WHUFC.com
Sam Baldock heaped praise on Robert Green for his role in Saturday's success
at Hull City
06.11.2011
Sam Baldock has hailed the performance of goalkeeper Robert Green in West
Ham United's 2-0 victory at Hull City as 'one of the best' he has ever seen.
Baldock scored his fifth goal in six matches to set his side on course to
another valuable npower Championship victory, but the Hammers were indebted
to Green for an outstanding performance to safeguard their third clean sheet
in four matches. The England stopper made outstanding saves to deny Robert
Koren, Aaron Mclean, Matty Fryatt and Jack Hobbs, leaving striker Baldock in
awe of his colleague. "I'm very pleased with the goal and the away win, but
I think the thing that's pleasing the team as a whole was the fact we kept
another clean sheet," the No7 told West Ham TV. "I think that performance
from Robert Green was probably one of the best that I've ever seen live. He
was absolutely outstanding. I thought the back four and the whole team
defended from the front really well and the clean sheet set the foundation
for the victory. "I wasn't here that long before Rob got injured, but he is
the best keeper I've ever worked with. His quality demands so much out of
everyone."
Concentrating on his 49th-minute goal - his eleventh in 14 matches for MK
Dons and West Ham this season - Baldock revealed that his emphatic far-post
finish from Carlton Cole's flick-on was the result of special instructions
from manager Sam Allardyce and assistant boss Neil McDonald. "It came from a
corner. I peeled off my man to the back stick to a position that the manager
and Macca have been telling me I might get more opportunities to get my
little tap-ins. "It was a good header from Coley but I'm not sure if it was
going in, so I made sure it did! "I'm confident but I think that I'm always
going to score goals if I'm given the opportunities. I think this team will
provide me with those opportunities because we're a very strong attacking
outfit."
Baldock was impressed with the contribution made by half-time substitute
Cole, who also provided the assist for Jack Collison's second eight minutes
later. The 22-year-old believes the Hammers have an embarrassment of riches
in the attacking positions. "Coley came on and made a difference. He is an
asset to us coming back from injury and he will be key for us if we're going
to maintain the good run that we've been on. "He's a very good player, as
are John Carew, Freddie Piquionne and Freddie Sears as well. Whichever
combination the manager chooses to use is going to be strong because they're
all very good players."
Saturday's victory at the KC Stadium took West Ham to 31 points from 16
matches played - one short of the 'two points a game' target set by manager
Allardyce.
With so many new faces in the squad and injured players set to return after
the international break, Baldock believes there is even better to come from
the men in claret and blue. "We're not quite where we want to be but we're
getting there. I think the manager has talked about his target and we're
just off that. "Things are slowly coming together. We've got a fair few new
players, me being one of them, so we've got to gel into the West Ham way."
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Loanee latest: Callum keeps going
WHUFC.com
Callum McNaughton continues to get valuable Football League experience under
his belt
06.11.2011
Callum McNaughton and Marek Stech were the only two homegrown Hammers in
action on Saturday. McNaughton played his eleventh game for AFC Wimbledon as
they drew 1-1 with Barnet in League Two. The young centre-back has been a
defensive regular for the Dons, although there has been speculation he could
return to the Boleyn with the club's injury concerns.
Elsewhere, Frank Nouble got 90 minutes and won the last-gasp penalty that
allowed Gillingham to triumph 4-3 at home to Northampton Town. Nouble has
four goals as well in his ten outings for the Kent club to date.
Paolo Di Canio used neither Ahmed Abdulla or Cristian Montano, whose loan is
up, as Swindon Town won 2-0 at Port Vale.
In the Championship, Jordan Spence was also unused as Bristol City won 3-1
at home to Barnsley but Herita Ilunga did play as Doncaster Rovers' 3-1
success away to Ipswich Town.
Up in League One, Stech had his fifth run-out in goal for Yeovil Town,
making a crucial save before they earned an equaliser to draw 2-2 away to
fellow strugglers
Chesterfield.
Finally, Dominic Vose got the last 21 minutes as non-league Braintree Town
drew 2-2 away to Gateshead to stay on the fringe of the promotion race for
the Football
League.
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Vinny's Hull Report
Vinny 5:45 Sun Nov 6
West Ham Online
Hull City 0 West Ham United 2
West Ham picked up their fifth away victory of the season as Hull City were
beaten by two second half strikes. This is not going to be a long match
report as I have just got in from a weekend up in Hull and Cleethorpes (how
classy). The first half performance was a bit of a concern as we were pretty
awful and Hull dominated.
Hull were pretty much on top for most of the game but we came out for the
second half fired up and had them on the back foot for the first 15 minutes
of the second period.
We actually only had two shots on goal in the entire game whereas Hull had
fourteen but it was a case of our defence being excellent and Robert Green
being in stunning form. The decision to bring on Carlton Cole for the second
half definitely changed things and we were able to move Sam Baldock up front
and it took him just four minutes to score when he was in his rightful
positions. The other goal came from Jack Collison who was played in by Cole
and although he had a lot of time he finished well.
Cole had come on and made a big impact as he dragged defenders out wide and
created both goals. It wasn't an exciting game, and it doesn't do much to
argue for the style of Football we are playing but it is getting results and
although Hull had a lot of the game I felt that extremely confident that our
defending would see us through.
Player Reviews
Robert Green
When Green is in form like this it is hard to find many better keepers in
England. He was unbeatable and some of the saves he made near the end were
quite remarkable.
Julien Faubert
Playing at right back he had a very good game and was solid throughout. Got
forward when he can and did the usual hit and miss with the quality of his
crossing.
James Tomkins
Apart from one or two moments of indecision in the first half he was very
good. His positioning was excellent and he didn't panic when Hull were
pumping balls into the area.
Abdoulaye Faye
A beast in the air once again and Faye was one of our best players in this
one. He was throwing himself at everything, making last ditch tackles,
winning every header in the air and he put in a really solid centre half
display.
George McCartney
Defensively was sound although troubled a few times in the second half by
their winger. Going forward he was usually available but his crossing was on
the whole very poor.
Jack Collison
Anonymous up until his goal which was a very well taken finish from the
midfielder. He wasn't in the game much after the goal and I still believe he
needs to get involved more.
Papa Bouba Diop
I lost count of the amount of times he broke up the play and put in a ball
winning tackle. He was vital at times and gave the defence the protection it
needed.
Mark Noble
Neat on the ball and willing to move the ball forward. Some of his passing
was wayward but that can be said for most of the team.
Kevin Nolan
An atrocious first half where he looked like someone who had never played
football before. Needlessly booked for a poor tackle and his impact on the
game was minimal. Again.
Sam Baldock
Started the game on the left wing and was poor. He looked a bit out of his
depth in that first half but as soon as he went up front, he was dangerous
and scored his fifth goal of the season making him our top goal scorer.
John Carew
Didn't win enough in the air and looked slow and immobile. Without him on
the pitch we played football on the floor and won the game.
Subs Used
Carlton Cole (on for Carew 45 mins)
Came on and changed the game. Assists for both goals and that is the sort of
impact Carlton needs to have.
Freddie Sears (on for Diop 83 mins)
Didn't see too much of the ball.
Frederique Piquionne (on for Baldock 87 mins)
Everything he did he did badly.
Subs Not Used: Kurucz, Potts
Bookings: Nolan, Tomkins
Man Of The Match: Robert Green
Hull City: Gulacsi, Rosenior, Chester, Hobbs, Dudgeon, McKenna, Evans,
Koren, Mclean, Fry Poatt. Adebola
Subs: Basso, McShane, Cairney, Harper, Brady
Attendance: 21,756
Overall
Another excellent away result and despite another uninspiring performance we
quite clearly have found a formula that works.
Despite thinking that it wasn't all that entertaining I must praise our
defending which was really top class and whatever we say about Allardyce he
is making us hard to score again which is something West Ham have never been
known for.
We surprised Hull in the second half with the way we came at them and for
that first quarter of the second period we were dominant and got the goals
at perfect times.
Next Game - Coventry City (a) Saturday, 19th November
Another away game and this time against a very poor side who are struggling
in the league but as we saw against Bristol City it doesn't matter where
they are in the league.
We are keeping up the pace and although Southampton are doing really well
they are bound to start losing points soon enough and if we continue to keep
picking up results as we are we will get to the top soon enough.
The View From Sam
"It is a difficult place to come and play," the manager said, acknowledging
that Hull had not lost at home since August and that he was so limited in
options that promising 17-year-old defender Danny Potts - son of Steve - was
on the bench.
"We know how good Hull are and we set out to see what they had to offer. We
defended very well in the first half but apart from Julien Faubert's three
crosses down the side, which were very good and we didn't get on the end of,
I think we could have done a bit more in possession.
"We changed it around in the second half by bringing Carlton Cole on and
dropping Kevin Nolan deeper into midfield. We wanted to get control and we
said let's go and score first, let's go and attack Hull City from the very
start."
"It allowed us to win the game. First the corner - a good ball, great
header, great finish with Sam pulling off to score. The second goal was
great passing and movement and resulted in a one-on-one and a very composed
finish from Jack.
"We had won the game so we don't need to go and chase it. We can sit and let
the opposition have possession in front of us and see the game out. We broke
when we got the opportunity.
"We didn't do that as well as I would have liked but it was a fantastic
result and a great performance in terms of how we changed tactically
throughout the game. We were ruthlessly clinical when it came to our good
period. We nailed Hull and come away with a well-earned 2-0 victory."
[On Green] "You are seeing a man with great stature and great ability
between the posts. At the moment, he looks pretty impregnable and the
opposition come up against him and it feels like he will save everything."
Season 2011/12 Scorers and Bookings
Sam Baldock - 5 (5 League)
Carlton Cole - 4 (4 League)
Kevin Nolan - 4 (4 League)
John Carew - 2 (2 League)
Mark Noble - 2 (2 League)
Jack Collison - 2 (2 League)
Own Goal - 2 (2 League)
James Tomkins - 1 (1 League)
Joey O'Brien - 1 (1 League)
Scott Parker - 1 (1 League)
Winston Reid - 1 (1 League)
Matthew Taylor - 1 (1 League)
Henri Lansbury - 1 (1 League)
Julien Faubert - 1 (1 League)
Junior Stanislas - 1 (1 Cup)
Yellow Cards
Kevin Nolan - 4
Mark Noble - 3
Julien Faubert - 3
Henri Lansbury - 2
Joey O'Brien - 2
James Tomkins - 2
Carlton Cole - 1
Matthew Taylor - 1
George McCartney - 1
Sam Baldock -1
Winston Reid - 1
Abdoulaye Faye - 1
John Carew - 1
Red Cards
Callum McNaughton - 1 (vs Aldershot home)
Frederique Piquionne - 1 (vs Portsmouth home)
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Hull City 0 West Ham 2
By MICHAEL MORGAN
Published: Today
The Sun
NIGEL PEARSON has been told that quitting Hull to become Leicester's new
boss would be a backward step. The Foxes want Pearson to return for a second
term as manager but had an initial approach for him rejected by their
Championship rivals last night. Pearson, 48, guided Leicester to promotion
from League One and then into the Championship play-offs in his previous two
years in the East Midlands before walking out to take charge of the Tigers
17 months ago. Now he is torn between finishing the job he has started on
Humberside or returning to the King Power Stadium, where he would be handed
a £20million war chest to buy the players to take them to the Premier
League. Hull defender Liam Rosenior has no doubts about which way his gaffer
should jump. Right-back Rosenior, 26, rapped: "I am not surprised the
manager is getting linked with the job at another club. But is it
flattering? No, because Leicester are in the same league as us. "Yes, they
have got money but they are below us in the table so it is not flattering at
all. "If it is a top Premier League club it might be different but I would
be very disappointed if the boss decided to go to Leicester because I think
we have got better players here. "We would all be devastated if he went.
Hopefully, he will stay."
Quick-fire second-half goals from Sam Baldock and Jack Collison saw West Ham
win. Hammers boss Sam Allardyce, who worked with Pearson at Newcastle, said:
"I am not at all surprised he is being linked with other jobs. "I love Nige.
The job he did at Leicester was magnificent and he has begun to turn Hull
around now."
SUN STAR MAN
ROBERT GREEN (West Ham). Rejuvenated keeper.
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West Ham's Carlton Cole shows his side's attacking strength in Championship
victory over Hull City
Carlton Cole's return to action gives Sam Allardyce plenty of options up
front but what he really wants is another central defender.
By Rajvir Rai4:50PM GMT 06 Nov 2011
Telegraph.co.uk
The West Ham manager was full of praise for Cole after he came on at
half-time and inspired West Ham to a 2-0 victory over Hull City with two
assists. "It is great to have him back," said Allardyce. "If we didn't have
Carlton as an option we might not have got the two goals. We've got Sam
Baldock, John Carew, Freddie Piquionne and now Cole back. That's four front
men who offer different threats to the opposition."
However, with no recognised first-team defender on the bench on Saturday,
Allardyce knows he will busy scouring the market during the international
break. "My main priority is to find a central defender to loan for the next
couple of months," said Allardyce "Abdoulaye Faye and James Tomkins are the
only two defenders we have in that position so I have got to try and get
someone in."
Despite being short on numbers, Allardyce believes his side have shown their
quality by going unbeaten in their past four games, a run that keeps them
second in the Championship, five points behind Southampton. "We are very
limited in how we can turn the team out because we have so few players
available," said Allardyce. "To produce three wins and a draw out of four
with so few numbers shows the quality of the squad is good enough but the
depth of it is not." Liam Rosenior, meanwhile, believes Hull – who have only
scored 14 goals this season – must be more clinical up front. "They had a
15-minute spell out of the 90 when they were on top and managed to score
twice," he said. "That was the difference. Against the top teams, you need
to score when you're on top."
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