Daily WHUFC News - 13th September 2012

Cole eyeing Norwich goal
WHUFC.com
Carlton Cole is eager to mark his 150th Hammers start with a win and a goal
at Carrow Road
11.09.2012

Carlton Cole is looking to mark his 150th start in a West Ham United shirt
with victory at Norwich City on Saturday. With Andy Carroll set to miss the
Barclays Premier League trip to Carrow Road with a hamstring injury, the No9
is expected to be drafted back into the starting line-up by manager Sam
Allardyce. Cole, who received a rapturous ovation when he replaced Carroll
in the 3-0 home win over Fulham last time out, is determined to mark his
latest milestone with a third victory in four league games to start the new
season. "We've obviously had a little break and those of us not involved
with our national teams have been in training and have also had a couple of
days off to unwind and get focused for the big week we have got ahead of
us," he explained. "The manager has been on us this week to get fit and make
sure we're at the top of our game for the trip to Norwich. "I know we did
well in our last game and the boys want to crack on again, but sometimes you
need that mental break to sit back and re-assess what you have done "We know
what we have got to do. Our last away game wasn't very good at Swansea City
so this week we're focusing on how we're going to prevent Norwich from being
a threat and also how we're going to be a threat to them and try to score
goals."

While many strikers would feel threatened by the arrival of an international
forward, Cole is experienced enough and wise enough to know that Carroll's
presence can only benefit the club he has served for the past six seasons.
The top scorer in each of the previous four seasons took to social
networking website twitter to welcome the new No8 to the Boleyn Ground and
is relishing the challenge of fighting for his place with his fellow England
international. "Every year, you have to have people challenging for places
because it is healthy for the club. I'm a guy who believes in that and you
could get complacent if you know you are going to play week-in, week-out.
"It's better to always be on your toes and I welcome a challenge like Andy
Carroll because he is one of the best target men around in the Premier
League and it's just going to reinvigorate me to be a better player."

Another new face who Cole was happy to see was midfielder Yossi Benayoun,
who he previously lined up alongside in a claret and blue shirt during the
unforgettable 'Great Escape' season of 2006/07. "Yossi is a brilliant
character and a great player as well - we all know that. He has finally come
home and he's back where I believe he belongs. I played for a season with
him before he went off to Liverpool but he was really influential around the
players and the team. "I was sad to see him leave so now he's back, I'm
really happy."

Alongside Matt Jarvis, Matt Taylor, Mark Noble and Ricardo Vaz Te, Benayoun
is just another creative player who Cole cannot wait to start working with
on the pitch. Any striker thrives on great service and the No9 believes that
quintet will provide plenty of inviting crosses and through balls for him to
feed off. "It's looking tasty! We've got a lot of players who can go forward
and fit in. Vaz has started the season really well and has got three assists
already and he'll get his goals too because once he starts scoring he won't
stop. "Everything is looking fruitful in and around the club and I'm very
happy to be involved."

One thing Cole has been missing so far this season is a goal. Having
finished the previous four campaigns as the club's top scorer and netted a
vital strike in the npower Championship Play-Off final win at Wembley, the
popular frontman wants to find the net again as soon as possible - if only
to silence captain Kevin Nolan!
"I've been having banter with Nobby in the changing room already and he's
already on me! Last year, we were bouncing off each other saying 'I've got
more goals than you, so what are you going to do about it?' "We just spur
each other on with a bit of banter and every time I get the chance to play,
whether it be with another striker or up front on my own, hopefully I'll get
the chance to score and keep up with Nobby. "He's a goal poacher and it's
great for the club to have everyone pitching in."

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Cole welcomes competition
Hammers striker ready to challenge Carroll for first-team place
Last Updated: September 12, 2012 2:39pm
SSN

West Ham striker Carlton Cole is adamant that Andy Carroll's arrival at the
club will have a positive impact on his own progress. Cole made way for
Carroll, who has signed a season-long loan deal with the Hammers, in the 3-0
victory over Fulham last time out. Although Carroll is now facing up to six
weeks on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury, Britain's most expensive
footballer will likely be the first-choice frontman when he returns. But
Cole believes the fact he will now have to fight for playing time means he
will improve as a player. "Every year, you have to have people challenging
for places because it is healthy for the club," Cole told West Ham's
official website.

Complacent

"I'm a guy who believes in that and you could get complacent if you know you
are going to play week in, week out. "It's better to always be on your toes
and I welcome a challenge like Andy Carroll because he is one of the best
target men around in the Premier League and it's just going to reinvigorate
me to be a better player." Cole also welcomed the return of Yossi Benayoun
after the midfielder returned to Upton Park on a loan deal from Chelsea. He
added: "Yossi is a brilliant character and a great player as well - we all
know that. "He has finally come home and he's back where I believe he
belongs. I played for a season with him before he went off to Liverpool but
he was really influential around the players and the team. "I was sad to see
him leave so now he's back, I'm really happy."

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Is it a Miracle Return for Carroll, But a Longer Road to Full Fitness for
Collison?
By S J Chandos
West Ham Till I Die

It has been reported that Andy Carroll is responding so well to treatment
that he could be available for selection in time for Sunderland match.
Apparently, the medical and physio staff are amazed at the progress that he
has made recovering from such a serious hamstring tear. I hesitate to say
this, but I hope that he is not rushed back to quickly, only to aggrevate
the hamstring. I am hesitant because the club as top medical and physio
provision and, logic says that, they will not allow Carroll to return until
he is 100% recovered. I always recall the way that we rushed Julian Dicks
back from an injury and he subsequently sustained a far worse injury that
hampered his career and brought it to a pre-maturely end. (Although some
accounts maintain that the surgery that Dicks received was actually the
major determining factor in that!).

Of course, the ideal scenerio would be that Carlton Cole rises to the
challenge against Norwich City and gives Sam Allardyce a selection headache!
The probability is that Carroll is our No. 1 centre forward and will play if
he is fit. However, fair is fair, if Cole performs well then he is entitled
to a reasonable expectation that he will retain his place against
Sunderland. If Carroll is fit, at least a strong Cole performance will give
Allardyce the option of starting our star loan signing on the bench, giving
him 15-20 minutes and effectively ease him back in to the team. But that is
the beauty of having depth in strength and competition for places, it
promotes competition for places and, hopefully, raises performance across
the board.

It is certainly very positive that Carlton Cole has welcomed Andy Carroll to
the club and the competition for places that it will bring. There is of
course another factor relating to Cole, in the recent interview with Iain,
he discussed the need to manage his knee condition. The fact that the club
tend to give him 70-75 minutes on a Saturday, if he is expected to play in
midweek. With Carroll's availability that management regime becomes a whole
lot easier, with a reduced need to keep pushing the limits of his playing
time. Essentially, Cole can respond to competition from Carroll in one of
two ways, he can lose confidence and go in to his shell, playing wise, or it
can spur him on to better levels of performance. I hope that we have the
latter response from him, rather than the former!

As for Carroll, his early return is very posiive because it means that he
will not lose the match fitness that would have arose from a six-week injury
lay-off. And that is very positive for all concerned.

More positive news for the club and its fans, can also be found in reports
that Matt Javis is likely to return to face Norwich City and Jack Collison
is close to physical fitness. I was really disappointed that Jarvis was not
fit for the Fulham game, because obviously the Carroll-Jarvis link up is one
that every fans is looking forward to seeing. I really rate Jarvis and I
think that his pace, skill and accuracy, in delivering the ball in from the
flanks, will add a whole new dimension to the squad. While, Jack Collison is
a real talent, whose progress has been impeded by that freak knee injury
that he suffered up at Wigan a two or three seasons back. With Jack Collison
I worry if the injury is likely to have a sustained impact upon his
availability, but I have no such worries on about his ability. Towards the
end of last season, it really started to come back together for Collison, as
he put in some fine performances in the run-in to our promotion campaign.
Indeed, in those final matches he looked like the Jack Collison of old,
particularly in the resounding two legged play-off semi-final victory over
Cardiff City.

Hopefully he will get fit and return to that sort of form. However, while he
may achieve physical fitness soon, the fact is that he has missed the whole
of pre-season and as a consequence is nowhere near match fit. So, it is
likely that the front end of the season will spent building up his match
fitness with the Development Squad and easing his way back in to first team
contention. If a player misses pre-season he tends to ends up playing
catch-up and this necessitates a process of building it up fitness during
the course of the subsequent season. So, it is likely that we will need to
show a bit more patience where Collison's return to first action is
concerned. However, he is worth it because Collison is a key member of the
squad. Again, one can only hope that the form of Diame, Noble, Diarra and
Nolan affords us the luxury of not rushing him back too early.

Finally, we apparently gave a successful pre-season trial to a 19 year old
French forward named, Abiola Badirou. During his trial period, Badirou made
two substiututes appearances for the Development Squad and impressed
sufficiently to earn a contract. He has previously played for French 2nd
tier side, FC Tours, and although seemingly a free agent there were
complications relating to the signing. These complications relate to his
amateur status at FC Tours and the subsequent registration paperwork. The
relevant paperwork was eventually submitted, but the club are awaiting FIFA
confirmation that he now a Hammers player? They must be keen to bring
Badirou to the club, as it appears that if FiFA's response is negative then
plan B is that he continues training at club and a deferred deal is pushed
through in January.

SJ. Chandos.

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Cole ready to fight for his place
The Sun
Published: 12th September 2012

CARTON COLE is relishing the prospect of challenging Andy Carroll for his
West Ham place. Cole was dropped for the Hammers' 3-0 win over Fulham
following Carroll's loan move from Liverpool. But the England striker picked
up a hamstring injury against the Cottagers and will be sidelined for up to
six weeks — opening the door for Cole to return at Norwich on Saturday. The
Hammers hitman said: "Every year, you have to have people challenging for
places because it is healthy for the club. "I'm a guy who believes in that
and you could get complacent if you know you are going to play week in, week
out. "It's better to always be on your toes and I welcome a challenge like
Andy. He is one of the best target men around in the Premier League and it's
just going to reinvigorate me to be a better player."

Cole also welcomed the return of Yossi Benayoun, who has joined on loan from
Chelsea. He added: "Yossi is a brilliant character and a great player as
well — we all know that. "He has finally come home and he's back where I
believe he belongs. "I played for a season with him before he went off to
Liverpool but he was really influential around the players and the team. "I
was sad to see him leave so now he's back, I'm really happy."

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Borre draw: Belgium international fighting to win a West Ham deal
The Mirror

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is looking at Belgian international Anthony
vanden Borre as he checks out THREE free agents. The 24-year-old arrived in
London on Wednesday in a bid to win a deal with the Hammers after leaving
Genk in his homeland in the summer. Vanden Borre, who had a spell at
Portsmouth a couple of years ago, can play at right-back or on the right
wing. But despite an impressive CV also including spells at Anderlecht and
Fiorentina, he was unable to find a club in the summer window so is free to
sign even though the deadline has passed. Allardyce is also looking at
out-of-work defenders John Mensah and Mikael Silvestre.
Former Sunderland centre-half Mensah was released by Lyon this summer.
Manchester United and Arsenal old boy Silvestre, who has spent two seasons
at Germany's Werder Bremen, hopes to prove he can still play in the Premier
League at 35. Allardyce, who had the knack of finding life in old dogs
during his days as boss, will run the rule over the trio in the next few
days. He is looking to pad out his squad for the coming months of Premier
League action with bargains after spending heavily on star signings Andy
Carroll and Matt Jarvis in August.

* CARLTON COLE reckons the signing of Andy Carroll will make him a better
player. The West Ham No 9 is set to make his 150th start for the club at
Norwich on Saturday with the on-loan striker out with a hamstring injury.
And Cole, the club's top scorer in the last four seasons, said: "It's better
to always be on your toes and I welcome a challenge like Andy Carroll. "He
is one of the best target men around in the Premier League and it's just
going to reinvigorate me to be a better player.
"Every year, you have to have people challenging for places because it is
healthy for the club. I'm a guy who believes in that and you could get
complacent if you know you are going to play week-in, week-out."

Cole added the return of his former team-mate Yossi Benayoun will add more
creativity to Sam Allardyce's side. "It's looking tasty!" he said. "We've
got a lot of players who can go forward and fit in. "Everything is looking
fruitful in and around the club and I'm very happy to be involved."

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EXCLUSIVE: Carroll set to make return next week after remarkable recovery
from hamstring injury
By MATT LAWTON
PUBLISHED: 22:45, 12 September 2012 | UPDATED: 22:45, 12 September 2012
Daily Mail

Andy Carroll is in line for a shock return to action next week after
stunning West Ham's medical staff with his response to treatment on his
injured hamstring.
Manager Sam Allardyce feared his new on-loan striker would be sidelined for
up to six weeks after suffering the setback on his impressive debut against
Fulham 12 days ago. But Carroll is staging a remarkable recovery and West
Ham's encounter with Sunderland at Upton Park on Saturday week has now been
pencilled in as a possible comeback date. It would be a huge boost to
Allardyce, after England's most expensive footballer made such a positive
impact against Fulham. Carroll had a hand in all three of West Ham's goals
in a 3-0 home victory against their London rivals. The news will also be
welcomed by England manager Roy Hodgson, who planned to start Carroll with
Manchester United's Wayne Rooney against Moldova and Ukraine, but was forced
to change his plans when both players were injured while playing for their
clubs. Carroll impressed Hodgson during the summer at Euro 2012, scoring a
magnificent header to open the scoring in a 3-2 victory over Sweden in the
second group game in Kiev, and the boss will now be looking to recall the
23-year-old for next month's World Cup qualifying doubleheader against San
Marino and Poland. Hodgson is aware that he will need additional firepower
against the dangerous Poles, having seen England struggle to find the net
against Ukraine at Wembley until Frank Lampard's late penalty, and he will
be cheered by the news from West Ham, who signed the £35million striker on
loan from Liverpool with an option to make the deal permanent next summer.

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