Daily WHUFC News - 29th February 2016

Old Trafford tie SOLD OUT!
WHUFC.com

West Ham United are delighted to confirm that all 9,000 Standard Tickets for
the Emirates FA Cup sixth-round tie at Manchester United have SOLD OUT!
Season Ticket Holders snapped up the allocation within a matter of hours on
Saturday morning, meaning the Club will have a huge Claret and Blue Army
cheering them on at Old Trafford at 4pm on Sunday 13 March. Slaven Bilic's
side were roared on to a 5-1 fifth-round victory at Blackburn Rovers by
7,200 fans on Sunday 21 February, and Joint-Chairman David Sullivan has
thanked supporters for their loyal backing. "We are enjoying an exciting
final season at the Boleyn Ground in the Barclays Premier League and
Emirates FA Cup and this has clearly caught the imagination of our fantastic
fans," said Mr Sullivan. "Myself and the Board, the manager, staff and all
the players hugely appreciate the amazing support the Club has received all
season, both at home and away. At Blackburn, it was like a home game, and we
know the fans will turn a corner of Old Trafford into a sea of Claret and
Blue on Sunday week. The fact that all 9,000 seats - the biggest allocation
we could request and take from Manchester United - have been snapped up by
Season Ticket Holders convinces me that we could have taken at least double
that number of supporters to the tie. "We have an important few weeks ahead,
before our emotional Final Game at the Boleyn Ground and the summer move to
Stratford, and your support throughout this period will be vital to our
success. Come on you Irons!"

The Club would like supporters for their patience in purchasing tickets for
the Emirates FA Cup sixth-round tie, whether it was online, by phone or in
person at the Boleyn Ground Betway Stand Ticket Office.

For those who will not be at Old Trafford, the tie will be screened live in
the UK by BT Sport, with kick-off at 4pm on Sunday 13 March.

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From the Boardroom - David Sullivan
WHUFC.com

It was a close game against Sunderland that could have gone either way. We
took our chance and also hit the post twice. They probably had three good
chances but could not find the target and our keeper made one good save.
People could say we were lucky but we took our chances. Over the season that
is the difference between the good teams and the bad teams. The good teams
manage to win a game like that and the bad teams don't.
I thought Andy Carroll was really good when he came on as a substitute in
the second half and he will make a difference. We have now got a very tough
game against Tottenham on Wednesday night and then we are away to Everton
and then Manchester United in the FA Cup. We have got some really tough
games coming up. We know we can play better than we did against Sunderland
and you have not seen us at our best. We have not been beaten at home since
August and we hope that continues after Wednesday.

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Stat's a Fact - All-rounder Antonio
WHUFC.com

After waiting patiently for his chance to shine in a Claret and Blue shirt,
Michail Antonio has established himself as an important player for West Ham
United. On Saturday, the No30 scored for the third consecutive home match,
robbing Sunderland left-back Patrick van Aanholt and cutting in from the
right before curling a low left-foot shot beyond Vito Mannone. Having netted
in the Emirates FA Cup replay win over Liverpool and the Barclays Premier
League victory over Aston Villa, Antonio completed a personal hat-trick with
the winner against Sam Allardyce's Black Cats.
Saturday's goal came as a result of hard work on the training field at
Chadwell Heath, where the 25-year-old spent time working on that very move
and strengthening his left foot. Against Sunderland, Antonio showed the
versatility and work-rate that has endeared him to the Boleyn Ground
faithful. His goal came from one of two shots he unleashed, both of which
were on target. The first found the net and was celebrated with a unique
Homer Simpson-style dance move that went viral on social media! The second
was an effort from distance that was safely handled by Sunderland stopper
Mannone. With West Ham dominating for long periods in possession and
territory, Antonio's heat map showed he spent the majority of the game in
the attacking half of the pitch. Aside from his shots, Antonio also
delivered two crosses and embarked on two successful dribbles, while his
defensive contribution was also significant, with the right winger making
three tackles, two interceptions and one clearance. With 49 touches to his
name, the summer signing from Nottingham Forest was heavily involved and his
performance won praise from manager Slaven Bilic.
"Michail probably dreamed about the Premier League for five or six years and
then he had to wait for his chance," said the manager. "Now he's become a
player of massive importance to this Club. He is enjoying it and we are
enjoying it too. He deserves it all. "He deserves it for his work-rate, his
attitude and how he is on a daily basis."

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Adrian - That was for Enzo!
WHUFC.com

It has been a memorable few weeks for West Ham United goalkeeper Adrian. The
birth of his first son Enzo has been followed by consecutive clean sheets at
home – and Saturday's against Sunderland was particularly special given his
baby was in attendance for the first time! The Hammers are now unbeaten at
home since August and Adrian knew it was a massive result. He said: "I go
home so happy as we kept a clean sheet, and it was the first time my baby
son Enzo has come to Upton Park, so it's three points and a first clean
sheet for him! "It was a massive three points for us because we didn't take
the maximum points in the last league game. "We were playing at home, so we
knew we had a great chance and I think we deserved the win. "Sometimes you
can't play as long as well as you want, but you have to keep on defending
your result. We were 1-0 up, so we had to defend well. We had a chance too
when we hit the crossbar. "When I had the chance to make the save to help my
teammates I did it, and sometimes you can't go with your hand because you
don't have time so I had to kick the ball away with my foot."

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Young Hammers five unbeaten
WHUFC.com

West Ham United U18s opened their Group One Play-Off campaign with a 2-2
draw with Fulham at Little Heath on Saturday 27 February. Cottagers'
midfielder Luca de la Torre put the visitors ahead after 15 minutes, before
England youth international striker Jahmal Hector-Ingram headed level twenty
minutes later. The hosts took the lead when Tunji Akinola shinned home
captain Noha Sylvestre's free-kick on 81 minutes, however Fulham stole a
share of the points late on through Ryan Sessegnon's outstanding volley. U16
midfielder Alfie Lewis started in the middle of the park, while fellow U16
Mason Barrett stepped in at the back. Further forward, Anthony Scully
started, while Tim Brown replaced Rihards Matrevics between the sticks. On
the bench, defender Reece Hammam was hoping to make his first competitive
U18 appearance, as was U13 goalkeeper Serine Sanneh. The game was very
competitive, as both teams looked to secure a good start to the play-offs.
Fulham pushed themselves into an early lead after quarter of an hour when
full back Sessegnon found a route past Barrett down the wing and cut back to
de la Torre, whose shot just managed to beat Brown and Akinola. The visitors
almost found a second goal in similar fashion to their first, although Brown
made a strong save.
West Ham tried to bring themselves level on a number of occasions, Scully's
free-kick travelled just wide of the bottom corner and Hector-Ingram was
denied by a fantastic last-ditch covering tackle.

West Ham's equaliser came ten minutes before the break as a pass into Grady
Diangana was dummied, allowing the ball to travel into the path of Danny
Kemp, who whipped in a cross that was headed home powerfully by
Hector-Ingram. Into the second half and clear-cut chances on goal were
limited until the 68th minute when Hector-Ingram was tripped when he was
through on goal, Kemp fired his free-kick from 18 yards just over the
crossbar. Six minutes later and Hector-Ingram was at the centre of the
action again as he was felled inside the box yet the referee was unmoved.
West Ham's attacking pressure finally told with nine minutes left when a
free-kick from Sylvestre on the left found Akinola in the box, who managed
to divert it into the far corner. Into the third and final minute of
stoppage time Cottagers' left back Sessegnon fired an unstoppable volley
into the top corner of the net, giving Brown no chance of saving. The
Hammers next play-off fixture is away to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday 5
March at Rovers' Brockhall Training Ground.

U18: T Brown, Barrett (Hammam), Akinola, Rice, Eggleton, Lewis, Sylvestre,
Kemp, Scully (Kanu), Diangana, Hector-Ingram (Coventry).
Subs not used: Sanneh, Johnson.

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Jimmy Greaves told he 'will never walk again'
By Matthew Treadwell
Last Updated: 28/02/16 12:20pm
SSN

Jimmy Greaves has been told by doctors he will not walk again after
suffering a stroke last May. Greaves, who scored 44 goals in 57 England
internationals, suffered a minor stroke in 2012 but appeared to have made a
full recovery. But he was rushed to hospital last year after suffering a
further stroke before regaining consciousness, although he was initially
unable to speak. The 76-year-old's condition has improved and he continues
to remain optimistic for the future, although he admits he has been left
'devastated' by the news. "I remain in a wheelchair and it's now likely I
will stay this way for the rest of my life," Greaves told the Sunday People.
"The doctors have told me I won't walk again and that I will always need
ongoing care. "It was devastating to hear them say that but I will never
stop trying to get better - and the main thing is that I'm still here
fighting all the way."

Greaves played for Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham and West Ham during an
illustrious career that saw him score a record 357 goals in the First
Division. He played for England in the 1962 and 1966 World Cups but famously
lost his place to hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst ahead of the Wembley final win
over West Germany. Despite his poor health, Greaves insists he is trying to
remain upbeat and take the positives from any improvements in his condition,
no matter how minor. "My day-to-day life has changed quite considerably, but
there's no point asking, 'Why me?'" he added. I'm not feeling sorry for
myself, I'm just taking each day as it comes and trying to make small
improvements all the time. "If I can lift my arm that little bit ­further
than before, that's an ­improvement and I can take heart from that. "My
speech has come on a lot and I can communicate on the phone now. "I'm
watching a lot of sport on the TV and I get out of the house with my sons
Andy and Danny whenever I can. You have to focus on the positives. "I've
still got my sense of humour and I've got my family all around me helping me
all of the time. There are a lot of people I have to thank, but especially
my family. "They've supported me all the way and I couldn't have got this
far without them. I'm realistic about the future but I'll never give up
trying to improve. "I still have a belief and a hope that I can keep getting
better."

Greaves was due to be inducted into Tottenham's hall of fame before he fell
ill last May. The ceremony will now take place on April 20, alongside former
Spurs defender Steve Perryman.

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EUROPA LEAGUE QUALIFICATION BECKONS FOR THE HAMMERS
By Iain Dale 28 Feb 2016 at 19:19
WTID

It wasn't a great game, but by Manchester City beating Liverpool in the
League Cup Final, it now frees up sixth place in the Premier League for a
Europa Cup spot. We just happen to be occupying that very place at the
moment. In theory, seventh place could also become free if the FA Cup is won
by one of the top six.

Personally, I believe that our games in the Europa Cup in July actually set
us up for the season. I think it would be great if we could qualify again.

I feel a bit sorry for Liverpool – some dreadful penalties. But let's pay
tribute to the Manchester City goalkeeper, Willy Caballero. It took guts for
Pellegrini to stick with him and not bring in Joe Hart, but with his three
stupendous penalty saves, the Manchester City manager was proved right. It
doesn't happen very often that a goalkeeper saves three penalties n a row,
so it is something he and his team will savour for some time to come. His
emotion after the game showed how important it was to him.

I think if we get to the final of the FA Cup<Slaven Bilic will be absolutely
right to stick with Darren Randolph, who has proved what a brilliant
understudy to Adrian he really is.

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NOTHING TO DOH ABOUT ANTONIO'S STRIKE
By Zaman Siddiqui 28 Feb 2016 at 07:00
WTID

The culprit for that goal, Patrick van Aanholt almost certainly would've
shouted "Doh!" after deciding not to clear it into Row Z . Antonio will be
pleased that his work on and off the training ground paid off. During
training, he decided to practice cutting in and shooting on his left foot at
the end of training – on Friday! In his free time, he watched The Simpsons
Movie, in which Homer hit the deck and spun with his legs, which was his
inspiration for his celebration. So it turns out just about everything
Michail does in his life is incredibly useful to us. That is how I would
have described him yesterday, as he rightfully claimed the MOTM award. Just
to clarify, "doh" is a word (consult the Oxford Dictionary), and the goal
celebration in which Homer goes whoop countless times is actually a Simpsons
reference to Curly from The Three Stooges. But I'm pretty certain that no
one here is interested in American vaudeville! And please don't ask how an
18 year old actually knows something about The Three Stooges.

The win yesterday was vital. We needed at least two league wins this month,
and we have earned them, though we didn't make life easy for ourselves. We
should've got a win against Norwich after getting back in the match, but you
can't win them all. We aren't too far away from the top 4, but sealing a
place in the top 5 is wonderful, too. This is our best start to a PL season
after 27 games earning 43 points. In the 2005/06 season, we were on 42
points after the same number of games, but managed to finish 9th. And that
was after picking up a meagre 13 points from 11 games. So, with the
reintroduction of Sakho (who has been out for quite some time), we should
finish higher than 9th with a potential FA Cup win on the cards. And this
time, we have beaten Liverpool in the FA Cup! Furthermore, a loss today
would have put us in the bottom three of the form table (six matches), which
would have been a clear indication of the February slump that I have spoken
about in my previous posts. And the most obvious reason why we wanted a win
was because we played Big Sam's Black Cats.

The Boleyn Ground is rather unsurprisingly becoming our fortress. It has
been 11 matches since we last lost at home. We are also joint top of the
home form table along with Leicester City on 14 points. More recently, we
have conceded just four goals in our last eight home games in all
competitions. I can't describe just how well our players have done in order
to send us off on a high. One of my instant memories will be Ogbonna's late
header in the FA Cup. There is a huge sense of ambition right now. All I
hope is that our players don't crack under the pressure of our main
remaining home fixtures. Namely, they are Tottenham, Man United (home in the
league, away in the cup), Chelsea, and Arsenal. When we played them, we
encountered 2 wins, a draw and a loss. This means our form in the league
this month is the same as our results against the top clubs. From that, we
can assume that we can beat anyone on the day, or that we can't seem to beat
the worst teams in the league. Given our position in the league, I will go
for the former.

Michail Antonio has certainly stepped up for us even further. I'm not sure
whether he really wants to impress at home, but all 5 of his goals have come
at Upton Park. He has also scored in each of his last three games at home. I
hope he keeps that going like our unbeaten home record. I like how he gets
onto the ball on several occasions across the park. Whether he is the
preferred option on the flank or is the target man in the box (excluding
Carroll), he always seems to deliver. I'm sure he will be determined to
preserve our best home run for 18 years. Speaking of determination, his role
as RB against Blackburn certainly didn't go unnoticed with Adrián referring
to him as the "English Cafu" in the post-match interview.

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Sir Geoff Hurst turns Boleyn Ground air blue
Posted by Sean Whetstone on February 28, 2016 in Videos, Whispers
C and H

Sir Geoff Hurst turned the Boleyn Ground air blue at half time yesterday by
swearing on the P.A system in front of a 35,000 sell out crowd together with
millions watching over the world on TV. Speaking to the stadium announcer
about his World Cup feat in 1996 Hurst said: "Most important I trumped Dear
who scored five against West Brom, F**k him!" Everyone seemed to take the
comment in good humour and did not seem offended by the slip from the 74 old
old Hammers legend.

Hurst scored six goals in a First Division match against Sunderland at Upton
Park on 19 October 1968, which saw the Hammers defeat the "Black Cats" 8–0.
Brian Dear holds the record for the quickest ever five goals in an English
game, 20 minutes either side of half time, in a West Ham home tie against
West Brom on 16 April 1965.

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Sixth place Europa League now up for grabs
Posted by Sean Whetstone on February 28, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

The Capital One victory by Manchester City over Liverpool this evening means
an additional Europa League place will be available to whoever finishes in
sixth position in the Premier League this season.

The clubs who finish in the top four positions in the 2015/16 Premier
League will qualify to compete in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League.
Positions 1-3 will enter the UEFA Champions League group stage with
position 4 entering the UEFA Champions League play-off stage (winners
progress to group stage; losers to UEFA Europa League play-off)

Euro trophyThere are also three UEFA Europa League places given to English
clubs who fulfil the following criteria: winning the FA Cup, winning the
Capital One Cup and finishing fifth in the Premier League.

If the FA Cup winners finish in the top five of the Barclays Premier League,
their UEFA Europa League group stage place goes to the sixth-placed team.
With the Capital One Cup won by Manchester City by penalties this evening,
assuming they finish in the top five, their UEFA Europa League third
qualifying round place goes to the next-highest ranked team in the Premier
League, the sixth-placed team.

In the event of the FA Cup winners' spot going to the sixth-placed team, the
Capital One Cup winners' place in the UEFA Europa League goes to the team
finishing seventh.

West Ham currently sit in sixth position after 27 games with 43 points.

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Wahbi Khazri is no Dimitri Payet
Posted by Sean Whetstone on February 28, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

Sunderland new boy Wahbi Khazri grabbed all the attention for the wrong
reasons in West Ham's 1-0 victory at the Boleyn Ground yesterday. The
attacking midfielder, who joined from Bordeaux in January, attempted a
Rabona cross but was left with egg on his face when it went spectacularly
wrong.

The 25-year-old drew jeers and cheers from Hammers fans in the 87th minute
he accidentally kicked the ball with his standing foot, causing it to
trickle out harmlessly for a goal kick. James Collins is pictured on camera
trying not to laugh at the Tunisian player after his epic fail. Sunderland
fans have accused the midfielder of attempting to show boat when he should
have been concentrating on an equaliser.

Dimiti Payet he is not!

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Big Sam thanks West Ham fans
Posted by Sean Whetstone on February 28, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H

Sam Allardyce has thanked West Ham fans who largely gave him a warm welcome
at the Boleyn ground yesterday. Both Slaven Bilic and David Sullivan called
for a warm welcome and respect for the former Hammers manager and the
anticipated booing by the media did not materialise and the match continued
without incident. Former Hammer Jermain Defoe got a more hostile reception
than Big Sam. Sam, speaking on his personal twitter account Sam posted his
thanks on Sunday as he returned to Sunderland.

"Want to thank all the West Ham fans who gave me a good reception yesterday!
Thoroughly enjoyed my time at the club & wish them all the best"

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