the right manner, which he does, then he
will be fine."
Bellamy scored the winner as the duo, along with James Collins, helped Wales
to an notable 1-0 over Denmark in Copenhagen on Wednesday night. It was all
the more impressive as the team was mainly made up of players under the age
of 21. "My goal was a bit scruffy but I needed it. Putting them away has
been a bit of a problem recently so to get a goal, at international level
too, is a big bonus for me."
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Club matters for Collison
WHUFC.com
Jack Collison is training hard back at Chadwell Heath and looking forward to
the trip to Sunderland
21.11.2008
Jack Collison is buoyant for the trip to Sunderland after an excellent week
away with Wales that culminated in another senior international appearance.
The 20-year-old has established himself in the first team of late with two
starts and two substitute appearances and bagged his first Barclays Premier
League goal on his home debut against Everton. He is looking to build on
that this weekend although he knows competition is fierce for places in
midfield. That has led to a vibrant atmosphere at Chadwell Heath and
Collison believes the team are up for challenge.
"It is going to be a massive match but it is a match we know we can win," he
said. "We all said that as soon as we got in the changing room after
Portsmouth. Everyone is already focused on the match and we want nothing
less than the three points."
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Sunderland v West Ham Utd: preview
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 21st November 2008
By: Preview Percy
We next have a long trip up to the North East to the Stadium of Light where
the football authorities and the TV companies have showed exactly the
contempt they have for us supporters by decreeing that we will have to play
at a travel-unfriendly 4.00pm on a Sunday. Still, as we all know, we're the
last ones that matter to the powers that be.
Sunderland currently lie three places above us in 11th place though, given
the currently concertina-ed state of the league table at present, the more
important statistic is probably the fact that they are one point ahead of us
and, for what it's worth, they are the only side above us that has an
inferior goal difference (-7 to our -6). Like us their results have been
mixed. Their last home victory came against Newcastle about a month ago,
since when they have been beaten 1-0 at Stoke, thumped 5-0 at Chelsea and
were unfortunate to go down to a late Defoe penalty in a 2-1 home defeat to
Portsmouth.
A measure of their inconsistency an be gleaned by the fact that their last
two matches saw them go down 2-1 at home to Blackburn in the League Cup
before going over to Ewood Park and beating them 2-1 to halt a run of four
league & cup defeats in a row. Reports suggest that the result against
Rovers came at the end of the proverbial "game of two halves" where they
ought to have been more than just the one goal behind at the interval, only
for them to have a much better second half - assisted by yet another error
by the inexplicably England-bound Paul Robinson, whose error let them back
into the match early in the second half.
In goal up at Ewood was Marton Fulop, a name which sounds like it ought to
be a service area on the M4. Fulop has been standing in of late for Craig
Gordon, the Scottish no.1 who has been missing of late with a sprained
ankle. However, the extra day's recovery will probably see him available for
selection on Sunday.
There are some familiar faces in amongst the usual back four. George
McCartney had a very consistent spell at the Boleyn before letting down men
everywhere by moving back up to the North-East 'because his wife told him
to.' Confusion reigned at the time of his transfer, not least because the
club claimed that Linda had submitted a written transfer request whilst the
man himself denied ever having done so. Linda has been missing with an ankle
problem but is listed as available for the weekend.
Expect Danny Collins to continue at left-back should Keane decide not to
disrupt a winning side. The other ex-Hammer in the side has been Anton
Ferdinand. Sunderland fans appear to have been more impressed by Ferdinand
than by McCartney - though what little I've seen of him since his move
wouldn't necessarily indicate any major improvements to his game. It seemed
a strange move for Ferdinand - though any rumours that he was convinced it
would be a good move if he wanted to be near his unwell grandmother on the
Isle of Wight are of course scurrilous. Probably.
The back four has lately been completed by right-back Nyron Nosworthy, whose
name sounds like a small village somewhere off the M4, not far from the
Marton Fulop service area, and sometime right-back Phil Bardsley who has
been playing in the middle alongside Ferdinand.
In the centre of midfield is summer signing Timo Tainio who arrived during
the summer from feeder club Spurs for an undisclosed fee alongside Pascal
Chimbonda, who appears to be out of favour at the moment, and fellow
midfielder Steed Malbranque. Another ex-Spud in the squad is Andy Reid -
though he did at least have a spell at Charlton first. Reid was on the bench
last week, Keane preferring to complete his midfield quartet with skipper
Dean Whitehead and former Hammer's youth midfielder Kieran Richardson.
Winger Carlos Edwards may feature in the squad having been recalled from a
loan spell at Wolves.
Also on the bench last week is the obnoxious El Hadj Diouf whose habit of
spitting at opposition fans first came to light against us at Anfield a few
years back. Diouf is capable of playing either as a wide midfielder or up
front. First choice in the striking berths has been Kenwyne Kones. The
Trinidad & Tobago international arrived from Southampton in 2007, presumably
to save a few bob in buying new kit. He proved quite a handful in last
season's match at the Boleyn and is in good recent form having missed the
earlier part of the season in the treatment room. He was on the scoresheet
last week, as was his striking partner Djibril Cisse. Other options up front
include the veteran Dwight Yorke though "Angry Ant" David Connolly (it seems
so very long ago doesn't it) won't be around thanks to injury.
As for us, Robert Green will thankfully be 100% fit having watched the Terry
& Carson Comedy Capers like the rest of us from the safety of his sofa.
"Cheri" Ilunga looks to have recovered from the knock that curtailed his
participation against Pompey. The Pysio Room lists both Mark Noble and
Jonathan Spector as available, though I'm not holding my breath in
anticipation. Similarly some guy called Tristran is listed as potentially
available, but frankly I'll believe he actually exists only when I see him
with my own eyes. Otherwise I wouldn't expect there to be too much in the
way of changes from last week.
Predictions? - well frankly they will be futile for this one. Partly because
we have two teams for whom the only consistent factor is their
inconsistency, but mainly because once more the authorities have yet again
shown their contempt for the paying fan by giving a live TV match to the
worryingly stupid Mike Dean. Dean is a bad enough referee at the best of
times, but give him a live TV match and he plumbs new depths time after time
after time. I'll plump for a 2-2 draw for this one but given the identity of
the man in charge I'll be happy to see the match decided on the merits of
the two teams involved - after all there is a first time for everything I
suppose.
Enjoy the game!
Last Season: lost 2-1 Andy Reid's winner comes bafflingly in the 7th minute
of the 5 added on by ref Marriner and boosts the relegation-threatened home
side's chances of staying up.
Danger Man: Kenwyne Jones Caused major problems at the Boleyn last season -
mind you Anton won't be marking him this time!
Look out for: The Statue of Bob Stokoe.
The statue commemorates the 1973 Cup Final win over Leeds. It is an accurate
depiction of the manager's run across the Wembley turf to hug match-saving
'keeper Jim Montgomery. However a Sunderland fan once described it to me as
being reminiscent of a 'Benny Hill character chasing an unseen bird in a
desperate attempt to get a grope' and I've never been able to look at it in
quite the same light again!
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Big job for little Zola
Hammers won't go down, so let Zola learn his trade
Posted: 21st November 2008 13:34
SSN
It was interesting when he came in that he said he wanted his players to
always have smiles on their faces. Well, results dictate whether you're
smiling or not in this game and it has been noticeable in the last few weeks
that there's been a lot more seriousness about Gianfranco Zola. - Andy Gray
West Ham may not have won any of their last seven league games, but I don't
think the supporters should be too concerned about the start that Gianfranco
Zola has made to life at Upton Park. He is one of those young guys
determined to make his way in the coaching game; he was looking for somebody
to give him a chance and West Ham did that. He knows it's a big job and he
knows there isn't a lot of money available to him - but what he does have is
an awful lot of players to choose from. He now has to find out what his best
team is, what his best system is and go from there. That is not something
you can do overnight. This is not like Harry Redknapp walking into Spurs;
Harry's been in this league for a long time and will have known Tottenham's
players and formed an opinion on them before he got there. For Gianfranco
things are a little different. He's been out of the English game for a
little while now and I'm sure his knowledge of West Ham will have been
limited in that respect. Therefore it's going to take him a little longer.
He's learning as he goes along and I don't think he'd have a problem with me
saying that. Obviously he has the experience of being a top-level footballer
and he will have learned a lot coaching the Italian Under-21s, but he will
also know that this is a totally different ball game. I still believe the
Premier League is the toughest both to play in and to manage in and he is
finding that out the hard way. He still needs to figure out which players he
wants to keep and which he wants to dispose of. We might see some movement
in and out of West Ham during the transfer window and that will be testimony
to what Gianfranco has learned in the period he has been in the job.
Deserves
I think Gianfranco deserves time to go through that process. People might
say his appointment was a risk, but there are 10 teams who could potentially
be involved in a relegation battle this season and you could argue that
keeping any of those managers is risky. I just believe that if they were
confident in him when they gave him the job then they should leave the job
with him, even if he has to spend a year learning the ropes. That is part
and parcel of giving a young manager the job and if they give him time to
mature he will be much stronger in the second season. Would I be panicking
if I was a West Ham fan after their poor run of form? Absolutely not. The
one thing Gianfranco Zola knows is that he has quality players in his squad.
Perhaps they're not always fit - as is the case with the likes of Dean
Ashton and Kieron Dyer - and that doesn't help, but I still think there's
enough good players there for them not to worry too much about relegation.
Of course, he needs to get his tactics right and we'll see him experimenting
with the players he has over the next few months. He played a 4-3-3 against
Portsmouth last week, but I'm sure we'd see him adopting a different system
if he had the likes of Dyer and Ashton available. I guess there will always
be pressure on him to play attacking football because West Ham was built on
the tradition of giving their fans entertainment. The fans want to see their
team playing in a certain way and if that's the case then they've got the
right man to do that. He was a complete footballer in his playing days and
if he coaches the game in the same way as he played it, then West Ham fans
can have no worries about their team not playing wonderful, attractive
football.
Concede
One area that needs to be addressed is the defence. To be leading 1-0
against Everton with eight minutes left and to concede three goals is simply
not good enough.
They've had to chop and change due to injuries and I don't think he's had
his first-choice back four playing together very often. It is very important
for any team to have stability in that area and the likes of Manchester
United and Chelsea have built their success around that. Gianfranco hasn't
had that yet and that will limit his progress. I would like to think that
will come with time because he'll know how important it is not to concede
cheap and easy goals in the Premier League. It was interesting when he came
in that he said he wanted his players to always have smiles on their faces.
Well, results dictate whether you're smiling or not in this game and it has
been noticeable in the last few weeks that there's been a lot more
seriousness about Gianfranco Zola. That's because he has already felt the
huge pressures of managing a Premier League club. Every team has an
expectation of being the best and West Ham are no different. In fact, the
pressure is perhaps even greater at Upton Park because so many people in the
written press support the club and keep the team in the spotlight. But what
I would say to those West Ham fans who are getting a little bit twitchy is
this - let little Zola get on with things. Let him learn more about the job,
let him learn more about West Ham and let the players learn what he wants
from them. Give him a January transfer window and a close season to shape
the squad in the way he wants it - and then start to judge the man next
year.
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Sunderland v West Ham: Collins warns of Bellamy threat
Sunderland Echo
Published Date: 21 November 2008
Danny Collins is determined to defy old Wales team-mate Craig Bellamy when
Sunderland entertain West Ham on Sunday. And he says he will be best
equipped to deal with the fiery Hammer. Collins has impressed at left-back
since taking over from the injured George McCartney - but he comes under
pressure with the Northern Ireland international fighting back to fitness.
Collins, though, is fired up to keep his place in the side after helping
Sunderland snap a four-match losing streak with a fine victory at Blackburn
last weekend. And he pinpointed former Newcastle and Liverpool striker
Bellamy as the biggest problem for the Black Cats in the televised Stadium
of Light clash. "Craig is probably the loudest man in football," said
Collins of the lively Welsh striker. "He's always moaning and it can be a
bit off-putting.
"Out on the training ground, he works as hard as anyone, and that transfers
into his performance and attitude on a matchday as well. "He's fully focused
on what he does and what he wants to achieve. "I have time for him as a
player. "He moans and whinges constantly, and I think some defenders find
that difficult to deal with, but it can be unsettling if you're not used to
it. "That won't be the case with me, because I'll be expecting it, but it
can be a bit unsettling if you're not used to it. "You just have to turn a
deaf ear to him and let him get on with it. He moans more than any player I
know, but I guess that's just his way of showing he wants to win. He's a top
player."
Sunderland have beaten only Middlesbrough and Newcastle at home this season,
and Collins wants an improvement on that stat. He added: "It's not as though
we've been playing poorly at home - I think we've been playing fairly well -
it's just the results haven't been coming. "It's just about turning that
good play into a couple of goals, because, if we do that, a couple of good
results will follow. If we can manage that at the weekend, I don't see why
we can't do it for the rest of the season."
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