Preview - Norwich City
WHUFC.com
The background West Ham United return to Barclays Premier League action on Saturday when they travel to relegation-threatened Norwich City.
The Canaries, who won the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs last term to bounce back to the top flight at the first time of asking, find themselves in danger again following a run of five successive defeats.
Alex Neil's team slipped into the bottom three last weekend after Newcastle United defeated West Bromwich Albion to overhaul them. The Canaries were losing to bottom of the table Aston Villa at the time, adding them to Tottenham, Liverpool, Bournemouth and Stoke as the teams to defeat them since the turn of the year.
West Ham's form has been better, despite losing 1-0 at Southampton last time out in the league. They took four points from their previous two games, and defeated Liverpool in an FA Cup replay on Tuesday night.
Angelo Ogbonna settled a dramatic contest at the Boleyn Ground, climbing high to head home from Dimitri Payet's free kick in the final minute of extra time and seal a 2-1 win.The historyWest Ham United and Norwich City have met on 51 occasions in the past. It is the Hammers who edge the head-to-head record, with 19 victories to the Canaries' 16. The other 16 encounters have ended all-square.
The Hammers last won at Carrow Road in an FA Cup third round tie in January 2006, drawing 0-0 and losing 3-1 there in the league since.
In the last meeting, at the Boleyn Ground in September, Cheikhou Kouyate struck at the death to rescue a point for a West Ham team who trailed twice. Robbie Brady opened the scoring, with Diafra Sakho levelling on 33 minutes. Nathan Redmond appeared to have won it for the visitors seven minutes from time before Kouyate's late intervention.
Norwich have ex-Hammers Matt Jarvis and Gary O'Neil in their squad, with the former having joined the East Anglian side permanently in January following a loan spell for the first half of the campaign.The match Team newsWest Ham United The Hammers picked up a number of extra injury worries in the week, with Winston Reid, Joey O'Brien (both hamstring) and Cheikhou Kouyate (concussion) now all absent for the trip to Norwich.
James Tomkins (calf) is another recent injury victim and faces five weeks out, but Sam Byram and Emmanuel Emenike return after being ineligible for the midweek game.
Manuel Lanzini and Diafra Sakho are both set to resume training this week as they edge ever closer to comebacks.Norwich CityAlex Tettey is serving the second match of a two-game ban for the Canaries so will miss out for the hosts.
Graham Dorrans returns to the fold after suffering an illness, but defender Andre Wisdom is out with a knee injury.Match info
* Saturday's match referee is Mike Jones, who hails from Chester and will be taking charge of a Hammers game for the first time this season. He was last the man in the middle for a West Ham match last April, when they drew 0-0 at Queens Park Rangers. His assistant referees will be Mark Scholes and Andy Halliday. Gavin Ward is the fourth official.
* Five of the nine Premier League meetings have ended in a draw, with both sides winning two apiece.
* There has been a 90th-minute goal in the last four Premier League games between these two teams.
* Norwich have lost their last five league matches and their last six in all competitions, conceding 19 goals.
* The Canaries have conceded the first goal of the game on 18 occasions in the Premier League this season, a league-high.
* The Hammers have been in the top half of the table all season.
Ticketing, travel, coverage and other info
* Tickets for West Ham supporters for this game have SOLD OUT.
* Supporters travelling by train should note that there is no service between Liverpool Street and Ingatestone on the line to Norwich this weekend. Replacement buses are running between Newbury Park on the Central line and Ingatestone. Click here <http://www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk/travel-information/service-alterations?details=1868&month=2&year=2016> for more information.
* A dry, cloudy and chilly day is expected in Norwich on Saturday. Temperatures are set to reach 5C (41F) at kick-off.
* Click here <http://www.canaries.co.uk/news/article/norwich-city-travel-guide-west-ham-united-fans-2948057.aspx> for Norwich's away fan guide.
* If you're not heading to the game, make sure you stay abreast of all the action on our digital channels. The whufc.com Live Match Centre will have live audio commentary and text updates, in-running stats, photos and more. You can get involved in the conversation on social using #NORWHU
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Payet - The love affair continues
WHUFC.COM
Dimitri Payet feels the number of West Ham United players signing up to the cause on long-term contracts is proof of the Club's lofty ambitions for next season and beyond, and meant his decision to join them was never in doubt.
After pledging his future to the Hammers until 2021, Payet joins the likes of skipper Mark Noble, Winston Reid, Adrian, Aaron Cresswell and James Collins in penning new deals in the past 12 months, as the Hammers prepare for life on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The 28-year-old contends that everything is now in place for the Hammers to continue making giant leaps forward and that, says Payet, is an attractive proposition.
"I think there is everything here to make West Ham a big club," he told West Ham TV. You need time and we'll take time, but we're all conscious of it and we all want to help grow this Club.
"West Ham have the means to fulfil their ambitions. It's true that to have a new stadium is good and to grow, the team must know how to keep its players.
"That's why it posed me no problem to extend my stay at West Ham, because I feel that the Club really has the desire to continue. Adrian has extended his contract, Ginge as well, it shows that the Club really wants to keep its players and arrive next season in the new Stadium with a competitive team."
Payet wants to make the Hammers' new home a fortress, just as the Boleyn Ground has long since been. Slaven Bilic's charges are now unbeaten at home in their last 12 in all competitions and the French talisman hopes for more of the same at the former Olympic Stadium next season.
"Even to play here [at the Boleyn Ground], it's always full and there's an exceptional atmosphere. We're going to have almost 20,000 extra seats and, if it's full, it's a going to be a magnificent atmosphere.
"I think that in the league your home matches are very important. When you have a good campaign at home and take the maximum points, it already helps to have a very good season. It will be down to us to make sure that the Stadium is paradise for us and hell for our opponents."
Payet admits that even he couldn't have hoped to adjust to life in the Barclays Premier League quite as quickly and dramatically as he has done, not the least with the groundswell of support from the stands.
And it's fitting, he says, that this new contract should come hot on the heels of Tuesday night, the latest of memorable occasions in an already memorable season.
"For sure I didn't think that I'd adapt so quickly and so well at the Club," he confirmed. "Fortunately it's happened like that and all the better, but it's always complicated to adapt oneself to a new Club. I feel very good here and I want to stay!
"I'm particularly happy that this new contract has happened now, after the success of a magnificent victory against Liverpool, where there was truly a harmony between the team and the supporters. So I'd say it's welcome after such a match."
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Slaven's Season Ticket Surprise
WHUFC.com
West Ham United supporters selecting their new Stadium seats got a whole lot more than they bargained for on Thursday when manager Slaven Bilic paid a surprise visit to the Club's Stratford Reservation Centre.
Fresh from Tuesday's dramatic last-gasp FA Cup victory over Liverpool, Bilic surprised unsuspecting Hammers in this, the first week of appointments for supporters on the New Stadium Season Ticket Priority List.
Now that all invitations to existing Season Ticket Holders have been issued, with upward of 98 per cent taking up their seat, the Club have begun the process of inviting supporters on the 30,000-plus strong Priority List.
With some six months still to go before the big kick-off in August, the Hammers have already sold more Season Tickets at their new 54,000 seat home than the 35,016 capacity of the Boleyn Ground.
Thrilled by the Hammers' unbelievable show of support and the prospect of selling out the new Stadium, the Croat said: "It's full of people. It is buzzing here. And we are all proud and happy that people are able to get their tickets and look forward to the next season."
Looking at the range of seats on offer to the fans, the Hammers boss said: "In the new Stadium, you can't get a bad seat. You are definitely guaranteed to get a good view anywhere you sit. It looks as though the Stadium is going to be sold out, and that is great."
Earlier in the week Joint-Chairman David Gold had met some of the very first supporters on the Priority List to snap up their seats on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Mr Gold said the extraordinary demand for tickets is proof that the Club's affordable pricing strategy is absolutely right.
"The strategy is working," he confirmed. To give you an idea, we were predicting perhaps half of fans on the waiting list would go on and buy a ticket, but actually it's more like 80 per cent at the moment, so we know that we're doing the right thing.
"We were always confident. All the statistics showed that we should come close to filling the Stadium, but until it starts happening, you're always questioning your judgement. But we now know, with almost certainty that we're going to sell out of Season Tickets.
Among those to meet Mr Gold was young Geo Mackie from Inverurie in north east Scotland, who made the 1,100-mile round trip by bus to ensure he secured his 2016/17 Season Ticket.
He told West Ham TV: "It's a fair trek, 24 hours on a bus, 1,100 miles, but it's worth it, isn't it? You can feel the atmosphere while you're here, the excitement levels.
"We've been looking at the virtual footage. We've supported West Ham for a long time, we're grown men but it feels like Christmas.
"This is my first Season Ticket. I've been going since I was four. My Dad took me down two or three times a season. We're not the wealthiest family, but they made sure I could always come down and see West Ham."
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Byram - It's pure excitement
WHUFC.com
West Ham United new boy Sam Byram is already making himself at home at the former Olympic Stadium on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
After putting pen to paper on a four-and-a-half-year deal with the Hammers in January, the Essex-born full-back was soon having a nosey around the Club's 54,000-capacity future home.
He even popped into the New Stadium Reservation Centre for good measure and departed with a very clear sense of where his new Club is headed.
"It's pure excitement," the former Leeds United man told West Ham TV. "You see the size of it and you can imagine over 50,000 fans cheering as you come out, bubbles blowing. It really is exciting times.
"It's historic for West Ham. To play in a Stadium of that size and the history behind the Olympics, for us to move into it, it's massive and it was a big part of me wanting to come here.
"We were stood in the tunnel where you'd walk out. You can see how big it is and the atmosphere that will be created in there.
"The roof, it's almost like a dome shape, so it's going to keep all the noise and it really will be a special place on matchday. It's unbelievable.
"I'm very impressed. It's a lot better than I even expected, it's huge in real life. I'm just really excited now for the start of next season."
As are his Essex-based relatives, who have already snapped up Season Tickets for the 2016/17 campaign. In fact, Byram made good use of the Virtual Venue at the Reservation Centre to survey the vantage point from his family's seats in the new West Stand.
"It's a great bit of technology to be able to show the fans where they potentially could be sitting next season," he continued. "It does really help out, I think, when it comes to choosing your seats.
"I've seen where my uncle and cousin are going to be sitting. They're just behind the dugout, so they're just a stone's throw away. It's great for them and it's good for every fan that's going to have the chance to be able to watch us in there."
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The Hammers' new Stadium Fortress
WHUFC.com
Hammers fans will be greeted with the very latest in turnstile technology at the former Olympic Stadium
West Ham United supporters can look forward to taking advantage of the very latest in turnstile technology when entering the Hammers' new home next season.
The Club have long worked alongside market leaders Fortress GB at the Boleyn Ground and will be implementing the most advanced, future-proofed system available at the former Olympic Stadium turnstiles.
Fortress' platform enables a vast array of services including digital ticketing, automated access control and fan engagement programmes.
As used by many of the world's largest stadia, the technology in place will enable supporters to enter the ground using a number of different means, via a range of touch points embedded into the Stadium's ecosystem.
Naturally, the traditional access cards and paper tickets are still applicable, but supporters will also be able to print their tickets at home. Supporters can therefore avoid queues on the day for collection, and instead request that their ticket be sent via email.
Whatever the preferred option, supporters can look forward to far greater flexibility and significantly quicker, simpler entry into the ground.
Every turnstile is also equipped with special indicators to signify concession tickets so that any persons trying to enter the Stadium with an incorrect age concession ticket will be denied entry, the ticket will become void and will be confiscated.
With the introduction of £99 Season Tickets for Under-16s, the Club have gone to great lengths to create a family-friendly stadium and will apply the strictest penalties to anyone seeking to misuse a concession ticket.
Elsewhere, the Club are pleased to confirm that they are exploring the possibility of extending the technology into its many uses for supporter engagement. Above all, the Club hope to use the system to institute a series of reward schemes for supporters, as Manchester City are now doing at the Etihad Stadium.
To make those reward schemes possible, every single reader in the ground is set up with its own mini PC in the turnstile to ascertain exactly which cards, or tickets have been used and when.
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Payet: the love affair continues
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 12th February 2016
By: Staff Writer
Dimitri Payet says that he has signed a new contract with West Ham as he believes the club has the potential to challenge the elite.
The 28-year-old midfielder put pen to paper on a lucrative new five-and-a-half year contract earlier this week, a deal that makes him the club's highest-paid player and the first ever to earn a seven-figure weekly wage.
And talking about his new contract, signed just seven months after he joined the club in a £10.5million switch from Marseille, Payet explained that he was delighted to secure his future with the move to the Olympic Stadium on the horizon.
"West Ham has the means to achieve its ambitions," he told West Ham's website. "To have the new stadium is good and in order to grow the club must keep its best players - and that's why it was no problem to sign a new contract.
"The club really wants to keep its best players and arrive at the new stadium next season with a competitive team. I think West Ham have everything they need to become a big club. It'll take time, but we're conscious of that and all want to help the club grow."
Payet has been linked with a move to the emerging Chinese Super League prior to signing a new deal with West Ham. And he hopes that his new deal illustrates his desire to both remain at and succeed as a Hammer.
"I think this is the best way of showing them [the fans] that all the rumours and things that have been said about me in recent days were not true," he added. "Hopefully today is going to silence those rumours.
"I didn't think I'd adapt so quickly and so well [at West Ham]. Fortunately it's happened that way and that's for the better, because it's always complicated to adapt to a new club. Now I feel very good here and I want to stay."
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Norwich v West Ham preview: Hammers stretched with injuriesBy Patrick SurlisLast Updated: 12/02/16 6:01pm
SSN
The two sides played out a 2-2 draw earlier this season
West Ham are set to be without several first-team players when they travel to Carrow Road to face Norwich on Saturday.
Winston Reid, Cheikhou Kouyate and Joey O'Brien all picked up injuries during West Ham's FA Cup triumph over Liverpool on Tuesday, adding to an already lengthy injury list.
Aside from the injuries, the Hammers have a poor record at Carrow Road, having failed to win on their last 16 league visits, but they face a Norwich team in poor form.
The Canaries slipped into the relegation zone for the first time since the opening weekend after their defeat by Aston Villa, and Alex Neil's side are without a win since January 2.
Team news
Alex Tettey is unavailable for Norwich as the midfielder completes his two-match suspension following a 10th booking of the season against Tottenham.
Neil will make a late decision on Graham Dorrans (illness), while Andre Wisdom is a doubt with a knee problem.
West Ham's injuries are piling up as Reid, O'Brien (both hamstring) and Kouyate (concussion) all went down in midweek. They join James Tomkins (calf), Manuel Lanzini and Diafra Sakho (both thigh) on the sidelines.
However, Alex Song is available having shaken off the knock which kept him out of the replay and Sam Byram returns after being cup-tied.
Opta stats
None of the previous 13 league meetings between West Ham and Norwich have ended with an away win (six home wins, seven draws).
There has been a 90th minute goal in all of the last four league games between the two sides.
Wes Hoolahan has been substituted in 16 of his 18 top-flight starts this season; more often than any other player.
Norwich have conceded the first goal of the game on 18 occasions in the league this season; a league-high.
Meanwhile, they have only made 395 touches in the opposition box this season (16 per game) - a league-low, but West Ham players have made a league-high 10 errors leading to goals.
Dimitri Payet has created 66 goalscoring chances this season, more than double the tally of any other West Ham player.
Dimitri Payet has agreed a new West Ham contract
Merson's prediction
This game is another prime example of how the timing of football matches can affect the outcome. Norwich will have looked at the fixtures and probably wouldn't have fancied themselves against a West Ham side that has been flying this season.
However, when you consider the Hammers played 120 minutes in midweek, have an eye on the next round of the cup and probably can't qualify for the top four, then this the best time to play them. West Ham have got a great chance to win the FA Cup and have bigger fish to fry so I fancy Norwich to nick a vital win.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1
With £250,000 up for grabs in this season's Soccer Saturday Super 6, Jeff Stelling gives you a helping hand with his tips and predictions
Betting
West Ham are Sky Bet's marginal favourites ahead of their trip to Carrow Road , with Norwich priced at 6/4. The Hammers are sixth despite claiming only five points from the last 12 and remain a 4/1 shot to finish in the top six .
The Canaries have lost five on the bounce and are now 8/11 to be relegated. The sides shared a 2-2 draw at Upton Park earlier in the season and another draw is available at 9/4. Steven Naismith and Enner Valencia both to net is 10/1.
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West Ham midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate to follow Dimitri Payet in committing future to club
* 21:46, 12 FEB 2016
* UPDATED 21:46, 12 FEB 2016
* BY DARREN LEWIS <http://www.mirror.co.uk/authors/darren-lewis/>
The Mirror
The Senegalese midfielder is believed to have been handed a four-year deal to reward him for his form this season star set to commit his future to the club.
The 26-year-old star is believed to have been handed a four-year deal to reward him for being one of the most consistent performers in the Hammers team.
The Hammers rejected a £15million bid for the Senegalese international midfielder last summer.
Now Kouyate , who joined the club from Anderlecht in 2014, will join Dimitri Payet in being one of the key players around whom West Ham will continue building.
Mirrorfootball exclusively revealed earlier this week details of the massive £125,000-a-week with which the east Londoners rewarded Payet for his magnificent displays this season.
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njures but Irons to field strong line up
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 12, 2016
C and H
The Irons are set to send out a powerful team against Norwich tomorrow despite having been hit with a number of injuries.
James Tomkins, Winston Reid and Cheik Kouyate will all be unavailable to manager Slaven Bilic but such is the depth of the squad the Irons will still look a formidable proposition against the struggling Canaries.
Sam Byram is expected to slip into the right back position with James Collins and Angelo Ogbonna forming the central defensive partnership.
Alex Song is set to join Mark Noble in midfield along with the outstanding Pedro Obiang who was in excellent form against Liverpool.
Dmitri Payet, Michail Antonio and Enner Valencia are expected to complete the line up with the likely line up being: Adrian, Byram, Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Song, Obiang, Payet, Antonio, Valencia.
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Gold:'We've served notice of intent'
Posted by Hugh5outhon1895 on February 12, 2016
C and H
David Gold reckons the signing of Dimi Payet to a big new contract will have had the world sitting up and taking notice.
And speaking exclusively to ClaretandHugh he said: "We have our eyes on the top four – that's what everything at this club is geared to. We have made it clear that we intend to keep our best players and we are going to add to them this summer. We've served notice of our intent."
He was keen to point out that the speed of the Payet deal was necessary to avoid continued uncertainty as the club looks to kick on this summer.
But he added: "Deals like this just don't happen – we have been on a journey for the last six years from the brink of receivership to signing a player like Payet and improving an already good deal.
"We are not a selling club, we don't need to sell and we won't. We are looking to tie up our best players on long contracts and bring others in.
"We are proud of where we have come from, we are proud of our team and our fantastic manager. We still have a way to go but it's about the top four – that's the only place for an ambitious club and my God we are ambitious."
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Saturday, February 13
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