Daily WHUFC News - 25th February 2013

A message from the Chairmen
WHUFC.com
David Sullivan and David Gold have written to supporters ahead of Monday
night's game against Spurs
24.02.2013

Dear Supporter,

Firstly, we would like to start by thanking you for your wonderful support
this season. With a total home attendance of over half-a-million already
this campaign, you have shown in your numbers, both at the Boleyn Ground and
away from home, a fantastic backing which is appreciated by everyone at the
club.

We host Tottenham Hotspur in a Barclays Premier League fixture on Monday
night, and alongside the prospect of a thrilling London derby, the club will
also be marking the 20th anniversary of the passing of the great Bobby
Moore.

It promises to be a memorable night under the Boleyn Ground lights, not
least because the team will be looking to keep their excellent run of home
form going - with the help of your backing from the stands.

The club is extremely proud of its work in supporting programmes that
promote tolerance and inclusion, and you will have seen more evidence of
that this
week as we push the message of the Football v Homophobia campaign.

West Ham United were one of the first professional football clubs to lend
its support to this important movement, and our work there sits alongside
our support of Kick it Out, Holocaust Memorial Day, Black History Month,
Inter-Faith Week and many other key initiatives.

We have had fantastic feedback from supporters who have praised the work we
have done. However, there are occasions when individuals still act an
inappropriate way and we have a simple zero-tolerance policy when those
isolated incidents do occur at matches at the Boleyn Ground.

Working with the Metropolitan Police, we will pursue the harshest sanctions
against any individual who goes against what we stand for as a club, and in
the rare case that you do see or hear anything you think in unacceptable,
there are a number of ways you can report the matter.
Two of the easiest ways are to speak to your nearest steward at the stadium
or use the Boleyn Ground's anonymous fan phone number - 07860 404 069 -
where all calls will be treated in the strictest of confidence.

Everyone at West Ham United is looking forward to Monday's visit of
Tottenham Hotspur. It should be a fantastic game of football, a wonderful
opportunity to remember Bobby Moore -the greatest player to don the famous
Claret and Blue - and a chance to show the world what being a Hammers fan is
all about - supporting with pride, passion and respect.

Come on you Irons!

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Hammers fans remember Bobby
WHUFC.com
Club mark 20th anniversary of Bobby Moore's death with wreath-laying service
24.02.2013

West Ham United supporters turned out in numbers on Sunday morning to mark
the 20th anniversary of Bobby Moore's death with a wreath-laying service at
the Boleyn Ground. Hammers Joint-Chairman David Gold was joined by Moore's
West Ham and England team-mate Martin Peters, Bobby's daughter Roberta and
granddaughters Poppy and Ava, Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales and club
chaplain Rev Alan Bolding, for a service at The Champions statue on Barking
Road. Hammers fans were invited to pay their respects in a moment of silence
while memories of the legendary Hammers captain were recounted.
Mr Gold told whufc.com: "It was a lovely service and it is an honour for us
all to remember Bobby today, on what is the 20th anniversary of his sad
passing.
"He was our England World Cup winning captain, but also more personally for
us all here at West Ham, a legend at our club and always will be. "It was
great to see so many West Ham fans turn out in what was bitterly cold
weather. But they wanted to pay their respects to a man who we hold very
dear at this club.
"Bobby will continue to be remembered at our club. There were many fans here
today who are too young to remember him or didn't see him play. I was one of
those fans who did see him play and have, like many others, my own special
memories of Bobby. "Greats are almost immortal and he is one of those
greats. I am quite sure that Bobby will be continued to be remembered for
another century and more. "We take our tributes into our game with Tottenham
Hotspur tomorrow. We will have Bobby's grandchildren leading the team out, a
minute's applause and much more. All of this is simply our way of paying our
respects to such an iconic footballer and man. One of the nicest men, who
had personality, charm and modesty and is legend in the game. "Tomorrow's
game will have it all for Bobby, as well as all the tributes, a bustling
London derby with a full crowd behind the team. I think it is just fitting
for him."

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Bobby Moore tributes at Monday's game
WHUFC.com
Take your seats early for the club's commemoration of Bobby Moore
24.02.2013

Supporters are asked to take their seats early at Monday's game against
Tottenham Hotspur for the pre-match tributes to Bobby Moore. The club are
marking the 20th anniversary of Bobby's passing at the game against Spurs,
with the build-up starting from 7.40pm. Tributes from current and former
Hammers players will be screened in the run-up to the game, while the team
will be playing in specially-embroidered shirts. A host of Moore's
contemporaries have been invited to attend as special guests of the club,
including fellow World Cup winners and West Ham team-mates Martin Peters and
Geoff Hurst, and five-times Hammer of the Year Sir Trevor Brooking. There
will be a minute's applause to remember Bobby and supporters in the Bobby
Moore Stand will also be invited to take part in displaying a special mosaic
depicting Moore's famous claret and blue No6 shirt, which was retired by the
club in August 2008 to mark the 50th anniversary of the defender's West Ham
debut. The Match is also one of this seasons designated Bobby Moore Fund
matches and the Fund will be the beneficiary of all charitable activity
carried out at this fixture. A special 100-page Official Programme is also
being produced for the occasion, including exclusive memories of Moore from
those who knew him best, on and off the pitch. Priced at £4, a donation of
50 pence from the sale of each programme will be made to the Bobby Moore
Fund for Cancer Research UK.

A bucket collection will also be held at the Boleyn Ground to allow
supporters to make their own personal donations to the charity founded in
Moore's memory devoted to fighting the disease that took his life. The West
Ham squad will also warm-up in Bobby Moore Fund T-shirts before kick-off to
create awareness for the charity and the first team players will sign the
shirts they play in on the night in order that they can be auctioned to
further boost the club's fundraising total for the charity.

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Taylor targeting big finish
WHUFC.com
Matt Taylor is confident West Ham United are on course to end the season on
a high
24.02.2013

Matt Taylor believes West Ham United are in prime position to enjoy a strong
finish to their Barclays Premier League campaign, starting with the
eagerly-awaited visit of Tottenham Hotspur. The Hammers welcome Spurs to the
Boleyn Ground with every reason to be confident, having collected seven
points out of the last possible nine in front of their own fans. While
Taylor acknowledges the threat posed by Andre Villas-Boas' men, the West Ham
winger insists he and his team-mates are concentrating on their own
performances, rather than obsessing about the opposition. "The main thing
for us on Monday night is to try and worry about ourselves," Taylor
explained. "We understand that Tottenham have got lots of fantastic players
and they are a great team but we're not bad ourselves! "It's a local derby
and we want to overturn what was a disappointing result at Tottenham.
Everybody at the club at the moment is in a positive frame of mind and in
good spirits and that for me is a fantastic thing. Everyone's full of
confidence and morale is high, so hopefully we've got a good end to the
season coming up."

If West Ham are to make amends for November's 3-1 reverse at White Hart
Lane, Taylor accepts it is going to require a collective effort from players
and fans alike. The 31-year-old is expecting a stirring atmosphere under the
lights at the Boleyn Ground and promises that he and his colleagues will
match the commitment from the stands. "We're at home and I'm sure it will be
a full house and the fans will get behind us. If we can emulate the
performances that we've produced against the top teams this season at Upton
Park then hopefully we'll get a good result. "The fans have local pride at
stake, as do we as players. Because football's a small world, even amongst
the players. The fans will get themselves up for it, I know it's an old
adage but they can be the 12th man. "I'd like to think they appreciate our
efforts in every game. While we might not always get the results we deserve,
each and every player when they pull the shirt on works 100 per cent for the
team .That'll be the case on Monday night and they'll get right behind us."

As for Monday's visitors, Taylor rubbished talk of Spurs being overly
reliant on the much-coveted Gareth Bale. The Welshman has notched six of
Tottenham's last seven goals, but West Ham's No14 reckons Bale is in
exceptional company. "Everybody's talking about Gareth Bale because he's
playing well and scoring goals. He's one of a number of players that we're
going to try to have shackle on Monday night to get a good result. They are
on a high now from the Europa League progression into the last 16, so it's
going to be a difficult game for us. "But I wouldn't want to suggest that
Tottenham are a one player team because they're not. They've got lots and
lots of exceptional players and we've got make sure that we keep as close an
eye on those players as we can. But also go and do our stuff as and when we
get the chance."

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West Ham v Tottenham
BBC.co.uk
KO 20:00
24 February 2013
Last updated at 12:34

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Monday, 25 February

West Ham defenders James Collins and Joey O'Brien have returned to training
and are in contention to play Tottenham at Upton Park. Collins has been out
because of a hamstring injury, while O'Brien was sidelined with a thigh
problem.

Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris is in line to return after being on the bench
for Thursday's Europa League draw at Lyon. Striker Jermain Defoe (ankle),
Younes Kaboul, Sandro and Tom Huddlestone (all knee) are unavailable.

MATCH PREVIEW

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has hinted that Tottenham are overly reliant on
in-form winger Gareth Bale ahead of Monday's clash at Upton Park.
Bale has scored in each of Tottenham's last three Premier League games and
has 17 goals for Spurs this season. "It'll be interesting to see whether
free-scoring left winger Gareth Bale can make West Ham's pitch any bigger.
He has been nothing short of sensational of late. "I think West Ham manager
Sam Allardyce will make sure his players double up on the Wales
international and make life difficult for him."

Jermain Defoe scored twice to fire Spurs to victory in the corresponding
fixture, when Bale was also on target, but the former Hammers striker is
absent through injury this time. "Recently they've lost their leading
goalscorer, who is Jermain Defoe, and (Emmanuel)Adebayor has been away at
the Africa Cup of Nations, so from a goalscoring point of view they've had
to rely on one man and one man only to come up with the goods," said
Allardyce. "That's Gareth Bale and he's been the major difference between
Tottenham and the teams they've played recently."

While Allardyce admits it's a case of stop Bale, stop Tottenham, he
acknowledges it's easier said than done. "Not only has he scored very
important goals, but they've been stunning goals at that," he added. "He's
going to need some looking after on Monday night."

West Ham have moved to try and avoid any repeat of the anti-Semitic chants
that marred the corresponding fixture in a match in which the 20th
anniversary of Bobby Moore's death will be honoured. For Spurs the game
comes hot on the heels of securing their Europa League progression on
Thursday with a 1-1 draw at Lyon but manager Andre Villas-Boas is
unconcerned about any European hangover. "We've been having some great,
great results," he said. "After Europa League games we've always been good
in the Premier League. I think it puts us in a good position to face West
Ham. "I don't think it's a distraction, I think it's an inspiration and I
hope it can be exactly that against West Ham."

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Two goals from former West Ham frontman Jermain Defoe saw the Hammers lose
3-1 at White Hart Lane earlier in the season - their 11th consecutive
Premier League trip to North London without a win.
The Hammers have only won one of their last 11 league games against
Tottenham -1-0 in September 2010 thanks to Frederic Piquionne's goal.
This is the 137th meeting of the two sides. Tottenham lead by 58 wins to 44.

West Ham
West Ham are unbeaten in their last three Premier League home games, with
wins against Swansea and Norwich and a 1-1 draw with QPR.
Six of the Hammers' eight league wins this year have come at home, where
they have earned 22 of their 30 points. They have lost their last six away
games.
The last time West Ham scored more than a single goal in a league match was
their 2-1 win over Norwich on New Year's Day.
Leading scorer Kevin Nolan is one goal away from notching his 100th club
goal.
Jussi Jaaskelainen could start his 500th English league game, while Sam
Allardyce will take charge of his 350th Premier League match.

Tottenham
Spurs are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League games and have only lost
once in 14 - a 2-1 defeat at Everton on 9 December.
Tottenham are one of two Premier League clubs unbeaten in 2013 - the other
is Manchester United.
Only Manchester United and Chelsea have a better away record than Spurs this
year. Victory at West Ham will be a club-record eighth Premier League win on
the road.
Tottenham have lost 16 points from winning positions this season, losing
four and drawing two games they had previously led.
Gareth Bale has scored four goals in his last three Premier League matches,
taking his overall tally for the season to 17.

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Fans flock to Bobby service
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 24th February 2013
By: Staff Writer

There was an emotional gathering at the World Cup winners statue this
morning as a large crowd congregated to remember Bobby Moore, who died 20
years ago today. Scores of fans gathered on the corner of Barking Road and
Green Street to observe a minutes' silence in honour of former West Ham
United and England legend Moore, who died from bowel cancer aged just 51.
Accompanied by members of Bobby's immediate family including daugher Roberta
and her children, plus Martin Peters and David Gold, the crowd listened to a
service by West Ham United chaplain, Reverend Alan Bolding. "It was a lovely
service and it is an honour for us all to remember Bobby today, on what is
the 20th anniversary of his sad passing," Gold told whufc.com. "He was our
England World Cup winning captain, but also more personally for us all here
at West Ham, a legend at our club and always will be. "Bobby will continue
to be remembered at our club. Greats are almost immortal and he is one of
those greats. I am quite sure that Bobby will be continued to be remembered
for another century and more."

Gold also revealed that West Ham will be led out against Tottenham in
tomorrow night's Premier League clash by Moore's grandchildren, Poppy and
Ava - a match that promises to be an emotional affair. "We take our tributes
into our game with Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow," he said. "We will have a
minute's applause and much more. Tomorrow's game will have it all for Bobby;
I think it is just fitting for him."

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Viva Bobby Moore: David Gold
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 24th February 2013
By: Chris Scull

David Gold was just a supporter of West Ham when Bobby Moore's career was at
its zenith. In an exclusive interview with KUMB.com, Gold tells Chris Scull
what Moore means to him - and how he intends to ensure that Bobby's legacy
is never forgotten...


20 years on: David Gold, alongside Bobby's daughter Roberta and his two
grandchildren, at a memorial service this morning


David: thank you for taking the time to speak with us. What was it like for
you to watch Bobby from the terraces?

I can remember him in the early days when he first joined, when he started
to come through. Almost instantly you knew that this man was going to be a
star and of course, he was. Not many players do that; I remember Alan
Devonshire coming on the scene and in his first game thinking "wow, he's
going to be a star". Alvin Martin too - in that first 20 minutes I thought
the same.

Bobby was a superstar. All the others turned into stars but Bobby changed
into a superstar and it was just so exciting to see. The FA Cup in '64, the
Cup Winners' Cup in '65 and then we won the World Cup in '66 - fantastic
years.

We're all England fans come tournaments whether we support Millwall,
Charlton, Spurs or whoever, that is true. But somehow, because you had Hurst
in there, Peters in there but most of all the captain of England, it really
made you feel proud. You felt like it was an extension of West Ham.

In other words, when you stop watching your football team come the end of
May you go on and start watching the internationals and it's different. But
with Bobby Moore as the captain of England your football season lasted 12
months a year.

What are your particular memories of 1966?

My memories are of people like Antonio Rattín playing for Argentina when he
got sent off and we went on to win the game. It was more than just Bobby
Moore at that time, it was the fact that it was West Ham.

Hurst scored three goals, Moore was the captain and Peters scored as well -
it was just a very exciting time and remember, in those days you didn't see
tons of football on television. Here you were seeing a World Cup on
television - albeit in black and white - but it was really exciting.

It made you proud as well; not only were you proud because England were
doing well, you were proud because Bobby Moore was the England captain. My
West Ham hero was leading this amazing and exciting tournament.

Do you still retain that pride today? That Bobby Moore is still linked with
West Ham?

Every time you hear his name you think of those great times. Do you think of
the time we lost to Watford 1-0? No, it's gone - but you do remember all the
great events that he was involved in. He played for West Ham for 20 years
and I even remember when, in the 1975 FA Cup Final, he was captain of
Fulham. Somehow it was nice to see Bobby come out as their captain.

Bobby spent several years in the footballing wilderness after he stopped
playing. Do you think the FA and West Ham's previous owners let him down at
the time?

I think everyone let him down. I don't think it was just West Ham and the
FA, it was the public, the media. Bobby was extremely modest so he wasn't
somebody that would get on radio and television and tell a joke, or be one
of the chaps; he was a gentleman and a charming man. Today he would have
been a superstar, like a David Beckham. But in those days I'm afraid he fell
through the cracks, which is very, very sad.

I remember when he was really down, which is when he came to work for our
newspaper at Sport Newspapers. We were thrilled to have him - even if it was
just for personal reasons! Not only is he my England hero but he's my West
Ham hero, so I was very fortunate in meeting such an iconic figure and have
him working for our company. It was wonderful.

There he was - this very gentle, very modest man. Apart from us, I think
everybody treated him poorly.

So it was a bit of a dream come true for you to sign him for The Sport?

Yes. I don't want to be too sycophantic because I'm an elderly person, but
it's still wonderful to be able to say I met Bobby Moore! I shook his hand,
I had a cup of coffee with him and we chatted about old times. How many
people can say they've done that with such an iconic figure? I think I was
very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. One, it was
pleasurable for me but two, when I look back it was nice to have done
something for a nice man.

He didn't go to the Times, he didn't go to the Sun and he didn't go to the
Mirror - and the reason he didn't was because nobody really wanted Bobby
Moore for his talent as a pundit.

Why do you think that was? Why do you think he was unable to get that job?

If you go back and look at history it wasn't the done thing in those days.
If you think of all the great stars of that time, they only emerged later
on. I can't think of many footballers that became radio stars, television
stars or like Trevor Brooking is today, on the FA. Even today, apart from
Trevor and one or two others there aren't many brought in from the
footballing world.

Do you remember much about the tributes when he died?

I don't think that he was honoured highly enough. The tributes were fine, at
the time it seemed to be ok. It's when I look back that I don't think enough
was done and that's why we're trying now to ensure that all of the
shortcomings of the past are corrected. That's what driving us at this time.


Ok, there is a stand named after him and there's a statue across the road so
from that point of view you could argue that lots has been done. You could
argue that we shouldn't feel that we've let him down in any way - but
somehow I feel we have.

After his death I felt that he was honoured in that sense; the statue at
Wembley, for example - fantastic, there's no other captain there. He is
unquestionably the man most honoured in that sense. I just think that he
wasn't respected enough after his playing time until he died, that's where I
think the weakness was.

But why do you think that was? Why do you think he wasn't knighted?

I really am not sure. I can't understand why he didn't receive more than the
OBE but it was very skinny, wasn't it. Today there's absolutely no doubt
that a captain of England would be knighted if he won the World Cup. But at
the time I just think it was under done. West Ham should have done more
during his lifetime.

Although much was done after his death I think that was disappointing. I'd
have liked to have seen more done after he finished his football career
until he died.

Let's pretend Bobby was still alive now. Would you give him a role at the
club?

I'm sure. I think he would be a fantastic ambassador. Sadly he's been dead
for 20 years but in that time the Premier League and football in England has
grown hugely and I think that we would have all woken up to the fact that
here was a special individual and I think eventually people would have
realised "wow, this is a special man".

At the time of his death he was, if you like, in obscurity wasn't he? He was
working for the Sport but you never saw him on TV, he wasn't doing the
circuit. Today there'd have been 50 people trying to persuade him to do all
kinds of things that would have raised his profile and I think that would
have changed his life.

We know you want to right a wrong in terms of the tributes; what have you
got planned for tomorrow's [Monday's] game against Tottenham?

Lots of things are going to be happening and we won't leave a stone unturned
to make sure that he's honoured in every way. Obviously you've only got a
short period of time on match day but this will go on, there's lots of other
activities in terms of honouring him. So I'm quite excited, looking forward
to it and I'm sure the fans will be delighted by the activities.

* Extracts from this interview may also be heard in Episode 3 of the
KUMB.com Podcast - a Bobby Moore special.

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West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 24th February 2013
By: Preview Percy

Hello are you still here? It's so long since I had to write one of these
Arsenal may have still been in with a chance of a trophy. Well perhaps not
that long ago but it's still been an age.

Next we play host to the repository of limited intellect that is Tottenham
Hotspur. It's a Sky game so kick-off will be at 20:00 hrs GMT (that's 8pm if
you're a Spurs supporter). Being a Monday there are no planned engineering
works so you'll just have all the usual peak hour transport hassles to cope
with.

The visitors currently sit in 4th spot with 48 points from 44 games. That's
4 points above the other club in North London. Their last six league games
have provided them with three wins (3-1 at home to Reading, 1-0 away at West
Brom and 2-1 at home to the Geordies) and three draws (0-0 at QPR, 1-1 at
home to Moan Utd and 1-1 at Norwich).In amongst all that they've beaten
Coventry and lost to Leeds in the Cup and, in midweek, just managed to sneak
past Lyons in that cup that they'll be ridiculing if it's the only thing
Arsenal qualify for next season

Their position in the league is directly linked to the form of man of the
moment Gareth Bale. He's a fine player but does himself no favours with his
diving antics. Watching him pick up a deserved yellow the other week he then
had the bare-faced cheek to deny the dive in his post-match interview. For
the record if contact from a defender isn't enough to knock you over but you
go down anyway that's a dive. We'll have none of this "if he feels a touch
he has a right to go down" nonsense. Of course his antics won't cause any
shame to the Spurs faithful who, by definition, are incapable of
embarrassment in any case.

,Bale has been the only Spurs player to find the net in their last three
league matches, netting four times in that period. We can therefore assume
that he is pretty happy with life at the moment which begs the question:
"what does he actually sound like when he really is about to burst into
tears?"

They did a shrewd piece of business during the window, picking up Lewis
Holtby from Schalke for anything between £0-£1.5m depending on your source.
Holtby is half English, half German which makes him something like 157th in
line to the throne, probably. He's now been capped at competitive level by
the Germans, which has ended any chance of his wearing the three lions.
Still, on the bright side, it means that there is probably one person in the
German squad who is capable of missing a penalty when we play them in the
next World Cup.

The other bit of business they did was to bring in left back Ezeikel "Zeki"
Fryers, who went into the development squad. Despite the exotic name, and
despite his arrival from Standard Liege, Fryers is in fact English and hails
from Manchester – and therein lies a problem. Fryers is a product of the
Moan Utd academy and, although his contract was up at the end of last
summer, a compensatory fee would have been payable to any English club
taking the player on. The player spent the summer training with Spurs, but
when it came to sitting down and talking cash the Salford lot asked for £6m.
That seems a lot to me for a kid that you've offered £1,500 a week.
Tottenham agreed and didn't go through with the transfer. Fryers moved to
Standard Liege, who not being an English club, weren't obliged to pay
Fergie's whingers a penny. Well there has to be some benefit in being
Belgian I suppose. Fryers lasted until January before homesickness and the
sacking of Standard's manager got the better of him. Strange that a lad from
Manchester couldn't settle in a place where chips are the national dish.
Spurs stepped in and picked up the player for half of what Fergie was
asking. Fergie cried foul but made no formal complaint, presumably on the
grounds that, technically anyway, Spurs did nothing wrong. I mean it's not
like they paid and gave instructions to a player that was registered with
another club unlike some I could mention, eh Fergie?

One player who is likely to be missing from the visiting squad is Jermain
Defoe. Defoe damaged ankle ligaments against West Brom and, despite
optimistic managerial noises, he has yet to resume full training apparently.
Striking duties will fall between cowboy actor Clint Dempsey – who has an
irritatingly decent record against us – and the Togoan Emanuel Adabeyor.
Adebayor didn't exactly endear himself to the club by taking 5 days to get
back from South Africa where he took part in the African Cuppasoup. Now I've
been to South Africa – the Avram Grant Rest Home for the Bewildered used to
run occasional exchange trips to its sister establishment in Johannesburg
(The Eugene Terreblanche Harmony Homestead) until they discovered it the
trips were a front for getting rid of all the cheap mince before the health
inspectors came round – and I'm pretty sure that the flight was something
like 13 hours long, so 5 days did seem a bit excessive.

Of course we should spare a thought for poor old Scott Parker. We of course
remember him when he was good but having sold him once he was past his best
it was rather sad to see him giving the ball away to the French with
monotonous regularity the other night. Still his Hammer of the Year awards
must be some sort of consolation to him as he sees out the twilight years of
his career in reduced circumstances.

And so to us. Villa was a complete mess and yet again one can only look at
the mindset that we seem to adopt on the road. There was a team short on
confidence whose home form was appalling and we set ourselves up once more
as if we were after the draw. Baffling. I'm also beginning to tire of the
"if only we'd scored more goals than them we'd have won" comments from the
management that seem to follow each reverse. If my granny had wheels she'd
be a skateboard.

Still this time last year we went to Dubai and only lost once more that
season so maybe the trip abroad will have warmed the blood a little. I will
admit to feeling a slight unease at the choice of venue for the warm weather
training, remembering how they wouldn't grant Benayoun and Katan entry visas
when we went there a few years ago. There must be decent warm climes
available elsewhere where the hosts don't discriminate against certain
nationalities.

There is relatively good team news to report. Joey O'Brien is back in
training after coming off at Villa. George McCartney is said to be nearing a
return from his knee injury – he allegedly faces a late fitness test –
whilst James Collins is not far behind Linda in the recovery stakes, though
realistically it may just be a week too soon for the pair.

Left back has been a bit of a worry, though I'd have to be on the verge of a
panic attack before I'd be convinced that Ricardo Gardner might be the
answer to those worries. Some sources suggest that Gardner has been on trial
at the club whilst the quasi-official tweets of Sullivan Junior claim that
the player has simply been training with us to keep himself fit between
clubs. I've no reason to doubt young Mr Sullivan, though the player's
reported appearance for the development squad would seem to suggest there's
more than helping out an old friend on the agenda.

The return of Maiga from the Cuppasoup means there are no fewer than five
strikers available, if you include Welly Paulista who has been on target a
few times in the stiffs. However, comments from the club whenever his name
is mentioned suggest that they still consider the Brazilian to be a work in
progress rather than a realistic option for the first XI at this time.

One player we will be able to call on, albeit indirectly, is Bobby Moore
OBE. This match is the closest to the 20th anniversary of the great man's
passing and, if you haven't already done so, I can recommend a listen to the
wireless thingy that this website has put together which has contributions
from all sorts of people (I believe he means the kumb.com podcast – Ed). On
Monday night the club has all sorts of stuff planned. There will therefore
be a uniquely West Ham sort of atmosphere in the ground – something that
will go some way to countering the fact that in the away end football's
thickest group of supporters will see the match as a cup final. Meanwhile,
on the subject of Bobby one can only weep at the general decline in
standards that has seen the likes of Terry & Gerrard considered to be
suitable heirs to the position of England captain.

Back to the match and we are a different team at home. We don't always get
what we deserve mind – QPR and Liverpool are two matches where we've
outplayed average opposition with little reward for example. For this match,
Bale is wasting the form of his life with Spurs at the moment and keeping
him quiet will be the key. No doubt Mr Allardyce has some sort of scientific
analysis prepared – I just hope that the players are up to the job.

The form book suggests that this'll be a difficult one to get anything from.
However I remember playing at Forest just after the demise of Brian Clough
and the atmosphere carried them to an unlikely win. So I reckon that a
combination of home advantage and the Bobby Moore effect might just be
enough to overturn the form book. I'll therefore be placing the proceeds of
the Avram Grant Rest Home For The Bewildered's fund-rasing sales of
"Pistorius Bladerunner" T-Shirts (£2.50) on a 2-1 home win in the hope that
both crowd and players can do Bobby proud.

Enjoy the game!

When Last We Met the Boleyn Boleyn (September 2010) The apparently MLS-bound
Piquionne nodded home from a decent Noble corner to secure all three points.
Two collectors' items for the price of one then.

Referee: Howard Webb. Past it and a return to pounding the beat with the
South Yorkshire plod is probably overdue. At a FIFA conference he spoke out
about the need to clamp down on "simulation" amongst players. Let's see how
he deals with Bale.

Danger Man:Gareth "Christian" Bale – he's their main goal threat at the
moment either from open play or from dubiously-won free-kicks. This will
probably be his last time at the Boleyn for a few years as he'll no doubt be
off somewhere bigger in the summer. Barcelona has been mentioned though even
FC Chernobyl would be an improvement in surroundings.

Daft Fact Of The Week: Thousands of homes in the Tottenham area, even the
few without wheels on them, miraculously received state of the art tv sets
after the riots a few years ago. Unfortunately the instructions are far too
complicated for the average Spurs fan, many of whom have yet to work out how
to get the sets out of the box.

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Viva Bobby Moore: Brian Dear
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 24th February 2013
By: Chris Scull

Brian Dear grew up with Bobby Moore and played alongside him in West Ham's
greatest ever triumph - the 1965 Cup Winners' Cup Final win over 1860
Munich.

In our exclusive interview, Dear tells us what it was like playing alongside
Moore at West Ham during the 1960s. Firing the questions on behalf of
KUMB.com was Chris Scull...


Simply the Best: West Ham's 1965 Cup Winner's Cup team featuring Dear and
Moore


Brian: thank you for agreeing to talk to us. There's a whole generation of
people who never saw Bobby play. Can you explain why so many regard him as
the greatest defender who ever lived?

I don't know if everybody regards him as the greatest defender who ever
lived but certainly in the last 30, 40 years of English football - maybe
even longer - he was the best defender we had. I think he was revered as
well by lots of players on the continent; people like Pele and Beckenbauer,
those type of people.

He was a pleasure to play with and as you know he wasn't the quickest player
in the world or the greatest header of the ball, everybody always says that.
However his brain was a little bit better than everybody else's and his
positional sense was fantastic whilst the tackles he made were very
decisive.

He was just a natural for that position. Whether he would be as good these
days, because football's changed so much, I don't know. They don't have left
halfs, centre halfs and right halfs, they have four across the back. But I'm
sure he would have coped ok, he was a fantastic player.

What was he like as a captain?

He wasn't very vociferous, he really just captained the side with his
leadership - he led by the way he played. He was encouraging; he never
moaned and groaned at players as he always felt they'd done their best.
Sometimes your best wasn't good enough but if there was a meeting or
dressing room parley he was always very good. If he was asked a question his
answer would always be "they've done their best and sometimes their best
isn't good enough". He really just led by example with the way he played and
the way he conducted himself.

You were both good friends, was he a good drinking partner too?

He was a great pal. When it was time to relax he was good fun. He wasn't a
drunk or whatever but he enjoyed a beer and that's what we did socially. We
didn't have all the things that go on now in football. These days it's
commercially driven and the players have image rights - we were more for the
fans, we just went where they went.

In this day and age footballers go to places that most people can't get near
because of the massive money they earn but we were just basically working
boys. Our wages were good but nothing compared to today's money so when we
used to go to places it was local pubs, the Ilford Palais or a club
somewhere. There were no problems with people.

But there was a problem the night before the FA Cup tie with Blackpool?

Oh, Blackpool!

What was the story there?

Nothing much, really. We were just having a meal in the hotel then had a
bowl up the road to Brian London's club to have a couple of beers. I don't
suppose it was the best thing in the world to do but we weren't reeling
around drunk. We were just in the right place at the wrong time - or the
wrong place at the right time! We got hammered and although I didn't play in
the game, I was there. You know, you have to take the pill and suffer the
consequences. There's a lot worse goes on these days!

Oh, definitely! What are your memories of Bobby in the 1965 Cup Winners' Cup
Final? What was Bobby like, did he settle the team beforehand?

It was a big occasion. It's very difficult to explain these things because
you don't really remember too much of what happened at the time, but I do
remember he came round and asked how I was feeling. I'd only played in five
of the nine ties we played in the competition but I said "yeah, I'm ok, not
too bad".

He replied, "look, come out behind me, you'll be alright - plus the fact
you'll get your photo taken if you walk behind me!" He was quite a funny
bastard at times. That photo I've got of us walking out is probably the best
football photo I've got. It was a big night, a big stadium - 100,000 people.
Not that I was worried or afraid about what was going to happen, but Bobby
just made it a little bit better.

What can you remember about the celebrations that followed the game?

We didn't do anything! We went upstairs, had some sandwiches and a few beers
with our wives then got on the coach and went home via the ground.

Was that Ron Greenwood's idea?

No, that's just what it was like then - there was no fuss. The media make a
fuss out of everything now, don't they? Everything's pumped up. It was even
the same with [the] 1966 [World Cup Final] - they just went back to a hotel
in London and went on the balcony. Some of the wives were there and some had
a bit of grub afterwards. Their wives weren't even invited to have a meal
with them so they had to sit in an anteroom and have something to eat. I
know Martin Peters never went anyway, he just went to bed!

What was it like after 1966 with Bobby and the other World Cup winners
coming back to West Ham? Did they present bigger egos or were they any
different?

No, never. In fact, I've said to people loads of times that when they used
to go off and play in the national games they'd go off after a game on
Saturday, play on a Wednesday then come back [and play again the following
weekend]. There were no big time Charlies. Not just our club but all clubs,
the lads all got on very well. We didn't have many foreign players and there
were no little cliques, we were all friends and mates.

We used to go round one another's houses in the afternoon when we all lived
in Hornchurch and had a cup of tea or whatever. We used to have lots of
parties and all our kids grew up together. We still see one another, those
who are around. I'm 70 this year so I'm going to have a little function and
invite the boys, those who are around and want to come.

We're old boys now, aren't we - and I was one of the younger ones! Martin;
Johnny Sissons; [Ken] Brownie is 75, 76 years old now. And Peter Brabrook.
We're old fogies! There's teams at West Ham who never won anything and
they're legends; I don't know how you become a legend without winning
anything, but there you go!

You worked with Bobby down at Southend; what was he like as a manager?

Bob was involved in the Hope Hotel on the seafront with Patsy and Jimmy
Quill - a couple of lads who had some pubs in London. They had the Blind
Beggar and a pub in Stratford and they had this one down here, so I came and
looked after it. Bobby was manager of Southend but lived with me in the pub,
it was his pub. I think he was there for two or three years.

I used to go to the games then and used to see him quite a bit from being in
the pub. Harry Cripps and Jack Burkett went with him to Southend and I went
there afterwards. There were a few West Ham lads there; Frank Lampard and
Paul Brush went but he wasn't the greatest manager in the world, Bob. But
not all great players are good managers, are they?

I don't think Mourinho or Boaz played too much football; some of them were
just average players who were better coaches and managers than they were
players. Bobby Charlton tried it, Martin Peters tried it and Hursty was
manager at Chelsea one time. He went with Ron Greenwood to England. But they
never lasted long; Jack Charlton was probably the only one of that [1966]
team who really did any good.

Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles tried it as well, they all had a go but it was
different then and they're all still doing things now, all those lads. Until
we win anything again they're still big time, aren't they! It'll be 50 years
soon - and in two years' time, 50 years since we won the Cup Winners' Cup.

They'll never win it again, West Ham - never again. They were very
unfortunate to lose in the Final against Anderlecht [in 1976] which was a
shame, because they were a decent side then. But you've got to win on the
day and we did, with 11 Englishmen. God knows what Mooro would think now
when you've got 70 per cent foreign players in your side - and people wonder
why we don't win anything! Kids these days just don't get the chance.

When you look at the World Cup side you had Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters
who were 22/23 - Alan Ball was even younger - and Bobby was only 24 years
old. They were a young side but at the time, everyone had a chance to make
their mark. It's difficult now.


Take football now. If you look back to the '60s and '70s, the England side
very rarely changed. Now people get one cap and you never hear of them
again. I don't think the honour is there with internationals now, but if Bob
had been around I think he'd have had around 150 caps! 25 per cent of the
games they play these days are friendlies, they never played as many
friendlies as they do now. But it's a cash cow, everything in sport is
money-orientated now so it suffers a bit.

Talking of honours, Bobby has been honoured a lot more since he died - a
statue outside of Wembley, a stand at Upton Park; what changed for him to
get all these honours that he didn't get in his lifetime?

God knows, I supposed they felt a bit embarrassed. Look how long the boys
who were in the England squad had to wait to get an MBE - 30, 35 years
afterwards for Greavesie and the other lads in the squad. I went to the
unveiling of the statue at Wembley, it was an amazing day, unbelievable.

Do you think it's a fitting tribute?

Oh, yeah. Well no-one else is going to get one there, are they - there's no
room!

When you walk out of Wembley Park station, as you walk down to the ground,
it's there in front of you. At the time it was commissioned, the sculptor
[Philip Jackson] looked out from the station and said that the size they
wanted was no good, it wasn't big enough. It needed to be twice the size and
I don't think Wembley could afford it at the time, but they found the money
in the end.

The statue at Upton Park was funded by Newham Council, hence why it's not in
the ground at the Boleyn. But yeah, most things come your way after you've
gone, don't they! When you see footballers now getting knighthoods and
goodness knows what, if anyone deserved one it was him. But it wasn't to be.

Do you remember the last time you saw Bob?

Yes. The last time was at a football match at Tottenham.

Did you have a chance to say goodbye at all?

Well you can't say goodbye to someone when you don't know they're going to
die. He treated the illness with contempt and just got about his business.
Never made any fuss, very dignified and when the end came I think he was
where he wanted to be, at home. His kids and Steph were there and that was
about the size of it.

Things still go on for him, don't they - the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer
Research has made millions and still makes money, there's something going on
all the time. She works tirelessly Stephanie, raising money. So his legacy's
always there. 20 years now...

And you're still quite friendly with Stephanie?

Yeah, I see Steph quite a lot, I speak to her all the time.

Well thanks for talking to us, Brian. We've been fortunate to get plenty of
former acquaintances to speak to us this week, people like Harry Redknapp...

Well Harry was in America, wasn't he. When Bob took over as manager of
Oxford he brought Harry back - but Harry didn't know it was Oxford City, not
Oxford United and Oxford City were in the Ryman League! But it started Harry
off in his managerial career, didn't it!

* Extracts from this interview may also be heard in Episode 3 of the
KUMB.com Podcast - a Bobby Moore special.

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Viva Bobby Moore: Paul Walker
KUMb.com
Filed: Sunday, 24th February 2013
By: Paul Walker

KUMB columnist Paul Walker was lucky enough to meet his hero, Bobby Moore,
on three occasions...

I'm one of the lucky ones - I saw Bobby Moore play. Not just once, or twice,
but hundreds and hundreds of times. And for my club.

It's hard to believe that he passed away 20 years ago today. It reminds me
just how old I am getting too. For this was the footballer, not just any
footballer but the best defender England has ever produced, who dominated my
life way back then in the '60s. And now, too.

I suppose Moore has always been in my head, every day. I only have to look
around my office to see five books about him and his life, pictures of our
great side of the '60s, and an old framed picture of what the Boleyn used to
look like.

I feel I am writing this piece on behalf of the many thousands of old-time
Hammers fans who like me were so proud that this local boy was captain of
our club, captain of England and the man we all idolised.

To say I was chuffed when Graeme Howlett, the KUMB editor, asked me to write
something about Moore this week, was an understatement. I've covered half a
dozen European finals, World Cups, European championships and hundreds of
top games in a long - now ended - journalistic career. But nothing compares
to the sheer joy and pride I felt when Bobby Moore was in my team.

The young lads I watch West Ham with now are half my age and have only
fleeting memories of the man. I probably bore them with boozy chatter about
the good old days. Their memories are from film of the World Cup Final and
England, and maybe our great finals of '75 and '80. The rest comes from old
pictures and scrapbooks.

It's hard to explain just how good he was, just how important he was to East
London and our club. I was lucky, he was eight years older than me and had
just been made captain by Ron Greenwood when my teenage years started.

I remember how proud I was of him when he was selected for the 1962 World
Cup squad in Chile by Walter Winterbottom. I'd watched his formative years
slowly making his progress into our first team. A couple of years learning
his craft, he made just five appearances in his debut season, '58-'59. But
Matt Busby was full of praise for him on his debut, and that says it all.

It wasn't until October the following season that he made much more impact,
but he made our winner for Malcolm Musgrove at Everton on October 17. The
next two seasons he made 42 and 44 appearances respectively. A star was
born. And at 21 Greenwood made him our captain, and his England debut came
in the build-up to the '62 World Cup Finals, playing in a friendly against
Peru in Lima. He did so well that he stayed in the side through the finals
in Chile.

People tend to forget that 1966 in England was, in fact, Moore's second
World Cup Finals, and he was still only 25.

The swingin' sixties were just getting into their stride, my music culture
was being taken care of by the Beatles and the Stones, plus the wonderful
Motown and soul stars from the States. My football education, and heritage,
was being written by Bobby Moore and the rest of our heroes of the past.

But it was his club football that really inspired me. I was watching
virtually every Irons home game by now, queuing at midday to get into the
ground, squeezing into the swaying Chicken Run.

It didn't matter that we were as unpredictable as the weather and were prone
to suffering terrible defeats. We had Bobby, captain of England, so you
could stick your Spurs, Arsenals, Liverpools and Manchester Uniteds.

1964,'65 and '66, came and went. We won the FA Cup, the European Cup
Winners' Cup and the World Cup, by which time I was 17, having the time of
my life and believed that the world would always be like this. We all now
know it wasn't, but we still had Bobby Moore.

My sons have suffered my ramblings about Moore, Hurst and Peters. But
however hard they try, they've no real idea of what I'm talking about. West
Ham were playing wonderful football and England were virtually unbeatable.
Not quite the same now!

Even this week that was underlined, when the excellent Ex magazine dropped
through the letterbox with a wonderful little DVD of Geoff Hurst's six goals
against Sunderland in 1968. I watched it initially with tears in my eyes,
the old ground, packed South and North Banks and those square goalposts that
almost touched the terrace walls.

I made my lad watch it that evening. He understands about Moore and his old
man's obsession. But seeing the great man playing made him sit up. 'What's
the number six doing on the right wing?' was a telling remark. Central
defenders don't do that. Well Moore did. The dvd was supposed to be about
Hurst. But Moore scored a 30 yard free-kick that day and helped set-up goals
and clever passing moves deep into Sunderland's half.

It showed, just fleetingly, what Moore was really about. He could do
anything. He dominated games from back to front.

I make no excused for being star-struck. I actually spoke to him three
times. All are so fresh in the mind. Firstly when he came to sit on the
Chicken Run wall waiting to take a throw-in, right next to me. We were
losing and someone was getting treatment. I plucked up the courage to say '
come on Bobby, get this lot sorted out.' He looked down at this kid and
smiled one of those knowing looks grown-ups do. He was saying he wasn't
superman! Well he was in my book.

Then in my working career in Birmingham on the local sports Argus, Moore
came to town to promote Escape to Victory, and we were giving away tickets
for the show. I badgered my boss to let me go to meet him. I was probably
more tongue-tied then than when I was as kid in the Chicken Run. But I still
have the photo of the two of us waving free cinema tickets for the camera.
Hero worship doesn't even cover it.

The third time was during the 90-91 promotion season, and Moore was working
in the press box at Oldham, the game was a 1-1 draw and they just pipped us
for the title. I ushered my lads up to the press area at the end, determined
they would meet the great man. I mumbled something about wanting my sons to
meet the best player I had ever seen. He must have had that a million times,
but he was kind and polite, and signed their autographs.

But he looked poorly even then. I felt sad afterwards, even the boys could
see he wasn't well. That was the last time I saw him before he died two
years later. These are just little tales of an ordinary fan, I'm sure you
all have similar memories, equally treasured.

I know I had seen the best of him for more than a decade and a half at my
club. The picture is still in my mind, Tall, elegant Moore in that beautiful
kit of white socks, white shorts and the round-necked long sleeved shirt
without a badge or any hint of a sponsors name.

People talk of the '64, '65, '66 era as the best. But I saw far more of the
late 60s side, the one that never won a raffle but still produce amazing
football. And I got thinking of what was the best West Ham team.

And that brings me back to the '68 match against Sunderland. That team had
Moore, Peters, Hurst, Bonds and Brooking in it. Plus John Sissons and Harry
Redknapp.

It was two eras colliding. From the debuts of Bonds and Brooking, within
weeks of each other in 1967, we had just three years of our five greatest
modern day players performing in the same team, up until when Peters was the
first of the World Cup heroes to leave in 1970.

Hurst was next in 72 and Moore battled on until 1974. The last time that
famous five played together in a West Ham side was against Coventry, a
defeat, in February 1970. We will never see their like again.

That '67 to '70 side was the best in my eyes. And when Moore left in '74,
the days of real glory had gone. His first game was against Manchester
United in '59, his last the 1-1 home FA Cup draw against Hereford in January
'74.His last league game for the Irons was a 4-2 home win over Norwich on
New Year's Day, '74.

When he finally left for Fulham in March 1974, the football world as I'd
known it, came to an end. A couple of years earlier Moore had figured in
that famous League Cup semi-final, four matches against Stoke - I saw them
all - and that memorable penalty save from Micky Barnard at Old Trafford
when we finally lost to the Potters.

I am sad to admit now I left that game five minutes early, I couldn't bear
to watch them celebrate after we had got so close to Wembley (all Geoff
Hurst had to do was beat Gordon Banks from the penalty spot in the
second-leg and we'd had done it. I recall driving back across London that
night with my kid brother, neither of us spoke the entire journey.)

All these pictures are still so vivid in my mind. None more so than Moore.
My age-group cherish memories, the younger fans just have the legend. And
maybe our club failed to treat him properly when he had left and finally
ended his playing career.

Many have a few about all that, but just for now as the 20th anniversary of
his passing nears, old hands like me just know he was the best and just
being there when he was our leader, our hero, is something that will never
die.

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Premier League: West Ham's Winston Reid is happy he chose to stay with the
club
Last Updated: February 24, 2013 1:14pm
SSN

West Ham defender Winston Reid admitted he considered leaving West Ham
before Sam Allardyce's arrival, but is pleased he opted to stay at the club.
The New Zealander has been a mainstay in the Hammers' line-up this season,
but after starting his career in England as a makeshift right-back, a
position he admits he is far from comfortable in, he became disillusioned
with life in England. "I'd never played right-back in my life," he told the
Sunday Times. "I thought, I have got myself into this situation, but it is
upto me to get myself out of it." It took a chat with Hammers boss Sam
Allardyce when he took the job to persuade the Kiwi that Upton Park was the
right place for him to ply his trade. "When Sam Allardyce arrived we sat
down to talk. After that, it felt good, I felt wanted, and wanted to stay,"
he added. The former Bolton boss has come under criticism of late from
certain sections of the Hammers faithful as a result of their recent dip in
form after an impressive start to the season, but Reid has nothing but good
things to say about his manager. "He's great and wants things done properly
on the pitch," he added. "Off it, he's given me a few kicks up the backside
but he is really funny, he makes us all laugh."

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Football is a Funny Old Game!
By S J Chandos About 5 hours ago 2 comments
West Ham Till I Die

As the great striker, turned media pundit, Jimmy Greaves used to say, 'its a
funny old game.' And it is a game where results do not always go the way
that is expected. As Hammers supporters, we can all recall a legion of
matches where West Ham won against the odds, whether it was defeating Man
Utd 3-1 in the 1964 FA Cup Semi-Final at Hillsborough; overcoming mighty
Leeds Utd 0-1 in a 1972 LC tie at Elland Road; beating Arsenal 1-0 in the
1980 FA Cup Final; destroying Spurs 0-4 at White Hart Lane in 1981; beating
Dalgish's Liverpool by 4 goals in a 1988 LC tie; defeating prospective
champions, Blackburn Rovers 2-0 in 1995; beating Man Utd 0-1 in the famous
2000-01 'Di Canio' FA Cup tie; and winning 'mission impossible' PL away
matches against Arsenal 0-1 & Man Utd 0-1 in the 'greatest escape' season of
2006-07. These are just a few examples of West Ham sides beating the odds to
endure and there are many more. Not least, the 3-1 home defeat of Chelsea
this season.

It is worth remembering that before that victory over Chelsea, there was a
distinct air of doom and gloom about our chances not only amongst the
pundits, but also on Hammers fans websites. I remember fans fearing a 0-5
trouncing ahead of the match. Sound familiar? It should, because there seems
to be a similiar view prevalent ahead of the Spurs match. Well, no one is
under-estimating the scale of the challenge posed by this Spurs team, they
are a very good attacking unit. But they are not unbeatable and, if West Ham
play to their strengths then we have a chance of getting a result. Yes, the
performance was worrying last time out at Villa, but this is a different
match and hopefully the manager and the squad have used the extended break
to try to sort out a few issues on the training ground.

We know that the probability is that Sam Allardyce will set our stall out in
a da facto 4-5-1 to contain Spurs attacking threat and seek to carve out
chances via long balls in to Carroll and set peices. The problem, of course,
is that this caution could play in to Spurs' hands. The best form of defence
is attack and the surest way to neutralise the threat of players like Bale
is, basically, to force them to defend. I would love to see West Ham set up
to attack down the flanks and get good quality balls in to Andy Carroll.
Indeed, Carroll is our best weapon against the Spurs defence, his physical
power and ability in the air can unsettle and punish the Spurs back four.
Similarly, this is a match where Matt Jarvis can justify his £10m price tag.
He has the pace, ability on the ball and delivery in the box to make a
decisive contribution in this match. Jarvis has shown flashes of his abiliy,
this would be a good match to demonstrate it, convincingly, for a whole 90
minutes (Sam Allardyce's team selection allowing?).

Similarly, Kevin Nolan has had a dip in form in recent matches and he needs
to recover his early season form. We need him sharp in the final third and
getting on the second phase balls, off Andy Carroll. How they line up to
deal with Bale down the left flank will be very interesting? Who plays at
right-back, is it Demel or O'Brien? Will O'Neill be selected wide, on the
right, to try to cover the right-back and attempt to neutralise Bale's
powerful forward runs? Who will play at left-back? McCartney is back in
training, but lacks match fitness. Will O'Brien or Pogatetz be deployed in
an auxillary left-back role or might Danny Potts get the nod to counter the
danger posed by Lennon down the right flank? At centre-back, Collins is fit
and it is a fair bet that he will start, if so, does that mean that Tomkins
might start in a defensive midfield role? Midfield will be a key battle area
and there will be an emphasis upon Noble and Diame gaining the ascendency
over their Spurs counter-parts.

Obviously, Allardyce needs to set our stall out to deal with Spurs attacking
threat. But we also need to ensure that we play to our strengths and ask
plenty of questions of Spurs right from the kick off. Indeed, many fans seem
so pre-occupied with Spurs and their attacking potency, that they have
tended to forget about the threat we can pose them. We need not be 'lambs to
the slaughter' as some think, but rather show that we have 'teeth' as well.
It should be added that football is not just physical, it is also deeply
psychological. Teams can raise their performance levels significantly if
commitment and drive aligns to ability. With the emotion arising from the
20th anniversary of Bobby Moore's death, hopefully this will transmit itself
to the players and have an outlet via their performance on the pitch.

As stated previously, a draw would be a good result, but if the team have
'their tails up' then we might be able to swing a 2-1 victory. But to do
that the team need to give 110%. It is, indeed, a 'funny old game' and lets
hope that its proves to be so, once again, this evening.

As a post-script, the club have asked fans to be in their seats by 7.30pm
for the start of the pre-match commemoration of the anniversary of Bobby
Moore's death/celebration of his life and achievements. Bobby Moore was a
player, defender and captain without parallel. I feel honoured to have seen
him play from 1967 onwards. Enjoy the commememoration/celebration of the
life of the greatest player ever to wear the claret and blue of West Ham Utd
FC and the Three Lions of England. And just hope that the occasion provides
a suitable platform for the team to produce a positive performance/result
that serve as a fitting tribute to the great man.

SJ. Chandos.

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THREEAS-BOAS
The Sun
By PAT SHEEHAN
Published: 6 hrs ago

SAM ALLARDYCE insists Andre Villas-Boas must finish at least third to be
judged a success at White Hart Lane. West Ham manager Allardyce looks
comfortable in mid-table with 12 games to go but his opposite number at
Tottenham sits outside the club's target area of the top three. Villas-Boas
was brought in to replace Harry Redknapp as boss last summer with the brief
to get automatic qualification for next season's Champions League. And
Allardyce, whose side take on Spurs at Upton Park tonight, said: "They've
got to finish higher than fourth, haven't they? That's the pressure for him.
"Villas-Boas has done great taking over from Harry. But fourth is the same
as Harry. And you know what happens in football — they'll say 'Oh, well
Harry done that'. "I think Tottenham are good enough to finish third or
fourth as long as they continue to keep the top players fit and don't pick
up too many injuries. "If they can do that, they've got a really good chance
of getting that third place."

AVB was sacked after just eight months at Chelsea when he failed to deliver.
He was also forced into embarrassing U-turns with the club's elder
statesmen.
Allardyce added: "He has probably learned an awful lot from his short time
at Chelsea. "He's probably seen and learnt from his bitter experience that
he obviously had. "It was the first time that things probably haven't gone
so well for him. And you can probably learn more in that period of time than
you can when things went as well as they did at Porto where he won the UEFA
Cup."

The Hammers will tonight be looking to avenge their defeat at White Hart
Lane in November when Tottenham were in a rich vein of form. Allardyce
admitted: "I was particularly impressed when we played them, their frontline
was outstanding. "He's inherited a fantastic squad of players and to be a
great manager you've got to have great players. "Without top players, you
can't produce the team that gets results which will make people say you're a
great manager. You can only be as good as your players. "I think they have
great players at Tottenham and they are really producing."

One of those players hitting top form is Gareth Bale. And many of Europe's
top clubs have put the winger at the top of their summer wishlists.
Allardyce believes there could be an auction for Bale when this campaign is
over. He said: "The world of football outside of this country might decide
his worth. "There might be somebody else from another country that decides
he could be the man, so that would inflate the price a little more. "I would
have thought that Tottenham would want nothing less than £40-50million."

Bale has 21 goals in all competitions this season and seven in his last six
games. But Hammers left-back Matthew Taylor has urged his team-mates to
concentrate on their own performance. He said: "The main thing for us on
Monday night is to worry about ourselves. "We understand that Tottenham have
got lots of fantastic players and they are a great team — but we're not bad
ourselves. "Everybody's talking about Gareth Bale because he's playing well
and scoring goals. "He's one of a number of players that we're going to try
to have to shackle to get a good result. "We've got to keep as close an eye
on those players as we can but also go and do our stuff when we get the
chance."

Spurs are flying after booking their place in the last 16 of the Europa
League last Thursday. Mousa Dembele's last-gasp strike earned a 1-1 draw at
Lyon and 3-2 win on aggregate. But Taylor is confident West Ham can overturn
their defeat earlier in the season and secure all three points. He said:
"They are on a high from the Europa League, so it's going to be difficult.
"It's a local derby and we want to overturn what was a disappointing result
at Tottenham. "Everyone's full of confidence and morale is high, so
hopefully we've got a good end to the season coming."

Tonight will see a minute's applause to mark the 20th anniversary of the
death of West Ham legend Bobby Moore. And Taylor believes the home fans will
have their part to play on a night that means a lot to everyone involved at
the club. He said: "I know it's an old adage but the fans can be the 12th
man. "I'd like to think they appreciate our efforts in every game. While we
might not always get the results we deserve, each and every player when they
pull the shirt on works 100 per cent for the team. "That'll be the case on
Monday night and hopefully the fans get right behind us."

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By Darren Witcoop
Any old Trotters? Allardyce eyeing West Ham move for defender Ricardo
Gardner
The Mirror
24 Feb 2013 22:30

Ricardo Gardner wants a short-term deal with old boss Sam Allardyce at Upton
Park. Jamaica international Gardner, 34, hopes to become the sixth ex-Bolton
player to be reunited with Allardyce at West Ham. Gardner, a free agent
after a 14-year spell with Bolton, is on trial and could fill the
troublesome left-back spot. George McCartney has been out since December
with a knee injury and is in danger of missing the rest of the season.

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