Daily WHUFC News - 21st September 2013

Everton match preview
WHUFC.com
All the essential pre-match information ahead of Saturday's match against
Everton
20.09.2013

WEST HAM UNITED v EVERTON
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2013
KICK-OFF: 3PM
REFEREE: LEE MASON
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV

Introduction
• West Ham United return to the Boleyn Ground on Saturday having secured a
solid away point against Southampton last time out.
• Their opponents are Everton, who are unbeaten from their first four
Barclays Premier League matches of the new season.
• New manager Roberto Martinez secured his first three point-haul as the
Toffees' boss last weekend, as Stephen Naismith's goal proved enough to sink
Chelsea at Goodison Park.
• They had drawn their three previous matches, against Norwich City (2-2),
West Bromwich Albion (0-0) and Cardiff City (0-0).
• Martinez took over from David Moyes this summer following Moyes' departure
to Manchester United. The Scot had spent over eleven years in the Goodison
Park hotseat.
• West Ham are looking to return to winning ways after they bounced back
from defeat to Stoke City in their last home match by securing a 0-0 draw at
Southampton last Sunday.

Background
• West Ham United and Everton have met 106 times in league matches. Everton
have won 53 times, West Ham have won 32 and there have been 21 draws.
Overall, the two clubs have met 126 times, with Everton winning 63, West Ham
36 and there being 27 draws.
• The Toffees are unbeaten in eleven matches against their hosts, including
the last ten Premier League meetings. Everton have won 18 of the 34 Premier
League meetings between the two, while West Ham United have won just six.
The most-recent two league games have ended in defeats for the Hammers.
• The first-ever meeting between West Ham United and Everton was an FA Cup
second round tie played on 2 February 1907. Harry Stapley scored for the
Hammers, who were then a Southern League side, but the Division One Toffees
ran out 2-1 winners through goals from Jimmy Settle and Jack Sharp. Everton
would go on to reach the final, losing 2-1 to The Wednesday at Crystal
Palace.
• West Ham United and Everton have met twice at the FA Cup semi-final stage,
with each club winning through once on their way to lifting the trophy at
Wembley. The Toffees scored a 2-1 victory at Molineux on 18 March 1933, when
Vic Watson's goal was cancelled out by Ted Critchley and James Dunn, before
beating Manchester City 3-0 at Wembley. The Division Two Hammers gained
their revenge on 16 April 1980, when Frank Lampard and Alan Devonshire
scored in a 2-1 replay victory at Elland Road. West Ham went on to beat
Arsenal 1-0 in the final.
• West Ham United have never scored more than four goals in a game against
Everton - achieving that feat on six occasions. The Hammers' biggest home
victor over the Toffees was a 4-0 Division One success on 11 February 1961,
when Harry Obeney scored twice and John Dick and Malcolm Musgrove once each.
• Vivian Gibbins scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 Division One win at Goodison
Park on 10 April 1929, while Jimmy Ruffell repeated the feat in a 4-2 home
Division One victory on 5 December 1931 - they remain the only two trebles
netted by West Ham United players against Everton.
• Everton's biggest victory at the Boleyn Ground came on 26 February 2000,
when the Toffees scored a 4-0 Premier League win. Nick Barmby scored a
hat-trick and American Joe-Max Moore added a fourth.
• Winston Reid scored past Everton goalkeeper Jan Mucha at the 2010 FIFA
World Cup when his last-minute header secured New Zealand a 1-1 group-stage
draw with Slovakia at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.
• Mohamed Diame lined up alongside Everton winger Magaye Gueye at the London
2012 Olympic Games, where the pair helped Senegal to reach the
quarter-finals

Team news
West Ham United
• Sam Allardyce is without striker Andy Carroll, who is nursing a foot
problem, while Joe Cole (hamstring) and Stewart Downing (dead leg) are
expected to return to full training at the start of next week. George
McCartney, meanwhile, is back in training after his knee injury.
Everton
• New loan arrival Romelu Lukaku is in line to make his Toffees debut, while
fellow striker Arouna Kona has overcome a knee injury. Darron Gibson is also
fit, but Steven Pienaar could miss out with a hamstring injury.

Last time out
Southampton 0-0 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 15 September 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen; Demel (Rat 61), Reid, Collins, O'Brien;
Morrison (Taylor 77), Noble, Nolan; Diame, Maiga (Vaz Te 68), Jarvis
Subs (not used): Adrian, Tomkins, Collison, Lee
Everton 1-0 Chelsea
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 14 September 2013
Everton: Howard, Baines, Jaglelka, Distin, Coleman, Mirallas (Deulofeu 90),
Naismith (Stones 89), Barry, Barkley, Osman, Jelavic (McCarthy 66)
Subs (not used): Joel, Heitinga, Oviedo, Gueye
Goal: Naismith 45

Previous meeting
Everton 2-0 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 12 May 2013
Everton: Howard, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Coleman, Gibson, Osman (Hibbert
89), Pienaar, Fellaini, Mirallas (Oviedo 90), Anichebe (Jelavic 73)
Subs (not used): Mucha, Heitinga, Barkley, Naismith
Goals: Mirallas 6, 60
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Reid, O'Brien, Collins, Demel, Nolan, Jarvis,
Collison (J.Cole 55), Diame (C.Cole 46), O'Neil (Noble 64), Carroll
Subs (not used): Henderson, Pogetetz, Taylor, Vaz Te

Head to head
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
12 May 2013 - Everton 2-0 West Ham United
22 December 2012 - West Ham United 1-2 Everton
22 January 2011 - Everton 2-2 West Ham United
28 December 2010 - West Ham United 1-1 Everton
4 April 2010 - Everton 2-2 West Ham United
8 November 2009 - West Ham United 1-2 Everton

Overall record v Everton (all competitions) W 36 D 27 L 63

Ten-year records
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points - relegated to Championship)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via play-offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
Everton
2012/13 Premier League 6th (63 points)
2011/12 Premier League 7th (56 points)
2010/11 Premier League 7th (54 points)
2009/10 Premier League 8th (61 points)
2008/09 Premier League 5th (63 points)
2007/08 Premier League 5th (65 points)
2006/07 Premier League 6th (58 points)
2005/06 Premier League 11th (50 points)
2004/05 Premier League 4th (61 points)
2003/04 Premier League 17th (39 points)

Referee
• Saturday's referee will be Lee Mason.
• Mason started refereeing in 1988 and in 1992 he was added to the North
West Counties Football League assistant referees' list, and progressed to
full referee for that competition four years later.
• He was included on the Football League list of assistant referees in 1998,
and was then added to the Premier League list in 2000.
• In 2002, he was promoted to referee for the Football League and in 2003
became a 'Development Group' referee, before finally reaching the Premier
League list of Select Group referees in 2006.
• His first ever match in the top tier was on 4 February 2006, when
Middlesbrough lost 4-0 at home to Aston Villa.
• Mason was chosen to control the League One Play-Off final between Barnsley
and Swansea on 27 May 2006.

Old boys
• Among the players who have represented both clubs are Niclas
Alexandersson, Ray Atteveld, Slaven Bilic, Ian Bishop, Joe Blythe, David
Burrows, Tony Cottee, Charlie Crossley, George Eccles, William Kelly, George
Kitchen, Alex McCartney, Lucas Neill, John Russell, David Unsworth, Mark
Ward, William Wildman, Danny Williamson, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Richard
Wright.

General information
• Tickets for this match will be available on the day of the game. Click
here for ticket prices.
• Supporters who use the Central Line to travel to home matches should be
aware that replacement buses are operating in place of trains between
Bethnal Green and Hainault/Loughton
• Saturday's weather forecast is for a cloudy day in east London with
temperatures around 18C (64F)

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Hammers back laces campaign
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's players donned rainbow laces in training at Chadwell Heath
this week
20.09.2013

West Ham United's first team squad once again showed their support for
inclusion in football by lending their backing to the Stonewall Rainbow
Laces campaign. The players used the laces in their boots in training at
Chadwell Heath this week and posed for a group photo, adding to the support
their have already given Football v Homophobia. Hammers skipper Kevin Nolan
said: "We are all supporting this campaign. As a team, we spoke earlier in
the week about how we wanted to support it in the best way and we decided to
wear the laces in our boots for training. "All the lads are fully supportive
of it and all volunteered to wear the laces in training, to help push the
message that all forms of discrimination should be kicked out of all sports,
not just football. "We were all passionate about supporting it and we hope
that it sends out a message that once again, there is no place for
discrimination in football and all sport."

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West Ham v Everton
KO 15:00
20 September 2013
Last updated at 11:47
By John Roder
Match of the Day commentator

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Upton Park Date: Saturday, 21 September


West Ham manager Sam Allardyce remains short of attacking options for the
visit of Everton, with Andy Carroll, Mladen Petric, Joe Cole and Stewart
Downing all unavailable. George McCartney and Alou Diarra are sidelined with
knee injuries. Everton loan signing Romelu Lukaku is likely to make his
debut, and fellow striker Arouna Kone has overcome a knee injury. Darron
Gibson is also fit, but Steven Pienaar (hamstring) is a doubt.

MATCH PREVIEW

West Ham and Everton both scored twice on the opening day of the season, but
since then fans have been starved of goals. Steven Naismith did score
Everton's winner against Chelsea last weekend, but that has been the only
goal in the last six league matches played by these two sides. Four of the
eight league matches they have played between them have ended goalless. Add
in the facts that the shot-shy Hammers have conceded just once in their four
games and both have kept three clean sheets out of four and you have all the
ingredients for a stalemate that closes this weekend's Match of the Day.
"West Ham will go for it at Upton Park and load the box with players. They
should be able to get Kevin Nolan into the game more as well, which should
help. "I actually think this is a much tougher fixture for Everton than
Chelsea was last week." However, I am always optimistic that whatever match
I am commentating on will be a fantastic 90 minutes; after all, if we could
all predict what is going to happen based on previous form all bookmakers
would be bankrupt. It's actually the sort of scenario where something
unexpected happens, maybe to someone who you don't expect to feature. What
price Everton's longest-serving player Tony Hibbert making his first
appearance of the season and scoring his first competitive goal? Hibbert
made his debut for Everton against West Ham back in 2001, and he has scored
a few own goals against the East London side in recent years. Could this be
the weekend he finally breaks his duck and scores at the right end? Sadly, I
doubt it. Everton will surely give a debut to Romelu Lukaku, who scored 17
Premier League goals on loan at West Bromwich Albion last season.
The Belgium international's signing on loan from Chelsea for the season was
a real coup for manager Roberto Martinez, and the fact that Lukaku will link
up with countryman Kevin Mirallas may well reap instant rewards for the
visitors, who have an excellent record in recent years against West Ham.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Everton are unbeaten in their last 11 games in all competitions against West
Ham (W7, D4).
The Hammers have only managed one point from their last five home matches
against Everton, who came from behind to win 2-1 last season.
There have been three red cards in the last three Premier League meetings of
these sides.

West Ham
West Ham have failed to win or score in their last three league matches (D2,
L1). They last failed to score in four successive Premier League games in
October 2006.
They have managed only six shots on target so far this season, fewer than
any other side in the Premier League.
However, Sam Allardyce's side have only conceded one league goal (against
Stoke) - the division's joint-best defensive record alongside Tottenham.
The Hammers have attempted fewer passes (938) than any other side this
season and have the worst passing accuracy (72%), according to Opta.

Everton
Everton and Liverpool are the only unbeaten Premier League sides this
season.
The Toffees are one of five Premier League teams, including West Ham, to
have kept three clean sheets in their opening four games.
They are winless in their last 10 Premier League away matches since beating
Newcastle on 2 January (D6, L4).
Everton have attempted (681) and completed (517) more passes in the final
third of the pitch than any other side this season.
Striker Nikica Jelavic has only scored once in his last 26 Premier League
appearances - as a substitute against Manchester City in March.

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West Ham United v Everton
KUMB,.com
Filed: Thursday, 19th September 2013
By: Preview Percy

Despite the fact the Liverpool was its home port, Preview Percy has spurned
the chance to make it a hat-trick of mentions for The Titanic in as many
weeks. Which is a shame really as it's usually the only factually correct
thing in his so-called "previews". Here's his look at this weekend's visit
of Everton.....

Next up we host Everton. Kick off is the god-given time of 3pm on Saturday.
Though the District line is, for once, fully open, TfL have come up with a
new and unusual way of nauseing up your jourey. Basically, there's no
Central Line east of Bethnal Green and replacement buses will whisk you off
to various assorted main line stations en route. As usual check before
leaving.

As the season opens they lie one point and one position above us with six
from their five games played so far. They opened up with a 2-2 draw at
Norwich, which was followed up with a pair of 0-0 draws at home to West Brom
and away to Cardiff before registering their first win of the season last
weekend at home to Chelsea (1-0)

It was all change at Goodison Park during the summer. After spending what
seemed like the last hundred years at the helm, David Moyes took the
eastbound trip up the M62 to take over from Ferguson in Salford. He was
replaced by Wigan boss Roberto Martinez, who the odious Dave Whelan (who
once broke his leg in a cup final but doesn't like to talk about it much)
had been trying to cash in on for a good couple of years. I guess it must be
pleasant for Martinez dealing with Bill Kenwright after having to count his
fingers after every handshake for so long.

Meanwhile, Everton get a fair bit of goodwill from the rest of the country
for being the team on that side of the Mersey that isn't Liverpool. However,
given that the inhabitants of that benighted place aren't exactly noted for
their intelligence (they think Ken Dodd is funny for example), it's come as
a source of much amusement to us here at the Avram Grant Olympic Rest Home
For The Bewildered that the fans have been up in arms over the absence of
their Latin motto from the current version of the club crest. Latin? Let's
learn to walk in English before we run eh guys?

As expected Martinez raided the rotting relegated carcass of his former
club. James McCarthy came in for a rather surprising £13m, with a more
realistic £6m going on Arouna Kone and Antolin Alcaraz came in on a free.
Just to prove that they could buy from clubs other than Wigan, Joel Robles
came in for £2m or so from Atletico Madrid – though he did of course spend
last season with Martinez on loan. There were some useful loan signings in
the form of Gareth Barry from Man City, Gerard Dulofeu from Barcelona and,
annoyingly to those of us without strikers, Romelu Lukaku who, bizarrely,
Chelsea keep sending out on loan whilst Torres gets in the first team.

Despite the arrival of Robles, Tim Howard will be twixt the sticks this
weekend. Until recently his suffering from tourettes was the thing that most
people latched onto when talking about him. However, his recent development
of a bizarre beard is getting equal bandwidth these days. Imagine comedian
Andy Parsons sucking a magnet then dipping his head in a bucket of iron
filings. Or one of those strange people who attract bees.

In defence they managed to keep hold of Leighton Baines during the window,
despite some none too subtle hints from former boss Moyes that they'd like
him to join him on the M62. Baines is unlucky to be considered as back up in
the England squad to the overrated Ashley Cole. He's no mean slouch on a
dead ball either son we'll need to be a bit careful with those careless
free-kicks just outside the box. Yes you Mr Noble.

They will just be coming to terms with the departure of Marouane Fellaini
who did end up making that trip up the M62 for a cool £27.5m, a figure that
was allegedly a lot more than the release clause in his contract that
expired in July. Shrewd bit of business that – though Moyes might not agree.


The skipper is Phil Jagielka who still to this day has not been investigated
for his role in trying to get us relegated. His dubious handball in the
Sheffield Hypocrites match against Wigan ensured a very convenient result
that would have seen us go down had we lost at Old Trafford that day.
The youngster getting all the headlines of late has been Ross Barkley.
Barkley came up through the ranks at Goodison and he recently gained his
first full England cap, coming on in the second half of the 4-0 defeat of
Moldova a few weeks ago.

The aforementioned Koune has been missing with a bruised heel for the last
few weeks but is said to be close to a return, as is Darron Gibson, who,
with Carlton Cole, was ludicrously dismissed in the corresponding fixture
last season. Alcaraz, on the other hand, has yet to make his Everton debut
having required a groin op. I thought that it was only us that that sort of
thing happened to.

Well what about us I hear you ask- or at least I would do if someone hadn't
nicked the batteries to my hearing aid. It's the end of an era at the Boleyn
with the departure of Jeremy Nicholas. If anyone connected to Mr Nicholas is
reading this, there's always room for him here at the Avram Grant Olympic
Rest Home for the bewildered. In fact the room in question is that which
belonged to dear old Bill Remfrey. We've left it untouched since he went so
there's a full collection of James Last albums (on vinyl of course) as well
as a signed copy of Whistling Jack Smith's "Kaiser Bill's Batman" so I'm
sure Jeremy would feel quite at home.

Matches this weekend have been targeted by gay rights organisation Stonewall
to promote an anti homophobia message. Bit of a shame then that the whole
campaign is a bit undermined by the whole double entendre "ooer missus"
nature of the "right behind gay footballers" slogan. Stonewall's PR guy
hardly helped matters by claiming that the slogan was "tongue in cheek".
Somewhere Finbarr Saunders is going apoplectic. It's an interesting choice
of campaign as well. Quite how effective giving bootlaces to millionaires
able to tie their own will be I couldn't imagine.

As for stuff on the pitch, getting a point away at Southampton wasn't the
worst result in the world given the lack of available resources. In fact but
for a woefully incorrect offside decision and a dreadful miss from Ginge we
might even have taken all three points. That shouldn't disguise the fact
that we are appallingly understrength at the moment. Apart from the (lack
of) striker situation, the absence of Cole and Downing reduced the options
available to us. Although both are apparently back in training, both are
still doubtful for this weekend.

Andy Carroll was last seen in both Belgium and Holland trying to get his
foot sorted. I'd guess that there won't be much hill-walking as part of his
recovery programe then. His putative replacement, Mladen Petric, is hinted
to be close to taking part at some stage of proceedings, something that
might come as a relief to poor old Maiga who has all the air of someone who
is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Which is a shame as on
a few occasions last season he occasionally showed that he had potential as
an impact sub.

Prediction? Well this match has been a nightmare to forecast in recent
years. We've outplayed them on occasion and lost then there as last season's
debacle when the ref decided we were doing far too well for our own good.
We're probably due a win against them in a match in which we play
dreadfully, but, with them being as relatively goal-shy as us of late (we
share a goal difference of +1) I think honours will end up even. So the
AGORHFTB fund to chip in to make up the shortfall in Jeremy's wages (£2.50)
will be going on a 1-1 draw this time around.

Enjoy the game!

When Last We Met At The Boleyn: Lost 1-2 December 2012. Carlton put us 1-0
up at the interval and all was looking well. Anchebe equalised with a header
– the first such goal we'd conceded all season. Then ref Anthony Taylor gave
Cole a red card for one of the most innocuous challenges you'll ever see.
Everton took full advantage of the extra man with scrambled og giving them
all three points. Taylor sent off Gibson in stoppage time which scarcely
evened things up. Both players successfully appealed against their
dismissals though the apology and refund from Taylor is still in the post I
expect.

Referee: Lee Mason – last seen last season handling the 1-1 home draw with
Sunderland. Can't remember that but I do remember a shocker at home to Moan
U where a series of appalling decisions handed Ferguson's mob the points.

Danger Man: Leighton Baines - unusually I've gone for a defender this week
but his ability to get forward as well as his prowess with the dead ball
could cause problems.

Daft Fact Of The Week: Scouse "comedy" (it says here) writer Carla Lane has
announced for the umpteenth time that she intends to write yet another
sitcom based in Liverpool. The veteran scribe, who in the past, inflicted
the likes of "The Liver Birds" and Bread" on an undeserving country
announced earlier this year that she was thinking of basing the new series
on the West Derby (you're not fooling anyone we know it's in Liverpool) area
in which she spent her childhood. She claimed: "There are so many comedies
but I want to write something new and different" - just thought love but
have you ever tried doing one that's actually, well,
funny?

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Mr Moon has left the building: A message from Jeremy Nicholas
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 20th September 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham's former match day announcer Jeremy Nicholas has thanked the
readers of KUMB for their messages of goodwill following his resignation.
Nicholas, who had held the post for 16 years announced yesterday that he was
leaving his role at the Club after he was asked to take a 60 per cent wage
cut.

Here's what he had to say: "I wanted to pop in and say thanks for all the
messages from KUMBers. It means a lot. I know I wasn't everyone's cup of
tea, but I'm filling up reading all the lovely comments. "As a professional
speaker, whenever a client tries to cut my fee, I always offer extra
services to try and keep the fee the same, but offering more value. "I
would never regard West Ham as a client, but I tried everything I could to
keep my job, offering to do extra work on a matchday as a host in the
lounges before kick-off, interviews for West Ham TV, write a free column for
the programme etc, but the money wasn't there. "I did some free hosting in
the lounges last season for commercial director Barry Webber. He said they
had great feedback and would have liked to have used me again this season,
but there simply isn't the money. "I very much admire Karren Brady and David
Sullivan for the work they are doing in reducing the debt. I count David
Gold as a personal friend, who I will miss chatting to on a match day. I
helped him with the updated section on his autobiography and he's a lovely
man who we are lucky to have. "Having worked with the Icelandic
administration, I know how close our club came to folding and without the
two Davids our club would have gone to the wall by now. It hurts like hell
that I've lost my job, but I can see the need to cut costs. "Cutting
through the emotion it's worth pointing out that lots of other good people
have lost their jobs recently. The club has to clear a huge debt before we
move to the Olympic Stadium. There are bound to be other casualties along
the way. "I've worked for seven West Ham managers; eight if you count Glenn
Roeder!
I'll always be available if the club needs me and I wish whoever succeeds me
the best of luck. "Finally, if anyone does need an after-dinner
speaker/conference host, please contact me because in the run-up to
Christmas I'm suddenly a lot more available than I expected to be!
"Testimonials, videos, showreels, details of keynote talks etc are all on my
website at www.JeremyNicholas.co.uk."

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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce impressed with Everton
Last Updated: September 20, 2013 3:14pm
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has been impressed by the strength of
Everton's signings and is sure the visitors will prove extremely difficult
to break down on Saturday at the Boleyn Ground. The Toffees lost midfielder
Marouane Fellaini to Premier League champions Manchester United on transfer
deadline day but they also made busy with their own chequebook before the
window closed. Former Wigan boss Roberto Martinez replaced David Moyes at
Goodison Park and went back to his old club to sign James McCarthy, with
loan deals for Gareth Barry and Romelu Lukaku also completed before the
window shut.
Those deals followed earlier moves for Arouna Kone, Antolin Alcaraz, Joel
Robles and Gerard Deulofeu with Allardyce, who revealed West Ham had failed
with a bid for Lukaku, left praising Everton's business. "Gareth Barry in
particular is an outstanding acquisition from Manchester City and with
Romelu Lukaku joining their frontline as well he's given them some excellent
options," he said. "They've got a very good variety of players added to the
ones that were already there. "Arouna Kone has been bought in and they've
only really lost Marouane Fellaini so not only is their starting XI strong
but their whole squad is now very strong."

Everton picked up their first league win under Martinez against Chelsea last
week and remain unbeaten after three successive draws preceded the 1-0
victory.
"Our job on Saturday is to make sure we know what we're playing against,"
Allardyce added. "They will try and pass the ball out from the back more
than they did under David Moyes but after that they generally play the same
as they did under David. "They had a fantastic result against Chelsea last
weekend so we're expecting a tough match on Saturday."

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West Ham manager Sam Allardyce failed to bring in a number of targets this
summer
Last Updated: September 20, 2013 4:01pm
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says that he had a number of targets over the
summer but for different reasons they didn't arrive. Allardyce completed the
signing of England striker Andy Carroll from Liverpool for a club record
£15m in June. And it was widely reported that Allardyce was hoping to add at
least one more forward to his squad during the transfer window. Speaking to
the London Evening Standard Allardyce confirmed he did try to bring fresh
faces in. Allardyce said: "Jermain Defoe, Loic Remy, Romelu Lukaku, Demba
Ba, two players from Juventus and Austrian international Marko Arnautovic,
who joined Stoke, were all on our radar at one stage or another but for
varying reasons, none of them came."

One player Allardyce was pleased to capture though was England winger
Stewart Downing from Liverpool. Allardyce added: "Stewart Downing, who had
become available a little earlier, is an outstanding player who will be
invaluable to us. "I emphasise that because there has been some criticism
out there that, instead of signing him, we should have waited for a
striker."

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WHAT EXACTLY IS THE WEST HAM WAY?
By Iain Dale 21 Sep 2013 at 08:28
West Ham Till I Die
By Paul Seeman

The terms 'Tradition' and 'The West Ham Way' have been bandied around an
awful lot over the past few years, particularly since Big Sam took over.
Opinion on him is still split – Tony McDonald's article of 16.9.13 on this
very blog is a good example of this – but one comment that is often made by
West Ham 'commentators' is that, under Big Sam, we look the most solid and
defensively sound as we have ever done.

This has got me reflecting on the quality of teams and players we have had
over the years. As I am in my mid thirties, the earliest team I can remember
is the 'Boys of 86' which I suppose was the first season I really got
interested in football. Most of my fondest memories came in the late 1990s
under Redknapp with the exciting prospects of players such as Ferdinand,
Lampard, Cole et al coming through the academy coupled with excellent buys
like Di Canio and Sinclair. The country was raving about these players!
Surely this was it – keep these players together, add some others, and we
were going to be challenging for the highest European honours….. well, we
all know what happened there! Relegation in 2003 and again in 2011.

But of course this was not the first time we had been graced with a team of
talented players – 1986 with Parkes, Martin, McAvennie and Cottee giving us
our highest league finish ever; the 1970s with Brooking, Bonds and
Devonshire, taking us to 2 FA Cups and defeated European Cup-Winners Cup
final, and before them, the glory years of the 1960s, with domestic,
European and world success in consecutive years.

But on a closer look, teams with those players in during the 1960s and 70s –
with many (if not regular) international players in them – could never put
consistent performances together to maintain challenges over a league
season. While we may be one of the 'elite' 7 or 8 teams never to have
dropped below the second tier of English football, we are also the only one
of that group never to have won the title. We have been consistently
mid-table over the past 50 years, finishing somewhere between 8th and 17th,
with only 3 top six finishes in the top division since 1960. We have also
been relegated on 4 occasions, with close shaves on several others. The
'glory years' of mid-60s to mid-70s saw the side only make 3 top-ten
finishes, and spent the latter half of that decade fighting relegation and
losing – despite Bonds, Brooking and Devonshire.

The only occasions I have seen those sides play has been on video; but from
talking to people who lived through that and watched the side in those days
it seems that there were a number of reasons why we never pushed on and
challenged for titles. The board at those times seem to crop up with bad
decisions – not investing after 1986, appointing Roeder after Redknapp and
often selling our best players! Defensive naivety is another – yes, we had
Moore, Bonds, Martin, Dicks, Ferdinand, but these were perhaps never part of
strong units. Under Redknapp – a period I can comment on from experience –
we were always, as has been the 'West Ham Way', on the offensive, playing
exciting football and looking to get forward. The result was some excellent
results, but also games like the 5-4 against Bradford or the 4-4 draw
against Charlton. At the time it seemed obvious that we needed to tighten
things up a bit, but it wasn't done. Redknapp's later teams on the South
Coast or North London kept that attacking ethos – but they seemed more solid
at the back, too. It seemed that we were so intent on playing 'the West Ham
Way' that we weren't able to tweak and improve it. Other sides, be that the
Liverpool of the 1970s and 80s, or even Arsenal in the 1990s, were able to
combine flowing football with solid defenses and consistency – perhaps
something we never could. We also seemed to get bullied by more physical
teams (notably Allardyce's Bolton side) who managed to stop us playing and
then complained about how awful the opposition were despite the fact they'd
beaten us.

As a result, we have settled for mediocrity providing we were entertained.
So we narrowly beat a team like Bradford at home 5-4? Well, it's West Ham,
isn't it? Knocked out of the cup to a Championship team? Well, we get
bullied by those sort of teams, don't we? Had a great performance against
Man U? Yeah, well we raise our game against the big boys, don't we? Never
mind we haven't beaten Liverpool for decades and also get spanked by Man U
just as often as we nearly get a result.

As a consequence, I think my point is this: we have for too long accepted
(albeit with a fair amount of moaning) that we won't be a top, top side;
that we might get a good cup run if we're lucky; that we in a 'good' year
might challenge for a top 6, but not top 3 or 4, spot. To me, comparing our
history to, for example, Liverpool since the 50s or 60s, or in more recent
years Tottenham, shows a club bereft of serious ambition to capitalise on
one of the best supported clubs in the country, with the financial influence
of the City of London on it's doorstep, and a capacity to produce some of
the most technically gifted footballers our country has seen. Where we have
started to show ambition it has been mismanaged and fallen foul of a global
economic meltdown which – we should not underestimate – almost put our club
out of business or at the very least 'done a Leeds or Portsmouth'.

But where are we now? Are we destined to remain in mid-table mediocrity,
flirting with relegation? I am optimistic. We are still in a challenging
situation financially, but under Gold and Sullivan I believe we have
chairmen who have the best interests of the club at heart, have ambition,
and are willing to put their money where their mouths are – though
admittedly not at the same level as billionaire foreigners. We have a
manager who is not the long-ball servant served by his reputation, but a
manager who is experienced and who has ensured we are tough and resilient.

Of course there have been question marks over the past month – lack of a
plan B, lack of a second striker, only 6 shots on target in 4 games – and if
we suffer a continuing problem with injuries our hopes of a top ten finish
this year might vanish – but you can never see a team with Allardyce at the
helm being relegated, can you? I believe we might have a painful year this
year, but I also believe looking ahead that the future is rosy: a solid
squad with a good mix of youth and experience, with some good youngsters
coming through; a move to the Olympic Stadium which has finally won over the
majority of fans; a debt that is planned to have gone in a few years; but
above all a board who we can trust not to sell our best players or youngest
stars, who have already looked to build on the team year on year, and one
that seems to have something no other West Ham board has had before –
ambition.

So who knows? Perhaps in 10 years' time we can start to write a new history
that our children and grandchildren can be proud of, not of glorious failure
and underachievement, but one of success and silverware.

And we might even play some entertaining football, too…

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West Ham showing their strikers videos of them scoring to try to end goal
drought
20 Sep 2013 22:29
The Mirror

Sam Allardyce is ready to show his shot-shy forwards videos of their former
glories in a bid to get them firing again. He has watched in horror as West
Ham failed to score in their past three Premier League games, despite
creating hatfuls of chances. The Hammers have not been helped by the
long-term foot injury to Andy Carroll, which has left only Modibo Maiga –
with just two Premier League goals to his name since joining in July 2012 –
to lead the line. But boss Allardyce has a trick up his sleeve to get the
goals flowing again ahead of Saturday's visit by Everton. He said: "We
always have ideas. We show them videos of the goals they have scored
throughout their career. "For me, if they are a goal-scorer, then we let
them see their goals, to a bit of backing music. Of course, you have to try
to continue to practise the right way, too. "You want them to get one
whichever way they get it, whether it's a stuffy goal, mis-hit, or bounces
in off their knee. It can change the whole confidence of the player and he
goes on from there. "When we had a comfortable 2-0 win against Cardiff [on
opening day] it looked all right, but now we're three games since and we've
missed a few easy chances. "Sometimes when you look across the league, even
the top boys aren't creating that many chances but when they get them they
put them away, that's the difference." Allardyce might turn to Ricardo Vaz
Te in his goals quest, even though the striker handed in a transfer request
in the summer. "He has never had a bad attitude," added Allardyce.

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