Daily WHUFC News - 29th January 2014

Chelsea match preview
WHUFC.com
All the need-to-know information ahead of West Ham United's game against
Chelsea on Wednesday night
28.01.2014

CHELSEA v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
STAMFORD BRIDGE
WEDNESDAY 29 JANUARY 2014
KICK-OFF: 7:45PM
REFEREE: NEIL SWARBRICK
FULL AUDIO AND TEXT COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV

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Introduction
• Stamford Bridge is the destination for West Ham United on Wednesday night
as they return to Barclays Premier League action against Chelsea.
• The Hammers' last league encounter ended in a 3-1 defeat to Newcastle
United at the Boleyn Ground back on 18 January.
• Sam Allardyce's side did however enjoy better fortunes on their last away
league outing, beating Cardiff City 2-0 in the Welsh capital.
• By the time West Ham take to the field in west London it will be just over
a week since the Hammers exited the Capital One Cup following a 9-0
aggregate loss to Manchester City.
• Chelsea will play their second home game in four days on Wednesday night
following a 1-0 FA Cup with Budweiser fourth round win over Stoke City on
Sunday afternoon.
• The Blues' last Premier League match was also in front of their own fans,
a 3-1 success against Manchester United on 19 January.
• In all, Jose Mourinho's team are on a good run and have gone seven league
matches without defeat, since a 3-2 defeat against Stoke City on 7 December.
Team news
West Ham United
• New signing Antonio Nocerino could go straight into the squad for
Wednesday night, although Sam Allardyce admitted that fellow new boy Marco
Borriello may not be fit enough to feature.
• Winston Reid is back in first team training after recovering from an ankle
injury which has side-lined him for the best part of three months, but will
not feature against the Blues.
Chelsea
• Chelsea may hand a debut to new signing Mohamed Salah, who joined the west
London club from Basle on Sunday.
Last time out
West Ham United 0-3 Manchester City
Capital One Cup semi-final second leg
21 January 2014
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Taylor, Johnson, Tomkins, Rat, Morrison,
Diame (Collison 89), Nolan, Diarra, J Cole (Downing 47), Carroll (C Cole 45)
Subs not used: Adrian, Jarvis, Noble, Chambers
Chelsea 1-0 Stoke City
FA Cup with Budweiser fourth round
26 January 2014
Chelsea: Schwarzer, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole, Matic, Lampard, Schurrle
(Ramires 70), Oscar (Willian 81), Hazard, Eto'o (Ba 85)
Subs not used: Cech, Mikel, Terry, Azpilicueta
Goal: Oscar 27
Previous meeting
Frank Lampard returned to haunt the Hammers once again as he netted two of
three Chelsea goals as they eased to victory in east London. The Academy
graduate opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 21 minutes and
finished the scoring off with eight minutes remaining after Oscar had
doubled the visitors' advantage.
West Ham United 0-3 Chelsea
Barclays Premier League
23 November 2013
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Collins, Tomkins, O'Brien, Collison
(Maiga 40), Noble, J Cole (Diame 40), Morrison, Downing, Nolan (Jarvis 76)
Subs not used: Adrian, McCartney, Taylor, C Cole
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Mikel,
Lampard, Oscar (Schurrle 83), Eto'o (Ba 79), Hazard (Essien 84)
Subs not used: Schwarzer, Cole, Willian, Mata
Goals: Lampard 21, 82, Oscar 34
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
23 November 2013 - West Ham United 0-3 Chelsea
17 March 2013 - Chelsea 2-0 West Ham United
1 December 2012 - West Ham United 3-1 Chelsea
23 April 2011 - Chelsea 3-0 West Ham United
11 September 2010 - West Ham United 1-3 Chelsea
13 March 2010 - Chelsea 4-1 West Ham United
v Chelsea (all competitions) W 53 D 28 L 53
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)
Chelsea

2012/13 Premier League 3rd (75 points)
2011/12 Premier League 6th (64 points)
2010/11 Premier League 2nd (71 points)
2009/10 Premier League 1st (86 points - champions)
2008/09 Premier League 3rd (83 points)
2007/08 Premier League 2nd (85 points)
2006/07 Premier League 2nd (83 points)
2005/06 Premier League 1st (91 points - champions)
2004/05 Premier League 1st (95 points - champions)
2003/04 Premier League 2nd (79 points)
Background
• Wednesday's fixture marks the 90th league meeting between the two clubs.
West Ham have 35 wins to their opponents' 37, while there have been just 17
draws. In 32 Premier League meetings, Chelsea have chalked up 17 victories,
West Ham have won ten times and there have been just five draws.
• The first-ever meeting between the two clubs in any competition came on 11
September 1915 in the war-time London Combination principal tournament. West
Ham United were at home and the game ended goalless.
• The first-ever league meeting between the two clubs took place on 20
October 1923 and also ended goalless. That match was played in Division One
at Stamford Bridge.
• West Ham's biggest league victory over Chelsea came in Division Two on
Valentine's Day 1981. The Hammers romped to a 4-0 success on their way to
winning the title and promotion to the top-flight.
• Chelsea's biggest win over West Ham came on 9 April 1966 at Stamford
Bridge, when the Blues thumped the Hammers 6-2. At the Boleyn Ground,
Chelsea won 4-0 on 1 March 2008, a result that also marks the Blues' biggest
Premier League win over the Hammers.
• The biggest crowd to witness a Chelsea versus West Ham fixture at Stamford
Bridge was the estimated 65,000 who witnessed the Blues' 2-0 FA Cup
fourth-round win on 26 January 1946.
• Tony Cottee has scored more goals against Chelsea than any other West Ham
United player, scoring eight times. Geoff Hurst and John Dick managed six
each, while the Hammers' all-time leading scorer Vic Watson scored three in
five appearances against the Blues.
• John Bond scored the first league hat-trick by a West Ham United player
against Chelsea when he was pressed into an emergency centre-forward role on
6 February 1960. Right-back Bond netted three times, including one penalty,
in a 4-2 Division One success at the Boleyn Ground. Billy Bonds also netted
an unlikely hat-trick against Chelsea in a 3-0 Division One home win on 2
March 1974.
• Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard started his career at West Ham, working
his way up through the ranks before making 187 appearances and scoring 38
goals for the Club between 1995 and 2001. The England international left
east London for Stamford Bridge and has gone on to make 634 appearances for
the Blues, scoring 209 goals.
• West Ham midfielder Joe Cole, also came through the famous Academy before
leaving to join Chelsea in 2003. He spent seven years in west London, making
over 180 league appearances and collecting no fewer than ten winners' medals
during his time at Stamford Bridge.
Referee
• Wednesday night's man in the middle is 48-year-old Neil Swarbrick.
• Swarbrick began refereeing at the age of 29 and within six years he had
been promoted to the National List of assistant referees in 2005.
• Now 42, Swarbrick made his way up the leagues via the Football Conference
and the npower Football League before receiving his first Barclays Premier
League appointment on 11 December 2010. He was officially promoted to the
Select Group of top-flight referees in June 2011.
• The official last took charge of the Hammers when they recorded an
excellent 2-1 Capital One Cup quarter-final win against Tottenham Hotspur.
General information
• All standard tickets for this fixture have sold out. There are however
still a number of disabled tickets remaining priced at Adults £42 and £13.50
Over-65s and Under-18s.
• There are no planned closures on the c2c mainline train service scheduled
for Wednesday. For full travel information and updates on the c2c network
click here.
• There are also no planned engineering works across the London Underground
scheduled for Wednesday. For live travel information click here.
• The weather forecast for Wednesday night is cloudy with temperatures
around 5C (41F).

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'We will wear the shirt with pride'
WHUFC.com
New loan arrival Marco Borriello cannot wait to make his West Ham United
debut
28.01.2014

Marco Borriello is relishing the prospect of testing himself in the Barclays
Premier League. The Italy international, who has seven caps to his name, has
spent his entire career to date in his homeland, notching 71 Serie A goals
in 253 appearances. Having turned out for the likes of AC Milan, Juventus
and AS Roma, from whom he joined the Hammers on loan, he is now looking
forward to showcasing his talents on a different stage. In an exclusive West
Ham TV interview, he said: "I was given the opportunity to move in the
summer and I was looking to come over to England and the Premier League, but
I decided to stay at Roma at that time. "However, when the opportunity arose
to join West Ham in this transfer window, I was very happy to make the move.
"I can't wait to start playing in the Premier League - I know the fans are
very passionate and I'm very excited by the challenge. "I know it is a very
tough league, but I am very much looking forward to testing myself here.
"Serie A and the Premier League are two different leagues. The Italian
league is a bit more tactical, whereas the English league is maybe more
physical. "However, the ball is round in both countries, so if you are good
player you can play in any league in the world."

Marco Borriello
The new No46 was born in Naples - the same city from which fellow Italian
and new arrival Antonio Nocerino hails. Borriello is looking forward to
linking up with his countryman and he says the pair are well-versed on what
to expect in east London. Watch fellow Italian Antonio Nocerino's first West
Ham TV interview here! He continued: "I have joked with Antonio - we have
two Italians, Neapolitans even, who have now met and are playing for a club
in London.
"We both have loads of enthusiasm and are excited to start playing and
hopefully bring West Ham up the table. "Being Italian and following the
English league, I know a lot about West Ham in terms of Gianfranco Zola
having managed here and Paolo Di Canio being a great idol at the Club. "I've
read a lot about the history of the Club and know they have the nickname of
the Irons. Both myself and Antonio are players who will wear the shirt with
honour, with pride and with heart - we will give 100 percent whenever we
play for the Club."

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Ruddock departs
WHUFC.com
Pelly Ruddock has joined Skrill Premier club Luton Town on a permanent basis
28.01.2014

West Ham United can confirm that Pelly Ruddock has joined Skrill Premier
club Luton Town on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee. The 20-year-old
Ruddock enjoyed a successful loan spell with the Hatters between November
2013 and January 2014. During his time at Kenilworth Road, Ruddock helped
John Still's men to win all four league matches in which he featured and
progress to the FA Trophy third round. The youngster now returns to
Bedfordshire with Luton top of the table and on course to return to the
Football League after a five-year absence. Ruddock began his career with
Boreham Wood before joining West Ham at the age of 18 in December 2011. He
made his one and only first-team appearance for the Club in a 2-0 Capital
One Cup fourth round win at Burnley on 29 October 2013. West Ham United
would like to thank Pelly for his efforts and wish him every success in his
future career.

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Academy striker making progress
WHUFC.com
Jordan Brown was delighted to net in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Chelsea in
the Barclays U18 Premier League
28.01.2014

West Ham United's Under-18s continued their fine form this season at the
weekend with an impressive 2-0 victory over Chelsea at Little Heath. Captain
Kieran Bywater put the Hammers ahead after five minutes with a well-taken
effort following good work from striker Jordan Brown, before the 17-year-old
forward added to his own tally for the season after 24 minutes. Speaking
after the match, former Arsenal striker Brown spoke of his delight with the
result, believing that performances like Saturday's from the Hammers could
keep them within touching distance of the Barclays Under-18 Premier League
South title. "I'm really happy with the result," said Brown. "Before the
game, I think Chelsea were third with a few games in hand, but that result
has given us a boost to stay near the top of the league. "The title is
definitely in reach for us. At the start of the season, we let a few games
slip, but the recent ten-game unbeaten run has really helped us and although
we ended that the other week at Southampton, we are still on course this
season for a good finish."

After netting the Hammers' second goal in the first half against Chelsea,
Brown spurned an excellent chance to put the home side further ahead, which
has added to the former England U16 striker's desire to improve his goal
ratio this season. "I didn't really expect it to come to me if I'm being
honest," he explained. "It came off a few knees and legs and then just fell
in front of me, so I was quite blessed that I was given the chance to score.
I thought it was quite an easy opportunity to take. "I really thought that I
was going to score the one in the second half, but as I went to shoot, I
caught more of the grass than the ball and it just trickled along, hit the
outside of the post and went wide. "When I get the opportunities in front of
goal, I really want to improve my ratio and start finishing off more than I
do at the moment."

Brown signed for West Ham United on a scholarship from July 2013, before
putting pen to paper on his first professional deal in November 2013, which
was a dream come true for him, although he admits that he still hasn't made
it as a professional. "It's a boy's dream to sign a professional contract
with a football club so I was over the moon when signing the contract. I
don't really see it as a proper professional contract because I know that
I'm not at that stage yet. I want to work hard to become a professional
footballer in the first team, not the Under-18s."

Personal development is high on this young Academy prospect's mind and since
signing for the Hammers, Brown has seen his confidence on the pitch improve
the most. "It's been quite a weird season to be honest because at the start,
I was scoring the goals but I didn't feel like my performances were that
good, whereas now, I feel like I've been playing much better but without the
goals. "Going into the final third of the season, hopefully I can match the
two and play regularly like how I did against Chelsea. "At the start of the
season when I moved to a new club, when I was shooting and struggling to
hold the ball up, my head was bound to drop. As I got more comfortable and
started playing better, it gives you that extra confidence that you need as
a striker to continue working hard and scoring goals. "The coaching staff
just kept helping me in training by telling me what I needed to change and
make sure I had it in my head what I needed to focus on."

It is in key areas like ball retention that Brown also feels like he has
improved, hoping that being stronger on the ball will eventually get him
closer to featuring in Nick Haycock's Development Squad. "When I first
joined the club, I knew that I wasn't ready to begin looking up at the
Development Squad, but now I am hoping to maybe feature once or twice
whenever I'm wanted. "I've improved my game a lot recently as I didn't
really know when I joined how to use my body to hold the ball up properly,
but I've learnt what to do now. "In the Development Squad games, if you lose
possession of the ball, the opposition can go down the other end and punish
you for it, so it was vital that I improved my ball retention."

Moving clubs can be a stressful time for any new player, but Brown settled
in quickly and is now a firm part of the West Ham family, which he feels
will help the club's bid for the title this season. "Football's not an
individual game so you need to have a strong bond with your team mates.
"I've noticed that at West Ham, it's like glue because everyone sticks
together and moves together as a team. For example, if someone goes for the
ball, someone is automatically covering him. "Obviously there are smaller
groups of friends within the team, but no one argues with each other and
everyone is friends. "That all helps when we go out on the pitch because we
are out there playing for each other and ourselves. I think that has helped
us earn the results that we have deserved this season."

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Chelsea v West Ham
KO 19:45
28 January 2014
Last updated at 14:08
By Jonathan Pearce
BBC Match of the Day commentator

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Stamford Bridge Date: Wednesday, 29 January

TEAM NEWS

Chelsea's new signing Mohamed Salah will not feature as he is yet to arrive
in the country. Fernando Torres (knee) and midfielder Marco van Ginkel
(knee) are the Blues' only absentees, while Demba Ba is vying for a start
against his former club.

West Ham could give debuts to new Italian loanees Antonio Nocerino and Marco
Borriello. Kevin Nolan is back following a four-match ban, but Joe Cole
(groin) misses out on a return to Stamford Bridge.

MATCH PREVIEW
Chelsea are on the march and even West Ham die-hards must fear the worst
going to Stamford Bridge, where they haven't won since September 2002.
"Chelsea, who are at home and look capable of getting a positive result
against anybody, are up against a West Ham side that have been struggling up
front and at the back. "Let's forget about the Hammers' lack of goals for
now because they were never going to get many chances at Stamford Bridge
anyhow. It is at the back where West Ham boss Sam Allardyce will be most
concerned." The Blues have won their last seven matches in all competitions,
keeping five clean sheets in that run. The Hammers have lost five of their
last six, conceding 19 and scoring just four. Jose Mourinho was really
positive speaking at last week's Football Writers' Association tribute night
in his honour and has been eminently sensible in his explanation for selling
Juan Mata to Manchester United. To me, it's good business for all concerned.
The little Spaniard wasn't getting enough football under Mourinho and gets a
dream move to another giant. He can't stop Chelsea winning the title this
season but he can impair the chances of their rivals. Though brilliant for
the club in his first two seasons. Mourinho wants defensive work out of his
midfield creators. Oscar and Hazard will track back. Schurrle, Willian and
now Salah too all have a more devastating turn of foot than Mata. Critics
say Mata will come back and haunt Chelsea next season. That might be so. But
it'll take more than his arrival to turn Manchester United into a team that
can topple Chelsea over 40 weeks.

Mourinho's side certainly should have enough to beat West Ham, as they have
done in 13 of the last 16 meetings. They're not conceding, largely down to
John Terry's form. He's having his longest injury-free run in the league
side since 2011. The return of West Ham's key defender Winston Reid from
injury can't come soon enough for Sam Allardyce. He told me he's never had a
squad so decimated by injuries. Andy Carroll is nearing full fitness, while
the loaning of Italians Boriello and Nocerino may help. Their survival won't
depend on this game. They must beat Swansea, Villa and Norwich in the next
three. Nocerino was in Italy's Euro 2012 squad, scoring against England in
the penalty shoot out, but he and striker Boriello have had injuries this
season. It's a big ask to expect miracles from them. I expect West Ham to
stay up but it'll be desperately close - unlike this game at the Bridge.

MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Chelsea have won 12 and lost just one of their last 15 Premier League
matches against West Ham.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League home games against
West Ham, with the Hammers' last victory at Stamford Bridge coming in 2002
thanks to a Paolo Di Canio brace (3-2).
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has picked up just two points in his previous
seven top-flight meetings with Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea
Chelsea have won five Premier League games in a row and seven in all
competitions.
The Blues have dropped only two points at home this season - in a 2-2 draw
with West Brom.
They have allowed just 68 shots on target against them this season, fewer
than any other team in the Premier League.
Jose Mourinho's side have recovered more points from losing positions than
any other side in the top flight this season (14).
Oscar has been involved in five goals in his last six appearances for
Chelsea (three goals, two assists).
Frank Lampard has scored five goals in his last five league games against
West Ham and Fernando Torres six in his last seven.
West Ham United
West Ham have won just four of their 22 Premier League matches this season
(18%).
They have kept nine league clean sheets this season but have conceded 23
games in their last eight matches in all competitions.
The Hammers are the only team in the Premier League who have not scored a
headed goal this season.
They have hit the target with just 35% of their shots this season, the
lowest accuracy of any team in the top flight.
West Ham have dropped more points from winning positions than any other side
in the Premier League this season (14).

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Youngster departs
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 28th January 2014
By: Staff Writer

Skrill Premier side Luton Town have signed West Ham United youngster Pelly
Ruddock on a permanent basis. The surprise departure comes just four weeks
after the Hammers recalled Ruddock from a short-term loan spell at the
Bedfordshire club in order to cover for a first team defensive crisis. The
news was confirmed by the fifth tier club earlier this afternoon. "Luton
Town Football Club are delighted to announce the permanent signing of Pelly
Ruddock Mpanzu from West Ham United for an undisclosed fee," it read. "The
20-year-old has penned a two-and-a-half year deal at Kenilworth Road and
returns to the club following a hugely successful loan spell with the
Hatters this season."

Ruddock joined West Ham from Boreham Wood in December 2011. He made his sole
first team appearance for the club against Burnley in the 2-0 Carling Cup
win last October. Whilst on loan at Kenilworth Road last year he made four
appearances in midfield for the current Conference Premier leaders.

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Sam Allardyce optimistic ahead of Chelsea trip
Last Updated: 28/01/14 5:04pm
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce believes his struggling side can get a result
against Chelsea on Wednesday despite Jose Mourinho's superb home record as
Blues boss. The Portuguese, in his second spell at Stamford Bridge, is
unbeaten in all 71 Premier League home games in charge and will welcome
18th-placed West Ham looking to keep pace with Arsenal and Manchester City
at the top of the table. But Allardyce is not prepared to write off his
side's chances against their London rivals as the Hammers battle against the
drop. "We can't go to Chelsea and lie down," he said. "We can't go to
Chelsea and think that we're not going to get a result. When all said and
done, West Bromwich Albion should have beaten Chelsea this season. "In a
one-off game, if you play to your best and Chelsea aren't functioning at
their best, then you can get to the end result like West Brom did. It can be
achieved at any one time in any one game and we've got to believe that it
can be achieved."

West Ham have not played since their Capital One Cup defeat at home to
Manchester City a week ago whereas Chelsea were beating Stoke 1-0 in the FA
Cup fourth round on Sunday. However Allardyce believes the number of options
available to Mourinho means there is no benefit to the prolonged rest for
his players. "He [Mourinho] changes his squad and he's got 25 international
players to choose from so that's never been a particular problem for a club
like Chelsea," Allardyce added. "Keeping that amount of players and rotating
them keeps them relatively happy. Their massive programme throughout the
season means that players that don't play so much, generally play 20-plus
games. "We're happy in our squad if players are getting to the 25-game mark
because we will only play 40-plus games whereas they will play 60-plus."

Andy Carroll has a chance of starting his first Premier League game for West
Ham since May after the forward finally returned to the first-team fold
following two troublesome foot injuries. The 25-year-old will be hoping to
offer more of a goal threat to the Hammers but Allardyce conceded that
breaching the Chelsea backline in not an easy task. "The defensive unit has
become so difficult to breakdown again which shows that Jose has been
concentrating on that," he added. "It was apparent when I was watching them
against Stoke City. "Stoke found it very, very difficult to create any
opportunities against Chelsea and it frees up their quality players.
"Stopping Oscar, [Eden] Hazard, [Samuel] Eto'o is one of the elements for us
which we have to be very careful of. When those players get the ball we have
to make sure we're very sharp and that we close them down, otherwise their
skills and abilities will make life difficult for us."

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Osasuna criticise West Ham for pulling out of a deal for Raoul Loe
By Lucas Brown | Last Updated: 28/01/14 2:21pm
SSN

Osasuna have accused West Ham United of being two-faced for pulling out of a
deal for Raoul Loe after the Spanish league side thought everything had been
agreed. The Cameroon international midfielder flew to London at the weekend
only for the Hammers to cancel the agreement via e-mail on the morning of
the medical, explaining they had agreed to loan Antonio Nocerin from AC
Milan. "Everything that has happened has surprised me. It was all done and
we left it with them. I cannot understand how a club at that level can
negotiate and work in a two-faced way like that," Osasuna's sporting
director Petar Vasiljevic stated.
"It was a real shock how a club at this level was doing this. But every club
know how things go and it was the same with this. We thought the subject was
concluded and felt the talks had been completed. "I want to explain what
happened with Raoul Loe and how strange things became throughout the
negotiations. "The club received a firm offer from West Ham and we reached
an agreement. "It was then left in the player's hands to go ahead and pass
the medical. He travelled to London with his agent where they waited and
went to a hotel. Up until then everything went well. "The following day when
they had to undergo the tests they pulled out of the deal, blaming it on the
fact that they signed someone else. "I was then sent an e-mail confirming
that West Ham had chosen to go with another player with different conditions
and was a deal they had been working on for several weeks. "It was a loan
deal that they said was completed and gave their apologies."

Osasuna did not want to lose Loe but accepted West Ham United's offer for
financial reasons, but Vasiljevic is pleased that the player is now set to
stay.
"Raoul is a strong boy and knows that he had a chance to take a step forward
in his career. But that was not possible and he had a bad Saturday night.
Now he is back with the squad and it is all forgotten," he added.

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WEST HAM DEBT IS INCREASING AGAIN
By Sean Whetstone 28 Jan 2014 at 12:15
West Ham Till I Die

After four years in charge West Ham United debt appears to be rising again
after previous claims it was under control and was steadily reducing. In
2010 David Sullivan famously revealed in a press conference that West Ham
were over £100 million in debt. Sullivan explained at the time…

We've paid down some of the debt and injected some working capital but
there's still more than £100 million of debt. In that there's £50 million
owed to banks, there's £40 million owed to other clubs. There's not a penny
to come in, they (the previous owners) have borrowed against the next two
years of season-ticket money. The sponsors have paid 70% of their
three-years up front. In addition there's the club's settlement to (former
manager) Alan Curbishley, so the real debt is about £110 million."

Four years on Net debt has increased by nearly seven million pounds last
season from £70.7m in 2012 to £77.4m in 2013 in accounts published last
week. In previous years net debt was published as £55.4m in 2009 before
dropping after their take over to £33.5m in 2010 before rising again to
£41.6m in 2011.

Net debt is just a metric that shows a company's overall debt situation by
netting the value of a company's liabilities and debts such as bank loans
with its cash held in the bank.

Bank debt also increased by over fourteen million pounds from £30.5m in 2012
to £44.6m in 2013. In 2009 prior to their take over Bank debt was almost
identical at £44.9m, In 2010 post take over it dropped to £31.1m and in 2011
it dropped further to £28.9m.

Refinancing of the bank debt happened in July last year which saw a new
facility worth £26.7m which is repayable by 31st December 2016 and is
secured against Upton Park as a mortgage The new £44.6m figure is a point
time figure on 31st May 2013 so may have changed since the refinancing deal
in July.

Debt from loans from shareholders increased from £35.2m in 2012 to £45.7m in
2013 as David Sullivan and David Gold injected a further £10.5m of cash last
season. In their first year in 2010 share holder loans were just £3m.

Total borrowings including share holder loans have increased from £72.5m in
2012 to £90.9m in 2013. Although these loans attract interest, the total
£3.4m of interest is rolled up on the balance sheet and added to the debt
rather than paid out to the owners.

West Ham took out two short term loans from Vibrac Corporation to aid their
cash flow secured against future TV income from the Premier League. These
were a £12.8m loan in 2012 and a £15m loan. These are thought to attract an
interest rate of 10% and replaced a previous £12m overdraft facility
provided by 4 banks which expired on 31st December 2013.

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WHY FINANCIAL FAIR PLAY IS NO LONGER A PROBLEM
By Sean Whetstone 28 Jan 2014 at 08:27
West Ham Till I Die

With the recent publication of West Ham's financial accounts last week came
along some important information with regards to our wage bill restrictions
this season. The accounts told us the total wage bill for West Ham was
£49.2m for last season (£56.2m if you include National Insurance, Pension
and compensation costs for loss of office). Considering those figures
included Manager Sam Allardyce and Vice Chairman Karren Brady's
multi-million pound salaries of around £4.6m between them plus over 750
other ordinary West Ham employees I think we can safety assume the actual
players wage bill including National Insurance, bonuses, image rights and
pension contributions was around or just under £48m as claimed on WHUFC.com
earlier this year.

This means our official FFP wage cap is £52m for this season as has been
claimed all along.

However the West Ham accounts also reveal a twist that we achieved improved
sales in both Commercial and Retail sales. The Premier League FFP rules say
the difference in this extra income can also be used as wages for this
season only.

Commercial revenue grew From £7.9m to £13.9m and Retail sales from £4.8m to
£6m giving us another £7.2m to spend this year so that pushes our maximum
wage cap up to £61.2m!

Not to play down the efforts of the West Ham United sales teams but the
majority of this increase in sales is down our promotion back to the Premier
League.

Maybe not the message our board want the fans to hear right now as it will
put more pressure on them to spend, spend, spend but still a relief we will
not face a points deduction or other sanctions if we go over the £52m wage
bill which is what the board claimed we were perilously close to at the
summer transfer window.

The recent reported loss of £3.5m for last season is also is well within the
permitted £105m losses over 3 years as long as the owners continue to inject
equity as they have done again last season to the tune of £10.5m.

So maybe the Chairman did over play the FFP card too much to the media last
summer. The financial accounts just released relate to the financial year
end 31st May 2013 so they should of known about the improved commercial and
retail sales at the time of the claims.

A good explanation about Premier League and Championship Cost Control and
Sustainability Provisions can be found from Daniel Geey at his website

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West Ham's new Italian duo Marco Borriello and Antonio Nocerino could
feature against Chelsea
Jan 28, 2014 16:09 By Alex Richards 2 Comments
The Mirror

West Ham could hand debuts to new signings as Antonio Nocerino and Marco
Borriello as both are in contention to feature at Chelsea on Wednesday
night.
The two Italy internationals have signed on loan until the end of the season
to bolster the Hammers' squad, which is starting to recover from injury
setbacks over the Christmas period. Borriello will compete with Andy Carroll
and Carlton Cole for a starting place up front. Antonio Nocerino could come
into the midfield after his arrival from AC Milan, while captain Kevin Nolan
returns from a four-match ban. However, Joe Cole (groin) a definite absentee
against one of his former clubs.

Provisional squad: Jaaskelainen, Adrian, O'Brien, Johnson, Tomkins, Collins,
Rat, Demel, McCartney, Diarra, Noble, Nocerino, Collison, Jarvis, Taylor,
Diame, Nolan, Morrison, Vaz Te, Maiga, C Cole, Carroll, Borriello.

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Chelsea v West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 28th January 2014
By: Preview Percy

In honour of our new signings Preview Percy has gone all Italian. To be
honest it's not a pretty sight.....

Next up we hop onto the District Line to the Stamford Bridge Laundromat for
a Wednesday night trip to Chelsea. Kick-off is at 7:45pm and, this being
midweek, only the rush-hour fun that is the tube will delay your journey.

We are forever told that the league is a "marathon not a sprint" in which
case we currently have a group of three just beginning to (to paraphrase the
late Ron Pickering) open their legs to show their class. Arsenal are top of
course, looking nervously over their shoulders at the rather good Manchester
City who (at the time of writing with Arsenal being 1-0 down at Southampton)
are tucked in nicely one point behind them on 50 points.

Then, in the manner of a runner who wants the two guys in front of him to at
least consider the possibility that he might have something of a sprint
finish left in the locker, come Chelsea with 49 points from their 22 matches
played so far.

Current form looks good – they've won five and drawn one of their last six
in the league. The wins came at home to Swansea (1-0), at home to Liverpool
(2-1), away at Southampton and Hull (3-0 and 2-0 respectively) and a 3-1
home stroll against Man Utd. The one draw came away at the library on a
filthy Monday night just before Christmas that you wouldn't have sent the
spotty work experience kid out on.

Of course their unlimited source of funds (to them "Financial Fair Play"
simply means pulling up the drawbridge behind them) means that that transfer
windows are just a bit of a laugh. The best thing about the current one has
been their fans making themselves look a bit daft at the hands of some Man
Utd supporters armed with a video camera and a microphone. "Yeah – great
passer of the ball from what I've seen on YouTube" was the general reaction
as a couple of eejits with Cork accents dangled a few unsubtly made-up names
in front of the sort of people who all went "who?" when Bobby Tambling was
paraded in front of them at half-time in a match against us a few years ago.
To be fair the eejits did eventually encounter a group of blokes who were
prepared to admit that they had never heard of the putative "targets". There
again they seemed so "refreshed" that you could probably have mentioned
Lionel Messi to them without getting a reaction.

One real player they did bring in was Nemanja "Professor Matt" Matic who
really old readers of similar vintage to myself might remember used to be
the engineer on Fireball XL5 (back when kids' tv was slightly better than
the extended advert for tat that it is today). Matic is now in his second
spell at the club and has been rehired to fill a perceived need in the
defensive midfield department. Received wisdom has it that this area hasn't
been the same since Makalele left, what with Essien's knee having been a bit
on the fragile side in recent years. Talking of Essien's knee, it has now
departed, loosely connected to the rest of him, in the general direction of
Milan. That would have been an interesting medical.

Also gone is Juan "Whassa" Mata who has gone to Old Trafford to help with
their relegation battle. Given the Salford mob's current plight one could
argue that the dropping of such a player like crumbs from the Chelsea table
will act as a psychological downer for Moyes lot. Certainly if Chelsea
wanted to send a message along the lines of "we consider you to be that
small a threat that we'll sell you a half decent player" it was a pretty
unsubtle way of doing so.

There's little to like about the Russian's plaything. There's the lionising
of a racist thug and the love-in for an obnoxious little git who actually
did sell his kids' grandma down the river. Then there's all the diving.

When the paper boy brought round my copy of the Standard the other night I
was somewhat bemused to discover an article from Patrick Barclay extolling
the virtues of goals from free-kicks. The argument went that, since
free-kicks are awarded as punishment for foul play, the true football
supporter should rejoice when a goal is scored from one. Which is all well
and good until you start praising the likes of Oscar, whose effort against
Stoke at the weekend was the difference between the two teams in the Cup. Mr
Barclay's rather naive argument sort of ignores one vital thing, that being
the simple fact that Oscar is a cheat who often dives to win those
free-kicks in the first place.

Take the reverse fixture earlier this season. Latching on to an admittedly
rotten back pass Oscar's dive was so far in advance of any contact from
Jaaskalainen he still had his street clothes on. The only thing more
embarrassing than Oscar's dive was the failure of the referee to spot what
was one of the worst dives ever seen outside Anfield. I'll start applauding
free-kick goals Mr Barclay when the likes of Chelsea stop diving to get them
– though I suspect we'll all be getting about on jet packs by then.

It might help if there was a bit of honesty in the media about it. Niall
Quinn commented to the effect that Oscar "saw Jaaskalainen coming" – so
here's a novel idea for commentators and journalists: stop mincing your
words. If you see Oscar throw himself to the floor in an obvious dive don't
say "he made the most of what contact there was". Tell it like it is and say
that he cheated. Maybe then referees might just stop using the get out of
jail free card given to them by the media and actually start doing their
jobs.

According to their manager, Chelsea "have no divers", a "fact" that will
come as news to West Brom who came within a gnat's of winning until a last
minute spot of "simulation" gave Chelsea a point-saving spot kick.

Rant over and so to us. There are some new faces about the place what with
this being the window and all. So it's a warm welcome from La Casa Riposo
Olimpico Del Avram Grant per lo Sconcertato (blame the spotty work
experience kid and something called "Google Translate" for that one) to
midfielder Antonio Nocerino and striker Marco Borriello.

Nocerino has, over his career, apparently played both as a defensive
midfielder and in more of an attacking role – he has a Serie A hat-trick to
his name for Milan. Nocerino's surname apparently translates as "little
walnut" which, by strange coincidence, is an affliction quite common amongst
the more elderly of us here at the Rest Home.

Borriello's name doesn't translate into anything much in English. He
survived a childhood in Naples that included his father being killed by the
Camorra when he was only 10. He seems an "interesting" character – in
2006-07 he seems to have served a ban for doping having tested positive for
a number of steroid-type compounds, something his then girlfriend attributed
to creams she was using to counter an infection in an "intimate" area. I
would ask Matron for clarification but I've just had my tea.

Injury news continues to improve, though this match would appear to be a few
days too soon for Winston Reid. Tomkins will be available for selection
after his suspension and will probably partner James Collins in the middle.

Diame's knee is an odd one. It looked like one of those "painful for a bit
but not serious" knocks at first so it was some surprise to see the player
stretchered off. The initial comments from the manager suggested that the
knock was "quite serious" though later reports suggested that this was not
the case.

So a prediction then. We'll lose of course – as we've seen time and time
again referees are far too scared of Abrahamovic to give visiting teams a
fair crack of the whip. However, this will be more about the performance and
getting something to carry over into future matches. We're vulnerable at
free-kicks and our opponents are past masters at conning them out of the
officials. I'll be putting the Avram Grant Olympic Rest Home For The
Bewildered's Pickled Walnut Budget (£2.50) on a 3-1 home win as we look to
bed in the new faces.

Enjoy the game!

When Last We Met At Stamford Bridge – Lost 0-2 (March 2013) Andy Carroll had
a perfectly good goal disallowed as a fat obnoxious pensioner-hating
midfielder and Hazard were on the scoresheet for the home side.

Referee: Neil Swarbrick Last seen trying to liven up our otherwise dull 2-0
home win over Wigan last season by dishing out yellow cards on a whim.

Danger Man:Dember Ba – him and the fat gerontophobe will be looking to prove
that the "law of the ex" actually exisits.

Daft fact of the week: If "by a man's friends shall ye know him", it's worth
pointing out that Roman Abrahamovic is said to be close mates with oafish
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin's bid to make the forthcoming
Winter Olympics a paradise for homophobes hasn't quite got as far as
renaming the skiing plus shooting event as "The Athlon" but it's probably
only a matter of time.

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com



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