Daily WHUFC News - 10th September 2015

Classic Match - Boys of '86 batter Baggies
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's Boys of '86 were virtually unbeatable at the Boleyn Ground
during their record-setting 1985/86 season. The Hammers won 17 and lost just
two of their 21 home Division One matches, scoring 48 goals and conceding
just 16. John Lyall's team hit top form at home to West Bromwich Albion on
30 November 1985, with Alan Devonshire, George Parris, Geoff Pike and Neil
Orr scoring in a 4-0 victory that took the Hammers third in the table. On
Monday 14 September, the Boys of '86 will be honoured as part of the Club's
Farewell Boleyn celebrations at the Barclays Premier League fixture with
Newcastle United.

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From the Treatment Room
WHUFC.com

Hello everyone,

We have had a different sort of week this week, with it being the
international break and eleven players being away on duty with their
countries, and four new signings to work with.

With less players around, it gives us the opportunity to focus even more
closely on the rehabilitation with the injured players, and on getting the
new signings and those players returning from injury fitter and sharper.

At the end of the micro cycle we had with the smaller squad, we held an
11v11 match at Chadwell Heath to simulate match conditions and give valuable
minutes to the likes of Andy Carroll, Michail Antonio, Victor Moses and
Nikica Jelavic.

We hope to have all the players back from international duty free from
injury and it will be good to get the whole group back together on Friday,
after the players' day off, and then we will be fully focused on preparing
them for Monday's home game against Newcastle United.

Injury-wise, we do not have too much to report.

Mauro Zarate is progressing well and working hard to return after suffering
a hamstring injury in training, with a view to returning to the group before
the end of the week.

One of our new signings, Alex Song is working hard – as you will have seen
on social media – and his ankle improving, with a view to him returning by
the end of October.

Enner Valencia is rehabbing with a good positive attitude and we hope to see
him return by November, while finally Joey O'Brien is still recovering from
a calf injury.

Stijn Vandenbroucke
Head of Medical and Sports Science

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Cresswell excited by new arrivals
WHUFc.com

Aaron Cresswell says he is excited by the four new arrivals on transfer
deadline day and hopes the Club enjoy a memorable final season at the Boleyn
Ground. After beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield, Slaven Bilic was left
celebrating again when the Club enjoyed a great end to the transfer window
bringing in Alex Song, Victor Moses, Michail Antonio and Nikica Jelavic.
Cresswell played with Song last season and knows the quality he will bring
to the first-team. The talented full-back is also relishing the chance to
play alongside the other three arrivals and feels the squad is looking very
strong and has strength in depth throughout the team. Cresswell said: "There
were four who came in on the last day, and we know Alex from before. "But
the ones that came in during the summer as well have been fantastic from the
moment they walked in the door and hopefully the new boys can hit the ground
running straight away as well on Monday (against Newcastle).
"We have brought four in and it definitely adds to our strength in depth."

Cresswell is still celebrating the famous win at Anfield last week and says
it was a day he will never forget – especially as most of his family were
sitting in the Liverpool end !! The Hammers managed to finally end 52-years
without getting an away win over the Reds and the Hammers full-back says all
the players are brimming with confidence over the international break.
Cresswell produced a superb display in the West Ham defence and was happy to
put behind him the mistakes that were made against Bournemouth in the
previous home game. He added: "My dad used to take me to Liverpool games
when I was younger and I used to go myself when I was a bit older. "To turn
Liverpool over away, 3-0 at Anfield was a great achievement and a real team
performance. "It was extra special because all my family were there, they
were all sitting in the Liverpool end. They are all Liverpool fans, so it
was a great day all round. "We were so full of confidence after the game and
we would have liked to have played the next day. But coming off the back of
that victory at Anfield, where we hadn't won in 52 years, it was a good day
all round. "I take full responsibility for the two sloppy mistakes I made
(against Bournemouth), but that is where you know you have to be strong and
you have to bounce back. To do it at Anfield was special. "Every footballer
has ups and downs and you have to take the good with the bad and be a strong
player."

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Lanzini scores wonder goal
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's new signings Michail Antonio and Nikica Jelavic wasted no
time getting among the goals in training but it was Manuel Lanzini who stole
the show as the players looked to impress Slaven Bilic ahead of the Monday
night game against Newcastle. In a training ground match, Antonio showed his
aerial ability when he scored from a corner and Jelavic scored with an
impressive diving header from close-range. But the pick of the bunch came
from Lanzini who followed up his first Premier League goal at Anfield with a
sublime piece of skill when he scored a rabona goal to show his quality once
again.

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WHAT A KOP OUT
By Iron Liddy 9 Sep 2015 at 17:00
WTID

I was thinking about what Sean said in bed yesterday morning …. hmm, perhaps
I should rephrase that. See the trouble that bad grammar can get you into?!

I was in bed yesterday morning thinking about the fact that Sean had just
referred to the new East stand in the OS as 'Kop style' in his article on
Claret & Hugh and as comments started to trickle in I could see that I'm not
alone in being unhappy about the term. As a West Ham supporter who has
already bought my seat in the East stand I have a particularly vested
interest in what it's called and I admit that it did rankle when the term
'Kop' was bandied about during Karren Brady's marketing videos and at our
presentation at the reservation centre back in May.


As I lay there pondering the issue I realised that I didn't even know where
the name 'Kop' originated. Being a bit of an anorak when it comes to
etymology I decided to Google. No doubt many of you football buffs are
already cognisant with its origin but I hope you'll bear with me while I
share the story for the benefit of those who aren't, because it is actually
quite an interesting piece of football history.

To me the Kop has always been synonymous with Anfield and I've always
presumed that it was peculiar to that stadium; so I was surprised to learn
that the first time the term was applied to a football stand was actually at
Woolwich Arsenal's Manor Ground in 1904. A local newsman likened the
silhouette of fans standing on a newly raised bank of earth to soldiers
standing atop the hill at the Battle of Spion Kop.

The Battle of Spion Kop had been fought four years earlier during the Second
Boer War on 23rd and 24th January 1900. It was fought between the South
African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one hand and British
forces on the other, during the campaign to relieve the nearby city of
Ladysmith. Spion Kop was the largest hill in the region, being over 430
metres (1,410 ft) in height and it lay almost exactly at the centre of the
Boer line. If the British could capture this position and bring artillery to
the hill then they would command the flanks of the surrounding Boer
positions. As it transpired, it was a British defeat.


Of all the Boer War battles Spion Kop retains an appalling notoriety for the
incompetence of British leadership and the slaughter of the small number of
men engaged on each side in the struggle for the top of the hill. The battle
graphically showed the failure of the British Army to understand the
requirements of modern warfare as their tactics failed to cope with powerful
long range artillery and magazine rifle fire. In addition it highlighted the
need for proper systems of communications and reconnaissance, as well as
maintenance of chains of command in action and training and leadership at
all levels.

It is also famous for being the battle during which the young Winston
Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi found themselves on the same hillside.
Churchill was a journalist stationed in South Africa and he had also been
commissioned as a lieutenant in the South African Light Horse by General
Buller after his well publicised escape from Boer captivity. Churchill acted
as a courier to and from Spion Kop and General Buller's HQ; while Gandhi
performed the role of stretcher-bearer in the Indian Ambulance Corps he had
organised.


Although the common English name for the battle is Spion Kop, throughout the
Commonwealth and its historical literature the official South African
English and Afrikaans name for the battle is Spioenkop. Spioen means "spy"
or "look-out", and kop means "hill" or "outcropping."

In 1906 Liverpool Echo sports editor Ernest Edwards pinched the London
journalist's term for Arsenal's bank of earth when he wrote of a new
open-air embankment at Anfield:

"This huge wall of earth has been termed 'Spion Kop', and no doubt this apt
name will always be used in future in referring to this spot."
The name was formally applied in 1928 upon construction of a roof.
Subsequently Liverpool FC fans have credited the Kop with being a memorial
to the fact that it was members of the Lancashire regiments who fell during
the battle but in fact regiments from all over the UK were present and also
suffered losses.


Further research revealed a bigger gap in my knowledge of football grounds
than I originally thought. Although it was the first terrace officially
named Spion Kop, many other English football clubs and some Rugby league
clubs applied the same name to stands in later years. Villa Park's old Holte
End was historically the largest of all Kop ends, closely followed by the
old South Bank at Molineux, both once regularly holding crowds in excess of
30,000. In more modern times work was completed on Hillsborough's Kop in the
mid 1980s which, with a capacity of around 22,000, made it the biggest
standing area in Europe at the time. After the Hillsborough disaster in
1989, the Kop was the last part of the Sheffield Wednesday ground to be
converted to all-seater accommodation, the change finally coming in 1993 to
comply with new FA Premier League regulations following the Taylor Report.
This had the effect of halving the capacity, but the Hillsborough Kop
remains one of the largest single tier stands in Britain.

A full list of British grounds with a history of a Kop stand can be found
here: Spion Kop Stadiums

Worried that it was just me who was oblivious to the history and existence
of Spion Kop stands in British football grounds and that my article would
have you all tutting and yawning, I quizzed Mr Lids. He also didn't know the
origin of the term or that it was applicable to any ground other than
Anfield. So cheers Sean, thanks to you I learned something new in bed
yesterday morning that my husband couldn't have taught me! ;)

So now we're all up to speed on Spion Kop stands I can't say that I'm any
more enamoured with it as a name for our new East stand at the OS. 'Iron
Kop' might have a bit of a ring to it in parodical terms but it's not
exactly auspicious is it? The site of a British defeat due to the
incompetency of our leaders. Not only that, you can't help but think of a
seething mass of Scousers whenever the name is mentioned. Nah.

So we need a name for the East stand. The North and South stands are already
taken care of and will proudly bear the names of our heroes Messrs Moore &
Brooking as they do at the Boleyn. No doubt the West stand will be the
Betway stand for the foreseeable future but the East remains nameless, as
far as we know.

Inevitably the question has already been posed and I've seen many calls for
it to be called the Chicken Run in order to retain the links with our past.
As a sucker for nostalgia myself I can empathise with that desire but the
compact, almost cosy image that the name conjures up seems too incongruous
with the vastness of our new East stand somehow. Personally I think it would
be good to have at least one stand with a brand new name to reflect both our
history and our new era and that the ghosts of the Chicken Run are better
left swaying gently in the past.


So instead of getting out of bed to feed the cats and make the tea I lay
there thinking laterally. With a founder fortuitously named Arnold Hills
that would seem an obvious choice, what with the word 'kop' being Afrikaans
for 'hill'. In your best Julie Andrews voice: "The Hills are alive with the
sound of Bubbles …." Perhaps not.

This set me off thinking about hills and high places in Newham ….. Beckton
Ski Slope? Nope, that's just taking the piste. Probably the highest points
games at The Boleyn have been watched from are the flats in Priory Road or
the block that used to stand behind the North Bank; which was famously, and
dangerously, used as a grandstand when West Ham played Hereford in an FA Cup
fourth round replay in 1972. 'ealf and Safety? That's for yer bloody pansies
innit, as dear old Alf would say.


Hmm, The Priory? That sounds like an appropriate place for 20,000 poor souls
hopelessly addicted to West Ham with little chance of recovery. I don't
think I want to sit in a stand with a name that's synonymous with
rehabilitation though ….. in the words of Luther Ingram, if loving you is
wrong, I don't wanna be right.

What about our shipbuilding heritage? Surely that's a rich vein of
inspiration I pondered. A bit of horizontal Googling revealed that the final
battleship to be built by Thames Ironworks was HMS Thunderer, the last and
largest warship ever built on the River Thames. The Thunderer? That isn't a
bad name for a wall of noise. However, further reading revealed that before
she was built Thames Ironworks had been struggling for some time, with most
orders going to the Northern yards. Arnold Hills threatened parliament with
the prospect of some awkward questions and as a result Thames Ironworks
received the order for the Thunderer. Although it was a very important and
prestigious order, the building of HMS Thunderer broke the shipyard. Even
though Britain was in the grip of a massive naval shipbuilding race the
banks withdrew their loans and the Thames Ironworks shipyard at Bow creek
went into bankruptcy, causing massive unemployment in Blackwall and Canning
Town. Not such a good omen then.


Next I began to think about the characteristics of the battleships
themselves and hit upon the idea of The Broadside. As I'm sure you know, the
broadside is the side of a ship and specifically the battery of cannon on
one side of a warship. Additionally, the term broadside is a measurement of
a vessel's maximum simultaneous firepower which can be delivered upon a
single target. This is calculated by multiplying the shell weight of the
ship's main armament shells times the number of barrels that can be brought
to bear. Perfect, so our maximum simultaneous fan-power from The Broadside
of our new stadium will be 20,000 x as loud as we can bloody sing. WE ARE
SLAVEN'S CLARET AND BLUE NAVY!! That'll confuse the buggers and blow them
out of the water.


By now the cats were scratching the carpet in hunger and my husband was
beginning to stir so it was time to abandon my solitary brainstorming
session to the conclusion that there really is no better name than The
Boleyn Wall, which is already a popular choice among many West Ham fans. It
tells the story of an important part of our heritage and would ensure that
the name of our home for over a century stays on the lips of our fans for
generations to come. We may not be taking the castles with us physically but
metaphorically we could create a formidable fortress of fans with The Boleyn
Wall.


COME ON YOU IRONS!

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THE NEWCASTLE UNITED MATCH - TAKE IT 'NICE AND STEADY' TO SECURE THE WIN!
By S J Chandos 9 Sep 2015 at 08:00
WTID

Without a shadow of doubt, It has so far been a right topsy-turvy season.
Who would have predicted in pre-season that we would gain maximum points
away to Arsenal and Liverpool and lose both home fixtures to Leicester City
and Bournemouth? Although those two home defeats were quite uncomfortable to
watch, the fact is that, in the long run, the results probably did Slaven
Bilic a massive favour. It undoubtedly concentrated the minds of the board
and strengthened Bilic's hand in pushing for the final four squad
reinforcements that have addressed the obvious prior lack within the squad.

Now we have strength in depth in virtually all positions, players that
address the lack of width and a good quality striker to cover injury
absences and increase competition up front. As a said during the transfer
window, I have no reservations about recruiting Jelavic. He can score goals
in the PL, especially with far better players around him then at Hull City.
Plus, there is the additional factor of the prior Bilic-Jelavic connection
via the Croatian national team. If anyone can get the best out of the player
then it is undoubtedly Slaven Bilic.

Personally, I have always been an advocate of the fast counter-attacking
game, especially away from home. The last time we played that type of game
well was probably when we had Craig Bellamy up front. So, the addition of
two skilful, pacy and powerful wide men, in Moses and Antonio, is a very
exciting proposition. I expect Bilic to start with Moses and Jelavic on
Monday evening when we host Newcastle Utd. It is probable that Antonio will
start on the bench and will be gradually introduced to the greater demands
of the PL. Moses is a fast and skilful wide man who can add a whole new
dimension to our attacking play. We all recall how well Moses did with Stoke
City last season and there is no reason why he should not now build upon
that with West Ham. I always tend to think of Moses as more of a provider
than a goal scorer, but hopefully he will still be able to chip in with his
fair quota of goals the season. If Moses is fast and skilful, Antonio is a
pacy and powerful winger, with the potential to score goals. Last season he
scored 15 goals for Notts Forest and that is an impressive return for a
winger. The question is whether he can make the goal scoring transition from
the Championship to the PL? I feel that he can and if he scores 8-10 goals
in his PL debut season that would be a very good return.

Indeed, any side with players that can contribute goals from midfield and/or
out wide has an enormous advantage. It takes some of the pressure off the
strikers and ensures that opposition teams have other goal scoring threats
to worry about. So, to get a goal scoring wide man in the transfer window is
a real positive, although, as I said, it is probably the best strategy to
manage Antonio's introduction to PL action. I would be surprised if Bilic
starts with two wingers, although stranger things have happened! That can
only happen if Bilic starts with just Sakho leading the attack. If he opts
to play Jelavic off of Sakho, then he will probably go with just Moses, with
Lanzini or Payet on the opposite flank. All will be revealed on Monday
evening?

Our fourth transfer deadline day addition, Alex Song, will not come in to
the first team reckoning until approximately November. Although the move was
complicated, and delayed, by Song's summer ankle surgery, it is great to
have him back on board again. As we know he is a very powerful and
influential midfielder, who was instrumental in our excellent (pre-Boxing
Day) start to last season. Yes, his form dropped off quite a bit in the New
Year, but we now know that was probably caused by the negative effects of
his ankle problem. There is every prospect that Song can now regain his
fitness and get back to his very best form.

Equipped with our new summer additions, we now need to start rectifying our
poor initial home results. And probably the best way to do that is to start
the match 'nice and steady,' exerting the type of discipline and control
that we exhibited at the Emirates and Anfield. Yes, I want to see us play
with pace and tempo, but lets not start recklessly and get caught out at the
back. If we concede an early goal then doubts will enter the heads of our
players and that is something best avoided. Our players need to retain
possession, pick their passes and control the match. In the last two home
matches we have found ourselves 0-2 down early, caught cold on the
counter-attack and undermined by defensive mistakes. So, lets cut out the
silly mistakes, ensure that we keep it tight at the back, dominate play and
open up 'as and when.' If we manage to go 1-0 up then that will force
Newcastle Utd to throw caution to the wind, to save the match, and create
more space for our forwards to exploit.

Firstly, we need the win, but it would be a double positive if we could win
convincingly and restore our shaken self-confidence at Upton Park. To do
well this season and challenge for a top 6 finish (why not aim high?) we
need to ensure that we maximise the number of points won at Upton Park and
supplement that with a decent points haul on our travels. In short, yes, we
do need to make Upton Park a fortress again, a place that intimidates the
visiting opposition teams and where we win consistently.

I feel that we can beat Newcastle Utd and get our home results back on the
right track. On the night, I am looking for a 2-0 or 3-0 victory. I do not
think that is unrealistic if we get our selection and tactics right. Lets do
it and keep all the 'doom and gloom' merchants quiet, because if we were to
lose a third home match they will undoubtedly come out of the wood work
again. This can be a very good season for the club, we have the squad and
Bilic and the players need to make it happen. Starting this Monday evening!

COYI.

SJ. Chandos.

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Zarate and Co on way back
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 9, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

The Head of West Ham's medical team has given a positive update on the
conditions of the injured first teamers. Stijn Vandenbroucke , in his latest
report on www.whufc.com says: "Mauro Zarate is progressing well and working
hard to return after suffering a hamstring injury in training, with a view
to returning to the group before the end of the week. "Alex Song is working
hard – as seen on social media – and his ankle improving, with a view to
him returning by the end of October. Enner Valencia is rehab-ing with a good
positive attitude and we hope to see him return by November, while finally
Joey O'Brien is still recovering from a calf injury.

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Irons ready to let youngsters out
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 9, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

West Ham are ready to let a number of youngsters go out on loan with the
opening of the emergency window. The 'emergency loan' window opened this
morning and is not due to close until November 25th, with clubs then unable
to add to their squads until the January window opens in the new year. The
loan deals can last between 28 days and 93 days. Should clubs agree a
three-month deal, it will tie a player down until the New Year and the
January window. Young central defender Doneil Henry is one of those who
could be on his way with Blackburn Rovers still interested in the youngster
who did so well at Ewood Park last season before injury. Slaven Bilic is
also ready to let Elliott Lee, Kyle Knoyle and perhaps even Reece Oxford on
a short term deal and they haven't given up hope that James Collins and Joey
O'Brien will receive acceptable offers. ClaretandHugh was told: "We would
certanly be hoping to get a few out on loan – we have several who would
benefit greatly from first team experience."

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Mooro to 'live again' on final Boleyn day!
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 9, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

A massive plan is underway to have Bobby Moore make a' personal
appearance'moore at the last game to ever be played at the Boleyn on May 7,
2016 against Swansea. A plan is underway to have the club's greatest legend
appear on the Upton Park pitch and 'speak' to the fans if the hugely
ambitious project can be brought together successfully. ClaretandHugh has
learned exclusively that Mooro will appear in the form of a hologram on the
centre circle if it can be organised successfully and his "final speech"
will be produced by piecing it together from every public word he uttered.
Sound and vision engineers are trying to work out the complicated details
and one problem may be producing an effectie hologram on a May afternoon.

Among the other projects being looked at are an evening concert in which
West Ham related celebrities will star with Iron Maiden, Prodigy, Chesney
Hawkes and Katy Perry likely to be among those invited. James Corden and
Russell Brand (which may put the kibosh on Katie's appearance!!!) are also
likely to be involved along with the possible appearance of former hit maker
and Eastenders star David Essex ('Charlie Moon') But of they can bring it
together, Mooro will be the star of the day!

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10,000 Tickets available for the Olympic Stadium
Posted by Hammers Newshound on September 9, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

An additional 10,000 tickets for Rugby World Cup matches at the London 2012
Olympic Stadium have gone on sale today. Five Rugby world matches are
scheduled to be played at the venue at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with
roughly 2,000 tickets for each game being made available.

The bronze final on October 30th is the biggest game of the fixtures on
offer while four pool games – France v Romania on September 23rd, New
Zealand v Namibia on September 24th, Ireland v Italy on October 4th and
South Africa v United States on October 7th – are also being played at the
venue.

The extra tickets include a mixture of seats released from completion of
venue planning and configuration, handbacks from the tournament's commercial
programme and unions and tickets that have been registered for official
resale by fans who can no longer attend.

Last month, the stadium hosted its first rugby clash when Samoa were beaten
27-24 by the Barbarians where retractable seating was used for the first
time.

In total, more than 2.2 million tickets have been sold for the tournament,
which promises to be the biggest edition of the Rugby World Cup to date.

West Ham fans can try out the Stadium before we move in next year. The East
'KOP' style stand should be completed in time for the Rugby World Cup to
give Hammers fans a better understanding of what the stadium will be like
for football.

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Hammers: "We are guilty"
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 9, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

West Ham will stump up the £20,000 – £30,000 fine they re likely to receive
for "failing to control their players" during the Mark Noble red card
incident. Although the FA cleared the captain of any wrong doing in the so
called challenge on Danny Ings for which he was dismissed the ruling body
have hit them with the second charge. And the Hammers decided that rather
than appeal they would accept the punishment and move on rather than get
into a debate with the body via an appeal. In breaking the news to
ClaretandHugh exclusively a very well placed source said the club didn't
believe anything could be achieved by challenging the FA decision. And he
added that he and everybody at the club was simply relieved that Noble's red
card had been rescinded and that on the secondary issue, the club was in
breach of the rules. He said: "There is slight mitigation but we are guilty.
We'll get a £20/30k fine. New rules came in this season and we breached
them. "We can accept that it's an emotional game of course but players have
to show the way to behave to supporters and set an example. It's not the
West Ham way to behave badly. It's also pointless because the referee never
ever changes his mind!"

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Downing or Payet? Stewart opens a debate
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 9, 2015 in News, Whispers
C AND H

Stewart Downing has been banging his West Ham drum again! The Middlesbrough
player has been impressive for his new club in the opening weeks of the
Championship campaign but seems unable to get the Irons off his mind. He has
now repeated his reasons for leaving the club to the BBC claiming these
included not getting the right assurances from manager Slaven Bilic to stay
at the Boleyn. He declares he really wanted something to play for at a club
he believes could realistically have finished "ninth or tenth" and that
Middlesbrough was a good challenge for him with the "big thing" of playing
for promotion at the end of the season. He admits things were "hard for
Slaven" in his first week in the job saying: "But he didn't convince me
enough to stay." "That was one thing – the other was I was playing 10 in a
free role last season and I really enjoyed it, but he didn't really give me
a guarantee and he had players coming in like Dimitri Payet, who was his
first-choice number 10. " It's a little difficult to understand why Stewart
should keep repeating the same script which we've read at least three times
now.
Things move on and so should he. After all as a non Premier League player he
does have promotion to play for as he explains. I'm all for players talking
to the media when they have something interesting to say but this one is
beginning to grow a few whiskers now.

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OWNING: LEAVING WEST HAM WAS AN EASY DECISION
By Ste Hoare
readwestham.com

Former West Ham United winger Stewart Downing says the decision to leave the
Hammers and join Middlesbrough was an easy one for him to make. Speaking to
the BBC, the England international, capped 35 times by his country, said
that moving to his hometown club to try and help them gain promotion was
more appealing to him than staying at Upton Park.

I really wanted something to play for. At West Ham where could we
realistically finish? Ninth or 10th? Even last season we did well but
finished 12th. [Middlesbrough is] a good challenge for me. It's a big thing
to play for promotion at the end of the season and it would be a massive
achievement.

When Downing was sold, new Hammers manager Slaven Bilic admitted that he
wanted to keep the former Aston Villa and Liverpool man, but said the winger
was desperate to return to Boro.
I didn't want him to go, he's a quality English player and I know how hard
it is to get the quality ones. I was counting on him big time, but he told
me that he wanted to go home. He said 'I like you and everything, but I want
to go home. If it was any other club, I would stay here'. However, Downing
seems to disagree somewhat with what Bilic said, with the England winger
believing that the Croatian didn't do enough to persuade him to stay. It's
difficult for Slaven, in his first week of the job, but he didn't convince
me enough to stay. Downing also suggested that the signing of Dimitri Payet
also made the decision to leave West Ham easier, as he knew the Frenchman
would be the first-choice in his preferred role.

That was one thing – the other was I was playing 10 in a free role last
season and I really enjoyed it, but he didn't really give me a guarantee and
he had players coming in like Dimitri Payet, who was his first-choice number
10. When I spoke to the chairman and Aitor [Karanka] here, who had good
plans and wanted me to be big part of that, it was an easy decision to make.

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http://vyperz.blogspot.com




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