WHUFC.com
West Ham United have no time to bask in the glory of Saturday's win ahead of
Bristol City on Tuesday
15.04.2012
Sam Allardyce and his West Ham United squad returned to Chadwell Heath
bright and early on Sunday morning in high spirits to begin preparations for
Tuesday's game at Bristol City. The Hammers were magnificent during
Saturday's 6-0 home win against Brighton and Hove Albion, which moved them
to within three points of second-placed Southampton. The Saints have an away
game at Peterborough United on the same night and Big Sam is determined not
to let the weekend's good work go to waste. "We can't let complacency slip
in," said the manager. "We've got to get up and go again on Tuesday night.
There's no relaxing or enjoying Saturday's victory. We could a little bit on
Saturday night in the comforts of our own homes but it's about recovering.
"It's towards the end of a long season and we can't afford any slip ups that
might waste what we did on Saturday. If we slip up on Tuesday, we waste not
only the points but the goal difference we've clawed back as well."
With just two full days of training between the two games, it is likely Big
Sam will assess the freshness of individuals before deciding whether the
stick with the same starting XI. The probability of seeing an identical
teamsheet on Tuesday was increased by the manager's ability to withdraw the
likes of Gary O'Neil, Guy Demel and Ricardo Vaz Te early once it was clear
Saturday's game was safe. "Yes that's always nice especially for those
coming back from injury. Jack Collison got a run out and Guy Demel started
the game. Guy did very well and will be an important player for us as the
season reaches its climax. "Vaz had done his job for the day and that's why
he was taken off. It's good to allow the whole squad to get some game time
as we have very important games coming up."
Ricardo Vaz Te rightly grabbed Sunday's headlines after a stunning hat-trick
but was ably assisted in punishing the Brighton backline by Carlton Cole,
Henri Lansbury and Kevin Nolan. The attacking nature of West Ham's play and
the fact that the east London side have now scored 13 goals in three games
has left their manager delighted. "We've got to play like we did at Barnsley
as that performance was good. The fact that we've started scoring goals at
Upton Park is really pleasing me. We've got the players that can change the
game. Looking at Friday's game between Southampton and Reading it was
Southampton that played better but Reading won. "Reading had three attempts
at goal and won 3-1. We had 24 attempts on goal on Saturday and scored six
and we need to be as clinical as them. We have been in the last three games
and if we keep that up we just might win all three. The spotlight was firmly
on West Ham following Southampton's loss to Reading and Big Sam was
impressed by how his players responded. "Living under the pressure you can
sometimes wonder which way your players will go. We were under big pressure
against Brighton as we hadn't been winning at home and we needed the three
points. We responded by producing the best performance and entertainment of
the season at Upton Park. From start to finish it was different class."
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Vaz Te goal added to poll
WHUFC.com
Ricardo Vaz Te's stunning strike on Saturday has been added to the Goal of
the Season vote
16.04.2012
Ricardo Vaz Te's superb third goal has been added to the voting list for
this year's Goal of the Season. Following the Hammers' fantastic 6-0 victory
over Brighton on Saturday, Vaz Te's outstanding scissor kick goal has been
added to the Goal of the Season choices. The team's overall performance
against Brighton has also been added to the list for Best Team Performance.
Voting closes at midnight on Sunday 30 April so there is not long left now
to cast your vote.
The big prize, as ever, is the Hammer of the Year, where one player chosen
by the fans will join an esteemed list of Hammers legends that includes
Bobby Moore, Sir Trevor Brooking, Billy Bonds, Julian Dicks and, most
recently, three-times winner Scott Parker. Alongside the Hammer of the Year,
there are several other prestigious awards handed out on the night including
Goal of the Season, Signing of the Season, Best Individual Performance and
Save of the Season.
A full list of awards is as follows:
Hammer of the Year sponsored by Alpari (UK)
Goal of the Season sponsored by Mulalley & Co Limited
Save of the Season sponsored by Ark Build PLC
Best Individual Performance sponsored by Mulalley & Co Limited
Best Team Performance sponsored by Call Point
Signing of the Season sponsored by S14 Limited
To cast your vote, simply watch the videos on the homepage Freeplayer or
click here and then go to the voting page to vote for each category. All of
the winners will be announced on the night so book your place now to make
sure you find out first.
Ben Shephard will once again be hosting the ceremony, which takes place on
30 April at the London Hilton Park Lane. Tables are available from £2,500
plus VAT and individual places from £275 plus VAT. To make a booking or for
more information, please click here.
If you cannot be there on the night then you still have the chance to place
your bids for one of the money-can't-buy-prizes available in the auction.
These range from Assistant Manager for the Day, Chairman for the Day and a
chance to get the very first Macron replica kit from the Macron factory in
Italy. To view the items and to put your bid in, click here.
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Dylan doing well
WHUFC.com
Dylan Tombides will return to the training pitch on Monday as he continues
his inspiring comeback
16.04.2012
Last July, Dylan Tombides was diagnosed with testicular cancer after a
random drug test while representing Australia at the FIFA Under-17 World
Cup. After undergoing chemotherapy and major surgery, the 18-year-old
striker is back in training at Chadwell Heath and looking forward to pulling
on his boots again next Monday. Speaking to the matchday programme, the
rising star discusses the biggest fight of his life and thanks everyone
connected with West Ham United for helping him through it.
So Dylan, two-and-a-half months after your surgery, how are things
health-wise?
DT - I haven't got the all-clear yet. It's a time-line thing at the moment.
I had a blood test the other day and that was my third since my operation. I
need to get ten all-clears and that will officially tell me that I am clear
of the disease. The doctors have told me that if I am likely to recur, it
will be in the first year, and if I don't then I should be cured for life.
I've got another eight or so blood tests and other CT scans to go then
hopefully I'll get the all-clear.
How do you look back on the events of the previous eight months?
DT - Mentally it is frustrating because I still ask myself why it happened.
Nobody knows why and I don't think anybody will ever be able to tell me why
it happened. It's just the frustration of not being able to train fully and
play games, of going from such an active lifestyle to relying on other
people to do things for me. It wasn't the best experience, but nevertheless
it is something that I have gotten through.
You have been back at Chadwell Heath for a few weeks now working on your
fitness. How helpful has that been with regard to getting things back to
normal, physically and mentally?
DT - It's getting back to normal, especially compared to what I've had
recently. Seeing my mates and all the players and staff every day has been
great. Whether or not I'm playing, it certainly beats sitting at home or
lying in a hospital bed having cords linked up to me pumping poison through
me. When I first came back, everybody was asking me 'How are you doing?' and
'Are you all right?' but now it's much more normal conversations. People
still ask me how I'm getting on and how I'm feeling and it's great to know
that people care.
How helpful was the support you received from both inside and outside the
club in aiding your recovery?
DT - Obviously being on the bench in the Premier League raised my profile at
the club and people knew what was going on. When I was ill and having my
treatment, I always had club staff with me and people came to visit me after
my operation and stuff. It was a good feeling. I got lots of cards from the
club with messages from all the players written in them.
Academy physiotherapist Jon Urwin has been particularly supportive, hasn't
he?
DT - Jon has been with me every step of the way, to every scan and every
meeting I've had, making notes and helping me along to get fit again. Jon
has kept an eye on me and made sure everything has gone right. He's a top
man. Jon is running the London Marathon for the charity Children with
Cancer, which is a very good cause and we're all very proud of him for doing
it. I was the first person to sponsor him!
What is your daily routine now, then?
DT - I usually go to the gym first and do some swimming, then I'll go on the
stationary bike or the treadmill or the cross-trainer. It's a variety.
Sometimes I'll do it all in the morning and others I'll do some in the
morning and then the others in the afternoon. Next Monday I'll get my boots
back on and do some running on the pitch, so I'm looking forward to that
quite a bit!
Are you feeling more like your old self?
DT - More and more every day, yes. Obviously I lost a lot of muscle when
they cut me open through my abdomen, but it's coming back.
What would your message be to anybody reading this whose lives are currently
affected by cancer?
DT - Parts of it are physical but the majority of it is mental strength.
It's all about how much you want to stick in there and beat it. You have
just got to want to stay alive and if you get that through your head, you
shouldn't have any trouble at all. If you have support from your family and
friends, it helps. People are thinking about you all the time so you cannot
let yourself get down in the dumps.
Since you've been back, you've been involved in plenty of events - meeting
Jonjo Heuerman after his Bobby Moore Fund walk, helping the Media team as a
pundit and welcoming the Sydney Hammers to the Boleyn Ground - so how have
you enjoyed those roles?
DT - I'd do anything for the fans, just like any player would. They come to
support us each week so you have got to give something back. They take their
time and spend their money on tickets to watch you play and cheer you on.
You've got to do your bit for them, too.
Your family have been truly fantastic through all of this, haven't they?
DT - My family have been really good to me all the way through it. My Mum
spent a lot of nights in the hospital because she didn't want to be away
from me, which was really nice. I know my Dad and brother (Taylor, who is a
schoolboy player within the West Ham Academy) were thinking about me all the
time and my family back in Australia were quite worried about me too and I'm
grateful for all their support.
Finally, can you now start dreaming of making that Boleyn Ground debut
again?
DT - It's not far away. I can see it on the horizon and I'm looking forward
to it!
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Welcome back, Dylan
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 16th April 2012
By: Staff Writer
Dylan Tombides will return to full training next week after receiving more
good news in his battle to overcome testicular cancer. The 18-year-old, who
was diagnosed with the disease last year has spent the last year undergoing
surgery and chemotherapy. And whilst he is still some considerable way from
receiving the all clear, having received a third positive blood test since
his treatment ended the Australian striker has been told he can return to
training. "It's a time-line thing at the moment," Tombides told whufc.com.
"I had a blood test the other day and that was my third since my operation.
I need to get ten all-clears and that will officially tell me that I am
clear of the disease. "The doctors have told me that if I am likely to
recur, it will be in the first year, and if I don't then I should be cured
for life. I've got another eight or so blood tests and other CT scans to go
then hopefully I'll get the all-clear."
Tombides - who was on the verge of making his first team debut before being
diagnosed with the disease - admitted that he still asks himself "why me?",
but said that he couldn't wait to get his career back on track. "Seeing my
mates and all the players and staff every day has been great," he said.
"Whether or not I'm playing, it certainly beats sitting at home or lying in
a hospital bed having cords linked up to me pumping poison through me."
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Morrison raring to go
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 16th April 2012
By: Staff Writer
Recent signing Ravel Morrison is still hoping to play some part in West
Ham's remaining fixtures this season. The former Manchester United youngster
joined West Ham on transfer deadline day since when he has made just the one
first team appearance, in United's 1-1 draw against Leeds at Elland Road.
Since that game a month ago tomorrow, the 19-year-old has failed to make a
single appearance for the first team - and bar the 1-1 draw against
Middlesbrough at the Boleyn Ground on 20th March when he was an unused
substitute, Morrison has failed to make a single match day squad. That
absence has led to all manners of rumours suggesting reasons for his
omission from the first team picture - including bust-ups with fellow team
mates, no-shows at training, a club suspension and even one suggestion that
he had walked out on the club and was living back in Manchester.
However as is often the case, the truth is rather less newsworthy and the
youngster's absence from recent squads has, KUMB.com understands, been due
to a back injury - from which he has now recovered. Sam Allardyce warned
Morrison in the week following the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough that the
former England youth international needed to start making the most of his
obvious talent. "What is in his personality is the key to delivering a
career," said Big Sam. "We can guide him to succeed in his own career but
he's responsible for that. The talent deserves the big stage, but you have
to have the capability, psychologically, to transform that ability."
And following Saturday's 6-0 thrashing of Brighton, the manager issued a
general warning to all of his young players. "You often see young players
drift out of the game and abuse their talent," added Allardyce. "That's what
we say in the game - "don't abuse your talent, son", because it's not just
talent that makes you a top level professional footballer."
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Blasts of the Mohican gives West Ham promotion hope
London24
Dave Evans, West Ham Correspondent
Monday, April 16, 2012
1:00 PM
The January transfer window is always a tough time to find a bargain
signing, but the arrival of Ricardo Vaz Te for just £500,000 from Barnsley,
may prove to be one of the shrewdest moves of the season. It didn't always
look that way. Not long after the Portuguese striker's arrival, West Ham
stood four points clear at the top of the Championship, but despite all his
goals and some sparkling play both on the wing and up front, the Hammers
chances of automatic promotion are slim at best. But there can be no blame
attached to Vaz Te. His record since arriving is a match for any player to
pull on a claret and blue shirt. He has scored 10 goals in 12 appearances
for West Ham, 22 in all this season if you include his Barnsley goals, and
he has now scored in five consecutive appearances for the club. It is an
enviable record, but for manager Sam Allardyce the fruition of a gamble he
took on a player he has known since he was just a boy. "I had him at 16 at
Bolton, so I always knew the talent was there, but often you see young
players drifting out of the game, abusing their talent," said the boss after
watching Vaz Te's hat-trick in the 6-0 demolition of Brighton. "The only way
he has become the talent he is, is because he has been down and out. He has
been left to ponder his career and whether he wanted to be one of those
talent wasters. "He went out of Bolton and I think he ended up in Greece for
a year, he was in Scotland for a year and then he ended up at Barnsley.
"Once I had a look at him and found out that he had only six months left on
his contract, I said to David Sullivan, we have got to get this lad, he
could be great, and he has been."
Vaz Te took just two minutes to get on the scoresheet on Saturday with a
thumping 25-yard shot and added another before the break when he showed his
aerial power by nodding home Gary O'Neil's cross from the far post. Then to
round things off, he scored an overhead kick to complete his hat-trick,
before going off to standing ovation with 13 minutes still to go. "He was
scintillating today and outstanding in the other games before that," said
Allardyce. "His hat-trick today had three great goals. The first one was a
blistering thunderbolt that dipped and swerved and move. You can look at the
keeper, but I don't think he has got any chance. "The header on the far post
was over a defender and showed his bravery and then the overhead kick was
the icing on the cake. "It was the best piece of technique you will see in
both the leagues. They are still raving about the goal that Wayne Rooney
scored against Liverpool, but this was as good as that one."
Praise indeed from his manager, but the modest 25-year-old was keen to play
down such an amazing performance. "Maybe from the fans' point of view it was
my best performance, but it was important that we got a win at home," he
said simply. It seems that the striker is playing with a smile on his face.
"I am more than happy and I have been happy since day one," he said. "I
always thought it was the right decision to come here, so I have nothing to
complain about. Everybody has been really great to me – the fans and the
support that I get from them. It was easy for me to settle quickly and
that's important." Vaz Te is already looking like a household name at West
Ham and if he helps them back into the Premier League at the first time of
asking, he will quickly become a Hammers hero.
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ROBINS WITHOUT SUSPENDED PITMAN
Bristol City v West Ham.
Sporting Life
Bristol City will be without suspended striker Brett Pitman when they
entertain West Ham in the Championship. Pitman was dismissed for a foul on
Coventry's Jordan Clarke during the Robins' crucial 3-1 victory over the Sky
Blues on Easter Monday and serves the second game of a three-match ban for
the visit of the Hammers.
City boss Derek McInnes will be hoping his side move further clear of the
relegation zone with a second consecutive home victory, but they will have
to do so without a number of first-teamers. Kalifa Cisse is a major doubt
with an ankle injury, Lewin Nyatanga is also struggling with an ankle
problem and another ankle victim, James Wilson, has been ruled out for the
rest of season. Midfielder Marvin Elliott (Achilles) and striker David
Clarkson (ankle) will also remain sidelined for the remainder of the
campaign.
West Ham team news to follow...
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JON HAS HISTORY WITH HAMMERS
Posted on: Mon 16 Apr 2012
Bcfc.co.uk
Jon Stead is a man who has history with tomorrow night's opponents at Ashton
Gate, West Ham, and it isn't a good one. Back in 2006/07, whilst playing for
Sheffield United, Jon found himself on the wrong end of a saga that rocked
football. That season it was Carlos Tevez who helped West Ham secure Premier
League survival on the final day of the campaign - at the expense of Jon's
Blades - despite the fact the Hammers had contravened rules over third-party
agreements by signing the Argentine. Later fined £5.5m by the Premier League
and forced to pay the Blades a significant out-of-court settlement, it
mattered little to Jon, who found himself robbed of his top flight status.
Even now, it still rankles with the big striker. Gritting his teeth when
reminded of the tale, Jon said: "Tevez, grrr, he ruined a few things for us
when I was at Sheffield United. "They won away on the last day of the season
at Manchester United and we went down. Tevez scored that day as well. "It
would certainly be nice to get one over on West Ham."
He added: "They're a good side and deserve to be in the Premier League, but
we've done well against the top sides in the division. We secured a draw at
their place and that certainly wasn't easy." "We're feeling good at the
moment. "They're pushing to try and grab an automatic promotion spot, while
we are looking to secure our safety. "I'm sure it will be a decent
atmosphere and we can't really ask any more from the fans at the moment. If
it's anything like the Coventry game then I'm sure we'll come away with the
result we deserve."
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Exclusive - Allardyce insists play-off place would be 'fantastic' for West
Ham
talkSport
By Nick Rostron-Pike | Monday, April 16, 2012
Sam Allardyce insists West Ham will have had a fantastic season - even if
they miss out on automatic promotion. The Hammers were firm favourites to
return to the top-flight, at the first time of asking, after spending
heavily both last summer and in the January transfer window. Sam Allardyce's
side have struggled at home this season, though, and are currently third in
the Championship, three points off Southampton. At the moment we still think
we can nick an automatic place if we win all three games
— Sam Allardyce
But former Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn boss Allardyce believes his side
can cope with not going up automatically and will fight all the way in the
play-offs. "It's not in our hands anymore," Allardyce told the Alan Brazil
Sports Breakfast. "We have to hope that someone slips up. It's not the end
of the world getting into the play-offs though, it will still be a fantastic
season. "In terms of expectations, the object of the exercise was to get up
at the first time of asking. At the moment, we still think we can nick an
automatic place if we win all three games. "We still believe someone will
slip up, we've got to make sure that we win all three [games] and we go from
there. Should we not go up automatically, we look at the play-offs and we go
into them with great confidence."
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West Ham United boss warns side not to waste Brighton result by slipping up
against Bristol City
12:23pm Monday 16th April 2012 in News
Guardian Series
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has warned his side not to throw away
their win against Brighton. The Hammers travel to Bristol City tomorrow
night and Allardyce knows if they slip up it will overshadow their 6-0 win
over Brighton on Saturday. Allardyce, whose side are three points behind
second-placed Southampton, told the club website: "We can't let complacency
slip in. We've got to get up and go again on Tuesday night. "There's no
relaxing or enjoying Saturday's victory. We could a little bit on Saturday
night in the comforts of our own homes but it's about recovering. "It's
towards the end of a long season and we can't afford any slip ups that might
waste what we did on Saturday. If we slip up on Tuesday, we waste not only
the points but the goal difference we've clawed back as well."
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