From the Boardroom - David Sullivan
WHUFC.com
Following Saturday's 2-2 draw with Norwich City, we've now played seven, have 13 points and are third in the table. Had we won on Saturday we would have been clear in second so it's not a bad start. We know we have got to do a bit better at home as you can't keep relying on winning away like we are. We owe it to the fans as they are selling out every game at the Boleyn and want to see the team win.
I think we're trying a new style and we're trying to pass it out of defence more. Sadly, we've only been trying it for seven games so you sometimes get errors like we saw on Saturday. If it had just been humped down the pitch that probably wouldn't have happened but at the same token we wouldn't be creating so much down the other end if we did that. We are still the joint leading scorers of the Premier League and as the system beds in I'm sure we'll do even better at both ends of the pitch. I think Dimitri Payet's pass for Diafra Sakho's goal was sensational. I love a by-line cross and we didn't get any last year. Sakho took that goal well and maybe should have scored again, when the rebound came back to Cheikhou Kouyate who couldn't turn in. Kouyate then rescued us with the goal at the end. That's three goals he's got this season, even though we didn't buy him to be a goalscorer, so it's great to see.
I just hope we're not too overconfident going to Sunderland on Saturday. We saw what happened with Chelsea when only two late goals got them a point at Newcastle. I'm sure Chelsea will have gone there thinking they would win comfortably and that certainly was not the case.
We would have been targeting four points from the Norwich and Sunderland games so we now have to go to Sunderland and try to get another away win. If we can pull it off, winning four away games on the trot would be an incredible achievement. What's great is that we're scoring goals and if you keep scoring goals you'll end up in a pretty good position. The fans are certainly getting entertaining football and that's great to see for everyone connected with the club.
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From the Terraces - 'Payet's the complete player'
WHUFC.com
Lycamobile representative Marwan Mikdadi named Dimitri Payet Man of the Match for his two assists in Saturday's 2-2 Barclays Premier League draw with Norwich City and hopes there is plenty more to come from the Frenchman in Claret and Blue...
It was a great game, end to end stuff and it was lovely to see a fair result in the end, an important equaliser late in the day there!
Those sort of chances don't come along too often in these sort of games and the pressure was on, last seconds, so it was massive that Cheikhou knocked it in.
Another great performance from Dimitri, two assists, two great crosses, so he absolutely deserved the Man of the Match award.
He's settled in so very, very quickly. He's a top player and he's really helped the team do well, two goals against Newcastle a couple of weeks ago made the difference. But he was excellent again on Saturday, a good physical player too.
He's the complete player, a good, good signing and, as I say, hopefully he'll continue like this all the way through the season. You just wonder, absolutely, why hasn't he been noticed earlier, but I'm sure he'll be looking forward to playing at the Olympic Stadium next year.
Overall, it's a really good start, could even have gone top had we won, so it's a good start, obviously Slaven's settled in well, that's made a big difference and all the signings have done well. Long may it continue. Just turn the away form into home form!
The pressure's on because people are going to start talking about Europe, people are going to start talking about what could happen this season, particularly in this special season.
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Tomkins relieved at last-gasp rescue act
WHUFC.com
James Tomkins admitted to a sense of relief in the dressing room as West Ham United twice came from behind to secure a point against Norwich City on Saturday. Cheikhou Kouyate's stoppage time leveller extended the Hammers' unbeaten run to a fourth game and kept them third in the table, but not before they were given a real scare by newly-promoted Norwich. Goals from Robbie Brady and Nathan Redmond twice had West Ham in difficulty, so defender Tomkins was delighted with the resolve they showed. "We're relieved to come away with a point," he admitted. "They put us under a lot of pressure towards the end of the second half. "They started a lot brighter than us too and got their goals, so we're quite happy to come away with a point even though we obviously wanted three points at the start of the game.
A lot of us were quite heavy-legged having played extra time in the game in midweek. That took it's toll on us and we didn't start the game well. The crowd got behind us and things got easier for us. "We put pressure on them in the second part of the first half and wanted to go out in the second half as we ended the first. I think we did that but didn't get the goal. "They've then scored with a great finish from Redmond and we showed a lot of team spirit to come back with a last-minute goal."
West Ham are third in the league following a strong start, but Tomkins says that does not mean they will rest on their laurels going into next weekend's game at Sunderland. He added: "We're just taking each game as it comes. We've done exceptionally well against the big dogs away from home, but at home against the teams not in that category it's shown that anyone can beat anyone in the Premier League. "Norwich have had a great start and to be honest it's a good point at the end of the day."
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West Ham hopeful Alex Song will be available by late October
Last Updated: 27/09/15 12:28pm
SSN
West Ham are hopeful that summer signing Alex Song will complete his recovery from an ankle injury and be available for selection by late October. The 28-year-old, who spent last season on loan with the Hammers, signed another year-long deal from Barcelona on transfer deadline day, despite carrying the injury. Song underwent surgery in the summer to remove a piece of bone from his ankle and began his rehabilitation with the East London club despite not signing until September 1. He is yet to play for West Ham this term but co-chairman David Gold confirmed on Twitter: "I'm hopeful that Alex Song will be fit to play by the end of October." The Hammers are third in the Premier League after four victories from their opening seven games, including wins away at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Song, who made 31 appearances in all competitions for the club last season, could be available for the home clash with Chelsea on October 24, before they travel to Watford on October 31.
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SHARING THE BLAME
By Mike Ireson 27 Sep 2015 at 17:00
WTID
It's not easy writing here, the quality of articles is so high one can sometimes feel like I did at school. The fat kid at the back of a cross country run desperately trying to keep the skinny good runners in sight.
And this week the stakes were raised when Bianca Westwood casually dropped in the arty glamour pics in to her column. Come on Bee that's like taking the pennies off a dead man's eyes. I have nothing in my locker.
But, always ready for a challenge I commissioned a set of pictures of me draped over a chaise longue and shall add them to the end of the article to get myself back in the game.
Anyway last week I asked if football could learn anything from rugby in terms of discipline. And that side of the game has been on my mind again this week.
In a casual conversation with my wife this week she came up with what I thought was an interesting concept. What if managers were punished along with players for ill-discipline?
So for example if a player is sent off his manager gets a one game touchline ban. How would this effect what we get from mangers at the moment?
You know the stuff, Arsene Wenger fails to see anything to do with his own team, Jose Mourinho cites Diego Costa as man of the match after he had been on a one man Arsenal slapping frenzy etc etc.
How would that change if the managers formed part of the punishment? Would Arsene Wenger miraculously start seeing all the incidents in a game? Would Jose give an honest opinion of his player's actions if it were costing him his place on the touchline?
And what about the players? Would it give them a different mind-set if they knew a sending off would cost their manager and ultimately the rest of the team in future matches?
Would players stop short of some of the nasty tackles and handbags stuff with the opposition if they thought they'd be on for one hell of a rollicking from their manager who would now face a touchline ban?
Imagine if this rule was in place whilst Fergie was still managing? Wouldn't you love to have been a fly on the wall in that dressing room when one of his players had been sent off and had cost Fergie for the next game?
Or would this little experiment have a detrimental effect. For example would we see an increase in diving and play acting to get players sent off.
A team playing their rivals for say the title or in a relegation battle, would they try to get a man sent off to put their rivals at a disadvantage for the next game with their manager in the stands?
Sadly I can see that scenario coming to pass.
There is obviously no easy solution but we need to make managers more accountable for the actions of their players, along with the players setting a better example.
COYI
Oh the photos? Fortunately for you dear reader I was lying on that score :)
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NO HUMBLE PIE FROM DELIA SMITH
By Zaman Siddiqui 27 Sep 2015 at 08:00
WTID
Equaliser 2-2 vs NOR Upton Park 2015
Our match at the King Power Stadium in the English League Cup wasn't in any way ordinary. Both teams were on top form going into the match. The Foxes played very well in their two recent league fixtures to come from 2-0 down in the second half to beat the Villans 3-2 and to draw 2-2 at the Britannia from 2-0 down – that is easier said than done for the Tinkerman. We have added another few pages to the record books beating Arsenal, Liverpool, and City as well as playing more players than any other Premier League team this season. I could speak in prose for the entire duration of the post about the way the two teams have been playing in the league. Six games into the league, we could have expected a few changes from Super Slav like Big Sam did to success getting us to the semi-finals last year. Unfortunately, he went all out with the quality on show only keeping Reid, Kouyaté and Payet on the bench with Sakho not included. Contrast this with Ranieri who made considerably more changes than us. Bilic said that British teams treat the UEFA Champions League and Europa League as a punishment rather than a reward – the insightful Croat isn't wrong. Why go all out knowing you have to play in the most competitive league in a matter of days? This is clearly a passionate response to top-flight team mentality. From that, I feel Bilic genuinely believes that almost all fixtures are of vital importance. He played a meagre side in the Europa League funnily enough, though the blatant reasoning behind that is he wanted to keep a fully fit first team to try and beat Arsenal.
Sky Sports Infographic on Changes
The Canaries have made a pretty good start back in the big time with a well-earned draw at Anfield and a 3-0 win against West Brom. Norwich were definitely going to try and make a strong start given our performance against the "lesser teams." They certainly played well, as this matches was more than just a tale of two keepers. Nonetheless, Adrián and John Ruddy were fantastic. They kept their respective teams in the game throughout with Adrián saving one with his face! The only pertinent error from the two goalkeepers came from Ruddy who should have caught the in-swinging ball in added time from a side that has conceded many goals from set pieces this season. Norwich haven't won at Upton Park since 1989. Kouyaté's goal would have given the Canaries their first win in London in 14 league matches, and our first defeat in 4 matches. Noble was to blame for the loss today though he is not the first player to scorn this season. He was definitely to blame for the first goal, but the others should have been marking the Norwich players instead of standing in the box for the second goal.
Furthermore, that defeat would have given food for thought for Dick Advocaat's Sunderland. Now, I know that Sunderland haven't won any of their seven league matches but whose to say Sunderland can't overcome us in a shock result. We have lost to Leicester City and Bournemouth at home this season, so anything is possible. Like the gaffer says, "There is nothing wrong in gaining confidence … but they [the players] should never forget what they need to do out on the pitch." A single point against the Foxes, Cherries and Canaries suggests that we are not going into the match with the right mentality. We know we are better than these teams though regardless of form, but we need to translate that into points. These bizarre trend will probably go unnoticed by most sports pundits, since they only look at the table, even though they try to reassure us they don't look at the start of the season. Both Tyne and Wear teams are in the relegation zone with Newcastle almost defeating Chelsea on SNF.
We have much more to learn about Bilic's long term plans. Sam Allardyce was very vocal just like the incumbent manager. On the contrary, Big Sam divided the season by points targets. It is fair to say that didn't work out for the latter half last season and the former half of the season before that. Super Slav hasn't made any mention of his managerial tactics unless he wants to avoid adhering to over-simplistic strategies that have very little impact on the season. The Croat comes off as a tad shy, but that doesn't mean he isn't a good manager. You don't have to be a Mourinho to be a superstar manager. For me, Pellegrini and Koeman get good publicity with proper football and the right moves. Koeman's side defeated Swansea 3-1, but said his side can play better. There is no evidence to suggest that Bilic can't follow them, as he doesn't get easily carried away either. We are in 3rd as the highest side to not be from Manchester. I hope that the players keep up their work rates in training preparing for Sunderland. They have been fabulous, although I hope that they don't get carried away. Kouyaté and Reid have gone just a bit under the radar, which is only good for us. The best players are the ones who stand out, but cannot be stopped, in spite of their noticeable tendencies.
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WEST HAM 2, NORWICH CITY 2. ACCEPTABLY FRUSTRATING.
By David Hautzig 26 Sep 2015 at 18:28
WTID
February 11, 2014. West Ham were just beginning their run to safety in a season that had relegation written all over it. A win against Swansea the week before gave a reason for hope. Since Iain only had a vague idea of some twisted Yank that loves West Ham and occasionally blogs, I could turn games off when the pressure was too much to handle. That day, I was driving to my kid's school to pick them up. It was cold, sleeting, and dark. Midway through the second half I couldn't resist and turned the game on using a stream on my IPhone. Nil-nil, but to be fair Norwich had the better chances. I pulled into school in the 75th minute and sat there watching the game, the anxiety so powerful I was still gripping the steering wheel with one hand while holding the phone with the other. As the ball went off Ginge's head and past Ruddy, I began a torrent of screams while punching the inside roof of my Subaru. I was ecstatic and relieved. I felt fandabbydosey. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two pre-schoolers walking in front of the car with their dad. The children looked quite upset that a man was screaming and thrashing in a car right in front of them. The dad knew me and only laughed. With Spurs win over Citeh in the early game, West Ham had the chance to scream and punch the air as league leaders. Today, I simply patted the couch lightly in relief.
The match started in a rather lively fashion. In the opening moments, Hoolahan beat Jenkinson and sent a cross into the box that Jerome got on the end of, but his header wasn't strong enough to cause Adrian any problems. West Ham came down the other way when Payet fed Sakho but his shot went out for a corner. Minutes later, Payet took a free kick and found Kouyate in the box but it went off his chest and was handled easily by Ruddy.
Slaven Bilic has made an unusual number of comments on the importance of throw ins. In the 9th minute, it wasn't the throw that caused a problem. It was the pass that immediately followed it. Cresswell threw to Noble, who tried one of the things his youth coaches probably told him not to do. A square, cross field pass deep in his own half. It had no pace, leaving Tomkins no hope of getting to it. Brady did, and he calmly strode in on goal and slid it past Adrian. Yet another horrible defensive mistake at home.
West Ham 0, Norwich 1.
In the 15th minute, Norwich had an opportunity to double their advantage when Dorrans found Whittaker on the right side of the West Ham penalty area. If he had taken the shot on his right foot it may have been 2-0. Instead he cut back to his left giving West Ham time to get back in position and Kouyate blocked the shot out for a corner, which West Ham dealt with.
In the 19th minute, the visitors had the first of a few first half opportunities to double their lead. Olsson made a run down the left and found Howson a few yards out from goal. But with time and space, he rushed and lifted his shot high. The next opportunity came five minutes later when Brady found Jerome on the left. With Brady streaking into the box, Jerome instead tried to beat Adrian at the near post but hit the side netting. West Ham were very, very fortunate not to be down two, if not three less than half an hour into the match.
Then it was West Ham's turn to waste opportunities. In the 30th minute, Kouyate broke down the right and found Lanzini in the middle. Lanzini is nicknamed The Jewel because he's talented with the ball at his feet. But instead of using that talent, he took a few strides in and fired a shot high over the bar. Minutes later Moses had the ball in an area where he could have done some damage. Instead his cross was slow and predictable and Norwich cleared easily.
I played basketball in school. I'm 5'7" at best, so my future wasn't there. One game, we played against a friend of mine that went to the other school. He was very good. Early in the game, I was dribbling up the court but my eyes were focused on the floor ahead of me. "Keep your head up, Dave. Gotta watch where you're going" said my friend, "guarding" me. He easily could have stripped me of the ball. As simple as that sounds, I have yet to see Payet send a blind cross into the box. In the 33rd minute, Sakho fed Payet down the right and made a run into the box. Payet dribbled into the box and picked out Sakho in between two defenders, and the game was level.
West Ham 1, Norwich 1.
Not surprisingly, the goal raised the enthusiasm of the players and the crowd. In the 35th minute, Payet made a darting and swerving run that required a foul to stop him. Norwich obliged, and Lanzini's free kick curled just wide of the post. Minutes later, Lanzini made a run down the left and cut the ball back to Payet whose shot was deflected out for the first of two corners. The pressure ended after Moses crossed to Sakho, but his scissor went over the bar. Then, a few minutes before Halftime, Lanzini and Cresswell combined on the left to win another corner, which Reid got on the end of but his header was no trouble for Ruddy.
Halftime. West Ham 1, Norwich 1.
You know how I'm quick to point out when a player shoots too quickly when better options are available? It works both ways. In the 48th minute, Moses got on the end of some tidy passing outside the Norwich penalty area. With space in front of him, he moved to the top of the area. But instead of letting it rip, he kept trying to dribble through the last line of defense and lost possession.
Norwich had a solid chance to regain the lead in the 50th minute when Howson got the ball at the top of the area. His curling effort looked destined for the back of the net before Adrian got a hand on it to tip it over the bar. West Ham came down the other way minutes later and earned a free kick when Bassong's forehead fouled the back of Kouyate's head. In a game where Mike Dean was once again showing how awful he can be, this was one bad call that went West Ham's way. Payet took the free kick and his long pass found Sakho, but his header was easy for Ruddy to handle.
It's clear that Bilic wants the ball played on the floor whenever possible. Sometimes it's clear that it's still a work in process. In the 54th minute, Kouyate and Sakho broke into the Norwich half on a two on two. But instead of spreading wide to give the defenders ground to cover, they got in each others way and Norwich were able to re-organize and gain possession.
Brief interruption to today's match report to acknowledge Howson for saving a stray pigeon from sure doom and carrying him safely to the sideline. We now resume our regular programming.
In the 56th minute, West Ham should have taken the lead when Moses ran down the ball on the right side of the Norwich area. His cross found Sakho right in front of Ruddy. But that's exactly where Sakho put his header, right at Ruddy. The rebound came to Kouyate but he mis-hit his shot and it sailed out for a goal kick. Four minutes later, West Ham again came close when Sakho fed Payet at the top of the box. Payet tried to beat Ruddy into the bottom right had corner, but the keeper did very well to get down and push the shot out for a corner that West Ham made nothing of.
Norwich took their turn in the end to end action in the 62nd minute when Dorrans did well to chase down a ball at the West Ham touch line and send a ball back into the box. Jerome was there to meet it and hit a volley directly into Adrian's face. It bounced out, and with Adrian woozy if not worse Whittaker sent a sharp angled cross from the right that just eluded Jerome and went out for goal kick.
When Redmond came on in the 69th minute, I knew if anybody were to beat us late in the game it would be him. He's clever on the ball. Sneaky, even. In the 81st minute, Obiang made a silly challenge on Hoolahan, giving Norwich a free kick at the top of the area. Brady took the set piece, and while his shot looked to be going wide Adrian took no chances and palmed it out for a corner. The ball eventually found Redmond on the left. Noble backed up and allowed Redmond to get the ball on his right foot. His shot went through a crowd cleanly and into the back of the net.
West Ham 1, Norwich 2.
West Ham pressed for the equalizer, adding Zarate to Carroll as attacking substitutions. In the 90th minute, Sakho put a shot goalbound that got past Ruddy but was cleared off the line by Martin. Moments later Payet found Carroll who went right to left in the box. But when an old fashioned AC header might have beaten Ruddy, Carroll tried to control the ball with his feet and Ruddy smothered it.
In the second to last minute of added on time, Tettey committed a silly foul on Reid, giving West Ham a free kick. Payet lofted the ball towards the goalmouth. Ruddy tried to beat Carroll to the ball, but his punch went directly to Kouyate and he slammed it home for an equalizer close to the death.
Final Score. West Ham 2, Norwich City 2.
After the Bournemouth match, I called Nigel Kahn. I figured he'd be great to commiserate with on the mess we thought we were in. He's never happy, right? So we can rant together. "Look, it was a bad day at the office. And we still won both second halves of the games we lost" he said. At the time, there was no way I was going to be knocked off my perch of misery. We were doomed, and staying up was the best we could hope for. Well, we still have not lost a second half in the league, and Leicester needed the 116th minute in The League Cup. So tactically, Bilic seems to read a game and well and make necessary adjustments. As great as the away wins have been, anybody but the truly deluded knows we will drop points we expect to get. Norwich have been excellent away from home as well, so credit to them for playing their part in a pretty entertaining match.
Forgive me if I'll respect this point, even if I wanted more.
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Unsung Kouyate rivals Payet and Sakho
Posted by Sean Whetstone on September 27, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Dimtri Payet seems to get all the media attention this season with his impressive record of three goals and three assists. But the Payet attention has overshadowed the amazing start to the season by one Cheikhou Kouyate. Let's not forget that Kouyate is essentially a defensive midfielder yet yesterday he equalled the Frenchman's tally of three goals and is just one assist behind the playmaker in the seven Premier league games he has played this season.
The Senegalese midfielder scored important goals against Arsenal, Bournemouth and Norwich this season. The 25 year old midfielder has almost equaled his record from last season when he scored four goals against Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester United and Leicester City and made two assists.
Although Payet and Sakho grab all the headlines, I think Cheik Kouyate is making a bold early show for early Hammer of the year contention. Yesterday Mr Kouyate rescued a point for the Hammers with a stoppage time equaliser in the 2-2 draw against Norwich at the Boleyn Groun d. Cheik, we salute you!
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Adrian tweets his feelings on the draw
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 26, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
Apart from Diafra Sakho there was one other player who more than deserved a result from today's clash against under-rated Norwich City.
Maybe after last weekend's heroics, the Irons expected a more comfortable afternoon against the Canaries. One man most certainly did not – goalkeeper Adrian. The stopper added to his cult hero Upton Park status with another series of top class saves after his fabulous but losing performance against Leicester City in the Capital One Cup. One second half from Cameron Jerome almost took his head off his shoulders in the second half leaving him with nose bleed and stars in his eyes. But he was on his feet in a flash and after wiping his face over with a towel he was back on his feet ready to see things out and despite the game looking to be heading down the toilet eventually got his just deserts. And after the game he made his feelings clear on Twitter declaring: " Adrián San Miguel @AdriSanMiguel 2 hrs2 hours ago We could win and also lose today but the team have fought until the end to get a positive & good pointšThis is the way
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DS "new style" point packs a punch
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 27, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
David Sullivan has a reputation for shooting off at the lip. In fact most of the time he's pretty restrained and getting a hard and fast public view can be pretty tough going. Ok there were the well publicised Charlie Austin quotes which in reality were all pretty harmless anyway but he has yet, for example, to reacted to anything Sam Allardyce has had to say about his time at the club. I doubt very much indeed that he will even should there be inflammatory stuff in the upcoming book. It really isn't his style – why does he need to?
Tonight, though, he makes what I found an amusing comment in his 'From the Boardroom' column on the official website when revealing that we are trying a new approach. He says: "I think we're trying a new style and we're trying to pass it out of defence more. Sadly, we've only been trying it for seven games so you sometimes get errors like we saw on Saturday. If it (Mark Noble's loose pass) had just been humped down the pitch that probably wouldn't have happened but at the same token we wouldn't be creating so much down the other end if we did that."
Whoa! Sometimes you don't need to get bang into someone's face to make your point to do you? Were you listening Sam because I certainly was and it put me in my place. For last night I wrote in pretty damning terms that Mark really needed to get his passing act together if he wasn't to find himself in danger particularly when Alex Song is fit. But Sullivan makes a very good point indeed – we are now playing to feet all over the park and after four years of the other stuff it obviously takes some getting used to.
Point made point taken!
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Sullivan's Sunderland warning
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 27, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
David Sullivan explained to ClaretandHugh a few days ago that so long as we are scoring goals we will win a lot of games and he's not wrong of course.
It's as close as David will get to making any predictions as to how things will work out over the long haul but there's no question he's enjoying the football the team is serving up.
However, to reach a short term target of four points from the Norwich and Sunderland games we now need three at Sunderland at the weekend.
And he warns against overconfidence as we go to Sunderland at the weekend telling the official site: "We saw what happened with Chelsea when only two late goals got them a point at Newcastle. "I'm sure Chelsea will have gone there thinking they would win comfortably and that certainly was not the case."
He's right to be cautious because at some stage the Black Cats are likely to hit a run of form although thus far this season they have looked a very poor side who make plenty of mistakes as demonstrated in their three goal drubbing at Old Trafford on Saturday.
However, with a week's rest behind the lads, rather than three days following the Leicester City defeat we will be in top shape again and a fourth away win is on the agenda.
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Sak gets another massive accolade
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 27, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
David Gold has revealed his "utmost admiration " for Diafra Sakho after the striker's extraordinary display against Norwich City yesterday. Despite playing whilst on police bail, the striker is playing without a hint of mental concern and drawing many plaudits from the terraces and pundits alike. And to set the record straight a spokesman has explained to one national newspaper that he has not been charged with any offence and denies all allegations made against him." Sak was amazing as line leader against the Canaries, scored a goal, missed another and was constantly attempting to make things happen. And Gold told ClaretandHugh exclusively: "He's an extraordinary player. He gives absolutely everything. He didn't stop from beginning to end. It really was a magnificent performance. It's hard not to speak too highly of him. "He was often surrounded in the penalty area but always found an out ball and constantly created problems for the defenders. I'm a huge admirer of the lad's. "I have the utmost admiration for him – he's been excellent throughout the season so far. He seems to get better all the time."
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DG hands critic quick-fire Norwich answer
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on September 27, 2015 in News, Whispers
C and H
David Gold has spent his Sunday morning righting a few misapprehensions and bringing much needed news to Hammers fans following yesterday's draws. Unbelievably an impression appears to remain among some that there are easy Premier League games – a false reality the co chairman was keen to explode. Confronted by one follower who claimed of Norwich: "Should be well clear of them, but can't beat the easy teams at home! he responded: " There are no easy teams in the Premier League it's a thin line between winning and losing. dg"
Amazingly the original critical tweet had been favourited 34 times and retweeted five times despite the Canaries being strong, well organised and boasting a decent away record. Earlier – clearly in cheeky mood the chairman had declared: "West Ham are only just above Arsenal Tottenham and Chelsea. " And speaking to ClaretandHugh he said: "We've have been below them for so log. we have to remind them now, don't we. It goes with the territory." In a separate tweet on Alex Song's fitness DG said: I'm hopeful that Alex Song will be fit to play by the end of October. dg"
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