Dev Squad defenders up for the Cup
WHUFC.com
Young Hammers Reece Oxford and Vashon Neufville hope the Development Squad's
league disappointment will drive them to a victory in the Barclays U21
Premier League Cup final first leg on Monday. The U21s face Hull City at the
Boleyn Ground at 7pm in the stadium's final final and last Dev Squad game.
Terry Westley's team just missed out on the play-offs in their league
campaign after a final day defeat at Aston Villa, but are keen to bounce
back when they face the Tigers. The Hammers can use the experience at Villa
Park to motivate them for Monday's vital fixture, according to centre-back
Oxford, who has captained the Dev Squad during their journey to the final.
He said: "The defeat against Aston Villa will hopefully drive us to win the
final because we don't want to end the season badly. "The game was a bit
feisty towards the end but hopefully we can go into the match against Hull
right up for it and win the last two games of the season. "We just treat it
like we're playing any top side, because we don't want to not perform as
well. They are a good side and we just treat them like Arsenal or any other
big club."
West Ham beat Liverpool in the semi-final to progress and Oxford hopes the
supporters are in good voice again on Monday as they were in the clash
against the Reds at Rush Green. "We're looking forward to it and hopefully
we can get good support [at the Boleyn Ground] to win the first game at our
ground to take to theirs," he continued. "The fans are always good with us,
and they were against Liverpool. They were important and hopefully they can
see us through the match to eventually win the Cup."
Left-back Neufville has been involved regularly with the U21s in the second
half of the season, and he is hoping to play a part in Monday's huge battle.
He said: "It is going to be a great game. It was a great motivation to have
that one last game at the Boleyn and I haven't personally played there yet
so hopefully I can be involved and have that experience. "The confidence is
there from our team. We have worked hard in training in preparation for the
game. "We should have beaten Aston Villa I think so we want to make up for
the defeat in that game by doing well in the final."
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From the Terraces - Dave Clements
WHUFC.com
Avid West Ham fan Dave Clements looks ahead to Monday's U21 final with Hull
City, the final Final at the Boleyn Ground
Like everyone connected to the Academy, and more widely the Club, I cannot
wait for Monday's final.
I'll never forget the atmosphere at the FA Youth Cup final in 1999,
officially the attendance was about 25,000, but I'm sure there was more in
than that. It certainly felt like it!
It is hard to compare that side to the current team, but there's no doubt
that this is certainly a very talented group of players.
It really has been a whole squad effort, not just a handful of players.
Everyone has pulled their weight, and it hasn't mattered who has come in
because everyone knows what they need to do.
In the early rounds, Jaanai Gordon, Leo Chambers and Kyle Knoyle, all now
out on loan, put in good performances as did Djair Parfitt-Williams, scoring
in the first three rounds.
I have to mention the fantastic contribution that Reece Oxford, George
Dobson and Josh Cullen have made. They've played every minute of every game
and form a real spine of the team. Not only are they good footballers but
they wear their hearts on their sleeves, which is what every West Ham fan
loves to see.
Throughout this campaign, there's been a great togetherness, as witnessed in
the semi-final against Liverpool. Everyone really works hard for each other,
and as a result the quality of football they like to play has been really
good to watch.
Having just missed out on the play offs, the focus on the cup is massive. I
don't know much about Hull City, we haven't played them for a while, so it's
hard to know what to expect, but they must be at least half decent to have
got to the final!
On the night, anything could happen but I'm confident we'll win; it would be
nice to take a two goal advantage up to their place and over two legs I
think we'll have enough quality.
I would just like to wish all the boys the best of luck, they deserve it
after all their hard work. I'd also encourage every West Ham to get down to
the Boleyn on Monday for the match. It's going to be another fantastic
night!
COYI!
Dave
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those
of West Ham United
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Westley urges players to savour U21 final
WHUFC.com
With little over 24 hours to go until West Ham United's U21s play their
biggest game of the season - the Barclays U21 Premier League final with Hull
City, Academy director Terry Westley has told his players to enjoy the
occasion.
The first leg of the final, which kicks off at 7pm, also represents the last
ever U21 game at the Boleyn Ground.
Ahead of such a momentous game, Westley has urged the young Hammers to
maintain their concentration on the task in hand: "The key is keeping
everyone's excitement under control. It's going to be a terrific match.
We've earned the right to be there with a great performance against
Liverpool in the semi-final.
"There'll be a big crowd, with 12-15,000 expected, so keeping everyone's
emotional control will be the key. It won't be easy. People think because we
have beaten Liverpool, this will be simple; it definitely won't be, and we
will have to play our very best to get the result.
"If I look back, we've done very well. In the Exeter game, they fielded
seven first team players and that was a real challenge for our players. That
got us on a roll. To beat Fulham and Blackburn and then Liverpool, we've had
tough matches and we've earned the right to be there on Monday. But, Hull
will be a test, and we'll have to be at our best to win."
Having just missed out on a play-off spot following a narrow defeat away at
Aston Villa in the last league game of the season, everyone at the
illustrious Academy of Football is aiming to finish the season on a
positive.
Westley continued: "In some ways the Villa result has helped, because the
disappointment has given us a little jolt. The hurt they experienced made
the players realise they've got to play at full tilt, with confidence and
concentration. We need to play at the consistency we played against
Liverpool. If we do that, we can get a positive result.
"As it's the last game at the Boleyn for our players, it's the last chance
to play there, and for the supporters to see a final there. They can get us
a good performance and hopefully a lead going to Hull the following week.
All of those ingredients could add up to a really special night."
Having fielded a wide variety of players from the first team, Dev Squad
regulars as well as emerging talents from the U18s and below, Westley faces
several tough decisions to make.
He continued: "The XI that get picked are very fortunate, as obviously we're
going to have some disappointed players too. We have a strong squad. Josh
Cullen, Reece Burke and Martin Samuelsen all want to play. Lewis Page is now
fit. Djair is coming back. Everyone wants to play but we want to keep
everyone's expectations calm, but it could be a big night.
"There will be players who haven't played in front of 10-15,000 people. It
will be interesting to see how they cope and handle the little bit of
pressure.
"Training has gone up a notch this week. You'll find out more about the
players and how they handle Monday night. It's a good development tool for
me, but when you get to this stage, you want to win."
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Bilic smoked on back of West Ham bus
Posted by Sean Whetstone on April 24, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H
Former Hammer John Moncur has revealed that Slaven Bilic used to smoke at
the back of the bus on the way to West Ham games when he was a player.
Speaking to BT Sport Moncur said of his playing days with Slav:
Interviewer: "You guys used to play together"
Moncs: "Yea, I think he was there for two years as a player"
Interviewer: "He used to like a smoke and a drink didn't he?"
Moncs (1)Moncs: "Yea he liked a smoke, 20 on the back of the coach, that was
before the game"
Interviewer: "Did you ever have him marked as management material?"
Moncs: "I think he had that in him, he took to the club, he liked the
English mentality and he was a very good leader. Good organiser, it was
definitely in him. I didn't think he would do this well. He's done
brilliant!"
Bilic used to smoke up 40 a day before cutting back. Harry Redknapp recalls
that centre-back Bilic "smoked like a trooper" in his playing days.
In 2013, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) warned Beşiktaş that it will
fine Bilic if he smoked during a game again.
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Samuelson recalled to West Ham
Posted by Sean Whetstone on April 24, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H
Martin Samuelson has been recalled to West Ham from Peterborough despite two
league games remaining for the league one side. Samuelson turned nineteen
last week and is set to start in the Under 21 Premier League cup on the
Boleyn ground on Monday evening. Terms of the season-long loan brokered by
director of football Barry Fry allowed him to be recalled for development
matches but it is not known why he will not return for Posh's two final
matches on the 30th April and 8th May. West Ham have revealed via their
official Twitter account on Friday that the highly rated young midfielder is
back training at Chadwell "Samuelson has returned to West Ham after his
loan spell with Peterbrough #WelcomeBack"
Martin tweeted our his thanks to Posh and their fans by saying "Thank you to
everyone who made my time at @theposhofficial so special! I will never
forget #UpThePosh"
Peterborough are 14th in the League One table on 57 points with the play off
places out of reach this season.
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West Ham linked with Barcelona and Arsenal target
Posted by Sean Whetstone on April 24, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic is weighing up a move for Celta Vigo star Manuel
"Nolito" Duran, reports Steve Bates in the Sunday People today. Bilic is
keen to land former Barcelona and Benfica star Nolito, who played in Spain's
friendly win over England last November. The talented attacking midfielder
has scored 11 goals in 25 La Liga games this season.
Nolito has admitted to hitting a stumbling block in his talks over a new
contract with Celta Vigo, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Barcelona all linked
in the player. The 29-year-old has been in superb form this season, and has
a release clause of £14 million written into his current deal.
Tha player said last year on renewing his contract:"There is a detail that
is not resolved and while it is not settled, I will not sign. I have a
three-and-a-half year contract and a [release] clause of 18 million
[euros].If someday I'm wanted by a team, [they can] come speak with Celta
and pay what you have to pay.
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Talented teenager swaps Chelsea for West Ham
Posted by Sean Whetstone on April 24, 2016 in News, Whispers
C and H
West Ham has beaten off competition from Arsenal to sign Chelsea teenager
Domingos Quina,creported in the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and Daily Star who
picked up the story from ExWhuEmployee who posed the photo of him signing
for the Hammers (right).
The 16-year-old midfielder signed after being persuaded that he had a better
chance of progressing through to the first team in West Ham's set-up. Spurs,
Liverpool, Manchester City and United were all said to chasing Quina, who
turned down the chance to stay at Chelsea as he believed his progress would
be limited.
Born in Guinea Bissau, Quina was brought up in Portugal and left Benfica for
Chelsea as a 13-year-old. The skilful attacking midfielder, Quina is
regarded as one of Portugal's best prospects, has starred for their Under
17s and is tipped to become a regular full international in the future. The
move represents a coup for West Ham and puts the Academy back on the map as
the destination for promising talent.
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