Daily WHUFC News - 10th April 2013

Collison praises defensive effort
WHUFC.com
Jack Collison felt West ham United deserved their point at Liverpool on
Sunday
09.04.2013

West Ham United were just a whisker away from grabbing their first win at
Liverpool in nearly 50 years on Sunday. After defending stoically and
restricting the influence of the Reds' key man Luis Suarez, the Hammers won
an 85th minute corner which Jack Collison met with a header that beat home
keeper Pepe Reina. However, Lucas was stationed by the post to block on the
line and extend the Londoners' long wait for victory at Anfield, although
they were happy to gain a valuable point from the 0-0 draw. Midfielder
Collison, who entered the fray as a 63rd minute substitute, was full of
praise for the Hammers' defensive effort. "The boys battled magnificently on
Sunday, right from Jussi all the way to Coley," he said. "They worked hard
and it would have been nice if my header had gone in, but at the end of the
day a point's a great result here. "I'm not normally in the box attacking
corners, but I found myself in there for that one. I caught it nicely and
beat the keeper, but Lucas on the line cleared it. It wasn't to be. "We
definitely deserved the point. The boys at the back were brilliant all day,
James Tomkins came in and was magnificent. He made a great block on the line
and was excellent throughout. "We knew they were a good team with good
players. Attacking is one of their strong points, but we nullified them well
today, worked hard and created a couple of chances as well. It was the
perfect gameplan you could say from us, so well done to the gaffer."

The point was the twelfth gained by the Hammers on their travels this season
and Collison believes their solid display sets them up nicely for a strong
finish to the campaign. He continued: "It's a massive boost with seven games
to go. We want to go on a little run now and try to stay unbeaten from now
until the end of the season. If we can't do that, we want to get as many
points as we can. We want a strong finish to really send out a statement to
everyone, prove that we're here and that we're going to be a force to be
reckoned with. "A top-half finish is very possible. If we concentrate on
ourselves, take each game as it comes and get some more points on the board
then we can do it. That's what we're aiming for as a team - we're not
looking behind us, we're looking to push on rather than stay still."

Next up for Sam Allardyce's men is a trip to Southampton, who pipped the
Hammers to the second automatic promotion spot from the Championship last
season. Collison was key to West Ham making it up through the play-offs and
now he wants to get one over the Saints at St Mary's. He added: "They've got
a new manager who has come in recently and they're on a good run at the
moment. They're playing well, but we feel as a team and as a club that we've
got a little point to prove there. "Maybe there's going to be a little more
on the game than people may think because we were disappointed not to go up
automatically last year. A lot of the boys are still here and that still
stays with them. We're going to go there and look to get the three points."

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Cole happy with rare Anfield point
WHUFC.com
West Ham United striker Carlton Cole was pleased to do his bit as the
Hammers drew 0-0 at Liverpool
09.04.2013

Carlton Cole was delighted to play his part as West Ham United gained a
valuable point at Liverpool on Sunday. The long-serving Hammers striker was
handed his first start in more than two months in the absence of Andy
Carroll, who was unavailable at Anfield due to the terms of his loan
agreement from the Reds.
Cole enjoyed being part of a fine team effort at Anfield and is hoping for
more opportunities during the final seven games of the 2012/13 campaign. He
told West Ham TV: "It was tiring to be honest! I hadn't played for quite a
while and normally you'd hope to be weaned little by little with a few sub
appearances, but I went straight in at the deep end and the result was the
reward. "I would love to have scored a goal, but this was the first result
I've got up there in a long while, so I'm very happy. "I was happy with my
performance, considering I hadn't played for quite a while and I'm not match
sharp. I'm a fit lad though and I can do a 90 [minutes] if called upon at
any time so hopefully I can get more 90s under my belt between now and the
end of the season. "At the end of the day if you come in and you haven't
been looking after yourself, you're only hurting yourself and your
teammates. I've done my utmost to keep myself in shape."

Cole was heavily involved in trying to hold the ball up for his team as they
looked to hit Liverpool on the counter attack and he felt his task got
easier as the hosts opened up in the second period. He explained: "In the
first half they were a bit more tentative to go forward and they had a lot
of players that covered me. Their wing-backs were going forward to support
Luis Suarez and everybody, so our wingers had to go and support our
full-backs. "So when the ball did come up to me I was a bit isolated, but
when Liverpool started going for the game a little bit, we had some time
going the other way to try to put them under pressure. "When that happened,
I got better support and we created a few chances. We were unlucky not to
nick it as well. All the players did their bit to try and score a goal. It
was a good game. "Liverpool are a great outfit, everyone knows that. So to
go up there, especially with our away form not being too great, and do the
job we did was good. "We stuck to the manager's tactics and what he asked us
to do, and I think he's very happy with what we achieved on Sunday."

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U18s score West Brom win
WHUFC.com
West Ham United scored a second straight Barclays U18 Premier League Tier
One victory on Tuesday
09.04.2013

West Ham United scored a second straight Barclays U18 Premier League Tier
One victory by overcoming West Bromwich Albion 3-1 on Tuesday. A young
Hammers side headed for the Midlands on the back of their first win in seven
matches - a 3-1 home success against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 30 March -
and produced another impressive performance at the Baggies' training ground.
With a number of scholars on Development Squad duty on Monday evening, U18s
manager Steve Potts called upon a number of schoolboys, including defender
Emanuel Onariase and forward Djair Parfitt-Williams. Both played well, with
Parfitt-Williams netting his first goal at U18 level to equaliser after West
Brom had taken a first-half lead. An attack down the right flank culminated
in Kieran Sadlier crossing to the far post, where Parfitt-Williams was
waiting to head home. After the break, the Hammers took charge, going ahead
when right-back Kyle Knoyle raced forward before finding Parfitt-Williams.
He cut inside and crossed for a trialist to shoot into the net from inside
the penalty area. West Ham's victory was completed by an own-goal. A
cross-field ball from left to right again found Knoyle in space. He ran down
the wing before playing the ball into Nathan Mavila, whose cross was headed
into his own net by a West Brom defender. Back-to-back victories have taken
the Hammers from bottom of the table two weeks ago to fourth, level on
points with third-place Liverpool. West Ham return to Barclays U18 Premier
League Tier One action on Saturday, when Sunderland visit Little Heath for
an 11am kick-off.

West Ham United U18s: Howes, Knoyle, Page, Makasi, Harney, Onariase, Miles
(Mavila 53), Marlow, Trialist (Boakye-Yiadom 88), Parfitt-Williams
(Girdlestone 88), Sadlier

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Hammers praised for Hillsborough tribute
WHUFC.com
West Ham United were thanked by Liverpool for their part in remembering the
Hillsborough disaster
09.04.2013

West Ham United played a full part in Sunday's events at Anfield to mark the
anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. The Hammers' match at Liverpool
was the Reds' last home fixture before the 24th anniversay of the tragedy,
which saw 96 Liverpool fans lose their lives at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final
against Nottingham Forest. The club laid a wreath at the Hillsborough
Memorial at Anfield on the morning of the game, and an impeccably-observed
minute's silence was held before the match, in which both sets of players
wore black armbands. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had praise for the
Hammers' mark of respect. "I'd like to say 'well done' and congratulations
to the West Ham fans because I thought it was a brilliant response.
"Sometimes in this modern world and society you get a lot of ignorance and
that was a real mark of respect. "You know what you'll get from the
Liverpool supporters, but big applause to West Ham supporters because it was
a great show of respect."

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce added: "The Hillsborough disaster was a
tragedy which touched all football fans, no matter who your club is, and it
was important for us to show our respects for those who were so tragically
killed on that day in 1989. "As we'd expect, our fans were brilliant in
their observance of the minute's silence and were great ambassadors for the
club on what is an important day for Liverpool."

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Haycock targets strong finish
WHUFC.com
Dev Squad manager Nick Haycock urged his side to kick on after holding
league leaders Spurs
09.04.2013

Nick Haycock is not about to give up on his pursuit of a top-three Barclays
Under-21 Premier League Elite Group finish after the Development Squad held
runaway leaders Tottenham Hotspur to a compelling 1-1 draw at the Boleyn
Ground. Brazilian frontman Wellington Paulista headed the Hammers in front
after just 16 minutes, before Republic of Ireland youth international
Kenneth McEvoy levelled matters seven minutes before the interval. Though
both sides spurned several opportunities thereafter, an entertaining affair
would end a point apiece, with Haycock rightly looking upwards as the Elite
Group heads into its latter stages. "There are four games to go and I've set
the challenge to the boys to have a real go at trying to get this third
place," Haycock told West Ham TV.
"Other teams will drop points and if we can amass as many points as we can
in those four games, it will give us a competitive total to challenge that
third place. That's in our hands and we've got to go about the games in the
same manner as we did at the start of the Elite Group and we'll see where
that takes us."

Haycock was understandably impressed with his side's showing against a Spurs
side scoring goals for fun in recent weeks and reckons it's further evidence
of his young charges' capacity to compete with the very best at this level.
"That was a pleasing performance, particularly as we'd not played for three
weeks," he added. "I always knew the start was important and I thought we
got about them well. Tottenham play a patient, passing style with good
technical players and it was about stopping them then obviously trying to
hurt them. "In the first 20-25 minutes, we were deservedly winning 1-0 and
at the minimum we should have come in at 2-0. But we've conceded on the
counter-attack and I felt we lost our way towards the end of the first-half.
"Half-time was about reorganising and looking at what we were doing well and
to keep doing that. We started the second half the better team and they
probably finished the game the stronger.

"But in terms of chances, I think it was pretty even. Jake Larkins has made
three great saves but equally so has their keeper. Overall, we feel slightly
disappointed that we haven't got three points. "It should give the lads lots
of confidence, looking at the last run of games we've had against the bigger
teams, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. We've competed and we look
more at home at this level."

Meanwhile, the U21s boss was pleased with the contribution of his two senior
frontmen, with Paulista, in particular, desperately unfortunate not to add
to his first-half strike. "Wellington took his goal well and he was unlucky.
On another night he could have come away with a hat-trick. "To be fair to
Modibo, I explained to him before the game that these lads want you to run
around for them up there and show the potent threat he was in France. We
asked him to hold the ball up for us, threaten in the air, in behind and
cause the backline problems. In fairness to him, he did that for us."

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Club halve disabled season ticket increase
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 9th April 2013
By: Staff Writer

West Ham United have announced that the planned 107 per cent season ticket
price hike for disabled supporters has been halved. Following last week's
storm over the price rise, as first highlighted here on KUMB.com, the club
have written to disabled fans to confirm that next season's ticket will now
'only' cost an additional 50 per cent.

In a second letter to disabled season ticket holders (you may see the first
one here), West Ham vice chair Karren Brady said: "The club enjoys a good
relationship with its diabled supporters and we do not wish to jeapordise
this is any way and are sensitive to the prices we are considering and how
this may affect you.

"Also, I have taken on the feedback and have decided that the prices will
not increase by more than 50 per cent of this year's current rate, and we
will be creating a new Band 5 price range instead, which bearing mind there
has been no increase [apart from inflation] for 21 years. I hope yuo will
agree this is a good compromise."

The news was cautiously welcomed by KUMB members including Richard Vann, who
penned recent KUMB article 'So This Is Affordable Football?' in protest at
the club's decision to more than double the cost of disabled fans' season
tickets.

"Having taken on board the feedback, Karren Brady has decided to back track
on the original 'careful' review of the ticketing policy," he said.

"I'm sure all disabled fans will welcome that, but a 50 per cent rise would
still set a precedent for future rises and in the current climate, it's
still a disgraceful increase and doesn't go far enough in my view, to
appease the original debacle.

"It also has implications, I believe, for all ST holders; the club and Ms
Brady can use such a hike for disabled fans as a lever to justify big rises
across the board. All ST holders should be concerned and suspicious of this
move.

"I am of the view that our club have created this issue for disabled fans to
'test the waters' and to gauge reaction; after all, how could other season
ticket holders make a justifiable argument in the future, if the club can
then point to the precedent set for such a big rise made for disabled fans?"

Mr Vann also disputed Ms Brady's claims that there had been no increase in
season ticket costs even with inflation accounted for.

"This simply isn't true," he countered. "In 2011/12 the cost was £265; this
season it is £290. Even with my basic maths ability, that equates to a 9.4
per cent rise from last season - way above inflation at the time."

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West Ham midfielder Gary O'Neil convinced experience has been key this
season
Last Updated: April 9, 2013 11:03pm
SSN

West Ham midfielder Gary O'Neil believes the experience in the squad and
backroom staff has helped them as they bid to retain their Premier League
status.
Sam Allardyce's side were only promoted to the top-flight last season but
they lie 12th in the table, six points clear of the relegation zone. O'Neil
is convinced the experience in the camp has aided their cause following
their return to the Premier League via the play-offs last season after they
were relegated in 2010/11. "We maybe had the edge because we have got a lot
of players and the manager and staff who have played and worked in the
Premier League before," he said. We were only down for a season as well so
the lads are used to playing in the PL so we maybe took to it quicker than
they did. "We also we had a slightly easier run of fixtures at the start
that helped us build up some momentum."

Following a strong start to the season that saw that saw the Hammers settle
into the top half of the table they began to struggle after the turn of the
year.
But recent victories over Stoke and West Brom, as well as a battling point
at Liverpool on Sunday, have left Allardyce's side in a strong position to
play top-flight football next season. When asked if the team struggled to
rediscover their early season form, O'Neil added: "I think it took us a
little while, it does hit you confidence-wise as a squad. "Even if you are
losing to the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, it does dent the
confidence. It was hard to get another run going. "But fortunately we've got
a little one going now and have picked up seven points from our last four
games which is good and can hopefully be added to this weekend. "We've
always said we want to finish as high as we can, we weren't just focusing on
avoiding relegation. "Our aim was always to finish as high up as possible,
we want to get to 40 (points) first to make well and truly sure we are safe
but then by no means will we stop there."

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Cole keen to Hammer deal
Published: 5 hrs ago
The Sun

CARLTON COLE is hoping Sam Allardyce will give him another chance to win a
new deal at West Ham. The Hammers striker, 29, will become a free agent this
summer after seven years at Upton Park. Cole has struggled to command a
first-team place this season under boss Allardyce. But he played the full 90
minutes in Sunday's 0-0 draw with Liverpool. And he said: "Hopefully I can
get more games under my belt before the end of the season."

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